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The recipes that follow are from my recently published cookbook, A Cook’s Table (co-authored with Todd Wernstrom).
The recipes in the book are really a compendium of my many years in professional kitchens in my native Denmark, San Francisco and Miami at Two Chefs, my restaurant that has been serving dishes like those that follow for more than 30 years. All of the recipes employ classical French technique and many are among restaurant greatest hits. Many others are updates on the classics while still others touch on many other cuisines. All of them deliver lots of flavor. You will see that there are wine recommendations for each dish. The book has a very significant wine component that will make food and wine pairing easy (ordering info below). Enjoy!
Sweet Corn Soup With Roasted Corn Flan
Serves 6
Corn is all about glorious summer days. Here, fresh corn is presented in two ways—in a chunky, chowder-like soup, and with roasted corn flan, which has a delicate custard-like texture. Similar savory flans can be made with asparagus, roasted peppers, artichokes and crabmeat. They’re a great “garnish” for soups, like the shrimp bisque, also found in this chapter
Roasted Corn Flan:
6 4-oz ramekins
1 to 2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels
3 eggs
2 tablespoons grated Gruyère
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 300. Butter the ramekins. In a medium saucepan, combine the cream and corn kernels and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer slowly for 15 minutes, until kernels are soft, but not mushy. Chill the mixture in an ice bath.
When cool, purée the mixture in a blender, then pass through a strainer. Stir in the eggs, grated Gruyère, and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Blend until well mixed. Pour the mixture into the ramekins. Place the ramekins into a deep roasting pan, filling the pan halfway with warm water (bain-marie). Cover pan with foil, place in the middle of the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Check for doneness by shaking the custards lightly—they should be firm. Remove from the pan and let cool.
Corn Soup:
4 ears of corn, husks removed
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 slices bacon, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
1 onion, chopped into 1/4-inch dice
2 stalks celery, chopped into 1/4-inch dice
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
5 cups chicken stock
pinch of saffron
3 oz Italian parsley,
finely chopped
salt and pepper
Using a sharp knife, remove the corn kernels from the cob. Set aside.
In a stockpot over medium heat, add the olive oil and bacon. Cook the bacon slightly, until barely rendered. Add the onion, celery, potatoes and garlic. Sauté for a minute or two until slightly soft. Drain off the bacon fat. Stir in the chicken stock, saffron and corn. Bring the soup to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes start to thicken the soup. Skim off any fat, add the parsley, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
To serve:
Ladle the soup into six bowls. Unmold the flans, placing each flan atop the soup in each bowl. Serve immediately.
Kitchen Wisdom:
The soup can be made the day ahead, chilled, then reheated (add the parsley, salt and pepper just before serving). But the flans should be made right before serving.
What to drink:
This recipe is a great vehicle for matching richness to richness. Any oak-aged Chard would do nicely, though I would lean more toward the subtle oak integration found in Burgundy. If staying in the New World, I’d go with one from Oregon.
Golden Beet Gazpacho with Lobster Knuckles
Serves 6
Golden beets are one of the roots that demand Riesling. They are extremely earthy in flavor and loaded with umami. They always find their way into my kitchen, especially when they are babies.
The Russian beet soup, borscht, is the inspiration behind the golden beet gazpacho, but what qualifies it as gazpacho are the other traditional ingredients that are included in this mostly vegetable soup.
The Soup:
1 lb cooked and peeled baby golden beets
1 stalk celery
1 English cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 yellow bell pepper
juice from 2 lemons
zest from 1 lime
3 tablespoons honey
2 shallots, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 oz Sherry vinegar
2 cups chicken stock
2 oz EVOO
salt and pepper
Garnish:
1 Hass avocado, diced
2 oz minced chives
1 oz grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
8 oz of Maine lobster claws, cooked, cracked and meat removed, cut into small pieces
Place all the soup ingredients into a blender, except the salt, and purée until completely smooth. The soup could be strained, but I prefer to continue blending until smooth. Taste for salt and pepper, then refrigerate.
When ready to serve, ladle the soup into serving bowls, scatter the avocado on top, then lobster knuckles, chives and grated cheese.
Kitchen Wisdom:
When cooking the beets, toss them in olive oil, add to a roasting pan, cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven at 300 for 1 hour, until done (make sure they can be easily pierced with a sharp knife with little resistance).
What to drink:
As is often the case when pairing wine with Jan’s recipes, you could go two ways here. The riper Alsace style would pick up on the inherent sweetness of the lobster as well as the beets (despite their earthiness, the fact that they have been baked will give them a sweet note). Or, you can go even “sweeter” by matching the sweetness of the dish with an off-dry German Riesling, just not too off-dry. Go with an entry level version as going sweeter would interject too much residual sugar into the dish.
Banana Walnut Bread with Goat Cheese Ice Cream
Serves 8
I came upon this recipe when I first came to the United States. It’s “cakey” with a sweet note, and perfect for a Sunday afternoon watching a movie. I think it’s also suitable as a lunch dessert, especially served with ice cream. You could also serve it with macerated fruit, like berries, peaches and the like. But my favorite way is with ice cream. The goat cheese adds a tanginess to the creamy banana.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 stick butter, room temperature
butter for greasing the pan
1 cup of sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
3 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed with a fork (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces
Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together, and set aside. Coat a 9-x-5-x-3-inch loaf pan with the butter. Preheat the oven to 325.
Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer fitted with a paddle until light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg mixture to the butter until incorporated. Add the bananas and sour cream. (The mixture will appear curdled, but don’t worry, it’s supposed to.) Remove bowl from mixer.
With a rubber spatula, mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the nuts and pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool the banana bread for about 15 minutes, turn out the loaf and let cool completely on the rack.
Goat cheese ice cream:
I’m assuming that most home cooks don’t have an ice cream machine so this bullet-proof recipe has goat cheese and other treats flavoring the creamy vanilla ice cream that you buy.
1 qt creamy vanilla ice cream
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup chopped dates
pinch of salt
1 cup soft goat cheese (room temperature)
In a mixer, cream the goat cheese with the honey and dates. Add a pinch of salt. Then add the vanilla ice cream 1/4 cup at the time until mixed. Transfer ice cream to a plastic container and return it to the freezer.
Heat a 1-inch slice of banana bread in a toaster or oven for a minute, place a scoop of goat cheese ice cream on top and serve.
Kitchen Wisdom:
Make the ice cream before attacking the banana bread so it will have plenty of time in the freezer before service.
What to drink:
Nuts and cooked bananas work very well with Port. However, here, because of the ice cream, it makes the match a little more challenging. But I think you’d still be better served with a Port than a Sauternes-style wine. Try an entry-level Tawny. Better still, eat around the ice cream crown first with the wine to give you a sense of why the match works.
Enjoy.
I hope I have inspired you to have a bit of fun, maybe challenge a dusty pot and pan to return to the stove. Otherwise, call 305-663-2100 for reservations.
Jan Jorgensen, Two Chefs Restaurant
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