Savory Cheese Souffle

Here is another experiment with brown butter. In this case the nuttiness of the butter and hint of garlic came through and married well with the pecorino romano. Would be an excellent accompaniment to a spinach for frisee salad.

• 5 eggs


• 3/4 cup milk


• 1/2 cup cream


• 1/2 cup finely grated pecorino romano cheese


• 3 tsp butter


• 1 clove garlic minced


• 5 tbsp flour


• black pepper


• kosher salt


• 4 scallions sliced fine


• small bunch flat leaf parsley chopped fine

1. chop the parsley very finely


2. slice the scallions to about 1/16 to 1/8 thickness, green stem only


3. grate the pecorino romano to a fine consistency


4. separate 5 egg yolks from whites


5. reserve the yolks


6. beat the egg whites to a stiff peak


7. prepare a bechamel as follows


8. melt the butter over medium heat


9. pass the clove of garlic through a press or mince


10. add the garlic to the butter


11. let the butter brown


12. add the flour and remove from heat, working the mixture with a small whisk to form a roux


13. return to the heat and whisk in the milk and cream


14. warm the bechamil to where it is steaming but not bubbling


15. add the eggs, pecorino romano, scallions, and parsley while stirring


16. remove from the heat and gently fold in the egg whites until the bechamel mixture is mostly incorporated


17. butter 6 clay ramekins and dust with flour


18. spoon in the mixture to the ramekins, filling to within 1/4 of the top


19. place the ramekins in a water bath in a casserole or baking dish


20. place in a preheated 400F oven for 30-35 minutes, don't open the door


21. cooking time and not opening the door are critical to fully cook through the souffle and avoid falling; if you get worried about the browning, reduce the heat to 350 but keep them in there, not cooking the middle will result in a lumpy wet souffle and very likely cause it to fall

Savory Cheese Souffle @ Group Recipes

Savory Chocolate Parpadelle with Padano Carbonara & Tarragon Oil

So the lab coat came out on this one as promised, following up on a previous post on the experimentation on blog.khymos.org with the pairing of Parmesan and Chocolate. Martin's experiment was successful and I've been meaning to do something savory with chocolate for a while, so seemed like it was time for some gastronomic guesswork. I decided to take this in a little different direction, to make this a heartier main course and stay away from any potential dessert confusion. So, the plan was basically do a chocolate pasta, do a carbonara, seek out another complementary flavor to the chocolate / parmesan, and take a shot at the acid problem Martin mentioned.

On the last note, I did a little research on cocoa powder and found that the dutch style of processing uses alkali to reduce the acid in the cocoa bean, so I opted to keep that acid and use a naturally processed powder. Also, I decided to introduce an acid undertone to the carbonara with white balsamic vinegar. For the complementary flavor, I thought the licorice flavor in tarragon might be worth a shot, but as an accoutrement rather than as a primary flavor.

For the pasta dough, I used 2 1/2 cups of unbleached white flour, mixed 1/4 cup or so of the cocoa powder with the flour, and then dropped 6 eggs into the middle of the mound on my work table. I avoided olive oil at the suggestion of Martin. I worked the down by hand until it was no longer tacky, and then let it rest in the fridge for about an hour. I removed it and let it warm up for another 30 minutes. I then ran it through the pasta machine about twice as much as a typical pasta dough to help ensure consistency of texture and color. I sliced it at 1/4 to 3/8 inch thickness and then dried it for about 40 minutes.

The pasta was cooked in salted water for about 8-10 minutes due to the thickness of the noodles.

For the carbonara I heated a tablespoon of olive oil and added 6 thin slices of pancetta, coarsely chopped along with 2 thinly sliced cloves of garlic. When the pancetta was starting to crisp and the garlic is starting to brown, I added a few dashes of the white balsamic and briefly reduced. Next I added 1 Tbsp unsalted butter and 1 cup heavy cream. I then cracked 3 eggs and beat these briefly in a separate bowl. I added 1 1/2 cups grated Gran Padano to the eggs; this is like a young Parmesan Reggiano, less nuttiness with a slightly astringent and sharp note. Mix the cheese and egg mixture to an even consistency. Add this mixture to the pan with the cream, being careful to keep the cream below 140F initially. Stir and bring the sauce to about 160-165, being careful not to scramble the eggs. The trick here is to kill the bacteria in the eggs but not make EGGS as this will make the sauce inconsistent, ugly, and grainy on the palette. The acid from the balsamic should raise the "scramble point" such that you have a much larger window between dead bacteria and dead sauce.

