We are continuing to work on new dishes. Truthfully, I am trying not to mess up pristine ingredients. Today, some giant Key West Pink shrimp arrived along with some ramps from West Virginia. I had spent the morning making caramelized yogurt for an upcoming dish, as well as making green tea-almond croquant and a port licorice sauce. Actually, we had even more coming to fruition, from powdered rhubarb to the beginnings of corn gnocchi.
Anyway, when the shrimp and the ramps came in, we knew we wanted to assemble a dish that spoke of the ingredients and my ability to show restraint. We split the shrimp down the middle and removed its intestinal tract, then simply cooked it on the griddle. Similarly, we charred the ramps on the griddle. We then brushed some olive oil on the shrimp and assembled the ingredients with a side of our green tea-almond croquant. Simple.
And yet I was not quite satisfied. I went and got our ricer and took the griddled head, placing it inside the device with a piece of lemon. I squeezed the juices over the shrimp, and the dish was done.
Now I need to find someone to make a small duck press or a version thereof, so that I can press shrimp and langoustine heads tableside and adorn the dishes with the natural jus. In fact, we could then use the miniature press for other applications, like saucing roasted squab with a crustacean jus. Oh well, for now I have a ricer, and it gets the job done.