I really had a load of fun during all of these lockdown with making up plates with restaurant quality food. Not only is it super fun to do, but you acutally support your local business because they still have their staff at work with selling their beautiful concepts.
Win win, I would say. You have a chance to learn something about making very nice foor yourself, (not necessarily how the ingredients work, but how you make a plate beautiful), but more on how you present it, in stead of just throwing it all on a plate and hope for the best.
This weeks choice: El Puente restaurant Eindhoven
El Puente had an email going out last week that they could use some help during this transition phase. In a short while we will go out of lockdown most likely, but that doesn't mean they are out of the woods. In this transition pahse most likely they will not be allowed to have the normal amount of guests, and they will continue to offer these home cooking menus, which are a great concept.
This weeks starter was a very fresh cold dish with small river lobsters and soured cucumber balls with a pepper creme. The taste was fresh and as is Spring time was already around the corner.
As for the betweener dish as seen here underneith this was a sweet bell pepper soup. The cool thing I have learned with these homecookings that it is such fun to put the additional ingredients already on the plate (in this case this was diced veggies, grinded pistaccio nuts, and chorizo pieces, and after that you pour over the warm soup with a nice can.
Especially the pouring over is really the moment where you see the soup come alive and all of a sudden it isn't just a soup anymore. All of a sudden it is a resturant dish and you will make every guest just be amazed by this.
As for the main course there was bavette which is beef meat but just really tender. This was already flavoured by El puente and the only thing I needed to do is put this in the over at 180 degrees for a couple of minutes. Also the terrine (which is a fancy word for stacked) of potato and the aspargus and tomatoes came from the same oven for a couple of minutes, so there was no screwing up on this one.
The sauce was a truffel gracy which just needed a big of heating on the stove to get it liquid and warm and this was also not too difficult. See, with the right directions everyone can make dishes like a pro.
As for desert there was a piece of plum cake which also only needed a little tick in the oven, with some mandarin mousse and crumble there for the bite.
As we were there with three people which is exactly within the Covid rules there you see these three plates, which actually looks a lot of it is made in a restaurant hahaha.
The taste was as it looks, just really awesome, even though if you are not really a desert lover like me
As you see supporting your local business from the area is not really a punishment but really something what is nice to do when you are having a special occasion, but not real options to celebrate this.
When the restaurants open again I will surely find my way back to El Puente, but also the homecooking editions will stay, because I just really enjoy the concept!