For the tarragon oil, I just blended 1/4 extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 4 stalks of fresh tarragon.

Drain the pasta, cover the middle with the carbonara, and drip a few drops of the tarragon oil on top.

While this was an experiment, the results were really great. We ate it for dinner and we both loved it. The pasta has a coffee-like bitterness that balanced the richness of the sauce, and the occasional bite with tarragon in it added another flavor dimension which played nicely with the pancetta and sauce. Kudos to Martin for laying the groundwork and providing the inspiration on this one.

Insalata Stefano

So I made this one up a few years ago as an extension to your basic insalata mista, but by no means do I lay claim to being the salad superstar as I can't hold a candle to my wife in this arena. Still, this is a really good accompaniment to a good steak, and one good enough to put my name on it.

Insalata Stefano
1 head escarole
1/2 of a celery root
1 small beet
1 small carrot
buttermilk dressing (not ranch)
black pepper
cherry tomatoes

chop the root vegetables into short thin strips, seed the tomotoes and dice, combine the other ingredients with a liberal amount of black pepper and a little more dressing than normal to offset the density of the root vegetables.

Mushroom Bisque with Button Mushrooms in Brown Butter

This was my first attempt at a vegetarian mushroom bisque as I typically use chicken broth, but since I had some poaching liquid leftover from the night of the perfect lamb, I decided to attack this from a different angle. I sweated 2 white onions and 4 cloves of garlic, then added 1 quart of mushroom broth and a cup of water. Next I added 1/2 Tbsp Parisienne herbs, 1 celery root julienned, salt and pepper, and simmered for 20 minutes. To this I added 5 rough choped portobellos and just allowed these to warm through. Then into the blender and puree. Returning the mixture to the pot, I added 1 1/2 cups whole milk and 1/2 cup heavy cream. Finish with black pepper.

Separately, I browned 1/2 a stick of butter, and added sliced button mushrooms to the brown butter but don't cook completely through, and finished these with a dash of sea salt.

I was inspired by a recent post by Ruhlman to play around with brown butter again and think I found a happy home for this little technique.

Note the little browned specks, these are the milk solids from the butter that provide the nutty flavor.

The celery root really added a level to the peppery flavor, very good results. Celery root is great in salads, I know I've got a recipe with it somewhere I'll post later. The button mushrooms and brown butter added a nice nuttiness and a delicate earthiness to the robust bisque.

Pan Roasted Spring Lamb Loins, Mushroom Poached Fingerlings, & Black Cherry Endive

Lamb is a long standing nemesis of mine as I've had mixed success with various approaches, but this time I got lucky with the guesswork and nailed it. Prior to this, the best lamb I'd had in recent memory was at Rioja restaurant in Denver. Honestly though, my efforts this time left me with the best lamb I've ever eaten.

Spring Lamb Loins
Marinate bone-in lamb loins in a puree of 1 large shallot, 2 cloves garlic, the leaves of 3 rosemary stems, and a liberal amount of sea salt. Make sure to rub the marinade in and let it rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour. Leave the wet rub on the lamb loins and just sear both sides in an oven-capable saute pan. Place in a 400F oven for 10-12 minutes for medium.

Mushroom Poached Fingerlings
Wash a pound of fingerling potatoes and place in shallow casserole, skins on. Add 1 quart mushroom broth, 1 Tbsp fine herbs and a dash of red pepper flake. Cover and place in a 250-275F oven for 1 hour. Finish with a little salt and a pat of butter.

