Paul Bocuse Palm Springs 1992

With his signature dish of bass in puff pastry.

Smoked Pork Ribs

The ribs are trimmed and portioned. They are smeared with mustard and rubbed with a mix and left to marinate for a few hours.

They are then smoked over hickory; these took about 3 hours and and then served with coleslaw and baked potato.

The mix for the rub is:

Paprika

Celery powder

Onion powder

Brown sugar

Black pepper

Bangers And Mash, Roasted Roma Tomatoes And Sweet Onion Okra Gravy

I was all set to have soup and salad tonight until I was inspired by a blog I follow to make this dish. It is an old english dish usually used in cafetierias and at home. It was outstanding. Recipes anon and you will find the link to the great blog at the bottom of this note.

http://www.my-easy-cooking.com/

Navarin D'Agneau, Pommes Puree

This is a great example of cuisine bourgeoise. Recipe anon. It was outstanding.

1.5kg lamb shoulder cut into large chunks ( bite sized or larger )

4-6 Tbsp olive oil
(For garnish)
2 large carrots
Pearl or baby onions
White turnips
(For Cooking)
½ onion, chopped into large pieces

1 carrot cut into large pieces
1 stick of celery chopped up
½ head garlic, peeled and chopped
100ml dry white wine
2 bay leaves Several sprigs thyme2 tablespoons of tomato paste or so.
Sauté the lamb until nice and brown over a medium heat. Remove from pan and keep warm. Add the chopped vegetables and cook them in the same pan until all the flavors combine. Deglaze with the white wine and reduce to dry. Add the lamb back into the pan with the garlic, thyme and the bay leaf. Cook these together on a medium heat for a little while or until you see all the flavors combine.
Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute or so stirring to make sure it doesn’t stick. Add a little water to this mix and reduce. You will see a nice color develop so keep reducing until you have the color you want.
Add a couple of tablespoons of flour and combine the whole thing. Add water and allow to cook until the meat is tender.
Peel and shape the garnish vegetables and cook them al dente in some water. Strain and set aside.
When the lamb is cooked, remove the meat and strain the sauce. Reduce the sauce to the desired consistency and then add the meat and the shaped vegetables. Allow the dish to simmer until the vegetables are fully cooked.
Let sit for a good hour and then serve with mashed potatoes or a starch of your choice.

This is a relatively easy dish to make and has wonderful flavor. It is also better made the day before and finished the next day as is the case with most dishes of this nature. It is a staple of French Cuisine and is very often the plat du jour in french restaurants.

Escargots Bourguignon

For this I used 6 large escargots

1/2 Shallot chopped very fine.

A good measure of chopped parsley

4 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup of dry white wine

about one to two ounces of butter.

Sweat the shallots in a little butter, add the escargots and cook for a minute or so. At this point they are usually flambeed with a little cognac. Add the white wine and reduce till almost dry. Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Add the parsley and the butter. Warm the butter until it is soft then place the whole thing into either an escargot dish if you have one or into an ovenproof ramekin as i did. Place in a hot oven until butter is bubbly and brown.

Serve with lots of bread.

These are not for everyone. Not only are the escargots an acquired taste but there is a significant amount of butter and garlic. If you are not used to eating garlic butter it may upset your stomach but it is worth it for the experience and you may get used to them.

Cream Of Tomato Soup With Potato Gnocchi And Cilantro ~ Homemade Salmon Gravlax With Pear And Mushroom Salad And Tossed Greens.

Potato Gnocchi Recipe

Ingredients
2 lbs whole baking potatoes

2 beaten egg yolks

1 1/2 cups flour

Pinch of salt
boil the potatoes

Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer and into a large bowl. (If you don't have potato rice you can mash the potatoes by hand and fluff them up a bit with a fork.) It is best to work with the potatoes when they are still warm.
Add the flour, egg and a pinch of salt. Mix by hand until you have a nice pliable ball of dough. Do not over mix.
Prepare a work area and dust it with flour. Take the dough, a piece at a time, and roll it out gently with your hands until you have rolls about 3/4 inches in diameter. It is very important to keep a light touch while you are rolling the dough. Gently roll the dough with your fingertips while exerting the lightest pressure outwards, not down, to draw the dough out.Cut the tubes of dough into pieces about one inch long. Using either the tines of a fork or your fingertip, press against a piece of the dough and roll it slightly to form an indentation (good for catching the sauce). As the gnocchi are made, place them on flat baking pan, lightly dusted with flour or lined with wax paper.

Bring at least 6 quarts of salted water to a boil in a shallow saucepan. Gently drop the gnocchi, a few at a time, into the water. As soon as they rise to the surface, remove them with a slotted spoon, draining well. Arrange on a warm serving dish. Continue cooking the gnocchi in the same manner.
As soon as all the gnocchi are ready, add to the soup and serve. You can also use this gnocchi as a dish. Cover with tomato sauce and cheese and bake in the oven. Delish .

The tomato soup and the gravlax recipe are already on the blog I think. This soup is outstanding, smooth and silky.

Graham wanted to make it but did not tell me if he did or not or how it turned out.

Spaghetti With Gene Lamert's Special Meatballs.

This recipe is from an old friend of mine who has been in the business as long as, if not longer, than me.
Make a hearty tomato sauce or buy a good commercial one.
There is a recipe on this blog for tomato sauce.. you will find it if you do a search.
Gene’s Meatballs
I pound of ground (minced pork)
3 whole eggs
Garlic to taste
Chopped parsley
Italian breadcrumbs. ( a commercial product but very good)
Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper.
Put the pork into a large bowl.
Beat the three eggs as if for an omelet
Add the eggs to the pork.
This is a high volume of eggs for such a small amount of meat so it will become very soupy. Don’t be alarmed.
Add the Italian breadcrumbs and the cheese so that you get a workable mass.
Add the chopped parsley , salt and pepper and the crushed garlic.

