My first dish at Bin 555

So this is going to be a busy next couple of days, maybe next week as I am developing about 6 new dishes to go on the menu. And what better time to do it than the beginning of fall. Which is equally as exciting as the first of spring to me.

So the idea of a roasted root vegetable salad as been a great fall and winter staple of nice restaurants and not so nice ones for a long time. But here is my take on it.

Baby Beets, Turnips, Rutabaga all slow roasted

"Mole" Vinaigrette

Pickled Lime Zest

and you know I had to put some watercress on there.

Stayed tuned over the next week or two I should be updating a little more frequently than I have been!

New Things to Come!!!

As of today I am now the Sous Chef at Bin 555 under Chef Jason Dady. So from here on out all post on the blog will be from new things we are doing at the Bin. It should be an awesome experience. However it might take me a while before I post anything new as I get adjusted to my new responsibilities, crew and kitchen. I also want to take this time to thank all of my guys who have been so dedicated to me for so long. Luis and Julian I love you guys and wish you guys the best of luck at Ciao2.

Pistachio Salami

Duo of Ribeye

"Eye" (Cooked Sous Vide then Seared)

Aspargus Ragout

Toasted Pinenut Puree

Slow Poached Egg Yolk

"Cap" (Grilled)

Red Wine Braised Portobello

Gorgonzola Crunch

Watercress

Red Wine Syrup

Nutella: Banana: Caramel

So the idea of the flexible chocolate ribbon has been on my mind for a while. But havent had any cargeenan in order to do it. Still dont but somewhat duplicated it by making a basic Nutella custard, then added gelatin and xanthan gum and set it in a hotel pan. It worked smooth custard texture but stability from the gelatin.

"Nastro di Nutella"

Nutella Ribbon

Caramel in 3 Textures (Powder with Tapioca Maltodextrin, Cajeta Caramel and Chantilly)

Banana (Chips and Parisenne)

Crushed Hazelnuts

Roasted Pheasant Breast

Pheasant Breast

Broccolini- Broccolini Puree

Crispy "Canneloni" stuffed with pheasant offals, bacon and mushrooms

Roasted Garlic- Roasted Garlic Puree
Balsamic

Pheasant Jus

Pheasant Confit Ravioli

Not the most photogenic dish but this thing was so good I had to post it anyway.

Ravioli of Pheasant Confit

Summer Squash

Squash Seeds

Foie-Pheasant Emulsion

Sage- Meyer Lemon Gremolata

Heirloom Tomato Salad

Heirloom Tomatoes

Baby Arugula

Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette

Goat Cheese Crisp

Basil Seeds
Fleur de sel

"Coffee and Doughnuts"

So here it is. The doughnuts in the stock pot a few post ago became doughnut conssomme. Line cook Josh Kirk and I have been brainstorming this dish and this is what we ended up with. "Coffee and Doughnuts" It is a chocolate doughnut shooter with espresso glazed coffee cake and dried cherry strusel.The shooter is the conssomme with a chocolate spherification. So we Reduced the doughnuts with water and pureed the mixture. Then we used gelatin clarification, to end up with the clear liquid. This process takes some time as you freeze the gel, and then wait for it to defrost in the refridgerator. Some people say it takes two days, but from my expierience it really takes about a week.

The chocolate sphere in calcium chloride bath.

Daniel Boulud

This man is one the most famous and renowed chefs in the world. We went to his most casual concept DBGB and he was so gracious to us. Staying late to send us pretty much everything on his menu. Don't get me wrong when I say his most casual concept everything here is still made in house with the best ingredients he can find, it is just presented to you in the form of 10 different sausages and probally 5 different hamburgers, with a little pigs foot and bone marrow mixed in. This is a chef's restaurant. Once we finished here he removed his chefs whites and took us to one of his secret spots somewhere in China Town. Which had a sign of a chinese restaurant but among entering and seeing bar tenders in lab coats you soon realize there will be no Peking duck here. For all of us this absolutely was a night we will never forget. Every single one of us has a tremendous amount of respect for Daniel and were blown away at his hospitality.

The James Beard House

Monday morning after the market. Lots of butterflies at this time, walking into a kitchen where so many amazing chefs have cooked. Wow!

The crew. What an experience it was working with all of these guys. Some I have worked with before and others not but this was a very beneficial trip for all of us.

Robbie Nowlin and Daniel Patino making cherry- foie macaroons. These things were so good. Chef Patino made an extra 50 or so for us to munch on in the kitchen.

Meeting with Chef Dady the first morning we arrived.

It's not normal for a chef to help prep and see a dinner come together and then sit down and eat it. For most of us we were lucky enough to do this at the James Beard Dinner "A Cook's Reunion" on Tuesday August 25. The dinner featured my good friend Chef Dady, Chef Daniel Patino of Arcadia a Michael Mina restaurant in San Jose, CA. and Chef Christopher Lee of Aureole in New York. All three of these guys are top notch chefs and I was able to see alot of techniques that were new to me. I dont have pictures of the dinner because at our table was a board member of The James Beard Foundation and I thought it would be tacky, but it was wonderful. Reception with six different hors d'oeuvre and then six courses followed by petit fours.

