Duck Confit on Frisee with Black Mustard Balsamico Vinaigrette, with Black Pepper Polenta di Parma

Our valentine's tradition goes back to when my wife and I first met. For our first Valentine's day I made up a little menu for Trattoria Stefano since that's my name in Italian and I was going with Italian on this occasion. Ever since, we don't eat out on Valentine's but rather I spend half the day cooking and trying to cater to may lovely wife's culinary desires. This fusion of French and Italian flavors and preparations was act 4 and narrowly edged out the cod for the favorite dish of the night.

From gastronomic guesswork

The prepartion involved crisping the duck confit under a 450F broiler for 15 minutes, dolloping with duck fat (top and bottom) at the outset. Frisee, a classic paring with duck confit, was doused with the vinaigrette and the plate anointed with a few drops of the remnants. The polenta di parma followed the basic recipe, but was plated with a valley to hold a fresh texture of 3 year aged parmigiano reggiano. A symphony of flavor, and the best small plate in the Valentine's Trattoria Stefano repertoire. However, I missed a key planned ingredient: seared chanterelles were to accompany the duck but I spaced this out, so look for a duck and mushrooms dish in the future.

Cod a la Piastra with Gingered Tamari Shitaki and Chive Tubettini

An Eric Ripert inspired flavor combination, faithfully executed in a quasi l'Italiano Nouvelle cuisine interpretation (let's call it New American herein). In other words, Italian cooking surface, Nouvelle flavor clarity. This one was aimed at my wife's palate, straightforward flavor components that resound individually complementary notes.

From gastronomic guesswork

The prepation was on a smooth grilling stone at about 375F surface temperature with a thin coating of grapeseed oil. The cod was given a sqeeze of lemon and a splash of white wine vineger and seared. The mushrooms were cook alongside with fresh grated ginger, minced garlic, and tamari. The tubetini was sepately boiled in sea salted water, then tossed with Giachi Primolio olive oil and chives. The cod was finished with shaved fresno and serrano chile (using a mandoline to make these nearly transparently thin). This dish was amazing, the chiles did not overpower, and the chive pasta was an essential note in the flavor profile. Can't wait to make this one again. A note on ingredients: the fish came from Seafood Landing, the pasta from Carbone's Deli in North Denver, and the Giachi from the Truffle.

Cherry Cricket in Denver

Took the crew out for some comfort food as part of a family outing last weekend. Made our way over to the Cherry Cricket (a strong contender for the best burger in Denver). What I like about the cricket is that it is the black sheep little dive remnant of old Cherry Creek, among the new often pretentious and sometimes vainglorious Cherry Creek North hood. Here, you build your own, and it always ends up being just spot on. A personal fav is the Cricket Burger with sauteed mushrooms, bacon and smoked chedder; throw in a few onion rings, a palate cleansing pickle or 3, and a nap for a perfect comfort food experience.

Herbacious Hot Mouth Braised Short Ribs with Tamari Butter Poached Carrots

So this may sound a little weird, but went for a lemony-herb-spicy flavor profile on these short ribs, possibly a unexpected when you're talking beef. The lemon flavor imparted was actually from a chile rather from a citrus fruit: the aji amarillo. The herb note was created with layers of rosemary progressively added throughout the very slow braising process.

From gastronomic guesswork

The prepartion involved mixing a bit of flour and sea salt with a healthy dose of aji amarillo chile powder, and a dash of habanero chile powder to kick up the heat. The short ribs were coated in the mixture, quickly seared, then doused with another coating. In a french oven, the ribs were braised with about 1/2 inch of water, 4 whole garlic cloves, and fresh rosemary stems for 5 hours at ~175F. Rosemary was added / replaced 2 more times throughout the cooking process. The flavor pairing worked pretty well, but 2 caveats: the braising liquid needed a little more salt than I thought and the ribs were a little on the fatty side which muddled the flavor a bit. I think a little acid like red wine vinegar would have also improved the results. The carrots were poached at 200F for 2 hours in 2 cups of water, 4 tablespoons butter, and 2 tablespoons of Tamari soy sauce; this part of the dish was perfect.

