Inside My Table #54 | Excerpt
Here’s to you, Chef!
Chef portraits by Kim Coffman
(The complete text of this article appears in My Table Issue #54, April-May 2003.)
Last October My Table magazine rolled out its first big-time recipe contest. Partnering with Mathilde Liqueurs, we challenged Texas cooks—both professional chefs and inspired home cooks—to create their best recipes using any variety of Mathilde’s 100 percent natural liqueurs.
We held the cook-off at the University of Houston’s Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management on Saturday, February 15. Both savory and sweet recipes were submitted. All were judged on the basis of their originality and creativity, ease of preparation, flavor and presentation.
The winner, David Garrido, executive chef at Jeffrey’s Restaurant in Austin, won a four-day trip for two, courtesy of Air France, to Paris, as well as a tour and lunch with master distiller Patrick Guidicelli in Cognac.
Winner
DUCK WITH ASPARAGUS AND MATHILDE RASPBERRIES
David Garrido, executive chef
Jeffrey’s, Austin
Garrido impressed the judges with his dish’s flavor, fanciful presentation, creativity and unexpected ease of preparation.
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 Tbsp. chopped shallots
1 cup Mathilde Framboise des Landes
¼ cup raspberry vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
2 5-oz. duck breasts
20 asparagus spears, blanched
20 fresh raspberries
2 Tbsp. chopped chives
METHOD: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium saut pan, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Cook the shallots 1 to 2 minutes or until soft. Add liqueur and raspberry vinegar and cook for 4 to 6 minutes or until reduced to ½ cup. Add the remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Season the duck breasts with salt and pepper. In a medium saut pan over medium heat, sear the duck breasts skin side down for 4 to 6 minutes or until golden brown. Turn the duck breasts and sear the meat side for 30 seconds. Transfer duck breasts skin side down to a baking dish and bake 4 to 6 minutes or until medium. Remove the duck breasts from the oven and set aside.
To plate: Place 5 asparagus on each plate. Slice ½ duck breast in each plate on top of the asparagus and spoon the sauce over. Garnish with raspberries and chives. Serves 4.
Finalist
STRAWBERRIES CAKE LA MATHILDE CASSIS
Sara Oussar, Houston
Oussar defined her recipe as a strawberry take on the traditional tiramisu (note the juice-soaked ladyfingers). Mold it as directed, or do it the easy way and make individual portions in pretty stemmed glasses.
17 beautiful strawberries (7 for the cake, the rest for garnish)
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. Mathilde Cassis de la Saintonge
2 packages ladyfinger cookies
1 container crme frache
METHOD: Wash the 7 strawberries, dry them, then cut in small quarters. Put them in a bowl and cover with ½ cup of the sugar and the vanilla. Stir well. Let the strawberries sit for at least 30 minutes, the longer the better. Pour off the syrup released by the strawberries into a small bowl and mix with the cassis liqueur. In another small bowl, mix the crme frache with the rest of the sugar.
Select a cake mold of your choice. Dip the ladyfingers in the mixture of syrup and cassis and place into the mold until you have covered the bottom and sides. Place some marinated strawberries over the bottom layer of ladyfingers, then a layer of crme frache, then a layer of ladyfingers dipped in the syrup. Continue layering till you use up all the strawberries. The last (top) layer should be of ladyfingers. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of five hours.
Before serving the cake, reverse it on a plate and decorate with the rest of the crme frache and strawberries, as you like. Serves 8.
Finalist
VUVUSONES DE CARRASCARE
(Sweet Sardinian Mardi Gras necklaces with a confetti of Mathilde Liqueurs)
Francesco Farris, executive chef
Arcodoro & Pomodoro, Dallas
This amusing fried dough—think of it as a kind of a platinum-class funnel cake—was a hit with our judges for its novelty and flavor.
1 kilo whole durum semolina
1 cup warm water
pinch of kosher salt
2 tsp. dry yeast
5 eggs
4 Tbsp. Nasco wine (or Malvasia or Vin Santo)
8 Tbsp. whole milk
3 tsp. Mathilde Framboise des Landes
1 tsp. Mathilde Cassis de la Saintonge
3 tsp. Mathilde Pches de Vignes
4 Tbsp. Mathilde Poires d’Anjou
3 liters extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups Sardinian bitter honey
5 Tbsp. Grande Mathilde XO
½ cup powdered sugar
METHOD: Mix semolina, water, salt and dry yeast, and then add eggs. Keep mixing until it creates a homogenized dough. Transfer into a terra-cotta serving bowl. Add wine, milk and liqueurs, excluding Grande Mathilde XO, while kneading the dough with your hands. The end result should be the consistency of glue, a dense and fluidy pastry dough. Cover with a moist linen towel and let stand for 30 minutes.
In a large pot, heat oil to a moderate temperature. Transfer the pastry dough to a pastry bag and pipe slowly, spiraling the continuous cord into the hot oil. Cook until golden and remove from the heat. Place the vuvusones on a kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.
