5280 Restaurant Week: Coohill's

     The much anticipated 5280 Restaurant Week is now really a week, once in August, then again in February.  The historical 2 week stint in February proved to be too much for the already weary participating restaurant staff.  This is my favorite time of the year.  For $30 a person, you can enjoy a three to four course meal at some of  Denver's best restaurants.
     Since we are studying French and Italian cuisines in school, I chose a French based restaurant, Coohills, as well as an Italian based restaurant, Barolo (more to come later).  Both were exceptional beyond my expectations.  
    Coohills is a restaurant that I had not visited but was on my list.  It is a gorgeously expansive space with large floor to ceiling windows allowing a view of the Platte river and Pepsi Center.  I am envious of the massive and shiny open kitchen.  The service was attentive without being obsequious.  I enjoyed playing with the I Pad wine list.  They have a white Burgundy by the glass which was quite good.  French Chardonnay is not nearly as buttery as Californian, which I appreciate.  I also tried a lovely Bordeaux that was full bodied and complex as a Bordeaux should be.  
     The restaurant week menu had a couple options under each of the first two courses, so Don and I each chose a different item so that we can try as many dishes as possible.  While waiting for our first course, a charmingly knobby baguette arrived freshly baked from the oven with a truffle butter spread on a reclaimed oak wine barrel slab.  When the staff asked if we wanted more bread, I said no, just the butter.  It was that wonderful.  
     The first courses arrived promptly and was pleasing to the eye as well as the palate.  My escargots, although devoid of their esthetic shells, were tender with a mild terroir.  They come from a local purveyor out of Larkspur, Colorado.  You can't get any fresher than that.  They nestled atop a summer sweet tomato compote.  The sous vide egg with grilled cauliflower salad was gorgeously plated.  The egg cooked perfectly and the creamy yolk ran when pierced adding richness to the dish.
     Our entrees were also promptly delivered and arrived hot.  My salmon was crisply seared and tender on a bed of potato hash and pickled vegetables.  Don's chicken ballantine was tender and juicy and left us craving for more.   The potato puree was ever so slightly runny.  I was amazed at the pristine plating and presentation throughout the meal.  They definitely pay attention to details.
     We finished the meal with a tri melon and chantilly cloud dessert that was surprisingly satisfying for fruit.  The pastry chef froze some of the chantilly cream and toasted the graham cracker dust so that you had a variation in texture.   We will definitely be going back to Coohills for more.

Escargot

SousVide Egg with Cauliflower

Salmon

Chicken Ballotine

Dessert

Vive la France!

   We are now solidly in our fourth block, classical cuisine, where we explore the dishes of France, Spain, and Italy.  Along with some of the world's best foods, we learn about wines in these regions.  Yup, we imbibe the wines, unless you are under the drinking age.  Two poor kids have to use the spittoon.
    Thus we begin with France.  We tasted wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Loire, as well as some from California, Oregon, and Washington for comparison.  I have never tried a good bottle of Bordeaux and was anxious to taste this much touted wine.  Unfortunately it had not aged enough to fully develop the complexity that is the hallmark of Bordeaux.  It left me a little disappointed.  But I vow to keep trying, in the name of education of course.
     As far as cooking, we have been busy making such beloved French haute cuisine as foie gras, escargot, boeuf bourguignon, frog legs, as well as the daily baguette.  I am beginning to feel like a "fat duck" myself, waiting to be consumed by someone higher up in the food chain.
     The French I took in high school is finally proving to be useful.  Our chef has us taking turns reading the overhead during lecture.  The butchering of French pronunciation makes me cringe.  I'm not sure how our chef can tolerate it either as he is from Peru and speaks Spanish and French.
     My goal during this block is to perfect my techniques, make more sauces, and elevate my plating.  

Sole Normande

Moules a la Normandie

Redwine Poached Pears

Ratatouille

Salade Nicoise

French Madeleines

Bouillabaisse

Surprise Basket Practical

     We had our final practical in Regional Cuisine today and I rocked it!  I finally feel like a chef!  Don't get me wrong, I know I have much to learn.  What I mean is that, for the first time since starting culinary school, I feel I have a chance at becoming a good cook.  Even though I am not the best cook, I feel I am the most improved.  The greatest compliment is when my classmates, who are pretty discerning, devour my food, with sauce on their face.  Two of them fought over my entree.  Good thing I made two plates!  
     Our practical is a mystery basket; we did not know what produce, starch, or proteins we would be given to work with. Luckily, we got shrimp and pork tenderloin.  I decided to make an appetizer with the shrimp as the focus.  The prawns were substantial in size and beautiful.  I butterflied them and soaked them in buttermilk.  Then I seasoned and dredged them in cornstarch and deep fried them.  I made a sweet and spicy chili mayonnaise to toss them in.  The result was a crunchy sweet delight.  
     For the entree, I cubed pork tenderloin, dredged them in flour and paprika, seared the pork in a rondo with onions and garlic and deglazed with red wine.  I then braised the pork with lamb stock, adding more paprika and a little cayenne and Worcestershire sauce and cooked it until tender.  It was finished with sour cream and served atop hand cut buttered noodles and sautéed chard with lardons, Mission figs, and roasted hazelnuts.  Delicious!

