Avocado Toast

We recently decided to restart breakfast service at the restaurant so we did a couple of tastings to see what exactly we would put on the menu.  Over the past few years we have seen the rise of the avocado toast everywhere from restaurants to hipster coffee shops.  The trick is to find your own unique version and run with it.  Because we are a California brasserie, I decided to use a kale pesto.  For the bread, we chose to use brioche toasted and seasoned with the pesto.  Then topped with a fresh ripe avocado, sliced and seasoned simply with sea salt, pepper and lime juice.  Next, a perfectly poached egg with a beautiful rich liquid gold center.  The whole thing is finished off with a roasted chili oil and pumpkin seeds.  The only challenge now is to go to work everyday and try not to make this my daily breakfast.  The avocado makes it healthy, right?

 

Octopus Carpaccio with Red Wine Poached Pineapple

 

This dish has a great mix of flavors, from sweet and tangy to spicy and salty.  The prep for the dish is surprisingly easy and you do not need a lot of ingredients.

Start the dish by washing your raw octopus and then placing it in a large pot of salted water with rosemary, bay leaves, peppercorns and 2 wine corks.  Cover and simmer for 1 hour then take off the heat and let it cook to room temperature.  When the octopus is cooled remove from the pot and cut off the head and legs.  Take half of the octopus and arrange the legs in opposite directions on plastic wrap and roll several times into a log.  Cool in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

When you are ready, remove the plastic. The octopus should hold together firmly, and slice with a sharp knife or on a meat slicer.

For the pineapple, peel and cut into quarters lengthwise.  Poach in a mixture of red wine with a cinnamon stick, star anise and a pinch of salt for 30 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature in the liquid.  Remove one piece and slice into 1/8 inch strips.

For the pan roasted potato, remove the peel and cut off all the edges of the potato to form a rectangle.  Slice long ways into about a 1/4 inch and season with salt.  In a saute pan add a spoon of butter and melt over medium heat.  Add the sliced potatoes and cook slowly until golden brown on both sides.  Remove from the pan and pat dry to remove the extra butter.

To assemble the dish place your sliced octopus on the plate, you can arrange however you want.  Place one piece of the potato in the center and top with four slices of the pineapple and lastly with a second piece of potato.  Circle the plate with your favorite brand of sriracha sauce then season with a bit of black pepper and olive oil.  I top mine with a little bit of fresh herbs and mustard greens.  It is also nice with a bit of crushed wasabi peas.

 

 

Mango Lassi Popsicles

My new favorite desserts this summer are popsicles.  They are so easy to make and there are no limits to the flavor combinations.  It seems that they are popping up everywhere this year, even the franprix across the street has their own line.

For this recipe I make a puree of mango and a little sugar if it is not sweeet enough. Then I mix equal parts of coconut milk and cream.  Layer these in a mold and place in the freezer for 1 hour.  After it has started to freeze, place the sticks in the middle of each popsicle then return to the freezer until completely frozen.

I serve mine with a spicy chocolate sauce and some fresh raspberries from the garden.

Take the time and experiment with your favorite summer flavors.

Have fun and enjoy taking a break from the heat of the summer!

 

Sushi Donut

 

Everyone loves donuts. The main question is usually cream filled or glazed? My answer is sushi. The new trend this year is the sushi donut which is made of sushi rice, topped with fresh, marinated or smoked fish and whatever else you think sounds good.

I like to use a type of rice called calrose. It is a medium grain rice that was developed in California in 1948 and gained popularity all around the world.  For toppings, I love to use pickled ginger, wakame salad, thinly sliced scallops, tuna and avocado.  Sauces can range from teriyaki to a spiced aioli, or even as simple as sriracha.

 

Blue Cheese Pear Gastrique

This sauce started with a simple gastrique sauce, simply caramelized sugar deglazed with vinegar.  For me, I prefer to use honey rather than sugar to make my caramel, it is much healthier and most important, more flavorful.  For a lot of my cooking I prefer to use cider vinegar, I feel it has the best flavor that pairs with most ingredients.

Begin the recipe with by peeling and removing the core and cutting it into large pieces.  Cook the pears in a pot on medium heat until the water comes out and the sugars start to caramelize.  Deglaze with a little water to remove the sugars beginning to caramelize on the bottom of the pot.  Once it is fully cooked, add the bleu cheese and stir until it is melted then puree.

