Week Four Very Busy

We started out the week with a guest chef. His mane is Chef Claudio Melis. The region is trentino Alto Adige. It is a region I am thinking about for my stage. This man was really great, his food was good, pretty, and he spoke English very well. So after the demo I asked if he took students for stage. He is moving to the US, either New York or California. He has contacts who want to bring him to the US. I am happy for him sad for me. This first dish he made is a hay soup. Sounds weird but very good. He cooked the cut hay,( wild grass and flowers) in broth, pureed potatoes and leeks. It was very tasty. In the Bowl is Speck,( very big in that area) Porcini mushroom,and zucchine diced up in small cubes and sauted. The soup would be presented as seen. It was a very different flavor and a fun dish. The next picture is one of the best desserts I have ever eaten. Even the chocolate lovers did not miss the chocolate. Variazione di mele,( variation of the apple), this area grows lots of apples. On the bottom is an apple cream. He peeled, cored, and chopped 4 golden apples, 200g water, 200g sogar. When cooked, drain, blend put in bottom of 4 bowls to jell, refrigerate. Next he made an apple sorbett( I suggest you buy it it requied lots of tools). Fritter dough, 500g flour, 400g cold butter, 200g sugar, use paddle on mixer until a sandy mixture. Finish by hand and knead until smooth no extra flour, Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest one hour or more. Roll the dough and cot rounds about the size of the jelled apple cream. Cook about 8 minutes 325 set aside. Fritter batter 30g butter heat till melted not to hot, 2 eggs separated, 1 glass dry white wine, 125g flour. Put butter, wine, flour, and egg yolks in bowl and mix. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest on counter for at least 2 hours. After 2 hours whip egg whites and incorporate into the batter. Use Red apples peel and core cut into rings 1/2 inch thick. Batter rings and fry in sunflower oil, till golden brown, drain. Put rounds onto of the apple cream, next the fritter and last the sorbett. It seems like alot but most can be dome ahead and assemblied at the last minute. Beauty and the flavors are perfect together. The apples he used for the sorbett were granny smith.
He made several other things: 2 fish dishes and some veggies. All were good but I liked these the best. Well the day after he was here I got to cook Guinea Hen. I had the pleasure of cleaning the bird from burning the feathers to the inners. I can say I never had Guinea Hen before, It was tasty. It was my dinner that night. We did not get out till 7:30 and we presented this dish about 5:00. Perfect timing for a quick meal. I am smiling inthe picture for ya'll but at the time dread was more on my mind. The prep was not as bad as I thought.

Our last chef this week was from Venezia. If you look him up he is somewhat a superstar in this area. He is the Chef of the Hotel Bauer, a5 star hotel. It sits on the grand canal in Venice. Everything he made was very different and good. Presentation was perfect. I think I would have to work to hard if I staged for him. I don't have his web address but look the hotel or him up. It will be worth checking out. We had salt cod bigne with canied lemon and pesto. The candied lemon made the dish pop. Amberjack tartar with red chicory and balsamic glaze, ontop was a fried tartara sauce. This was so cool. All the textures and flavors. I am not much on raw fish but I could eat this everyday. He made sauce of 4 egg yolks, 10g white vinegar, 2g salt, 10g mustard seed, 18g gherkins, 130 olive oil, 2g capers, 12g shallots, 100g bread crumbs, 15g mixed sesame seed. I blender make a mayo with egg yolk vinegar gradually adding oil. Then all the rest except the breadcrumbs and sesame seeds. Freeze the sauce in finger shapes on parchment paper, about the 2 inches, by 3/4 inch. After frozen cover with breadcrumbs and sesame seeds twice. Do this fast so they don't melt. Place back in freezer. When ready to serve fry the sauce until crispy and place ontop the tartar. When you break intopen the sauce spills out. The chicory was blanched in vinegar water. It was placed in a ring with the tartara that was mixed with lemon and oil. The crispy sauce ontop. Very cool mix of texture and flavor. The dish you see above is a veal loin cooked in crusted salt, with an artichokeamd morel mushroom sauce with sweetbread chips. Everything went together so perfect. This is why I am here. I want to be able to do this on my own. Not by someones recipe. These two Chefs were both very inventive and able to make the inventions work. I cannot say that for every dish from a guest Chef.

We were supposed to go to the chocolate festival yesterday. We did not get enough people for the bus. It is just as well it rained all weekend and has been about 50 out. I am cookung some vegetable beef soup. That is Steve dish at home and I miss him so I want his soup. I am sure it will not be as good as his but I feel I will have alittle of him with me today as I eat and share apart of him. Happy Anniversary Sweetheart I LOVE YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bye from Italy Yvonne