Black Cherry Endive
Place endive in baking dish and add 1-2 cups black cherry juice, just so half the endive is covered. Coat the top with olive oil and a little salt. Place in a 300 oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the braising liquid and finish quickly in hot pan with olive oil to just carmelize the outer layer. Reduce the braising liquid and add 1 Tbsp sugar. Finish the endive with a couple spoonfuls of the reduced liquid and black pepper.

The lamb was truly incredible. The skin of the fingerlings was earthy but muted. Unless you're going to grill endive, I think you need some sweetness as a counterpoint to it's flavor. While the accompaniments were somewhat successful, the lamb was perfect. I'm definitely adding that marinade to my repertoire.

Chile Rojo w/ Chimayo, Dundicuts, and Epazote

Here's a simple recipe that reheats well and employs some traditional mexican flavors along with a scary little pepper guaranteed to spice up your basic red chile.

2 large sweet onions diced
1 yellow bell pepper diced
1 Tbsp Chimayo Chile Powder
1 quart beef stock
1 Dundicuts Pepper, crushed with seeds
2 cans red kidney beans
1 Tsp Ancho Chile powder
1 can pinto beans
3 Tsp Epazote
1 1/2 lbs beef chuck, small dice
1 large can pureed tomatoes (34 oz)
1 1/2 Tsp Gumbo File
Salt to taste

Sweat the onions halfway in a large pot, add the chuck and sear the outside. Add the tomatoes and beef stock. Next, put the dundicuts pepper into a spice ball and sink that into the pot, be careful not to touch the pepper with you hand, the little bugger is 65,000 on the scoville heat index. Add the chimayo powder, ancho and epazote, stir and simmer for 10 minutes. Next add the beans and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the spice ball and adjust seasoning. Add the Gumbo File to thicken and simmer for another 10 minutes.

The finished product will have heat in the background and layers of warms spices up front, with a balanced sweetness from the onion and peppers. Serve with grated jack cheese and warm tortillas. Our little ones even liked it.

Corn Chowder

There are many versions of this that I've experimented with, but what I really like is how easy it is to get consistently good results. Below is a little more ceremonious version, like for when you have a weekend morning to kill roasting chilis.

3 quarts chicken stock
6-8 anaheim chilis
2 white onions, medium chop
4 cloves garlic
4 strips bacon
1 green pepper, medium chop
4 stalks celery, small chop
1-2 teaspoons sweet smoked paprika
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup half & half
salt and fresh ground black pepper
3 bags frozen corn
dash cayenne pepper

Roast the anaheim chilis in a 450 oven for 20 minutes, turning once. Remove the chilis and place in a plastic bag to steam in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, this will make them easy to peel.
Start the bacon in a medium pot over medium high heat. After you get a partial rendering of the fat, reduce to medium and add the celery, onion and green pepper. At the point of caramelization, add one quart of chicken stock and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the chilis and simmer for another 20 minutes, adding stock as necessary to keep everything coated. Add the corn and just warm through, don't let it boil. Blend to a semi-rough consistency and return to the pan adding the remaining ingredients except the half and half. Season to taste, and finish with the half and half. Smoky, sweet, and a little spice are the flavors that should be apparent. If you lack sweetness, try adding a little salt before adding any more sugar or half and half, the salt brings out the sweetness of the corn. Also, adding black pepper at the end is recommended. A simpler variation is to add a can of hatch chilis in place of the freshly roasted variety. Also, adding separately cooked sausage prior to blending is a meatier variation.

This is a staple for us when it's cold, and the schizophrenic weather here made us want soup. Can't wait for the real spring to get here.

Cool Experiment Forthcoming

So Martin Lersch has cooked up a cool and unconventional experiment over at blog.khymos.org. Chocolate Tagliatelle with Parmesan Cream sounds like a nifty Italian-inspired molecular gastronomic treat. Savory chocolate dishes are not something I've played with, but they are something I've always had on my list to do. So in addition to the growing list of "recipes I want to try", I'll have to get out the lab coat and mess with this one. Thinking of adding a textural element to the cream, possibly finding a complementary protein element, and guessing at a solution to the need for acid he mentions.

