Thanksgiving, the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

by Tory Miller, Executive Chef & Co-Owner

Thanksgiving is fast approaching; there are only a few shopping days left! This may come as a shocker, but Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  Food, football, and family, what else could you want? I know that many families have their own unique and celebrated traditions: how you cook the almighty bird, what side dishes you make, what you must have or must never have, and what time you eat and take a nap.  Holidays are about these traditions; maybe what makes the holidays what they are, is always going to the same person’s house, sitting around that table and enjoying those same dishes that our families have enjoyed from generation to generation. We wait all year for these gatherings, to get a chance to experience the same giddiness as we did years past, the smells alone evoking all of the previous year’s and memories, that one magical time when we get to eat as much turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and yes, green bean casserole as we can fit on our plates. So with all of this in mind, I write to share just a few of my favorite things to fill my table with on Thanksgiving.

Let's talk turkey. I start with the farm. There are many great farmers out there raising many a great tasting bird. L'Etoile has had a long standing relationship with our friends, the Smith family from Blue Valley Gardens in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. Matt and Susan raise a heritage breed bronze turkey. Full-flavored and great white-meat-to-dark-meat ratios give these birds a great appeal for me. I love dark meat, but many like white, so we can all get what we like from one bird. Heritage breed and heirloom variety of everything you can think of have become a very popular way of marketing and selling vegetables and meats for the better part of the last decade. But like any ingredient, pick the best you can find, at the price you can afford, don't get caught up in labels, and try to think about its source. We all know the philosophy − local, small, fresh, all that business − so regardless of what bird you get, farm-raised or 12-cents-a-pound-frozen from your local grocery, I recommend a brine. Brining is like mixing a marinade with a cure; it adds seasoning and flavor, as well the all important moisture factor. (I know, no one has ever experienced a dry turkey, right?) The brine that I use is 2 parts kosher salt (4 cups) to 1 part sugar (white or brown 2 cups), 15 bay leaves, 2 cinnamon sticks, equal parts coriander, black peppercorns, cloves, all spice, star anise.  For one turkey I use a five gallon pickle bucket (you can also try a cooler in the garage, or someplace that will keep the brine at 41 degrees or below, not freezing though) and about 3 gallons of liquid.  I usually bring the liquid to a boil with all the ingredients and then chill it down to 40 degrees and then drop the turkey in. (Tip: bring about half the liquid to a boil, then add ice to make up the difference in volume, saves on cooling time and makes sure that the brine is cold enough.) The turkey should brine for at least 2 days, if you can do more that's awesome. I did one once for 2 weeks; it kind of tasted like ham, delicious but a different animal for sure. The reason for the brine is not only for flavor, but also for moisture. The salt naturally pulls moisture out of the bird, but the laws of equilibrium replace that moisture with the brine liquid. This continues to happen for the duration of the brining time, until the bird reaches equilibrium, basically equal parts moisture inside as outside. This changes the way the turkey is going to taste as well as how it is going to cook. If you can let the turkey sit under refrigeration for a day before cooking to allow the outside to dry, that is awesome. If not, do your best to towel that bad boy off before putting it in the oven.  When I cook turkey, I heat the oven as high as it can go, rub all over the skin with vegetable oil (I know you want to use butter, but that burns the outside. If you must use butter, slide some at room temperature under the skin of the breasts. That will give you all the butter love but none of the butter burn), put the bird in and cook it for 30 minutes. This jump starts the turkey, searing the outside and trapping the moisture in. Then reduce that oven temp to 325 and cook it for about another hour. Do not open the oven to check on it; all that does is cool the oven down and slow down the cooking. (This is for like a 20 pounder or less, obviously the bigger the turkey, and depending on oven, it may or may not take longer.  Get a instant read thermometer. After an hour, take the temp. According to the health department it needs to be 165 to be done. I pull it out at 155-160 and let it rest up.) Why does it cook so fast you might ask?  The added moisture in the meat from the brine help "simmer" the meat from the inside out, reducing the cooking time and the searing of the skin in the initial heat blast helps trap in all those juices, resulting in a super delicious, extra juicy turkey. (Extra bonus, the leftovers are juicy too!) The final turkey tip I can give you is: Let it rest! When it comes out of the oven all those juices are moving around in there, if you leave it alone they'll calm down and settle into the meat, if you cut into it, they'll only have one place to go: out of the meat, leaving it dry and considerably less delicious.

