Hot Chili Oil Roasted Truffle Cauliflower
I was travelling in Mexico when I got inspired to create this dish. We were sitting out on a patio ordering dinner when the waiter served a tequila flambeed roasted cauliflower. They pulled out this beautiful roasted whole cauliflower from a dish, first they cut it up and then coated it in tequila and then lit it on fire, it may have been one of the coolest table side dishes I’ve ever seen prepared.
Perfect 180 Smoked Cheesecake
The official title of our dish was “Smoked Vanilla Cheesecake with Honey Graham Cracker Crust, Topped with Hot Bourbon honey caramel sauce and honey roasted cashews”. We also served this dish with a spear of fresh honeycomb, directly out of one of their hives. The judges liked it enough to give us a perfect score.
Pork Kan Kan Chops, AKA Saddleback Chops
I have had a pork rib cross section with belly attached picture saved on my phone for almost 2 years. I saw it on Instagram and dreamed of one day having a butcher cut it for me. It’s a cut that contains a pork loin chop, a back rib, a side rib and the belly of the pig including the skin. This thing looks like it could feed an army, but I can confirm it comfortably feeds 2 people.
Smoked and Pulled Beef Chuck Tacos
I bought a chuck roast and cut the bottom portion into Denver steaks that were incredible! But now, I had the top portion that is usually ground up into hamburger to make incredible burgers, but I wanted to try something a little bit different. In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I thought it would be fun to make pulled beef tacos. I decided to treat the beef very similar to pulled pork, but instead of wrapping in foil, I wrapped it in a tray with some beef broth to really braise and break down the connective tissues a little more fully.