Usually when I work on these dinners I donâ€t have a station I just come to support the Chef cooking the garnishes or prepping and when the moment arrives I work on plating, and taking pictures at the same time.

Details that one would think are just meaningless become so important at the moment of the action, and by that I mean from heating up the plates hot enough the food goes to the guests deliciously hot, but not hot enough to burn anyone, sauces on the temperature, steady hands when you’re plating, follow the rhythm, don’t stop (most of the times for these dinners 6 cooks are working on each dish, one slices the meat, the other one spreads a sauce, etc), and then we put the plate on the window, and the Runner takes it to the waiter/waitress.

The process starts from the moment Chef decides whatâ€s going to the be Farmerâ€s dinner about.  This time I asked, “Chef whatâ€s the theme?”, Chef responds “Game”, I say “Yay” (then think, what do I even know about game).

I go home and google the word “GAME”, run the library to check out tons of books and people think Iâ€m some sort of crazy hunter who has lots of wild rabbits, squabs & buffalo meats at home.

For this particular dinner I didnâ€t suggested anything to Chef, I had my mind in other things and it makes me sad, but itâ€s ok I did ask for the Menu and he shared the draft with me, (in my little head I usually plan a Farm dinner and what I would serve to people).

At the end Chef always amazes me and I realize, yes Iâ€m creative and I think I have good taste, and I have read so much and cooked for so many people, but the life of a Chef, takes you where my boss is, developing ideas where it knocks your head off and you think, this is the work of a genius.  You know the person whoâ€s called Chef among the rest of the cooks has earned that name, not because of school or because he/she yells louder than the rest of the kitchen staff, but because that person, the Chef, knows his shit, and knows it well.

I used to think my best Sundays were the ones when I wake up early to make bread, or go and hang out with Family and cook for them and fool around, or even the ones I would play volleyball for hours, now my favorite Sundays are the ones where I go, watch, help and learn from Chef on these Farm dinners.

Thanks Chef.

Now back to work.
—

Venison Carpaccio, herbs, Pickled Ramps & Black Pepper Vinaigrette (1st course)

And though at the restaurant we are more on the side of the Alsatian cuisine you can really see his British flavours coming through all the menu.

Chef shared these recipes with me and I’m sharing them with all of you, I hope some of you try it and if you have any questions please send me an email to littleladycook@gmail. or DM on twitter or Facebook.

The recipe of the Yorkshire Pudding it’s on the restaurant’s Facebook page –> Lyon Hall Facebook

Garlic Confit

So here we go:

Beef Sauce Recipe

1 lb. butter
5 lbs beef trimmings and/or scraps
10 shallots
1 heads garlic
2 carrots
1/2 bunch celery
1/2 bunch basil
1/2 litre red wine vinegar
1 1/2 litres red wine
2 litres veal stock (or Beef Stock)
1/2 tbsp. black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
small bunch thyme
2 pieces star anise

Directions:

1.  In a rondeau, brown 1/2 lb. of butter w/ grapeseed oil. (I used canola)
2.  Add beef scraps (from cheeks & sirloin); cook until thoroughly browned.
3.  Caramelized, remove pot, set beef aside and discard the fat.
4.  Put Pot back and add 1/2 lb. fresh butter, mirepoix (carrots, cerely & shallots), and basil; cook out and add the browned
meat scraps.
5.  Continue to caramelize together for 5 minutes
6.  Deglaze with the red wine vinegar; reduce to au sec (almost dry, don’t let it burn!).
7.  Add red wine; reduce by 2/3.
8.  Add meat, vegetables and veal stock to cover mixture.
9.  Reduce until a sauce-like consistency is reached.

On this step if you are cooking the sauce and Roasting the Beef at the same time is the moment to star working on the Beef Recipe! let the beef rest and when 5-10 mins before serving bake your Yorkshires!

Melting Butter

Brown Butter

Caramelized beef scraps

Fresh butter w/ mirepoix & beef scraps

Sauce reduction in the works

—–

Roast Beef Tenderloin

Serves 4 – 5 portions

1 3-4 lbs Beef Tenderloin

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp fresh black pepper

3 tbs garlic confit paste (or regular garlic)

3 tbs chopped fresh thyme

1 tbs canola oil

Directions:

1. Rub the Tenderloin with the salt, pepper, garlic and thyme

2.  Marinate beef overnight or 6 hours minimum

3.  Pre-heat oven 450F (Curtis the Sous mentioned the smaller the meat the hotter you need your oven so it’s ready without over cooking it!)

4.  Tie up the meat with the twine (this is a video by Epicurious, pretty helpful)

5.  Heat cast iron w/ oil really HOT almost fumes coming out of the oil

6. Sear the meat on all the sides, top and bottom.

7.  Take the skillet to the oven (I put a piece of foil on top so it wouldnt burn, it all depends on your oven!)

8. It took mine less than 23 minutes and it was Medium Well, (if you want yours medium let the thermometer get to 110F, remove and let the meat rest 15 minutes before slicing it).

