Gastronaut Jones

Coffee & Potato Skin Crusted NY Strip

Bleu Cheese Panna Cotta

Strawberries Three Ways

Fresh

Macerated in Gin

Oven Dried

Basil Powder

Celery Strips

Editing:

-Needs a starch and a sauce.

Where are the confit potatoes?! In the fridge, of course, as my fork arrived at the plate it's face turned strawberry-red (if it had a face; a cute little fork face) embarrassed by the fact that it didn't have any fat-soaked confit potatoes to sink its' claws into.

The sauce didn't turn red, but probably grey as I left the strawberry and celery leaves in their respective china waiting to be blended into a vibrant green emulsion, only to better accent the already plated flavors. Now the only green left is of envy. Also a balsamic-mauby reduction was supposed to be in the works.

-Don't plate the panna cotta too soon.

I've never made panna cotta before. For some reason, I decide a savory bleu cheese one would be a great place to start off. Don't get me wrong, the flavor was on point. I wanted to plate it ahead of time to see how it came out, because I didn't want to make the dish if the panna cotta didn't hold up. It held up, but started to melt as I was setting up everything else to be plated. I felt I needed to rush which also attributed to the loss of sauce and starch.

-Don't get caught macerating....the wrong way

An hour ahead I sliced strawberries and marinated them in sugar, salt and Plymouth gin. The raw flavor of the gin was very unpleasant. Here's what I can do: 1. Remove the idea from this dish 2. Cook the gin to remove the raw flavor 3. Macerate with another spirit: red wine or tequila perhaps.

In conclusion:

I am happy with this dish, but it is definitely a rough draft. It's actually an idea (flavor combination) from 3 or 4 years ago that I've always been excited about and finally felt ready to give the flavors the proper treatment. Food editor sounds like an interesting job to make up.