Sunday, December 19, 2010

Holiday Grape Sorbet

Holiday Grape Sorbet
Warm Juniper Pudding
Caramelized White Chocolate
Porcini Meringue
Pinenuts
Burning Juniper branch for aroma
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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Fall Inspired Duck Breast

Crispy Skin Duck Breast
Foie Gras- Parsnip Puree
Parsnip Chips
Caramelized Brussel Sprouts
Cranberry- Jalapeno Jam

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Tater Salad

Sous Vide Fingerling Potatoes
Shaved Celery
Fennel Jam
Pearl Onion "Rings"
Dijonaisse

Vegan


This is a tomato dish I did for some vegan VIP's tonight. Sometimes restrictions can be fun.
Roasted Yellow Tomatoes
Raw Cherry Tomato
Smoked San Marzano Tomato
Tomato Jam
Roasted Garlic Puree
Shisito Peppers
Meyer's Lemon
Bibb Lettuce
Basil Ice
Espelette Pepper
Herbs

Foie Gras

This is our new Foie Gras dish for our Fall menu. First we cure the foie for a day and then cook it sous vide for a hour at 58c. The resulting texture is great.
Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras
Greek Yogurt Brulee
Sweet Pickled Green Bell Peppers
Falafel

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Heirloom Tomatoes in a Variety of Textures

Heirloom Tomato
Yellow Heirloom- Orange Gelee
Tomato Seeds
Tomato Granite
Tomato Coulis
Pedro Ximenez - Tomato Reduction
Mozzarella Powder
Orange
Basil

Seared Scallop with Deconstructed Paella

Seared Diver Sea Scallop
Spanish Chorizo Emulsion
Roasted Bell Pepper Terrine
"Sacarrat"
Saffron Foam

Texas Peach Glazed Pork Belly

Texas Peach Glazed Snake River Farms Pork Belly

Cornbread Crumble

Smoked Onions

Grilled Texas Peaches

Sweet Tea Gastrique

Taking it back to the Old School


Friday, May 28, 2010

Changing of the Seasons

Pan Seared Alaskan Halibut
Local Summer Squash
Meyer's Lemon
Marcona Almonds

Nasturtium

Some beautiful nasturtium grown exclusively for us by our good friends at Blue Bonnet Hydroponics Farms

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Spring Lamb

I recently read a blog post by a chef who said that spring's finest ingredients are like "crack" to a chef. There are certain things that only flourish for a mere 3 weeks to two months this time of year. Morel mushrooms and ramps (wild onions) are two of these things. What he meant by "crack" is that chefs will do anything to get their hands on these products while they are in the peak season including jeporadizing their job just to order them. Fortunately I am very lucky to work for a chef/ owner that shares the same passion for these ingredients as I do.
Lamb Loin wrapped in ramp tops
Morels
Ramps
Asparagus
Asparagus- Meyer's Lemon Emulsion
Balsamic Lamb Jus

Friday, April 30, 2010

Heirloom Tomato Salad 2010


Kent Perkle's Heirloom Tomatoes
Candied House Smoked Bacon
Avocado
Arugula
"Ranch" Creme Fraiche

Happy Times in the Kitchen!!!!!!




A look at some beautiful heirloom tomatoes we recieved from our friend Kent Perkle today! Kent owns a farm in Donna, TX which is right outside of Austin. The best part is that these tomatoes were picked off the vine yesterday. And Kent knows how to take care of these beauties, they come individually wrapped in paper and stacked in layers of shredded paper. It's things like this that get cooks excited, to open a box and see the care that farmer has put into his product.


Friday, April 23, 2010

Striped Bass with "Gumbo"

We did this dish for an Abita Beer Dinner. Abita is based out of New Orleans so I thought it would be cool to re-do a New Orleans classic. The brown sauce on the bottom is a gumbo that was then strained into a very nice smooth sauce. On top of that there is a micro brunoise of Okra and the holy Trinity along with grilled shrimp and andouille. On top of the fish is the seeds from the okra pods that were marinated in tabasco for 2 days.

Strawberry Crusted Goat Cheese


Buttered Popcorn Grits

This is a component of our new duck confit dish, first we pop popcorn and then freeze it LN2. Once the popcorn is frozen we put it into the blender and pulverize until it is a coarse powder. Then to order we briefly cook it with chicken stock and lots of butter. Consistency of grits but flavor of buttered popcorn. Pretty cool!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Spring Is Here!!!