On a related note, I simply have to pass along the very comprehensive list Martin put together on Hydrocolloid recipes; a ton of foams, cremas, gels, and the like can be found within this tome I was so happy to find. The recipe collection can be found here. I lack Martin's scientific Ph.D, but share his inquisitive nature in looking at new ways to make food. As Hervé This says (yes that's somebody's name, a very cool somebody in the world of molecular gastronomy), a good meal takes 3 things: love, art, and a technical component. I guess that leaves the door open for me to conduct some gastronomic guesswork.

The pan you've never heard of that you HAVE to own

About 5 or 6 years ago I came across this loss leader promotion for an odd style of pan at a little boutique cooking store. The retail was like $85-90 and the promotion price was $29. The once great Cooks Mart store where I made this discovery is regrettably no longer in existence, but the pan has proven its mettle ever since.

The pan is just an 8 inch fry pan, nothing special in term of purpose really. What is remarkable is the composition and function of this pan. The core is pressed aluminum and the surface is ceramic titanium. More details on the composition can be found here, but the fundamentally cool thing about this pan is the non-stick surface that is still great at browning. Honestly, for omelets or eggs in general, I still go for the commong non-stick surfaces (my egg pan is calphalon). However I'm typically not worried about surface friction to obstain some browning and easy deglazing with eggs, that's where this pan comes in.

While it serves the fundamental function of a fry pan, the surface is far more forgiving than my stainless steel lined pans, which stick impossibly when the pan hits around 350F. Beyond that, the surface is so hard it doesn't require you to use silicone kitchen tools to keep it from scratching. That's because the surface is solid titanium, not a coating. Looking back at the details page on scanpan's site, the Denmark company does say that the coating is blasted on, but apparently the force and heat is such that it's permanently adhered to the aluminum base. Confidently, I can say I've beat the tar out of this pan and the surface is still nearly perfect. Here's proof.



Although upon close inspection of the photo there appear to be a few scratches, these really are blemishes and touching it reveals a seamless smoothness. I know I looked on Amazon about 3 months ago and was not able to buy any Scanpan products, but now it looks like they not only carry it, but have a similar loss leader. Jump on this while you can, at $39.95, it's a steal, and knowing what I know now, I'd have no issue paying $85 retail and I will definitely purchase another scanpan in the future.

Socca

Here is a great little snack or meal accent to add to your repertoire. Socca is to me the quintessential provencial dish, emphasizing the simplicity of preparation and harmony of just a couple ingredients.

Socca is eaten by people in southern france, some of whom get the little treat at curbside vendors who wrap it in a little napkin and you can eat as you go. Popular as a simple breakfast, I routinely cook socca probably once a month.

To prepare, you need to get some chickpea / garbanzo bean flour. To 2 cups garbanzo bean flour, add some fine sea salt (a teaspoon or so), 1/3 cup of olive oil, mash with a wisk until it starts to have an even chunk, then add water and whisk until you have something close to the consistency to make crepes. Technically, that's exactly what this is, a chickpea flour crepe. If you haven't made crepes, basically you are going for an even smooth consistency that is looser than a pancake batter, but not watery.

Pour the mixture onto a cookie sheet and place in a 400F oven for about 10-15 minutes. You want the socca to firm up and lose a good amount of it's water, and for the top to start to take on a golden brown. It's important to evenly coat the sheet or you will have some burnt edges or softer middle. If you have trouble, experiment with a lower heat and then finish briefly under the broiler. After pulling it from the oven, immediately cover with a healthy amount of freshly ground black pepper. Albeit a little spicy, everyone seems to gobble down the socca, even our 2 year old twins.

Jing Restaurant in Denver

Heading out to see what the buzz was about on Friday. There's a new little area called Landmark that promises to be the DTC area's little Cherry Creek. Not sure if that will pan out as many of the shops are empty, and until Friday, I had no clue this development had gone up even thought I routinely drive by it. The occasion was to celebrate our friend Karen's birthday and my wife's birthday. As we walked up, you could tell this was going to the new chic thing down south. We entered a very crowded bar area, replete with enhanced body parts. It was pretty apparent this is the place to be seen, as a very upscale and hip crowd of DTC'ers were celebrating the end of the week. So we ordered a glass or wine and a coctail, $20. OUCH I thought, is this going to be the too cool for school place that prices itself out of business as soon the hipsters see a new shiny object?