Begin to cook the honey with the fennel seeds until it begins to smell a bit burnt and deglaze with the cider vinegar. Remove from the heat and carefully add the pear puree and stir until it is completely mixed.  Heat again and simmer for a few minutes to make sure the caramel has completely melted into the sauce.

You can base the recipe on your own tastes, whether you love the taste of blue cheese or pear more.

 

Surf & Turf

     

The concept of meat and fish together has always fascinated me, especially now.  At Frame I am having much more fun with it and getting a bit more creative. This dish is an Asian fusion surf & turf.

For the sauce I have mixed wasabi, lime juice and creme fraiche,. braised the pork and finished with an orange teriyaki glaze.
The dish is finished with a seared scallop, wakame, pickled ginger and a salad of mustard greens.

I love the garnish for this plate, crushed wasabi peas.

What is your favorite Asian Fusion dish you make?

 

Orange Chocolate Ganache

Taking an old recipe you used before and reinventing it is sometimes more difficult than you would expect.  However, when you do manage to complete this task, you look at your new product and think, “Well, that wasn’t so hard.”

I upgraded my chocolate ganache from grilled ciabatta bread to spiced pain perdu with baked meringue, pistachio and sea salt.  I also really enjoy the fresh orange zest in the chocolate.

 

Smoked Haddock Carbonara

 

At FRAME, we change our formula menu every week.  This gives me the chance to try out new ideas and even use new products.  Sometimes it is a learning process, especially when ordering and receiving something you were not expecting.  Last week I ordered haddock, which for me is a species of fish from the North Atlantic, but in France it always refers to the product of smoked aiglefin fish.  It proved to be a very nice surprise though.

For this dish I used fresh tagliatella pasta.  You may use whatever size and shape you wish, sometimes I prefer papardelli.  Start the dish by cooking your pasta in salted water to al dente (firm to the bite).  It is best to under cook the pasta  as it will continue cooking when you add it to the sauce.

For the sauce, start by sautéing chopped onions and garlic.  After the onions are soft, add part of the fish and deglaze with white wine. Reduce the wine by half and add cream and let the sauce simmer for a few minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  You can also add vegetables.  I prefer adding roasted tomatoes because it goes well with the cream, smoke and fish.

To finish, toss the pasta with the sauce and stir in a raw egg yolk.  The raw egg yolk will add a glorious texture to the dish.  Top with a cabbage slaw dressed simply with olive oil then thinly sliced haddock with olive oil and black pepper.

 

Didn’t I tell you? I moved to Paris!

It has been awhile since my last post in February.  I wanted to fill you in on what I’ve been doing.  Last February, I accepted a position as Head Chef of FR/AME restaurant in Paris, France.  I somehow convinced my wife to make the big move and we made the journey across the world to our new home in Paris.  I moved there in March and she joined me later in May.

When I arrived in late March, I had a lot of work ahead of me.  There were numerous tastings, the kitchen and restaurant were still in the process of renovation, there were interviews to conduct, etc.

  

The restaurant opened on April 10, 2014.

FR/AME’s concept is California cuisine with a French twist.  The very name of the restaurant itself is a combination of France and America.  The restaurant is located within the Hotel Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel which, as you can guess by the name, is very close to the Eiffel Tower.  The following picture was taken from the 10^th floor banquet space we have in the hotel.

Our restaurant is very unique because we have our own garden on the rooftop next to the restaurant and while the garden doesn’t supply all of our produce, we do use items from there to garnish and create special dishes.  The following pictures show the garden at the beginning and as it has grown.  We also have six chickens and bees!

 

 

Here are a few pictures of dishes that are on the menu as of today.  I recently changed the menu to reflect our fall flavors.

I feel so lucky and am excited to be in this new role.  If you find yourself in Paris, please pay us a visit and let us know how you like the food.

You can check out FR/AME’s Facebook page and their website for more details.

https://www.facebook.com/framebrasserie

http://www.framebrasserie.fr/

The restaurant was also recently featured in Marie Claire Maison:

http://www.marieclairemaison.com/,frame-la-brasserie-californienne,515353.asp