Cardoon Thistle Cheese

A few weeks ago I was walking past the farm-stand at Earthbound Farms in Carmel Valley and spotted two beautiful cardoon plants in full bloom.  This is a rare sight, because while thistles, like artichokes, are well adapted to the cool, foggy climate of the Central Coast, cardoons have fallen out of fashion and are rarely commercially cultivated.  You might still find cardoons used in a traditional Italian fritto misto or in a gratin, but few chefs take the time to go through the tedious preparation required to remove the layers of inedible strands of fiber.  My interest in these cardoons was not the stalks, rather the bright purple stamens bursting out of the mature flowers.  These stamens contain a powerful enzyme that is used in Portugal, Sicily and Spain to replace rennet in the cheese making process.  Rennet is used to separate milk into curds and whey and is typically derived from a calf’s stomach.  Just a few pulverized stamens from a cardoon flower are powerful enough to coagulate a cup of fresh milk.  The resulting curds are smooth with a slightly bitter finish, reminiscent of fresh artichokes.

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a box filled with cardoon flowers from Earthbound Farm last week.  When they removed the plants from their display, they remembered that I had commented on them and were kind enough to send them down the coast with our kitchen gardener Antoine.  For me, getting my hands on a rare ingredient like this is far more exciting than getting truffles or foie gras.  I wanted to feature a traditional Portuguese-style fresh cheese accompanied by different variations of artichoke and fennel.  To start I cleaned baby artichokes from Pezzini farm and slow-braised them with olive oil, fennel, garlic and thyme.  We shaved giant artichokes and then fried them to create thin, crisp chips.  Fennel pollen, olive oil, wild chive flower, bronze fennel frond and red-clay sea salt finish the dish.

Albacore Tuna with Cocoa Butter Roasted Carrots and Nante Carrot Curry

Albacore Tuna doesn’t have the glamorous reputation of its relatives - the Ahi and giant Bluefin.   The fish are smaller and their color ranges from pale pink to dark rose.  The canning industry has not done much for Albacore’s reputation, tagging it with slogans like “chicken of the sea” and packing dried out chunks in watery brine.  In my opinion, when properly prepared, Albacore can be superior to both Yellowfin and Bluefin in both flavor and texture.  When our fisherman caught two albacore off the south coast, we didn’t hesitate to buy them.

These two fish were caught and processed onboard using the taniguchi method.  In Japan, this detailed method of preparation is often required by reputable buyers when they inspect large tunas.   Without going into too much gritty detail - the process quickly stuns the fish and knocks its central nervous system offline.  The fish is then gutted, put into a protective sleeve and plunged into a salted ice brine.  This process ensures the best possible texture and flavor.  Not only does the method result in a higher grading product, it is also likely more humane.

I crusted the tuna with local sea salt and green coriander seeds then flash seared it.  The dish was finished with multi-colored carrots from Swank Farm, slow roasted in cocoa butter and a light carrot curry prepared with kaffir lime leaves, ginger and fresh coconut water. 

Matsutake Mushrooms

The first Matsutake Mushrooms of the season are starting to pop up.  I love their rich, piney aroma and meaty texture.  I am working on a dish with Wagyu beef, charred Tokyo scallions, fried rice cake filled with matsutake mushrooms and a miso-roasted bone marrow vinaigrette.

Local Squid

The other day we received two small bags of squid, so fresh that their skin was still pulsating with different colors.  This may not sound special, considering Monterey is known for its commercial squid fishery, but in fact it is quite a find.  Blocks of perfectly cleaned, quickly frozen, locally caught squid can be found at many local stores and on the menus of numerous restaurants.  It is not surprising that people prefer the convenience of pre-cleaned squid, especially when few of them take the time to read the fine print on the packaging.  While this packaged squid may be caught in California, it is often processed in China and then distributed back to the US and other international markets.  Few fisherman will bother selling a couple of pounds of fresh squid to a local chef or market.  They prefer to unload their entire catch to a single exporter.

When I have squid this good, I want to showcase its mild flavor and inherent sweetness.  After carefully cleaning the squid, I score the tubes and dip them quickly into an aromatic poaching liquid until they are barely cooked and still tender.  Cous cous cooked with fresh squid ink and meyer lemon puree finish the plate.

Alliums

Alliums are not far behind salt when it comes to the list of the most important ingredients in the history of cooking.  The Allium family is a broad group of flowering plants that encompasses such items as onions, garlic, chives and leeks.  These plants are characterized by their pungent aroma and often colorful flowers displayed at the ends of long stems called scapes.  Hundreds of species are known to exist, but only a few are grown commercially.  Each species is unique, ranging from the tiny tubular chive with its mild flavor and dark purple flowers, to giant red onions with tear-jerking potency and tall curling scapes.  There is a specific flavor nuance to each member that can be used to enhance a dish or when the wrong member is chosen, quickly overpower and ruin it.  How the item is prepared will also determine the flavor outcome.  Leaving the allium raw will maintain its astringency while cooking it will progressively create a sweeter and milder result.  If the raw, chopped white onions that find a home on hot dog condiment stations and taco bars is one extreme - then Korean black garlic is the other.  These whole cloves of garlic are slowly fermented at 140 degrees for over a month until the cloves inside dry out and blacken, softening into a sweet paste with a hint of acidity that can be compared with an aged balsamic vinegar.

The idea behind this dish was to create a preparation that combines different alliums that both enhance and contrast one another.  I started with a pureed base of chive and green garlic, added milk poached garlic cloves, red onion confit, blanched leek hearts and black garlic.  The result explores the broad range of textures and flavors found within the allium family, yet presents itself as a single cohesive component in the context of this sea bass preparation.  

A Thanksgiving Muse

The other day in the garden I watched a group of deer and turkey eating apples that had fallen from one of our trees.  My first thought was “Wow, I bet those would be delicious.”  And my second thought, after ruling out any resident turkey or deer being added to the menu, “Why do the deer and turkey always seem to be hanging out in the same area?”  It turns out there is a very logical, though unsubstantiated, reason for this.  Apparently the turkey have excellent eyesight and the deer have an incredible sense of smell - so together they can identify more predators than either one could individually.  This is interesting - but why do they let a chef walk right through, a cleaver length away?  Perhaps they just know they are off limits…

New Lunch Menu

Last week was a busy one here at Sierra Mar!  We just unveiled our new three-course lunch menu and have received a fantastic response from both long-time friends and first time guests.   The menu is inspired by the abundance of Autumn, yet remains fresh and light.  I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon than sitting high above the fog enjoying a leisurely lunch. 

Some of my favorite dishes are the wild steelhead trout with smoked roe and crispy potato cake and the Berkshire pork tenderloin that has been brined with freshly juiced apples from the garden.  The Mangalitsa country ham with goat-butter biscuits and anise hyssop is a great way to start.  Here are  pictures of a few new dishes.