Playing With My Food!

Sunday, December 28 Tasting

Welcome all! I hope you've all had a happy holiday so far, and look forward to the upcoming New Year. I know I do, though it's scary how fast it's gone by. Well enough small talk, on to the food. These are some pictures from the tasting menu this Sunday; Not my most adventurous or ambitious menu, but solid at least. I apologize, I once again, have managed to let the elusive line cook Lewis put up over twenty pasta courses without managing to get a picture, next week. I promise. Let me know what you think.

P.S. - You'll have to bare with me as I learn how to better photograph food.

Rocket Arugula, Tawny Port Vinaigrette, Toasted Walnuts, Maytag Bleu Cheese, Caramelized Bosc Pear, Chives

 

Roasted Pumpkin Bisque, Togarashi, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, Brunoised Fresh Pear, Yogurt Sphere, Chive

 

Here's a close-up of one of the Yogurt Spheres. Pretty Successful for my first attempt at reverse-spherification. This is garnished with Chive (someone needs to confiscate the chives from me), Smoked Sea Salt, and Espelette.

 

Pepita Encrusted Rocky Mountain Trout, Saffron Cous Cous, Haricots Verts, Red Pepper Coulis, Fried Basil Leaf

 

Hickory Grilled Beef Tenderloin, Creamy Parmesan Polenta, Balsamic Glazed Shallots, Oven Roasted Tomatoes, Smoked Sea Salt, Chives (seriously need to be taken out of my reach), Red Wine Demi-Glace

 

Tiramisu Parfait: House-made Biscotti soaked in Espresso and Kahlua, Whipped Mascarpone, Chocolate Sauce, Fresh Berry Melange (apologies to Lisa Bailey, my photography isn't doing you justice on this one)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve at Strings Restaurant brings many traditions, for both the staff and Guests. This was my first Christmas at the restaurant and I got to enjoy the festivities, including the annual staff meal. We had Roasted New York Loins, Roasted Pork Loin, Rosemary Roasted Red Potatoes, Horseradish Cream, Au jus, Mixed Greens Salad with Champaigne vinaigrette, and Strawberry Vanilla Cake topped with Chantilly. WIsh I would've had a camera to take some pictures. It was nice to sit down with the entire staff (from the whole building, D-bar included), eat, drink, and be merry, really taking time to enjoy what Christmas is all about. Here's wishing a happy holidays to everybody reading!

P.S. Keep your eyes out for a post sunday night, recapping the Sunday tasting menu.

Sunday, December 21 Tasting

Lucky You! Two posts, one day! Here are a few dishes from our most recent Sunday tasting menu.

Butternut Squash Bisque, Crispy Arugula, Togarashi

Deconstructed Salmon Corn Chowder; Pan Seared Atlantic Salmon, Corn Puree,
Warm Corn Salsa (it's under the foam, I promise), Corn-Milk Foam, Bacon "Cup,"
Chive, Espelette

Milk Chocolate Savarin, Raspberries 3 ways; Powdered, Coulis, and Fresh, Chocolate Dentelle, White Chocolate Ice Cream, Caramelized Cocoa nibs (Care of Lisa Bailey of the D-bar, also our Pastry Chef)

I wasn't able to get pictures of the pasta or meat course, won't happen again!

The Béarnaise Egg.

     On Sunday I spent some time working on our "Béarnaise Egg" for the New Years Eve Menu. I even ended up having some marginal success, off to a good starting point, now just a matter of refining the process and polishing each step.
     The Basic Breakdown is hard boil your eggs, preferably arranged standing elongated side up, and shock them in ice water. Peel the eggs as you would a normal hard boiled egg. Cut off the bottom quarter inch so the egg has a base to stand on. Cut off the top one inch of the egg (which is hopefully through the top third of the yolk). Hollow out the yolk, plus a little bit beyond the natural pocket to allow for extra sauce. Make a Béarnaise that has been stabilized with a touch of dijon and/or mayonaisse. Measure the Volume of Sauce and disolve enough gelatin to set it medium-hard (about 1.25-1.5 sheets per cup, bloomed in ice water first of course). Fill the egg 'vessel' with the sauce to just below the rim. Dissolve 2 sheets of gelatin into one quarter cup of water (after blooming) and paint the gelatin on as you would use a glue stick. Put the egg's top back on and set in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Once set the top should be firmly attached to the bottom, with no sauce leaking, if there is a leak, you can reapply a little bit more of the gelatin "paint" and reset. Carefully dredge the egg in seasoned flour, and then coat in tempura, drop into a 300 degree deep fryer until the crust is golden brown, and the inside is warm, but not hot (I can't remember exactly how long, but I'm thinking ninety seconds or so). Be careful as not to overheat the egg and 'break' the sauce inside (I unfortunately got a final picture of one that had been overheated, update tomorrow, promise). Let the Egg rest thirty seconds and plate, once broken into you should see a pool of your wonderful Béarnaise Sauce spill out. We are serving this with our Filet course on NYE, but it is good enough to be eaten by itself. Here's some pictures of the process.

Strings - New Years Menu

New Years Eve

Aaron (Whitcomb, Executive Chef) and I have finished writing the New Years Eve Menu and it is posted on the Strings Website. The menu is fun and whimsical playing on many New Years Menu Staples, Oysters, Lobster, Filet Mignon, Caviar, as well as the option to "Take your entree to the Beach or Farm" for a little bit of surf and turf. We decided to distribute the menus complete with chef's notes to add a note of personality, as well as to add some insight to the creative process that we took to arrive at the menu we did. I'm so excited for this event, the menu is as much ambitious for us as it is playful, and should provide a great experience for both our diners as well as us cooks! Recipe Development starts tomorrow before service. Keep your eyes open for several updates in the coming week and a half as we develop the recipes and executions of our ideas!

Welcome!

Welcome

    Welcome to my new blog, Playing With My Food. This is where you'll see me well....playing with my food. My name is Lance Barto and I am a sous chef at Strings Restaurant in Denver, CO, here on the blog you'll see my own experiments both inside and outside of the restaurant, along with some of  the better meals I eat. Thank you for stopping by and I hope to hear from you soon!