Dark Chocolate 'Fondue' Ball

• Tempered Dark Chocolate Sphere
• Filled with Salted Almond Crumb
• Spiced Poached Pear
• Citrus Cake
• Vanilla Cream
• Chocolate Filigree
• Warm Caramel Sauce

The idea of this dessert is to have the warm caramel sauce separate, then pour it over the chocolate balls at the table to the chocolate begins to melt, showcasing the filling and creating a chocolate sauce for the plate. 

Whiskey Green Peppercorn Sauce

Whiskey Green Peppercorn Sauce
butter
minced shallots
minced garlic
green peppercorns, drained
Irish whiskey
cream
salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Add the shallots, garlic, and peppercorns and saute without coloring until softened. Pour in whiskey and cook until almost dry. 
Meanwhile, reduce the cream in a separate saucepan. Add the cream to the reduction and bring to a boil.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, and adjust flavor with a little additional butter and/or whiskey as needed.
If sauce is not thick enough, it can be thickened with some more really reduced cream or a cornstarch slurry.

Lightly Spiced Whipped Cream

Lightly Spiced Whipped Cream
cream, whipped to stiff peaks
icing sugar
ground cinnamon
ground ginger
ground nutmeg
drop vanilla or almond extract, optional

Fold all ingredients into the whipped cream. If you only have granulated or brown sugar on hand, it can work, but it must be incorporated as soon as the cream is at soft peaks so that the final mixture will not be grainy. Really good accompaniment to apple or pumpkin pie or a cheesecake or sticky toffee pudding.

Tarragon White Wine Cream Sauce

Tarragon White Wine Cream Sauce
white wine
shallots
garlic
dry tarragon
cream
butter
salt
pepper

Place a small amount of white wine in a saucepan along with some shallots and garlic Reduce until almost all liquid is gone. Add in some tarragon. Add some cream and reduce until thick. Add some butter, salt, and pepper. 
This sauce can be made in  one large batch or in individual small batches - it is just as easy either way.

Creamed Spinach

Creamed Spinach
butter
shallots
garlic
spinach
cream
salt
pepper

In a large, shallow pot melt the butter. Add the shallots and garlic and sweat until softened and aromatic. Add in the spinach, stir it around, cover the pan and turn off the heat to allow the spinach to wilt.
Meanwhile, in a tall pot heat the cream and reduce until thickened and a yellow-ish color. 
Once the spinach is wilted and the cream is very thick, use a slotted spoon to spoon the spinach into the cream (to avoid getting excess liquid into the mixture and thinning it out). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Sunday Roast

At the restaurant where I work, Sundays are always special. We have a live Irish music session, as well as a big, special Sunday roast dish which is unique each week. Last Sunday was my first time doing the roast, and I was super excited. This is what I came up with:

• Irish style prime rib roast (flavored with rosemary, thyme, garlic, and black pepper)
• Brown butter champ mashed potatoes (green onion, garlic, brown butter, cream, black pepper, salt)
• Yorkshire pudding
• Red Wine Jus
• Braised baby onion and shitake mushrooms
• Roasted colored cherry tomatoes
• Creamed spinach

White Wine Chanterelle Cream Sauce

White Wine Chanterelle Cream Sauce
butter
fresh wild chanterelle mushrooms
salt
coarsely ground black pepper
white wine
cream

Melt the butter in a shallow saucepan over medium heat. Add the chanterelles and saute until beginning to brown. Deglaze with white wine and season with salt and pepper. Put a lid on the pot and allow to simmer until chanterelles are softened. Remove lid and allow the mixture to go au sec (allowing all the wine to be absorbed into the mushrooms and evaporate).

Meanwhile, put the cream in a shallow pot and boil until it is reduced (cream will thicken and start to turn from white to a yellowish hue).

Stir the cream into the mushroom mixture, taste, and adjust seasoning as necessary. 

Chanterelle Cream Sauce

Chanterelle Cream Sauce
butter
chanterelle mushrooms
more butter
cream
salt
pepper


Heat the butter in a pan. Add the chanterelles and saute until softened and beginning to color. Add more butter. Then add cream to cover. Simmer to reduce cream. Add some more cream. Simmer until thickened. Season. And serve.

