Gavin Kaysen brings duck breast to The Dish

After years of working in Europe and seven years as executive chef of mentor Daniel Boulud's Café Boulud, 35-year-old chef Gavin Kaysen has returned to the Twin Cities.

Raised in Minnesota, Kaysen longed to get back to his Midwestern roots and dreamed of opening his own place. His newly opened Minnesota restaurant Spoon and Stable has won critical acclaim. The cuisine has been described as "European elegance meets American comfort."

Here is how to make some of his signature recipes: roasted duck breast, butter poached sockeye salmon tartine, spaghetti nero, honey and cream cake and Nancy's cosmo to drink!

Roasted duck breast

Heart sausage, kohlrabi, wild plums, green juniper jus

Plum puree

2ea shallots chopped

1k plums seeded and chopped

150g spruce honey

50g red wine

tt salt

1. Sweat the shallots in butter

2. Add the plums and cook over low heat

3. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a light simmer.

4. Cook for 20 minutes. Blend and pass

Heart sausage

700g duck hearts

700g duck leg meat

420g duck skin

30g kosher salt

30g dextrose

2g pink salt

18g sumac

13g mustard powder

6g ground black pepper

14g chopped garlic

15g chopped ginger

30g nfdm

1. Marinate meat with all ingredients minus the nfdm

2. Grind the next day and paddle at low speed.

3. Incorporate the nfdm and paddle until tacky

4. Test for seasoning

Pickled plums

1k wild plums seeded and split

250g red wine vinegar

125g water

175g fermented spruce honey

4ea wild bay leaves

tt salt

1. Bring all liquid ingredients to a boil and pour over the pitted cherries

garnish

Kohlrabi fondant

Nasturtium leaves and flowers duck jus with crushed green juniper berries and plum puree

Mustard greens w/ mustard green puree and shallot confit

Butter poached sockeye salmon tartine

Components:

Toasted pumpernickel bread

Caramelized onions

Poached salmon

Smoked cultured cream

Julienne snow pea

Lemon zest

Trout roe

Chive blossom

Basil/wood sorrel/lovage/lemon balm

Toasted pumpernickel cut bread into 5/8 in slices.

Butter both sides of bread and toast on plancha until slightly crispy.

Caramelized onion

4 onions, julienne

300g butter

400g water

salt

Combine onions and water in a small rondeaux. Bring to a simmer and cover with a cartouche. Slowly cook so the onions carmelize. Occasionally stir. Once the onions begin to get color add the butter, cover and continue cooking. Once the onions are light golden brown continuously stir until desired color.

Poached salmon

1 side of sockeye salmon, portioned to fit into large cryovac bags

salt

esplette pepper

black pepper

lemon zest

6 garlic cloves

3 bay leaves

1lb of butter

Season fish with salt, esplette, black pepper, lemon zest. Place fish portions in 3 separate cryovac bags. Divide bay leaves, butter and garlic into the bags. Vaccum seal and cook at 51.5 celcius for 30 minutes. Portion to 2.5oz.

Cultured cream

3qt. Heavy whipping cream

300g previously cultured cream

1 block juniper wood

Combine cream and cultured cream in a vacuum bag and seal. Put into a circulator bath at 37c. Let cook for 12 hours. Let cool at room temperature.

Cold smoke the cream with the juniper wood. Smoke for 20 minutes.

To plate:

Butter one side of the pumpernickel bread, toast on the plancha. Smear a layer of caramelized onions down, then place the salmon. Garnish with a few dollops of smoked cream, julienne snow peas, lemon zest and herbs.

Spaghetti nero

Sepia, mussels, fra diavolo

Fried garlic parsley

Fra diablo:

10 red peppers- peeled and diced

10 yellow peppers - peeled and diced

4 medium onions - diced

8 heads of garlic - roasted

1 can pequillo peppers - drained

½ c tomato paste

1 c mussel jus (or white wine)

Sachet - parsley, bay, peppercorn, thyme, red pepper flake)

1. Roast garlic ahead of time. When cooled, extract garlic pulp and rough chop.

2. Peel and dice peppers, save all scrap.

3. Reserve about ¼ of the pepper scrap and blend in vita prepw/ the pequillo peppers

4. Pulse the remaining scrap in the robo coupe until finely minced.

5. In a small rondo, sweat the minced pepper scrap. Add the tomato paste and toast for approximately 2 minutes. Deglaze with mussel jus and reduce by half

6. Add onions and sweat briefly. Then add peppers and cook until tender.

7. Finish with roasted garlic and approximately ½ cup of the pequillo puree

Seafood prep:

Sepia shrimp frozen mussesls (cook w/ mirapoix)

1. Dice squid and braise in 1 qt clam liquid and 1 can of piquillo pureed

2. Cook mussels with mirapoix, coriander seed and fennel seed.

3. Reserve all seafood separately

Honey and cream cake strawberries, sweetened condensed milk ice cream

Sponge cake (makes 2-1/2 sheets) 12 oz. Yolks 7 oz. Sugar

17 oz. Whites 10 oz. Sugar

5 oz. Flour, sifted

-whip yolks and 7oz of sugar until super thick, set aside -rinse and dry bowl -whip whites until frothy. Slowly add 10oz sugar. Whip to medium stiff peaks -fold in yolk mixture -fold in flour mixture -take two ½ sheets and spray the sides and lay fitted parchment down -divide batter and spread flat -bake at 375 until the cake bounces back

Honey mousse 6 egg yolks pinch of salt

½ c sugar

½ c honey

¼ c water

¼ c water

2 c. Cream

4 sheets gelatin,

1. Bloom gelatin in ice water

2. Whip the cream to medium peaks , set aside

3. Whip yolks and salt on high

4. Bring sugar and 1st part of sugar to amber color

5. Immediately add 2nd half of water. Whisk rapidly to incorporate....take off heat (be careful, it will splash out)

6. Turn kitchen aid to medium-slow speed and pour in hot caramel

7. Add bloomed gelatin

8. Whip until cool

9. Fold in cream

10. Taste

Sweetened condensed milk ice cream

2 c. Milk

2 c. Cream

8 oz. Yolks

8 oz. Sweetened condensed milk

-Scald milk and cream -temper in yolks and condensed milk -cook until slightly thick

Milk crumble

5 oz. Butter

3 oz. Sugar

6 oz. Flour

2 oz. Malted milk powder

salt

-Put everything into food processor until crumbly -bake at 350 -there should be no color -cool and store in tightly closed container

Milk soak

1c cream

1c sweetened condensed milk

1c evaporated milk

-whisk everything together -refrigerate

Crispy honey meringues

3 oz. Egg whites

3 oz. Honey

-hip together until stiff peaks -spray silpat with nonstick pan spray -pipe small dime/quarter size onto silpat -dried in over for 2hours at 180-200degrees -peel off and store in a tight closed container

Nancy's cosmo

2 north shore sol chamomile/citrus '

.5 dry curacao

.25 lime juice

1 cranberry cordial

Shake, stain into chilled coupe. Flame orange coin, insert.