"O's" Restaurant in Denver

As an avid reader of Food 102, I've been excited to experience the fun progressive cuisine that Ian Kleinman prepares for the Molecular Gastronomy tasting menu every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. O's is situated in the Westminster Westin, and the layout is chic and cozy. We finally had the opportunity to satisfy our curiosity with the Valentine's Day menu.

Here are my notes straight from the blackberry...

Execution falls slightly short, but the chef was in New York with Harold McGee on this visit (really good excuse)
Flavor pairing are ambitious, innovative, and scrumptious.
Textures verge on the experiential and are aptly technoemotional cuisine
Service is attentive and personalizes the experience
Value is extraordinary and worthy of a metro road trip

The menu was Shrimp with Warm Avocado and Papaya Salad, Corn and Jalepeno Consomme, Vanilla Tapioca Sous Vide Lobster, and Liquid Nitrogen Strawberry Sorbet. The shrimp were immaculately cooked, warm avocado danced in the mouth, and the forward heat of the chipotle spice was welcomed in this context; papaya strands and jicama played well, excellent dish composition and despite being aggressive with the heat, a well received symphonic movement in what we felt was, overall, a great meal. The Corn and Jalepeno consomme was nearly perfect, yet the last two tablespoonfuls were highly salty, less obvious in earlier dips of the spoon; my wife enjoyed, I first gave pause then abdicated to the salinity. Lobster was hit and miss. The flavor pairing and textural complement of the tapioca was exceptional, yet one of my tail portions (of the three) was overcooked and stringy, nearly leathery; two of my wife's shared the same perilous fate. The sublime smoothness of the rapidly chilled strawberry puree (prepared tableside) made me think this was the best sorbet I've had (unseating the pine needle sorbet at al Marcereto outside Sambucca, Toscana).

On balance, O's miscues were forgivable and overshadowed by the promising technique and inventive but highly approachable flavor pairings. We got our technoemotional foodgeek itch scratched, thanks Chef Kleinman and team, see you soon!

Spicy Tiger Shrimp Scampi a la plancha

Part of the rationale for the themeless freeform food blog name was the fact that I really don't know what I'm doing ... I'm not a Culinary Institute of America grad, didn't intern under Thomas Keller, and have no restaurant experience worth mention ... but, I really dig the creative pallet the kitchen affords, find fulfillment in preparing good food for my family, and welcome the opportunity to escape the pressures of the day over a hot stove or noshing at a restaurant that's worth the money, no matter the fare. Nonetheless, Gastronomic Guesswork occasionally means that second part dominates the situation with occasionally dire consequences. Witness below what happens when you get a new grilling stone for your birthday, don't have the directions, and decide to saute shrimp on a 500F+ surface.

From gastronomic guesswork

Anyway, this was an epic failure, some of the shrimp was leather, some raw. The middle bits were edible, so we got about 3 bites out of the whole preparation. Flavor was great (just garlic, lemon, chili flake, white wine), so I definitely will revisit this Spanish / Italian method of preparation, especially for seafood: it's called a la plancha in Spanish and a la piastra in Italian. But I might have to wait a while, apparently the severe temperature change of leaving the stone on the grill when it's 10F outside makes the stone crack. Ok that's two failures in one go ... on the upside, two tips on getting the best shrimp for the landlocked: at whole foods you can ask for the large prawn tiger shrimp (from Vietnam) still frozen, way better than the fresh, previously frozen stuff; just ask 'em to dig out a few from the back; second, this might sound crazy, but the Kirkland brand at Costco (peeled raw and frozen) are always perfect, still frozen at whole foods is great but definitely my second choice.

Luca D'Italia in Denver

In celebration of my wife's birthday, we celebrated at the second sortie in Frank Bonanno's assault on Denver's Restaurant Scene. We first ate here just weeks after the opening (~3 years ago) and were delighted to find Vin Santo on the wine menu, a rare and distinctly Tuscan dessert spirit that is classically enjoyed by dipping a biscotti into it. On this first visit, we dined with some friends with less adventurous palates, so we obliged them by doing the single course thing and thereby we missed an opportunity to put ourselves into the hands of the chefs. The meal was good, but afterward I felt like my experiences at Panzano, Venice, and Chianti were at least on equal footing with Luca D'Italia; still I decided to delay judgment until we had the opportunity to do the tasting menu (simply the way to eat at Bonanno's Mizuna).

