DiRoNA Gala Dinner, Chef Pino Posteraro, 7 Course Truffle Menu. ...you know,...no big deal...

Chef Pino Posteraro,

Cippino's Mediterranean Grill & Enoteca

B.C. spot prawn cocktail with tomato crudalola


The crust on the albacore tuna is a mixture of egg whites, cornstarch and panko bread crumbs. The nori/truffle combo was brilliant. One of my more favorite pairings that night.

Crispy B.C. albacore tuna, truffle roasted seaweed vinaigrette

Field mushroom, truffle "sfogliatina", provolone and tartufo

Essentially it's a duxelle, good cheese, with chunks of truffles all wrapped in phyllo. NOTHING wrong with that.

Roasted veal (sous vide) with salsa tonnata al tartufo
(Chef Pino's favorite dish)

Qualicum Bay scallops and polenta terrine, truffle-Balsemico vinaigrette

My first job when I got into the kitchen was to slice the polenta scallop terrine with Chef Pino. I asked him how he managed to get an ultra-smooth finish on the polenta and he replied that he fits in a ratio of semolina flour when making the recipe.

Also, please note the huge chunks of truffles in the pic above.

Massive amounts of assorted truffle sauces.

Nooo big deal.

Happens here all the time.

B.C. line caught, sustainable sablefish, savory zabaglione al tartufo

(Celeriac Puree, Heirloom Carrots, Truffle Foam)

I enjoyed the foam. This was accomplished by adding truffle to soy-milk, spring soda water, and soy-lethecin.

Porcini and chestnut soup, truffle chantilly

Plating up the soup for 200 people and to be "hand bombed" by servers.

The soup had to be whipped at the last minute with sour cream to give an airy texture. This is typical in an a la carte service, so I was impressed to see it happen in banquets.

The lost art of delicately mixing a picky high-end chef's tortellini and a very tasty and expensive truffle-wild boar sausage ragout. Special secret; use the back side of a serving spoon to move the pasta around and prevent any unnecessary grief.

Tortellini "alla Norcina", wild boar sausage ragout and truffle

(My personal favorite dish)

Peace County rack of lamb, eggplant salad, confit garlic lemon sauce

When we were plating up the lamb dish, I was responsible for dribbling the ultra-expensive olive oil on the dish. Within two plates being finished, Chef Pino came up to show me that rather then use 10ml of evoo per plate, he wanted about 25ml! He added that the olive oil does not just give a beautiful flavour, but as well enhances the residual sweetness of the dish.

Granitee of grapefruit with maple syrup marinated fruits

Sweet Fried Milk "alla Genovese" served with gelato al miele di tartufo

At last, the whole truffle menu.


This whole service was a good learning experience. It is not everyday the Royal York brings in a storage trunk amount worth of truffles for Chefs like Pino Posteraro to come show us the whole utility of them. I will make a special note that I wrote the menu items on BOHK exactly how Chef Posteraro wrote it out for us to work with. This is simply because it's all his creation and therefore his interpretations. Great night indeed.

-Jerek

Gnocchi, a holding your hand the whole way through experience.

Begin with bakers potatoes.

I like 6, washed, seasoned, NO TIN FOIL because I enjoy a crispy shell for the next stage.

Put in the oven for 55 minutes @ 375 until completely cooked through.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and let rest for 2.5 minutes.

This is why I like the crispy skin.

Halve the potatoes. Rest again for 2 minutes to allow the steam to dissipate (creating less gluten later on). Using a spoon, dig out all the potato making sure to omit the skin. Place the harvested spud into a ricer and rice the dickens out of it.

One of the very few times I will actually measure ingredients in a savoury kitchen.
Tare the scale to include a bowl. Add the potato.
Here it weighs 125gr. The ratio to A.P. flour is 3:1 (P to A.P.).
So therefore...


Da dada DAAAHHH!
The total weight of both is 166g!

This is a pic of me mixing it all together.

Actually, we are moving ahead too fast here.

First, after properly measuring, you need to add egg. This is why I prefer to use 6 average potatoes, because typically it yields 750g. and will feed 6 people comfortably.

750g. of potato (or 1kg with A.P. Flour) is PERFECT for 1 large egg. Anything over 950g., and you have to play around for the right texture.

So, in the bowl, add the egg, kosher salt to taste, a pinch of grated nutmeg (I like a fair bit for layered flavours), and parmesan-reggiano (I use a small handful).

Mixing;

Mix with confidence and do it fast. Stop just when you have a completely binded dough. Do NOT over mix or the texture will suck and you might as well get someone to actually hold your hand as you try this.

Like this. Moist enough that it collected all the flour in the bowl, but dry enough that I can touch it without it sticking to me.

Rolling the dough out.

I gently flour a cutting board for each roll.

