The image of food served in private clubs is a composite of out-of-date French elaboration and unadorned comfort foods. But the Clubland Cooking served these days in the cavernous, Gothic, 9th-floor dining room of the University Club is nothing like that. It’s modern American fare that, in the words of the man who creates it, “is meant to offer the same variety, quality and imagination as the city’s fine-dining restaurants.”
Jeffrey Troiola, 33, the University Club’s chef for the last year and half, is a thoroughly American chef. Raised in the western suburbs, he is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and various kitchens including Cricket’s here and the Jerome Hotel in Aspen.
He responded to an invitation to “change the image of club food” when he accepted the position, understanding that the change would have to be gradual. “My aim,” he says, “was to replace each menu item with something good enough to make the members forget the past.”
This did not mean eliminating the high quality meat and fish the club had been serving. Rather, the chef has concentrated on providing interchangeable elements that give each presentation a fresh look and distinctive taste.
“When I came, the kitchen used about half-a-dozen garnishes and sauces. Now we have 40 to choose from.”
Here is what he does with some of them.
SEARED VENISON MEDALLIONS WITH CORN AND MUSHROOM SALSA AND BARBECUE SAUCE
Four servings
For the salsa:
2 ears fresh corn or 1 cup frozen kernels, thawed
3 or 4 wild mushrooms, such as chanterelle or oyster or 6 shiitake
1 poblano pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon finely diced sun-dried tomatoes
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh marjoram
1/4 teaspoon roasted garlic pure*
1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon sherry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon adobo sauce*
For the venison:
1 pound fresh spinach, washed and stemmed
12 medallions (2 ounces each) venison or 8 small medallions beef filet (3 ounces each)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup barbecue sauce, homemade preferred, heated
* Available in specialty stores and some supermarkets. The veal stock is frozen.
1. Prepare the salsa. Cut the corn kernels from the cob. Heat a large saut pan, cast iron if possible, until smoking. Add the kernels and dry roast them, tossing continuously, until smoky and dark, 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Clean the mushrooms (discard stems if using shiitake) and dice to yield 1/2 cup. Roast the poblano pepper over a burner or under the broiler until blackened all over. Peel off the black portion under cold running water, cut the pepper in half and seed it, dice one half and reserve the other for another use.
3. In a small pan, saut the mushrooms with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil until they are well cooked, about 10 minutes.
4. Transfer the mushrooms to a mixing bowl. Add the corn, diced poblano, remaining olive oil, sun-dried tomatoes, marjoram, garlic puree, lime juice, sherry vinegar, salt and adobo. Mix well and set aside until needed.
5. Prepare the spinach. Place the leaves in a large skillet, cover and place over medium heat until the leaves just begin to wilt. Set aside.
6. Lightly oil a saut pan, cast iron preferred, and place over high heat until it begins to smoke. Add the medallions (in two batches if one will overcrowd the pan) and cook to rare or medium rare, 3 to 4 minutes, turning once. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Make a mound of spinach in the center of each of 4 warm plates. Prop 3 venison or 2 beef medallions against each mound, spoon a tablespoon or so of salsa onto the center of the spinach mound and drizzle barbecue sauce around the border of the plate. Serve with zinfandel or syrah wine.
Note: Chef Troiola mounts his spinach and venison on wild rice pancakes.
PORCINI-DUSTED SEA SCALLOPS WITH WHITE BEAN SALAD AND FRIZZLED BEET
Six servings
For the beet:
1 large red beet
1/2 cup flour, Wondra preferred
Oil for frying
For the scallops:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds sea scallops, 10 to 20 size, unsoaked or “dry pac” with side mussel cut away.
4 egg whites, lightly beaten
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup porcini “dust” (dried porcini mushrooms blended to a powder in a spice mill or coffee grinder)
For the white bean salad:
3 shallots, finely minced
1 cup sliced porcini mushrooms*
3 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup cooked white beans
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh basil
1/3 cup peeled, seeded and diced tomato
1 head frise or chicory lettuce, washed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces.
3 to 4 tablespoons basil oil**
* Substitute portobello mushrooms for porcini
** Available in specialty markets and some supermarkets.
1. Peel and finely julienne the beet, using a mandoline if available. Toss beet strips with the flour in a bowl, pour into a strainer and shake off excess flour. Heat oil in a pan to 350 degrees and fry the strips in small batches. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
2. Prepare the scallops. Pat the scallops dry, brush them lightly with egg white, season with salt and pepper and coat with porcini dust. Set aside.
3. Prepare the beans. In a medium saut pan, saut the shallots and mushrooms in the olive oil until soft. Add the beans and cook only to warm them. Remove pan from the heat and stir in the basil, tomato, salt and pepper to taste. Make a bed of frize on 6 plates.
4. Heat a saut pan lightly coated with oil. Add the scallops and cook only until just firm, 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Spoon white bean salad over and around the frise. Position the scallops around the salad and drizzle the basil oil outside the scallops. Top each portion with a small mound of frizzled beet. Serve with a chilled sauvignon blanc or viognier.
