Point Reyes Blue Cheese Souffles

Just stopping in for a second to breathe. It's been a while, sorry about that. It's been a long, hot, sweaty summer. Two months of race season directly followed by two weeks of Restaurant Week, mixed with a little Fruit of the Soul is enough to make anyone's head spin, but I try to keep my cool. That said, I hope you all had a chance to come in and check us out during San Diego Restaurant Week. I'm still trying to figure out why they call it Restaurant Week when really it's two weeks. I guess Restaurant Weeks doesn't have as nice of a ring to it as the alternative.

Judging from some of the menus I've seen, some restaurants view Restaurant Week as a chore or something they have to do to keep up with the Joneses, so to speak. At Market, we see it as an opportunity to feed people that may not normally come into the restaurant, and hopefully along the way develop some new relationships with repeat customers. Our menu is ever changing, though we do have a few staples that stay throughout every season, with the accompianaments changing depending on the which fruits and vegetables are in season. We use Restaurant Week to highlight some of these staples, along with whatever else is freshest and available to us.

Our blue cheese souffle is one of these "signature dishes". Understandably, a lot of people are intimadated by the thought of making a souffle at home. I can recall old TV shows where a woman is baking one and someone slams the door and POOF! the souffle has fallen and all that work was for nothing. That's not the case with this recipe. Because these light, tangy souffles are made with a bechamel base, they are stable enough to be made head of time, cooled down and reheated later, right before serving. Perfect for an appetizer or a light dinner served with seasonal fruit, greens dressed in your favorite vinaigrette and some toasted nuts, this is the least intimadating souffle recipe around. Let your friends think you were slaving away all day, tip toe-ing around the kitchen.

Point Reyes Blue Cheese Souffle

My favorite cheese for these is the Point Reyes Blue, but you can also use Gorgonzola or any other full flavored blue.

Makes 12 (4-ounce) souffles
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups cold milk
3/4 cup crumbled Point Reyes Blue Cheese
6 egg yolks
6 egg whites
Kosher salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
Melt butter in a heavy saucepan. Add the flour, stirring briskly with wooden spoon until incorporated. Add cold milk slowly to make a thick cream sauce, whisking continually. Cook for about 10 minutes over moderate heat.
Remove mixture from heat and add to work bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in crumbled blue cheese. Allow to cool slightly. Attach the whisk attachment and at high speed add one egg yolk at a time. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
In a separate bowl whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into cheese-egg mixture.
Spray souffle cups with nonstick cooking spray. Fill cups 1/2-inch from top. Bake in a water bath at 300 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes and lightly brown on top. Remove from oven, let cool and unmold onto buttered parchment paper.
The restaurant serves this souffle right out of the over with a green salad, fresh seasonal fruit, and candied or toasted nuts.
The souffles can also be cooled and reheated slowly in a 300-degree oven. To reheat, place souffles in an ovenproof dish in a small amount of cream (to prevent sticking) until warm.

The Juxtaposition of Carl

Carl won’t tell you this, but his 41st birthday is this week. I know he’s dreading the big Four - One, thinks it makes him an old man, but the truth is he’s a whole lot healthier than a lot of people half his age. I almost said he leads a healthier lifestyle than most people, but then I remembered the 80 hour work weeks he’s been pulling off for the last 15 years. Some may say this isn’t so healthy, but when you take Carl’s neurosis and obsession with putting out “perfect food, every time” into consideration, it seems pretty normal. For him, anyway.

Throughout high school and college Carl played football, worked out way more than the rest of us, and would consume something like 15 hard - boiled egg whites for an afternoon snack. He was a big, scary looking guy with a mullet, a fu-manchu and some unfortunate fashion choices. You didn’t want to mess with him.

Luckily, Father Time eventually aided in his ability to make better decisions when it came to dressing and grooming himself. But his eating habits haven’t changed much. Despite the fact that he is no doubt preternaturally talented when it comes to putting together flavors, some of the things that he actually feeds himself are nothing more than stomach wadding.

Take for instance his breakfast. I kid you not I have seen him put an entire bunch of swiss chard, almond milk, and protein powder into the blender along with a few other ingredients (wheat germ anyone?) and puree it to a drinkable consistency. No glass necessary; he will then chug it directly from the blender. Or how about his lunch on the go? A hot sauté pan is filled with egg whites, salmon scraps, and a few handfuls of spinach. Mmmmm, I know you’re getting hungry just thinking about it.

Despite his sometimes hilarious eating habits, Carl still has a sweet tooth. Lucky for him, I can bake. It has become somewhat of a tradition that I bake the boys in the kitchen a German Chocolate Cake on their birthdays. I knew however, that if I made one for Carl, he might have a tiny sliver, and then leave the rest up to Scotty, his sous chef, who can eat anything and still looks like the Million Dollar Man. Scotty could knock that thing out in one sitting, followed by a glass of milk.