OK I admit it I was never a girl scout

Sear that baby well!

A little too much brown butter, a little piece will do it

Results! (who ate it? ask the Boy)

At this point then I baked the yorkshires, made sure my sauce was ready to go, (you can definitively serve a salad with this dish, at the moment I didn’t crave it; it was me, the yorkshires, the beef & the sauce, I will never forget that snowy day and now when people usually crave soup on cold days I will crave roasting beef and baking yorkshire pudding.

¡a comer!

Yes I was baking the Mamallena in pijamas! hihihi

Talking to dear Steve and Penelope about having a potluck I always mentioned how I would love them to have a taste of Panamanian cuisine whenever it was possible, and since there is no restaurant in DC area that serves Panamanian cuisine I decided to take responsibility for spreading the love!

Having lunch at Cafe Assorti with them Penelope suggested me cooking for them with their help instead of having a Potluck, at first I thought yay it would be fun, then I thought what if they don’t like it?  Then I realized many of Panamanian dishes are very similar to Caribbean (Puerto Rico & Cuba), Ropa Vieja, Arroz con Pollo, etc.  So they wanted the not so common Panamanian dishes such as:

Appetizers

Hojaldres (fried bread)

Patacones rellenos con queso (double fried green plantains stuffed with cheese)

Empanadas de Maiz con Tuna (corn empanadas stuffed with tuna)

Entrees

Chorizo Guisado (sauteed chorizo in tomato sauce)

Yuca al Mojo (cassava w/ lime juice, olive oil, garlic, butter & cilantro)

Lengua Guisada en Vino (cows tongue in wine sauce)

Ensalada Rusa o de Fiesta (russian potato salad, or party salad)

Sopa de Pata de Vaca (ox feet soup)

Arroz con Guandú y Coco (rice with coconut & green pigeon peas)

Saus (pickled pigs trotters)

Desserts

Mamallena con Helado de vainilla (raisin bread pudding with vanilla ice cream)

Kekis (ginger-unrefined sugar cane-molasses-coconut soft cookies)

—

So as you can see there is no sancocho, or tres leches, or sopa borracha, or rabito de puerco or camarones al ajillo, from all the options I gave them this is what they pick and boy did I get great feedback.

On the negative side I learned a lot trying to make the corn empanadas, it was a difficult task because in Panama we use fresh cooked corn and then grind it, but Steve and I drove all the way to Landover to buy fresh Corn Masa just to find out they grind it uncooked, but it wasn’t all bad since that day we had the best chicken I’ve had in DC area so far, Jerk Chicken from a Jamaican joint, it made my day!

After the failure with the Fresh Masa which fried tasted like Frito Lays, I decided to use Masa Harina, at the same time my mom made some tests from Panama to check on this and she said it was perfect, but she used a different corn flour.  My masa harina did not work well, and so when I travel back to Panama this is something I have to learn more about, CORN!

I will share some thoughts and pictures and apologize for not having pictures of the dinner itself but just the process, it was a crazy weekend, started at the restaurant, started selling bread and this dinner, you can imagine.

Now let’s check it out!

Preparing Coconut for Rice and Kekis

This is the unfamous Beef Tongue

So its right tender make sure you boil it for 45mins- 1 hour with salt and water, a soft boil & clean properly.

Sautee your veggies and then add the Tongue

Once you add the Tongue sautee for few minutes and then tomato paste, sautee add water and wine and make sure you scrape  the bottom of the pot with your spoon to obtain those caramelization flavours to your sauce!

This is the final result, this dish I made a day ahead and simmered a little more before serving with a side of Patacones, yuca and Russian Potato Salad.

Chorizo Guisado was pretty simple, buy good chorizo, chop some vegetables, throw in oven 35 minutes at 375F then just toss in a pot with tomato sauce, sugar, water and chicken stock =)

Toast the coconut for the Kekis and grate ginger

Say hi to my daughter, Lady Mixer – For this Keki I worked a recipe by the Chef Melissa (Cooking Diva) and did some variations to it, I will share my recipe also!

And this is the delish delish Keki just as they sell it on the streets of Panama, a touch fluffier and more flavourful!

Brine chicken overnight, then marinate few hours with garlic, herbs & oil, pat dry and bake with some chicken fat until cook (i used dark meat for this).  Save the liquid and combine with chicken stock for cooking beets and shredded chicken for Potato Salad (delish flavours at the end!, promise will share recipe soon!).

Sao or Saus (Pickled Pig’s Trotters), for those interested on this I will share the recipe so you can give it a try, 50% love it, 25% didn’t care for it, 25% disliked it, so it’s a matter of taste, me I love it!

And my Empanada disaster, this is how I will end this post because yes it was a disaster, yes they took too much of my time, but also yes it is a new challenge i have yet to face again and again and again once I arrive in Panama! I must add they had good flavour though!

¡a comer!

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