Alright, on to the sides. I can waste time talking about recipes and methods for stuffing, sweet potatoes, squash, gravy, red cabbage and green bean casserole...but we all have our own traditions, and I know that people will still use the canned cream of mushroom soup and French's fried onions regardless of what any chef, fancy magazine spread, or blog tells us is the newest and best way to make it. So it goes back to sourcing for me. The Dane County Farmer's Market may have just had it’s last outdoor market for the year, but that doesn't mean all the delicious treats are done for the season and we have to flock to Whole Foods or the Co-op to get our locally grown, sustainably raised, and organic ingredients.  The Market moves into the Monona Terrace until after Christmas and is still quite amazing. There is an incredible selection of mushrooms, squashes, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, pumpkins, cheeses and everything else you would need to complete your celebrations.  (It kind of sucks that green bean season was over like a month and a half ago though.)  Unfortunately, our cranberry farmers, the Wetherby's, typically only come to the outdoor market, so if you were thinking ahead this week and have cranberries staking out territory in your freezer, kudos to you. If you weren’t as prepared (and your tradition doesn’t involves needing to see the ridges from the can of cranberries in order to feel complete), you may have to look into another option to get local cranberries. Other than that, all of these great things should be in pretty bountiful supply at the indoor market at the Monona Terrace.

The reason for this meal is to celebrate what it is we have to be thankful for, as families, individuals and as people in general. I would like to take an opportunity to say that this is that one time of the year where it isn’t about what you’re eating, or who made it, or how they made it, where it was raised or how it was treated in the growing process, or all of those other things that are food politically correct. It should be about celebrating that you actually have a meal to sit down to, that you have family and friends to share this time with, and that your family culinary traditions should always live on, even if it is only for one meal a year. 

Happy Thanksgiving everybody, and of course Bon Appetito.

Pork-A-Palooza: Butchering 101

 by Rachel Boothby, L'Etoile server

Butchering 101

The pig lay in “primal” pieces on the butcher-block countertop. A head, a shoulder, a side, a butt, two hooves, appearing much too dainty to have carried the two-hundred pound Mangalitsa pig displayed in front of me. Skin, shaved smooth, covered fat in some places several inches thick, deposited through months of eating whey and acorns.  By all accounts present, this pig was a perfect specimen. I found the carcass, while unsettlingly raw and pink, somehow beautiful.



The painstaking process of skinning

During “Butchering 101,” Chef Tory Miller and friend of the restaurant Pete Kelly led the L’Etoile staff through the process of breaking down several pigs obtained from Uplands Dairy in L’Etoile’s kitchen. Having already perfected the art of creating raw milk from Jersey cows (the envy of all dairies in Wisconsin) and produced two highly sought-after award-winning cheeses, Uplands Dairy had expanded its operation to recapture some of the waste produced during the cheesemaking process. 

Pigs, as it turns out, love the whey that is produced in abundance by Uplands cheesemakers. And when pigs love something, they consume it by the trough-ful, becoming the obese individuals that chefs prize so dearly. These pigs had spent their lifetime eating, and now the tables had turned. 

Stephen working with the handsaw

Chef Tory explains the different cuts

Using handsaws, we cut between the vertebrae. Carving through the massive proportions of fat, we revealed the pork chops—thirteen ounces of delicious meat. The trimmed-off fat was set aside, saved for later use. Two tenderloins were peeled from the inside of the ribcage, and sculpted into bright red cylinders. Sheets of fat were layered with peppercorns, salt, juniper berries, grated nutmeg and placed in the walk-in refrigerator to cure. Bacon was packed in brown sugar and spices, salt and maple. Brine was poured from 5-gallon buckets, submerging juicy, tender cuts of meat.

Brigitte works on skinning a leg

Each staff member, server and line cook alike, wore a white coat as we worked side by side to transform the pig into the various elements of charcuterie. Several months later, we knew we would painstakingly slice and arrange the coppa, prosciutto, lardo and pâté on a plate, carefully carry them a table, introduce them with pride to our guests, and watch as they are savored slowly by a group of friends. 

Rachel preparing pork chops

For those of us who work at L’Etoile, whether in the kitchen, on the floor, in the office or behind the bar, what we do each day is a labor of love. When we create a plate of charcuterie, or any other dish, the raw ingredients come from friends whose farms we’ve visited and whose products we are intimately familiar with. We are respectful of our food, the people who grow and raise it, and, in this case, the pig whose life had ended to make our artistry possible.

Three Boys Named Sous

 by L'Etoile cook, Marcelle Richards

Meet Mike, Aaron and Ryan, L’Etoile’s sous chefs past, future and present.

On Saturday, L’Etoile said goodbye to former sous chef Mike Balistrieri, as Aaron Mayhew makes his debut this week to work alongside L’Etoile veteran Ryan Klawitter.

Outside of the restaurant industry, I find that people are sometimes unclear about what a sous chef does, and they do a lot. 

While Chef Tory takes care of the grand picture for both restaurants, the sous chefs are the less publically known but ever-present support who hold L’Etoile’s standards high even when Chef Tory is out of the kitchen. 

