Your Kobe knock-off is only one cow away! Chefs seem to have a case of made Kobe disease lately

Art Culinaire, Fall, 2004 by Carol M. Newman

12 petite purple carrots*
12 petite beets*
12 petite bronze fennel*
12 petite breakfast radish*
12 petite purple onions*
12 petite leeks*
1 cup black trumpet mushrooms, sauteed
1 cup porcini mushrooms, stemmed and sauteed
Extra virgin olive oil as needed
Salt and pepper to taste

For the Kobe beef:

14 ounces Kobe beef strip loin, thinly sliced
Extra virgin olive oil as needed
Salt and pepper to taste

For the garnish:

Petite leeks*
Parsley sprigs
Black trumpet mushrooms, sauteed

* All petite vegetables are available through The Chef's Garden at (800) 289-4644.

RELATED ARTICLE: Kobe Beef with Sea Urchin and Frozen Yogurt (Serves 5)

FABIO TRABOCCHI

Castello di Butrio

Marco Felluga

Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy 1999

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

directions

For the sea urchin jelly: Cut open urchins, remove roe and reserve urchin liquid. Rinse roe in salted ice water, dry on paper towels and set aside in refrigerator. Strain urchin liquid through a double-layered cheesecloth-lined fine-mesh sieve. Set aside. In a pot, add fish stock and agar-agar; stir until agar-agar is dissolved. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and stir in urchin liquid. Pour into a shallow dish to 1/16-inch deep, reserving remaining jelly mixture over low heat. Refrigerate dish of jelly until set. In a bowl, gently toss roe, olive oil and yuzu juice together. Reserve five large pieces of roe to serve. Spread remaining roe evenly over jelly and pour another layer of jelly mixture over top. Refrigerate until set.

For the frozen yogurt: In a blender, puree blanched basil and half and half until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. In a bowl, combine basil mixture, salt, sugar and ice cream stabilizer, stirring until salt and sugar are dissolved. Add yogurt and basil leaves and stir into mixture. Pour in an ice cream machine and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Set aside in freezer.

For the potato pancake: In a bowl, mix egg, flour, milk and cream. Add mashed potatoes and mix until incorporated. Fold in whipped egg whites and season with salt and pepper to taste. In a nonstick pan over medium heat, brush pan with oil and spread batter to 1/4-inch thick; cook until golden brown on both sides. Cool on a wire rack. Cut pancakes into five 1X2-inch strips and set aside.

For the Kobe beef: Toss Kobe in olive oil, fleur de sel and pepper to taste.

To serve: Place Kobe beef on potato pancake strips. With a spoon, scoop sea urchin jelly onto beef and drape reserved roe over jelly. Top with a quenelle of frozen yogurt. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil; sprinkle with fleur de sel, and garnish with basil and chervil.

Note: Potato pancake recipe will yield approximately 18 pieces.

ingredients

For the sea urchin jelly:

11 sea urchins
1 cup fish stock
1 tablespoon agar-agar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon yuzu juice

For the frozen yogurt:

2 ounces blanched basil leaves
4 ounces half and half
Pinch of salt
Pinch of granulated sugar
Pinch of ice cream stabilizer
6 ounces plain yogurt
1 ounce basil leaves, thinly sliced