I wanted to make something that Carl would eat and enjoy so I began looking for bran muffin recipes. After reading and trying what seemed like a trillion of them I came up with the following delicious, super healthy, and sugar free version of whole wheat oat bran blueberry muffins. These things are not only delicious, they are also chock full of protein, fiber, and vitamins.

Whole Wheat Oat Bran Blueberry Muffins
makes 12

oven 325

1/2 cup all purposr flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp agave nectar
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup quick cooking oats
2 Tbsp ground flax seeds or flax meal
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 banana, mashed
1 cup fat free greek yogurt
1 egg
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, defrosted
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a blender, add the banana, egg, yogurt, olive oil, and vanilla. Blend until just mixed. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add all of the wet at once. Using a rubber spatula mix to incorporate. Fold in blueberries and nuts. Do not overmix. Divide among 12 sprayed or lined muffin cups. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes. Cool before eating. Store at room temperature in a ziploc bag for up to 2 days.

A professional eater's amateur thoughts on cheese

Did you know that August is National Goat Cheese month? In celebration of this month long holiday, I thought I’d say my piece on cheese plates.

Now, I’m no expert on cheese, but I have had (way more than) my fair share of it throughout my cooking career. Until relatively recently, cheese plates were something of a novelty on American restaurant menus. Within the past ten years, it seems that just about anywhere you go to eat offers artisan cheeses either as an appetizer or a dessert. Of these artisan cheeses that are being offered, there are now a wide variety of fantastic domestic cheeses available. Ten years ago, this wasn’t the case. This year at the American Cheese Society Awards there where over 1300 domestic cheeses being shown! I’d say that’s quite an accomplishment for America.

I’ve worked in restaurants where it was looked down upon to start the meal with a plate of cheese, and also in restaurants that had it under the heading of “appetizers” or “starters”. My answer to the stuffier places that think that the only time to eat cheese is after a meal is this: Who cares when you eat it? All that really matters is that you are enjoying it.

There are countless ways to enjoy cheese. Whether it be on a cracker or a crusty baguette, an apple or with a little mostarda, no way is the wrong way. For me a nicely balanced cheese plate would consist of the following factors:

1) a buttery, spreadable double or triple cream cheese such as CowGirl Creamery's Red Hawk or Old Chatham Sheephearding Company's Hudson Valley Camembert
2) a firmer, slightly nutty cheese such as Ewephoria or Abbaye de Belloc
3) a blue cheese such as Tilston Point or Fourme d' Ambert
4) something sweet
5) something salty
6) bread or crackers
7) all cheese at room temperature

Within these requirements on my dream cheese plate there would be a cow’s, a goat’s and a sheep’s milk cheese (and a stinky one! But that’s just me.). I like to mix and match flavors; like a slightly warmed piece of bread spread with a little of Jasper Hill’s creamy Constant Bliss, topped with a dollop of peach-hazelnut chutney. Or a toasted slice of fennel bread with a hunk of Tomme Crayeuse and a smidge of ratatouille relish….or my all time favorite, just about anything with mostarda.

What is mostarda you say? Well I’ll tell you my friend; it’s the ultimate condiment. If you’ve never had this sweet, tangy and sometimes spicy Italian concoction, I recommend that you do not pass go, you do not collect $200, and that you go directly to your nearest specialty or cheese shop and ask for some. Mostarda, also known as mustard fruit or mostarda di frutta is condiment classically made of fruit and a mustard flavored syrup. In my version, I like to use dried fruit and add in a little prepared horseradish for an extra kick. At Market, it’s used not only on the cheese plates, but also as the perfect accompaniment to the rich, crispy duck confit.

This recipe is a combination of a few different recipes that came up when I googled it. From there, it has been tweaked time and time again. And now I present you, my friends:

Golden Raisin Mostarda
makes about 3 cups

1 c sugar
3/4 cup water
2 Tbsp whole yellow mustard seeds, slightly toasted
1 cup golden raisins
2 Tbsp high quality dijon mustard
3 Tbsp prepared horseradish
1 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, bring sugar and water to a boil. Add mustard seed and raisins and return to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer until mixture has reached a syrupy consistency, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Let cool. This can be stored in a sealed container for a really long time.