“If Tory was the head of the kitchen, the sous chefs would be the hands and the cooks would be the fingers,” said Mike Balistrieri as he flashes a smile.  “I’ve been thinking of that one.”

Despite the physicality of their work, it’s a great deal of heart that keeps them in it.

They’re the ones who are often at work by late morning before the line cooks arrive and they often stay just as late, making sure the restaurant is not only prepared for that day’s service but for long term needs as well.

Mike, and now, Aaron, function as on-line (as in on the cooking line) leader, helping cooks during rushes, or filling in for stations and helping with prep needs.

Ryan more so takes care of much of the restaurant’s ordering, purveyor relations, plus tasting and checking food as it’s prepared and sent out.  With a relish for pickling, preserving, and charcuterie, he loves to dabble with seasonal produce and items that might otherwise be wasted, like offal or meat scrap, to utilize products to their fullest potential.

Between he and Jed Heubel, he says they make about 90 percent of the restaurant’s charcuterie: pâtés, sausages, and cured meats. “That’s definitely one of my favorite things, right there,” he said. 

sous chef Ryan and his pig head

Ryan looked like a kid at Christmas when six Uplands whey-fed, acorn-finished hogs arrived on Friday, only inside his box were six, dare I say, smiling, pigs heads.  They really did look happy, as I would be too, I thought, if I had been fattened on Uplands whey. 

“TV makes being a chef a glamorous thing but it’s really hard work.  It’s also really rewarding especially if you love what you do,” he said. 

Aside from a sense of duty and working for a chef he greatly respects, he’s found that he also enjoys the teaching aspect, which perhaps is something I’ve benefited from most directly as an intern. 

When I think of Ryan, he’s the person who’s made me a better taster.  When I bring something to Ryan to taste, I may have to make corrections, or even start over, but each is a learning experience that’s helped me better understand the nuances of what makes flavors balance.  It’s Ryan’s eagle eye for detail, too, that’s really hit home the mantra that I believe does separate L’Etoile from others, and that is, as he’s said to me and others: “If it’s not right, don’t send it out.”

Ryan likes Ben and Jerry’s, Danzig and Pickles and Preserves by Marion Brown.

Mike has been somewhat of the mother hen figure to me.  On the line when I’ve felt like the rush was getting the better of me, Mike has been there to say, “We’re going to get through this.  It’s fun.”  There’s a calm about working with Mike, and I think most will agree, that makes him a person who leads by quiet example. It’s he who helped me to learn to keep calm and carry on...and to have fun. 

One of my favorite memories of Mike is of him shouting German sentences in the kitchen on request – it’s quite possibly the only time he’s seemed remotely scary.

Mike likes mushroom foraging, roux and his Jeep, Andy.  

sous chef Mike and his cleaver

I know we’ll all miss him and his beloved cleaver.  Most chefs use…chef’s knives – which Mike does use sometimes, he says, but even at the expense of some good-humored jabbing, the cleaver is still his baby. 

The whole cleaver trend started, Mike said, when the kitchen was more crowded and the blunt-headed cleaver seemed like a less potentially pokey tool to wield.

“It just feels right in your hand,” he said emphatically.

Mike is moving to Appleton to be with his other love, his fiancée Janine.  He doesn’t yet know where he’ll be working but he knows he’ll stay in the restaurant industry. He says he’ll miss the team mentality at L’Etoile – a rarity in a kitchen, he notes. “This is by far the most professional, driven kitchen I’ve worked in…we’re all here because we want to make this restaurant the best we could,” he said.

Aaron shares in Mike and Ryan’s appreciation for the hard-working environment that is the L’Etoile kitchen and loves developing relationships with farmers and working with the top-notch products they provide.  He graduated from the Culinary Arts program from Madison College in 2008 and has been at L’Etoile since August 2010. “It’s finally an opportunity – seeing as I kind of came up from the bottom – to instill the knowledge I’ve been taught and pass that onto others,” he said.

new sous chef Aaron

Although I haven’t yet worked as closely with Aaron, in my eyes he’s been a big contributor to the team environment in the kitchen.  When I first started out, I remember Aaron going out of his way to check in about how I was doing on the line and gave me encouragement after some tough nights.  As a cook, he wants to know from the front of the house how diners are enjoying their food and experience, and he communicates with other cooks to make sure everyone is feeling ready for service.

Given the decision to hire from within versus without, Chef Tory notes that “it’s always best when someone knows the restaurant, knows the system, knows how I like things done…plus Aaron’s a good guy.”

Aaron’s goal is “to not have this restaurant skip a beat” as he steps in to help the restaurant continue to develop systems and “achieve even higher quality.” 

