Chef's Corner

Westchester Land Trust Dinner

Jul 02, 2009 — Congratulations to the winners of the second auction dinner to benefit the Westchester Land Trust.

Bernard & Lisa Seltz, and their four guests, will be enjoying dinner prepared by Chef Jehan S de Noüe at Albano Appliance's live Sub Zero~Wolf kitchen. The evening will start off with a varied selection of hors d'œuvres followed by dinner.

Pavé of Wild Salmon Adriane - poached in organic beet & orange reduction, finished with a late harvest Gewürztraminer-citrus beurre blanc.

Suprême of Crispy Sweetbreads - with wild mushroom & crème fraîche reduction in puff pastry.

Locally Farmed Roasted Filet Mignon with Château Sauce - turned Yukon gold potatoes & locally grown seasonal vegetables.

Ethereal Chocolate Mousse - with pistachio cream & fruit coulis

Coffee, Tea, Infusion

Annual BBQ Event

Apr 29, 2009 — From the outdoor kitchen of Jehan S de Noue.

Wednesday May 6th at 6 PM is the first of our two annual BBQ event.

Alfresco & grill master Matt will be here with his live display trailer. We will also feature & cook on Lynx, Evo outdoor griddle, Viking outdoor kitchens & Kalamazoo hybrid grills

We will be serving Cajun rotisserie organic chickens & beer can chicken, BBQ pork, grilled pizza with duck confit & vegetarian pizzas. Grilled vegetables & hanger steaks, corn on the cob, grilled potatoes & grilled fruit.

Hawaiian shirts are optional; having lots of fun & sampling lots of food is highly encouraged!

I hope to see you there. Please call Patty at 914. 764.4051 to reserve your space!

From the Kitchen of Jehan S. deNoüe

Apr 13, 2009 — Recipes from the "Holiday Cooking with Chef Jehan S de Noüe" sponsored by the Danbury Hospital Spirit of Women Series and underwritten by Adam Broderick Salon & Spa and Albano Appliance & Service. With additional support from Cellar XV and the Ridgefield Prevention Council.

PISTOU SOUP

18 oz kidney beans

Fresh white beans or white kidney beans

Small zucchini, diced

Carrots, peeled & diced

Onions, diced

Potatoes, peeled & diced

Small fresh yellow & green beans

Salt & pepper

Vermicelli or other small shell pasta

PISTOU

2 ripe tomatoes, hulled & peeled

5 or 6 garlic cloves

2 cups of basil, washed

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

olive oil

Place tomatoes, garlic & basil in food processor, pulse until chopped. add oil in a stream until blended & smooth. add Parmesan & pulse until well blended.

peel and dice all the vegetables; shell the beans as necessary. Place all the vegetables into a pot and cover with cold water.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Season with salt & pepper; cover & cook for 1 hour. Add a handful of pasta and continue to cook for 7 minutes. In the meantime prepare the pistou and add 2 to 3 TBSP of pistou to soup before serving. Pass remaining pistou and extra grated Parmesan cheese for your guests to add to their soup.

Pistou (pesto) comes from the Latin pestare meaning to crush.

This soup is a meal all on its own. I some regions lardons, sausage or ham are added to the soup.

SOY GLAZE

Glaze for fish

6 TBSP of soy sauce ( low sodium is OK)

3 TBSP of honey

3 tsp of rice vinegar or other low acidity vinegar

1-1/2 TBSP cold water

1-1/2 tsp cornstarch

Mix soy, honey & vinegar in heavy bottom saucepan.

Mix water & cornstarch in small bowl until smooth. Add cornstarch slurry to soy mixture. Stir mixture over medium heat until glaze boils & thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool glaze to room temperature before coating fish. Glaze can be prepared 1 day ahead. cover & refrigerate.

Use glaze on all type of bass, salmon & shrimp.

CITRUS GLAZE

1 cup OJ

1/2 cup white wine

Juice from 1 orange

juice from 1 lime

1 TBSP cornstarch

2 tsp cold water

In heavy bottom sauce pan bring first 4 ingredients to a boil and reduce by half. mix water & cornstarch in a small bowl until slurry is smooth.

Add to citrus mixture, stir over medium heat until glaze boils & thickens slightly. remove from heat. cool glaze to room temperature.

can also be used on chicken, pork.

Recipe of the month

I have received multiple requests for this recipe. It has become a crowd pleaser and can be used on chicken & shrimp as well as white fleshed fish.

Lime & Ginger Sauce for Salmon

2 TBSP fresh lime juice

1-1/2 TBSP soy sauce

1 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro*

1 TBSP chopped fresh ginger

1 TBSP minced shallot

1/4 tsp chopped garlic**

1tsp honey

5 tsp olive oil (sunflower, safflower or canola will also work well)

home made or prepared pickled ginger.

Preheat oven to 450F (425 convection) or select high broil.

In a blender, mix first 6 ingredients on medium speed for 30 seconds.

Add honey and drizzle in 3 tsp of oil while still on medium speed.

Brush sheet pan or broiling pan with remaining 2 tsp of oil (using parchment paper instead also works well. Cut out extra paper following the contour of the fish fillet to avoid burning the paper on high broil).

Season fish with salt & pepper.

Brush fish with lime-ginger sauce.

Place fish on lower middle rack to avoid burning the flesh of the fish & roast/broil fish until just opaque in center, about 13 minutes for a 5lbs fish.

Top cooked fish with remaining sauce.

Arrange thin slices of pickled ginger on top of fish and serve.

Sauteed baby bock choy is a good accompaniment for this dish.

I would recommend a Pinot Gris Reserve or Gewurztraminer from Alsace to drink with this dish.

* in a pinch, you may substitute ground coriander seeds.

** avoid chopped, jarred garlic; it can have a bitter after taste.

March Events

Mar 28, 2009 — First of all, I want to thank Rodica of Wild Frog Studio for giving me my little corner on our web site!

March Events

Chef Franz, of North Star Restaurant, did an outstanding job in his class on March 3rd. The Salmon poached in olive oil was perfect.

The duck class "Duck, the other red meat"that was held on March 24th was one of the most fun I have ever had the pleasure to teach.

This turned out to be a very hands on class. Steve did a fantastic job on the duck confit & wild mushroom risotto & Jon dressed that duck like a pro & hunter that he is while Erin, Kayce & Eric cheered, or is that jeered him on.

Gayle, Diane P, Ted, Diane S and Adrisse all enjoyed watching & eating all the dishes we prepared.

April Events

Easter Feast

Wed April 1st at 7 PM. $50

I will prepare a wild mushroom & asparagus tart, followed by a mâche & roasted beet salad garnished with house cured duck proscuitto tossed in an orange vinaigrette.

The main course will consist of a roasted leg of lamb served with vegetables from Ridgefield Organics Market & a Moroccan curry couscous with stone fruit & toasted pine nuts. We will finish this feast with a refreshing lemon tart.

Miele Continuing Ed

Thursday April 2nd 12 Noon. No charge.

Novotronic oven