Oscar Gold: Red Carpet Recipes

Whether you are hosting an Oscar party tomorrow night or simply want to make yourself a festive feast, here are some recipes that I put together for Lenox that are sure to delight. SMOKED SALMON HORS D’OEUVRES

Here, three simple ingredients become bite-size luxuries: smoked salmon rosettes and smoked salmon pinwheels. Festive and sophisticated, these are the perfect match, in flavor and color!

ROSETTES

- 1 hothouse cucumber - 8 ounces best-quality, thinly sliced smoked salmon - 1/2 cup whipped cream cheese

Wash cucumber but do not peel; slice into 1/4-inch thick rounds, about 24. Slice the smoked salmon into 24 strips that are 1-inch wide by 3-inches long. Roll each piece loosely. Curl back the edges and flatten slightly so that it begins to look like a rose. Spread about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese on each cucumber slice and place rosette on top. Arrange on a platter.

MAKES 24

PINWHEELS

- 8 ounces best-quality, thinly sliced smoked salmon - 8 ounces cream cheese - 4 kirby cucumbers, sliced 1/4-inch thick

Put 2 slices of smoked salmon slightly overlapping. Spread with a thin layer of cream cheese to cover completely. Roll up like a jelly roll (beginning with short edge) and place in a piece of plastic wrap. Twist the edges so that you have a small tight sausage shape. Chill well. Slice thinly and place a slice on a cucumber round.

MAKES 24

SEARED SCALLOPS ON SWEET PEA PUREE

This is great any time of the year as frozen peas are always available. Trendy pea shoots can be found at this time of the year in many farmers markets. You can make the pea puree ahead of time and reheat while you’re cooking the scallops.

- 2 10-ounce packages of frozen petits pois - 8 tablespoons unsalted butter - 18 very large sea scallops - 6 tablespoons dry vermouth - Handful of pea shoots or microgreens

Put the peas in a saucepan with salted water to just cover. Boil 2 minutes. Drain well and save 3/4 cup cooking liquid in a blender. Process until very smooth and thick (adding more liquid if necessary.) Add salt and pepper and return to saucepan.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large frying pan. Season scallops with salt and pepper and sear over high heat for 2 minutes per side, until golden and cooked through. Reheat pea puree until hot; spoon a mound onto each of 6 warm plates. Arrange 3 scallops on puree.

Add the vermouth and the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the pan. cook 30 seconds over high heat until syrupy. Pour over scallops and top with pea shoots.

SERVES 6

FILET OF BEEF WITH WASABI-GARLIC CREAM

Kiss your butcher and ask him (or her) to cut you a nice 3-pound filet of beef and tie it like a roast. You can buy wasabi paste in a tube in most supermarkets and Asian food stores.

Serve with black rice tossed with a bit of grated ginger and your favorite vegetable: I’ve chosen diced carrots sauteed in sweet butter with fresh thyme.

- 2 tablespoons olive oil - 3-pound filet of beef, tied - 1 tablespoon sugar - 1 1/2 cups heavy cream - 2 very large garlic cloves, peeled and smashed - 1 tablespoon prepared wasabi

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Drizzle the oil on a rimmed baking sheet and toll the beef in the oil. Combine the sugar and 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Rub into the top and sides of the filet (but not the bottom or it will burn.) Roast 25 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer reaches 125 degrees for rare. Meanwhile, bring the cream and garlic to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce the heat and cook stirring until reduced to 1 cup, about 15 minutes. Push the softened garlic through a press; whisk back into the sauce. Add the wasabi, cook 1 minute, and remove from the heat. Add salt. Transfer the beef to a cutting board. Let rest 10 minutes. Gently reheat the sauce. Remove the strings from the beef and thickly slice.

Serve with the sauce.

SERVES 6

AWARD-WINNING CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE

This is the world’s simplest and moistest cake: just be sure to remove it from the oven while the center is still quite soft. Edible gold leaf is available in food stores specializing in Indian food products and in specialty baking shops.

- 10 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter - 5 extra-large eggs - 16 ounces best-quality semi-sweet chocolate - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, espresso powder, or fresh orange zest - 2 pints fresh raspberries, washed and dried - A few sheets of edible gold leaf, optional

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. butter the sides of the pan with 1/2 tablespoon butter. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs with a pinch of salt until tripled in volume, about 8 minutes. Melt the chocolate with the remaining 10 tablespoons butter slowly over low heat in a medium saucepan; stir until smooth. Fold the chocolate mixture into te egg mixture with a flexible rubber spatula until completely incorporated. Add the vanilla (espresso or orange zest). Pour into the pan. Bake 18 minutes; the center will be quite soft. Let cool. Arrange the raspberries side by side on top of the cake. Top with gold leaf, if using.

SERVES 8

Seeing Stars and What They Mean: Michelin Magic

The Michelin Guide to restaurants has been around for more than 100 years and claims more gravitas, by sheer longevity, than most other dining guides. Recognition bestowed by this particular institution, known as the Red Guide, can make or break a restaurant -- "especially in France," said Rita Jammet, one of New York's celebrated foodies, at the New York awards celebration last night. Ms. Jammet and her husband, Andre, owned the iconic restaurant La Caravelle in New York. Chef Jammet's roots go back to his family's hotel, Le Bristol, considered one of the finest in France, where the prestige power of Michelin's stars, quite impressively, still charts the course of the French dining scene. Gaining a star, or two, can boost a restaurant's customer base and launch a chef onto the world scene; losing a star can result in profound loss of esteem and business. In Italy, there is generally a different story to tell by those well acquainted with authentic regional cuisine. Arthur Schwartz, author of Naples at Table and The Southern Italian Table, says that his colleagues there stay clear of Michelin-starred restaurants. "They are not Italian," he smiles, "they are French."

