Occasionally, we get to pull out all the stops and prepare and three-star dinner. The menu was driven by first quality ingredients, the secret of any great chef. We began with a classic caviar service presented in a Lalic crystal caviar service. I did both the traditional buckwheat blini and potato latkes. Guests could garnish the blini with an array of condiments.
For the Foie Gras, I used a dish I observed at the late Chef Alain Chapel's restaurant just outside of Lyon, France. I caramelized thinly-sliced turnips and glazed them with wine from Portugal and duck jus. The foie gras escalopes were flash fried at the last minute.
The bison is not your usual dish. Aged about 5 weeks, the bison ribeye was tender, moist and really superb. What wouldn't be with a nice slathering of fresh black truffles? All was followed by my classic riff on a Waldorf salad, well really not much to do with that old standard. Belgian endive, apples, and tender bibb lettuce hearts tossed in a walnut dressing and a warm goat cheese crostini comprised the dish. By the way, this was a winter menu, So, the Caramelized Apple Tart Tatin provided a fitting dessert for dinner.
It is rewarding to be able to prepare dinner in the manner I trained for in the finest kitchens in Europe.
Chef Michael Hutchings
PS Tune in to my new weekly cooking show airing Fridays at 11:00 on COX cable starting August 30, 2019. The Santa Barbara Chef
