What do chefs cook away from the job? Do they spin their magic to the fullest and use luxury ingredients such as foie gras and truffles when the audience is family and/or a few friends?
We asked two of our town’s brightest young chefs to share their menus and methods for entertaining.
Heather Terhune, executive chef of the Atwood Cafe in the Loop’s Hotel Burnham, cooks boldly and well in the hotel’s kitchen. At home, with no family to feed, she makes food for herself. “Cooking is my profession, but it’s also my hobby. It’s relaxing for me to make banana bread,” she says.
American comfort food is one of her specialties, and high on her list of favorite cooking-for-one dishes are beef stew, soup “of any kind” and grilled chicken. “During summer, I plan my food for the week based on what vegetables and fruit I am able to buy at the Lincoln Square farmers market,” she says.
When company is coming, she sets the table, usually for a buffet presentation, and makes dessert the night before. When guests arrive, the food is already on display or in a warming oven.
“But I don’t hesitate to involve my guests [in preparing the meal],” she says. “Giving them chores, involving them, creates interaction.”
HEATHER TERHUNE’S FOUR-COURSE
Menu for eight
First course:
Warm, pistachio-crusted goat cheese salad with endive, fresh figs, vinaigrette dressing and honey
Tip: Assemble the salad ahead of time minus the dressing and honey. Right before serving, make the dressing (use Champagne vinegar for sparkle), toss the salad, drizzle with honey and top with warm goat-cheese disks.
Second Course:
Scallops with wild mushrooms and leeks en papillote
Tip: En papillote is a gentle method of cooking fish. Enclose the fish in a paper or foil pouch. The scallops release some of their moisture and the juices make a sauce.
Preparation and assembly are all done ahead of time. Just put the packets into the oven and open them at the table. Your guests will be delighted with the aroma.
Third Course:
Red wine-braised lamb shanks with oven roasted autumn vegetables plus au gratin potatoes with Brie cheese
Tips: Braising is a great one-pot meal technique that allows you to enjoy your own dinner party. All the work is in the preparation. The meat is browned on the stove and then cooked in liquid, covered, in a low oven for a long period of time. This develops flavor and tenderizes tough cuts of meat.
Cook sliced potatoes covered with a mixture of whole milk, heavy cream, salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for an hour until potatoes are tender. This can be done a day ahead.
When almost ready to serve, put potatoes in a baking dish. Cover with slices of cheese (brie adds a creamy note that makes this gratin special), top with breadcrumbs. Bake until golden brown and bubbling.
Fourth Course:
Warm apple crostata with a walnut crust and vanilla bean ice cream
Tip: This dessert looks impressive and is easy to make ahead. Just re-warm it before serving. The crostata also can also be baked while you and your guests are dining and will be ready when the main course is finished.
WARM APPLE CROSTATA
Eight servings
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons water
Apple filling:
4 large Granny Smith apples (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and sliced into 1/8-inch pieces
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon flour
1 egg yolk for glazing
2 tablespoons butter
Coarse bakers sugar or raw sugar
1. Place walnuts and 1/4 cup flour in the food processor. Pulse until the nuts are fine but not a paste. Place remaining dry ingredients in the machine.
2. Add the butter and pulse until it forms a coarse meal the size of peas. Mix the egg yolk and the water. Add to the dry ingredients and pulse about 8 times. Do not over-mix.
3. Remove dough and form into a disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Tip: Pulsing the nuts with flour will keep them from turning into a paste.
5. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Dust a piece of parchment paper with flour. Roll out the dough onto the parchment, creating a 14-inch circle, 1/16-inch thick. Slip dough, still on parchment, onto a baking sheet or pizza pan.
6. Mix together apples, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and flour. Pile apple filling into the center of the dough, leaving at least a 3-inch border of dough around the outside. Lift sections of the border, draping it over the filling to enclose all but the center section, which will be about 3 1/2-4 inches in diameter
Tip: Put the tart into the freezer for at least 15 minutes. This will keep it from spreading too much when it’s baked. The crostata can be made ahead and baked the day you serve it.
7. When you are ready to bake, brush the surface with egg yolk mixed with a little water. Dot the center of the crostata with the butter, and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake until crust is golden and the center is bubbling, 30 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.
MARKET SAVVY IS KEY TO SUCCESS
David Murphy is executive chef of WAVE, located in the W Hotel Lakeshore. Since he’s riding a wave, it is no surprise the chef specializes in fish and shellfish preparations.
At home, Murphy and his wife, Sue, a market analyst, often have a “picnic” of bread, cheese and wine on weeknights when his arrival time is uncertain.