But here in New York, the stakes are not quite so high and there is American-style diversity scattered amongst the stars. Although the Michelin ratings still emphasize formality and presentation once indicated by the commandments of French dining, there are some newcomers on the scene. Jaipur-born chef Hemant Mathur was delighted that his restaurant Tulsi retained its one-star status from last year and continues his tradition of being the first Indian chef to receive any stars in New York during his tenure at Devi. He was also proud enough of his heritage to point out that there are two other Indian restaurants in New York deserving of Michelin stars: Junoon and Tamarind Tribeca. In London, where Indian cuisine is an integral part of their culinary landscape, there are only four Indian restaurants deserving of Michelin's attention. Chef Mathur said that Tulsi's star has brought more than a 25 percent increase in business and attention from diners the world over.

Diversity continues among the 2013 guide's shout-out to several Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Italian and Scandinavian restaurants.

Most agree that a Michelin nod can add great verve to the spirit of the chosen chef, their owners and their staff. Oceana's chef Ben Pollinger received his first Michelin star in 2007 and has retained it ever since. "It perfectly fits our business model," he says. "Our customers, both American and international, feel they will get their money's worth because the star is a symbol of excellence and prestige."

The attendees at the swank celebration last night at New York's Capitale on the Bowery, included tuxedoed chefs and chefs-in-whites. The former were sipping champagne in one hand and back-patting their colleagues with the other. It's always fun to see Jean-Georges Vongerichten glide around a room, or watch Eric Ripert sincerely connect with the public, or spot Daniel Boulud and television chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli full of Michelin bonhomie. Even restaurant guru, Drew Nieporent (co-owner of Nobu) was proud to report that his two-star restaurant Corton and chef Paul Liebrandt again received two-stars this year. The latter group that night, uber-chefs Michael White (Ai Fiori), Julien Jouhannaud (Adour), and Gavin Kaysen (Café Boulud), actually spent the evening cooking. There was Agnolotti with butternut squash puree, brown butter and sage; Guinea hen terrine with rutabaga and pickled mushrooms, and Salade de coquillages with perfectly cooked langoustines, coco bean and tomato pesto.

The Michelin guide, published in 23 countries, has three publications in the United States: New York, Chicago and San Francisco. The Los Angeles and Las Vegas guides have been halted. Would be interesting to know why.

The 2013 Michelin Guide is now available for sale on line and is considerably less ($18.99) than any main course in any Michelin-starred restaurant. Their mobile app is less ($.99/24 hours) than a cup of joe. Bon appétit.

Why the Beard Awards Matter

A very good friend -- a force in the food world -- was watching television in the early evening hours of Monday, May 7th when she saw Beyoncé, on the red carpet in front of a bevy of paparazzi, being interviewed. "Wow," exclaimed my friend. The James Beard Awards have come a long way. Beyoncé?" We both laughed as she found out that the carpet beneath Beyoncé's feet actually paved the way to the high-society Costume Ball at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that same night. But at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall across town, there was a similar buzz as chefs, restaurateurs, sommeliers and TV food stars had their own tomato red carpet to walk upon. At the end of that carpet? Hope, anticipation, excitement and desire to go home with a ribbon and medallion to mark one's importance in the food world hierarchy.

The beloved gastronome James Beard might have actually enjoyed the evening, smack in the center of New York's cultural hub, offering hospitality, as any great restaurant might, to the nominees and their fans who trekked great distances to be part of culinary history. This year marked the awards' 25th anniversary. Often called the Oscars of the food world, they were created to honor the memory of iconic cooking teacher and author James Beard, whose broad inquisitive face appears on the ribboned award. I know. I have four of them. It is a thrill to win. It is also impressive to be nominated as the food world expands at a pace commensurate with the rising tide of obesity (might be interesting to look at that).

If the first food revolution presaged the awards by a decade, the second coming is surely here. Whereas, once the culinary tide went from France to New York, then shifted from East to West, it now glides from Farm to Table. This younger generation, very much in evidence that night, are blogging their hearts out and are, perhaps, even more passionate than we were in the mid-70's. (That's the 1970's.) But to my way of thinking, it's not the glitter and fanfare that makes the James Beard Awards important, it is one of few institutions that helps bind, like forcemeat, the past to the present and provides a historical anchor to the future -- one that is often spinning out of control as younger chefs vie for fame and fortune, and in some cases, hone their rhetoric to be sharper than their knives. The older generation of chefs and restaurateurs, on the other hand, have chosen restraint and judgement as their path and watch in amazement (and perhaps amusement, as Beard would have done) at what some of the newly-initiated cooks are calling "cuisine." And that's where context and craft come into focus.

Last year I wrote about the awards and highlighted the ascension of women in the ranks. The piece was called "Women with Beards" (with an alluring jacket cover from the Italian singer Mina), for that's what stood out to me then. But as women have seamlessly woven themselves into the fabric of the industry at many levels (although there is still work to be done), the greater attraction for me now is the food COMMUNITY. It felt like that the other night. A great happening, based on fellowship and nourishment -- a large sangha of men and women devoted to an industry that has had its own coming of age -- complete with glamour and glitz.

Do yourself a favor and google the award winners -- from cookbook authors to satirical journalists, from TV stars to rising stars, from lifetime achievers to who's who-ers, from beloved old restaurants to best new restaurants. And there's a nice photo of Daniel Boulud and "friend." That friend is me. More fan than buddy, I will cherish the photo, always, as he represents all that is good in our industry.

Kudos to all the winners, to all the nominees, and to the James Beard Foundation for continuing to raise the bar higher and higher while keeping us all rooted in our culinary history.