Benjamin Lambert, Restaurant Nora: Hawaiian Hearts of Palm Salad, Thai Basil, Cucumber, Mango, Coriander Berries, Basil Seeds, Heirloom Tomato Water, and Hearts of Palm Sorbet

Tuesday evening I attended StarChefs.com 2010 Washington DC Area Rising Stars Gala and Awards Ceremony at Charlie Palmer Steak. Here is the menu. Some relatively local culinary rising stars got to showcase their talents, and the results were quite good. I always find it interesting when ingredients that 100 years ago would have been low end (beef cheeks, sweat breads) are featured in high end cuisine. Also, my Latin American (and Italian influenced) culinary roots prepared me for dishes with palm hearts, sweet breads, and fresh beets, ingredients I grew up on. Hearts of palm sorbet…yum.  The wine/beer pairings were great and they even had one barley wine.

My favorite dish was Jason Alley’s (Comfort):
Braised Australian Beef Cheeks, Juniper, Ginger Beer, Stone Ground Grits, and Arugula.

It was tender, beefy, flavorful, and delicious…and the cheese grits were very good.  Hmmm…cheese isn’t mentioned in their description.

My favorite dessert was Isaiah Billington’s (Woodberry Kitchen):
Summer Pudding.

It featured currants and raspberries, and I’ve been meaning to try summer pudding since s

Isaiah Billington, Woodberry Kitchen: Summer Pudding

eeing it on a 2 Fat Ladies episode.  I preferred it to standard bread pudding.

Gina Chersevani, a mixologist of PS 7 created a great cocktail with Highland Park Whisky (which is very good and could be used in desserts if used correctly):
– Beet-iful Apples with Highland Park Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Dolin Sweet Vermouth, Apple Juice, Red Beet Reduction, and Mint.

Ok, ok, honorable mention to my 2nd favorite savory dish:

Dean Maupin‘s (Keswick Hall)
Duck Confit and Ricotta Gnocchi with Butternut Squash, Arugula, Cracklin’s, and Grated Wisconsin SarVecchio Parmesan.

The cracklin’s and the gnocchis were as good as the confit.

It was a great night with wonderful food and good company; fellow bloggers Dining in DC, Greg’s List, and Girl Meets Food were present.

Bryan Voltaggio, VOLT: New Zealand King Salmon, Everything Bagel Crumbs, Pickled Mustard Seeds, Lemon Pudding, Chives, and Red Onion

Here are the the PS7 (drink) and the Woodberry Kitchen (summer pudding) and the recipes:

Beet-iful Apples

Mixologist Gina Chersevani of PS 7’s

The recipe is per batch (10-12 people)

Ingredients:

32 oz of fresh apple juice (mix of Jonathan’s and pink lady)

10 oz of lemon juice

1/4 pound of 10 x powdered sugar

10 oz Red Beet Reduction

1 (750ml) Highland Park 12 year

10 oz Dolin Sweet Vermouth

1 oz mint leaves

10 dashes of Fee Brothers Bitters

Bertrand Chemel, 2941: local beets, compressed watermelon, laughing bird shrimp, cherrywood balsamic

1 tbs of Orange Zest

Method:

In a punch bowl, combine sugar, lemon juice, Highland Park, Dolin Sweet vermouth, whisk together until sugar is dissolved.  Then add apple juice, beet reduction, fee brothers bitters, then add ice block and garnish with mint leave and Orange Zest, let set for about 20 minutes and serve.

Summer Pudding

Sustainability Chef Isaiah Billington of Woodberry Kitchen – Baltimore, MD
Adapted by StarChefs.com
Yield: 4 Servings

INGREDIENTS
Butter Bread:
500 grams bread flour
208 grams water
50 grams eggs
50 grams soft butter
35 grams sugar
10 grams salt
7 grams instant yeast

Pudding Fruit:
80 grams sugar
2 to3 grams traditional (e.g. apple) pectin
400 grams fruit, like young plums, blueberries, and raspberries*

METHOD
For the Butter Bread:
Put the flour, water, eggs, butter, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer and mix for 2 minutes on low speed. Rest the dough 20 minutes, then mix for 6 minutes on low to medium speed. Proof the dough for 90 minutes at room temperature, then shape it to fit a loaf pan, making it at least 1 inch wider and longer than the loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Let the dough rise in the pan for 90 minutes, then bake in the oven until a thermometer inserted in the center of the loaf reads 190ºF. Unmold the loaf and cool. Let sit for 1 day to go stale.

For the Pudding Fruit:
Stir together the sugar and pectin. Cook the fruit in a pot over a medium flame until it’s sitting in its own juices. Bring to a boil, then stir in pectin mixture. Return to a boil, remove from heat, and stir in more fragile fruit like raspberries.

To Assemble and Serve:
Cut the crust off the bread and put in the freezer. Line 4 dome or pudding molds with plastic wrap with plenty of excess plastic wrap around each side (any kind of ramekin or low wide coffee cup will work). Slice the half-frozen bread lengthwise as thinly as you can. From the slices, cut 4 circles the size of the bottom of your mold, 4 circles the size of the top of your mold, and 4 long ribbons equal in height to your mold and as long as its circumference. Place the small circles and ribbons in the molds to form the puddings’ tops and sides. Stuff the molds with fruit, ladling in any extra juice to soak into the bread. Cap each mold with a large circle of bread, seal it tight with the plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. Remove from the mold before serving.

* Fruit should reflect the seasonal fruit available, preferably a mix that shows off the bounty off the season. The height of summer, of course, is best in Maryland, as strawberry and cherry season wind down right as gooseberries, blueberries, and blackberries begin. Darker colors to dye the bread, or at least one dark fruit, should predominate. This pudding can also lend itself well to preserved fruits used right out of the jar, since they are probably already sweetened and lightly cooked. A little bit of jam cooked into the fruit can replace the pectin and sugar. For that matter, use your judgment to take the measurement of pectin and sugar up or down, depending on what fruit you are using.

-JAY

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