Sweetbreads

To continue on with the theme of organ meats, sweetbreads found their way onto the plate today. Not nearly as often as I'd have liked, but they did make it onto the plate a couple of times.

I'm not sure what it is about sweetbreads that makes people squeamish, but something does. Perhaps someone out there can let me know what it is. All I know is that we almost sold out of liver but we could barely sell a sweetbread. For any of you lucky enough to have eaten sweetbreads I know that you would order them again. I have never met a single person who has tried a sweetbread and then said they didn't like it. Everything about them is fantastic.

So, what is a sweetbread. Well, it is one of two things. It can be a thyroid glad which is found in the throat, or it can be a thymus gland, which is found beside the heart. The heart glands are said to be a better product and therefore cost a bit more. I really don't see to much of a difference between the two. The glads are used to help fight alongside their brothers in the war for immunities. Veal and lamb are the most common form which you will find, for as the animals age, the gland begin to disappear. The pinker or redder the gland, the older the animal.

First things first. I soaked the sweetbreads in a brine overnight. The following day i poached them in milk and herbs for about 6 minutes to firm them up, then plunged them into an ice bath to stop any further cooking. Once cooled I peeled of the outer membrane, then pressed them between two pans with weights on top to press out any excess moisture. They are now ready to cook. Many people will bread them and then deep fry them. A great way to have them. The most common way is to dust them with flour and then pan fry them. I, along with many others, see no reason to dust them in flour. They pan fry beautifully on their own, why add the flour, I find that a lot of the time they become pasty if flour is used.

I served this along with a sautee of parmesan gnocchi, local apricots and basil. A roasted local eggplant and smoked paprika puree. Finally, some balsamic jus to bring it all together.

This was most likely one of the tastiest lunch specials I've made all season and we only sold 4 on a day when I cooked lunch for 197 people. There are a lot of people who missed out on this one. Sweetbreads will make an appearance again in the near future, I'll promise you that. However, I think that I'll have to use them as a small component and then work my way up from there. The Okanagan has a lot to learn about food before it can become the mecca that it deserves to be.

Sean Peltier

A Study of Pheasant (part 2)

Welcome back to the second installment of "A study of pheasant"

In this one I wanted to showcase the fruit flavors a little more and focus less on richness. With that being said, I still poached the ballontines in xvoo. So, there is a little fat there to savor.

I used the leg this time as a farce meat for the center of the ballontine and added a gooseberry gastrique that Shannon made the other day. Also, I did an apricot gastrique to be the real acidic component of the dish. For one more fruit component, I did two slices of grilled peach. The two fruits and the berries are all in season right now and grown within a 15km radius. How could I not want to showcase those flavors.

With all that fruit going on I needed to bring some more richness to the dish in order to mellow out the acidity and help restore the subtle flavors of the pheasant. So after poaching the pheasant in xvoo, I used that oil to make a mayo with a touch of truffle oil, some grainy dijon and lemon juice. Also, the jus made from all the carcass and trim of the birds brought the earth tonal flavors that give a comfort to a dish.

The dish definitely needed some texture and some starch components on the plate. Since I already had a lot going on I decided to make the starch crispy and kill two birds. Actually it was 8 birds, but that's neither here nor there. Grated, raw Yukon Gold potatoes, with all their juice squeezed out. Then a little bit seasoning and a few herbs. Into the pan to fry all crispy like. Success.

The plate was garnished with some bush basil for freshness and of course it's affinity for stone fruits. I also garnished with a light sprinkling of smoked sea salt, because it's delicious.

People really seemed to go for this one. We sold out in no time at all. I love that people will enjoy this kind of food in the summer here. Now, we just need to get some more of the locals eating like this on a more year round basis and we'll really be in business then.

Sean Peltier

How to sell a feature 101: Wrap it in bacon!

Today's feature sold like hotcakes. Then again, when is the last time you've seen hot cakes sell like hotcakes. I think perhaps that saying needs to change. What is selling a lot these days. Well, Canada's mortality rate is dwindling, perhaps condoms are selling really well these days. I say that the phrase, 'sold like hotcakes' be changed to 'sold like rubbers'...I digress. The feature sold well. In fact 25 portions in no time at all. Lesson, wrap everything in bacon!

I took some Ling Cod with a sage leaf on top and wrapped it in Jon's home made bacon(I hope that one day he will actually start writing about all his magic on here). That was pan seared until nice and golden, then basted in a little bit of butter which I browned in the pan and a little bit of herbs.

For the risotto I finished it with a some ricotta cheese and cracked black peppercorns.
Also, I had some great berry gastrique which really complimented the risotto, adding some acidity to the fat of the ricotta and balancing the spice from the peppercorns.

For the marmalade I used some apricots that our friend Janice picked in her backyard yesterday. A lot of acidity again with a load of natural sweetness. I knew that this would really pair nicely with the fat and smoke of the bacon and also lift the subtle flavors of the ling cod.

All in all, a total success.


A little side note: The other day a friend was commenting on my last special(pea's and carrots), and said that she was not a big fan of stacking food. That she prefers to have her food separate so that she can taste each component on its own. I can understand this. I also agree with it, when the cook is merely stacking the food for the sake of stacking or god forbid, height.

My only response to her was that 'I stack my food because I make all the components of a dish to be eaten together'. After this I said that I know it sound egotistical or arrogant or something like that, but its true. I have been told several time before that certain components on my plates by themselves are almost inedible alone, but when eaten as a whole dish it works out beautifully.
This is what I strive for in all my food. A perfect balance between sweet, sour, salt, fat, bitter or what ever textures may be involved as well. I use a hell of a lot of acidity in some components because I know that the fat of the dish needs to be mellowed on the pallet. A lot of gastriques will allow me to add a sweetness and a sourness that will counteract with fat and salt and all the other things that make the French style of food so heavy. So when you see some of these dishes that I do I hope that you can realize that I am always putting flavor before presentation and that I really do think about what I'm composing. It's easy to make a great starch or a great protein or a great vegetable component. What is really a challenge is to make them all live in harmony both on the pallet and in someones memory.
Sorry for sounding conceded, I don't mean to be. Merely passionate and thoughtful.

Love Sean.