Quiet Mornings

My headphones on listening to music in the dead of night...4 am is my time to do research for cooking classes and peruse food blogs...and write. This morning I organized my t-shirt drawer....did the sock drawer the other morning.  I have been on this kick to get things cleaned up and orderly...I think because my recipe file is a disaster zone and I have no idea how to organize it. and in some respects it's just that I don't want to, it's my creative organized chaos food world. It's a delicious mess, filled with treasures that I stumble across when needed...I am guided by the universe...if I need it it will appear and if not...

I also sleep cook, it's my way of organizing...I cook the entire meal over and over in my dreams until it's perfect.  By this I mean I organize my kitchen with what I should do first prep wise and then I move on to what gets cooked first and what goes into the oven and so on...I have cooked a hundred or more meals in my sleep...and when I say I can cook this with my eyes closed, well I can..laughing. 

My creative process of designing menus would shock most people....an artist would understand it comes from deep inside. I have a visual board of foods in side my head for inspiration and I refresh it continuously by reading food blogs, visual Instagram food porn at 4 am and many many cookbooks.  I have a trunk of recipes...bits of scrap paper scribbled with menus, plating ideas, note books of shopping lists...my cooking classes from start to finish..the thought process of how I developed the class with all my research...

I was putting the final touches on my menu for tomorrow this morning...I was having issues with the sauce...for my Duck Confit.  I was going to go with a traditional orange sauce, but something was not right..I just didn't feel it....it made no sense to me. So I read the menu over a few times did some visual food research....and what came next was the like running your hand over velvet...Perfection!!!!
Winter Apple Sage Butter with Cider Pan Sauce.

Menu

The Start:

Mixed Green Salad 

Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette

" Mixed Platter"

Brie Cheese Round

Duck Wontons 

Dates & Goat Cheese

Onion Tart 

The Main:

Roasted Duck Confit
Winter Apple Sage Butter with Cider Pan Sauce
Parsnip, Potato, Squash Mash
Green Beans

The Dessert:

Dark Chocolate Cheesecake

Fresh Raspberries 

Chantilly

Life is beautiful in my world and the menu makes sense..

Grow Harvest Cook Eat
Jenn