I have always had trouble deciding what my favorite season to cook was. I mean I love when it changes from summer to fall and we are able to cook food that is bold and hearty. But on the other hand I love it equally as much when the weather changes from cold and rainy to sunny and warm. When spring comes some of my favorite ingredients come into season at full force. For instance my favorite fish = Halibut, starts to get really good around this time of year. It is so inspiring to have such beautiful fresh ingredients that you don't have to tamper with much. So as of today I am saying that I like spring more than fall, but ask me that again in October and I'm sure my opinion will have changed once again!!!
Pan Seared Alaskan Halibut
Fresh Spring Peas
Butter Poached Spring Onions
Corn Foam

Thai Inspired Pork Belly

Tamarind Glazed Pork Belly
Coconut Sticky Rice
Red Curry- Peanut Emulsion
Peanut Nougat
Green Mango
Cilantro

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Frozen Apricot Mousse

Frozen Apricot Mousse
Pinenut Puree
All Spice Scented Creme Fraiche
Lemon- Lime Basil

DIRT

This dish was inspired by two chefs I look up to with the up most respect. Both Sean Brock and Rene Redzepi have a done a dish similar to this. This was for our wine dinner as well, its meant to look like vegetables still in the soil. Unfortunately I think this might have went over the heads of some of our guest tonight, but a beautiful dish nonetheless.
Roasted Baby Beets
Spring Onions
Calamata- Chocolate "Soil"
Wood Sorrel
Yellow Beet- Sherry Vinegar Reduction


The Color White

We did a wine dinner for Krupp Brothers tonight and the wine for the first course was called Black Bart's Bride. So I wanted to do a dish symbolic to a bride, keeping it mostly white and add some color of a few flowers. As a chef we are trained to produce dishes with lots of colors to contrast with different textures and flavors. It was cool to approach a dish in a totally different light and try to keep it all the same color.
Asian Pear
Shaved Fennel
Fennel Frond Gelee
Marcona Almonds
"Shattered" Honey Comb
Amaranth

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Hamachi


I have been here at Bin 555 for about six months and I feel like I am starting to hit my stride. This dish is the newest edition to our menu. Showcasing this beautiful Japanese Hamachi. We serve it on a puck of ice that has herbs and pink peppercorns suspended in it.
Hamachi Crudo
Macerated Pineapple
Pickled Cucumber
Frozen Buttermilk Powder
Cilantro
Fleur de Sel

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Deconstructed Strawberry Shortcake

This is the first dish we made with the liquid nitrogen and it is a hit. Last night was its first night on the menu and the guest loved it.
Deconstructed Strawberry Shortcake
Frozen-Liquid Center Strawberry Mousse
Strawberry Coulis
Strawberry Jam
Frozen Strawberry Powder
Sweetened Sour Cream
Graham Cracker- Candied Walnut Nougat
Vanilla Ice Cream "Popcorn"

Our New Toy

We recieved our tank of Liquid Nitrogen this week, and what a week it has been. This is something that I wanted to get my hands on for long time. For those of you who are unaware of its perks it "boils" at -320 F so basically you can flash freeze anything in a matter of seconds. You ask why would you want to do that? You can turn things into powder, or break a raspberry into to individual pods or have a frozen crust around a creamy mousse or even make ice cream in 20 seconds. Since it arrived on Tuesday we have put just about everything imagiable into it just to see what happens, some results were good and others were just funny. It also makes me very happy to know that Bin 555 is the only restuarant in San Antonio that has one... Come in and check it out!!!!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Poached Lobster and Blood Orange Salad

Poached Lobster
Blood Orange Coulis
Blood Orange Segments
Blood Orange Emulsion
Shaved Celery
Celery Leaf
Red Olives
Dill Pollen
Olive Oil

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Its been a while! Welcome Back!

Sorry for the lack of recent post as of late. I have no excuse. I started this blog a while back as a way to try and get my name as a chef out. After a while of posting all the time, the new wore off and I became a little lazy with it. However with the Christmas gift of a new camera I am back blogging again. And will make sure that I keep it up. All of these new post are from a Ravenswood Wine Dinner we held tonight, so the dishes and flavors might sound a little wierd to some but it was all about bringing out the dominate flavors in the wines. Hope you enjoy. Also should be getting our tank of liquid nitrogen this week so I'm sure I will have a lot of fun and interesting post dealing with that.

Deuces and thanks for checking it out!

"Cherry Pie"

Black Cherry- Port Gelee
Pecan- Pie Crust Crumble
Black Pepper Whipped Cream
Bing Cherry- Maple Coulis

Twizzler Glazed Duck Breast




Twizzler Glazed Duck Breast
Toasted Farro
Pickled Strawberries
Wild Sorrel


House Cured Lomo Wrapped Sweetbread

Lomo Wrapped Sweetbreads
Charred Red Onion Pancake
Salted Blueberry Caramel

"Mole Negro" Chicken Noodle Soup

Mole Consomme
Roasted Chicken
Egg Noodle
Cilantro
Peanut

Scallop: Honey Crisp Apple: Vanilla Brown Butter: Bibb Lettucs

Seared Diver Sea Scallop
Vanilla-Brown Butter Emulsion
Three Textures of Honey Crisp Apple
Puree, Chip, Raw
Hydroponic Bibb Lettuce

LOMO

Pork Loin that was cured with Smoked Paprika and Cayenne. Then hung to dry for about 6 weeks. Melt in your mouth delicious