Other Recipies
I have been making differing variations of these for years. The combination of sweet, salty, spicy can be used in numerous recipes. When I first started making them I was using them julienned (thin sliced in strips), to use as a garnish on dishes or to add in a salad. More recently I changed it to a brunoise (very small fine dice) because I have been using them mainly for sauces and relishes. Any way you cut it, they are a versatile addition to keep in your fridge.
I love the idea of dumpling soups, but instead of making them just for a soup, I wanted to create other meals at the same time. My solution, make a batch of simple potato dumplings, or gnocchi, and use them in place of the traditional soup dumplings.
When I helped open the Avenue my initial goal was to bring Quebecois and Acadian food to the table. Over time the initial menu changed, but I retained a couple of concepts that were the underlying flavors that I was looking for. This blend is my take on Montreal Steak Seasoning, just with a couple of twists.
I won't normally be posting desserts on this blog, unless people ask me too. But with 4th of July, peaches being so much better this year than last, I figured I'd make something nice to share with my neighborhood.
I started making this recipe at my first restaurant job in Harrisonburg, VA. It was at a brewery that used it both for bread service, as well as dipping sticks for the spinach dip that was on the menu. This is also a great accompaniment to any number of soups that are on this site. The benefit of this bread is that it's relatively quick, very easy, and you can put different toppings on it to change the flavor.
When I helped open The Avenue one of the items on the menu was a cheese dip. In addition to being an appetizer it was also the cheese spread we used for the "Avenue Melt" burger. This is a variation, as that was a 5 cheese dip, that can serve as the topping for french onion soup, burger cheese, or a very simple hors d'oeuvre. You can vary it any way you want but the main thing is to include some soft cheese that's temped, so that you have a nice spreadable end product.
This is a simple little recipe for a well rounded sauce. It's got a little bit of a bite, with a nice salty and tangy balance. I use this as a base for various enchiladas, as well as the sauce I put into the chicken enchilada soup. Enjoy
Rendered chicken skins have many potential uses. They are great snacks on their own, awesome garnish for dishes (when applicable), good filler to add to tacos or enchiladas because of the texture they add. Keep in mind, they are not good for you, so I wouldn't make a habit of snacking on them by themselves.
This is a classic french accompaniment to bouillabaisse. It is traditionally an aioli made from garlic, chili, and saffron that goes into the soup as a thickener and flavor enhancer.
This is a garnish that I came up with to serve as a thickener for my Tuscan White Bean soup. Traditionally the bread is put into the soup and used as a thickener, but to make it better for a restaurant setting, I decided to keep them separate to enhance the appearance.
Though I cut these large for appearance, you can cut them into a smaller bits and use them as salad croutons as well.
This is a garnish that I have been making for a number of years. The end result gives you a nice balance of sweet, spicy, salty and sour. Depending on what peppers I'm using, normally a mixture of fresh and pickled, is how spicy it will be. This particular recipe uses cherry peppers which tend to be sweet, salty, lightly acidic, and not too much heat. If you want a spicier relish you could change the pickled peppers or use fresh hot peppers instead of red peppers. Additionally to being a garnish for a soup, this is a great accompaniment to sandwiches as well.
I first started making this when I worked at Tersiguel's in Ellicott City. There was a Nicoise salad on the menu that had a number of different components that comprised the dish. The cucumber salad is a simple way to prepare them increases the life of the product, imparts some amazing flavor, and retains the crunch you are looking for in cucumbers. You can change the flavors to pretty much anything you want. In the past I've used this method to make pasta salads, slaws for tacos, and relishes for fish to name a few.
I love pickling vegetables as you retain the crunchy texture but impart any number of flavors. I decided to use honey as the sweetener, and rice wine vinegar as the base. The end result was a sweet spicy jalapeño, that is reminiscent of movie theater jalapenos.
There are a ton of ways to marinate chicken to prepare it for cooking. Normally I alter how I'm marinating/brining/rubbing it based upon the recipe that I intend to make with the finished product. That being said here is a simple (provided you have some basic kitchen items on hand) flavorful marinade that is versatile in the finished product.
There are numerous ways to use pork belly in dishes. What this process will give you is a way to serve it seared as an appetizer or part of a main dish. I have been preparing pork belly in restaurants for a fairly long time. Since I started working with it, I have made sure to include pork belly on every menu that I've worked on, and though I've changed the flavor and ingredients in the overall dish, the process has always been the same.
Growing up one of the dishes that my father always ate was kimchi. The spicy, salty, crisp and refreshing textures and flavors are great to add to soups, in omelets, fried rice, as well as sandwich ingredients just to name a few uses.
This is a simple spice blend that I came up with when summer was ending and I had surplus peppers on hand. It's a bright flavor that can be used with poultry and seafood that isn't too spicy. It CAN be spicy if used in large quantities, but a simple seasoning is a great base.