The decor was trendy, harmonized feng shui probably, or pretending to do so anyway... Fire on one wall, a waterfall over the glass dividing the bar and restaurant on the other, some white bamboo in the distance.
All I'm thinking at this point is "please, don't let the food & service suck". We mingle with Karen and her husband Chris for a while, and do a little people watching. The place grows on me a little, if it wasn't sooo crowded and so loud, the little enclaves on the wall would be a fun place to hang for an app and a drink.

So we're seated on time for our reservation and are greeted by a very high energy waiter. The restaurant is packed, and its still very loud. At this point I'm thinking everything about this place is intense, and am a little worried how the evening is going to pan out. Again, "please don't let the food suck". We browse the winelist and settle on the Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc. I'm struck that some of the selections are selling at close to 4x retail, but the higher priced selections are actually closer to 2-2.5x ... this bugs me a little given my sommelier background as 3x is kind of the ceiling in my mind, I take comfort in the fact that we've picked something that's a reasonable value and I know will be good. After taking our drink order, our waiter is very helpful in being up front on what are the stars of the menu, while steering us gently away from some initial curiousities. He's deft at not poopooing anything but speaking rather of the item's quality to his liking versus it's popularity.

We dig a little more into the menu that's really 3 buckets of things - americanized "classic" Chinese, Chinese Nouveau, and eclectic favorites of the owner. Here's a peek.



We proceed to order two appetizers and three entrees on the advice of our waiter. The appetizers arrive, and we start with the Ahi Napoleon and the Tempura Rock Shrimp.
The tuna was excellent, savory, refreshing and light. The rock shrimp were good as well, though the chili aioli softened the texture enough that I wished they had instead just drizzled it on so there might have been a little more crunch.

My impression of this place is quickly changing, maybe all the attention is deserved as there are generally few beacons of good food out this way, so I start chalking up the demand based on the reputation of the owner, who also owns Little Ollie's in Cherry Creek. The service far exceeded my expectations. As we ordered another bottle of wine, this time delving into the Frog's Leap Sauvignon Blanc despite my advocation for the Caymus Canundrum (both are very good, I was just looking for something richer at this point), I noticed that after tasting I had unknowingly moved my glass away from our waiter's reach, yet my glass was full after previously only having a tasting portion. This truly was a service experience where he was always there but often unnoticed. If you sample Jing, please ask for Derek Brown for your server, he will point you in the right direction and take care of you and your guests.

For our entrees, we chose the Peppercorn Tenderloin, Roasted Peking Duck, and Shrimp in Candied Walnuts.
The star of the show was the duck, it was perfect really ... crispy skin, no grease, well seasoned, fun presentation with dumplings of dough for little sandwiches, simple but creative and high points for cooking technique.

The peppercorn tenderloin was very good, again simple clean complementary flavors rather than the melange I think of typical Chinese fair. The shrimp with walnuts was good, but nothing stood out to make it memorable. At the end of this, Chris and I found ourselves craving a little something more. So we added the Lobster BLT.

The presentation was humble, the portion though was nice. These flavors aren't that original, but it was a very delectable way to complete the evening. Afterward, as Krista and Karen argued about politics (you don't know how shocking it was to hear these two disagree on anything political),

Chris and I discussed the meal, and while he thought it had not quite lived up to the hype, he consented that everything was good to very good. For myself, the impending doom I was feeling at the beginning of the evening, worried that this was a style-over-substance gauntlet of silicone assault on the senses, had given way to a joyous satisfaction and no regrets on the bill.

Cat Cora wins on .... Originality?