“On Sunday, though,” he says, “we go to the market to shop, then make a feast for ourselves and often some friends as well. Sue comes from a Lebanese background and loves to cook. She makes the best tuna salade Nicoise I know of and braises a marinated chicken, then broils it until it’s very crisp.
“After we met she said she wanted to learn more about cooking, and the more we cooked, the closer we became.”
As with every other chef interviewed, Murphy recommends doing “all your prep” on the morning of the party or earlier.
He also suggests “cutting food smaller to help it cook quicker” and, when shopping, “ask the person waiting on you to let you smell or taste fresh ingredients you want to buy.”
“A famous chef once said, ‘Obtaining the best ingredients is 80 percent of cooking.’ I’ve never forgotten that.”
DAVID MURPHY’S THREE-COURSE AUTUMN DINNER PARTY
For eight
First course:
Curried sweet potato salad with tapenade
Tip: To make great potato salad, allow cooked potatoes to drain only until cool enough to handle. Cut them quickly and toss immediately with the sauce or dressing. (Once the potatoes cool, the flavor of the sauce will not be absorbed by them.) Use small dollops of tapenade (a spread made from black olives) to garnish the rim of the plate.
Second course:
“Hot and cold” roast salmon with smoked salmon, a fruit and vegetable ragout and warm cider vinaigrette
Tip: To get a really crispy skin on the fish, use a non-stick pan and saute with vegetable oil, such as grapeseed. Before cooking, dry the fish skin thoroughly.
Third course:
Orange and cinnamon flan with bourbon caramel sauce
“HOT AND COLD” ROAST SALMON
Eight servings
The hot roasted salmon and the cold smoked salmon create the “hot and cold” juxtaposition that is a step beyond most salmon dishes.
For the salmon:
8 portions (6 ounces each) salmon fillets, skin on, rinsed and patted dry
Salt and pepper to taste
For the ragout:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons chopped shallots
1 tablespoon butter
1 pound salsify, peeled, cut on the bias into 1-inch-long pieces and blanched
3 tablespoons brandy
1 pound small shiitake mushrooms, caps only, cleaned, halved and sliced
1/4 cup golden raisins
4 medium-size Fuji or gala apples, peeled and diced
2 navel oranges, segmented and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
For the vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
1/2 cup apple cider, Michigan pressed preferred
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 star anise
1 bay leaf
4 black peppercorns
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
For the Garnish:
8 ounces smoked salmon, preferably Scottish
Sea salt
Fresh chives, cut into 1-inch pieces
1. Make the ragout. Over medium heat, add oil to a medium saucepan. Once hot, add the shallots, stirring occasionally, until translucent. Add 1 tablespoon of butter, add the salsify and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. De-glaze the pan with the brandy, waiting until the brandy has cooked off before adding the shiitake mushrooms and raisins; cook 1 minute more. Add the apples, cook for another 2 minutes, then the oranges and the chicken stock. Cook until stock boils, about 1 minute longer. Add thyme and chives and remove from the heat. Season to taste. Keep warm.
2. Make the vinaigrette. In a saucepan, combine the shallots, apple cider, cider vinegar, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, bay leaf and peppercorns. Bring liquid to a boil and simmer until reduced to about 1/3 cup. Strain and discard solids. To finish, whisk in olive oil and freshly chopped sage and season to taste.
Tip: Do not look for this to emulsify, (when oil and vinegar become one with no separation) the oil should only “bead” on the surface for presentation purposes.
3. Cook the salmon. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Warm a large saute pan over medium high heat. Season salmon fillets with salt and pepper and place 2 or 3 of them (depending on pan size) in the hot pan, skin side down, and cook for 2 minutes or until well crusted. Transfer salmon (skin side up) from the pan to a lightly oiled cookie sheet that will hold all six pieces in a single layer. Finish cooking the salmon in the hot oven for 6 minutes or until firm to the touch.
Tip: If desired, speed up the crusting process by using two pans at the same time. Salmon may be prepared ahead through crusting. Transfer fillets to the cookie sheet, cover with foil and set aside until ready to finish cooking.
4. Place the cooked salmon fillets on warm dinner plates, skin side up, and drape slices of the smoked salmon over the fillets so the slices lie half on the salmon and half on the plate. Portion the ragout onto each plate so that it partially covers the smoked salmon. Lightly whisk the vinaigrette and spoon it around the plate.
Tip: Just before serving, sprinkle some sea salt over the roasted salmon and sprinkle chives around the edge of the plate.
