07.25.09

Cooking with Four Seasons…

Posted in Italian, Recipes at 10:59 am by cecilia

Here is the full menu with recipes from this week’s cooking demo by Chef Alessandro Cartumini of Quattro in the Four Seasons Hotel in Palo Alto, California. I can say I thoroughly tasted all the ingredients in each dish. And it’s absolutely noteworthy on the Gourmet Senses blog. Enjoy!

Pecorino and Seasonal Melon Salad, Mint and Vanilla Granita

Serves 4    (Printable Version Here)

Ingredients

For the Salad:

• 1 galia melon (or you can use 3 assorted kinds of melon: canary, galia, casaba)
• 4 oz aged pecorino cheese, shaved
• 1 stalk celery, peeled and thinly shaved
• 1 pinch celery leaves
• 1 handful mâche salad
• 1 sprig fresh mint leaves
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the granita:

• 1 cup mint leaves
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 4 cups water
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
• 1/8 tsp salt

1. To make the granita, mix all the ingredients together in a bar blender and strain.
2. Place the mixture in a shallow container.
3. Chill in the freezer for 2 hours. Scrap the top with a spoon to create shavings.
4. Return it to the freezer and repeat the previous step to create more shavings.
5. To assemble the salad, peel the melon, cut in half and remove the seeds. Place it in a vacuum bag and seal tight. Use after 2 hours. This enhances the melon flavor.
6. Mix mâche salad with celery, celery leaves, mint leaves and season with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
7. Mix melon and pecorino and place in a serving dish.
8. Top with salad and serve with granita on top or on the side in a spoon, topped with little mint chiffonade.

Chef’s notes:
Galia melon is very similar to cantelope, so it can be replaced by it. Canary melon is a large, bright yellow melon with a pale-green to white inner flesh. This melon has a distinctively sweet flavor that is slightly more tangy than a honeydew. But it can be replaced by it if you can’t find this particular type of melon.

Tagliolini with Cherry Balsamic Roasted Donut Peach, Liberty Farms Duck, Squash Blossoms

Serves 4     (Printable Version Here)

Ingredients

For the pasta:

• 1/2 lb 00 flour
• 1/2 lb durum flour
• 5 whole eggs

For the duck:

• 2 Liberty Farms duck legs
• 1 quart vegetable oil
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 white peppercorns, crushed
• 5 juniper berries, crushed
• 2 strips lemon zest
• 2 strips orange zest
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 rosemary sprig
• 1 thyme sprig

To finish the pasta:

• 2 Tbsp shallots, julienned
• 1 garlic clove, shaved
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 donut peaches, washed, pitted, and cut into bite-size wedges
• 1 Tbsp soft butter
• 3 Tbsp grated Grana Padano cheese
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 3 Tbsp cherry balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp chopped savory
• 6 squash blossoms, cleaned and cut into small strips

1. To make the dough, mix the flour and eggs in a mixing bowl until well-combined.
2. Let rest 1/2 hour. Then roll thin with a pasta maker.
3. Cut into 12 inch sheets with the tagliolini pasta cutter.
4. Lightly dust with flour and roll into small bundles.
5. Let dry over a resting rack.
6. For the duck, place all ingredients in a saucepan.
7. Turn the heat to medium. When it starts to simmer, lower the heat so that the oil will just barely bubble.
8. Cook duck legs until the meat falls apart, about 1.5 hours.
9. Strain legs, filter cooking oil and reserve for future use.
10. When warm remove the skin and pick the meat apart making sure to remove all little bones.
11. To finish the sauce, in a saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add shallots and garlic and roast until browned.
12. Add the peaches and quickly saute until slightly heated. Add duck and reserve.
13. Place pasta in a boiling salted water and cook for about 2 minutes.
14. Strain into the saucepan with the duck meat.
15. Add boiling chicken stock, butter, and grated cheese. Toss until combined.
16. Add squash blossom strips last and quickly toss together.
17. Serve and drizzle cherry balsamic vinegar over the top.

Chef’s notes:
Liberty Farms is based in Sonoma County. Use any duck from your local farms if you live outside of the San Francisco bay area.
Durum flour contains higher protein and gluten content, making it a good choice of ingredient for pasta and pizza dough. It makes the dough tougher than just using regular all-purpose flour. 00 flour is a highly refined flour, ground to a very fine powder. It is also widely used for pasta making.
The fresh pasta can be frozen for future use, but make sure it has thoroughly dried over a resting rack and dusted with extra flour. This prevents it from sticking when stored.
Grana Padano is an Italian semi-aged hard cheese made from cow’s milk. Its flavor is more subtle and it is less salty than the famous Parmigiana-Reggiano.
True cherry balsamic vinegar is from Modena, Italy. It is well-aged and is thick and syrupy. It adds a sweet taste to the sauce. You can substitute it with a reduced balsamic vinegar sauce with cherry juice, or without the juice.