So I'm not a huge fan of Cat Cora, but she does have some skills and has started to come into her own on Iron Chef America. In her 2 most recent appearances, both in 2008, she's 1 and 1. The first contest was with the pastry chef at WD~50, Alex Stupak. He pretty much dominated in my opinion, as Cat Cora's final dish looked like a total circus. However, it was battle chocolate so not unexpected that a pastry chef might have an edge. But make no mistake, this guy can cook.

In her most recent battle, she actually cooked a couple things I was very impressed by in battle Ham. She did a duo of salsify, filo dough wrapped salsify in serrano ham, over a salsify puree that sounded awesome. The other dish that impressed was the green ham and eggs which featured a chimichurri sauce over serrano ham and a poached duck egg. Still though, I thought the challenger Lee Hillson beat her. The judges agreed with me on taste, but somewhat inexplicably she beat him by 2 points on originality even though I thought he at least equalled her in this area. I guess the novelty of salsify won it for her here, which I can't argue with here in Denver ... I don't think I've ever seen it on the shelves of any market or specialty grocer ... do tell if somebody out there knows differently. I guess I'll have to grow it to get it.


Salsify

Iron Chef Denver - Battle Corn

Yesterday my friend Eric and I entered the heat of battle in the kitchen of Trattoria Stefano. Yes, for this day, our quaint & quiet kitchen in the south suburbs of Denver was transformed into our own version of Kitchen Stadium. Well, so we do have a commercial hood and a couple commercial burners, a commercial prep table, and by no means is it quiet with twins running around the place. But there was a flurry of activity once my wife introduced the secret ingredient - corn. Eric and I were both surprised by corn, he thought she would pick Rosemary and I thought she'd pick bell peppers. So the rules were as follows, modified from the television show to account for the lack of sous chefs and the fact this really is a dinner party:

- competitors get 1 hour to prepare a menu and shopping list, during which time they can use the internet or books for ideas, even recipes if they so choose
- 2 hours to shop
- 2 hours to cook before the first course needs to be served
- each competitor must serve at least 3 courses
- all dishes must be served in succession once serving begins (meaning after we all sort of have a chance to eat)
- maximum budget of $50 each
- scoring was 10pts for taste, 5 for plating and 5 for originality

To add a little flair to the festivities, my wife purchased chef jackets and enlisted a close family friend Carolyn to embroider these with "Trattoria Stefano", which was the name I put on the menu that I served my future wife when I cooked for her on our first Valentine's day.

So as I sat down to plan for the battle, I found the secret ingredient a little difficult just because I thought there were so many different things you could do with it. I make some pretty wicked chili corn chowder, but I know the judges (Krista and Carolyn) had both had that already. After some thought, I decided my theme would be to use corn in different forms to demonstrate corn with different textures, and not be completely obsessed with making it the central flavor in each dish.

After our shopping trip it was Ale’ Cuisine!

Eric and I started off very differently, I was worried about the length of preparation for some of my items, so I had pans, ovens, and burners ablaze immediately, while Eric was very organized and set about his mise en place. One challenge we both dealt with quite well was demand for prep space and burners / ovens / blenders. We were both much more concerned with having fun with each other that winning so there was never an issue in yielding to the other when needed, and we shared pots and cookie sheets for boiling corn and roasting peppers and garlic. Besides, we had our first beer open before the starter's gun sounded, so this was all about a night with friends and having some friendly competition.

For the first course, I served Jalapeno and Black Pepper Hanger Steak, resting on avocado, with a corn, lime and cayenne shooter.

I told the judges that the meal was designed for you to take a bite of the steak and then a sip of the shooter, and that the shooter would start of very spicy and tangy but mellow as you went. For the hanger steak, I sauted several jalapenos in grapeseed oil to extract some of the flavor, then rubbed the steaks with the jalapenos (seeds and all) and oil and let them rest for about an hour. Then into the pan until well seared (brown) but rare. For the shooter, I crisped some bacon with a couple cloves of garlic, then sauteed 1/2 a white onion until everything just started to brown. Then I deglazed with a 1/2 cup of chicken stock, and briefly simmered 2-3 cups of corn with some salt and cayenne. Next I blended the mixture and added some heavy cream, lime juice and more cayenne. Finally, I served the warm mixture with fresh lime juice on top, with a dash of cayenne. Please forgive the little juice glass, I don't own anything fancier for this sort of thing.

