Henry The Duck And Other New Holiday Dishes at Village Tavern

Henry The Duck, Ballade of Bodacious, and Dory Alzheimer's Memory...whimsical names one wouldn't immediately associate with elegant dishes. But leave it to the Bistro Group's corporate chef and World Food Expo 2013's  Chef of the Year Josh Boutwood to surprise you with his award-winning dishes to be served at Village Tavern during the holidays.

Known as "The Alchemist" in the local culinary scene, Chef Josh Boutwood replicates some of his unique and creative dishes from the competition garnering two golds and five silvers that eventually earned him the prestigious title as Chef of the Year. The new dishes, and their fun and playful names, are part of a story-telling combining complex flavors and elegant visual presentation.

In a cooking presentation at Village Tavern, Chef Josh Boutwood recreated his award-winning dishes. Complex flavors, beautifully plated, as Chef Josh explains the inspiration behind each dish. And this holiday season, you get a chance to taste Henry The Duck, Ballade of Bodacious, and Dory Alzheimer's Memory at Village Tavern and experience Chef Josh Boutwood's unique and creative mastery for flavors.

Chef Josh earned his kitchen stripes while working in his family restaurants in Spain and England. He then pursued a culinary education at Escuela de Culinario Mojacar in Spain, and apprenticed under Chef Raymond Blanc at Le mannoir aux Quat' Saisons in Oxford, England before going back to help his mom establish a European-Mediterranean restaurant in Spain. In 2010, Chef Josh's culinary journey led him back to the Philippines, where he established his very own restaurant, Restaurant Alchemy, in Boracay. Since then, Chef Josh was known by the cool moniker "The Alchemist" for his creative knack in changing the texture of the dish by using basic ingredients, and changing the aspects of the dish. In 2012, Chef Josh joined the Bistro Group of Restaurants as their Corporate Chef, and you can definitely expect "The Alchemist" to weave his magic in the group's various restaurants.

Meet Dory Alzheimer's Memory, an elegant seafood dish with lapu-lapu or grouper, pearl barley and seaweed. A gold medal dish from the same competition where Chef Josh was awarded Chef of the Year, the delicate dish is inspired by one of Chef Josh's favorite animated movies (here's a clue, a clownfish named Nemo topbilled in this feature), combining various layers of flavors and textures in one dish.

Henry The Duck, named after a favorite storybook Chef Josh would read to his child, features duck breast, watercress, sweet potatoes and cranberry. The zen-like plating also captures the elements of the story, where the sweet potatoes would simulate the banks of the pond and the watercress representing the seaweeds in the story. And as playful as the story, the elegant dish matches the fun with its bold blend of flavors.

Ballade of Bodacious, inspired by a notorious rodeo bull, is another elegant dish with top blade, onions, beef bone marrow mixed with umami sauce and pickled red cabbage to simulate a bullfight. The rich succulent beef flavor is enhanced by the equally rich bone marrow, sharpened by the distinct notes of the pickled red cabbage. Another dish with a complex blend of flavors,  woven together by Chef Josh's magical alchemy.

Fun and playful, creative and different, the perfect dishes for the holiday season. And now you can experience Chef Josh Boutwood's unique and personal style of flavors at Village Tavern. Henry the Duck, Ballade of Bodacious and Dory Alzheimer's Memory eagerly await you.

Special thanks to Chef Josh Boutwood and the Bistro Group for a fun and flavorful afternoon at Village Tavern. For a more detailed glimpse of the new holiday dishes, here some recipes courtesy of Chef Josh Boutwood for your reference...

Henry the Duck

Ingredients 

1 Whole US Duck
60 mL Olive oil
1.2 g Salt
0.8 g Black pepper
6 cloves garlic
0.5 g Fresh thyme
2pc Cinnamon stalks

Cranberry Syrup

50 g Sugar
15 mL Distilled vinegar
0.6 g Salt
60 mL Cranberry juice

Potatoes

150 g Marble potatoes
10 g Salt
2 c Bayleaf

Duck Sauce

90 mL Duck stock
Fresh Sage
20 g Garlic
40 g Butter

Cauliflower Puree

200 g Fresh cauliflower
100 g Butter
100 mL Fresh cream

Procedure

1. For the duck, remove the breast from carcass and reserve the rest for later use, place all ingredients in a vacuum bag and cook at 64c for forty-five minutes. After poaching, shock in cold water. To serve, sear in hot pan to golden and render fat.
2. For the cranberry syrup. caramelize sugar until golden and add vinegar and cranberry juice. Reduce until thick.
3. For the duck sauce, saute garlic and sage in butter and stock and reduce until thick. Before serving, transfer to a container and blend with a hand mixer.
4. For the cauliflower, saute chopped cauliflower in butter and add water. Season to taste and finish with cream. Transfer to a charger and charge.
5. To present, take the cranberry syrup and line the plate. Slice the duck breast in half and season with salt. Arrange potatoes around the duck and gently pour sauce over the duck.

