It’s rare that you have a scallop that is mediocre…they usually turn out really good or really terrible. Prepare them correctly and you have a tender and mildly sweet treat; prepare them incorrectly and they are dry and rubbery dog treats. The key to cooking a great scallop is to use high heat, a small amount of fat (I use clarified butter), patting the scallops … Continue reading Molasses Glazed Smoked Scallop with Truffled Corn Soup, Bacon Foam

One of my favorite ingredients to use during the summer is watermelon. This dish, by assistant pastry chef Rebecca McLean, is a tasting of watermelon featuring: Watermelon with Marscapone Ice Cream and Balsamic Reduction, Watermelon with Candied Mint and Creme Fraiche, Watermelon Noodles, and a watermelon cocktail. Continue reading Tasting of Watermelon

This is a variation of a salad made this spring, with the addition of cucumber sorbet and yuzu vinaigrette. It was created for an abbreviated tasting menu, as a kind of combination of a seafood course and intermezzo. This was the first time I’ve used yuzu as an ingredient, it definitely won’t be the last. Yuzu is an Asian citrus which resembles a grapefruit and … Continue reading Crab with Wasabi-Yuzu Vinaigrette, Cucumber Sorbet, Avocado, Pickled Radish

This dish was made for a Chefs Table last week, it’s a kind of “breakfast for dinner” plate. There are a lot of big flavors on this plate; the richness of the foie gras, the salty tartness of the grapes, the buttery pain perdu, sweet and sour gastrique and the sweet and airy vanilla-maple espuma. The contrasting temperatures of the chilled espuma, the ambient grapes … Continue reading Seared Foie Gras with Pain Perdu, Salted Grapes, Vanilla-Maple Espuma, Ice Wine Gastrique, Purple Sweet Potato Puree

This trio of beef was created to serve with a 1998 Silver Oak Cabernet, a big wine requiring big flavors to stand up to it. It had several components including: Prime CAB flat iron steak that was bonded with Activa and cooked sous vide, braised beef short rib wrapped in brioche, steak tartare with sunny side up quail egg and bearnaise aioli, and sous vide … Continue reading Trio of Beef with Carrot-Coriander Puree, Sous Vide Heirloom Carrot, Spring Peas

In the late 90’s when I was a student at Virginia Tech and working for the campus catering operation, a vendor rep from Cuisine Solutions in Washington D.C. came down to talk to the local American Culinary Federation chapter about a new technique called “Sous Vide“. The term is French for “under vacuum”. None of us were familiar with this new method of cooking, but … Continue reading Sous Vide Strip Loin with Purple Sweet Potato Puree, Wild Mushrooms, Truffled Port Demi

Some of the best ingredients of the season come alive on this dish, with minimal manipulation. This dish consists of green and white asparagus and English peas tossed with lemon oil, Lucky Leaf Garden pea tendrils, crisp shiitake mushrooms, rendered pancetta and a soft poached egg. This was a nice, light course with the warm egg yolk and the lemon oil coming together to create … Continue reading Spring Vegetable Salad with Soft Poached Egg, Rendered Pancetta

Ordinarily I don’t hock anything on this site…no ads and no links unless the proceeds benefit charity. This charity, in support of children facing leukemia, is one that I couldn’t get posted fast enough. A friend of mine related a moving story to me of what her family was facing and the foundation that it led her create in support of other families facing similar … Continue reading Everyday Recipes for a Great Cause

Most times, really good dishes are dictated by really good ingredients. After receiving “Micro Cucumber” from Kate at Lucky Leaf Garden, I took the crab salad from last week back to the drawing board. When she dropped it off, she said that it was actually micro borage rather than cucumber, but after tasting it I could understand the moniker. It was really clean, really crisp … Continue reading Crab, Corn and Compressed Cucumber Salad with Citrus, Avocado and Roasted Radish

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to spend some time taking in some phenomenal food in Charleston at the annual Wine and Food Festival. It was an awesome time of year to be down there, with spring produce just barely coming in to season and some winter produce still remaining. The following dish was inspired by a salad course that I had at … Continue reading Crab, Citrus, Radish and Cucumber Salad with Wasabi Vinaigrette