Colorado chef's degustation: amuse bouche

Our Colorado chef's degustation meal continued with a plated amuse bouche. Part of our culinary philosophy, here at orenji, is bringing people together to try new and exciting flavor combinations. The duet of amuse bouches is a perfect example of this approach. By creating many small bites of food, we can experiment with a far more varied array of flavors, textures, and cooking preparations... and our guests therefore get to expand their own culinary palates in the process.

The first of the two amuse is one of our most frequent requested items-- a sweet Turkish apricot, poached delicately in a rosemary infused sweet wine, stuffed with gorgonzola cheese and applewood smoked bacon, and broiled until warm. A syrup made from a slow reduction of the poaching liquid completed this rich, but tasty bite.

The second amuse bouche-- also attributed to Thomas Keller-- was his classic"bacon and eggs," but with an orenji twist. A poached quail egg, sauteed gently with a melange of root vegetables, was finished with a smokey, salty white miso broiled prosciutto. The saltiness of the meat contrasted the buttery egg perfectly, leaving the taste buds craving more... but isn't that exactly what the perfect amuse bouche is meant to do?

Tomorrow, we continue our coverage of the Colorado chef's degustation menu with a look at course one... be sure to check back!