Alaskan Sablefish

Sablefish is Alaskans most prized fish and is Alaskans  highest costing finfish per pound. Sablefish is also know as Butterfish and Black Cod, ( although it is not related to the cod family but resembles a cod with its round  shaped body) Sablefish grows at a fast rate, and are regulated and monitored very closely, so Sablefish is a sustainable fish and in addition is not overfished. The quality is sashimi grade and is one of the reasons the Japanese import so much Sable every year.

We will lightly cook the fish and serve it simply using its stock to make a sauce. At Kirsch's we bring in our fish whole and dayboat, which means it is shipped the same day the fish is caught. We typically receive these fish less than 24 hours out off the Ocean.

I always look forward to coming in to work when I know sable is on the way. One of the only set backs to this fish would be the Bones. Sable has a lot of bones and they usually have to be cut out, and you have to be careful not to lose to much flesh. Also I would use a extremely sharp knife so you can feel the blade running along the bones.

Here are some Pictures of our sable fish we received a few days ago. 

    

Moose Island Bay Day Boat Scallops Erics recipe.

Kirsch’s Restaurant

Lake Geneva Wisconsin

Sous Chef Eric Barber

January 23, 2010

Moose Island day boat Scallops

Apple, Fennel, Chorizo

Recipe:

Serves four

12 cleaned moose island Scallops

Salt and white pepper to taste

Extra virgin olive oil

1 granny smith apple peeled, cored and chopped

1 roasted fennel bulb sliced and chopped

3 ounces Palacio’s Spanish Dried chorizo sliced thin into half moons

Garnish:

Villa Manodori Dark Cherry Balsamic

Extra virgin olive oil

Fennel frond

Sea salt

Preparation:

Heat a sauté pan on high heat, add oil, season scallops with salt and pepper, and add to hot pan. Sauté quickly for 1 to 2 minutes until scallop starts to caramelize, turn over and cook for 30 seconds longer. Take scallops out of pan and place on a plate lined with paper towel. Turn heat down to medium pour off hot oil into a metal container and place pan back on the stove. Add a little more fresh oil and carefully place into the pan fennel, apples and chorizo.  Cook until warm and chorizo starts to get a little crispy on the edges. Take off the heat and prepare to plate.

To Assemble:

Spoon some of the apple, fennel and chorizo into the middle of a plate, forming a bed to rest the scallops on. Top with 3 scallops, and garnish with some fennel fronds, drizzle some balsamic and extra virgin olive oil around the scallops, and finish with some sea salt.

Moose Island Bay Day Boat Scallops Recipe

Kirsch’s Restaurant

Lake Geneva Wisconsin

Chef Rick Starr

January 23, 2010

Moose Island day boat Scallop

“Surf and Earth”

Lobster, Winter Truffle, Parsnip

Recipe:

(Makes 8 portions)

8 ounces cleaned Moose Island Scallops

1 egg white

Kosher salt and white pepper to taste

1cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon chopped winter truffle

2 tablespoons room temperature butter

Garnish:

Frizzled parsnip

Lobster broth

Sliced winter truffle

In a food processer add scallop, egg white and salt and pepper to taste. Puree for 30 seconds, scrape down sides and repeat. Once pureed place into a bowl and refrigerate for 30 min. while waiting whip half of the cream until medium peaks. Pre heat your oven to 300F degrees. Take puree out of refrigerator and add remaining cream, incorporate with a wooden spoon. Next fold in whipped cream and add chopped truffle. Grease the inside of 8 2ounce ramekins, spoon in scallop mousse and fill to the top. Tap each one to release air pockets and place into a cake pan. Fill pan half way up to sides of ramekins with hot water. Cover with a lightly greased piece of aluminum foil, and place into your oven for 15 to 25 min. check often, scallops are done when they feel set to the touch and can be removed cleanly from the sides of the ramekin. Place on top of your stove and leave in the water bath.

To assemble:

Place some lobster broth on the bottom of a bowl; take a scallop out of a ramekin running a knife on the inside of the ramekin, gently loosening the scallop. Place scallop in the middle of the lobster broth, and top with some frizzled parsnip. Place a few slices of winter truffle around the bowl. Drizzle with some quality Italian extra virgin olive oil, preferable from Sicily, and finish with some sea salt.

