This dish is a true delicacy....sent to us by Stefan in NYC

"Scallop with its fish roe intact is hard to come by, but when you see this...make a grab for it! This is something you will find in your local seafood market or gourmet  store. Simply pan sear in a bit of olive oil & butter, season to taste and garnish with snipped chives.  Serve with chilled white wine and your favorite side dish or salad".

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Another, stunning, seductive recipe by chef David Burke that is beautifully presented-- as one might offer a special gift. Even the most jaded gourmand will raise a toast in your honor as you serve this extravagant meal for breakfast, brunch, or a special breakfast in bed. Try it this weekend and email us with the results--we'd love to hear from you.

Organic Lobster Scramble with Caviar & Crème Fraiche in an Ostrich Shell
Recipe by David Burke, a leading pioneer in American Cooking

Ingredients:

• 4 organic eggs, beaten with two oz milk
• 2 oz lobster milk
• ½ oz shallots, minced
• 1 tbsp tomato fondue (see recipe below)
  
• 2 oz lobster bisque
• 1 tbsp sweet butter
• Salt/pepper
• 1 quenelle sour cream  (quenelle means oval or egg shaped)
  
• 1 oz caviar

Method

1. Crack open ostrich egg shell and clean interior.  Use this as a plate.  In a sauté pan melt butter.
2. Sautee lobster until cooked tender. 
   
3. Add tomato fondue, lobster bisque, eggs, salt, pepper and cook until soft.
4. Fill up egg shell and top with crème fraiche and caviar.  Serve with toast on side.

Tomato Fondue

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
• 4 cups canned tomato purée
• 1 tightly packed cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic and allow them to sweat, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, or until translucent.
3. Add the tomato purée and one-half of the basil and bring the mixture to a simmer.
4. Immediately lower the heat and cook it, at a bare simmer, stirring frequently, for about 40 minutes, or until 90 percent of the moisture has evaporated.
5. Stir in the remaining basil and season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool.
7. Store the mixture, covered and refrigerated, for up to 5 days, or freeze it, tightly covered and labeled, for up to 3 months.

Note: If you want to do this exactly as David Burke suggests, you can purchase an ostrich egg shell online at Ostrich.com for about $21 per. The more you buy the less they cost.

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Here is a recipe for an easy-to-prepare Seduction Meal. This recipe uses fresh fettuccini pasta as a bed for fresh porcini mushrooms sautéed with game sausage and garlic, then topped with seasoned bread crumbs and black truffle butter at the last second for a truly decadent result.  If you don't eat meat, you can simply cut the sausage from the recipe for a vegetarian version.

Pasta with Sauteed Porcini Mushrooms, Sausage, and Truffle Butter
Serves 4-6
Recipe courtesy of MarxFood.com

Ingredients:

• 3-4oz fresh fettuccini per person (or whatever noodles or filled pasta you like)
• 3 links of Wild Boar Italian Sausage or Venison Sausage with Merlot & Blueberries
• ¼ lb Fresh Porcini Mushrooms (or your favorite wild mushrooms)
  
• 1 large garlic clove
• Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano to top
• Bread crumbs to top.
• 2-3 sprigs of parsley
• 2 tbsp Black Truffle Butter
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Start a pot of salted water boiling for the pasta.
2. Cut the porcinis into thin sticks.  As we did in the photo, you can also reserve some whole porcinis, slice them thinly and gently sauté them in a separate pan for use in the final presentation on top.
3. Finely dice the parsley and toss it with the bread crumbs, salt & pepper.
4. Finely dice the garlic clove.
   
5. Remove the sausage from its casing, crumble the meat, and sauté it with the garlic in an oiled frying pan.
6. When the sausage has cooked, remove it from the pan and sauté the porcinis in the remaining fat. 
   
7. Cook the pasta in the boiling water according to the manufacturer's instructions.
8. Toss the hot pasta with the sausage, garlic, and porcini mushrooms. 
   
9. Plate and top  with a dollop of truffle butter, the seasoned bread crumbs and freshly grated parmigiano reggiano.

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You can't go wrong with grilled steak and a delicious salad served with a full bodied red wine--such a simple seduction meal that is always a hit. Here we have grilled rib eye steak lightly seasoned with salt, pepper and minced garlic, grilled medium-rare, sliced and topped with two pats of black truffle butter. To accompany this dish we prepared a Mediterranean Salad of mixed greens, artichokes, black olives, cherry tomatoes,  onions, olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon.

