ChefWatch

Michelle Polzine

Landy Tang — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 23:27:42 GMT

Chefwatch: Before we get started, tell me a little about yourself. Where you worked.

Polzine: I didn’t go to cooking school. I learned cooking in North Carolina.

Chefwatch: You were at Elaine’s, weren’t you?

Polzine: Yes!

Chefwatch: So are you from there originally?

Polzine: No, I’m from Southern California. I kind of went there via here.

Chefwatch: So tell me about your work history, where you learned, where do you feel like you learned?

Polzine: I feel like what I learned there and how I learned was in a different way than most people, because the people who are cooks in Chapel Hill are not cooking school people. They’re people who finished the PhD program but never finished their dissertation. Mostly people there, until I started working at Nana’s, they don’t take cooking super seriously. It’s a thing that they do.

I always wanted to do desserts and I was a line cook, and I didn’t get a chance until my boss where I worked called me because the bread baker was too drunk to come to work and said, “Can you come help?.” I was like, “yeah but you’ve got to give me a shift.” So that’s how I got my first baking job. I kind of muscled my way into making desserts.

Then… I don’t remember what year it was… it was for my birthday, and I was 26? 27?... my husband took me to dinner at this place called Nana’s, which was opened by Scott Howell. We went there and I said, oh my God, this is so different! This isn’t like what we’re doing. I want to do this. And so then I called the pastry chef and she was like, ‘Okay well you can come up and intern here’ and so I did.

After I worked there a little bit she was like, ‘You’re cool. Come work here.’ No way? ‘Really.’ And so then I had to learn how to drive.

Chefwatch: How old were you?

Polzine: 27?

Chefwatch: You didn’t know how to drive until you were 27?
You know, it’s not that fun teaching angry people how to make cake.
Polzine: I used to only work at places that I could walk to from my house in Chapel Hill. So I worked there and then at Pop’s with my friend, Kevin Farmer. He’s a super bread baker. I’d baked some breads before, but he was like one of those mystical bread guys.

I learned a lot of my philosophy from him and other super educated guys. His philosophy was very simple. I got a lot of my aesthetic from him, like just leaving it alone. Nana’s could be fussy but Pop’s was not fussy. Kevin was not fussy. Kevin was simple.

Chefwatch: How long were you at Elaine’s?

Polzine: Over two years.

Chefwatch: So, where did you work here?

Polzine: When I first worked here I got a job at Bacar which is where I met Phil (West), and then Lulu’s, and Delfina. I worked briefly as an instructor, or I should say associate instructor at CCA. But I like cooking more than teaching cooking. That school is kinda strange. It’s really expensive and I feel like the kids are bitter. I got them at the end doing advanced baking and pastry and they were starting to realize that the jobs were paying $10, $11 an hour and they had $50,000 debt. They were angry by then. You know, it’s not that fun teaching angry people how to make cake. They’re bad mouthing the cake.

“I’m a cook. I don’t want to make cake.”
“Come on, let’s make some cake.”

I used to tell them, do you want to be a pastry chef’s bitch because if you don’t know how to bake you will be.

I did that for a while and then I went back to Delfina where I was the pastry chef for two years. Then I took off and did an internship at Chez Panisse and then I came here. I couldn’t go directly here. I had to do a little hopping. Neighborhood politics.

Chefwatch: I wondered about that because there’s so many places you’ve worked in this ‘hood: Luna Park, Delfina, and here, Maverick.

Polzine: Phil lets me do what I want here. I couldn’t do what I wanted at Delfina… I could only make two new things there. And then I had to make panna cotta and profiteroles and that stupid molten chocolate cake every day. It was within a pretty strict framework.

Chefwatch: Really boring for you.

Polzine: Yeah, really boring. Yeah. Really boring. And I mean, they don’t even make their own ice cream for the profiteroles. They buy it from Ciao Bella. So I didn’t even get to have the pleasure of making ice cream.

It’s more fun for me here since I get to do whatever I want. Look, I’m writing my menu right now! I scribble little notes in my diary which is better since I used to always do it on little scraps of paper. But then my husband got me this and, he’s like, “This will help you be a little more organized.” I’m like, “what, you’re sick of finding these everywhere?” But it’s good because I start to have a little more of an archive.

Chefwatch: Well you can start putting them on the computer because eventually if you ever wanted to write a cookbook…

Polzine: The computer…funny. (laughing)

Chefwatch: Says the woman who doesn’t like to type.

Polzine: Yeah, not yet. I’m different than the other kids. It’s not in me to be super organized. Like I sorta make it up as I go.

Chefwatch: So I know we talked about your cooking history but how did you get started cooking?