Just an FYI, sauces like this do not work out the same at all if you cook the mushrooms and reduce the cream separately. All the flavor in the cream comes from cooking the mushrooms in it, which in turns adds great flavor to the mushrooms!

Lobster Ravioli Catch

• Ravioli - fresh, hand-rolled, homemade pasta dough 
• Lobster Filling - local lobster, goat cheese, lemon, tarragon
• Chanterelle Cream Sauce - butter sauteed local wild chanterelles, redued cream
• Wilted Spinach - spinach, garlic, shallots, white wine
• Lobster Cheese Toasts - lobster, cream cheese, herbs, cracked black pepper

Classic Strawberry Shortcake

Since it is strawberry season I am running strawberry shortcake on the menu as a dessert special. I've been changing up the components and plating a bit every day, but the main components remain the summer. Featured on this plate is a toasted buttermilk biscuit, chantilly cream, local strawberry and honey compote, lime coulis, a strawberry rose, and a fresh mint garnish. 

Citrus Pound Cake

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Citrus Pound Cake with a citrus syrup, lightly spiced whipped cream, and lemon curd. 
Citrus Pound Cake = flavored with lemon, lime, and orange
Citrus Syrup = reduction of orange juice and lime juice with sugar
Lightly Spiced Whipped Cream = flavored with ginger and nutmeg
Lemon Curd
Lime Twist
Fresh Mint Leaf

Brown Bread Ice Cream

Brown bread ice cream is an Irish thing - probably originating from the fact the Irish always seem to have leftover soda bread on hand and needed to come up with creative ways to use it. This way certainly is unique and quite tasty. You may be skeptical at first, but think of it as "Cinnamon Toast Crunch" ice cream, and it sounds a little better. Basically, that's what this is. It goes well with a variety of desserts and toppings too - sticky toffee pudding, strawberry shortcake, Eton mess, caramel sauce, banana splits, etc!

Caramelized Bread Crumbs
4 thick slices soda bread
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup salted butter, melted and browned slightly

For the Caramelized Bread Crumbs: Crumble the bread into a bowl. The crumbs should be no larger than a kernel of corn. Toss with the sugar and cinnamon, pour the butter over top and toss to coat.
Toast at 350◦F for 20-30 minutes, stirring every so often, until toasted and crisp. 

For the Brown Bread Ice Cream: Immediately after the ice cream comes out of the machine, fold in the bread crumbs until evenly distributed, then put ice cream in the freezer to firm up. You may do this in batches if required, and may not need all the crumbs. They can be saved for another time, used elsewhere, or snacked on.

Prepping Ahead: Ice cream base can be made a day in advance before churning.
Ice cream can be churned and will last in the freezer for at least a week. You can keep plain ice cream base on hand and stir in the crumbs when needed. You may need to soften the ice cream a bit prior to doing this.
Bread may be baked up to three days in advance before caramelizing.
Bread crumbs can be caramelized up to three days before being added to ice cream.

When freshly made, bread crumbs retain some of their crunch in the ice cream. They will soften over hours while the ice cream sits in the freezer. 

Strawberry Pastry

It's strawberry season!! That means strawberry muffins, strawberry crisps, strawberry pies, fresh strawberries out of hand, and the classic strawberry shortcake. This is a little dessert I made tonight from my mother's request. It could be considered a type of strawberry shortcake. It consists of my infamous homemade puff pastry - the one I used for vol-au-vent, mini pastries, appetizers, pot pies, mille fueilles, and more. I cut them into thick squares and baked them for this recipe. I then split the squares in half horizontally, and topped with whipped cream and fresh, sweetened strawberry pieces. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon on top and have a delicious strawberry treat!

Creamy Potato Bake

I really love eating potatoes in many different ways. I love garlic as a flavoring ingredient. I particularly enjoy when potatoes are flavored with garlic. Add some butter and cream to the mix and you've got yourself some real tasty and easy side dish!