Form into balls about the size of a golf ball and poach for eight minutes in tomato sauce.

Finish your spaghetti with the tomato sauce and the meatballs.

These meat balls are tender and flavorful. The texture is much different than the meatballs you make with just Italian sausage.

This recipe is from my good friend Gene Lambert who worked in the Four Seasons Seattle with me as the purchasing director.

Cachasa Laced Strawberries With Cachasa Cream.

These were very good and strawberries are in season now so they were already ripe and sweet.

Top about 10 strawberries. Wash them and put them in a bowl with a little sugar and cachasa. Marinate them for as long as you can.

Whip up some double cream in a separate bowl to a stiff whip. Add a spoonful of sugar and some cachasa to that. The cream needs to be very stiffly whipped to absorb the cachasa or it will become liquid. Correct the sugar taste. Sugar in cream acts like salt in savory foods. It will bring out the taste of the cachasa so add slowly because you can't subtract.

Chicken Braised In Dijon Mustard With Stuffed Sunburst Squash

Spaghetti With Shrimp And Garlic Basil Cream.

Beef Stew With Baked Grated Potatoes

Make a nice beef or lamb stew as you normally would. Keep the sauce a little on the thick side. Grate a couple of baker potatoes and grate them using the large side. Rinse these potatoes off once, squeeze them dry and then add some chopped garlic, chopped parsley, salt and pepper and a little melted butter. Put these potatoes on top of the stew and bake in the oven.

You can also use sliced potatoes as in the boulangere potatoes which in a way might be better because the grated potatoes can get soggy if you are not careful.

Mahi Mahi, Red Beans, Collards And Rice.

Salmon Gravlax.

Brazilian Caiparinha.

Finished caiparinha.

Add ice cubes, fill the glass with cachasa and stir.

Add sugar and use the pestle to crush the limes and sugar together making a syrup.

Cut the limes into smallish pieces and place in glass.

Ingredients for Caiparinha, cachasa, lime, sugar and ice cubes.

This is a great and easy to make Brazilian cocktail that has been around for a long time in Brazil but has just recently found new fame here.

Guest Chef: Heather Garcia

Great looking dish of turkey meatloaf with asparagus , sauteed mushrooms, savory stuffing and mash. Thank you Heather for participating and for the great picture. Wonderful job.

Mango Chutney Burger With Sweet Potato Fries And Tossed Romaine Leaves

Guest Chef Spot.

Instead of a competition this time around I would like to do a Guest Chef spot. I was very impressed with Graham's effort and his willingness to post his photos and give us some idea of what he does. I thought he did a great job. He didn't tell us what sauce he served with his dish or give us a final gander of the plate but I am sure he will next time.
Given that the Walshes and the Dowlings are such food aficionados I really think that there is some potential to show off what we do best. There is no need for great painstaking detail, all you would need are a few photos of how you make the dish, the final product and a brief description. Send me the photos in and email and i will publish them. It should be fun.
This is a ' no pressure ' event and i see it as a sharing event.

Cold Roast Chicken, Waldorf Salad And Pickled Cherries.

Waldorf Salad
3 tart apples - peeled, cored and chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup seedless grapes or radishes
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 tablespoons apple juice
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 bunch watercress, trimmed and chopped
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
In a large bowl, combine the apples and lemon juice. Add the grapes, celery, and green onions; toss.
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, yogurt, apple juice and celery seeds. Spoon over the apple mixture, and toss gently.
Wash the watercress, and dry thoroughly. Arrange greens on individual salad plates. Mound the apple mixture on top, and sprinkle with the walnuts.

Guest Chef / Graham Connolly

Graham made the boulangere potoatoes and obviously did a very good job. They look perfect. He should tell us what his bacon wrapped dish consists of. Congratulations Graham it all looks very professional.

Joy Of Roasting

Cauliflower Gratin

Roast Chicken
'Tis an art requiring constant attention. This cost me $2.00 on sale.

Tony Bennett 1992

There is a story behind this photo.

I have always been a fan of Tony Bennett. I went to see him in the Royal Festival Hall London in the 60’s , he was appearing with the Count Basie band. It was fantastic show even though I really couldn’t afford good seats. After the concert I went around to the artist’s entrance with my little program to get it signed. I did not get to meet Tony Bennett or Count Basie but I got the rest of the band’s autograph. That was good enough for me, I thought myself very lucky and went home to my flat.
Fast forward to 1992, I was the executive chef at a big resort in Palm Springs when I heard that Tony Bennett was to play in the local concert hall. Furthermore, he was staying at the resort where I worked. I sent him an amenity to his room with a note telling him all about the fact that I missed him at the concert 30 years previously and told him to call if he needed anything special. It turned out he was a vegetarian and did have a special request so he called and we prepared something for him. This became a daily thing where he would call and we would give him a menu.
Anyway, I dug out my program and got to meet him. He signed the program for me and remembered the day of the concert in London. He told me all about the small stage at the Royal Festival Hall. He was a charming man.
To show his gratitude for all the attention we had given him he offered to sing a few songs for the staff in the ballroom of the hotel with his accompanist Ralph Sharon.
This is where this photo was taken. He called out my name from the stage: It was great.
I went to his concert later that night.