His cousins recently dined at L’Etoile and they said it was one of the best meals they’d ever had, and knowing that his food will mean something special to those who eat it is one of the job’s greatest payoffs to him.  He said he always tries to keep that in mind, and that’s really what the job is all about.

Aaron likes – no, loves – the Packers.  Crispy duck skin and Phish are right up there as well.

So what is it that sous chefs here do?  They do things right.

James Beard House Dinner, October 6th, 2011

by Brigitte Fouch, L'Etoile cook

This last week, L'Etoile had the honor of cooking at the James Beard House in New York City.  The foundation hosts 200 dinners each year and Tory, being nominated for Best Chef in the Midwest, was asked to be a guest chef. So, we packed some coolers with some of the best products Wisconsin has to offer and set off for the Big Apple.

We were waiting nervously at the baggage carousel in LaGuardia airport and, almost in unison, let loose a sigh of relief when all four of our checked coolers and bag of dry goods and chef coats arrived, completely intact. After checking into our hotel in Brooklyn, we departed to meet up with Chef Tory (who was already in New York for Autism Speaks and Star Chefs). We caught our first glimpse of the island city skyline as we approached the Williamsburg Bridge. Taking a taxi into Manhattan in the middle of the afternoon proved to be not the most efficient mode of transportation, but we were all happy to take in the sites while stuck in traffic. We met Chef Tory at his friend's restaurant, Brasserie 8½ and went over the menu for the dinner, taking inventory of all the items we would need.

photo credit Brigitte Fouch

That night we had an amazing meal at one of Chef Tory's favorite spots, Diner. The food we ate and service and hospitality we experienced put us all in the mood to spend the next day in the kitchen! ...Which is exactly what we did.

Chef and Aaron started early and transported all the coolers from Brasserie 8½ to the James Beard House located in West Village. The rest of us arrived a bit later and began prep. Between the six of us and three volunteers from a local culinary school, the kitchen was packed. We had a comfortable amount of time to prep and handle any unexpected obstacles, which are inevitable in the kitchen. 

photo credit Tom Kirkman

Each of the five courses featured local products sourced from both Wisconsin and New York and was expertly paired with some of L'Etoile's favorite wines. We also prepared five hors d'oeuvres to serve during a cocktail hour as guests arrived.

The James Beard House is in fact the town house which James Beard once lived in. Because of this, dining arrangements are...creative. Tables are set up throughout the house in various rooms and guests must pass through the kitchen in order to reach the dining areas. Guests began to arrive around 7pm and enjoyed hors d'oeuvres until the first course was served promptly at 8pm.

Here's what we dished up:

photo credit Tom Kirkman

Pleasant Ridge Reserve Gougères with Prosciutto and Jam
Pheasant Pâté with Dijon Mustard and Pickles
Smoked Trout with Crème Fraîche, Chives, and Gaufrettes
Dunbarton Blue, Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Alpine Renegade and Petit Frere with Honeycomb and Candied Hickory Nuts
Deviled Eggs with Crispy Pork Belly and Smoked Paprika
Nigl Sparkling Grüner Veltliner NV

Fountain Prairie Farm Beef Carpaccio with Pea Vines, Pickled Mushrooms, Crispy Shallots, Brioche Croutons, and Dunbarton Blue Cheese
Comtesse Bernard de Cherisey Red Burgundy 2008

Butternut Squash Parmigiana with Mozzarella, Duck Confit, and Spiced Tomato Sauce
Casanova di Neri Sangiovese 2008

Orecchiette with Homemade Sweet Sausage, Autumn Chicories, and Bleu Mont Dairy Raw Milk Cheddar
Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling 2008

Dry Aged New York Strip Steak with Sweet Potato Puree, Brussels Sprouts, Spicy Peanuts, and Buttermilk Blue Cheese Crumbles
Turley Howell Mountain Rattlesnake Ridge Zinfandel 2009

Apple Brown Betty with Hook’s 15-Year Cheddar, Bourbon Ice Cream and Bacon Brittle
Warre’s Otima 10-Year-Old Tawny Port NV

After the last dish left the kitchen, confident that we did the Dairy State proud, we raised our glasses for a staff toast, gathered our things and headed out for our own celebration dinner at Fatty 'Cue.

photo credit Brigitte Fouch

photo credit Brigitte Fouch

On our last day in the city, we split up and all tried to take in as much as we could...and as much food as we could. Erin, Nic and Brent were able to have lunch at Per Se, a Thomas Keller restaurant in the Time Warner Building where one of our former sous chefs now works. I grabbed lunch to-go from Bouchon Bakery and found a spot in Central Park to enjoy my sandwich, macaroon and latte. While Aaron found a long line of patrons stretching out of a deli, figured it must be good, and joined the line. I know that none of us were disappointed in any of the food we enjoyed while in the city and I'm not sure how New Yorkers do not eat themselves broke in a city full to the brim of such wonderful food and restaurants.

