When I think of an ‘out of the norm’ flavor combination – or when I simply am stuck on finding accompaniments for a particular ingredient – I will pull out what has become my most valued book, The Flavor Bible by Andrew Dornenbug and Karen Page. There is nothing flashy about the book in terms of photos or design, and it doesn’t even have any recipes (though I rarely will use a recipe from a book anyhow). What it is, is an alphabetical dictionary of ingredients. Underneath a particular ingredient is then a list of other ingredients that would pair well with it. Then, if it pairs very well with an ingredient – like fish and fennel - it appears in bold. And if the pairings are made in heaven – like truffle and pasta – they appear in bold and capital letters.
In addition to ingredients, the book takes on entire cuisines and flavor sensations, and features the descriptions of what some big name chefs (no, I am not one of them?!) are doing on their menus with those ingredients. And though I will generally pick up the book when I am at a stand still in conceiving the next flavor to introduce into an idea, there are times I will be taken in an entirely different direction just by paging through the book. Anyhow, it is a rare breed of book that is suited both for the professional and amateur alike, and this one is definitely in that class.

In this concept however, I veered down my own path. My idea was to serve bacon with caviar, so I looked up ‘caviar’ in the book to see if by some chance I’d find it there. Not to my surprise, I didn’t. Considering both bacon and caviar are cured, it would kind of be in contrast to say that they could pair well together. Then when you consider the smokiness of the bacon, there is a good chance that it would do nothing more than mask the flavor of the caviar. Nonetheless, I took the leap since I wanted to add another element of salinity (aside from the caviar and the oyster) in a way that would also bring more ‘body’ to the dish. Not really too terrible of a leap though as I’m sure you’d find bacon (probably in bold) under the heading of oyster!

I decided to proceed cautiously so that I wouldn’t kill the expensive caviar. Several factors were taken into consideration: First, the accompanying ingredients (which I had already decided on) needed to have ‘legs’ to carry the flavor through. They did…. the earthiness of the beets and leeks, the sweet & sour crispness of the granny smith apple (likely the most vital ingredient), the strong acidity from the finger limes, and the velvety crème fraiche. These all needed to provide plenty of amusement for the mouth on its own. Last but not least, I took into consideration how the guest was most likely to eat it. I wanted the caviar and the oyster to be the first sensation, and the remainder of the ingredients to come in after, but without dominating the finish. The key was to only serve a couple of slivers of the bacon, to blanch and shock it (instead of cooking it crisp), and toss it with a little lemon vinaigrette. This removed some of the smokiness.

The finger limes I was introduced to by Curtis Duffy when he brought one from his kitchen as we were heading out one recent evening. To open them, tear the rind away with your fingernails and then pinch at the base of the lime. To my intrigue that evening, ‘caviar’ sized bits of sweet lime came out. Leave it to Curtis to find all of the cool stuff and for me to be the Johnny Come Lately!

First take out the vegetables…

… then peel the zucchini until nothing remains.

Coat the chicken with flour and shake off excess. Then place (not throw!) the chicken in the egg wash.

Next put the flour in your hands….

… then clap!

I wish I could’ve been there to see Mom’s reaction when this showed up in her mailbox… anyhow, the article for Milwaukee Lifestyle magazine is here.

I’ve done a couple of versions (here are Take 1 & Take 2) of this great and amazingly simple cured duck breast from Brian Polcyn and Michael Ruhlman’s Charcuterie. I believe this version trumps both of my previous efforts. This time of year is not great for much fruit other than citrus, and this dish took root in some satsuma mandarins I randomly brought in last week. The desire to pair them with the duck and lavender came next. First I cooked the mandarins down confit style and finished them with a very good lavender honey. Knowing though that this would not bring enough of the lavender flavor in, I called on friend/supplier Rod Markus who sent samples of 2 separate teas when I couldn’t decide which I preferred. The first was a Forbidden Forest Lapsang Souchong that was smoked with fallen pines, and the second was a Wild Himalayan Lavender. The Forbidden Forest was a little too smoky and the Himalayan was too strong in lavender, so I just combined the two and gelled them. The Forbidden Forest got the shout out in the title because it simply sounds so Hobbit-esque.

Once the smokiness was introduced, the black trumpet duxelle I made out of some sub-par mushrooms we received (and later were credited at half off) entered into the flavor profile. This was made with duck fat, shallots, black garlic paste and sherry vinegar.

The plating took some trial and error and I knew that considering our limited task force (and still no sous chef to fall back on), the duck breast would need to be sliced before service. The plating above is nothing like what I had in mind when starting out, but the cylindrical ‘Napolean’ works well enough. The bottom is toasted country bread, followed in order by the duck rillettes, the tea gel, and the black trumpet duxelle. Regarding the breast, at first I sliced it directly onto the plate, but I felt it became buried under the other ingredients. The next progression was to form it into a ‘rosace’ and drape it over the top. The frisée – tossed with a 3 vinegar vinaigrette – rounds it off.