This week I was lucky enough to have my first experience cooking at the James Beard house in New York. James Beard was a huge influence on the culinary world, through his teaching, cookbooks and his love of food. Though he passed away over 20 years ago, his legacy lives on through the James Beard Foundation.
On November 5, 1986, the James Beard Foundation officially opened the James Beard House “to provide a center for the culinary arts and to continue to foster the interest James Beard inspired in all aspects of food, its preparation presentation, and of course, enjoyment,” according to a press release issued that day. Calvin Trillin presided over an opening ceremony that welcomed Jacques Pépin, Judith Jones, Larry Forgione and other culinary world luminaries who had been touched and inspired by Beard. –James Beard Foundation
Our group was chosen to participate in a dinner thrown by Bravo for many of their executives as well as a number of investors and advertisers. From what I understand, bravo is looking to expand their role in culinary television and wanted to offer a meal by some of the competitors from their top culinary program Top Chef. Lee Anne Wong from season 1, who is currently the culinary coordinator for the show, organized the dinner and also created hors d’oeuvres and the second course. Antonia, Richard and myself represented season 4, while Dale Levitsky, Hung and CJ were there from season 3. For the wines, Steven from the first season flew in from Florida and chose some beautiful boutique wines for each course.
We started off on Wednesday at the French Culinary Institute. It was my first time at the school and it is a beautiful facility. Since expanding it has become a bit of a maize to a newcomer trying to find the fourth floor, but the kitchens are pretty sweet. If I can remember back 10 years to when I was in school, I am pretty sure our facility was not quite as fancy (though since then SCI has been renovated as well). It is amazing what can be seen at schools all over with how advanced the facilities are becoming.
It was fun trying to find Antonia and Lee Anne’s pictures, both whom were graduates of the school, among the hundreds of graduates over the past decade. I think we disrupted a class or two as students spotted Richard’s faux hawk in the hallway and began waving and giggling. Hard to be incognito with the faux hawk around. Then in true top chef fashion we all squeezed into the pastry kitchen and began to prep. I had forgotten how much fun it was to work with Richard and Antonia. We were on the same team for three different challenges on the show and it was just like old times. Antonia began working on her dish which was lobster raviolis with a lobster nage and squash blossoms. Richard was still a bit unsure of the direction he was going. He was nice enough to take one for the team and offer to do the dessert course of the evening. As he began peeling his case of parsley root you could see the wheels in his head turning. I have always wondered what it would be like to be inside his head for a day. He is just filled with creative ideas and you never know what he will come up with.
I was excited to arrive at the James Beard house on Thursday. Just thinking about the great chefs that have had the honor of cooking in the kitchen made me tingle. I had heard that the kitchen was quite small, and when friends heard there would be eight of us preparing food in there they gave a strange smirk. I guess coming from a very small kitchen at my old restaurant, Scylla, nothing seems too small to me anymore. I loved how warm and homey the kitchen felt and the backroom is all windows which is not a bad way to spend the day in the kitchen.
The evening started with some passed hors d’oeuvres from Lee Anne and CJ. Lee Anne made scallop and water chestnut filled dumplings served in Chinese spoons. The crunch from the water chestnut was a great accompaniment to the scallop. Seared beef tenderloin was served with horseradish crème fraiche on top of a savory rosemary and parmesan short bread (I may have munched on a few of those little morsels). My favorite of her bites were the gougeres filled with truffle mascarpone, which just melted in your mouth. CJ had some tasty snacks as well with his mini thanksgiving (delicious squares of mushroom stuffing topped with turkey and cranberry), spiced shrimp in phyllo, and country ham rolls with apple and frisee which was very refreshing.
Lee Anne took on the amuse as well. The dish was a tartar which was beautiful, light and refreshing. What really impressed me was that rather than using a small ring mold to create perfect little rounds of fish in each of the 60 plates, she diced the fish then froze in plastic wrap in long cylinders and sliced before serving. A great method when doing a large party as it saved a lot of time and assured the fish would be served chilled.
Antonia served the first course with her lobster raviolis. Though we had a bit of trouble with the raviolis sticking together, the dish was delicious and rich. A way she simplified the dish for easy ravioli making it at home, was to use wonton skins instead of rolling out pasta sheets.
The second course was back to Lee Anne (the cook from Real House Wives was supposed to do this course but had to back out last minute which we were fine with). She served crisp herb goat cheese croquettes with a sunchoke foam, pickled sunchoke and truffle salad and quail egg.
Third course was fish served by Hung. He did a simple olive oil poached snapper with a parsley sauce and a warm salad of winter squash and clams. Poaching fish in olive oil is a great way to keep it nice and moist when plating large parties.
Next up was my dish: seared duck breast over braised pork belly with maitiake mushrooms, apple compote, a rich cider sauce and a tangy cider gastrique. Maitake, also known as Hen of the Woods, are my absolute favorite mushroom for their great texture and earthy flavor. The sauce was finished with cream that is reduced down until it resembles the taste of a brown butter. It is a great way to finish a brothy sauce because it does not break.
Dale took the final savory course with a great rich seared venison loin served with cauliflower puree, pear and dried ricotta salad and a demiglace sauce infused with spices. The rich sauce was well paired with the light and refreshing salad garnish.