Needless to say, we boarded the plane with full bellies and tired legs. We arrived to our connection in Milwaukee just in time to watch the Brewers secure their place in the League Championship Series before boarding our final plane back to Madison.

photo credit Tom Kirkman

I think I can speak for the entire group when I say this was a trip I will never forget. I feel honored to have been a part of the team and immensely grateful for the opportunity cook at the James Beard House. On a personal note, I enjoyed working with everyone and enjoyed even more the dinners and drinks we shared while out on the town.

Round Room: The Reclaimed Silo Bar at L’Etoile

Ruben Mendez, L'Etoile Bartender

It's almost a stage, with it the ability to demonstrate the typical approach to the cocktail.  Ingredients are always real and always carefully chosen. The approach is taken from everyday interactions and whims and research.  As a stage, the black granite bar is supported by a reclaimed silo from a farm near Reedsburg, or so I was told by a nice couple who claimed to be, and most likely are, the parents of such an individual to take apart such things and put them back together in new and unique places.  On a stage, proficiently and efficiently supplying cocktails classic and artisanal.  Behind the stage, surrounded by competent, creative, professional contemporaries: a passion for stellar food and fine wine, a common bond that holds us together.

As a kid I'd often dreamt of becoming a chef; mostly because of the "Chef's Salad". Really, ham, cheese, egg, on a salad, sign me up!  Then I wanted to be a baseball player; astronaut was next after watching the Disney movie Space Camp. Finally, ten years ago, when I was almost a grown up and living in New York, I caught the wine bug from a sommelier co-worker at a Bastianich restaurant. Year after year I learned more and more, always taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge I was surrounded by at various establishments.

That still continues daily with the resources afforded L'Etoile, what with Michael's expertise, Frank's charm, Nic's candor, Stephen's wine appreciation and of course Tory's reputation for outstanding cuisine.  The staff at L'Etoile is proud to be a part of such a commended team and I am blessed to work my Dream Job.

I only know a few people who really look forward to going to work.  And Aaron Rodgers asked me to stop calling him.  So that leaves about five.  The four others also work at L’Etoile.  Yes, I look forward to going to work.  There's always something to learn.  Restaurant gossip is straight nerdy; where we ate last week, the great new tacos around the corner, underpriced wine at the place across the square, former co-workers new families. Or we talk about what to read; The NY Times Wednesday Dining Section and Isthmus' Dining Scene are almost mandatory weekly readings for the front of house staff.  All sorts of food, wine, booze and beer articles get emailed around.  Books on all topics food and beverage are brought in, shared, loaned, spilt on, returned.  Individual research on cheese, our farmers, local beer, wine, and everything else L’Etoile goes on daily.  

I never had a dream job before. As the saying goes, location, location, location and the Round Room that I found, might just be that place.  

Months ago I received a forwarded email from a customer inquiring about a cocktail "The T. M. (Flip)". Am very sorry for the delay and hope you are reading this.

The T. M. (Flip)

I created this drink after Talish (Graze’s GM) refused to amuse Chef's folly to put maple syrup, Door County Montmorency Cherry juice, Maker's Mark and an egg together in a cocktail. Or so Tory told me. That's exactly what I did.

1 1/2 oz Makers Mark

3/4 oz maple syrup (the syrup I use at L'Etoile is cut by 50% with 160•f water to change its viscosity and make it a little less sweet)

3/4 oz Door County Montmorency Cherry juice (can be purchased at the Willy St. Co-op)

1/2 egg white (large egg [this is an approximation. I never use all of the egg white behind the bar, just the first few gloops {yes, gloop is a technical term in the field of mixology (which I don’t believe in)}]).

Measure all ingredients into a shaker.  Shake vigorously, longer than normal to "whip" the egg white. Strain into a cocktail glass and serve.

Fountain Prairie Farm

Mikey Kolodzej, L'Etoile cook

Last summer, I came to Madison for the first time as an intern from Culinary School to start working at L’Etoile.  I moved in on a Friday, in June, and decided to hit up the market the next day with my Dad. We walked around, and eventually made our way past the Fountain Prairie Farm stand. At that point in time, I was familiar with the menu at L’Etoile , and knew that the relationship between Fountain Prairie Farm and the restaurant was pretty important, and that we solely featured their beef.  I stopped, introduced myself to John and Dorothy Priske, the owners and operators of the farm, and told them I’d be spending the next 5 months at L’Etoile. They both personally welcomed me to Wisconsin, and were the first people in Madison that I had really even spoken to. I hadn’t even met Chef Tory yet.  They both wished me luck and assured me that I would see them around quite often.  From that moment on I felt a connection to them, and to their products.

