Buddha's Touch on the Amalfi Coast

Anyone who has had the pleasure of traveling along the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy will no doubt be familiar with the sweet and tart aperitif spawned from the gigantic lemons found on that Mediterranean coast line: limoncello. On one of my regular trips to the Farmers' Market, a friend gave me one the biggest buddha's hands I've ever seen. Buddha's hand (sometimes called citron) is a variety of citrus fruit that has no pulp and is used for the zest which has flavors hinting at lemon, orange, and grapefruit all at once. I was torn over what to do with this magnificent piece of product, how to best highlight and honor the flavor. At first I thought about confitting it, then candying the peel. Finally, the memory of that Italian delight flickered back. The answer was obvious: citroncello. Below is the recipe, with the option of Meyer lemons instead of buddha's hand if you want to go the more traditional route. Bon appetito!

Limoncello
Makes: 1 1/2 Liters

Ingredients
Zest from 1 large Buddha's Hand (or 10 Meyer lemons)
200 grams Sugar
1 1/2 liters High-Quality Vodka
Sweetened Condensed Milk, to taste

Process

Combine the zest, sugar, and vodka and cover tightly. Let sit at room temperature for 5 days. Trust me, its worth the wait. Strain out the zest and stir in sweetened condensed milk to desired sweetness and creaminess. Store in the refrigerator. Or, if you're feeling generous, a jar of limoncello makes a great gift.

Inspiration and Dinner in the Pacific Northwest

The mention of Seattle tends to invoke images of Mt Rainier, the Space Needle, and constant rain. All of these things are an undeniable presence in that great Northwest city, but for me these are merely background notes. Mt. Rainier faintly looming in the background serves to remind me of the surrounding ring of mountains, the proximity of British Columbia, and the rich heritage and influence of Native American culture, highlighted by the totem poles strewn throughout the city. The sleek, ultra-modern Space Needle piercing up through the Seattle skies provides contrast against the otherwise comfortable coastal architecture of brick and stone that makes up much of the city. The rain brings with it soft mist rising up off of Puget Sounds, enveloping the city with fresh, crisp sea air. While these sites and symbols are the ones that postcards and small talk have dubbed as quintessential Seattle, the two things that I think most bear that city's soul and spout off inspiration are the driftwood strewn beaches and bustling farmers' market. Walking down the beaches there, with the cool salty air blowing in, dodging sea smoothed timber and cracked geoduck shells, compliments of some gluttonous gull, floods me with emotions and inspirations. Head from there to Pike's Place Market, home to Seattle's permanent farmers' market, and I'm done. The best Rainier cherries, soil crusted Walla Walla onions, artisan jams, and the freshest seafood you'll find most anywhere. With all the simple, fresh, clean flavors available, the problem is not what to cook, but what not to cook. Every stall inspires a new dish, every farmer a new trick to try or fruit to sample. With visions of the beach drifting through my head and the market, that sultry temptress, flashing her wears, there was little choice but to cook a Pacific Northwest feast. With fellow chef and friend, Joel, onboard, we gathered a rabbleous group of friends and set to with gusto. After some impromptu menu planning, we hammered out our six course Pacific Northwest feast: Roasted Beet and Grilled Chicory Bruschetta with Grapefruit and Basil, Stuffed Twice Baked Eggplant, Handkerchief Pasta with Lamb Ragu, Pomegranate Glazed Monkfish with Pomegranate and Arugula Salad, Roasted Sunchokes, and Pear Crostada with Olive Oil-Cornmeal Crust, Black Tea Sauce, and Lavender Mascarpone. The recipe for the bruscetta (my favorite dish) awaits below. Enjoy!

Roasted Beet and Grilled Chicory Bruschetta with Grapefruit and Basil

Ingredients:
1 bunch Golden Beets, greens cut off
2 heads Chicory
1 Baguette, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces on a bias
2 Grapefruit (pick one sweet ones without much bitterness like the oroblancos)
1 bunch Basil, chiffonade

