This weeks menu

[Liza]

Nick,

Crab, avocado and grapefruit are magical. Do let us know if the oxtails go over. And I'm curious as to whether anyone will be asking for pork.

[tommy]

nick, tell me you're not actually cooking with chardonnay!

[ngatti]

No that was the wine selection, I didn't pick it...promise!

Red chilis, rice vin, ginger, kaffir lime, lemon grass, etc. etc. I did use the iceberg lettuce, though. Felt the salad started life as finger food with the lettuce used as a wrapper.

Liza- I figured if the oxtails didn't sell, I could bring it home to eat. I was correct

Kenny the sous added thin baked pieces of seqsoned phyllo dough cut into triangles. He then layered them with the crab. This tower was surrounded with the grapefruit segments and avocado.

The chicken with chorizo sold pretty well. I was surprised. What the hell. I served three 18 pound pigs the following night at a club event. Only one complaint that the pigs were indecorous.

Nick

[Steve Plotnicki]

Next time you want oxtails on the menu just print it as "Queue de Boeuf" and when people ask tell them it's a "Line of Beef." If they bother to ask, "where pray tell on the cow does that come from?" just say it's from the rear portion of the cow. Nobody will know and they will all love it.

[magnolia]

...I figured if the oxtails didn't sell, I could bring it home to eat.  I was correct...

I love oxtail ! I order it any time I see it. As Plotnicki says, it's all in the 'branding...' It is way underrated. Now if only I could cook oxtail... it's in the plan for my winter repertoire.

[ngatti]

Oxtails. My favorite food group! I'll make ravioli from them next week.

Magnolia-I flour and sear the oxtails (cut 1in. thick). Make a mire-poix cut small (onion, carrot, celery) and sautee along with some shallot and garlic. Place in a pan with some good stock (jus deveau, fond de veau or better yet demi-glace). Cover tightly place in a 300-325F oven and let 'er rip for about 2&1/2-3 hours.

Voila!...Queue de Boeuf!

(thyme, rosemary, marjoram..whatever herbage floats yer boat as well as S&P)

Nick

[Jinmyo]

Oxtail is great, Nick, but I was interested in the Cauliflower Bisque; Lobster and Caviar.

[Suzanne F]

No, no, please: next time your oxtails don't sell well, call me; I'll be MORE than glad to help you out.

I kind of like Steve P's suggestion for how to get them to sell; or else maybe you could just call them "super-tender braised beef" for your non-francophones. I'll never understand why people don't want them; they are soooooooooooooooooo good.

BTW: when I was at Zeppole under (not literally) Frank Crispo, he did the most fabulous spinach-pasta raviolini filled with calves' brains and I forget what-all-else. Just said they were filled with veal. That was one thing the entire staff would eat off the plates in dishwashing.

[KarenS]

I live in Hawaii, where oxtails are very popular. The stove that I use at work has them braising in the oven every day. I thought that you might enjoy our kitchen name for them, "ass shields". I don't suppose that would sell too many on the menu.

[ngatti]

Oxtail is great, Nick, but I was interested in the Cauliflower Bisque; Lobster and Caviar.

Pureed with cream and a touch of leek and potato.

At service we stir in lobster, mount with plugra and pour into a bowl. A small quenelle of whipped creme fraiche set in the center finished with a demitasse spoons worth of beluga.

It's a rip from a cold soup I had at Hubert keller's Fleur de Lys a coupla weeks ago. I added the heat and the herbed creme fraiche and changed the caviar to beluga. I had a version of just pureed cauliflower (and superb it was) at a restaurant called 'Yvan' in Paris. It has stayed with me always and I dust it off and give it a twist ocassionally.

Nick

[col klink]

Next time you want oxtails on the menu just print it as "Queue de Boeuf" and when people ask tell them it's a "Line of Beef."  If they bother to ask, "where pray tell on the cow does that come from?" just say it's from the rear portion of the cow. Nobody will know and they will all love it.

Or conversely, just double or triple the price. Then they'll think it's delicacy and would be fools not to try it.

[ngatti]

This weeks menu, December 6th, 2002:

Only for One night but we did do 105 couverts.