Polzine: Well actually I’d been a political organizer for three years for environmental groups and organizing on women’s health care in San Francisco and, I wanted to do a job that I didn’t care about as much. Isn’t that funny? Yeah, so there you are. I think it’s just the way I am. I end up caring about whatever I do.

Chefwatch: Who or what is your main culinary inspiration?

Polzine: Hunger.

Chefwatch: Hunger?

Polzine: I cook for myself. I cook to please myself. Luckily that happens to please other people.

Chefwatch: I like that. So how does that translate into what you’re doing now?

Polzine: Well, I wake up in the morning and I think about what I want. So I usually like write it down in my diary and drink my coffee and write my goals and then I ride my bike to work. If it’s like colder outside than I thought it was then I might change some things. Like, oh it’s cold, I want cobbler. I want this, and, or that’s too refreshing for a cold day. Or it’s hot outside. So I might change it to something lighter.

Chefwatch: Like a Granita?

Polzine: Yeah. Sorbet or something fruity, not rich. So that’s how, I think about what I want; I think about what are the deals. Sometimes I’ll come to work and, like yesterday, I had my whole menu planned out and I came in and there was a flat of strawberries, M had an extra flat of strawberries on the truck. So I changed everything. You know, because if you change then something else might have to change to make the menu complete. It’s like a little five piece puzzle. You think, Oh that can’t be in that cause that’s in that other dish.

Chefwatch: Do you change your menu every day?

Polzine: Yeah.

Chefwatch: Wow.

Polzine: I think that’s what I learned from the crazy smart people in North Carolina. I’ll just go with it.

Chefwatch: Keeps everything fresh.

Polzine: Yeah. I don’t like making the same thing over and over again. The thing that I have to make over and over again is the cheese soufflé.

Chefwatch: So what keeps you going day after day? What keeps you fresh?

Polzine: I can change the menu as much as I want so I never get bored. There was one time when I was burned out and Phil said, “Why don’t you just not change the menu for a while?” So I kept it the same for a week, and then I needed to change it and I couldn’t because all the gears were stuck. They weren’t moving. It’s sort of like I guess if you don’t take your car out, the battery dies.

Chefwatch: Do you have a favorite ingredient?

Polzine: I think plums. I like to eat them. I love plums. I’m crazy about them.

Chefwatch: What is it about plums?

Polzine: They’re so good! They’re so delicious. I love them. And there are so many different varieties. You know, they mix them with all kinds of stuff; like apricot, you get pluots. I think they’re delicious like you can make tarts with them, and ice cream and sorbet. They just really lend themselves to everything good.

Chefwatch: So what was the most memorable meal you’ve ever created?

Polzine: Um. I don’t know. I don’t really think that the way I am is that I do one thing which is like, Ohhhhh! The one thing! Maybe it doesn’t seem like that exciting, but I think when you come here and you eat Phil’s (West) food and you follow it with my food it’s like all very meshy. Everything is very linked. As far as the way things work in San Francisco I think there is continuity and I don’t think you get that a lot. It can be charming.

Chefwatch: Well, what’s the most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten?

Polzine: I would have to say it’s that birthday dinner at Nana’s because it really changed so many things for me. You know, I’ve eaten at the French Laundry but it didn’t change my life. It made me a lot broker. But it was super delicious and a great experience but it didn’t do anything for my life at all.

Chefwatch: Okay. Do you have a favorite chef or a favorite place to eat?

Polzine: Pizzetta 211. That’s my favorite restaurant in San Francisco. I love it there.

Chefwatch: Really? What makes it your favorite place?

Polzine: First of all we ride our bikes. My husband and I, we go on a bike ride there and he’s a vegetarian and so, there’s stuff he can eat, there’s stuff I can eat. The pizzas are perfect. They’re just these perfect little creations and they’re small enough that I can get everything if I really have to. They make a chocolate cake which is good. And she makes super delicious tarts. The tarts that Ria makes that are some of the best that you can get in San Francisco.

And they have cheap wine. You can sit down and have a bottle. It’s good.

Chefwatch: Without breaking the bank.

Polzine: I always end up breaking the bank although I don’t know how I do that.

Chefwatch: Was there a challenging time in your career?

Polzine: Yes, when I moved to San Francisco no one would give me the time of day. North Carolina? You didn’t go to cooking school? Nobody cares about you. I even called a headhunter and I was like, “where are all these jobs that read about in the paper.” I called this woman and she was like, “honey, no ones ever heard of you. No one cares about you. You didn’t go to cooking school.” And I was like, “but I had a five page spread in Fine Cooking on the cover and everything.” And she was like, “no one cares.” Okay. No one cares. So I ended up as a pastry assistant job at Bacar. I moved here at a really weird time. I moved here just after the dot-com bomb and…I moved here in January of 2002. An interesting thing had happened in the city right before I came in that all these people had left their restaurant jobs and there were tons of restaurant jobs being filled , so I felt that at that time there a lot of, people were less qualified than me in their chef positions. No one was moving. No one was going anywhere. So I took an assistant job, which was hard for me after already having been a chef.

