Jean-Robert de Cavel brings ratatouille to The Dish
Master French Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel ended up in Cincinnati on a bit of a lark. After years of success in New York City, he was approached by friend and fellow chef Daniel Boulud about an opportunity to work for a Mobil five star restaurant in Cincinnati. What started as a five-year plan turned into more than two decades of transforming fine dining in the Queen City.
Here are some of his favorite recipes: Three little cochon, ratatouille with white beans and wild rice, watermelon and corn summer salad, summer gazpacho, red lobster salad, macademia nut chocolate tart and le 713 to drink!
Three Little Cochon
Served with White Bean Ratatouille
1 lb. pork belly
1 slab pork ribs (12 bones)
1 ½ lbs. pork tenderloin
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
1 large onion, peeled, roughly chopped
1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
2 C red wine
1 gallon beef stock
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
Thyme, bay leaf, fresh basil, butter, salt, and black peppercorns: amounts as desired to taste
A: Cook pork belly and ribs. In large heavy roasting pan, roast pork belly and ribs for 10 minutes in a pre-heated 350° oven. Set aside. In a large pot, bring carrot, celery, onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, red wine, and beef stock to a boil. Add braising liquid to pan, cover with aluminum foil. Braise in 300° oven until tender (approximately 3 hours). Drain and reserve the liquid. Set aside.
B: Clean and season tenderloin with salt and pepper. Sear until golden brown on medium high heat. Cook until internal temperature of 132° for medium rare, 135° for medium.
C: Make sauce. In a sauce pot, sauté thyme and black pepper for about one minute. Add braising liquid and simmer to reduce by about half. Add butter, stir to melt butter. Finish with salt, pepper and julienned basil.
D: Progression: Slice pork belly into 6 pieces, slice slab of ribs into two bones, slice pork tenderloin, add to platter, keep warm.
E: Serve over White Bean Ratatouille and pour sauce.
Ratatouille with White Beans and Wild Rice
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 eggplant
2 tomatoes
1 red onion
3 bell pepper (1 each green, red, yellow)
3 cloves garlic
3 scallions
2 oz. black olives (pitted Niçoise)
Thyme and basil
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
2 oz. cooked white beans
2 oz. cooked wild rice
A. Ratatouille: Dice onion, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, tomatoes, reserve tomato juice. Heat olive oil in sauté pan, add all diced vegetables, add garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and tomato juice. Cook slowly until tender. Add rice, beans and black olives.
B. Progression: Julienne basil and chop scallions (green parts only), add to ratatouille. Mix well
C. Place ratatouille on center of plate, add 3 Little Cochon around, pour sauce.
Watermelon and Corn Summer Salad
with watercress, sunflower seeds, Banyuls dressing, fourme d'ambert, bleu cheese cream
Salad:
12 oz. watermelon
3 cobs of corn
3 bunches of watercress
2 oz. sunflower seeds
3 t extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp Banyuls vinegar
Salt and pepper
Bleu Cheese cream:
2 oz. mayonnaise
3 oz. sour cream
1 oz. heavy cream
3 oz. crumbled bleu cheese
½ t Banyuls vinegar
Salt and pepper
A: Season and roast corn, remove kernels from husk, set aside, Dice watermelon in large dice, set aside.
Cut stems from watercress, keeping the tops, set aside.
Mix all the ingredients for the bleu cheese cream together salt and pepper to taste
B: Progression
In a large bowl mix watercress, corn, watermelon, sunflower seeds, extra virgin olive oil, Banyuls vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
C: Ready to eat
Place some bleu cheese dressing on each plate, top with summer salad, crumble 1 oz. of fourme d'ambert on each one.
Wine pairing: Mas de Gourgonnier, Rosé
Summer Gazpacho
Ingredients:
1/3 cantaloupe, peeled and seeded
1/3 Bulb fennel
1 Tomato, cored
1 Red bell pepper, seeded
1 Green bell pepper, seeded
1 jalapeno, seeded
½ celery stalk
1/3 onion
12 oz. watermelon, peeled and seeded
¼ cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 1/2 slices white bread crusts removed
¼ T Tabasco (or as you wish for spice level)
1 1/2 oz. lemon juice
8 oz. or more tomato juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Roughly chop vegetables. Mix everything together in large bowl.
Cover, keep overnight for 24 hours.
Pass through a meat grinder, or blender.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve cold in a small melon bowl.
Garnish with thinly sliced cucumbers around the plate.
Yields about 1 gallon.
Cincinnati Reds Lobster Salad
3 lobsters
4 red bell peppers
½ lb. radish
½ red onion
2 large tomatoes
1 head radicchio
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 cup Spanish peanuts
1 cup cracker jacks
1 T Pommery mustard
1 T Dijon mustard
1 1/2 t honey
1 C red wine vinegar
3 C blended oil
3 C mayonnaise
1 T harissa paste
1 C red grapes
Salt and pepper to taste
A. Dressing: In a bowl combine both mustards with red wine vinegar and honey. Slowly whisk in the blended oil.
B. Lobster: Bring a large pot of water to boil and poach lobsters for 7 minutes, remove and immediately shock in an ice water bath.
C. Progression: Julienne two red bell peppers, radish and red onion. Halve the remaining bell peppers and saute until tender. Puree. In another bowl, combine harissa and mayonnaise.
Cut grapes in half.
D. Building the salad: Dress the radish, red onion, lobster knuckle meat, red grapes and julienned bell peppers in the harissa mayoniasse mixture. Season to taste. Chiffonade the radicchio and red leaf lettuce, toss with the honey mustard dressing. Finish with ½ lobster tail slice. Garnish with peanuts and cracker jacks.
Le 713
Jean-Robert's Table
Serves One
1 ½ oz. O.K.I. bourbon
¼ oz. St. Germain elderflower liqueur
Juice from ½ lemon, strained
¼ to 1 ½ oz. Tissot-JR Cremant Du Jura (to taste)
Mint for garnish
Serve over ice in a tulip glass
This cocktail was created for the opening of Jean-Robert's Table in 2010. Using the street number of the restaurant. A combination of our house French sparkling wine and local bourbon with a touch of a French liqueur. (The latest bourbon we are using is, O.K.I. from New Riff distillery in Kentucky. It's the closest distillery to downtown Cincinnati.)
A guest favorite, very refreshing and way too easy to drink!
O.K.I. - Distilled in Indiana, Bottled in Kentucky, Loved in Ohio.
Macadamia Nut Chocolate Tart
Makes 10 to 12 tarts
Crust:
9 oz. Butter
1 1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 ½ tsp. Vanilla extract
9 oz Flour
1 cup Cocoa
Blend together butter and sugar to a cream consistency. Add salt and vanilla. On low speed, slowly add flour and cocoa one spoonful at a time until incorporated.
Filling:
1 lb Milk chocolate, finely chopped
2 cup Heavy whipping cream
2 1/2 cup Chopped macadamia nuts
Heat cream to a simmer, add to chocolate and stir until melted.
Assemble:
- Roll crust 1/8 of an inch thick (the crust is fragile) into individual tart pans
- Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes
- Layer 1/8 cup of macadamia nuts into each shell and pour filling over top.
- Refrigerate for at least one hour.