National Culinary Review - September 2011

Technique is something Bradley thrives on in his upscale restaurant. Last winter, the menu featured labor-intensive candied cabbage and plums to accompany licorice-glazed squab. The cabbage turned dark burgundy as it simmered and stewed for four hours in red port, cocoa powder, bacon, apple juice, plum wine and sugar. The flavorful result was arranged in a ring mold and topped with Japanese umeboshi pickled plums and fresh peeled and wedged common plums tossed in a bit of cabernet vinegar, olive oil and sea salt. The outcome was a contrast of three reds in a round side dish after the mold was removed.

Combining contrasting produce in a side
is another form of technique, as well as
art. Bradley serves a beet/citrus side
using colorful beet varieties served with
grapefruit, orange and lime segments. He
poaches the beets with the skin on, then
serves them marinated in olive oil with the
citrus segments on top, all sprinkled with
a little sea salt. “It’s very simple. You have
sweet, earthy beets mixed with really
bright, crisp acidity from all the varieties
of citrus. It’s a lovely side for grilled
salmon,” he says.

Artist/chef Wendy Brodie of Carmel, Calif., host of the TV program “Art of Food with Wendy Brodie,” who also conducts cooking classes, stands back and thinks before wielding the paring knife with vegetables. “Do I want to do this as a purée, mash or fry? Or do I want to tease the eye by cutting things in unusual shapes? Or, serve them whole, or as a mosaic of vegetables with purées or gelatins that are sliced, or with custard-type things?” she asks. “There are so many fun ways to play with a side dish.”

MASH FAVORITES American tradition automatically opens the door to mashes and purées. To make them more colorful is to make them more

Bob Bussinger, courtesy of Wendy Brodie

Roasted root vegetables with sage are a fall scene on the plate.

AUSTIN EXAMPLES

Restaurant chefs in Austin, Texas,
put on their thinking caps in
preparation for Austin Restaurant
Week in late September last year.
Draw inspiration from some of these
entrees with colorful sides noted on
www.dininginaustinblog.com:

Wild Sockeye Salmon, braised
fennel, pernod butter and spicy
tobacco onions at Aquarelle
Restaurant Français

Brioche Crusted Rack of Lamb with
English pea risotto, whole-grain
mustard and tomato confit at The
Carillon Restaurant

Voodoo Shrimp with Caribbean
Mango Sauce—coconut-crusted,
fried large Gulf shrimp served on a
bed of spicy Caribbean-style mango/
habanero sauce, served with a
banana/corn pone filled tamale and
fresh papaya/pineapple relish and an
electric lime/mango purée at Corazon
at Castle Hill