  

Moose Island Bay Day Boat Scallops

Gulf of Maine's Moose Island Day Boat Scallop season is now open!! The Eastport Area communities located on Moose Island in Washington County Maine are committed to preserving their heritage and the natural beauty of their environment. These communities are rich in history, with settlements dating back as early as 1763. The area is one of the eastern most points of the U.S with miles of beautiful cobble beaches, tidal covers, rivers, streams, and inland lakes. Moose Island is truly one of the last unspoiled stretches of Maine coast. It is from these pristine, nutrient-rich waters that fishermen harvest the finest sea scallop in the world.

The Gulf of Maine, Moose Island Scallop fishery is a small community based fishery consisting of only around 40 family owned vessels. Strictly enforced government regulations and the fishermen’s dedication to offering only the finest artisan products makes this short seasonal fishery one of the most sustainable fisheries in the world. In order to participate in the fishery, boats are required to have a system that tracks their locations via satellite (in order to enforce prohibitions in entering areas closed to scalloping). The Gulf of Maine Moose Island fishery harvests within three miles of shore and limits catches to only a few hundred pounds per vessel.
The uncharacteristically high levels of phytoplankton and microzooplankton in the area waters produces a scallop that has the highest sugar content of any sea scallop on the planet. Often referred to as "sugar" or "honey" scallops, their extremely high natural sugar content provides these beautiful scallops with a slightly peach colored meat and buttery nectarous flavor that is versatile on both raw and cooked applications.

We have just received these beautiful scallops today, and I will have all night to dream of how I am going to prepare them tomorrow.

Night of Love Scholarship Dinner

Every February, The local chef's and local high school, get together and we create a dinner to raise funds for Culinary scholarships. This year I am preparing the passed Hors d' oeuvre's. There will be 5 courses including a intermezzo. I am not sure what the other chefs will be preparing but here are some of my ideas that I may serve. I may have to adjust depending on the seasonal product that is available.

Black truffle risotto, on spoon

Foie gras, wild mushrooms, brioche, dark cherry balsamic

Poached quail egg, applewood smoked bacon, caviar beurre blanc on spoon

Herbed buttermilk waffle, prosciutto di Parma, pecorino, vanilla bean white truffled butter

Braised beef short ribs, caramelized root vegetable confetti, fresh horseradish

Duck Confit, polenta, crispy parsnip, gorgonzola

Tomato Confit, balsamic, Parmigiano, crustini

Shrimp cocktail, Bloody Mary chaser, preserved lemon

Top 3 Living chefs

I was recently on a blog, and somehow I came across a thread where they were rating the top 50 chefs. I am curious who do you think are the top 3 living chefs. I know this is going to be hard to sum up only 3, and I choose living Chefs because its a little more relevant. Your top 3 do not have to be rated in order, and they can be retired.

After some time thinking, the top chefs on my list would be... 
Paul Bocuse
Ferran Adria
Thomas Keller

Really tough to leave Joel Robuchon and Freddy Girardet of that list. But I think for me, Keller is my Favorite chef in the world, and is the only American Chef with 6 Michelin Stars and Bocuse and Adria are solid picks regardless.
Also being a Chicago native, it was hard to keep these chefs off, being I personally was so influenced by Charlie Trotter, Jean Banchet, and currently Grant Achatz and Laurent Gras at L2O.
For the record this is my list and your list can be any chefs that you choose. I am not asking for any debate on my list, and I am just curious what other people who love food and wine think the top 3 living chefs are.

Hours of Operation

As of January first, we closed Monday to Wed. and are open Thursday to Sunday. With the current economic conditions and the uncertainty of the future, we feel that it would be in the best interest to shut down during the week. We will re visit this idea at the end of January to evaluate and decide if we will continue to be closed or re open during the week. How does this effect our guest, we hope it will not. We have done the best we can to inform everyone on our new hours. I know as far as the Food, they will benefit as we are ordering every thing in daily and there should only be the freshest product available. In addition the moral and energy level of the entire staff should be higher than usual. Good news is "We are open".  There is something to be said about that, many restaurants in this area are no longer around due to slow summers and bad weather. We have adapted and have accepted the fact that we can not succeed running this restaurant as we did in the past. When business is back we will have been anticipating it and will be ready, better then ever.