For this occasion we got our cuisine on Italian style, and went for the Menu Degustazione. This covered 11 tastes by my count, including an amuse bouche, bread course, 4 elements in the Assag'gini, Antipasta Fredo, Antipasta Caldo, Primo, Secondi, and finally the Dolce. I can only describe my pleasure and bewilderment from this eating experience as being whipsawed by a progressive Italian Master Chef. Maybe I allowed the first dining experience to be too formative, as although I tend to expect the unexpected from Bonanno, all but one flavor element (which was still good) was fabulous and verging on the sublime.

The bread course was filled with artisan breads and employed whipped prosciutto fat with rosemary and chives in place of butter. The amuse bouche salt cod fritter foretold of the great gastronomic fortune we were about to find. The Assag'gini was so amazing I just can't share the details as this must just be experienced and I dearly hope you all try it. The antipasta fredo featured bresaola with robiola (both likely coming from Osteria Marco), to which my wife remarked "I can't believe how good this is". The antipasta caldo was crispy bass with celery root risotto, meyer lemon and salsa verde. The primo was herbed ricotta tortellini in porcini brodo with spinach puree; identifiably Italian but crazy how excited we got about fresh ricotta. This was just one example of how Bonanno surprised us, he has a knack for elevating the mundane to the level of decadence as his team just nails flavor pairings, texture, and exhaustive even exhausting application of classic technique - you simply have to be out to please the gourmand if you attempt demi brunoise of toast for example. The secondi was roast quail, pancetta fregola, confit & spinach salad, marcona almonds and dates; blow-your-hair-back good eats.

After 3 hours of feasting, my wife shared that this might have been the best meal she's ever eaten; certainly for me this is the best Italian meal I've ever enjoyed in the United States. If my previous calls for Michelin to cover Denver have been forgotten, please now take notice of Frank Bonanno's quaint masterpiece of substance over style, Luca D'Italia.

Sopa del Cerdo con Pimientas Dulces Asadas

Yah I used babelfish on the title. A Spanish-inspired soup, which literally translates to Pork Soup with Roasted Sweet Peppers. The dominant flavor is sweet roasted pepper, with pimentón on the mid-palate, and pork in the background.

From gastronomic guesswork

The broth was made by simmering 2 pounds of trimmed, diced, and seared pork butt with 2 quartered sweet onions, 6 cloves of garlic, 2 diced stalks of celery, and a tablespoon of kosher salt in 3 quarts of water for 2 hours. Three pounds of red bell peppers were separately grilled until just beginning to char on the edges. These were destemmed and deseeded, then blitzed with the broth. Smoked pimentón was added and seasoning adjusted, then finished with a touch of half and half. It should be noted that the pork but blended into the soup, so nutritionally this had plenty of protein in it.

Prime Ribeye with Orzo Primavera

Really went for clean flavors here, despite the beef being of prime quality, this was a light meal that didn't leave you in a food-coma.

From gastronomic guesswork

The steak was brushed with grapeseed oil and grilled at 550F to medium rare, then finished with scallions and fresh ground black pepper. The orzo was cooked in a base of 1 quart of chicken broth infused with garlic and parmigiano reggiano, tossed with olive oil and a little more parmigiano, and plated with minced parsley and a small dice of sauteed red and orange bell peppers. Kudos to Sprouts for again offering prime aged beef for the unreal price of $6.99 a pound.

Brioche French Toast with Zesty Apple Compote

Family brunch featured a French inspired indulgence. The flavor of the compote made this dish, simple yet elegant.

From gastronomic guesswork

The preparation of the compote involved making a light syrup with 1 pint water and 1 cup granulated cane sugar, a cheesecloth containing 4 cloves and 1/4 of a ground nutmeg globe, bringing these to a boil and then cooking the brunoise of apples for 15 minutes. The compote was then strained of the syrup and cooled in the fridge. The French toast batter was 3 eggs blitzed until smooth, 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, and a couple dashes of ground cinnamon. The brunoise was key as the intention was to make these little morsels of apples very intensely evoke the essence of nutmeg and clove.