Striped Bass, Quinoa, Currants, Toasted Pine Nuts & Citrus Infused Oil
Recipe by Executive Chef Josh Thomsen
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cups quinoa
- 1 cup fresh orange juice
- 1 Tbsp. toasted pine nuts
- 1 tbsp. currants
- 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded & diced
- 1/2 red pepper, diced
- 1/2 yellow pepper, diced
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 1/2 carrot diced & blanched
- 1 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 Tbsp. fresh mint, chopped
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- to taste lemon juice
- to taste extra virgin olive oil "evoo"
- 4 each 5 to 6 oz filets of Striped Bass
- 1/4 cup black peppercorns, roughly ground
- 2 pinches salt, kosher
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- Garnish with orange & red bell pepper oil.
To prepare quinoa
Combine juice & quinoa, and bring to a boil. Let boil until all liquid is absorbed, approximately 10-15 minutes. Let cool. Toss cooked quinoa with all diced vegetables. Check flavor, season with salt & pepper, lemon juice & evoo
To prepare striped bass
Season striped bass filets with ground pepper & sprinkle with salt. Cook on a hot griddle skin side down first (cook till skin is golden brown & crisp) about 2 minutes. Flip over & cook another approximately 2 minutes more.
Arrange quinoa mixture in center of the plate & serve striped bass filet lying across quinoa & plate.
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About Josh Thomsen, Executive Chef, The Claremont Hotel, Club & Spa & Meritage at the Claremont: While some young boys dream of becoming astronauts or baseball players, Josh Thomsen's 6th grade yearbook listed "chef" as his career of choice. This New Jersey native credits his ambitions to his father Jerry, an accomplished amateur chef. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, Thomsen honed his skills with some of the most prominent chefs in the country kicking off his career at the Hotel Bel-Air and Pinot Bistro in Southern California. He then relocated to Aspen, Colorado to work at the Little Nell Hotel, a Relais Chateau property as chef de cuisine before moving to Napa Valley Wine Country to work at the French Laundry under Thomas Keller, whom he credits as a major influence on his career. Then after spending two years in Napa Valley, Thomsen was drawn to the lights, action and many culinary hot spots of Las Vegas where he continued to build his resume at the exclusive "Mansion" at the MGM Grand Hotel as well as being executive sous chef at Michael Mina's Nobhill Tavern. An opportunity as executive sous chef at The Lodge at Pebble Beach lured him back to the California coast and in a few years he was back on the strip as corporate executive chef for Innovative Dining Group overseeing the opening of three BOA Steakhouses - two in Las Vegas and a third in Los Angeles. Before returning to California, he opened the 400-seat Tao restaurant at the Venetian Resort. In his role as executive chef at the Claremont Hotel, Club & Spa, Thomsen oversees the food and beverage program, including Paragon bar & café and the new Meritage restaurant opening this fall. Here, he offers a seasonal "farm to table" menu of contemporary California cuisine using many locally-sourced ingredients. When he is not in the kitchen, he can be found watching his favorite baseball team, the New York Yankees, or his Dad's favorite football team, the New York Giants, while unwinding with his favorite cocktail, a Tanqueray & Tonic. He is also a supporter of The V Foundation for Cancer Research and Keep the Memory Alive, a charitable foundation supporting research for Alzheimer's disease. He enjoys traveling the world to explore new cuisines and cultures having been to France, Switzerland, Italy, Mexico and Russia.http://www.meritageclaremont.com/restaurant.html Website: http://www.meritageclaremont.com
