back from an amazing trip to france.  the people at Valrhona did an awesome job in hosting us six american chefs.  we did some dining, some cooking, a lot of hanging out together. 
maybe that is the best part of the whole event...getting to meet and know people whom i may not have had the opportunity otherwise.  i think the competition was even and we all did a great job. 
sad to say i will not be going to the finals in madrid, but i am happy with the dish i submitted and how i executed it.  my downfall may have been the minimalist approach to a "chocolate" competition.
here is the submitted dish that i had to recreate in Versailles. 

coconut milk pudding, Manjari cremeux, clove ice cream, vanilla bean-clove gel, flourless chocolate cake, banana croquant, cocoa paper, chocolate streusel

paris, je taime

wow!
just got an email today telling me that i qualified for Valrhona's C3 competition.  i submitted a dish in february and now i am privileged to go to Paris and prepare the dish at Versailles for the judges. 

http://www.cercle.valrhona.com/cercle_des_chefs/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=47&Itemid=176

above is the link to their site.
i want to say congratulations to the other chef's from North America who will be going.

Sally Camacho-WP24 Los Angeles
Meg Galus-Sofitel Chicago
Sarah Kosikowski-Trump International Chicago
Bin-Mar Leto-Nobu New York
Lance Whipple-Four Seasons Phoenix

have fun everyone.

trompe le monde

sometimes it is all about appearances. 
watching top chef last night was quite interesting.  the quickfire challenge was to create a dish that was visually appealing and would be judged on looks alone.  it was interesting how the "savory" chefs conceptualized that idea. 
i think within the sweet world, that is always a factor.  mainly in part because most of what we put on the plate we make ourselves.  if i make a bavarois, i have to think about how i want it to look before i even begin to make the recipe.
 the shape, the mold, the size. 
in stating that, how do we move beyond our ordinary perceptions of what "the shape, the mold" should be.
without rambling on too much, i will eventually get where i want to go...

here is the chocolate cremeux recipe i have been using for awhile:
180g  72% Valrhona Araguani
400g  cream
 70g  glucose
70g  water
1.2g  agar
2 gelatin sheets
bring water and agar to boil, reserve warm
simmer cream and glucose, emulsify with chocolate little by little
add softened gelatin sheets, add water/agar mixture, emulsify

usually this is poured into a mold or onto a tray and cut, but this time i wanted to try for a different look.

i wanted to give the appearance of something solid, like stone, when really it is creamy and melts in the mouth.
cremeux poured on a tray, frozen, broken, then tempered.
earl grey ice cream, kumquats, kumquat croquant, tangerine sauce, cocoa paper, wood sorrel, chocolate streusel

rites of spring

upon returning from france i set a goal on myself to incorporate into new desserts as many recipes from the Valrhona class as possible.  i thought to myself  how much of a shame it would be to go all that way and not utilize anything that was shown to me and the other chef's.  though the finished dishes were nothing like what i would do, the beauty of it all is that the finished product is only part of the process.  it's the journey that takes you there; the techniques, the inspiration, that i sometimes find more rewarding.

one of the recipes was of a sponge scented with lemon verbena.  basically a firm gelee set with gelatin and whipped in a mixer.  there is a lot of gelatin in it but when it becomes aerated, chilled, and cut, the sponge just dissolves on your tongue like a memory. 

it's not a new technique, but one i seemed to have passed up on using in lieu of others.  this one is made of lime juice and infused with lime thyme from my garden.

we are in full swing with spring and there are finally berries at the market.  not quite the best yet but some of the stands have a few winners.

compressed strawberries, lime sponge, strawberry sorbet, white chocolate namelaka, strawberry gel, strawberry croquant, fennel and cilantro

more on the white chocolate namelaka later.....

lullaby

in 10 days i will be on a plane heading to paris....for the first time.  i am truly excited about this trip (especially as the germany trip didn't quite pan out). 
a wonderful opportunity was offered to me through my specialty goods purveyor chef's warehouse.  me and 9 other pastry chefs are going to Valrhona's Ecole du Grand Chocolate.  after flying in to paris we are taking the train to the Valrhona factory in Tain l'Hermitage for a 3 day professional chocolate course. 
i'll be the first to admit that i'm no chocolate wizard.  i know how to make a few desserts with chocolate but i am really excited to see what some masters have planned for us. 

moving ahead of the introduction to this post, my real dilemna regarding this trip is "how does a pastry chef with no pastry staff take time off while simultaneously running a tasty and creative menu?"

i have been trying to make a menu (4 dishes really) that is tasty, creative, and can most importantly be executed correctly in my absence.  i will be gone for 14 days...i don't think i have ever had 14 days off of work..ever.

so running through some familiar techniques with an ease in plating (no one spoon quenelles for awhile) was the modus operandi for my task.

above is the first finished dish.  aerated cream cheese ice cream (seen before with carrot cake), braised huckleberries with tapioca pearls, candied meyer lemon peel and sauce, gingerbread crumbs, and some pansy petals.

by the way, i am loving the pandora function on my blu-ray player. joy division station takes me to the cure, radiohead, new order, interpol...just what i need at 1 in the morning  :)