Amuse Bouches of the Week

Here is a selection of some of my most recent amuse bouche ideas. I am proud to say I have not reused one idea yet - and am coming into my 5th week on the job!

While I encourage u to use these ideas to your benefit, all images are copyrighted by me, so if you use them, please give my website (newamericanfoods.com) credit! Thanks!! 

Most of these have a good amount of ingredients, because I was originally told to utilize colors, textures and flavors. All have to be served cold, because they are made prior to dinner service and kept in the fridge for servers to grab.

East meets West Crisp
<--This one is a fried wonton chip with a green pea and avocado "mousse" (aka guacamole), with a roasted piquillo pepper, yellow bell pepper, cilantro leaf, black bean, pink Himalayan sea salt and avocado oil.

Prosciutto-Apple Roulade
To the right, is an amuse bouche I did with a batonnet of green apple, arugula, and a herbed cheese mousse rolled in a thinly sliced piece of prosciutto and topped with candied walnuts and balsamic glaze.

<-- This one is a "Deconstructed Potato Salad": crispy fried (in duck fat) Yukon gold potato triangle with sliced green onion, bacon crumbles, minced hard boiled egg, red onion sliver and roasted red pepper oil.

Here, we have the Lettuce Wrap: minced, roasted chicken breast with eel sauce, mirin, soy sauce, scallions, pepper, siracha sauce and fresh ginger - rolled into a ball and placed on a small leaf of butter lettuce (which is sitting on some more eel sauce, to keep it all in place), topped with fried rice (cellophane) noodles, chives and dots of Siracha on the side.

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On this particular day, I was running short on time, so the picture is blurry and the idea is a little mundane. Tuna Tartare on Cucumber Chip: thinly sliced cucumber, topped with soy sauce-marinated ahi tuna tartare, topped with chives and a sprinkle of Tobiko (flying fish roe).

We don't usually do could soups, but today, was pretty busy with the lunch orders, so I had to ask the Chef to help me out. We came up with this Cold Green Pea and Mint Soup: green peas and mint were pureed with apple juice, honey and lemon juice. Then, I made a homemade creme fraiche (sour cream, heavy cream and lemon juice) which i squirted on top, along with chives and a few squirts of the piquillo pepper vinaigrette.

<-- Tonight's Amuse Bouche was a Roasted Eggplant Roulade with Cheese and Bacon: I first, thinly sliced eggplant and roasted it with salt, pepper and olive oil until slightly browned. Then mixed ricotta, parmesan cheese, bacon crumbles, red onion, a dash of white truffle oil, pesto, lemon juice, salt and pepper in the Robo-coup (food processor). I put a dab of this spread on the small end of the roasted eggplant, and placed 2 arugula leaves and 1 roasted red pepper on it, and rolled them up. These went into the freezer to set so I could slice them without making a mess. Once sliced into "sushi-bite size" pieces, they were topped with more bacon crumbles, chives and red pepper vinaigrette.

Chef did say that I used a few too many ingredients in this one, and to less, "like 3-4" next time. Because although the flavors were there, it was hard to explain to the servers who then have to describe it to the guests.

I ended up taking some of the leftover filling of this one home and paired it with some hot penne pasta and a little of pasta cooking liquid - and it turned out to be an awesome almost Carbonarra type flavor! I will definitely be tweaking this recipe in the future!

While I encourage u to use these ideas to your benefit, all images are copyrighted by me, so if you use them, please give my website (newamericanfoods.com) credit! Thanks!!