Process:
Get your beets roasting right away because they'll take a while. Toss them with some oil and salt, into an oven safe pot with a lid, throw in some lemon rinds if you have them, and bake at 400 F until a pairing knife pierces to the center easily. Once done, the easiest way to peel them is to place each one in a dish towel while they're still hot and give them a good rub. The skin will slip right off. Chop the beets into rough cubes. While the beets are roasting, get the rest of your ingredients ready. If you drizzle a bit of olive oil over your bread you can take it with you out to the grill along with your chicory and toast it off on the grill. Using a boiler would a significantly inferior second best way. Throw the chicory directly on the grill, it will wilt fast and char a bit. this is exactly what you're looking for. That little bit of char will give it an incredible, sexy smoky flavor. Head back in to your grapefruit, they're feeling neglected. Cut away all the rind making sure to remove all of the white pith, then cut out each section of the grapefruit, making sure you do this over a bowl to catch all the juices. Squeeze out the what's left of the grapefruit to make sure you get all the juice. Now take just the juice an heat it in a sauce pan with about an equal amount of corn syrup. Bring this to a boil and let it go until the bubbles start to get very thick, but don't let it go to caramel. Pour this boiling cauldron of goodness over your reserved grapefruit sections and let them sit. This is essentially poaching the grapefruit in it's own sweetened juice, which will get rid of some of the residual bitterness and add a little bit of sweetness. You now have all the components ready and it's time to assemble. Lay a little of the chicory on the bread. Top it with some beets and grapefruit and sprinkle with basil. Finish it off with a drizzle of olive oil and a bit of salt. Last step: share with friends.

Tasty Shrimp Skewers and a Secret Wedding

Catering any event presents its own unique challenges. The only sinks are the ones in the bathroom. The only grill is outside and its raining. The host specially requested ice cream, but forgot there was no freezer at the location. Needless to say, catering requires a certain amount flexibility and on the spot problem-solving. Weddings, however, tend to push the challenge-meter over the top. Not only do you face the typical challenges of catering (there's construction down the street so they've shut off all the gas and water, is that a problem), but you come up against clients who often not only have very set ideas on what they want, but might have been picturing it since round about puberty. Goodbye flexibility. So next time that catering bill seems a bit outrageous, just consider it a surcharge for the chef's therapy, whether Freudian or in a more liquid form. When Joel, my partner in crime and fellow chef, and I were approached to cater a wedding for some friends' friends, we did a bit of groaning, but said we'd be happy to help out. Then we heard the details. This was going to be a secret wedding. None of the guests knew they were actually coming to a wedding. Oh yeah, and they were holding it on a boat. Whole new set of challenges. And did we mention the kitchen has about 2 feet of workable space and a single burner. The picture below should give you a sense. Bizarrely enough this tipped the scales in favor of doing the job. It was like being thrown into an impromptu episode of Kitchen Impossible. This job was going to be challenging. So challenging, in fact, we wanted to do it, just to see if we could. The proverbial gauntlet had been thrown. We ended up with a five-course passed small bites menu (after a bit of...discussion with the bride and groom over what was actually possible) that I'm still not entirely sure how we pulled off. The menu was: Crudite with Green Goddess Dressing, Roasted Tomatoes with Oregano and Saba on Polenta, Dill Beef Boulettes with Carrot Sauce, Roasted Pepper Quesadillas with Citrus Aioli, and Chopped Shrimp and Bacon Skewers as well as two types of cupcakes in lieu of wedding cake, vanilla with lavender frosting and chocolate with espreso frosting. It's an event I will not soon forget and, as a memento for you going on this trip down memory lane with me, the shrimp skewer recipe follows. Enjoy!

Chopped Shrimp and Bacon Skewers

Ingredients
3 lbs. Shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 lb. Bacon, cooked part way
1 bunch Chives
Salt and pepper, to taste

Process

This recipe is called "chopped" shrimp and bacon skewers for good reason. The process for making this is as simple as chopping all the ingredients together. Because its simple, you should be sure to go for the best ingredients. Ask the fish guy in your market (or better yet, a fish market) for the freshest shimp. Ones with a bit more sweetness will be nice. Similarly with the bacon, bypass the prepackaged Pepperage Farm bacon and ask at the meat counter for what they've got. Make sure to go for pretty small pieces so that they'll press together easily. Grab a little handful and press it around a skewer. Saute in some olive oil on each side until just cooked through. The only thing left is to try not to over-indulge.

