Plate Up: Orange Julius and Fennel.

I've been slipping...as the plate-up feature on this blog has been missing. I've been changing the foie so frequently, it's been hard to keep up. It's been interesting...as some nights, every single plate will go out differently...as we try to feel our way through the plate up. Heres a quick recap:


We needed an amuse for my chef when he came in with the food editor for Diablo magazine. I had a 9 pan of terrine that was extra, so spooned that, bitter orange puree, and foie powder in a bowl and foamed coconut milk and mandarin orange juice over it. A new dish is born--foie gras "orange julius."
The bitter orange puree is simple...three oranges, in sous vide at 210 degrees for an hour. They're then pureed with a cup of sugar and half a cup of fresh orange juice, and passed through a tamis.

I also wanted more coconut than just the foam...so we took coconut milk with just a bit of sugar and gelled it with genuvisco J carrageenan.



The orange puree gets dragged up the side of the plate, then topped with the foie powder/effervescent powder mixture.

Next, the foie is added, and topped with the coconut sheet. On top of the sheet is diced mandarin orange supremes and grains of paradise. The dots are minus 8 vinegar.

Next the foam is added (stabilized with versawhip @ 1%) and topped with a nasturtium.

In the end, it looked like this.


Even before the orange julius, there was the fennel plate up. This also had the foie powder/effervescent component. Surprisingly, our guests really liked the fizz they got from it.

Admittedly, there may have been way too much mise for this plate up.


This is the honey cake...same as the tea time plate up.

At first, foie and a piece of cryoblanched fennel would go on. Eventually, this switched to a sauternes cracker and sous vide baby fennel.



The sauces were pretty simple...rhubarb cooked sous vide with sugar and lemon, and caramelized fennel. The minus 8 vinegar also shows up again.

The final garnish is fennel fronds, fennel stalks, and some micro greens. As per usual, this plate up changed, and added some more fennel.

Back to the drawing board.