Sweet Chili Shrimp Appetizer

Pork Paprikash with Handcut Pasta and sautéed Chard

Everyday Gourmet

     Now that I am in the know about all things culinary, I have been applying that knowledge to my home cooking.
     One night I made pizza dough with bread flour and baked it on a pizza stone.  In case you are wondering, bread flour does make a difference.  It has more protein than all purpose which provides the structure you need for crusty bread.  I topped the pizza with a basil oil, heirloom tomatoes, basil, and fresh buffalo mozzarella.  I served it with a roasted golden beet arugula salad with a red wine vinaigrette as well as roasted organic carrots.  Halfway through the meal, I realized that everything was made from scratch except for the mozzarella.  I even chilled the salad plates before plating!  This would not have happened 6 months ago.  
     Don has also absorbed some of my newfound culinary tendencies.  See the beautiful quadrillage marks on the steak he grilled below.   
     Recently, we had a lovely home cooked dinner with some foodie friends.  They served a tender flank steak with ratatouille and grilled polenta.   We cleansed our palate with a summer greens salad.  For dessert, we had cherry clafoutis with mascarpone cheese, which is a French skillet cake.  I was very impressed with this "casual" meal.  
     All this cooking and eating has made me one of those folks who take pictures of their food, whether at home or at a restaurant.
  

One Sexy Mater

More Sexy Produce from the Boulder Farmer's Market.

Albert House Made Margherita Pizza

Roasted Organic Carrots

One of Our Weekday Meals

Behold the Quadrillage Marks!

  

Flank Steak, Ratatouille, and Polenta Cake 

That is a great plate for this salad

Clafoutis with Mascarpone cheese, the best of France and Italy!

   

A Good Place

   I have come to a lull in my culinary education where the pace isn't as hectic, the instructor is better, and I am more confident in my abilities.  It has been hard to find the motivation to go to class some days.  The only thing that keeps me going is the fact that I am the last person in my class with perfect attendance.  I am loathe to give up that title unless I have a damn good reason.  
    One more person has dropped out of my class.  From the original 16, we now have 10, on a good day.  Most days we have less than that, which is ok by me since that means the rest of us get to cook more.  Except, however, when someone on my team isn't prepared.  Then it's like doing my job and theirs.  
     For China day,  I started a dough for Char Siu Bao, made a sauce for scallion pancakes, steamed a trout with scallions, ginger, and shitake mushrooms, and made a peach jam with seasonal Palisade peaches.  Someone's magnanimous dad donated a box of the fragrant stone fruit. It was more than what was on the original menu, but it was good to push ourselves and see what we could accomplish.  I am chagrined to admit I have never made these Chinese dishes, but am excited to try them at home.  Below are some of the dishes I've made:

Vegetarian Indian Plate

Filipino lumpia with sweet chili sauce, satay chicken with Indonesian peanut sauce

Korean gyeran bbang, a mildly sweet quick break baked with an egg and bacon

Korean scallion pancakes with soy ginger dipping sauce

Chinese steamed ginger & scallion whole trout

Chinese wonton soup

Fried wontons

Vietnamese Pho beef noodle soup

Around the World in 30 Days

     So far, we have made Russian Borscht, German Bratwurst, Hungarian Goulash, Moroccan Tagine, Indian Tandoori chicken, and Filipino Lumpia, amongst other vibrant and exotic dishes.  Next week, on to the orient!  
   A small group of us toured the farmer's market in Boulder with our chef one evening where we were introduced to gorgeous peppers, beets, squashes, beans, and the sexiest tomatoes I have ever laid eyes on!   I promptly purchased a fresh bunch of sweet basil to make a margherita pizza for dinner.  Delicious!
   It's hard to believe we are more than half way through the program.  This block has really flown by.  We have already had our midterms and midterm practical, which were, thankfully, much less stressful than previous practicals.  I think I am becoming more confident in my abilities, although I am by no means proficient.  The practical was interesting in that the ingredients were not revealed to us until the day before.  There is no recipe to follow.  Each person makes what they deem the best representation of their skill and creativity at this point.  We were given shrimp and bass and a variety of summer produce from which we were to execute an appetizer and an entree.
     For the appetizer, I made a chilled butternut and yellow squash soup garnished with a sautéed squash blossom.  My entree was a seasoned, sautéed, skin-on bass filet with a tomato coulis and basil herb oil accompanied by summer squash stuffed with creamy polenta, shrimp, squash, and summer corn kernels.  Even though I was docked points for not presenting the skin side up, I thought we all made beautiful and unique dishes.

One Sexy Tomato

Chilled Squash Soup with Squash Blossom

Sauteed Bass with stuffed Squash

German Bratworst with picked onion and sauerkraut

Russian Borscht with pickled beet chip