Baked Hot Chocolate and Homemade Marshmallows

Sometimes the source of inspiration can be panic. The baked hot chocolate was just such an inspired dish. Coming back from a long weekend, I was preparing for service in the restaurant, taking a count on my dishes and checking my mise en place, when I pulled out the chocolate mousse meant for that night. I habitually taste my food items for freshness and it is never a pleasant experience to discover one has gone awry. For me, the worst is always anything milk-based. Even the thought of spoiled milk makes my stomach-turn. Let me tell you, not even dark chocolate can cover that taste. As soon as I tasted the mousse I knew I was in trouble. Not only was I left feeling wretched from the rancid milk, but I was minus one of my most popular dishes for the night. I knew something had to be done and done quickly, something to match that dark decadence that only chocolate can provide. And from the panic came the inspiration for what in many ways amounts to gooey flourless chocolate cake in a jar. Throw on some homemade marshmallow leftover from a s'mores dish and some pine sugar and viola: Baked Hot Chocolate. This dish became so instantly popular that it never really found its way off the menu. However, for my money, the real winner is the marshmallow. If you've never made marshmallow at home, try it! You'll never give the marshmallow man a second glance again.

Homemade Marshmallow (warning: takes 1 day to set)

Makes: 1 8x8 pan

Ingredients

400 grams Sugar

175 grams Water

123 grams Corn Syrup

118 grams Water, cold

9 grams Gelatin, powdered

123 grams Corn Syrup

5 grams Vanilla Extract

Process
Start by combining the sugar, water, and corn syrup together in a pot. Use a bigger pot than you might think you need, because the mixture will bubble up and you definitely don't want hot sugar boiling over. Crank the heat up under it and let it go. It will take about 10 minutes boiling before it's ready. In the meanwhile, sprinkle your gelatin over the second measure of water and let it sit to soften. Now here's the tricky part: you need to get that boiling cauldron of sugary goodness to 230 degrees F. If you go much hotter, the marshmallow will be stiff, much lower and it might not set up right or get fluffy. So it's time to break out your temperature taking tools. If you've got a candy thermometer, get that sucker in there. Instant read thermometer or infrared, just as good and you get gadget points. None of the above, your best bet is to dip a spoon in the hot liquid and drop it into cold water. Feel the sugar mixture with your fingers (it will instantly cool). You're looking for a very thick syrup that kind of hangs on the spoon. Once you're at 230, take it off the heat and stir in your second measure of corn syrup and the vanilla. Immediately pour in the gelatin and stir until it's melted. Now it's time to bust out the trusty old kitchen aid mixer. Pour in the mixture, put on the whip attachment, and get ready for full speed. Now when I say get ready, I mean get ready. Liquids, especially hot liquids, do not react well to full speed on a mixer. To prevent serious burns and a sticky kitchen, cover the open space at the top of the mixer with plastic wrap, then mix away. Remember, we're going for light and fluffy here, so look for increased volume and a change to a shiny white mass much like meringue to know it's done. This is not a delicate product and is nigh on impossible to over-whip, so if you have any doubt, let it go a bit longer. Pour the mixture out into your pan, let it sit overnight, and wake up to freshly made marshmallows.

Baked Hot Chocolate
Makes: 8

Ingredients:
510 grams Dark Chocolate
170 grams Butter
8 Eggs
100 grams Sugar

Process
Combine your eggs and sugar in a mixer and get them beating on high. While the eggs are going, start melting the chocolate and butter together. I know a lot of people advocate using the double boilers for such activities, but I don't generally have the patience. If you ask me, the way to go is the microwave (one of the few things you should be using it for - its a convenience tool not a cooking instrument). Don't try to melt the chocolate all in one shot or you'll end up burning it. Hit it in increments, starting at about 2 minutes and lowering the time as the chocolate melts. By now your eggs should be whipped up nicely, but not nice enough. You might be surprised by how much volume you can get out of them. For the best results you have to heat them up a bit. This can be done by alternately placing the bowl over a hot water bath then throwing it back on the machine or, my preferred method, grab a kitchen torch and torch the bowl. A note, if you decide to go pyro, move the torch constantly and cover the entire bowl. More than about a second in any one place and you're on your way to scrabbled eggs. At this point your eggs should be edging towards the top of the bowl, which means they're ready. Pour in the liquid chocolate and butter and whip them together. You should now be looking down into a sexy chocolaty batter. Divide this out into your jars, mugs, bowls, or what ever you are using and place in a deep oven dish. Pour hot water into the dish so that it reaches almost on level with the chocolate and bake at 350 until the top just begins to crack, about 20 minute. Remove from the water and serve right away or let cool at room temperature then cover and refrigerate (these reheat really well). Enjoy!

Pine Sugar

Ingredients
Fresh Pine Needles, washed and sanitized in boiling water
Sugar

Process
Dry the pine needles in an oven at about 250 degrees. Toss in a coffee grinder and pulverize into a powder. Mix with granulated sugar for a nice little floral kick to your sugar.