LIGHT AND SAVORY FARE
ABOVE:
In the loft at Benjy’s, these bites are centered around the super fresh fish:
(clockwise from left): Jasmine Tea-Seared Tuna Steak,
Butterscotch Panna Cotta, Pistachio-Crusted Sea Scallops,
Spring Gazpacho with Shrimp and Goat Cheese Crostini.
H O U S T O N
April
2007
BY JANICE SCHINDELER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
miro dvorscak
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ABOVE RIGHT:
Spring Gazpacho with Shrimp
and Goat Cheese Crostini
LEFT: Pistachio-Crusted Sea Scallops with Maple-Scented Corn, Sugar Snap Peas,
Butter Leeks and Teardrop Tomatoes
RIGHT: Dylan Murray, executive chef of Benjy’s Restaurant
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As executive chef of the ever-popular Rice Village restaurant Benjy’s, Dylan Murray, who like most chefs, works long arduous hours. When he does get home
to his Greenway Plaza-area apartment after working 12 to 14 hour shifts, what does he do for relaxation? He cooks.
“It may not be very PC, but when I get home from the restaurant kitchen, I don’t want to go out to a restaurant,” says the mid-30s chef who took up cooking after graduating from the University of Texas with a Spanish degree.
His food at home is simple: It’s an extension and simplification of the American cuisine he serves at Benjy’s. He calls his style of cooking produce-driven, a method he developed while cooking in the California bay area.
“I moved out to the bay area to see a different food culture,” he says. “I wanted to work with the best ingredients in a region where the ingredients actually grew. I fell in love with produce and seafood.”
At home, if he has the time, he’ll whip up glorified pot roasts or a braised meat dish, but more frequently he favors entrée salads and shrimp and always-fresh herbs
and vegetables.
A favorite is grilled jumbo shrimp tossed with a simple pistou — a light herbaceous mixture similar to pesto but without the nuts — tossed with a mixed green salad. “ I try to pick up the baby greens at the Bayou City Farmer’s Market on Richmond and Eastside — it’s in my neighborhood. And when the tomatoes are in season, I grab as many as I can,” says Murray, who laments that the production of the local growers is usually not sufficient to cover the demands of the restaurant.
At Benjy’s, Murray uses his produce-driven style when creating sauces. He shuns heavy butter and cream sauces, preferring vegetable purees frequently zapped with a bit of ginger for just the right zing, as in the gingered corn puree that accompanies caramelized scallops.
Of the sauce Murray says, “It’s super simple. Take some fresh corn, sauté it a bit, add ginger, garlic, maybe a touch of sugar for sweetness, depending on the corn flavor, blend it, then strain it. It tastes really fresh, with a little sweetness, and the ginger gives it a bit of a bite. I think it goes really well with the scallops, which have no business being served with something really rich. Generally speaking, I think the way food is going, the savvy diner wants more flavor, not necessarily richer food.”
His food philosophy is reflected in the springtime menu Murray developed for this month’s issue: Spring Gazpacho with Shrimp and Goat Cheese Crostini,
Pistachio-Crusted Sea Scallops or Jasmine Tea-Seared Tuna Steaks and the Butterscotch Panna Cotta, simple tasty recipes with light springtime flavors. Your only
challenge will be waiting for the gazpacho to chill before serving.
All recipes are by Dylan Murray, executive chef,
Benjy’s Restaurant, 2424 Dunstan, 713.522.7602.
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Gazpacho
4 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and sliced
20 roma tomatoes
1 1/2 red onions, diced
5 cloves garlic
10 basil leaves
2 stalks celery, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon red chile flakes
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Kosher salt to taste
1 cup diced tomatoes and 1 cup diced cucumber for garnish
Crostini
1 fresh baguette, sliced into 1/4-inch slices
1 cup goat cheese
Water as needed
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pound medium or large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 capful canola oil
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
1 handful basil leaves, thinly sliced
FOR THE GAZPACHO
In four batches, combine all soup ingredients except the salt in a blender.
Process until smooth, about 2 minutes per batch. Strain half of the soup
through a wire mesh strainer, making sure to extract all the vegetable
liquid. Discard the pulp.
Combine the rest of the soup with the vegetable liquid. Season with
kosher salt to taste. Let sit in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight,
allowing the flavors to develop.