Chefwatch: Yeah.

Polzine: I mean it’s fine if you come to a point in your life where you’re say, I’m going to take a step back now. I think that’s totally something everyone should do lots of times. But I wasn’t ready to do that. I wanted to come here and not be broke. When I was planning on moving here I was looking at how much people were making and how many jobs there were available and then, George Bush made everyone mad and they blew things up and then everything went to hell and then I couldn’t find work. So here we were. I think that was the biggest challenge.

Chefwatch: I remember that. That was a tough time. So if money, time and manpower were no object what menu would you create?

Polzine: There’s a place in New York that I love called Chikalicious and I love the way she does her menu. She does, like sit down, and it’s just a little bar, and sit down and you get an amuse, you choose from four desserts, you get your dessert and then you get petit fours. I mean that’s perfect. That’s a dessert meal. That’s what I would do. I would totally do that here if I had more of those things, mostly the money one.

Chefwatch: I think that would really go here.

Polzine: Yeah, I think so too. I know somebody’s probably going to do it before me because I don’t have the money. Maybe they’ll work out all the kinks and then I can do it after them and do it better.

Chefwatch: What one piece of advice would you give to cooks who are just starting out that you wish somebody had told you when you first started out?

Polzine: Are they already done with school? Don’t go to school. Go find your favorite restaurant and ask them to work there. This is exactly what I did. Work and not get yourself into all that debt; you need to go work someplace and see what it’s like and see if this is something you want to do. It’s super hard and you don’t get the days off that you want, and it’s hot and your back hurts and everything hurts and you have to know if that’s what you really want to do. If you’re willing to work through all those things before you do it. But that’s not good. That doesn’t really answer the question. h

Chefwatch: No, it does answer the question.

Polzine: Good, cause that’s kind of what I did. I think that’s sage advice. I look at a lot of young people; I think actually the strangest thing for me now, I’m 37 and I work with, when you’re 37 the other chef in the kitchen might be 37 but everyone else in the kitchen is like 21. They come in and they come to work.

Chefwatch: And they all want to be Michael Mina or Thomas Keller.

Polzine: Well I think that’s the impression that they’re given when they’re recruited for school. I have a lot of problems with people want to go to the CCA accelerated program and it costs as much as the two year program at CIA. They’re not going to learn as much and they’re going to pay as much. It’s insane.

Chefwatch: It’s like cooking stock. It takes time.

Polzine: Yeah, yeah. It does take time. You know, a $50,000 monkey on my back for a 21 years old. You should not be starting out with that. My advice is, don’t start out with that. If you work for a while and find you’re not getting what you want and you need a classroom to learn then go. But maybe community college or even like, I like the Tante Marie school. It’s small and she’s an award winning instructor. You’re not getting a glorified shuffle through the classroom.

Chefwatch: So what advice would you give to home cooks out there?

Polzine: Chill your butter. I don’t know. Chill your butter. Preheat your oven. Get a pizza stone. It’ll make everything better.

Chefwatch: Any future plans that you’d care to share with us?

Polzine: Nope, I’m here for a while.

Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake

Michelle Polzine — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 23:27:35 GMT

Ingredients:

1/2 c + 2T sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1/4 c all purpose flour
1/4 c Meyer lemon juice
2 T lemon juice
2 T finely grated Meyer lemon zest
3/4 c +2T milk
1/4 t salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter six 4 to 5 oz ramekins, and place inside a roasting pan lined with a paper towel. Combine 1/2 c sugar, flour, and salt in a medium folding bowl, and set aside. In a smaller bowl, combine egg yolks, milk and lemon zest. Add milk mixture into flour mixture, and as you are whisking to combine, stir in lemon juices as well. Set aside.

Using electric mixer, whip egg whites until frothy. Gradually add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and whip until soft peaks form. Fold beaten egg whites into lemon mixture in 2 additions. (You can use a balloon whisk to do this, as you may find the batter’s looseness alarming. You aren’t doing it wrong, don’t worry) pour mixture into prepared ramekins. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of ramekins. Bake puddings until tops are golden brown and spring back when lightly touched, 35-40 minutes.

Serve with whipped cream sweetened with a little lavender honey, or rose geranium sugar.