I like a diameter roll of about 3/4 of an inch. I like gnocchi big and hearty.

Roll in moderation for the most consistent results.

Note the even rolliness and shape and awesomeness. Still brings tears to my eyes.

Cutting the gnocchi.

A) I use the heel of my sharp mac, because it makes the cleanest cut.

B) I put the end tips back into the original dough, otherwise they will look different.

C) After cutting, I place the gnocchi onto saran wrapped, floured hotel pans as a reserve before blanching.

D) The first cut gnocchi goes immediately into the salted boiling blanching pot to taste test. Season accordingly here if you need to.

Gnocchi before blanching.

Note the smooth texture of the surface. If this was too dry, it would show cracks and grooves. Too wet, and it would almost appear half melted and have a "soaked finger" look to it.

Mark Anins blanching the gnocchi.

Make the effort to ensure that the blanching water is salted and at a hard boil by the time you are ready to blanch. It is important to give gnocchi the fastest blanch time possible for texture purposes.

45 seconds later.

It's easy to tell when the gnocchi is finished as it rises to the surface.

Right away shock the pasta in a salted ice bath.

A fun fast tip; the gnocchi will sink to the bottom. Use a slotted spoon to remove the ice first before straining out the gnocchi. Trust me, you save 5 minutes here.

To hold, roll the gnocchi in the best olive oil your chef will buy and reserve in one layer on saran.

The end result.

Remember a little bit of gnocchi goes a long way.



I love gnocchi. First time I had it I was 20 and close to Pompeii, Italy. I still remember being shocked at how filling it was.

I have a ricer at home from the late 1950s and I really feel a sense of authenticity every time I bust it out to make gnocchi.

I have found a new purpose for this blog; not just to showcase what is new, but also to document what I think is best. In this way, the site becomes a reference to look up how something was prepared in the past.

-Jerek

Mon beau voyage à Ottawa, and 'Bona Fide' awesome Espresso

Le Cordon Bleu, Ottawa

(www.lcbottawa.com)

Moi, dans la belle ville d'Ottawa, avec le Rideau Canal en arrière-plan.

Crisp BBQ Duck Confit,
Creme Fraiche
Murray Street Restaurant, Ottawa


"Bona Fide" Espresso Beans.
"Terra Madre" and "Tre Sorelle"
Self described as "Artistry in Roasting", Anna Porretta focuses on freshness rather then shelf-life with coffee beans. Using fair trade Arabica Beans, she roasts her own and sells them in cool places such as Trinity Bellwoods Farmers Market (www.tbfm.ca).
I recently had the chance to meet her and she was wonderful enough to follow up our encounter with a wicked gift of these two super fresh bags of espresso.
I was sold on her product before I even tried it. I took the bags on the GO Bus that night and had the people sitting behind me complimenting my wonderful smell. ...something I am not use too after a long service on the fish line!
Anywho, I will never go back to anything less.
FYI, The taste is beyond comparison to bulk-ground espresso I use to procure at the grocery store.
Buy this product.


Mia madre mi ha mostrato come fare il caffè espresso.
Ti amo.


The money shot.


The desired effect.

I am pairing my trip to Ottawa with espresso and coffee because while I was there hanging out with a couple of very capable F.O.H. friends, I was introduced to the best cappuccino since Italy two years ago. (http://www.bridgehead.ca/)
So Ottawa was cool. I was really inspired by the huge bilingualism prevalent everywhere there. I intend to finish my half-sorta-speak-french-style and full-on become basic Quebecois. I will start by developing more pork-lard based recipes.

Places that I went too and thought worked really well in Ottawa are;
Luxe Bistro (http://www.luxebistro.com/)
Allium Restaurant (http://www.alliumrestaurant.com/)
Murray Street Restaurant (http://www.murraystreet.ca/)
Boulanger Francais (http://www.bennysbistro.ca/)

Since I married into an Italian family, I am now, (genetically), linked to Calabrese (Mother In-Law), and Abruzzo (Father In-Law). Hence, it has become 'la maggior parte importante' for me to learn the basics of a Caffè Espresso.

So.

Espresso

Generic Authentic Method.

Use an old fashion percolating espresso machine for the stove top.
Grind your own coffee beans, because you are authentic like that, and set the fillings (I like mine double and have a destine for consistent sleep) to however much you desire.
Once it's on the heat, take a ceramic bowl and add one or two teaspoons of granulated sugar per serving, pending on how you like your espresso.
When the very first hints of espresso come percolating out, spoon it into the sugar.
Using a rustic old spoon and old-world Italian-mother arm power (keeping it authentic), cream the sugar until it is pale and frothy.
By the time this is done, the espresso will finish percolating.
Slowly temp the caffè into the creamed sugar.
Serve and find something active to do for the next 6 hours.

-Jerek