For Eric's first course, he served corn, sesame seed and sweet pepper fried wantons with a worcestshire chili sauce. I thought this was the most adventurous but successful flavor pairing of the night, the sauce was very savory and spicy, nicely contrasting with the sweetness and crispiness of the wanton. I'll ask Eric to post his recipes here later this week.

For my second course, I served a porcini and marjoram polenta with a quenelle of marscapone.

This was one of the two dishes that involved lengthy cooking time. I put a healthy portion of dried porcini into a quart of chicken broth and a spice ball full of fresh marjoram, plus some sea salt. I simmered this for 30 minutes, then added 1 1/2 cups course grained polenta, and did the polenta thing by fairly continuously stirring and adding broth over the next 90 minutes. The marscapone did something decadent to this dish, as everyone remarked how rich it was even though the marscapone accounted for the only fat in it.

Eric's second course was cous cous, roasted pasilla pepper, ground turkey, corn and a sundried tomato, roasted garlic and yogurt sauce.


My third course was Poêléd Chicken with Souther Skillet Cornbread, intended to be a french inspired play on fried chicken and cornbread that was textured like a biscuit.

This dish was also time intensive as I had to render 1/2 a pound of salt pork, then add the chicken to the rendered fat along with two stick of butter. Ok health nuts, don't get too worked up, the technique keeps the juices in the chicken but really doesn't have the same downside as frying because you do this all at 300-350 in the oven. To the poêlé juices I added an andouille sausage and a cup of chopped flat leaf parsley, and coated the top of the skin with salt and black pepper. For the corn bread I adapted a corn muffin recipe but made it with the biscuit technique, using about 50% more cornmeal than flour. The biscuit mixture went into a cast iron skillet greased with shortening, and then I drizzled on a couple ounce of melted butter and baked it in a 450 oven for 15 minutes (until golden brown on top edges). The cornbread was served with a pat of butter and a pool of honey.

Eric's third course was corn cakes with a duo of cilantro and mint pestos. This was a very interesting way to end the meal, sort of a savory dessert. The cilantro pesto had a nice kick, and the mint was a nice palette cleanser.

So I had a forth course that was sort of a "what the hell" kind of experiment: Ancho chile dusted bone marrow with corn salsa.

This was my first foray into cooking bones, but the reaction I've seen from Jeffrey Steingarten made me really want to try it. I took the 1 1/2 thick bone out to warm a bit, and then sprinkled some ancho chili powder on them and then under the broiler for about 6 minutes. I topped the centers with a few flakes of gray sea salt and served with artisan boule bread and the salsa. For the salsa, I combined some fire roasted corn and pasilla peppers, some roasted garlic, red onion and a hint of lime juice. I thought the marrow was really good, my guests were 50/50 on it, with my wife with the quote of the evening: "I was totally repulsed by the smell, but I appreciated the effort and thought that went into the dish". OUCH, well the other judge Carolyn like it, but Eric only tasted the salt. I have to admit that the salsa was too much for the delicate but rich and earthy flavor of the marrow, but I liked it as an accompaniment.

So after the final course, the judges retreated to tally the scores. I pulled off a narrow win with the Iron Chef scoring, Eric was awarded the "Most Adaptive Chef" award for tackling cooking equipment and a kitchen he had never seen before, and I was given the "Most Outside the Box Chef" for the bone marrow, which I'm thinking wasn't an honor in this case.

Most importantly, we had a good time. It was Eric's birthday by chance, and I don't think it will be one soon forgotten. Kudos Eric for some great cooking and inventive flavor combinations! All this wonderful food was accented with a 2004 Ridge Geyserville (a consistently world class Zinfandel) and a miraculously good Cabernet Franc that Eric brought (details to follow). By the end of the night I was exhausted, I don't know how much Batali gets paid for his masterful work in Kitchen Stadium, but I hope they pop for a hotel close by for him.

I couldn't stay awake very long after the food, wine, & judging.