Montmorency Tart Cherry Crudo is a delicious and elegant appetizer, made with Montmorency tart cherries, Ahi tuna, and smoked salmon.
Chef's Roll recently hosted the Featured Ingredient Challenge with Montmorency Tart Cherries. Their panel of judges published the Top 25 Finalists last week and my recipe, Montmorency Tart Cherry Crudo: Ahi Tuna and Smoked Salmon with Cherry-Balsamic Spheres and Tart Cherry Salsa made the cut.
The Top 5 were announced and my recipe for tart cherry crudo received 2nd Place!
Thank you Chef's Roll!! It's such an honor to be counted in the Top 25 but even more humbling to be counted among some of the best professional chef's and top home cooks in the country. A sweet victory is made even sweeter by seeing two of my favorite foodie friends and fellow competitors chosen in the Top 25 list: Lisa Keys Owner, Good Grief Cook and Sandi Sheppard. Their entries were amazing...their friendship and camaraderie, priceless!!
A big thank you to all the chefs who took part in the Featured Ingredient Challenge with Montmorency Tart Cherries. From cherry jerk pork to cherry semifreddo, it was great to see a wide range of uses of Montmorency Tart Cherries in the following forms: frozen, dried, juice, juice concentrate, and canned. Click here to view the Top 25 Finalists and see the Final Winners below. We hope the entries have inspired you to put Montmorency Tart Cherries on the Menu! Check out the top five entries here: http://bit.ly/2dGtD6Z Choose Cherries #montmorencyonthemenu #chefsroll #rollwithus
Grand Prize:
Custom chef knife with Cherry Wood handle by Nora Knives
Black leather knife roll with Cherry Red stitching by JENDE
Custom Lost Car Chef Coat & Apron
Custom Chefs Spoon with Cherry logoFour Runners Up:
Black leather knife roll with Cherry Red stitching by JENDE
Nora pairing knife
Custom Chefs Spoon with Cherry logo
I can't wait to receive my new knife roll with Cherry Red stitching by JENDE, Nora pairing knife and custom chef spoons with cherry logo!
My tart cherry crudo recipe:
Chef's Feed asked competitors to use Montmorency Tart Cherries in the following forms: frozen, dried, juice, juice concentrate, and canned. I used tart dried cherries, tart canned cherries and tart cherry juice to create my tart cherry crudo. I even threw in some molecular gastronomy, with the addition of cherry balsamic cold oil spheres. I was pleased with the result and happy to add molecular gastronomy to my culinary bag of tricks!
- ½ pound sashimi grade Ahi Tuna, sliced very thinly
- ¼ pound smoked salmon
- ½ cup can tart cherries, drained and rough chopped (fresh tart cherries are preferable when in season)
- ¼ cup dried tart cherries, chopped
- 5 ounces’ tart cherry juice
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 4 shishito peppers, sliced very thinly and divided
- ½ red onion
- ½ scant teaspoon Agar Agar powder
- 1-2 cups oil (for making spheres)
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ¼ cup Meyer lemon infused olive oil
- 4 radishes, sliced thinly
- ½ cup Micro greens
- Edible flowers
- salt and pepper
- Begin by making the cold oil tart cherry balsamic spheres. Pour vegetable oil into a large jar or glass with lid. Cover and freeze for at least 1 hour.
- In a small sauce pan combine, 5 ounces’ tart cherry juice, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, half of the sliced shishito peppers, and a pinch of salt and pepper (keep remaining peppers for garnish).
- Cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes to release and combine flavors.
- Strain to remove solids and return hot liquid to pan.
- Add agar agar powder and whisk to dissolve. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat Temperature should be around 120-130 F.
- Working quickly, fill a syringe with hot liquid. Hold the syringe high enough to allow droplets to travel in the air before they hit the surface of the oil, but not so high as to make them explode on impact. This will cause the liquid to make uneven spheres. Hold continuous pressure, expelling liquid drop by drop into cold oil. (practice a few times to get the right height to make uniform spheres)
- Wait a few minutes then strain the spheres through a fine sieve and rinse with cold water. Reserve the cold oil and continue the process until all liquid is gone. Makes about ¼-½ cup spheres.
- Peel and cut ½ of the red onion into fine-thin strips. Place strips into a small bowl of cold water with 1 teaspoon sugar and set aside until ready to garnish plate.
- Fine chop the remaining red onion.
- In a small mixing bowl combine, fine chopped red onion (about 3 tablespoons), ½ cup drained and chopped, tart can cherries (fresh tart cherries are preferable when in season) ¼ cup chopped dried tart cherries and remaining shishito peppers. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine and set aside until ready to serve.
- Remove Ahi from package and dry with a clean paper towel. Slice thinly.
- Remove smoked salmon from package. Slice salmon into lengths and roll into bundles. Top each salmon bundle with thin sliced Ahi. Arrange bundles on a long serving plate.
- Garnish plate with tart cherry salsa, micro greens, edible flowers, shishito peppers, thin sliced radish, onions and drizzle with generous amount of Meyer lemon olive oil. Top with cherry balsamic spheres and serve.
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