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