[cape chef]

Sauteed Halibut with spring veggies, English peas and mint sauce

Ingredients for one plate
6 oz Halibut
3/4 oz baby leeks
1 oz fingerling potatoes
1 oz Artichoke
2 oz Conola oli
1 1/2 oz pea sprouts
1 oz veggie stock
1 T butter
1 oz English peas
2 oz English pea and mint sauce
3 springs burnett for garnish

Method.

1. Heat half the conola oil in a saute pan, sear seasoned Halibut until done.
2. Heat saute pan over medium heat, add artichokes and potatoes and sear until brown.
3. Add baby leeks and finish with half the butter, season with S&P.
4. In a separate saute pan heat the oil, saute pea sprouts and finish with vegetable stock and S&P.
5. Heat English pea sauce and finish with remaining butter.

Assembly of plate

1. Serve in a bowl with pea sprouts on the bottom.
2. Place the rest of the veggies, except leeks on top of the sprouts.
3. Place the Halibut ontop of the veggies and criss cross the leeks over the fish and garnish with the burnett.
4. sauce around.
Fingerling potatoes

2 lb Fingerlings
1 ea bay leaf
1/4 bunch fresh thyme
S&P
1 gal. Water
1. boil water add all ingredients
2. Blanch spuds until tender.
3. spread potatoes out on a sheet pan to dry and cool.

Baby leeks
1. clean leeks, cutting off any woody parts
2. Blanch in boiling salted water until tender
3. Shock in a ice bath

Artichokes
4 Artichokes cleaned
1/4 cup peeled carrots, cut on a bias
1/4 cup fennel, sliced thin
1/4 cup yellow onions sliced thin
1/4 cup sliced celery (bias cut)
olive oil
1 bay leaf
1/4 bunch fresh thyme
parsley
1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 cup dry white wine
Method
1. sweat all veggies except artichokes in olive oil
2. Add white wine and reduce by a 3rd
3. Add chockes and cover with water
4. cook until tender, remove from heat and ice down right in the cooking liquid.
English pea and mint sauce
1/4 cup picked mint leaves
1 cup English peas
3 cups veggie stock
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
1/8 cup lemon juice
Method

1. Blanch English peas in salted, boiling water until tender, shock in an ice bath.
2.Heat Veggie stock
3.Puree mint and peas in a bar blender
4.Add hot stock to pea and mint mixture and blend until smooth
5. Strain sauce and season with S&P, sugar and lemon juice.
6. Place sauce in a ice bath to cool.

***************************************

Shaved asparagus salad with brown butter hollandaise and fried Capers.

Ingredients for one plate
3/4 oz Lemon vinaigrette
2 oz brown butter sauce
5 ea Purple asparagus
4 ea Green apsparagus
2 ea white asparagus
S&P to taste
1 tsp chopped chives
1 sprig Chervil

Method
1.Begin by shaving 3 spears of the purple asparagus and 1 stem of green asparagus on a mandolin.
2. Trim the ends of the remainig green and purple asparagus, and peel the white grass
3. toss the shaved asparagus in the lemon vinaigrette with chives and salt. allow to marinate 3 minuts.
4. Toss asparagus spears in olive oil and kosher salt. grill until tender.
5. place shaved apsparagus in a large ring on your plate
6. remove ring (duh)
7. set grilled grass on top
8. sauce plate with brown butter sauce and garnish with chervil and fried capers.
Lemon vinaigrette
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz rice wine vinegar
2 oz mirin
1 oz of a pastis
1 oz peanut oil
7 oz olive oil
Method
1. combine lemon juice, rice wine vinegar, mirin and pastis in a bowl
2. Gently whisk in peanut and olive oils until it forms a light supension
3. hold at room temp
Brown butter hollandaise
2# unsalted butter
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup tarragon Vinergar
1 T salt
2 T fines herbs
1 t Chopped chives
method
1. Place butter in a sauce pan on medium high heat, cook butter until light brown in color and it give soff a slighlty nutty aroma (like me)
2. Strain butter through a fine chinois into a metal bain marie and allow to cool to teped
3. in a seperate sauce pan bring to cups of water to a boil. remove from heat.
4. Place a large bowl over the hot water and add egg yolks, vinegar and salt. begin whisking (triple in volume)
5. Slowly add brown butter, whisking constantly untill all the butter is emulsified.
6. hold in a warm place.
For the capers, rinse off the salt and pat dry and fry to crisp in olive oil.

These are a couple recipes we will be starting next week on some of our banquet menus.

I'll let you know how they are recieved
Happy Spring
cc

 

[risa]

Thanks for the recipes, Cape Chef. They sound delicious. I'll definitely try the Asparagus salad. Access to the other ingredients is a bit more difficult.

 

[dear abby]

How wonderful Cape Chef!!!

Dear Abby is very ready for spring and these recipes sound so fresh and exciting!

Chef Henri requested that Abby ask you a minor question. Henri uses malt vinegar in his mint sauce and would like to ask the highly respected Cape Chef to comment on this.

Merci!

Abby

 

[cape chef]

Dear Abby,

I am very happy that you enjoyed the recipes. That is what I hope for when people read them. I also appreciate feed back, and/or questions because it is very important to me to understand how people precieve the flavor and composition of my recipes.

As to your Question (or Henri's) The lemon juice in my English pea and mint sauce is used as a hidden backdrop to bring out the flavors of the mint and pea's. It also give a touch of flavor with the salt to the stock.

So in this case, although I enjoy malt vinegar, I think it's lactic, fermented aroma and flavor may not be subtle enough for this sauce.

The lemon adds freshness and balance, while the vinegar may come through to much on your palate.
cc

 

[dear abby]

Again, Cape Chef, Dear Abby thanks you.

Henri agrees with your assesment. He is sometimes resistant to change, but plans to try this sauce your way! Henri requests that Abby tell you how very much he is enjoying learning from a younger chef! He says he is very much inspired!

Abby would like to add that she enjoys your new avatar greatly. She is crushed that she cannot seem to get her own lovely avatar to work.

Abby