Shallots, Red & Green Grapes, Aged Goat Cheese & Tarragon
Serves 8

England’s Jamie Oliver is a breath of fresh air in cooking today, with the Cooking Channel so resplendent in fifty-something-chefs. He is a young man with a creative touch, as evidenced in this terrific salad from his cookbook “Jamie’s Kitchen” (Hyperion, NYC). The fresh tarragon is a truly inspiration idea for salad! If you cannot find fresh tarragon, don’t make the salad. I added a couple of touches (endive, sugar, lemon juice) to highlight the exception flavor notes.

2 large banana shallots, or six small ones, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup of good vinegar (I used champagne raspberry vinegar)
4 cups of fresh tarragon leaves
2 endive heads, cut crosswise in one inch sections
1 large bunch of seedless red grapes, halved
1 large bunch of seedless green grapes, halved
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
7 ounces of good aged goat’s cheese or hard salted ricotta

Preparation: 1. Soak the shallots for one half hour in vinegar water; which will make them very crisp. 2. Separate the endive sections and soak them for one half hour in vinegar water; which will reduce the bitter taste. 3. Toss the grape halves with the lemon juice, one tablespoon of vinegar and one tablespoon of sugar; marinating for one half hour. 4. Assemble the salad in a large bowl; draining the shallots, endive and grapes, and tossing them with the tarragon leaves, and vinegar and olive oil to taste. 5. Using a potato peeler, shave the goat’s cheese into the salad. 6. Add sea salt and ground pepper to taste.

Presentation: Drain any excess dressing. Compose the salad and serve immediately.

Richard Wottrich

Country French Gruyère Soufflé with Crème Fraîche and Caviar
Amuse Bouche
Serves 8

Besides Julia Childs, my other favorite life-changing chef is Jacque Pépin. In 2003 Jacque finally published his autobiography entitled “The Apprentice” (Houghton Mifflin Company, NYC). It is a charming story of a little boy whose family owned a simple French working-class restaurant, where Jacque started cooking at age ten.

Jacque’s and now my favorite recipe in the book is “Mama’s Cheese Soufflé.” It is a simple French cheese soufflé, without all the fancy separation of the yolks and whipped whites and it is delicious. For purposes of this Amuse-bouche, I have given the full soufflé recipe here. Take what you need for your dinner party and reserve the balance to cook for a family dinner the next day. I do this because you never quite get the same result when you severely scale down a recipe. From there I took this fabulous base and added Crème Fraîche and Caviar, gilding the lily to be sure, but then we only go around once. This recipe may appear to be time consuming, but trust me, it is simplicity itself.

Cheese Soufflé
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter; plus extra to butter the gratin dishes
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups cold whole milk
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
5 extra large eggs
2 ½ cups grated Gruyére cheese; about 6 ounces
3 tablespoons minced fresh chives
Garnish
Crème Fraîche
½ ounce Caviar of your choice

Preparation: (For purposes of this Amuse Bouche you will need eight small gratin or soufflé dishes each holding one ounce, or two tablespoons of the soufflé batter.) 1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place a small oven proof pan in the oven with about ½-inch of warm water in it. 2. In one bowl crack the eggs and whip with a hand whisk until smooth. Set aside. 3. In another bowl grate the Gruyére cheese. Set aside. 4. Take your small gratins and either butter them or spray them with Pam. Set aside. 5. In a sauce pan melt the butter with the flour and stir briskly until smooth. Cook for 10 seconds and add the cold milk in one stroke, and mix it with a whisk. Keep stirring until the mixture thickens and comes to a strong boil; about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt and pepper. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. 6. Pour the white sauce in a large bowl and add the eggs, Gruyére cheese and minced chives. Whisk until smooth. 7. Spoon the mixture into each gratin dish; about two tablespoons per dish, reserving the balance to cook the next day. 8. Place the gratins carefully in the water bath in the oven and cook for about 10 minutes or until the soufflé has puffed up and browned slightly.

Presentation: Carefully remove the gratins and let cool for about 5 minutes. Spoon a dollop of Crème Fraîche on top of each gratin. With a stainless steel or mother-of-pearl spoon top each gratin with another dollop of caviar. Serve immediately.

Richard Wottrich