TASTINGS

David Bruno has been the executive chef at Cripple Creek in Rhinebeck since it reopened its door in January of last year under new ownership. Bruno’s fusion of American regional cuisine with French and Asian influences has earned Cripple Creek a four-star rating in the Poughkeepsie Journal and netted “Best Restaurant” honors in our 1999 Readers’ Survey.
A Culinary Institute graduate, Bruno was executive chef at the Ardsley Country Club and the Mayflower Inn in Washington, CT before moving to Rhinebeck. I met Bruno on a luminous late September morning and picked his culinary brain while we chatted on the outdoor patio of Cripple Creek, ranging from his recipe for grilled Filet with lentil Ragout to the change in appetites that mirrors the change in season.—Brian K. Mahoney
Bruno on seasonal appetite changes:
When the seasons change, whether people realize it or not, their mood changes. Their feeling about food changes. People eat more beef. I try and use and that when I create the fall menu. You have richer items—more beef, more game. People want to eat more fat. Whether they think it’s true or not they’re attracted to that. In the summer, I try and lighten things up a bit. In the fall and winter, people seem to be interested in eating a heavier dish.
On buying Filet:
Go into a market with a reputable butcher department and just talk to them. Otherwise, if you’re in a pinch, you can go right ahead and pick something off the shelf.
What you’re looking for in beef is a marbling; which is some veins of fat running through the meat. That tends to melt while you’re cooking it, and that, in turn, separates the fiber and that’s what makes it tender. Filet, on the whole, is a really lean piece of meat. It just happens to be a very tender piece of meat because of where it happens to be placed on the animal. The muscle doesn’t get a lot of exercise.
On substituting for Filet:
You can substitute whatever the consumer is used to eating. Skirt steak, flank steak and strip steak are all options. All of these are definitely going to be different, but if you’re familiar with it then you know how you’ve cooked it before and you feel comfortable with it and it’s within your price parameters.
On paring wine with the dish:
You want to get the biggest wine you can afford to go with this dish. And big meaning not expensive, meaning a big grape varietal, which tends to be Cabernet. Cabernet goes well with rich dishes. And what we have here is a very rich dish. We have cheese, nuts, beef and lentils. All of this in combination creates a dish that you need a big wine to cut through. That’s what going to give you the balance—a wine that has some acidity, a wine that has some tannin—a wine that’s going to be able to cut through the richness of this dish.

Grilled Filet of Beef with Maytag Blue Cheese-Walnut Crust on French Green Lentil Ragout and Chanterelles

Ingredients:
2-8 oz. Filets of beef, cleaned (or substitute cut of your choice)

For Crust
4 oz. Maytag Blue Cheese
(or substitute any blue cheese)
2 oz. Unseasoned bread crumbs
1 oz. Chopped walnuts

For the Ragout
8 oz. French lentils (or substitute brown lentils)
1 oz. Bacon, small diced
½ tsp. Garlic, chopped
½ cup Onions, chopped
½ oz. Tomato paste
¼ cup Celeraic (AKA Celery root), small diced
¼ cup Carrots, small diced
¼ cups Leeks, small diced
1 tsp. Thyme, fresh
1 tsp. Rosemary, fresh
½ oz. Butter
Brown stock or Chicken broth, to cover
Salt and Pepper to taste

4 oz. Chanterelles (or substitute any wild mushroom)

Method:
1. Sauté vegetables in butter for 2 minutes, add tomato paste, and cook for 2 minutes more.

2. Add lentils and all other ingredients, bring to a boil and lower to a simmer, cover, and cook until lentils are tender, about 30-45 minutes. (Note: After you wash the lentils, spread them out on a flat surface and check for impurities—small stones.)

3. After the lentils are cooked, finish with Rosemary and Thyme and reserve in warm place. (Note: The lentil Ragout can be made one day in advance to save time.)

4. Make the Blue Cheese crust by mixing all the ingredients together and reserving.

5. Sauté the Chanterelles in 1 tsp. butter or oil (more if needed) until cooked, 6-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and reserve.

6. Grill Filet to desired doneness, top with Blue Cheese crust and place in 350o oven until cheese begins to melt.

7. Serve Filet with lentil Ragout and Chanterelles.