Scott Youkilis

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 07:00:00 GMT

Over the past 15 years, Youkilis has held a variety of positions—from server to line cook to manager to chef—eager to learn about every aspect of the business before realizing his own dream of opening his own restaurant, which he successfully did in 2005. In its first year of operation, Maverick was named the city’s best new restaurant by San Francisco magazine’s readers poll, proving that his strategy had indeed worked.

Chefwatch: Where are you originally from?
Youkilis: I grew up in Cincinnati.

Chefwatch: How did you get started cooking?
Youkilis: I started cooking in college for my friends, but I had always been working in restaurants so I was doing some then too. After I graduated from Indiana University, I went to Johnson & Wales for culinary school. That is when it became professional.

Chefwatch: Who or what is your main culinary inspiration?
Youkilis: I have never been able to answer this question “correctly”. What really inspires me or drives me on a daily basis is the final product. It’s the arrival of food to a table and the vibe you get from your guests. The first three bites are always the best too, so I like to see how everyone reacts within those first moments. To me that’s inspiring.

Chefwatch: How does that translate into what you are doing now?
Youkilis: Now, I get to write a menu, prep those items, collaborate with my sous chef and amazing team of line cooks, and then I get to serve it. I get to spend several nights a week on the floor talking to guests, running food, and really getting to understand what our guests really enjoy and what they don’t.

Chefwatch: You must have dreamt about your restaurant before you opened it. How does the reality match up with the dream that you had?
Youkilis: Well, I thought I would be making a little more money…he, he. Money is relative and I don’t many restaurants our sizes are doing as well as we are doing. But, as for the concept it was close, but with more experience it is way more refined. Spacially, I wished to have something different, but that will come soon.

Chefwatch: What keeps you going day after day and keeps you fresh?
Youkilis: We are lucky to have such great seasonal produce and I love looking forward to what comes next. Right now too, the business continues to grow and every day gets better. I also love to organize and find new ways to make things more efficient. That keeps me real busy. The interaction with guests is probably the best part of it all. Hospitality is so important in this business.

Chefwatch: What is your favorite ingredient?
Youkilis: Salt and pepper. Two ingredients, rarely apart.

Chefwatch: What is the most memorable meal you’ve ever created?
Youkilis: I have done some killer wine maker dinners. My favorites are the ones with friends when we rent a house in Tahoe or wine country or go camping and we have minimal equipment and you’re in the woods and things are just simple.

Chefwatch: What is the most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten?
Youkilis: The night I asked my wife to marry me, we were in Mexico on a beach and we drank too much tequila, but had an amazing dinner. I think I remember eating enchiladas….

Chefwatch: Who is your favorite chef or place to eat?
Youkilis: Hard question. I have a lot of favorite places. It’s so hard to narrow it to one. “Secret” sushi place in the Richmond district, Delfina is always solid, Skyline Chili, Montgomery Inn, Michael Mina was epic, Terra is fantastic as well as Ame, love their restaurants, Benito II in New York, classic Little Italy, some restaurant I ate at in Rome. Lots.

Chefwatch: What was the most challenging time in your career?
Youkilis: The second half of our first year of business and this past January and February.

Chefwatch: If money, time and manpower were no object what menu would you create?
Youkilis: I would fly all my friends to Italy, stay in a villa in the countryside, have little old Italian women cook for us all day while we sip wine, take long walks, drive fast cars, and eat some more. That would be the menu.

Chefwatch: What one piece of advice would you give to cooks who are just starting out that you wish somebody had told you?
Youkilis: Work for free at as many places as you can afford too. See as many kitchens as you can and then pick one. When you get hired work there for as long as you can because when it’s time to move on, the most important thing I look for in hiring someone is their amount of time they put into one place. There are a lot of good cooks and you can teach a lot of people to cook, but you can’t teach hardwork and dedication.

Chefwatch: What piece of advice would you give to home cooks out there?
Youkilis: Keep it simple. Stay away from using too much processed food, so bad for you. Fresh meats, fish, and vegetables, good oils, butter, milk, eggs, and whole grains will keep your family happy.
Chefwatch: Any future plans that you would like to share with us?
Youkilis: Always looking for a new restaurant space to put one of ten concepts in. Lots of ideas always brewing.

Cincy Barbecue Ribs

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 07:00:00 GMT

Ribs:
2 racks baby back pork ribs
2 yellow onions, julienne
1 cup worcheshire sauce
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups water

Rub:
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup paprika
¼ cup chili powder
1 tbs. cayenne pepper

Sauce:
3 yellow onions, julienne
¼ cup canola oil
1 head garlic
1 lemon
1 cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup worcheshire sauce
½ cup molasses
½ cup brown sugar
2 tbs. paprika
2 tbs. chili powder
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 qt. Heinz ketchup
Salt and pepper

Put all rub ingredients in bowl and mix well.