For the Duck Breast

1 Whole US Duck
60 mL Canola Oil
80 g Butter
2.34 g Salt
1.2 g ground black pepper
2 g Fresh thyme
4 g Fresh sage
2 pc Bay Leaf

For the Watercress

300 mL Duck stock
40 g Watercress stalks
100 g Butter

For the Red Wine Sauce

300 mL Merlot red wine
100 mL Duck stock
20 g Cherries
5 g White sugar

Sweet Potato Puree

200 g Sweet potato
3.8 g Salt
140 mL Heavy cream
1.2 g Cinnamon
2 Charge N2o

Watercress Sauce

60 g Watercress
10 mL Distilled vinegar
100 mL Water
75 g Butter

Garnish

Watercress leaves
Assorted wild herbs and leaves

Jerusalem Artichoke

100 g Jerusalem artichoke
60 g Butter
20 mL Canola oil
120 mL Fresh cream
0.82 g Salt
20 mL Reduced duck stock

Procedure

1. Start by cooking the sweet potatoes in a pot of boiling water. Once fork-tender, strain off water and blend with heavy cream, finish by adding the remaining ingredients and transfer to a creamer. Keep warm until needed.
2. For the artichoke puree, heat another pot and melt butter, add chopped artichoke and canola oil. Cook until edges of the vegetables are brown. Add heavy cream and adjust viscosity by adding water. Blend with a hand mixer, add stock and season. Pass through a fine sieve and set aside and reserve for plating.
3. For the watercress, in a frying pan add 50 g of butter and bring to heat, add duck stock and saute for five minutes. Add the watercress stalks and continue to braise until tender.
4. For the watercress sauce, bring water and vinegar to a boil, add the watercress and blend until smooth, strain throgh a fine sieve and adjust acidity with vinegar.
5. For the duck, remove breast and legs from the carcass. Save the carcass for later use. Score the skin of the duck. Pre-heat a pan and add canola oil, butter and season well. Place duck skin side down first and cook for six minutes, carefully flip duck breast over and cook for an additional six minutes. transfer from the pan to a clean plate, cover and allow to rest.
6. For the legs, remove thighbone and discard drumstick. Flatten out and season the meat side well. Roll and tie with string to form a roll. Sear all sides and finish in the oven.
7. For the sauce, caramelize sugar until golden, add red wine and reduce, add stock and further reduce until thick.

Serving

Pre-heat serving plates and arrange on the counter side by side. Take the celery root puree with a palette knife and swipe each plate on the top right corner (2 o'clock). Arrange watercress sauce in an eclectic manner and siphon the sweet potato at 2 o'clock and 7 o'clock. Slice duck in half and season open side with salt. Arrange in the middle of the plate. Add fresh watercress in free flowing positions and coat with the duck reduction sauce. Arrange wild herbs around the plate and serve immediately.  

Ballade of Bodacious

Ingredients

800 g Top Blade
2.4 g Salt
1.8 g Pepper
30 mL Canola Oil
60 g Butter

Bone Marrow/Garlic Puree

100 g Garlic cloves
120 g Bone marrow
0.86 g Salt

Pickled red Cabbage

1/2 pc Red cabbage
100 mL Distilled vinegar
75 mL Water
75 g White sugar

Truffle Mash Potato

200 g Potatoes
50 g Butter
200 mL Whipping cream
7 mL Truffle oil
1 pc. Dried shiitake (garnish)

Procedure 

1. Start by bringing water to boil in two pots.
2. Place whole garlic cloves in a pot of boiling water and cook until tender. Once tender, remove water and add bone marrow. When the bone marrow melts and there's a slight caramelization of the garlic, transfer and blend. Adjust seasoning to taste, place in a piping bag and store for later use.
3. Place the potatoes in the other pot and boil until cooked. once tender, remove water, add butter and mash. Add cream and season well. Pass through a fine sieve and add truffle oil. Transfer to a cannister and charge. Reserve and keep warm.
4. For the pickled cabbage, mandolin slice the cabbage thinly and transfer to a bowl. Bring water, vinegar, and sugar to a boil and pour over cabbage, cover with cling wrap and let sit for 20 minutes. Strain the liquid and place in a pan to reduce and thicken.
5. For the beef, trim well and select the best cuts, reserve the trimmings for any future preparations. In a saute pan, add butter and oil and season well. Sear all sides and cook until desired doneness. transfer to a clean plate or tray and allow to rest.
6. Pre-heat serving plates and arrange on the counter side-by-side. Take the marrow puree and place dots around the plate in no particular motion. place the cooked beef slightly off-center and season with salt.
7. Arrange pickled cabbage around beef and siphon the truffle mash adjacent to the beef. microplane the dried shiitake on the mashed potato and garnish with fresh/wild herbs and leaves.

Village Tavern is located at he 2/F, Bonifacio High Street Central, 7th Avenue, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig or call 621-3245 for inquiries and reservations.

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