In this era of instant expertise, it is refreshing to discover a young cook so hungry for knowledge that he “won’t say no” to any job in the kitchen. So although 27-year-old Christopher Koetke wears the chef’s hat at Les Nomades, the stylish Ontario Street restaurant that was a private club until two years ago, he also makes the pastries and influences the wine selection.
“I don’t want to limit myself,” he says, explaining how he found time to take wine classes in Paris and work in a Swiss pastry shop in Geneva between apprentice assignments in France. His talent and work ethic impressed a series of French chefs on both sides of the Atlantic and he had risen to sauce chef at Le Francais when owners Roland and Mary Beth Liccioni tapped him for the Les Nomades post.
But despite his immersion in French kitchens, he remains a lively and personable American from Valparaiso, Ind., who loved dissecting animals as a 4th-grade “biology freak,” helped his mom (“a fabulous cook”) with her cooking, took his first kitchen job at 15 and began to study cooking at 17 in a continuing education class at Valparaiso University.
At Les Nomades, Koetke’s cooking is based on the classic French techniques he has learned. In preparing favorite ingredients such as wild game and game birds, suckling pig, root vegetables and apples, he avoids the extremes of country rustic and showy fussiness, trying to “minimize the number of flavors on the plate while still allowing for complexity.”
This approach is evident in the recipes that follow.
LAMB CHOPS PROVENCAL WITH TAPENADE DUXELLES
Four servings
1/2 pound mushrooms, washed and finely ground
1 teaspoon finely chopped shallot
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon tapenade (black olive paste, available in specialty food stores and some supermarkets)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 to 1/2 pound lamb scraps (obtained from a butcher)
1 tablespoon minced onion
3 tablespoons red wine
1 can (14.5 ounces) beef broth, low- or no-sodium preferred
1 1/2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
8 loin lamb chops, cleaned of excess fat
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 tablespoons roasted garlic oil
1. Make the duxelles. Saute mushrooms and shallot in 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat until mixture is fairly dry. Remove from heat and stir in tapenade and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Prepare the sauce. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place lamb scraps in a heat-proof frying pan or roasting pan and roast until brown, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, cook the onion in 1 tablespoon oil until softened. Add the wine and boil to reduce by half. Add the broth and browned lamb scraps. Cook at a simmer for 30 minutes. Strain. (There should be 1 cup of liquid. Reduce further or add water as needed.) Add herbes de Provence and cook an additional 10 minutes. Skim off fat and set aside.
3. Cook the lamb chops. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a heavy skillet large enough to hold the chops in a single layer. Season chops with salt and pepper and cook 4 to 5 minutes per side. While the chops are cooking, reheat the sauce and the duxelles.
4. Arrange chops on four heated serving plates and spread duxelles atop each chop. Bring sauce to a boil. add cornstarch slurry and stir until sauce thickens. Off the heat, stir in garlic oil. Pour around chops on plates. Serve with eggplant or spinach puree.
WARM APPLE AND MACADAMIA NUT CHARLOTTE
Four servings
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus 3 tablespoons
4 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus 4 tablespoons, melted
3 apples (Granny Smith preferred), peeled and diced
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon dark rum
3 ounces unsalted macadamia nuts, roasted in a 350-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes and lightly crushed
1 loaf brioche
Extra rum and butter
1. Heat an oven to 400 degrees. In a large saute pan, combine the 1/3 cup sugar with 2 tablespoons water. Cook over high heat until sugar melts and turns a light caramel color. Add the butter and stir until it melts. Add the apples, cinnamon and the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until apples begin to soften. Add the rum and cook an additional 30 seconds. Remove from heat. When the apple mixture is cool, stir in the macadamia nuts.
2. Cut the brioche into thin slices and remove crusts. Lightly coat one side of the slices with melted butter. Cut round shapes to fit the bottom of four 1-cup souffle or tin charlotte molds and long rectangular pieces to fit around the sides of the mold. Fit the round pieces in first, butter side down, then apply the rectangular pieces to the sides, butter side against the mold. Cut and shape so each mold is entirely lined with brioche.
3. Fill each mold with apple mixture. (If desired, cover with a brioche round.) Sprinkle a little rum over the top of each mold and dot with small pieces of butter. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the brioche is toasted and the apple mixture is bubbling.
4. Remove from the oven and allow the charlottes to cool to warm before unmolding them onto individual plates. Serve with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream, whipping cream or custard sauce.