Season ribs well with salt and pepper. Rub down ribs well and let stand for 1 hour or overnight is best.

Heat large sauce pan until it is smoking. Add canola oil and then add onions. Stir well and turn down heat to medium. Continue to cook onions until really brown and caramelized. Add vinegar and reduce by half. Add worcheshire, molasses, brown sugar, paprika, and chili powder. Cook for 5 minutes stirring frequently until all spices and sugar dissolve. Add garlic, squeeze lemon and add them whole. Add ketchup and 1 cup of water. Continue to stir until all ingredients are well incorporated. Make sure that the sauce doesn’t stick to bottom by stirring frequently. Bring sauce up to slow bubble and cook for 25-30 minutes on low. Season well with salt, cayenne, and black pepper. Let cool. Good to let stand overnight, but can be served immediately.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In roasting pan, place julienne onions, worcheshire sauce, vinegar, and water. Gently place ribs on top and then cover with foil. Cook ribs for 2 ½ hours and then check. The meat should start to pull away from bone. Remove foil and cook for additional 20-30 minutes to dry out and intensify the rub flavor. These can be done several days before. Just allow to cool completely and then reheat in oven at 400 degrees or on grill over medium flame.

Discard onions and remaining liquid, add barbecue sauce to ribs and serve.

Staffan Terje

Landy Tang — Mon, 21 May 2007 07:00:00 GMT

The chef-owner of one of the newest and hottest Italian restaurants in San Francisco is from Sweden! Chef Terje discovered a love of food at an early age and worked for several years in Sweden and Europe before coming to America. In 1986 he moved to Napa where he became part of the original Piatti where he learned of the treasure trove of fresh produce and meats available to him. And for a seven year stint he was at Scala’s and also cooked at the James Beard house in New York City. One of the more interesting things is that he has created a curing room to make salumi at Perbacco.

Chefwatch: Where are you originally from?
Terje: Nykoping (60 miles south of Stockholm), Sweden

Chefwatch: How did you get started cooking?
Terje: I started in the restaurant business as a dishwasher / prep cook during a summer break between 7th and 8th grade. I needed money so I could buy a bass guitar and an amplifier. I played in punk rock band. At least I thought I played. Plus I needed money for a concert (the Clash). I started cooking (and being interested in cooking) a few years earlier. But the dishwashing job set it off for me. Watching the cooks use their knives and flipping things in pans was really cool. And loving food and eating (and drinking) since before I could walk.

Chefwatch: Who or what is your main culinary inspiration?
Terje: My inspirations as far as people are many. Both people that I have and haven’t worked with. It is hard to say. 100’s of other chefs. It is easier to be inspired by people you don’t work with when it comes to food. If you eat their food or read their cookbooks, you get purity. No baggage. I think ingredients inspire me more.

Chefwatch: How does that translate into what you are doing now?
Terje: The older I get, the more restraint I use. Less ingredients. Less messing around.

Chefwatch: You must have dreamt about your restaurant before you opened it. How does the reality match up with the dream that you had?
Terje: Every job I’ve had I’ve approached as being an owner and taking ownership. But when you work for someone else there is always a safety net. Someone else is the owner and they have to deal with it (bad and good) in the end. If things go south you can always leave and find another job. But now there is no “someone else”. There is only you and there is no quitting. Then on the other hand, there is no better feeling when things go right and you can actually take credit for your accomplishments and not have to share.

Chefwatch: What keeps you going day after day and keeps you fresh?
Terje: Our guests, seeing them coming back, great ingredients, great colleagues, great employees. Meeting other chefs at the farmers market on Saturdays. I’m doing what I love to do.

Chefwatch: What is your favorite ingredient?
Terje: Depends on the season, I hate fresh tomatoes in January, but love them in August. But since a lot of my time is spent making salumi these days, pork and piggy things peak my interest. Or anything that has to be cured or preserved. It is great feeling tasting something that you started making 4 months ago taste great.

Chefwatch: What is the most memorable meal you’ve ever created?
Terje: Cooking at James Beard House. It was hard work and it came out really good.

Chefwatch: What is the most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten?
Terje: So far, the French Laundry. I tend to shy away from restaurants like that. It was very overwhelming, but very good.

Chefwatch: Who is your favorite chef or place to eat?
Terje: So many. When I go out I tend to go to places where I know I am going to have a good meal. When I want to treat myself I like to go to Quince. Michael Tusk is a fantastic chef.

