BLEU BOHEME

Had the opportunity to dine this weekend with a group of colleagues at a great little neighborhood restaurant call Bleu Boheme. Located in the Kensington section of San Diego, Bleu Boheme is representative of the current restaurant scene here. A well appointed dining room, good cross section of guests, a trained wait staff and well executed comfortable offerings from the kitchen. It seems that finally our local Chefs are creating solid dishes with outstanding ingredients and good technique. All along with a keen eye on flavor and balance. Hopefully the days of FUSION-CONFUSION, stacked food cooking has been relegated to the "remember when" category of gastronomic history.

Under the tutelage of Chef Ken Irvine, the kitchen produces an excellent array of French staples. Chef Irvine is one of the old guard of San Diego Chefs and has garnered many accolades over the years. Re-connecting with him in the dinning room this weekend brought back many fond memories of my days in whites. Good luck to Ken and his staff.

I enjoyed the duck confit served with classic beluga lentils, braised cabbage and a rich duck stock flavored sauce. Others at our table dined on mussels, beef bourguignon and rack of lamb. All were very well done. For a first course to share, we opted for a platter of perfectly aged cheeses, mousse de foie gras and a nice selection of saucissons. The 2007, Drouhin, Moulin-A-Vent paired perfectly throughout the evening.

Definitely a return visit is in our future. The rest of the menu deserves a taste.

NEW YEARS DAY 2011

We dined in grand style this New Years Day. After reading an article in the New York Times Food Section listing the best dishes in the city for 2010, I set out to duplicate a rather decadent dish of Tagliatelle tossed in truffled cream sauce and finished with proscuitto. It most definitely lived up to the mention in the NYT. The sauce was made with chopped black truffles, shallots, garlic, white wine, cream and butter. No, not for the faint of heart. The finishing touches really made the sauce pop. After sweating and reducing the ingredients, tossing the al dente pasta in the sauce and finishing with strips of prosciutto, slices of black truffle, truffle oil, salt, white pepper, nutmeg and a grating of fresh Parmigiano Reggiano; you have an over the top dish. We enjoyed it as a first course and then proceeded to Noisettes of pork tenderloin and Tuscan cabbage served with a classic gastric sauce.

Paired with a 2008, Regis Bouvier, En Montre Cul, Burgundy France.

Perfect.

Happy New Year To All.

NEW YEARS EVE 2010

Whether in black tie or sweat pants

Out on the town or at home

Grande Cuvee Champagne or beer or any drink in between

Celebrate

Black Truffles, 2005 Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ...the makings of a great dinner...the prime dry aged Filet Mignons are resting comfortably off camera.

Outstanding meal. You can never go wrong with wrapping a filet mignon and copious amounts of sliced black truffles in puff pastry. Roasted to medium rare and served with Sauce Perigueux.

The Montelena was classic. Deep ruby red color with red raspberry on the front opening to cherry and clove on the finish. Very Bordeaux-like. Complex with good structure.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Panettone

The first time I tasted Panettone was when living in NYC. I was fortunate enough to have lived in the South Murray Hill section of Manhattan (some people call it curry hill because of all the Indian restaurants on 28th) where an outstanding food shop named Todaro Brothers is located on 2nd ave. between 30th and 31st. What a great place. Packed with mostly Italian delicacies: Cheeses, meats, pasta, cookies, pastry, coffee and all the then hard to find cooking essentials like dried mushrooms and imported pistachio and tomato paste. The list is endless. The great thing abut Todaro Brothers is, it was and is a neighborhood shop. Much smaller than the eponymous Balduccis over in the village, but every bit has sophisticated in its offerings.

Which leads me to the Panettone. Around Christmas time, boxed Panettone appeared in grocery stores around the city. Now, they are even available in Southern California markets. I never knew what a Panettone was until a few culinary school classmates and I were in Todaro Brothers shopping for a dinner party. FYI: When three culinary students decide to have a dinner party around Christmas, it can get a bit out of hand. NYC apartments aren't exactly equipped with enough ventilation and storage space to do ten courses for eight people not to mention all the wine, but it was fun. Back to the Panettone. My classmates described it as a Christmas bread with dried fruit baked into it. Well, being from the south, that sounded like a fruitcake. And to me a fruitcake had dual use: either as a doorstop or a cake some family and friends somehow enjoyed. Maybe the bourbon laced eggnog common on the southern holiday table had something to do with it? Anyhow, I was skeptical. But wow was I wrong. Buttery almost Brioche-like in texture and richness with dried orange and raisins bursting with flavor. Panettone is a must around the holidays. Served toasted plain or with a little jam and a cup of strong coffee it is a great way to start the day.

Far from Todaro Brothers these days, we recently ordered a Panettone Milanese from Emporio Rulli located in Larkspur California. It is outstanding. Chef Rulli and his staff prepare each one adhering to traditional techniques and utilizing only natural ingredients. You won't find any ingredients that require a chemistry degree to pronounce; just egg yolks, butter, wheat flour, candied orange peel and golden raisins. Order early, they have been known to shut down the kitchen if they are inundated with orders.

On this rainy cool morning; life is pretty good.

Red Wine Braised Chicken

When the weather is cool and a braise seems perfect, try this.

Serves two - four depending on the weight of the chicken.

1. 2 bone-in chicken breasts. Or, 4 thighs.

2. Half bottle of red wine

3. 1 cup of chicken stock

4. 1 Tbls tomato paste.

5. 2 bay leafs

6. 4 sprigs of thyme

7. 1 cup of mirepoix (equal parts chopped carrot, celery, onion)

8. 1 Tbls flour

9. Pancetta or bacon. Cut into 1/4 inch slices

10. 3 Tbls olive oil

In a pan just large enough to place the chicken side by side (no stacking) heat olive oil over med heat and add the Pancetta. Cook until crispy. Remove the pancetta and drain on paper towel.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to pan skin side down. Cook until golden brown. Turn and brown. Remove chicken from pan.

Add the mirepoix cook until soft.

Add the tomato paste, stir to incorporate.

Add the flour, stir to incorporate

Add wine. Increase temp to hi and reduce by half.

Add the chicken back to the pan (skin side up) and add chicken stock, bay leaf and thyme.

Cover and reduce heat to allow liquid to simmer (not boil).

After 10 minutes turn chicken pieces over, re-cover and cook until internal temp of chicken reads 155.

Remove chicken, strain sauce into a pan over med-hi heat and reduce to desired consistence. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low.

De-bone the chicken and add it back into the sauce to keep warm.

Serve with frisee salad with the pancetta. Goes well with rice, potato or parsley- buttered fettuccine.

Wine: Red Burgundy, Cru Beaujolais.