Chef Jeff Ratcliff-Nelson

We had an exceptional appetizer class taught by Chef Jeff recently, with the first dish being Vegetable Strudel with Roast Red Pepper Cream sauce.

The vegetables get sauteed to go into a puff pastry shell mixed with savory rice.

It is important to have the pastry shell not too cold but not at room temperature either.


When the shell is stuffed, it's time to move onto starting the Buerre Blanc sauce that will be used to create the Red Pepper sauce.

Out of the oven they come, and they look beautiful! They taste even better.


Thanks to Amy who is our hostess this evening.

Next comes the Stuffed Mushrooms which are filled with cream cheese, fresh rosemary, garlic and chives...yummy! We get some help mixing the filling....

...and some help with stuffing the mushrooms when our mixture is ready.

They get baked, come out of the oven and are served with Buerre Blanc sauce and get garnished. Beautiful and elegant presentation, anyone would be proud to have this as one of their featured appetizers.

Now for a little bit of spice. Chef Jeff demonstrates one of his favorites, Shrimp Diablo on Parmesan Toast Points.

The bread is browned to perfection.

The shrimp mixture is prepared and heated...

plated....

...and then served. Another winner.

The final preparation can be used as an appetizer, or served as a main entree.

This is Smoked Duck in a Pineapple and Pear Reduction sauce.

The favors are heavenly and again, the plating is superb!

Chef Jeff will be back this summer to do a What's For Lunch class. Don't miss out on his wonderful techniques and presentation!

Dining In With Chef Phil Brennan

What a beautiful day for a cooking class!

Chef Phil started off the evening with a Warm Goat Cheese Salad with Mixed Greens and fresh Artisan bread.

This included a lemon vinaigrette dressing! Delicious.

This was thoroughly enjoyed by the crew.

Next it was time to start the Flourless Lemon Almond cake, as there would be a little bit of bake time while the rest of the food was prepared.

Chef Phil takes time to explain how the almonds run through a food processor will act as the flour.

Eleanor lends a hand on the cake pans.

Now it is time for the main event, Grilled Beef Teriyaki Flank Steaks, which has been marinating for 24 hours.

The crew looks on while Phil is slicing the zucchini with a mandolin.

And an early Mother's Day gift is being thoroughly enjoyed.

The Grilled Beef Teriyaki is thinly sliced before being served.

The accompaniments, Orzo Pilaf with Green Onions and Parmesan Cheese and Pan Sauteed Zucchini Noodles are plated for a beautiful presentation...

and enjoyed by all!

Chef Phil will have a Spanish Tapas class and a Salmon Three Way's class in the summer months. What a perfect evening for all!

Chef Don Brown and His Pasta Du Jour!

Here are a few shots from a private class that featured Chef Don Brown with some of his Italian and Mediterranean treats!

The company was wonderful....





the food plentiful and flavorful...





....and while Chef Don worked......


the group continued their merriment!



What a very special evening. Thanks to a wonderful crew and can't wait until we do it again!

Amanda Rocks!

There are some menus that you wait all winter for. Since this one was centered around fresh rockfish, we waited for the season to begin and Chef Amanda joined us the first available date.

The menu started with Beet Carpaccio with Prosciutto that was served with Goat Cheese and an Herb Salad.

This is built with the beets and goat cheese together, and the fresh herb salad served over the prosciutto.

These are not your canned beets that you have at Thanksgiving!

This was a nice combination of flavors, served with a lemon vinaigrette. Everyone seemed to enjoy these unique fresh flavors!

Now it is onto the main course. This begins with Concasse of Roast Fennel, Nicoise Olives, Caramelized Shallots, Capers and Almonds. Some of the main ingredients have been pre-roasted before our guests arrive.

This in itself is a meal, but there is more!

Chef Amanda prepares a Roasted Tomato Beurre Blanc, Artichoke Heart Mache. This will be served with the vegetables and rockfish and makes the entree heavenly.

It's time to pan crisp the rockfish which was fresh that day from Crabknockers in Leonardtown.


The plating takes place......

Rebecca, tonight's server unfortunately was moving too fast to take a good photograph, but didn't she do a great job of plating this course!!!!

The night could have ended there but dessert, Peach Tea Pot du Cremes, was to follow.

The hand-torch makes short work of the browning of the sugar. And yes, this is as good as it looks!

Chef Amanda will be joining us for one more class, the Farmer's Market Feast, before the baby comes. If you have out of town guests coming in, please keep the Blue Heron Inn in mind for a unique lodging and guest dining experience on Solomon's Island!