APPS:

Creamy Polenta

with Cepes, Black Trumpets de Mort, and Chanterelles

10.00

Celeriac Potage

Parsnip Frizzle

6.00

Risotto with Oxtail Sugo

9.00

Potato Crisp

Sevruga Caviar and Whipped Creme Fraiche, Fines Herbs

16.00

Crab Cake

Chive Beurre Blanc and Vegetable Frites

11.00

"Surf and Turf"

Hand Harvested Scuba Dived Scallops with Seared Foie Gras, Frisee, and Muscat Vinegar Syrup

18.00

A Composed Frito Misto Salad

Mussels, Fresh Gulf Shrimp, Calamari, Frisee and Aioli

14.00

MAINS:

Roasted Cod Filet

Arugula Pesto Broth, Gaufrette Potato Stack and Charred Asparagus

21.00

Broiled Striped Bass

Olive Oil and Garlic Whipped Russet Potaoes and Aioli

23.00

Nantucket Bay Scallops

Seared and Served with Baby Spinach, Baby Vegetable Medley and carved Yukon Gold Potaoes. Fines Herb Beurre Blanc

22.00

First Cut, Short Loin Steak

Grilled on the Bone: Served with Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes, Tomatoes, Roasted Sweet Onions and Peter Luger Sauce

35.00

Poussin

Seared Under a Brick and Served with Mixed Baby Vegetables and Lemon Roasted Potatoes in a rich Jus

23.00

Nick

Edited December 8, 2002 by ngatti (log)

[beachcove]

Wow! Please keep posting your menus.

Last time I had oxtail was in a Basque stew in Reno. I'd love to taste it again.

[gknl]

Thanks Nick! I missed these.

One question though, how do you decide which sides go with which entrees? Specifically, choosing which dishes get the whipped russet and mashed yukon gold potatoes? And why no vegetable with the striped bass? I'm very curious about the thought processes behind the menu. I guess that's really three questions, sorry.

[Liza]

I don't think I could choose only one app and one main. Could you decide for me? Thanks.

[Jinmyo]

I'll just let the chef cook for me.

Great menu, Nick.

The poussin sounds nice.

[ngatti]

Thanks Nick!  I missed these.  

One question though, how do you decide which sides go with which entrees?  Specifically, choosing which dishes get the whipped russet and mashed yukon gold potatoes?  And why no vegetable with the striped bass?  I'm very curious about the thought processes behind the menu.  I guess that's really three questions, sorry.

Well there *was* veg with the striper. I just didn't write it out for the secratary to type and print. We served the grilled (charred asparagus).

The menu was composed the day it was served. Generally what I do is collect the faxes and start talking to people about ingredients and freshness and quality on Tuesday morning. At the same time vague ideas are starting to form about dishes and seasonality. By Thursday the ingredients are collected. At this point all the main ingredients are ordered and one or two of the dishes may have started to gel based on what I've already ordered.

On Friday morning I'm at my table actually writing the damn thing. This, with knowledge that all the principals have been ordered in quantity. Some dishes (the bass for example) are purposely left vague and skeletal. I simply don't have a firmer idea yet. It usually comes together by 3:00 PM or so. We open at 6:30.

Sometimes you phone the garnish in, such as the bass. The asparagus was there and it seemed to fit. It was going to be broiled with a quasi-fiorentina type of motif. As the aioli was hanging about from one of the appetizers and I couldn't make the original idea (red wine, veal-based glace) work for the fish (to my satisfaction), I simply cobbled together a bunch of loosely related med/italian type ingredients for the Striped Bass. the hour was starting to get late and the cooks get skittish if I leave them hanging to long.

In general as to garnishes sauces and sides I try to make things fit and balance. The juxtoposition of scallop (rich and buttery) with Foie gras (rich and fatty but in a different way). I want to showcase the Scallops as they're the first of the season. Some frissee to give height and a bit of unfatty bitterness and then add the sharp sweetness of the vinegar reduction. Potatoes and starches are placed as the spirit moves me. As I post this and reference the menu, I think that the fish dishes would have been a bit improved had I reversed the garnishes for them. But they still work as is.

Some are less intellectual. After ordering all the ingredients and writing the menu I find I have yet to find a spot for the Five pounds of Fresh Gulf Shrimp and the 10 pounds of small Fresh Squid. The shrimp were expensive and I really should find a way to put them on the menu. Hence the frito Misto, coupled with some PEI Mussels that I had left from The previous day's menu.

I liken menu composition to writing music. Trying to balance seasonal menu themes with the subthemes of the individual dishes. Th flavor notes of the discrete ingredients. The chord work of the sauces. Big flavors, blended flavors, solo flavors and ingredients. All with interesting flights of ingredient fancy. Then translate the music to the tongue/nose/service/wine sensory experience. The way I do it can be somewhat improvisational.