            Later that summer, the whole restaurant staff went on a field trip to Fountain Prairie Farm. It was a beautiful Sunday. I was in a terrible mood from the start, because my beloved Indianapolis Colts had lost earlier that day, but the second I set foot on that farm all thoughts of prior misfortune on the gridiron were completely wiped and were replaced with feelings of wonder and awe at the things I was seeing on this farm. Growing up in Indiana, I had become all too familiar with the world of factory farms. Farms like Fountain Prairie are one of a kind. The cows (gorgeous furry highland cattle) are free to roam about a large natural pasture with wetlands, tall grass, and rolling hills. We all rode out to one corner of the property, stood on top of a hill, and looked out over the farm. At that point in time I was actually jealous of these animals. They got to live in one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. They got to roam freely over the property, grazing and relaxing in the sun. This was CERTAINLY nothing like the farms I had seen driving though rural Indiana, and these cows looked nothing like the ones I had seen all too regularly, tied to posts on show at the Indiana State Fair.

            The whole staff spent the entire day at the farm. There was a barbecue, a keg, and good times to be shared by all, but I spent the majority of my time on the farm in solitude, admiring the animals. I stood next to the finishing pen, where the cattle that are closest to slaughter are kept, and they all looked me in the eye. The cows would back away, in fear. Not one of them would set foot within 20 feet of me. They were scared of me, and I wanted to be able to comfort them. Each one was eyeing me. I felt guilt: guilt that these wonderful animals would be giving their lives to feed people like me.  At that moment, something in my head clicked. I realized why I was here, why I was in Madison, why I was working at L’Etoile, and why I had spent a beautiful Sunday at Fountain Prairie Farm.  My goal as a cook instantly became to make sure that these animals didn’t die in vain. I promised to make sure that whether I was roasting beef bones for stock like I did as an intern, or cooking and plating the crispy orange beef tongue dish currently on the menu, (My favorite dish on the current menu!) that I would do everything in my power to not let the integrity of that beef be diminished in any way. It honestly became extremely personal.  If I make a mistake, not only am I letting myself, the rest of the kitchen, and the guests down because that beef has to go into the garbage, I am also letting that steer down.

            I think that’s part of the magic of L’Etoile, and farmers like John and Dorothy, and Madison as a city for that matter. There are beautiful products here that people are and rightfully should be proud of.  I was in New York for culinary school and there, it’s less about the ingredients themselves and more about the cook’s ability to manipulate the ingredients to make them more desirable.  Here, the less we do, the better.  It’s products like Fountain Prairie Farm beef, and people like John and Dorothy, and the L’Etoile kitchen staff, who take pride in doing things the right way, that made me want to ask for a full time job back at L’Etoile after I graduated.

            Déjà vu. I moved back to Madison on a Friday, three weeks ago. I walked around the market with my Dad the following Saturday, stopped by the Fountain Prairie stand and before I could say anything, John reached out to shake my hand, and welcomed me back to Madison. It feels great to be back.

            People of Madison, listen to me. You don’t know how lucky you are. We don’t have beef anywhere near this great in Indiana, or even New York. Take advantage of it. Come to L’Etoile and order a steak or the beef tongue or the carpaccio. (Or all three!) Come to Graze and order a burger or a steak. Go to the market and buy short ribs or steaks (I currently have several pounds of oxtails in my freezer for a rainy day) from John and Dorothy, they’re wonderful people and will answer any questions you have.

             This beef is truly something that is meant to be savored. It tastes the way beef is meant to taste, because the cows are raised the way they are meant to be raised. The flavor can really only be described as “beefy” and has a slight mineral finish that it picks up from the rich land that the farm is located on. Terroir at its finest. It’s a beautiful system, and beautiful meat. And I, for one, am personally honored to be able to cook it for you.

Visit John, Dorothy and their Scottish Highland Cows at their farm in Fall River, Wi.

And stay at their beautiful inn!

http://www.fountainprairie.com/

Watermelon!

Brigitte Fouch, L'Etoile Cook

Watermelons are the quintessential summer fruit: 100% fun, refreshing and reminiscent. A summer isn’t complete until I’ve eaten almost an entire watermelon in one sitting, spitting the seeds into the lawn and letting the juice run down my hands. It’s one of those things I simply can’t resist.

Luckily, watermelon is a guilt free indulgence! In fact, we might do well to indulge a little more often! They are packed with vitamins, especially A and C, and contain the most lycopene, a cancer fighting antioxidant, than any other fresh fruit. They are their own delicious multivitamin!