Richard’s dessert was creative and delicious. He took the idea of zucchini bread or carrot cake and recreated it with parsley root. Not a lot of people have seen or tried parsley root, which looks like a white baby carrot. The ice cream was frozen in true Blais style with liquid nitrogen which was delivered to the house earlier that day. To top it off, and make the Dr. Pepper sponsors proud, Richard used the nitrous to quickly freeze the Dr. Pepper to act as a garnish.
It was a great meal and we all had fun working together again or for the first time. I look forward to working with all of the chefs some time soon in the future, as long as it does not involve a Top Chef challenge.
Seared Duck Breast with Braised Pork Belly and Apples
Serves 4
Ingredients
Pork Belly Brine
1/4 cup Kosher salt
1 small onion, diced
10 whole garlic cloves, flattened
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon peppercorns
2 teaspoons fennel seed
1 cup water
1 pound pork belly
Pork Belly Braise
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced large
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
1 15 ounce can Roma tomatoes, mashed
1 teaspoon peppercorns
2 teaspoons fennel seed
1 cup apple cider
1 cup chicken stock
Apple Squash Pineapple Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and diced
1 small onion, diced small
1 large clove of garlic, sliced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup pork belly braising liquid
1/2 cup roasted acorn squash (about 1 packed cup)
1/2 cup diced pineapple
1 cup heavy cream
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Cider Gastrique:
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Warm Apple Garnish:
1 large apple, cored, peeled and diced small
1/3 cup apple cider
2 tabelspoons cider vinegar
Seared Duck Breast:
2 duck breast
Kosher Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Bok Choy:
1 medium bok choy or 2 baby bok choy
1 tablespoon butter
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Maitake Mushrooms:
1/4 pound maitake mushrooms, break into small pieces
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
Combine the salt, onion, garlic, maple syrup, peppercorns, fennel seed and water in a small saucepot. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer for 20 minutes. Let the brine cool completely.
When the brine is cool, transfer it to a gallon-size zip top bag. Add the pork belly, cover or zip the bag and transfer to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Once the pork belly is brined, preheat the oven to 400° F and make the braising liquid. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed saucepot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté them for 2-3 minutes, until the onions begin to soften. Add the maple syrup and the wine and simmer to reduce by half, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, peppercorns, fennel seeds, cider and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
Take the pork belly out of the brine and add to the braising liquid. Discard the brine. Cover the pot and transfer to the preheated oven. Braise the pork belly for at least four hours, or until it is very tender and starting to fall apart.
Remove the pork from the braising liquid. When it is cool enough to handle, shred the meat, discarding the fat. Set the shredded meat aside and then strain the braising liquid. Reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid for the sauce and freeze the rest for later use (discard the solids after straining).
For the Apple Squash Pineapple Sauce, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepot over medium heat. Add the apples, onion and garlic and sweat them for 5 minutes, until the apples and onions begin to soften. Add the wine and simmer to reduce until the liquid is nearly gone. Add the reserved braising liquid, cider, squash and pineapple and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the liquid for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the heavy cream in a small saucepot over medium heat. Let the cream simmer, whisking often, to reduce by more than half, about 10-15 minutes. The resulting cream should be very thick and will take on a rich, nutty flavor, similar to brown butter. (The cream may brown slightly. Just whisk in the speckles from the bottom of the pot.)
Transfer the simmered sauce to a blender and process until smooth (or use a stick blender in the pot). Strain the sauce through a mesh sieve and then whisk in the cream to thicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside and keep warm until ready to use.
For the gastrique, combine the cider vinegar, sugar, pepper flakes and ground pepper in a small saucepot. Simmer over medium-high heat until syrupy, about 10 minutes.
Make the apple garnish by combining the diced apples, cider and cider vinegar in a medium pot over medium heat. Simmer until the apples are tender, about 15 minutes. Keep warm until ready to serve.
To prepare the duck, pre-heat the oven to 400° F. Clean any silver skin from breast and score the skin with a sharp knife in a crosshatch pattern. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
Heat a large sauté pan over high heat until the pan begins to smoke. Add the duck, skin side down, into dry pan (will make crackling sound). Sear over high heat for 1 minute and then reduce to medium high. Let the breast cook until most of the fat has rendered and the skin is crisp and browned. Transfer the pan into the preheated oven and cook just to medium rare, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the pan and let rest about 5 minutes before slicing very thin. (Let the rendered duck fat cool and then transfer to a jar and refrigerate for later use, if you like.)
While the duck cooks and rests, prepare the bok choy and the maitake mushrooms. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Separate the bok choy leaves and blanch them in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Strain then from the boiling water and drop them into an ice bath. Drain well. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, transfer to a plate and keep warm. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the same sauté pan over medium heat. Add the blanched bok choy and sauté to warm through. Season with salt and pepper.
To serve, heat a spoonful of the rendered duck fat in a sauté pan. Add the shredded pork belly to warm through and crisp slightly. Place the mushrooms, bok choy and pork belly on plates and spoon a small pool of sauce on top. Divide the sliced duck between the four plates and fan the meat on top of the sauce. Top with warm apples and drizzle with the gastrique.
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