This was hands down my favorite course at tentop’s Supfast. A play on the old breakfast staple, this was kind of a North African version. I knew from the outset I wanted to do a lamb merguez sausage, because it’s fucking delicious. The biscuits I knew I would make with lard, because I had scored a bunch from Tails & Trotters. We added cornmeal and scallions to make it more savory. The rest of the flavors came into play during discussions with my Sous, Michael. We ended up with a pea and mint salad, bound with yogurt, and a preserved lemon granita. When we were putting this on the plate, I had this moment, this split second where I thought, “Oh, fuck, this is a hot mess; there is way too much shit going on,” but it wasn’t. It was about the most well received dish of the night.

Since this was the entree, I wanted the meat part of it to be more substantial that it would be as just a gravy. To that end I par cooked the sausage in a cryo-vac bag in the combi-oven. I cut out some nice patties and then made the gravy out of all the trim. When the gravy was done I chilled it thoroughly before puree-ing it in one of KitchenCru’s blenders, which I am now convinced have dirtbike engines. Not only did it puree the meaty gravy silky smooth, it heated the cold mass to steaming hot. When we picked up the dish, I browned the patties in a skillet.

Lamb Merguez

4 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, diced

1 pound pork fatback, diced (see note)

3 tablespoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic

1 1/2 cups diced roasted red peppers

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano

1/4 cup red wine, chilled

1/4 cup ice water

20 feet natural sheep or hog casings, soaked in water (optional)

1. Combine lamb, fatback, salt, sugar, red pepper flakes, garlic, roasted red peppers, black pepper, paprika and oregano. Toss to distribute seasonings. Cover and refrigerate until ready to grind.

2. Grind the mixture through a small die into a bowl resting in ice.

3. Add wine and water to the meat mixture. Mix with paddle attachment or a sturdy spoon until the mixture develops a uniform, sticky appearance, about 1 minute.

4. Cook a small portion of the sausage in a sauté pan. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

5. Stuff sausage into casings, and twist into 10-inch links. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate or freeze links until ready to cook. Or, cook the sausage in a pan, then make a gravy or pasta sauce,

6. Sauté, roast or grill the sausages until cooked through.

Lard Biscuits

3 1/2  cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup corn meal
1/2 bunch scallions sliced
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup lard
2 cups buttermilk

1. Cut fat into dry ingredients, add scallions and toss together.

2. Add buttermilk and mix until just combined. Wrap dough and chill thoroughly.  Cut into desired shapes and bake until GBD, about 12 minutes at 375.

Lemon Granita

freshly squeezed juice of 8 lemons
3 3/4 cups of sugar
3 3/4 cups of water
3 tablespoons of grated lemon peel (zest - just the yellow)
diced preserved lemon to taste

Preparation:

Combine the sugar and water in a bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in lemon juice and zest. Pour into large pans or pyrex dishes and place in the freezer. After 20 minutes, take it out of the freezer and, using a fork, scrape the bottom and stir the ice chips with the liquid. Freeze. Repeat every 20 minutes until there is no liquid left, and use the fork to break it up into small chunks.

Anyone who has eaten with me, or cooked with me for that matter, has more than likely heard me spout off about my love of eggs, specifically warm egg yolk. Faithful readers know that warm egg yolk is hands down my favorite flavor in the whole culinary world. It adds richness, a silky smooth fattiness to almost any dish. I eat sunny side up eggs almost every morning, I have for years. If I have a late night and wake up at two in the afternoon, I still want to eat eggs before anything else that day. In addition to it’s unparalleled flavor, the egg holds a special place in my heart for it’s many useful properties. Thickening, leavening, emulsifying to name a few. Eggs are also one of those ethereal ingredients that you don’t always realize are there, but would know something was missing if they weren’t. The incredible, edible egg also has the the ability to put one in the hospital, if you happen to be my good friend Eric who is allergic.

Anyway, when we set out to create our SupFast menu for tentop, we took great care not to inundate our menu with eggs, which are an integral part of any breakfast as far as I’m concerned. Our solution was an egg trio, using quail eggs; which contain all the deliciousness at a third of the size. We had what we called Huevos Benedictos, a Spanish version of the classic brunch item. I started with a rich brioche recipe from one of my new favorite cookbooks, The Modern Cafe by Francisco Migoya. This dough has so much butter in it, it took almost 30 minutes beating on it with the dough hook before it started to develop any gluten. We topped these toasted rounds with serrano and a sunny side quail egg, then sauce charon made with Viridian Farms espelette powder. The second egg on the plate was a “scotch.” I use quotes because we skipped the whole packing the soft boiled egg in sausage bit, and just breaded and deep fried it. We did this for two reasons. One, the whole idea came for trying this egg from a bi-product of another dish we did for Satan’s Feast. The angry allium dish had fried pepperoni on it, small rounds which we cut from bigger slices. We fried up the trimmings for a snack and found we had made these perfect little pedestals, ideal for cradling a little egg. Secondly, to “lighten” what was shaping up to be a rich dish, and one with a meaty pedestal to boot, we skipped the sausage. Also, after having soft boiled and peeled 24 quail eggs to get 16, I wasn’t about to risk losing more by smooshing meat around ‘em. A little gremolata (under the egg) helped soak up the warm yolk as well as add a nice vegetal note. Lastly, behold the noble omelet. I originally suggested to my co-chef Michael that we do an egg white version, and before I had finished the sentence he had this look on his face that said “fuck that.” And he was right. Egg white omelets are bullshit. So we went in the opposite direction, and used all yolks for these little babies. Inside was Mt. Townsend New Moon Jack cheese and Viridian Farms asparagus. I created a sauce by browning butter, then adding a little salt and champagne vinegar. In my pastry mind’s eye I felt I could give the sauce a little body with a few sheets of gelatin, which worked, kind of. I had to remove almost all of the fat (clarified butter) from the sauce before I noticed any real thickening. It was a smooth, intense sauce. Garnish was for a little crunch, form of…fricco! For the brunch we did a similar dish, minus the “scotch.”

Sauce Charon

2 egg yolks

Juice from 1 lemon

1 1/2 cups clarified butter

1/4 cup tomato paste, warm

Pimente d’Espilette to taste

salt to taste

warm water to adjust consistency

1. Warm clarified butter to body temperature.

2. Whisk egg yolk, lemon juice, and a little warm water until mixture is light and frothy.

3. Using an immersion blender, blend mixture continuously while drizzling in the warm butter. I do this in a six pan or a small bain marie insert. I like to put these above a stove or oven to warm them before I start the sauce.

4. Adjust consistency with warm water through the butter adding process. The sauce should have a loose mayonnaise look.

5. When all the butter is added, add the warm tomato paste, espilette powder, and season with salt to taste. Serve ASAP, keep warm.