Chelsea Street Fish Market

Union Square Farmer's Market

This is by far the best farmer's market I have ever been to. You can get anything imaginable here and everything is top notch. And oh yea its open four days a week.

Restaurant Daniel..... Enough Said.

Oh what a night!!!!!!!!!!!! Just got done having dinner at Restaurant Daniel, There are way too many courses and pics to post them all but let me tell you this was amazing. We had the "8 course tasting menu" but for each course the table was served two dishes alternating between each of us. So we ate half and passed to the right, and on top of that when it was time for dessert they dropped a different dessert in front of each of us and four extras in the middle of the table! WHAT? All in all we tasted about 30 dishes at this 2 Star Michelin, 4 Star New York Times restaurant. This was an amazing meal and a night that I will never forget. An awesome group that truely loves and respects food, what better company to share this with. Oh yeah and best of all we met the man himself!!!!!!!! Daniel Boloud.

New York, New York. Ready for the likes of this?!?!

Headed to NYC on Sunday. A trip with a close group of friends and great cooks from San Antonio, to expierience the city, Restaurant Daniel, possibly WD 50 and best of all the Beard House. Thanks to Chef Jason Dady of www.thelodgerestaurant.com for setting up this dinner and allowing me the outsider to come along. Its gonna be awesome!!!!!!

What is that??????????????????

Doughnuts in a stock pot, stayed tuned its gonna be awesome!

Foie Gras "en terrina"

Tennessee Foie Gras Terrine

"Elephant Heart" Plum Glaze

Sous Vide Baby Beets

Hazlenut- Honey Crumble

Balsamic

Italian? Probally not, but I inherited a lobe of foie and figured why not. A nice dish but RFN still wins this one.

House Smoked Rainbow Trout

Smoked Trout

Creme Fraiche Panna Cotta

Meyer's Lemon Coulis

Celery

Watercress

" A Classic"

I started doing this dish a couple of years ago for friends and VIP's. Whenever I served a foie course this was usually the dish I would serve. However over the last year my foie horizons have become more broad, leading me away from the old school seared approach. A few weeks ago I prepared this dish for a group of friends and chefs (and foie gras snobs), they loved it. So now I'm dealt with the dilemma of making this my "signature dish". As a fan of modern cooking I sometime believe that with the products available to them, ambition, passion and talent of chefs in America our menus should change daily. This means I dont like the words signature dish or specialty. But then again when you have perfected something why change it. Who's knows in a few years you might see this dish on the menu at restaurant b7.

It is Seared Foie Gras w/ A "Deconstructed Blueberry Muffin."

Foie Toasted Brioche

Blueberry Gastrique

Pickled Blueberries

Pinenut- Granulated Honey Crumble

The Salumi Has A Home!

Beet Carpaccio

This is a beet carpaccio we did for a VIP tasting menu the other night. Simple, Strong Flavors that classically go together. No Creation here just Execution.

Beet Carpaccio

Goat Cheese Mousse

Watercress

Blood Orange

Smoked Sea Salt

Beet Puree

Balsamic

Veal Tenderloin w/ Summer Vegetables and Their Purees

This is a dish we have been running for a couple of weeks now. I love it! Simple and Fresh, what summer food is all about.

Roasted Veal Tenderloin

Okra-Okra Puree

Asparagus- Asparagus Puree

Cherry Tomato- Tomato Puree

Honey Roasted Eggplant- Eggplant Puree

Roasted Garlic Puree

Yellow Squash- Yellow Squash Puree
Roasted Beets- Beet Puree

LOT"S OF CURING GOING ON

Now that our salumi plate as become a very popular permanent fixture on our nightly menu, supplies were getting low. So over the last week we started 48 new pieces of charcuterie about 150 pounds of pig in all. So in about 3 months or so everyone should come check it out, it will be plentiful.

Peperone

Cappicola

Pancetta

Lonza

Bacon

Finnochiona

Black Garlic Salami

Spicy Genoa

Honey Pinenut Sage Salami

Bressaola

Carrot Agnolotti

Carrot Agnolotti

Cream of English Peas

Powdered Proscuitto

Black Garlic

Radish Sprouts

Fegatelli Secco

The latest addition to the salumi plate. Pork Liver that was salt cured for 4 days, then air dried for a month. Might sound gross to some but I love it. Salty, Porky and a little Livery what more can you ask for.

Olive Oil Poached Ono

This is a bright summer Ono dish we are serving right now. Ono can be a dry fish similar to swordfish or mahi mahi which happen to be my two least favorite fish. However I have become somewhat of a fan of Ono cooked slowly in olive oil. Keeping it moist and adding a slight hint of flavor.

Ono

Local Summer Squash

Cherry Tomatoes

Watercress

Caper Foam

Sous Vide Ribeye

Ribeye cooked 57 c for 20 minutes. Then seared in a cast iron.

Potaotes Mostarda

Braised Endive

Roasted Garlic Emulsion

Salad of Texas Summer Squash

Four types of local squash

Local Cherry Tomatoes

Red Onions from our garden

House Made Ricotta

Pinenut Puree