“This is one of those faux caviars. We convert peach juice using alginate and sodium citrate and setting it in a calcium-chloride bath. I did yellow peach because I thought I could get a better color for the caviar.”
“The foam is made with peach juice, xanthan gum, and Versawhip. It’s whipped out of a Kitchen Aid.”
“That creamy-looking sauce. That’s crème fraîche, dill, yellow-peach juice, and a little lemon juice.”
“I don’t tend to do flour [when searing scallops]. I get the pan really hot and just put some cooking oil in, and quickly sear it on both sides. I like mine pretty rare to medium rare. Don’t want to overcook the scallop!”
“I buy a lot of scallops in the shell; we use the scallops, and the shell.”
“I always like to incorporate some bread influence into a dish, whether it’s brioche, French toast, a waffle, anything on those lines. It just made sense to do a financier because it’s a little sweeter and the seared foie definitely supports something sweet. Bring white peaches in and it had a great texture.”
“At Oceana and Striped Bass, we’d find nifty ways to do surf-‘n’- turf. One of our best pairings was scallop and foie gras. The scallop has a great texture. It’s a strong muscle and you have the fattiness of the foie. They both accept similar ingredients. You’d want to serve something a little sweeter with the foie, but the scallop can hold up to it as well.”
“The third sauce is a chicken jus. I always like to add a little poultry essence to foie gras, since it does come from poultry. It adds a little more savoriness. It adds a little moisture, too.”
“Spice is life! And the pickling helps give the dish an acid, too. High-fatty foods can use a little acid to help cut through the fat. A lot of times, even the wine that’s served with seared foie dishes is a sweet wine, and it doesn’t have enough acid.”