In the Market Basket
One game hen
Four 3-oz salmon filets
Two 8-oz pork loin chops
Israeli couscous
Yukon Gold potatoes
One parsnip
Two Delicata squash
Two orange bell peppers
Three Granny Smith apples
One Grapefruit
Lemons
Toasted pumpkin (pepita) seeds
Garlic
Two yellow onions
One leek
One scallion
One shallot
Fresh thyme
Fresh sage leaves
Basil
Black peppercorns
White pepper
One cinnamon stick
Red chile flakes
Sugar
White wine
Rice wine vinegar
Milk, half and half, or cream
Butter

It may seem like the dream job for someone who loves to cook and appreciates wine, being the executive chef for a wildly successful family-owned winery in the Napa Valley. No worries about paying guests or nightly specials, no staying up late at night balancing the books or taking inventory. You get to spend the time cooking for an appreciative audience without the hassles that drive many chefs out of the business. Right? We went to Chef Jeffrey Starr for the answers.

Starr has been executive chef at Trinchero Family Estates for five years, following a career that included running his own catering company. He came to the Napa Valley to open Table 29 restaurant (now known, under different owners, as Don Giovanni) with Jonathan Waxman and Steve Singer and he has simply never left. Prior to that his resume included a degree in food science, stints at Dakota’s and the Crescent Club, both in Dallas and as Mark Miller’s first sous chef at the now famous Coyote Café.

While the notion of the role of winery chef may seem bucolic and serene, Starr keeps busy with private dinners entertaining guests and clients of the winery, participating in special events like the Napa Valley Mustard Festival (where he earned the “Critic’s Choice Chef of the Year” award an unprecedented two years in a row), designing menus and food and wine pairings, contributing to cookbooks and newsletters and much more. Does he have days off? Yes. Does he have many of them? Not really. But then it helps when you have a job you love, in the place where you know you want to live.
What follows is what Starr did with the items we gave him in this issue's Market Basket. He had an hour and he was allowed to use some basic kitchen staples, but we drew the line at fancy commercial equipment or extra ingredients you wouldn't find at home. From that point forward it was just the chef and his imagination. Read
on and see what he came up with.

Potato-Crusted Salmon Filet on Israeli Couscous with Sweet Orange Pepper Butter

For the CousCous
1/2 cup Israeli couscous
3 tbsp finely diced (brunoise) orange bell pepper
3 tbsp finely diced yellow onion
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp chopped scallion
2 tbsp basil chiffonade
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
Salt and pepper, to taste

For the Sweet Orange Pepper Butter
1 orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup white wine
2 tbsp chopped shallot
2 thyme sprigs
6 tbsp butter
6 black peppercorns
Salt and white pepper, to taste

Potato-Crusted Salmon
4 3-oz salmon filets
1 Yukon Gold potato
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper, to taste

Bring 2 cups of water to boil in a saucepan. Add the Israeli couscous and cook until al dente. Pour through a colander and shock the couscous with water to stop the cooking. Toss the couscous with olive oil to prevent it from clumping.
In a sauté pan, sauté the bell pepper, onion, and garlic in butter. Add the couscous, scallion, and basil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Combine the shallot, orange bell pepper, thyme, peppercorns, and white wine in a saucepan. Simmer until 2 tablespoons of liquid remain. Over low heat, whisk in the butter a tablespoon at a time. Strain out the solids and discard. Season the butter sauce with salt and white pepper.

Peel the potato and spin fine potato strands on the smallest blade of a Japanese vegetable turner (available in Asian markets or cookware stores) or by hand using a small, sharp knife. Season the salmon filets with salt and pepper and top with enough potato strands to cover the top surface of the salmon. Heat the olive oil and butter in a non-stick sauté pan until the butter foams. Carefully place the salmon filet, potato side down, into the pan. Cook
until the potato strands are light golden brown and crispy. Turn the salmon and finish cooking.

To Serve
Mound the couscous into the center of two warm plates. Top the couscous with two stacked salmon filets. Pour the butter sauce around the couscous.

For the Apple Chutney
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced 1/2”
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tbsp red chile flakes
1 tsp salt

FOR THE GARLIC MASHED YUKON GOLD POTATOES
3/4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes,
peeled and diced 1/2”
1 cup milk, heated
6 garlic cloves, peeled
3 tbsp butter
Salt and white pepper, to taste

PORK LOIN CHOP
2 8-oz pork loin chops
Salt and pepper, to taste

FOR THE PARSNIP CHIPS
1 parsnip, peeled
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Combine the sugar, rice wine vinegar, water, lemon juice, cinnamon stick, red chile flakes, and salt in a saucepan. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes to combine flavors. Taste for proper acid, sugar balance and spice. Add more sugar, vinegar, or red chile flakes, to taste. Add the apple and simmer, covered until the apple is cooked but still slightly crisp. Let cool.

Combine the potatoes and garlic in a saucepan and add enough water to cover. Bring to a low boil and cook potatoes until tender. Using a colander, drain off the water, return the potatoes to the saucepan, mash, and add the milk and butter. Season with salt and white pepper.

Using a vegetable or potato peeler, cut long, thin parsnip ribbons. Deep fry in 300° (F) vegetable oil until golden brown. Remove to an absorbent towel to drain and crisp.
Note: Deep frying vegetable chips can be tricky. The vegetables will be crispy only after all the moisture is expelled. If the oil is too hot, the vegetable will burn before it gets crisp. The oil is at the proper temperature when all the moisture is expelled (water bubbles cease) and the vegetable has changed only slightly in color.

Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. Grill over a medium fire until done to your liking.

To Serve
Scoop the mashed potatoes into the center of two warm plates. Lean the pork chops against the mashed potatoes. Top with the apple chutney and parsnip chips.

THE GAME HEN
1 game hen
1/4 grapefruit, peel left on
1 lemon, cut into quarters, peel left on
4 garlic cloves, peeled
4 thyme sprigs
1 onion, peeled and sliced 1/2” thick
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

FOR THE SAGE BROWN BUTTER
4 tbsp butter
5 sage leaves, finely chopped or chiffonade
Black pepper, to taste

Thoroughly rinse and dry the game hen inside and out. Season the inside with salt and pepper. Stuff the body cavity with the grapefruit wedge, lemon, garlic, and thyme. Truss. Brush a roasting pan with the olive oil. Arrange the onion slices on the roasting pan and place the game hen on the onions. Roast in a preheated 400° (F) oven until done, about 30 minutes.

Heat the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat. Continue heating until butter browns. Do not let burn. Add the sage and black pepper.

To Serve

Split the game hen into 2 pieces through the backbone. Place the oven caramelized onions in the center of 2 warm plates. Top with the game hen. Spoon sage brown butter over the game hen.