Creamy Potato Bake
2 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cups whipping cream (35%)
1/2 cup butter
5 large garlic cloves
salt and pepper, to taste

Put the cream in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to low, add the butter and garlic. Simmer until cream is reduced by half. Take out the garlic cloves and season the cream with a little salt and pepper. Place a layer of potatoes in a casserole dish and pour a little of the cream mixture over. Repeat layers, saving a little extra cream to pour over the very top. Cover casserole dish with foil and bake at 425◦F for about 40-60 minutes until potatoes are tender.

Vegan Lemon Pastry Cream

You don't need cream or any dairy or eggs at all to make a nice, smooth, tasty pastry cream.

Vegan Lemon Pastry Cream
1⁄4 cup all-purpose (plain) flour
1 cup non-dairy milk
3 Tablespoons granulated (white) sugar
1 pinch salt
juice of 2 large lemons
1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, whisk together the flour with 1/4 cup of the milk. Whisk in the remaining milk, sugar, and salt. Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, for 5-6 minutes or until very thick. Add juice and vanilla, then cook again until mixture becomes thickened again. Pour into a bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to avoid a skin from forming. Cool and chill.

Rhubarb Mille Feuille

Mille Feuille means "a thousand leaves" and refers to the layers of flaky pastry. A mille feuille generally has some kind of filling such as a pastry cream and fruit.

Rhubarb Mille Feuille = 
one piece of puff pastry (my homemade puff pastry squares, freshly baked)
+ vegan lemon pastry cream
+ poached spiced rhubarb pieces
+ rhubarb coulis
+ one piece of puff pastry, dusted with icing sugar and caramelized under the broiler
+ dusting of icing sugar
+ more rhubarb coulis

Recipes for the individual components will follow in the coming days.

Birthday Cake #2

Birthday cake number two actually came on the same day as birthday cake number one. Well, kind of. They were close to twenty four hours apart anyway. Number one I ate late at night technically the evening before my birthday where I was but actually my birthday back home. Cake number two I ate in the evening on my actual birthday where I was (but the next day back home). Confused yet? Doesn't matter, they were both delicious! This one isn't technically a cake, but when it's got a candle and a "Happy Birthday" inscription, does it matter?

I got this cake at a restaurant when my brother and his girlfriend sneakily mentioned to the waiter it was my birthday and I love chocolate! This is actually a  CHOCOLATE FEUILLETINE BAR: Chocolate Crumble, Peanut Butter, Salted Caramel, Vanilla Crème Fraiche. As well as fresh strawberries, chocolate piping, and a candle waxed directly onto the plate. Or as I like to call it, delicious!

Mushroom Fake Cream Sauce

You don't actually need loads of heavy cream to make a rich, creamy sauce. Skim milk, with the help of a little butter and flour, and many other flavoring ingredients makes a thick, satisfying sauce.

Mushroom Fake Cream Sauce
button mushrooms, sliced
onions, minced
garlic, minced
butter
flour
skim milk
mustard
paprika
salt
pepper
chili powder
cayenne pepper
honey

Saute the mushrooms, onion, and garlic in a liberal amount of butter until soft and beginning to brown. Coat with flour. Stir in milk until thick. Stir in more milk for a thin sauce, Season with remaining ingredients and reduce to desired consistency.

Citrus Crema

Citrus Crema
1 kg sour cream, strained of excess liquid if necessary
juice and zest of 4 oranges
juice and zest of 6 lemons
juice and zest of 6 limes
1 bunch chives, finely cut

Fold all ingredients together - season to taste with some salt if necessary. This crema is a good consistency to smear, pipe, or spread.
Pairs well with salty, fatty items such as fish cakes.

Trio Of Desserts

Shellfish festival gala dinner dessert plate. That's three desserts per plate times 450 people equals 1350 mini desserts by three amazing pastry chefs.

Top: Lemon macaroon with lemon cream filling
Right: raspberry swirled cheesecake on graham crust with raspberry buttercream and fresh raspberry
Left: blueberry tartlet with white chocolate ganache, chantilly cream, and chocolate garnish
Salted caramel sauce.