Sunday Cooking Project (I apologize for the strange camera settings)

Ever since eating at Telepan a couple of Saturdays ago I’ve been thinking of their smoked trout and celery root blini dish and of ways to make it my own. My Sunday project was celery root blinis, milk poached scallops, and fried leek filaments. Although my camera was on a weird setting, the final result can be pictured here:

Milk Poached Scallops, fried leek filaments, celery root blinis

Overall the dish was ok, but it was definitely missing something. I think the poached scallops probably lacked a depth of flavor of the smoked trout I had at Telepan. I did think however, that the fried leek filaments were a nice addition (they were like some delicious shoestring fry and onion ring hybrid) and the celery root blini was spot on. I really have to thank Bill Telepan for introducing me to this newfound love of the blini. Since I made the batter on Sunday, I’ve eaten at least eight of these savory little pancakes and even had more blinis, with pickled herring and green apple sour cream for dinner last night.


My other Sunday cooking project was a venison dish. I don’t know why I was thinking of venison but it definitely had something to do with the cold weather and the fast approaching Christmas holiday. My goal with the venison was to create a dish that tasted like descriptions of the smell of red wine. First I browned the venison and then I braised it in red wine with a mirepoix, red berries, roasted cocoa nibs, sage and rosemary. After the braising was finished I served the finished meat with a sauce of sautéed cranberries, cherries and cocoa nibs as well as crispy fried potatoes and roasted Brussels sprout. I thought the red and green might be reminiscent of Christmas! The flavors worked really well together and now I’m thinking of ways to improve on both of my Sunday projects.

Braised Venison with a cherry, cranberry cocoa nib sauce, crispy potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts