Le Cordon Bleu - Instruction #23; Practical #23

I don’t know if it’s him. Or the recipes. But. Every time Chef Terrien cooks. His food is phenomenal.

Demonstration #23 blew me away.

Instruction #23

• Salmon tartare, celery root rémoulade, herb jus and crispy potatoes
• Duck breast roasted with spices, orange glaze daikon radish, Anna potatoes, apricot chutney
• Fine orange and chocolate tart, blood orange granita

Fresh salmon mixed with lime juice, olive oil, shallots, cilantro and shiso made up the tartare. The secret flavor – shiso. This Japanese leaf adds fennel and mint notes. Expanding the freshness of any dish. Green leaf shiso is more common than the related purple leaf. If you’re looking for this herb at your local Asian market try under the alias names; Japanese basil, perilla, purple mint or Beefsteak plant.

Marked with celery root rémoulade – julienne celery root, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, soy sauce, shiso, and cilantro. And herb jus emulsified with peanut oil and miso.

Slow cooked duck breast crisped beautifully. And happily took to apricot chutney, carrots with cumin, and Anna potatoes. For the later, no one seems to know who Anna is. But preparation shows small potato rounds in a flower shape. Baked in tiny molds.

Being a chutney fan, I think it fits nicely on any meat plate. Honey dissolved in white vinegar and dry white wine. And spiced with four-spice and fresh ginger. Slowly melted dried apricots. An easy and great accompaniment to duck breast, salmon, and pork.

The day’s dessert calls out to my mother – a diehard orange-stick fan.

Orange marmalade lined the bottom of chocolate shortbread pastry. And topped with melted dark chocolate, butter, cream, yolk, flour which was folded into meringue. A grandeur orange stick, to say the least. Finished with blood orange granita.

As for Chef Terrien? All in a day’s work.