The Dish: Chef Didier Elena
Chef Didier Elena, a native of Monaco, was born to a doctor and a fisherman. He was headed toward a medical career until meeting world-renowned chef Alain Ducasse and, as they say in the movies, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
After two decades of working with Ducasse in his restaurants around the globe, Elena broke out on his own. The Michelin-starred chef is now culinary director at Chefs Club in New York and Aspen where a rotating roster of stellar chefs create menus of seasonal ingredients.
Here are some of Elena's signature recipes:
Roasted leg of lamb in hay
Ingredients
1 each whole bone-in leg of lamb
2 tablespoons kosher salt
10 garlic cloves
20 Nicoise olives
Hay
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 280° F
2. Dry lamb leg with paper towels
3. Season generously with salt
4. Heat a large skillet or sauté pan coated with vegetable oil and sear leg on all sides
5. Let the leg cool to touch
6. Make small cuts in the meat with a pairing knife
7. Stud leg with olives and garlic cloves
8. In a roasting pan filled with hay, roast leg of lamb for 30 min per pound
9. Let rest for 20 min before carving
Crispy potato churros with comté cheese
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup water
3/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 whole eggs
1 cup potato pulp
1 1/2 cup grated Comte cheese
Directions
1. Bake potatoes on a bed of salt for 45 min at 400° F
2. Bring water, salt, butter to a boil.
3. Incorporate all of the flour first with a whisk then a spatula.
4. Remove from the heat add eggs one by one.
5. Put mixture into a stand mixer bowl and incorporate potato and grated comte.
6. Put in a piping bag with a pastry tip and pipe onto parchment paper and freeze.
7. Cut into desired size and fry at 350° until golden brow.
8. Season with salt and black pepper
Bayaldi
Ingredients
1 small eggplant sliced ¼ inch thick
1 medium yellow onion sliced ¼ inch thick
1 small zucchini trimmed and sliced ¼ inch thick
1 medium tomato sliced ¼ inch thick
1 medium summer squash sliced ¼ inch thick
1 sprig rosemary
2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300°F
2. Arrange alternating sliced vegetables in a baking dish
3. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and picked rosemary leaves
4. Drizzle with olive oil
5. Bake until vegetables are tender, about an hour and thirty minutes
Petite Pois à la Francaise
Ingredients
8 thick slices applewood smoked bacon cut into lardons
3 ¼ cups shelled fresh English peas
10 jumbo asparagus, stems peeled
10 baby white turnips, quartered
10 baby carrots, peeled
25 pearl onions, peeled
2 hearts romaine lettuce, leaves separated
1 ½ cups vegetable stock
4 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
1. Blanch peas in salted water for 1 minute and shock in ice water immediately
2. Peel away outer skin and reserve flesh
3. In a blender puree ¼ cup of peas and ½ cup of vegetable stock until smooth
4. Cook bacon in a pan until rendered and cooked
5. Heat olive oil sauté pan and sear carrots, turnips, and asparagus to give a little color
6. Add vegetable stock and cook over high heat
7. Reduce until the vegetables are coated with a glaze
8. Add pea puree, bacon, peas, pearl onions and romaine leaves
9. Mix and cook for an additional 5 min
10. Season to taste with salt and pepper
Lemon Tart
Tart shell ingredients
2 cups powdered sugar
1 ¾ cups butter
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup almond meal
Tart shell directions
1. Preheat oven 350°F
2. Place flour, sugar, almond meal, butter and salt in a food processor
3. Pulse briefly until mixture forms large crumbs
4. Add eggs and vanilla extract
5. Pulse until a dough is formed
6. Remove from processor and roll out to ¼ inch thick
7. Lie dough in tart pan with a removable bottom
8. Chill for 30 min covered
9. Dock dough with fork and bake until golden brown
Crème Citron ingredients
5 Lemons, juiced and zested
5 eggs
3 sheets of gelatin
¼ cup heavy cream (whipped)
Crème Citron directions
1. Bloom gelatin in ice water
2. In a double boiler over medium-low fire slowly whisk lemon juice, zest and eggs together to form a custard
3. Whisk in gelatin to dissolve
4. Strain through a sieve
5. Cool and fold in whipped cream
6. Pour into tart shell
·