i've been tired...

it's been a long time since the last post.  easter, mother's day, cooking classes...i really need to put some new dishes on the menu.
to change things up a little on the tasting, i whipped this dish up with some mise en place laying around.  the odd thing is, every night i get comments from guests about how much they enjoyed it. 

rose ice cream, raspberry meringues, warm milk chocolate mousse. 

there's a piece of flourless chocolate cake, some chocolate streusel, feuillatine, and a pinch of freeze dried raspberry powder.

also odd how many people ask how i make rose ice cream.....rosewater, anyone?

( )

the hazards of working at a small luxary hotel are all the holidays that you have to work because the restaurant never closes. 
so today i worked, but before that i opened one gift.

making holiday menus always throws me for a loop.  i try to simplify things but also keep them interesting, at least to me.

pear bread pudding, walnut ice cream, creme fraiche, caramelized pear chips

meyer lemon curd, iced milk, burnt meringue, gingerbread, candied lemon peel, fizzy white chocolate powder

and an unfinished dish, i guess i never got a photo of the finished plate.  chocolate sauce, grand marnier, tangerine gelee, (missing) aerated milk chocolate parfait, cocoa paper

the perfect kiss

at the market, citrus is almost in full effect.  the first to hit the stands were some tiny, sweet tangerines.  after 9 years of doing pastry i still find it difficult not to make some play on a creamsicle with tangerines.  though now with my wandering imagination that creamsicle takes some mighty big leaps.  i really can't place the train of thought that brought me here. i just know that i wanted something that looked heavy (physically) but in reality was full of fluffy light textures.
tangerine sorbet, milk chocolate ganache aerated, blis maple meringue, candy cap mushroom pudding, celery leaves, tangerine juice

a means to an end

damn it took a while. 
i have changed the components of this dish for two weeks now.  now i am a little happy with it.  it started with the whipped milk chocolate ganache recipe i got from the Valrhona sessions. it has a great texture, close to a chocolate chantilly, but with a little more body.  i had to use it.  though i think the final result isn't quite what the people at Valrhona had in mind. 
whipped, spread between acetate, frozen, broken into shards, and then kept frozen.  on the pick-up they are arranged on the plate.  because they are thin, within about two minutes they are no longer frozen but creamy. 

to give it a fuller chocolate flavor, chocolate mint (thanks brittany) is blended with cocoa to make a fluid gel. raspberry meringue is dried and broken.  rooibos tea is set into a gelee.  fresh raspberries and chocolate mint, raspberry sorbet.