Grilled Steak with Black Truffle Butter Buttons
Serves Two

Ingredients:

• 2 Ribeye Steaks without the bone
  
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• Black Truffle oil
• Black Truffle butter

Directions:

1. Remove steaks from refrigerator and let stand for 1 hour at room temperature
2. Heat up the Grill -- high heat
3. Season steaks with salt and pepper, add a bit of black truffle oil to one side, and top with minced garlic clove, spreading evenly over the steak using your fingers. 
4. Place steaks on the grill and reduce heat to medium-high
5. Cook for 3-5 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the steaks and how you enjoy them (rare, medium-rare, or well)
6. Slice the steak, arrange on a serving plate and top with black truffle butter. Serve Immediately
   

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I found this informative piece about how to Grill Oysters on the Marx Foods blog and thought I'd share it. I love the "public service announcement".

Though the old saying goes "Twas a brave man who first et an oyster" I maintain that the first man (or woman) who grilled an oyster was braver.

"We thought we'd publish this little public service announcement to save you the unexpected (and potentially painful) excitement of exploding oysters that some of us (I won't name names) have experienced in the past"

Remove the tops from the fresh live oysters (here's our oyster shucking guide) and grill them on the half shell in their own juices.  They are done when the flesh is firm.  Squeeze on a little lemon and serve.

This simple (and safe!) method can be used for grilling Pacific Oysters, Olympia Oysters, Kumamoto Oysters, and Virginica Oysters.

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Created at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1896 by the maître d'hôtel, (dining room manager) Oscar Tschirky, the Waldorf salad was an instant success. The original version of this salad contained only apples, celery and mayonnaise. Here is a new way to enjoy this refreshing summer salad--Blueberry Waldorf Salad.

Blueberry Waldorf Salad
Yields 4 servings
       
Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed, divided
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons orange marmalade         
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice        
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard    
• 1/4 teaspoon salt        
• 1 large Granny Smith apple        
• 4 cups (about 4 ounces) baby spinach   
• 2 stalks celery, cut into 1 1/2-inch matchsticks       
• 1/3 cup pecan halves, toasted

Directions:

• In a blender container, combine half the blueberries, the oil, marmalade, lemon juice, mustard and salt; blend until a smooth, thick dressing forms.
• Core and slice the apple.
• Arrange spinach, apple slices, celery and pecans on cold salad plates; top with remaining blueberries if using fresh.
• Blend dressing again until smooth and drizzle each serving with dressing. If using frozen berries, fold into dressing and spoon over salads.

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Creme brulee is one of my all time favorite indulgences. Take a spoonful and close your eyes to concentrate on all its glory; the seductive qualities of vanilla (an adored aphrodisiac), its soft creamy texture interrupted by delicate shards of caramelized sugar. As if that isn't enough to put your senses in a tailspin...try adding a dollop of homemade strawberry-rhubarb compote and you'll be taken to another level.

Strawberry Rhubarb Creme Brulee
Serves: 6 depending on the size of your ramekins
Use six 7-8 oz ramekins

Fruit Compote:

• 1 1/2 cups chopped Rhubarb rhubarb pieces, about 1/2" long
• 1/2 cup quartered strawberries, hulled
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp water

Custard:

• 2 cups whipping cream
• 5 egg yolks
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup sugar in the raw

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Here is a sensational summer dish. This recipe tempers the richness of black cod with the acidic bite of a pickled salad and an earthy broth made by reconstituting dried shiitake mushrooms.  The cod steaks are first quickly seared in hot oil to crisp their skin and develop flavor, then gently finished in the oven.  A small pinch of potent dill pollen adds color and helps to bring the flavors together.

Black Cod in Shitake Broth with Pickled Fennel Salad
Serves 6
Recipe courtesy of MarxFoods

INGREDIENTS:

Pan Seared Black Cod

• 36oz of black cod fillets, cut into 6oz steaks
• Dill pollen to taste

Shitake Broth

• ½ Yellow onion
• ½ Fennel bulb
• 1 Cup dried shiitake mushrooms

Pickled Fennel Salad

• ½ Fennel bulb
• ½ Shallot
• 1/8 Cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/8 Cup champagne vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

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