Mix bitter honey and Grande Mathilde XO. Drizzle on the vuvusones and dust with powdered sugar. Serves at least 8.
Finalist
POACHED PEAR-FENNEL “CAVIAR” WITH STILTON AND MUNG BEAN BLINIS ON TRUFFLED FRISEE
Sunita Jain, Houston
A versatile dish, Jain’s invention can be served as a salad, appetizer or amuse-bouche. She suggests pairing it with a glass of Champagne mixed with a dribble of Poires d’Anjou.
½ cup organic mung beans
1 Tbsp. ginger plus 2 slices fresh ginger (about the size of a quarter)
1 small jalapeo, seeded
oil for cooking blinis
1 large Bosc pear, peeled, cored and finely chopped
½ fennel, finely chopped
1 piece star anise
½ cup plus 2 Tbsp. Mathilde Poires d?Anjou
2 tsp. plus 2 tsp. white truffle oil
2 oz. plus 2 Tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
1 tsp. finely powdered cardamom
1 tsp. plus 1 tsp. coarsely crushed fennel seeds*
6 oz. frisee
3 oz. stilton cheese, crumbled
6 Tbsp. roasted and chopped hazelnuts*
coarse salt & white pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp. papaya seeds, whole and dried for garnishing
18 chives for garnishing
METHOD: Wash mung beans and cover with cold water up to 3 inches and soak overnight. They will more than double in size. Grind mung beans in a blender with a little water, 1 Tbsp. ginger, jalapeo, 1 tsp. fennel seeds and salt. Heat a nonstick griddle on medium heat. Oil the pan and pour 2 teaspoons of the batter for each blini and spread to a thin pancake and cook till light brown. Turn and cook on the other side. Continue till you have 18 blinis. Cut with a 2 ½-inch cookie cutter to get perfect rounds. Keep warm in a foil tent or a food warmer.
Place chopped pear, fennel, ginger slices, star anise and ½ cup liqueur in a medium saucepan. After about 5 minutes add 2 oz. white balsamic and 1 tsp. truffle oil. Add cardamom powder, salt and white pepper. Poach the pear and fennel on medium heat till all the liquid is absorbed. Remove the ginger and star anise.
For the vinaigrette, in a medium bowl, whisk together 2 Tbsp. white balsamic, 2 Tbsp. liqueur, sherry vinegar, 1 tsp. crushed fennel seeds, white pepper and salt. Slowly whisk in 2 teaspoons truffle oil until combined. Set aside.
To assemble: Toss together the frisee and dressing in a bowl. Divide frisee among 6 salad plates. Arrange 3 blinis over frisee slightly overlapping in the center of the plate. Place a spoonful of pear-fennel “caviar” in the center of each blini, sprinkle with the cheese and chopped hazelnuts. Garnish with papaya seeds and three chives. Serves 6.
Cook’s notes: To toast the hazelnuts, spread in a single layer on a pie plate and bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until lightly toasted. Before crushing the fennel seeds, roast them slightly. While the pear mixture is poaching, make the blinis.
Finalist
MASCARPONE CREAM PIE WITH PCHES DE RASPBERRY FRAMBOISE
Linda Morten, Katy
Make this cream pie in the morning so that the flavors can marry in the refrigerator. It’s a luscious hot-weather dessert and very kid-friendly.
1 12-oz. package frozen raspberries
2 8-oz. cans Del Monte raspberry-flavored chunky peaches, well drained
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
¼ cup Mathilde Framboise des Landes
1 package frozen Sara Lee pound cake, cut into 14 slices
1 8-oz. package mascarpone cheese, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
1 12-oz. container frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided
½ cup peach or apricot preserves
1 ½ tsp. Mathilde Pches de Vignes
toasted sliced almonds or white chocolate curls (optional)
METHOD: Combine raspberries, peaches, granulated sugar and raspberry liqueur in a medium mixing bowl. Gently toss together until fruit is well coated. Set aside.
Cut each cake slice in half crosswise. Cut each half diagonally to form little triangles. Arrange triangles in the bottom and up the side of a 9-inch springform pan. Drain fruit mixture, reserving liqueur syrup. Spoon fruit mixture evenly over bottom of cake slices. Drizzle liqueur mixture over sides of cake until absorbed.
Beat mascarpone cheese and powdered sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add 2 cups whipped topping and beat until light and fluffy. Spread cheese mixture evenly over fruit mixture.
To make the glaze, place peach preserves in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring just until melted. Strain, discarding solids. Stir in peach liqueur. Spread glaze evenly over cream cheese filling. Chill 6 to 8 hours to let flavors blend.
To serve: Remove sides of springform pan and place pie on a dessert platter. Spoon remaining whipped topping into large decorator bag fitted with large star tip. Decoratively pipe whipped topping around edges of pie. Garnish with toasted sliced almonds or white chocolate curls, if desired. Cut into wedges. Serves 8.