Chefwatch: What was the most challenging time in your career?
Terje: At on point I took a job that turned out to be the wrong choice at the time. But in retrospect, I wouldn’t be here today if I wouldn’t have taken that job. It all works out in the end

Chefwatch: If money, time and manpower were no object what menu would you create?
Terje: I would still cook something very humble. If I would have been asked this question when I was 20-25, I probably would told you about all the luxury ingredients that I would have used. Caviar, foie gras, veal, Dover sole, turbot, lobster etc. Now I would probably braise some shortribs or roast a pork shoulder. Bake a whole fish in salt and drizzle with really good olive oil. Simple. Get some good wine and some good cheese on the table.

Chefwatch: What one piece of advice would you give to cooks who are just starting out that you wish somebody had told you?
Terje: Shut up and keep your eyes open. Gather as much information and learn as much as you can. Don’t try to be creative right away. Taste every ingredient before you cook it. Understand the recipe or dish. Find out the roots of what you are cooking. Don’t try to work for the chefs that have TV programs or other engagements. Find an old school chef that has lot of experience. Learn from someone that spends their days at their restaurant. Practice your skills constantly. Kind of like “wax on, wax off”.

Chefwatch: What piece of advice would you give to home cooks out there?
Terje: Don’t try to cook like a professional chef. Cook within your limits and expand those limits as you learn. Cook often. That’s how you become a good cook. And cook for and together with your kids. Don’t make everything too convenient. Sharing a meal should include the preparation too.

Chefwatch: Any future plans that you would like to share with us?
Terje: Watch out.

5 hour Pork Sugo

Landy Tang — Mon, 21 May 2007 07:00:00 GMT

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:
1 carrot, trimmed
1 onion, peeled
4 stalks celery
2-3 juniper berries
1 allspice berry
2 cloves
2 peppercorns
4 ounces dry porcini mushrooms, soaked in 1 quart water, liquid strained and reserved
¼ cup olive oil
2 pounds ground pork
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bottle red wine, such as Barbera or Dolcetto
1 quart low-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon thyme leaves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon sage leaves, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1 cup crushed tomato
1 cup cream
1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds fresh pasta such as tagliatelle, fettucine, papparadelle or tajarin, or dried short pasta such as rigatoni or penne
Butter, to finish
Parmesan cheese, to serve

1. Chop carrot, onion, celery and mushrooms in a food processor.
2. In a spice grinder, or mortar and pestle, grind juniper, allspice, cloves and pepper.
3. In a large Dutch oven, sweat vegetables and mushrooms in olive oil over medium heat until they become soft, 5 to 7 minutes, then add the pork, stirring until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add wine, broth, mushroom liquid, herbs and spices. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and reduce by half for 1 to 1 ½ hours.
5. Add tomatoes and simmer on very low heat for 5 hours.
6. Add cream and allow sauce to simmer gently until it has emulsified, about 20 minutes. (If freezing the sauce, wait to add the cream until just before serving the pasta).
7. Boil the pasta in well-salted water. If using fresh pasta, toss the pasta in butter and season it well with salt and pepper. Then serve immediately in shallow bowls, topped with 1/3 to ½ cup of sauce. If using short pasta, toss the pasta in the sauce with some butter and serve immediately in shallow bowls. Garnish with fresh Parmesan cheese.

Claire Legas

Landy Tang — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:00:00 GMT

Claire Legas is now helping teach the next generation of chefs. Prior to that she opened the scharffenberger chocolate cafe, Café Cacao, was Pastry chef at Palio d’Asti, and the intial pastry chef at Absinthe where she ignighted the lavender crème brulee craze. She started her career at the French Laundry.

Chefwatch: Where are you originally from?
Legas: I consider home to be Southern California, North Orange County, as that is where I spent the majority of my childhood. But I was born in Illinois.

Chefwatch: How did you get started cooking?
Legas: My mom was cheap – she wouldn’t pay for “treats” like muffins or cookies, the only way we were going to get them was by making them from scratch. And once I got started it was a slippery slope into all things baked.

Chefwatch: Who or what is your main culinary inspiration?
Legas: I think my main inspiration is that look that people get on their faces when something is really good. Not the comments they make, which can be faked, but the look which is so instinctual you can’t control it.

Chefwatch: How does that translate into what you are doing now?
Legas: Well, it guides everything I do – use the best stuff you can get your hands on and don’t mess with it too much. I’m in this to make people happy – not in a customer service, “have a nice day” way, but to really bring pleasure to people.

Chefwatch: You must have dreamt about your restaurant before you opened it. How does the reality match up with the dream that you had?
Legas: I have dreamt about my dream place – as a baker/pastry chef I imagine it a lot. I had a chance to open something that was kind of mine – not completely – and it wasn’t “me””enough so in the end it didn’t work out.