Watermelons, like pumpkins and squash, grow on sprawling vines with broad leaves. They can be round or oblong with crisp flesh that can be pink, yellow or even white! They range in size from just a few pounds (like our personal-size melons) to upwards of 90 pounds! The watermelon that holds the Guinness World Record is 268 pounds, although some unofficial records show melons weighing in at up to 290! Though they look quite tough, watermelons have to be hand harvested. Store your uncut melon at room temperature for several days and keep any extra cut melon covered and in the fridge.

Tips for choosing a watermelon

1.    Check the shape of the melon. A good watermelon has a symmetrical shape. It doesn't matter if the fruit is round or oval in shape, as long as it is symmetrical.

2.    It is also a good idea to press the skin of the watermelon in many different spots to test for firmness. Good watermelons will not have soft spots.

3.    Dark green melons tend to be sweeter than those that are lighter in color.

4.    Choose a melon that feels heavy for its size.

5.    Look on the bottom of the melon. You will find a discolored spot where the melon was in contact with the ground while it was growing. If this spot is light green, the melon is not yet ripe. If the spot is a yellowish-white color, the melon is probably ripe.

6.     You can also tell if a watermelon is ripe by thumping it, if you know what you are listening for. When you thump the side of a ripe watermelon, it will sound as if the fruit is hollow. If you hear a thud or a tone that is high in pitch, look out! You're dealing with a fruit that isn't ripe!

Don't buy a watermelon that you know isn't ripe thinking it will be ripe by the time you eat it. It won't happen. Watermelons do not continue to ripen once they have been picked.

Watermelon is great simply sliced and eaten, but there are many ways to enjoy watermelon. Because they are 92% water, they are a natural for blending and incorporating in to margaritas, spritzers, or lemonades and frozen into popsicles, granites or sorbets. One of my favorite summer drinks is watermelon aqua fresco: blended watermelon, mint, sugar and citrus juice. Add a little vodka and you've got a party!

Watermelon flesh is easy to cut and can be presented in cubes, balls, triangles, batons, or large, thin slices. Cookie cutters can even be used to cut more elaborate shapes!

Not many people know that even the rind and seeds are edible. Once pickled, the rind is a great addition to salads, with pork chops or as a crunchy snack on its own. In Asian countries, roasted watermelon seeds are either seasoned and eaten as a snack food, or ground up into cereal and used to make bread.

Growing up, my Grandpa (aka Papa) would always sprinkle salt on his watermelon; a practice I could never understand. I still haven't warmed up to the idea of salting my melon, but I do love to eat it with feta! The saltiness of the cheese brings out more of the melon's sweetness. If you are in need of a quick side dish to bring to a picnic, cut up watermelon and toss with crumbled feta cheese, thinly sliced red onion and mint. (Papa would probably still sprinkle some salt on it though).

If you are feeling extra creative, watermelons are popular for carving. Visit www.watermelon.org for instructions and design templates.

What interesting things have you been doing with watermelon this year??

Aloha at first sight?

 Marcelle Richards, L’Etoile intern/cook

The Pacific, or Hawaiian, blue prawns on the L’Etoile menu make for happy mouthfuls in the dining room but jaws are agape in the kitchen as well.

“Those are the craziest things I’ve ever seen.” said Graze’s Natalie as I cleaned the prawns in their raw form.  “They’re really cool.”

I thought the same thing.  I can’t stop looking at the prawns, which, as majestic as they are in a blushed spire of crustacean holiness on a grit cake, what diners don’t get to see is that as far as prawns go, these are the Ziggy Stardusts of the prawn world, harvested and beamed overnight to us from Hawaii from the Honolulu Fish Company in a holographic UV ray-bouncing shipping box that could only bode the spectacular inside.

Cleaning prawns isn’t glamorous. You’ve got to peel off the corsetry of overlapping shell in order to remove the “vein” (i.e. digestive tract) and if it’s at all possible to get the equivalent of rope burn from plucking antennae I think I’ve managed to pull that off.  Still, I’ve volunteered to clean these guys multiple times because I like to.  I can’t stop looking at them.  

In their natural state, their bodies evoke a watercolor palette of oceanic blues, kelpy greens and a blaze of coral pink on the carapace.  From their heads a serrated bayonet-like protrusion, or rostrum, makes me think of what would happen if a hungry fish tried to gulp one of these down – it would be like taking a toothpick to the roof of your mouth.

raw Pacific blue prawns

Each time I’ve cleaned them I’ve almost always had a passerby ask me a question about them; sometimes I knew the answer, sometimes not.  

One person asked me the difference between a prawn and a shrimp, and although shrimp and prawns are related taxonomically (both are decapods, or crustaceans with ten legs) from there the two do differ slightly in brooding, segmentation etc.  Ask someone who cooks with them and a prawn is more or less a big daddy shrimp and even the United Nation’s Food and Aquaculture Organization can vouch for the shakiness of layman definitions, which vary even geographically. 