Thanks all for your comments and interest.

Nick

Edited December 9, 2002 by ngatti (log)

[Rosie]

Yummy! Any chance you could have an eGullet evening?

[bushey]

Nick -- How did the Pompano sell last week? It is a favorite of mine, rarely seen on menus in the Northeast.................

Love to see your menus posted here, but I miss seeing desserts listed. How can I decide what to have if I don't know what delicious treats I should save room for ?

[Rachel Perlow]

Nick - are these menus you're posting the "specials" in addition to a regular set menu, or do you always have a changing menu only?

[ngatti]

Posted on Dec 9 2002, 09:49 AM by bushey

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Nick -- How did the Pompano sell last week? It is a favorite of mine, rarely seen on menus in the Northeast.................

Love to see your menus posted here, but I miss seeing desserts listed. How can I decide what to have if I don't know what delicious treats I should save room for  ?

The Pompano was on a menu that I did a couple of months ago. I should have been clearer with the date on that one. It did sell well, as I have quite a few snowbirds as members. Pompano can be problematic up here (NJ). It is a fish, that in IMO, does not "sit about well". Freshness is critical. I don't run it unless the sourceing is perfect.

Here is the dessert Menu for Dec 6.

Berries en Coupe

Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream

Profiteroles

Stuffed with Vanila Ice Cream and Drizzled with Hot Fudge

Warm Maple Glazed Bananas on a Waffle

with Banana Walnut Praline Ice Cream

Apple Cider and Cinnamon Baked Apple

with Dried Fruits and Nuts a la mode

Warm Saffron Risotto Rice Pudding

with Whipped Creme Fraiche

all 6.50

An Assortment of Ciao Bella Ice Creams

4.75

Hagen Daz Sorbets

3.50

All desserts are by my Sous Chef Ken Hogh. I vet them, but he is responsible for the menu and execution. The Saffron risotto pudiing was roundly dislike by all (I loved it). The members probably thought it too strange and edgey. It was quite tasty (IMO). I finished 2 portions. Should buy stock in Novartis (makers of Novolog).

Posted on Dec 9 2002, 10:16 AM by rperlow

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Nick - are these menus you're posting the "specials" in addition to a regular set menu, or do you always have a changing menu only?

 

These are only the specials, rachel. The chicken, steaks, chops, etc...don't change from week to week. They comprise some salads, a Shrimp Cocktail, and 5 main courses. The rest is mine and is expected to change daily.

Thanks all

Nick

Nick

Edited December 9, 2002 by ngatti (log)

[Liza]

The Iron Chef Dessert battle last night (ingredient: Strawberries!) featured a strawberry rice pudding in a saffron honey glaze. Looked gorgeous.

[bushey]

Nick, I'm a sucker for profietoles .

Liza, I think I saw the same Strawberry dessert battle episode a couple of weeks ago. Was it the one with the very attractive female challenger? I liked the one where the strawberry sorbet sort of melts into the soup. The sugared strawberries on sticks looked like something my kids would love to have presented at the table.

[phaelon56]

I love oxtail and keep meaning to order it when I get takeout from Dev's Jamaican Cuisine (highly recommended - they're on Bloomfield Ave in Bloomfield). The problem is that I love curry goat so much I give in to my weaknerss and keep meaning to get it some other time - a friend did try it when she ate there with me and pronounced it excellent (she is from the Caribbean and in a position to know).

I'm curious about the chicken with chorizo and black beans and onion frisee. Can you elaborate a bit on the manner in which the beans and chorizo are preared and served? I'd like to try this one at home as I have a hunk of chorizo left from an Ironbound shopping trip but don't feel like making another batch of paella at this point.

[gknl]

Thanks for the menu explication! Of course, it leads to a million more questions that would require you to write a book to answer. . . . But is there any way you could take us through a week in your kitchen? From initial sourcing queries to service?

I hope I'm not being overly selfish or presumptuous by asking or putting you on the spot and of course, if it's something you have neither the time nor the inclination to do, I completely understand (probably the last thing I'd want to do after work is write about it, but then my job sucks ). I am fascinated by how the food business works (not that I ever want to be a cook, you guys work way too hard!) on both the physical and intellectual levels and how the two intersect.

I talked to someone who used to cook full time about whether cooking was an art or a craft. She said that she considered herself a craftsperson but the real artists were the guys downstairs who had to figure out what to do every day and make it good. Since you're that guy at your place. . . .