FOR THE CROSTINI
Brush the bread slices with extra virgin olive oil and bake at 400 degrees
until crispy.
In a heated skillet, sauté the shrimp and minced garlic in the canola
oil. Set aside to cool. When cool, chop shrimp into small pieces. Reserve.
Crumble the goat cheese into a bowl and allow it to warm to room
temperature. When soft, whisk a small amount of water, starting with
1 tablespoon and adding more, tablespoon by tablespoon, until the
mixture has the consistency of cream cheese. Fold in shrimp and add a
pinch of salt.
TO PLATE
Ladle chilled soup into chilled bowls. Spread goat cheese mixture on
crostini and top with thinly sliced fresh basil. Float the crostini in the soup
bowl. Also garnish with a few drops of extra virgin olive oil, diced
tomatoes and diced cucumbers. Serves 8.
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1 cup pistachios, shelled,
toasted and chopped
24 large sea scallops
4 tablespoons canola oil
6 ears sweet yellow corn,
shucked and sliced
off the cob
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 pound sugar snap peas,
cleaned |
4 leeks, rough outer green
leaves removed, washed
and cut into 1/2-inch
squares
1/2 cup (4 ounces) butter
1 pint teardrop tomatoes, halved
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Kosher salt
Black pepper |
LEEKS
Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the cleaned, chopped leeks and
1/4 cup water. Cover and simmer until leeks are just tender but still have a bright
green color. Season to taste with kosher salt and pepper. Remove from heat and
chill until ready to serve.
CORN AND SNAP PEAS
Sauté corn in 2 tablespoons canola oil for 2 minutes until firm but cooked
through. After 1 1/2 minutes, add the sugar snap peas and sauté together for
30 seconds. Season with salt and add maple syrup.
SCALLOPS
Pat scallops dry with a towel and season with salt and black pepper. Heat a sauté pan with canola oil until pan just begins to smoke. Add scallops and carefully sear one side until browned, about 2 minutes. Turn over, add a tablespoon of butter and turn off the heat. Let scallops sit in the hot pan for 1 minute and remove.
For serving, spoon 1 large spoonful of the leek mixture onto center of plate.
Spoon sautéed corn and snap peas on top of the leeks and place 4 scallops per plate around the vegetables. Sprinkle the scallops with chopped pistachios and garnish plate with teardrop tomatoes. Serves 8. |
4 6-ounce yellowfin tuna steaks
1 ounce loose jasmine tea, minced in a spice grinder
2 hot house cucumbers, seeded and sliced paper thin
15 mint leaves, sliced very thinly or chiffonade
1 quart soy orange avocado vinaigrette (see following recipe)
Canola oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper
CUCUMBERS
Combine sliced cucumbers, sliced mint, kosher salt and 1 tablespoon canola oil in a mixing bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
TUNA STEAKS
Season tuna steaks with salt, pepper and jasmine tea dust. Heat sauté pan
with enough canola oil to coat the pan, and then sear tuna steaks until
nicely browned, about 1 minute per side.
To serve, place a mound of the chilled cucumber mixture in the center
of the plate. Ladle the some of the vinaigrette around the outside of the
plate. Slice each tuna steak into 4 pieces and fan across the top of the
cucumbers. Serves 4.
Soy Orange Avocado Viniagrette
2 cups rice vinegar
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
Zest of 1 orange, minced
1/2 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup garlic, minced
1/4 cup Sriracha sauce (Thai hot sauce, available in Asian
section of supermarkets)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 avocado, cubed and drizzled with the juice of one lime
Combine all ingredients except avocado. Adjust to taste and chill. When
ready to serve, fold in avocado.
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2 cups heavy cream
8 ounces butterscotch candy, pulverized in a food processor
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 sheets gelatin (available at Make-A-Cake
in Bellaire, 6218 Evergreen St.)
1 pint fresh blueberries
8 mint leaves
In a sauce pan, combine 2 cups heavy cream and pulverized butterscotch and heat until butterscotch melts and cream rises once. Remove from heat.
In another saucepan, combine 2 cups heavy cream and vanilla extract. Heat until simmering. Add gelatin sheets and simmer 1 more minute.
Combine the contents of both saucepans and simmer 1 more minute. Pour
into serving glasses. Chill in refrigerator. Before serving, garnish with fresh
blueberries and mint leaves. Serves 8
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