The Pacific blue prawns we get from the Honolulu Fish Company happen to be a real catch, which Sous Chef Mike Balistieri describes as being sweeter and more buttery than your run of the mill prawn.  We cooks have a saying that “fat is flavor” and the blue prawns do make for good eating due to a relatively higher fat content, and of course, a talented kitchen staff.

Pacific blue prawns are only available seasonally from summer through early fall.  

“They are very, very rare,” said Honolulu Fish Company sales representative William Grafton.  “When we bring them in, which is pretty much on a daily basis, we sell out very quickly.”

The Honolulu Fish Company specifically cultivates blue prawns that belong to a species called Litopenaeus stylirostris, and actually has a trademark protecting information surrounding their husbandry of the species since they run one of only a few farms producing this particular species, and at a very high quality at that.  They boast meticulously high standards for freshness and sustainability (fish are line caught and shipped fresh; scallops and prawns are individually quick frozen per law.)  

cooked prawns, featured on the L'Etoile menu

Their Hawaiian blue prawns have entered numerous taste tests and is recognized as one of the best sashimi grade prawns available.  So do jump at the chance to try them at L’Etoile and do squeeze their heads when you’re enjoying them – that’s why we leave them on!  

Honolulu Fish Company

Contact: William Grafton

1-888-475-6244 x. 254

www.honolulufish.com

Our New Home

Tory Miller, Executive Chef and Co-Owner

In October of 2003, I moved to Madison and walked up the stairs to the former location of L'Etoile restaurant. Coming from New York, I had most recently worked at Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan. I can remember walking into EMP for the first time, hearing about it as another of Danny Meyer's fantastic institutions from friends and reviews. The dining room was and is grand, in very sense of the word.

I was moving to Madison to get out of the city and to get closer to the ingredients and the cooking. I hadn't officially been hired by Chef Odessa, but we had an interview scheduled for the day after I arrived. I didn't know anything about Madison's dining scene or about Odessa, but friends assured me that she was great and her restaurant was amazing, an institution of the Midwest. 

Walking up those stairs, I didn't know what I was in store for . . . and it was not what I expected. Of course, it was the morning; the room had not yet been set up for service. The dark room was small, and smelled of smoke from the night before (yes, you could still smoke indoors then). 

From that day until last July, when we officially closed that location and moved into our new home at One South Pinckney, I kind of felt a nostalgia for the grand dining rooms of NYC. I did grow to love the old space though. I have so many great memories there; I cooked my favorite meal of my career when Michael Pollan was our guest. 

But flash forward to our new space. . . it's big, it's clean, it's bright, it's . . . grand.

The things I love about it haven't come easy. Traci Miller and Dianne Christensen spent countless hours and endured some of the most detailed meetings designing and the building our new home. The view from our windows, from either restaurant, are arguably the best in the city. But the happenings behind the scenes really make me happy. . . two amazing, bustling kitchens, 4 walk-in coolers, 2 bars making dope cocktails, an outdoor "Graze Garden". . . all coming together to make walking into work a dream come true. 

Just passing the first year anniversary of our move, I've been thinking a lot lately about my favorite things in the new space . . .

The plancha: aka the flat top. When we moved in, it was the first station I worked at Graze. It’s awesome to have a piece of equipment that’s always hot. I can test any new dish by just throwing it on the “flattie” and we’re good to go. I love sandwiches; everyone who knows me, knows this. I can throw any sandwich on there and it’s crunchy and delicious . . . immediately. I’m so happy we have it. With brunch as the most important meal of the day, we can make almost everything on our brunch menu on the flat top. 


It’s just awesome.

It’s also really nice to be able to have enough space to handle all the produce we have coming in. Our volume of eggs alone went from 4 cases a week to 11 cases a week with our move. But even with all the walk-ins we have now, space gets filled up quickly. As soon as you have some space, you need more.

I also love the automatic shades in the dining room. I hear the 2010 Space Odyssey song in my head every time I hit the button and watch them rise. 

The booths in Graze are great too. They are reminiscent of a pig pen, which I love. Speaking of Graze, I love our theme: Urban Farm. And paired with the country elements of the L’Etoile dining space, everything just comes together.

The number one thing I love about the L’Etoile dining space are the round booths, mostly because of the homage to the former back bar of the old space with the intimate banquette seating. When I was a kid, we had these round booths at our diner, and I used to dream about having round tables like that in my own restaurant. At the same time, they are the only tables that don’t have tablecloths. It’s a much more causal feel, which is great. They’re just about eating dinner with the ones you love, instead of the grandeur and elegance of fine dining.

Overall we’re still learning how to live and work in the spaces that have been built, and having a good time while doing it. 

Thanks for the past year everyone; here’s to the next.