Chefwatch: What keeps you going day after day and keeps you fresh?
Legas: New food keeps me fresh. I think I go in cycles a bit – I like a shape or a texture or a flavor. I run through that, and then I find something I haven’t worked with in a while and Whammo! I’m off in a new direction.

Chefwatch: What is your favorite ingredient?
Legas: Eggs and butter – ok, that’s two.

Chefwatch: What is the most memorable meal you’ve ever created?
Legas: Since I’m not responsible for making meals, I’d say that a few things I’ve made are memorable for me at least. Le Ding Dong, Rhubarb Tart with Blackcurrant Tea ice cream and Rhubarb Jus, Lavender Crème Brulee, Oh, and this chocolate-hazelnut mousse cake with 16 layers total – all without flour or leavening so it’s ok for less-than-strict Passover seders, that’s amazing.

Chefwatch: What is the most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten? *
Legas: It would have to be one of the meals I had at the French Laundry – but mostly it was a dish. A friend of mine, Lisa Nakamura, was cooking and she made me this dish with hearts of palm standing on end, filled with a “marrow” of beans (imagine this like a hunk of bone) and then a brunoise of vegetables around it and, maybe, it had a truffled sauce. It was just out of this world!

Chefwatch: Who is your favorite chef or place to eat? *
Legas: Ok, I know that you are looking for person or restaurant here, but really, a simple picnic: bread, wine, cheese, maybe some sausage or salami, and olives on a warm day sitting on a hillside, maybe within sight of the ocean, but with some sort of view. That’s it. That’s heaven.

Chefwatch: What was the most challenging time in your career?
Legas: When I was working at the French Laundry. The hours were long and the people weren’t always treated with respect. And the community at the time was very small and self-focused. It was also the most amazing place to work. Everyone was working for the same goal: it was all about the food, period. I’ve never found that atmosphere again, it’s a really, really rare thing. Mostly I found the personal toll to be the part of the job that was difficult, not the requirements of the job itself. And, without a doubt, I left with admiration and respect for Chef.

Chefwatch: If money, time and manpower were no object what menu would you create?
Legas: Hmmmmm…..

Chefwatch: What one piece of advice would you give to cooks who are just starting out that you wish somebody had told you?
Legas: On a practical level: I wish someone had actually taken the time to teach me how to roll dough. Honest. There are plenty of descriptions of it, but no one bothers to explain the why and how of it.

On a more philosophical level: just take responsibility for your job and your actions. Sweeping things under the rug gets you nowhere – just up and say “I fucked up, I know it, how do I fix it?” Man, if more people did that, kitchens would be much more reasonable places.

Chefwatch: What piece of advice would you give to home cooks out there?
Legas: Trust your gut, not the cookbook.

Chefwatch: Any future plans that you would like to share with us?
Legas: I’ll let you know if I get the job…

Chocolate Velvet Cake

Landy Tang — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:00:00 GMT

* 1 pound finely chopped 70% bittersweet chocolate * 1 c heavy cream * 2 T sugar

* ½ c strong coffee, kept warm, not hot

* 6 eggs * ½ c sugar.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9” pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom with parchment. Have a larger pan ready to serve as a water bath.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place the chocolate in a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Turn off the water and place the bowl on top of the pot. Make sure that the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl or the chocolate will scorch. The remaining heat will melt the chocolate, this will take 10 min. or so..

Meanwhile, whip the cream with the 2T of sugar to almost medium peaks. Set aside.

Using the wire whisk attachment, whip the eggs on high speed with a stand mixer until double in volume. It is imperative that you allow the eggs to gain a significant amount of volume BEFORE you begin to add the sugar. If you don’t, the cake will not be correct. Gradually add the ½ c of sugar, 1 T at a time, until the eggs have tripled in volume and are very light and fluffy.
Stir the coffee into the chocolate until combined.

Fold the egg mixture into the chocolate in three additions, working quickly to incorporate each addition well.

Fold in the cream in 2 additions.

Pour the batter into the parchment lined pan. Place this pan in the larger pan. Place the unit into the oven, and fill the outer pan with hot water until it comes about ½ way up the side of the inner pan, preferably until the inner pan floats, this will insure an even cake.

Bake for 35-40 min or until just set. It can be slightly soft in the center as it will firm up on cooling. Remove the inner pan from the water bath and cool on a rack. Once it has cooled, you may refrigerate it up to 5 days, wrapped in plastic.
Slice and serve with crème anglaise (vanilla custard sauce) or crème fraiche.

