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The best part about going to
Las Vegas is my friend, the great Jean Joho's restaurant, Eiffel Tower
at the Paris Hotel. What an oasis in the middle of chaos. Joho is
originally from Alsace where, at age 6, he was peeling vegetables in his
aunt's restaurant kitchen. At 13, he began his training with the
legendary Paul Haeberlin at Auberge de L'ill in Illhaeusern, a Michelin
3-star restaurant. Joho went on to open the famed Everest on the 40th
floor of the Chicago stock exchange, along with the first authentic
brasserie outside of France called Brasserie JO in Chicago and later in
Boston. He has also been a regular participant in the Masters of Food
and Wine event at the Highland's Inn. We met through a mutual
acquaintance and always have a good time when he shows |
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up, usually with some other French chefs and
assistants, eating drinking and talking food. But, back to our dinner in
Vegas - it started with three opening "amuses" on each plate - just
something to open the appetite. A little bite of duck wrapped in a
paper-thin slice of potato with micro greens, a tiny scallop-wild
mushroom straddle and a small piece of foie gras. I'm in heaven - some
fabulous food and a great view of the Bellagio Hotel with their water
fountain show. Next we were served a soup bowl containing a tiny
Reggiano Parmisano flan (the size of your thumb) and the captain came
over and poured in a cream of asparagus soup. The white of the flan set
against the green of the soup, was beautiful and both were equally rich.
Next course was a piece of fresh pike, seared on one |
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side until lightly browned sitting on a bed
of fennel and dill, with fingerling potatoes and broth of fish fumet and
truffles. Okay, now we're talking. This was followed with a salad of
tiny green beans tossed in crème frâiche with fresh steamed Maine
lobster topped with micro green dressed in olive oil and 25 year old
balsamic vinegar - bravo! The final entrée was a very small seared filet
of veal with fresh black trumpet mushrooms and morels in a natural au
jus. Now we were really rolling - dessert time. The ultimate crème
brulee, apple straddle so light it almost floated away and Grand Marnier
soufflé. But that wasn't the end; we were also presented chocolates and
tiny butter cookies. Without a doubt, one of the best meals I've ever
had. Thank you very much, Jean Joho. |
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Fish tale: last night I baked off a
farmed fish product from Hawaii. It's called kampachi (a.k.a. yellow
tail) and is absolutely delicious. I will soon be serving these babies
in my restaurants.
Q). I love asparagus, but it never comes out as wonderful at
home. Can you give me any tips? Thank you.
Kristi Smylie
Via e-mail
A). Well Kristi, yes I can! First of all when you buy
asparagus make sure it's fresh. You can tell by looking at the
bottom of the stalks. If you place them in a water bath this will help
keep your "grass" fresh. I'm sure your talking bitter grass, right? The
fresher the sweeter. Another thing to improve the grass is to peel the
stalks. Use a potato peeler from half way down (cut the bottom) and
discard any white stems because they will be tough. Try roasting the
grass in a 400 degree oven for 5 to 7 |
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minutes. Just rub with a little olive oil
and sprinkle with salt, pepper and a little balsamic vinegar when you
take them out - good, real good!
Q). I ate at your restaurant for the
first time in 1983. It was the first time I had ever eaten an artichoke.
At that time an artichoke with a white creamy sauce was served as
a before dinner item - like some would serve a before dinner salad. For
20 years, I have tried to create the white dipping sauce, and have come
close, but it has never exactly tasted the same. I live in Texas, or I
would be eating it at your restaurant all the time! Do you know the
recipe of that sauce that was spooned on top of the artichoke and may I
have the recipe? Do you still serve this artichoke?
Thanks.
Sincerely,
Deborah K. Aguila
Via e-mail
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A). Yes we do! Debbie, we probably
have served over 2 million by now. Now that's a lot of chokes. I guess
you never heard the story about my grandmother as she was lying on her death bed she said, "Johnny my boy,
please give me the recipe for the artichokes". Grandma, I love you, God
bless you, I'll do anything for you, but sorry I can't - she then said,
"You s.o.b., you always were a little sh**!" Anyway, I just can't give
it to you but I will give you this recipe instead. Cook your artichoke.
Open it like a flower, dig out the choke, spread the leaves out in the
center. Place a tablespoon of good mayonnaise (home made is best) and
ladle a French dressing over the mayo and the artichoke and you've got
it! French dressing: 1 part vinegar, 3 parts olive oil, 1/4 cup red wine
vinegar, add 2 cloves chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon mustard, 1 teaspoon
sugar mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste then add oil and blend
well. That's it! |
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Folks, Mr. Mitchell Shapson - a
lobbyist for the wild fishing industry - uses activist fear mongering to
make a blatantly false assertion about fish farm waste ("Fish-farming
stance off," April 15). Unlike conventional sewage, fish waste is made
up of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, potassium, phosphorous, calcium and
other micronutrients -- substances that even organic farmers are
comfortable spreading on their food crops as fertilizer. Fish farms are
strategically placed so that ocean tides carry away the nutrients from
fish waste and |
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distribute them to the surrounding
area. It is not surprising, therefore, that areas surrounding
fish farms are abundant in all forms of sea life, including crabs,
prawns and other marine species that thrive on the nutrients produced by
the farms. As for antibiotic usage in farmed fish, this is another
activist myth. Antibiotics are used far less intensively in aquaculture
than in land-based meat and poultry producing industries. Sure, wild
salmon is a great product, and I use it when it's seasonally
available. But farmed salmon is a highly sustainable, heart
smart, nutritional |
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product that's available at an affordable
price year-round. It's only those with political agendas like Mr.
Shapson who can't see the tremendous benefits of eating farmed salmon.
Since I now know that paid lobbyists are mostly behind the negative
letters sent to me and to the newspaper editor, I will no longer answer
them. I just want the public to know the truth - farmed salmon is safe,
good for you, inexpensive and fresh. Watch for
my TV shows from British Columbia on salmon farming and let me show you
the truth and dispel the lies.
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