Family Meal Cinnamon Rolls

It’s summer time and the Del Mar Race track is in full swing. For us, this means everyday is busy and the kitchen is not only hectic, but also sweltering. There are a lot of bodies in our tiny kitchen, bumping into each other constantly with no apologies, and trying to maintain their manliness by not complaining about the heat. We’ve come a long way from when we opened three years ago with three of our own cooks and also the ones that were provided to us from the previous restaurant. What a long transition period that was! During that time we were going through cooks like most people go through underwear, a new one everyday. Some of them couldn’t handle the heat, some of them just didn’t understand our philosophy, and most of them were just down right bad cooks.

When we are looking to hire someone new, we always have them come in for a stage, or working interview. In hindsight, we probably could’ve saved ourselves a lot of time and paperwork had we just asked our stages to make family meal. Ahhh family meal…the test of a truly good cook. There is no recipe, no step-by-step instruction, you just make something and everyone sits down together and eats it. Usually we have a stage peel carrots or make ridiculous amounts of oven dried tomatoes, mostly to test their patience and commitment to the task, but having them actually cook a meal for everyone using minimally desirable ingredients, probably could’ve saved us some time in the hiring process. We could weed out those who can’t season, sear, or blanch properly, and also those that crack under the pressure. This could’ve been really entertaining to watch too. The day-to-day grind can become rather mundane: you need some disastrous event to break up the monotony.

When we aren’t using it as a test, really it’s just sustenance; stomach wadding, to get us through the day and nourish ourselves on some level. Not all family meals are created equal. I’ve seen some hilarious and terrible ones; even from employees that I would consider to be really good cooks. There was the time that an otherwise stellar employee made tuna salad sandwiches on toast so dried out that it cut the roofs of our mouths and left us extremely parched. Or when a cook known for his heavy hand with rich ingredients made something that he called “Mac and cheese with hot dogs”. Now, this wouldn’t have been all that bad if it weren’t the middle of summer, and something like 102 degrees in the kitchen. Also, the macaroni itself was swimming along side the luke warm hot dog chunks in a sea of cheesy, salty cream. The whole concoction was not worthy of the name “Mac and cheese”.

All joking aside, there are more good ones than bad ones, mostly because now we have killer cooks. Family meal is not an assignment. It’s made by whoever can get to it, and during the long hot days of summer, it’s amazing that anyone has time. There are days when we throw a frozen lasagna in the oven and hope for the best, and then there are the days, like Sundays, when everyone pitches in a little something and we have brunch. A tradition around here has become the sticky buns. They’re so easy to make, we might even trust a stage to do it.

Make 15 large cinnamon rolls in a 200 pan.

Dough

2 1/2 cups flour
1 T salt
1 cup milk, warm, not hot!
1 T instant yeast
1/4 cup sugar
zest of one orange
1 egg yolk
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 TBSP butter

1/2 cup cinnamon sugar
2 TBSP melted butter

Combine flour and salt
Combine milk, yeast, sugar and orange zest. let stand until yeast foams up on top of milk
In the bowl of a stand mixer combine flour and milk mixture and mix for 10 minutes on medium speed.
Add egg yolk and vanilla, mix until incorporated. Add butter in small pieces until incorporated. Let dough rest 20 minutes in refrigerator.

Roll into rectangle ¼” thick and brush with melted butter.
Cover with cinnamon sugar. Roll up jelly roll style, cut into 8 pieces.
Lay cut side down in buttered a 9” x 13” pan and proof until doubled in size.
Brush with melted butter
Bake at 350' for 20 minutes, rotate at 10 min.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
4 TBSP butter, room temperature
¼ powdered sugar
¼ cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, mix all ingredients until smooth.

Frost cinnamon rolls while still warm. Serve immedialety.

Voila! Tomato Water

One of the best things about being a chef is the instant gratification that comes from feeding people. It's the oohs and ahhs, the smiles on peoples faces, and the full house on opening night of the Del Mar Racing season that make the 13 hour days all worth it. I often relish in the fact that some of the simplest things that we do here at Market are the ones that stir up wonder within in our guests. Of course, having access to some of the best produce around from farms like Chino's and Valdivia make doing my job a little easier. When the ingredients you are using are already stellar, they don't take much tweaking to create something that makes people say "How did you do that?". Take tomato water for example...made simply from pureed tomatoes, basil, and a little seasoning, this clear tomato "consomme" is almost an afterthought at the end of the night. It literally takes about 5 minutes to throw it together, and then just a space in the refrigerator to hang the cheesecloth sack and allow it to drip. Patience, my friends, it won't be ready until tomorrow, but it will be worth it in the end. We serve this as a chilled soup, use it in martinis, and sometimes, with a few adjustments, spin it into a savory sorbet.

You too can impress your friends and be instantly gratified with our not so secret recipe and method for Tomato Water. Go ahead, try it. Mix a little vodka into it and kick back on the patio. Put your feet up. You've worked really hard for it, right? At least your friends will think so.