This cake is best eaten at room temperature. If you have refrigerated it, let it come to room temperature before eating. Cutting with a hot, wet knife makes it easier.
©Claire Legas 2007

James Syhabout

Landy Tang — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 21:53:30 GMT

James Syhabout is the 27 year old wunderkind of Plumpjacks who was named one of the rising new chefs by the San Francisco Chronicle. Originally from Thailand, James worked at Manresa with David Kinch, at the Fat Duck in London and did a five month stint at the mecca of molecular gastronomy, El Bulli with Adria Ferran. He is a chef to watch!

James Syhabout

Plumpjack Cafe’s Hot Young Chef

Chefwatch: Where are you originally from?
James: I am originally from a small province in Thailand northeast of Bangkok called Ubonratchanee.

Chefwatch: How did you get started cooking?
James: I got started cooking at a really young age by trying to help my mother prepare supper for the family.

Chefwatch:Who or what is your main culinary inspiration?
James: My mother of course, it was in her kitchen where it all started.

Chefwatch:How does that translate into what you are doing now?
James: My mother taught me the importance of kitchen culture, both professional and home kitchens should be pleasurable because that is the true reason why we cook for a living.

Chefwatch: You must have dreamt about your restaurant before you opened it. How does the reality match up with the dream that you had?
James: I have yet to open my restaurant but I realize in reality it is much tougher and I will have to make compromises.

Chefwatch:What keeps you going day after day and keeps you fresh?
James: The constant battle of trying to achieve perfection; it can be perfecting a recipe, technique or sourcing immaculate ingredients.

Chefwatch: What is your favorite ingredient?
James: Any ingredient that has a licorice note such as fennel and Pernod.

Chefwatch: What is the most memorable meal you’ve ever created?
James: Making dinner for the family without my mother’s helps, at the time I was 13 years old.

Chefwatch:What is the most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten?
James: My first meal at an Alain Ducasse establishment, it was a rich experience in every way imaginable.

Chefwatch:Who is your favorite chef or place to eat?
James: My favorite places to eat are the small ethnic places where it is all about the food and nothing else matters, just good wholesome food.

Chefwatch: What was the most challenging time in your career?
James: Now….as my first shot as the top toque the kitchen there is a lot of pressure I put on myself. It is a very huge challenge day in and day out.

Chefwatch: If money, time and manpower were no object what menu would you create?
James: It would be a simple menu, I would find the best and unique ingredients and apply minimal technique to allow the product to truly shine.

Chefwatch:What one piece of advice would you give to cooks who are just starting out that you wish somebody had told you?
James: Traveling is a must and do it sooner than later.

Veal Sweetbreads with Toasted Curry Spices

Chefwatch: What piece of advice would you give to home cooks out there?
James: Do not ever take shortcuts, the lack of care and attention will always show in the final product. Take the time and care, you will thank yourself in the end.

Chefwatch: Any future plans that you would like to share with us?
James: To be self employed and start my own brand.

Read James Syhabout’s recipe for Veal Sweetbreads with Toasted Curry Spices

Veal Sweetbreads with Toasted Curry Spices

Landy Tang — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 21:53:23 GMT

From James Syhabout, currently on the PlumpJack menu.

Read an interview with him here.

Yield: 4 servings

h3. Sweetbreads

400 g Veal Sweetbreads
250 ml Dry white wine
50 ml Pure Olive Oil
1 fresh Bay leaf
3 sprigs Fresh Thyme
Salt and Pepper

Rinse the sweetbreads thoroughly and pat dry. Marinate the sweetbreads in wine, olive oil and seasoning and herbs and into a roasting pan and place in a 350F degree oven and cook till medium. Let the sweetbreads cool in the liquid and peel then reserve.

h3. Curry Butter

150g butter
10 g Madras curry powder
Combine in a pan and heat until the butter is frothy and the milk solids separate. Take off heat and cool.

h3. Mustard Chlorophyll

100 g Curly Mustard leaves, raw
100 g Spinach leaves, blanched
250 g ice water
Salt
Ketrol TF (xanatham gum)

Blend the greens with water and strain well and season, measure the finished liquid on a gram scale. Add 1% Ketrol TF of the liquid’s weight and blend in a clean blender and reserve.

h3. Garnish

Sel Gris
Pomelo Segments
Mustard Flowers

h3. Assembly

# Dredge the sweetbreads in flour and sauté in clarified butter until golden. # Remove the sweetbreads from the pan and into a mixing bowl. # Add the curry butter in the mixing bowl and coat the sweetbreads well. # On a flat round plate place a small dollop of the mustard chlorophyll in the center and arrange the sweetbreads around. # Season the sweetbreads with sel gris. # Garnish the plate with the mustard flowers and pomelo pulp and serve.