Coastal Cooking with Chef Michael Hutchings

Prime Rib Notes

 If you like roast beef, there is no other cut better that a prime, dry aged, medium rare cut of prime rib with a jus made from the rib bones. In my banquet chef days at the South Coast Plaza Hotel, I would cook up to 50 prime ribs at a time for large banquets. Carving was done on two meet slicers to plate up the banquet. That is a far cry from the upscale prime rib restaurants that habited the LA dining scene in the 1960s and beyond. One old guard restaurant chain that has featured prime rib is Lawry's. Standing rib roasts, so called because the were stood on end, comes to the table on a silver trolley and is carved to order table-side.

From Wikipedia, 

"Lawry's The Prime Rib /ˈlaʊəriːz/ is a high-end, gourmet restaurant chain. The original location on Restaurant Row on La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California, was founded by Lawrence L. Frank and Walter Van de Kamp and opened in 1938. It is still operated by the Frank and Van de Kamp families.

For many years, Lawry's, which can be described as a carvery, was unique among restaurants in having but a single entrée (or main course) on its menu, standing rib roast. It now serves a few additional entrées (namely vegetarian specials and lobster tails), but is still generally considered to be a roast beef restaurant. The roast beef at the restaurant is served from a large silver cart pushed from table to table, where the meat is then carved to order.

Signature dishes

Along with roasted prime ribs of beef, the restaurant is known for its Yorkshire pudding and signature 'spinning salad.' A 1953 menu from Lawry's claims that it was also 'the first to feature a green salad as an integral part of every meal.' The salad, which was introduced by the founders when the restaurant opened in 1938,  is prepared table-side by a server who spins a large metal bowl of greens atop a bed of ice."

Here is a great link that has really dialed in the steps to preparing a great prime rib roast. Call be when it's ready! Prime Rib

 

Chef Michael Hutchings

Truffles!

Truffles of the Vegetable Kind

Winter is redeemed by the fruiting of truffles. In my London days at Le Gavroche, we canned our own truffles for the year. This was typically done in February when the truffles from Perigourd were at there best and least expensive. The truffles were brushed clean then cooked in a broth of veal stock and port.Afterwards, the truffles were placed in jars and cooked in a water bath to sterilize them. The aroma of 60 kilos of truffles simmering on the stove is unforgettable. There was always a bonus from canning, the broth was amazing in sauces.

Here is a video my friend Silvio de Loretto sent me.

Chef Michael Hutchings

 

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Holiday Buffet Table

The Music Academy of the West hosted the annual Christmas party this past week. We were delighted to once again cater the event, this year help at the Academy. Our menu was a festive selection of bite-sized canapes and petit fours that we are know for.

From the MOW Web Page: 

About the Music Academy

"For six decades, a single, elemental proposition has animated the Music Academy of the West: Intensive mentoring produces superior classical musicians. Accordingly, the Academy has dedicated itself to the development of gifted young musicians through advanced study with accomplished faculty and guest artists.

The results speak for themselves: Academy alumni are members of major symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, ensembles, opera companies, and university and conservatory faculties worldwide. Many enjoy careers as prominent solo artists. What's more, the Academy enjoys an unrivaled regional reputation as a cultural treasure, annually presenting an array of topflight classical music events.

Each June the Music Academy welcomes exceptionally talented musicians from around the world for eight weeks of study and performance in one of five programs: Instrumental, Solo Piano, Collaborative Piano, Vocal Piano, and Voice. Selected through a competitive, merit-based admission process, each Academy Fellow receives full tuition, room, and board. The Music Academy's intimacy, elite faculty, and idyllic beauty make for a truly transformative experience.

As part of its school program, the Music Academy presents a festival of more than 175 classical music events featuring Fellows, faculty, and acclaimed guest artists and conductors. Summer days are filled with public masterclasses, where audiences observe the Academy's instructional process firsthand. In addition to this core experience, the Academy presents chamber music concerts, recitals, orchestral concerts, a fully staged opera, public dress rehearsals, and vocal and concerto competitions – all to the delight of music-lovers from across the nation."

 

My favorite selection was a rift on foie gras invented by my associate, Chef Michael Richard. His dish bears the moniker '"Faux Gras,"false fat. He has cleverly made a foie gras-like pâté from chicken livers. It is like an upgraded version of the Jewish chopped liver.

I adapted the recipe for buffet style service by piping the faux gras onto cocktail spoons and garnishing it with the cucumber-herb gelee called for in the recipe. I enjoy serving it on toasted French bread with cornichons and a glass of pinot noir.

Tastefully, Chef Michael Hutchings

Stilton Mousse on Endive

Petit Fours on Display

California Spiny Lobster

The local Santa Barbara channel lobster are in season from October until March. While not a true lobster, it is a great local product. It compares well with the Carribean and Mediterranean spiny lobster and is better because it is a live, local product.

Stehanie Mutz supplied this batch of lobster for a seafood event at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. Stephanie heads up the Santa Barbara Fisherman's Association. Stephanie scuba dives for the lobster rather than trapping. SHe works from the fishing boat Ocean Pearl out of the Santa Barbara harbor.

The local Channel lobster is greatly favored in China and as a result wholesale prices have risen the last few years. It is great for the fisherman but prices most buyers out of the local market. This recipe workes equally well with the east coast Maine type lobster.

Tastefully,

Chef Michael Hutchings

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Impromtu Truffle Fries, Sly's Restaurant, Carpinteria

On a recent dining trip to the newest burger joint in Santa Barbara, Eureka, we ordered the French Fries with Truffle Oil. The results, even after returning them once, were undercooked, soggy fries drowned in an tasteless cheese veil.

Dining at Sly's restaurant in Carpinteria, I related the dining experience to my chef-friend James Sly. He disappeared to the kitchen for a few minutes and returned with his version of truffled French fries. 

What a difference a masterful touch makes. The fries were crisp and the cheese a perfect consistency with the vapours of truffles wafting through the dining room. The fries were perfect and redeemed the concept of the truffled fries. When asked to comment he wrote, "The fries were, well, fries. The sauce was cream, gruyére, Parmesan and a touch of sodium citrate from the world of molecular gastronomy for that unctuous feeling. Salt, pepper, bit of cayenne, good quality white truffle oil."

Cooking is simple, good ingredients, tested concepts and correct method.

Chef Michael Hutchings

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