Hommage to an Artist

A few months ago I commissioned my friend Steve Brummé to recreate (along with some artistic liberty) a vintage French absinthe poster in acrylic on a large canvas. Steve is a highly accomplished artist and teacher. It became a joke between us that my request was akin to asking Michelangelo to paint a cartoon, but Steve took it on as a unique and fun opportunity to recreate a piece of history from the turn of the Century France. He finished the painting this past week and allowed me to finally bring it home.

The poster. An advertisement for 

"La Poudre Montavon". An anti-alcohol powder that purported to cure alcoholism

An artist's work is such a personal endeavor. As a way to thank Steve, I wanted to do something equally personal, so I invited him to lunch at my house. I Tailored a light 4 course lunch centered around seafood:

Le menu du jour

1. Mixed green salad and micro greens with gala apple vinaigrette
2. Lobster cappuccino. This consists of lobster meat immersed in cream of celeriac soup, topped with a foam made from reduced cream that is steeped with the seared lobster shells and tomato paste then deglazed with brandy, Garnished with truffled mushroom shavings
3. Layers of salmon sashimi, smoked salmon, and blanched apples topped with pea shoots, apple, celery and jalapeño slices with a jalapeño emulsion.
4. Hamachi tartare with wasabi tobiko and a wasabi emulsion

The secret behind putting this elegant lunch together was not any particular cooking skill, rather it relied mostly on organization, a little bit of knife skills, and lots of mis en place done ahead of time. Here is what my prep area looked like right before we kicked off the festivities:

mis en place

Steve in front of his work

Salad with gala apple vinaigrette

Lobster Cappuccino

Salmon Sashimi, Smoked Salmon, 

Blanched Apples with

jalapeño emulsion

Hamachi Tartare, Wasabi Topeka, 

and Wasabi Emulsion

Thanks Steve!

Ottolenghi

Just when I think I know a lot about food (which is ridiculous), I'm reminded that I actually know very little. I was at my neighbor's recently when I mentioned that I would be flying a trip to London. Their response was "Ottolenghi"! To which I said "Otto what"? My neighbors are the ultimate foodies with sophisticated palates and a cookbook library that rivals that of any large book store. They sent me home with 2 books from their shelves for me to explore.

 A fascinating story unfolds with the unlikely collaboration of two cooks who met in London. Yotam Ottolenghi from the Hebrew side of Jerusalem and Sami Tamimi from the Arab side of the same city did not know one another in Israel. Yotam, while awaiting the start of his PhD studies, decided to enroll at Le Cordon Bleu in London. Sami had also arrived in London to further develop his cooking skills in a more cosmopolitan city. They crossed paths and the rest is history. Together they have written one cook book "Ottolenghi: The Cookbook" and Yotam has written one on his own called "Plenty". "Ottolenghi: The Cookbook" prefaces with the statement that if you the reader do not like lemon, coriander, artichokes, and eggplants, then you will not like this book. The books are full of beautifully illustrated simple recipes with bright clean flavors. I immediately made 2 of the dishes and was sold.

They have 4 locations in London under the name "Ottolenghi" of which one is a proper sit-down restaurant and the other 3 are more of a deli/market style with limited seating. On my trip to London, I chose to go to one of the deli style establishments located in Notting Hill pictured above.

(Side note: only a few blocks away from the great Portobello market made famous by the movie "Notting Hill" with Hugh Grant).

The space is small, but if you love food, visually you'll be very attracted to what is on display. Similar to their cookbook recipes, their offerings are vibrant in color and pleasing to the eye. I chose to fill a small takeout box with 3 of the dishes on display to the right. I wish I had written all of the ingredients contained in each dish, but suffice it to say that they were all delicious and chocked full of fresh zesty flavors. I can't wait to go back again. If in London, you will not be disappointed with Ottolenghi.