Tomato Water makes about 3 cups

2# heirloom tomatoes (use a good mix of sweet ones and acidic ones)
2 tsp kosher or sea salt
5 basil leaves

In batches, so as not to loose too much juice, dice tomatoes and place in the bowl of a food processor with the salt and basil. Pulse until tomatoes are a little more ragged than chopped. Do not over process.

Line a large mixing bowl with a double layer of cheesecloth that hangs way over the edges, about 3 ft. long total. Pour processed mixture into cheescloth and tie into a knot. Still over the bowl, tie bundle to a rolling pin or wooden spoon and hang from a rack in the refrigerator. Allow to hang for at least 8 hours or up to 12 hours. The tomato water will drip into the bowl. Before using, adjust seasoning to your taste. You can use the leftover "guts" in the cheesecloth sack to make a tomato sauce.

To serve as a chilled soup: Serves 4
Dice:
1 large english cucumber, seeds removed
1 avocado
12 poached, peeled and deveined shrimp
good quality extra virgin olive oil, for garnish
4 basil leaves, juliened

Arrange all ingredients (except olive oil) into a "salad" the center of 4 chilled shallow soup bowls. Ladle tomato water around the "salad". Garnish with olive oil, serve immediatley.

Summer Stone Fruit

This is our favorite time of year at Market, not just because it’s spear fishing season, but also because of all the amazing produce that’s at its’ peak. From salads to sorbets, summer stone fruit is all over our menu right now. Currently we’re using a few varieties of peaches, nectarines, and plums from Lone Oak Ranch, an organic farm out of Reedley, California. We met these folks at the La Jolla Farmer’s Market. They grow everything from peaches and pluots to Asian pears and tangerines, depending on the season. Owner and Farmer Dale Simmons is a fourth generation farmer keeping alive the organic farming techniques taught to him by his father with the help of his sons. We’re getting both yellow nectarines and white peaches from Lone Oak. The range of flavors between yellow and white fruit is remarkable. White stone fruit tends to be sweeter and less acidic, with slight honey and vanilla undertones, while yellow fruit is more tart, with a slight floral quality.

Nowadays stone fruit can get confusing with hybrids like apriums, pluots, nectarcots, and plumcots. If you don’t know what these are, don’t worry…my spellcheck doesn’t even recognize the words. It’s almost impossible to keep up with all of the different varieties once summer is in full swing. You may ask yourself, “Whatever happened to the old fashioned peach, plum and apricot?” The truth is, hardly any of the fruit that we see today is the original version of itself. Horticulturists are constantly creating different hybrids to withstand the ever-changing climate and environment. Some of these varieties have such short seasons, it’s no wonder they’re virtually unknown.

Some tips for choosing and using summer stone fruits:
*The flesh should be firm, but not hard, giving slightly to gentle pressure.
*The skin should be tight, not saggy or wrinkly. This signifies fruit that was
picked too early.
*Fruit should seem heavy for its’ size.
*Let fruit ripen on counter until soft, then store in the refrigerator.
*If it’s ripe, you should be able to smell it without cutting into it
*To easily cut fruit in half: Using a pairing knife, cut on the opposite side
of the seam, and twist to release the pit.

Summer Stone Fruit with crispy Bacon and Goat Cheese
Serves 4

¼ cup Banyuls Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
2 Santa Rosa plums
1 White Saturn Peach
1 yellow nectarine
¼ cup candied almonds (recipe follows)
2 loosely packed cups wild arugula
2 loosely packed cups mache (available at Whole Foods)
6 large basil leaves, chiffonade
4 strips crispy bacon, crumbled
4 oz. crumbled goat cheese, such as Bucheron
salt and pepper to taste

Wash and dry greens. Slice fruit into 6-8 wedges each, depending on the size of the fruit. Toss greens, fruit, nuts, vinaigrettes, and basil in large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Divide onto four plates. Top with crumbled bacon and goat cheese. Garnish with extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately.


Banyuls Vinaigrette
Makes about 1 cup

¼ cup Banyuls Vinegar
1 TBSP water
2 tsp Dijon mustard
½ shallot, minced
¾ cup olive oil or vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl except oil. Whisk to combine. Slowly pour olive oil in a steady stream, whisking to slightly emulsify. Adjust flavor with salt and pepper. This can be stored in the refrigerator, covered for up to 10 days.

Candied Almonds
Makes 1 cup

1 cup sliced almonds
1 egg white
½ cup super fine sugar (also known as baker’s sugar)
1/8 tsp cardamom
pinch salt

Mix all ingredients until sugar feels dissolved. Lay in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with a nonstick liner or parchment paper. Bake 25 minutes or until slightly brown and crispy. Store at room temperature in airtight container.