After a steamy Houston summer, we're back in action and cooking things up in the RecipeHouse kitchen! Kicking us off for our September Chef Surpríse were duo Erin Smith, culinary director for Clumsy Butcher, and Patrick Feges, Underbelly line cook and the man behind Feges BBQ. As their first formal collaboration, the two were excited to deliver a five-course menu for a sold out house of guests, including Eric Sandler of CultureMap, with dishes that smack of their personal culinary styles.
Erin, for example, has a thing for purslane (her Twitter handle is @PurslaneErin), the sweet and tender green found all over our city ("It's almost offensive to buy it at the market"). She tossed them with watermelon two ways, buttery avocado, a bright and zesty dressing and salty Pure Luck feta for a perfect end-of-summer salad (pictured above).
For the main course, Patrick channeled his barbecue savvy to glam up his go-to: pork, demi-glace and grits. Pork belly received the royal treatment in his smoker (a first-time experiment), peach jam was cooked down for the demi and aggrodolce added extra richness to the grits. The dish was wonderfully balanced and each bite melted on the tongue.
This kind of experimentation and personal flare by seasoned chefs at RecipeHouse is one of the reasons we are so giddy to have Chef Surpríse back in commission. This season's lineup will knock your socks off, but sign up soon! Several of our monthly dinners have already sold out!
The Chef Surpríse series is held the first Monday of every month at RecipeHouse and features a rotation of Houston's hottest chefs. To learn more and sign up to attend upcoming dinners, visit our website.
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