Recipes From Atlanta's Top Chefs

Chef Duane Nutter
ONE FLEW SOUTH

Pineapple “Not” Upside Down Cake

“OFS” Pumpkin Bread

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups brown sugar
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour loaf pans.

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.

Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (just like mom would do)

*when we serve this at the restaurant, it’s lightly buttered and then grilled and served with the bourbon braised pineapple…

Bourbon Braised Pineapple

2 pineapples quartered and cored
3 cans pineapple juice (6 oz. cans)
1 cup Bourbon
0.5 cup brown sugar
1 vanilla bean

Should make a 1 qt. of cooked pineapple

Sear pineapple until golden brown on both sides, deglaze with bourbon and 3 cans of pineapple juice. Place in a large oven safe sauté pan and cover with foil.

Place in a 325 degree oven for 40 minutes or until fork tender.

To make the sauce, remove the pineapple from the 4 inch pan and set aside to cool. Pour the juice into a sauce pot, remove the vanilla bean pod, bring to a boil and slightly thicken by adding a slurry.
Copyright © Duane Nutter

Chef Hugh Acheson
EMPIRE STATE SOUTH, THE NATIONAL

Fava Beans with Mint, Prosciutto, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Brown Butter Vinaigrette
Serves 4
Fava beans are the bane of my kitchen staff’s existence because they are labor-intensive legumes. First, you have to shell the large pod, then you blanche the beans, shock them in ice water, and, finally, peel the tough skin off of each bean to reveal the bright green goodness within. When the season begins in April, I get excited and order case upon case, resulting in a great amount of tedious, repetitious work. One dish person, into her third case of beautiful favas, go into a bit of a haze and blurted out in a Darth Vader voice, “Luke, I am your Fava.”

2 cups shelled fava beans, blanched for 1 minute and then peeled
½ cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup arugula leaves
8 tablespoons Brown Butter Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 thin slices of prosciutto (about 1 ounce each)
1/4 pound of Parmagiano Reggiano, shaved with a peeler to thin strips

Combine the fava beans, mint and arugula in a medium bowl and dress with a tablespoon of the vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper.
Place 1 slice of prosciutto on each of 4 plates and then divide the favas equally among the plates. Arrange shavings of cheese over each plate and then top with another slice of prosciutto. Drizzle each plate with 1 teaspoon of the remaining vinaigrette around the plate.
Brown Butter Vinaigrette
Makes 1 cup
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 shallot, minced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Place the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Keep an eye on it because you are looking to brown the milk solids, but not burn them. When the butter is a nutty brown color, turn off the heat and add the shallot, salt and pepper to taste. The shallot will cook in the butter as the butter cools. Pour the brown butter mixture into a blender and add the vinegar.
Turn blender on medium and slowly drizzle in olive oil. Turn off the blender; adjust the salt and pepper, if needed. Add the thyme and parsley, and stir to combine. This vinaigrette will last 1 week in the fridge.
Reprinted from a new turn in the south: southern flavors reinvented for your kitchen by Hugh Acheson. Copyright © 2011 by Hugh Acheson.

Cheff Todd Ginsberg
THE GENERAL MUIR

Vegetarian Reuben

Makes 2 sandwiches

2 large beets
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper, fresh cracked
Smoked salt
Coriander, fresh cracked

4 slices rye bread
Butter (for spreading on each piece of bread)

Russian dressing (blend together the following 6 ingredients):
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon ketchup
1 Tablespoon pickle relish
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, fresh cracked

6 Tablespoons sauerkraut, warmed
4 slices comte or gruyere cheese (preferred), or swiss

Trim tops and bottoms from beets. Wrap beets tightly in foil with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 350 degrees, approximately 1 hour, or until tender. Let cool and peel as soon as you can handle the beets (they get harder to peel as they cool more; you should be able to rub the skins off with a towel easily). Slice beets into ¼ inch thick slices. Dress liberally with olive oil, smoked salt, pepper, and coriander. Reserve at room temperature.

Butter each slice of bread on one side. Griddle the bread in a nonstick pan over medium heat, buttered side down, until golden. Place on a cutting board. Spread 1 Tbsp Russian dressing on each slice of bread. Arrange 4 slices of beets on two of the bread slices. Top beets with 3 Tbsp of warm sauerkraut and 2 slices of cheese. Put open faced sandwich under the broiler, until the cheese melts. Remove from the broiler and top with the reserved bread slices. Cut sandwiches using a serrated knife – with confidence! (You want to cut through the sandwich on the first try to avoid the beets slipping out the sides.) Serve with half sour pickles.

Copyright © Todd Ginsberg

Anne Quattrano
BACCHANALIA, FLOATAWAY CAFÉ, ABBATOIR , STAR PROVISIONS
Roasted Asparagus and Farm Egg Emulsion
Serves 12

2 pounds jumbo California asparagus
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
4 large egg yolks
1 large egg
5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 400° F.

Remove the tough ends of the asparagus by breaking them—a simple snap of the stem offers the perfect breaking point. On a baking sheet, toss the asparagus with the oil and season with salt and pepper; arrange in a single layer. Roast for 10 minutes, until crispy outside but still al dente.

Meanwhile, melt the butter slowly in small saucepan over low heat; keep warm. In a blender, combine the egg yolks, whole egg, and lemon juice and blend on low. While the blender is running, slowly drizzle in the warm melted butter. The sauce should be the consistency of soft whipped cream. If the emulsion is too thick, you can add warm water to adjust the consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve, arrange the warm asparagus on a platter and pour the emulsion over the top.

Copyright © Anne Quattrano