Langoustine With Crustacean Salad And Fleur De Sel Food

FLEUR DE SEL CARAMELS

Steps:

• Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, then brush the paper lightly with oil, allowing the paper to drape over 2 sides.
• In a deep saucepan (6 inches diameter * 4 1/2 inches deep), stir together 1/4 cup water with the sugar, and corn syrup, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue to boil until the mixture is a warm golden brown color. Don't stir - just swirl the pan to mix. Watch carefully, as it will burn quickly at the end!
• In the meantime, in a small pan, bring the cream, butter, and 1 teaspoon of fleur de sel to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat, and set aside.
• When the sugar mixture is a warm golden color, turn off the heat and slowly add the cream mixture to the sugar mixture. Be careful! It will bubble up violently. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium low heat for about 10 minutes, until the mixture reaches 248 degrees (firm ball) on a candy thermometer. Very carefully (it's hot!) pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate for a few hours until firm.
• When the caramels are cold, pry the sheet from the pan onto a cutting board. Cut the sheet in half. Starting with the long end, roll the caramel up tightly into an 8 inch log. Repeat with the second piece. Sprinkle both logs with fleur de sel, trim the ends, and cut each log in 8 pieces. Cut glacene or parchment papers into squares and wrap each caramel in a paper, twisting the ends. Store in the refrigerator and serve the caramels chilled.

LANGOUSTINES WITH CANDIED TOMATOES, CHUTNEY, AND SALAD WITH SESAME SEEDS

Steps:

• Two hours before serving, prepare candied tomatoes.
• Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
• Peel tomatoes, remove stems, quarter, and remove inside pulp, to get something like "petals" of tomatoes. Place "petals" on a baking tray; season with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of sugar. Bake for 90 minutes.
• Prepare sauce: Combine and whisk sesame oil, balsamic vinegar, and soy sauce.
• Cook Chinese noodles in salted water according to directions. Strain and rinse under cold water and strain again. In a bowl, toss noodles with half of sauce.
• Shell the langoustines and saute them quickly in olive oil. Toss mesclun lightly with desired amount of remaining sauce.
• On each plate, arrange a layer of noodles and place three langoustines on the sides. Spoon fruit chutney on each langoustine and garnish with "petals" of tomato. Place mesclun on top of Chinese noodles and sprinkle entire arrangement with both black and white sesame seeds. Garnish with sprigs of dill and serve.

SAUTEED LANGOUSTINE WITH CHARDONNAY REDUCTION

Steps:

• For langoustines:
• Separate the head from the tail and reserve the heads. Using kitchen shears, carefully cut the shell on the underside of the tail up to the last section before the "fins". You want to leave this on because it will protect the thinner part of the tail meat from over cooking. Discard the shell fragments and wrap and refrigerate the cleaned tails immediately.
• For shellfish butter:
• Preheat oven to 300°F. Put the heads in a roasting pan. Slowly roast at 300°F until dry (about 15 minutes). Add butter, let it melt until it has foamed, but before the milk solids begin to brown (noisette) and add water. Let cook for 2 hours at 200°F. Strain in a bowl, let it congeal in the refrigerator and separate the butter from the water. Discard the remaining water. Melt the butter and strain through cheese cloth. Yields about 3 oz.
• For langoustine broth:
• In a sauté pan over medium heat, slowly sauté the langoustine heads with the shellfish butter. Pour the chicken stock, cook slowly. Skim the surface of the broth. Let cook for about an hour. Strain the broth through cheesecloth. Yields about 1 1/2 cups.
• For the Chardonnay reduction:
• Cut the onions in quarters, dice the quince, and simmer slowly in a pot with 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter. The vegetables shouldn't take on any color. Add the grapefruit zest, vanilla seed and pepper. Pour the wine and the langoustine broth; reduce quickly on the stove. When the liquid has been halved, add the remaining butter. Continue until the sauce reaches a desired consistency (about 15 minutes). Add the chili and mint; let them infuse for a few minutes and strain the sauce. Reserve for final assembly of the dish.
• For the salsify:
• Peel the salsify and slice into two inch pieces on the bias. Season with salt and olive oil. In a sauté pan, add half the duck fat; pan fry the salsify, add the chicken stock and butter. Cook quickly on the stove. Reduce the stock completely and remove the salsify. Heat a clean frying pan until it's very warm, pour the remaining duck fat, and roast the salsify until it has a golden color. Season with pepper and "fleur de sel." Reserve on the side until you are ready to plate the dish.
• For the truffle dressing:
• Mix all the ingredients together; macerate the basil (whole leaves) in the vinaigrette. Season the broccoli sprouts with the truffle vinaigrette right before serving.
• Final assembly:
• All of the ingredients are served warm with the exception of the broccoli sprouts. Make sure that you have all of the components of the dish ready for plating before you cook the shellfish - salsify and sauce are warm and broccoli sprouts are dressed with the vinaigrette. When you are ready to serve, heat a saut pan, add the remaining shellfish butter and place the seasoned shellfish in the pan. After about 1 minute, turn the shellfish over and finish cooking (2 to 3 minutes).
• Presentation:
• Arrange the salsify around the plate. Put the langoustine tails on top (tail out) and the dressed broccoli sprouts in the center of the plate. Spoon Chardonnay reduction over langoustine tails and serve immediately.