Wild Fennel Seared Ahi Tuna with Watercress Panzanella Salad

Serves 4     (Printable Version Here)

Ingredients

For the panzanella:

• 1 small Armenian cucumber, washed, top and bottom removed, diced
• 2 lemon cucumber, washed, thinly shaved with a mandoline
• 10 oz morel mushroom, well washed and drained, quartered
• 1 Tbsp shallots, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 rosemary sprig
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 8 oz rustic rye bread, toasted, diced
• 1 bunch watercress, washed, leaves picked
• 1 handful shaved fennel
• 1 handful shaved red onion
• 4 sprigs oregano leaves
• 3 Tbsp lemon oil
• 2 Tbsp aged sherry vinegar
• Smoked salt and white pepper to taste

For the ragu:

• 4 oz small diced Niman Ranch guanciale
• 4 Tbsp fava beans, blanced and peeled
• 8 basil leaves chiffonade
• 1 Tbsp small diced red onion
• 1/2 cup quartered toy box tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the tuna:

• 1 Tbsp wild fennel seeds, toasted in a pan and coarse ground
• 4 pieces of 5-oz ahi tuna

1. To make the panzanella, heat oil in a sauce pan.
2. Add shallots and garlic and the morel mushrooms.
3. Add rosemary and cook mushroom until slightly soft.
4. Add the diced bread.
5. Remove from the heat and toss in watercress, lemon and Armenian cucumber, shaved fennel, and onion.
6. Season with lemon oil, oregano leaves, sherry vinegar, smoked salt and pepper to taste.
7. To make the ragu, heat onion with guanciale and cook over low heat until the fat is rendered.
8. Add tomatoes, lemon oil, basil chiffonade and fava beans last.
9. Mix with extra virgin olive oil and remove from the heat.
10. For the tuna, heat a roasting pan to high heat.
11. Dust tuna with fennel seeds and season with salt and pepper.
12. Sear tuna in the roasting pan with a touch of olive oil for about 30 seconds on each side.
13. Remove from the heat and cut into 3 pieces.
14. To serve, fan tuna over serving dish.
15. Place panzanella on top and spoon the fava bean ragu over the tuna. Serve and enjoy!

Chef’s notes:
Guanciale is an unsmoked Italian bacon made with pig’s cheeks. Its flavor is stronger than other port products such as pancetta, but its texture is more delicate. Pancetta could be a substitute with varying results if you can’t find guanciale.
The tuna must be sashimi grade if you plan to have it cooked to medium rare as shown in the photo. That means it’s the freshest that you could get from a trusted fishmonger.

Chocolate Raspberry Brulée Tart with Pistachio Cream

Serves 4     (Printable Version Here)

Ingredients

For the cookie dough:

• 3 egg yolks
• 3 oz granulated sugar
• 4 oz soft butter
• Pinch of salt
• 4 oz all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

For the chocolate crème brulée:

• 1 qt heavy cream
• 7 oz sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 vanilla bean, halved length-wise
• 10 egg yolks
• 1 whole egg
• 8 oz chocolate, melted
• Fresh raspberries for garnish

For the pistachio cream:

• 4 oz cream
• 1 oz sugar
• 2 oz pistachio paste

For garnish:

• Ground pistachio nuts

1. To make the cookie dough, using a paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar, and mix until incorporated.
2. Add yolks, scrape the bowl well, and add the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix well.
3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and place the dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours to set up.
4. When the dough is chilled, roll it out to 1/4 inch thick. Make sure the counter surface and rolling pin are well-floured to prevent sticking.
5. Cut the dough with a circular cutter, and place into tart rings.
6. Bake in the oven at 350ºF for about 5 minutes. Take them out and trim the excess edges. Bake again until golden brown. Set tarts aside until use.
7. To make the chocolate crème brulée, melt the chocolate in a double boiler.
8. Bring cream, sugar, vanilla bean halves, and salt to a boil.
9. Whisk together the egg yolks and egg. Once the hot cream is boiling, temper in with the eggs.
10. Strain through a chinois (or a strainer) into a glass baking dish.
11. Bake in a water bath at 300ºF for approximately 40 minutes, or until the custard is firm but not overcooked. If you notice coagulation, it is okay.
12. Let the baking dish cool for 30 minutes at room temperature, and burr-mix with a hand blender until smooth.
13. Add chocolate and incorporate. Place the crème brulée into another container, and let cook for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
14. To make the pistachio cream, whip cream with sugar and pistachio paste until it reaches a soft peak. Set aside until use.
15. To serve, place a few raspberries on the bottom of the tart shell, and fill the shell with crème brulée.
16. Level off the top with a spatula so it’s smooth.
17. Sprinkle with sugar in the raw, and caramelize with a blow torch.
18. Place a few fresh raspberries on top, and garnish with ground pistachio.
19. Spoon pistachio cream on to plate, add crème brulée tart, and serve.

Chefs notes:
You don’t have to scrap out the vanilla seeds from the pod, simply cut the pod length-wise and dump it in the cream. The seeds will automatically come out while the cream is stirred and heated. This maximizes the vanilla flavor of the cream.
Tempering is a way to prevent the eggs from curdling. Simply pour a small amount of hot cream into the eggs slowly. Then incorporate the warmed egg mixture to the rest of the hot cream.
When baking the crème brulée, covering the baking pan with another baking sheet will prevent a membrane from forming on top of the batter.
Pistachio paste is a kind of marzipan added with pistachios. It can be found at specialty food stores.

I really enjoyed everything in these recipes. I hope you will give them a try and I look forward to hearing your feedback and questions.

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