Mavericks in the Kitchen at Chez Hawkins

Our multi-course menu is inspired by our clients all over the world.

Welcome to Chez Hawkins & the Maverick Creative Lounge! Oh, let’s not be so formal: Spread out a blanket, take a seat at the picnic table, or settle in anywhere you like. We’re just glad to see you after so long – and could it possibly be a nicer day?  

Inspired by our hunger for a wonderful spring and summer after the year just past, we asked some clients for recipes to suit the season. They responded with verve, cocktails to tickle the palate, and enough dishes for a four-course menu, including chicken two ways (no wonder there’s a shortage).  

Remember, as celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey says, “You #%&@ ∞¶£# †∂∑∆¢%£!”  Or, as Julia Child put it more delicately, “To be a good cook you have to have a love of the good, a love of hard work, and a love of creating.” How about this? Bon appétit! 

Princess Jasmine Cocktail | The Shelbourne, Dublin

Have your garden and drink it too, with this flowery gem from Sean McGoldrick, manager of the historic hotel’s many bars and lounges. The new “The Shelbourne at Home Collection” features tastes of the good life fashioned for the times, with classics such as the hotel’s legendary Beef Wellington paired with creative cocktails like this one to go. 

Ingredients 

• 1.5 oz Monkey 47 Gin 
• 1.5oz Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto 
• 2.5 oz Albarino Wine
• 2 oz Jasmine Cordial 
• 1 oz Water 
• Garnish with edible flowers

Mix gin, liqueur, wine, and water in the cocktail shaker. Add ice and mix for about 15 seconds. Strain into coupe glassware. Add a large ice cube and garnish with edible flowers. 

My Guacamole | Palmaïa, The House of AïA, Riviera Maya 

With a name like “My Guacamole,” you could easily pass off this lusciousness as your own, but all credit goes to the team at Palmaïa, The House of AïA, which has tweaked tradition with creative additions.  

Ingredients 

• 5 Hass avocados, ripe
• 3 limes 
• 2 sweet limes 
• 2 tablespoons of good quality extra virgin olive oil 
• 4 pomegranates 
• 1 fresh serrano pepper
• 2 bunches of cilantro 
  1 tablespoon cacao nibs 
  1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger 
  Sea salt to taste   

Chop onion, cilantro, ginger and serrano peppers. Peel avocados and remove seeds, mash roughly in a bowl. Remove pomegranate seeds. Mix mashed avocados, chopped vegetables, half of the pomegranate seeds, lime juice, and half of the cacao nibs. Season with sea salt and olive oil to taste. Serve in a bowl, sprinkle the rest of cacao nibs, pomegranates and some cilantro leaves. Serve with tortilla chips! 

McCarthy Salad | The Beverly Hills Hotel, Los Angeles 

Dine like a star wherever you are with this famed dish from the Polo Lounge at the most glam address in 90210. Best served in a big bowl, the dish is named for Neil McCarthy, a regular at the now-Dorchester Collection property who was captain of a local polo team in the 1940s and one day requested a salad with very specific ingredients. No pinches or dashes required: The signature recipe has remained untouched since the day it was born.   

For the salad 

• ¼ head iceberg lettuce 
• ½ head romaine lettuce 
• ½ cup diced, grilled free-range chicken 
• ½ cup diced, roasted red beets 
• ¼ cup free-range egg yolk
• ¼ cup free-range egg white 
• ½ cup finely diced aged cheddar cheese 
• ½ cup applewood-smoked bacon 
• ¼ cup diced tomato 
• ¼ cup diced avocado 

For the dressing 

• 1 cup balsamic vinegar 
• 1 shallot 
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar 
• 3 cloves roasted garlic 
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 
• Salt and black pepper to season 
• Canola oil 

To Prepare 

Artfully arrange the salad ingredients in a bowl. Place the dressing ingredients in a blender and drizzle in the canola oil to emulsify. Add the dressing and enjoy! 

Harmony Hills Farm Chicken, Chanterelles, Cauliflower and Vin Jaune Cream | The Point, Saranac Lake, New York

Over more than a decade and a half after departing his native Réunion Island off the coast of Madagascar, Executive Chef Loic Leperlier has cooked in Michelin-starred and Relais & Chateaux hotels and resorts from Paris to Ireland, and Texas to Bora Bora. Now right at home at The Point in the Adirondacks, he combines French cuisine with his Réunion roots accented by Indian, African and Chinese influences. The sophisticated dish may require a lot of steps, but it’s worth the climb. 

Harmony Hills Farm Chicken  

• 4 boneless chicken breasts 
• Salt 
• White peppercorn 
• 4 sprigs of savory
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoon of truffle juice 

Season the chicken evenly. Place it in a sous vide bag with savory, bay and truffle juice. 

Cook in water bath at 148F for 40 min. 

Chanterelles  

• 40 button chanterelles 
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil 
• 1 tablespoon of fine diced shallot 
• 1 crushed garlic clove 
• 1 sprig of thyme 
• Salt 

Clean quickly in a water bath then trim the chanterelles and put them to dry on a paper towel. In a sauté pan add shallot, garlic sauté for about a minute then add chanterelles season to taste. Set aside. 

Cauliflower couscous  

• 1 medium purple cauliflower
• 2 lemons 
• Salt 
• Pepper 
• Olive oil    

Pick some nice florets and thinly slice them with a mandolin about 20 slices. Marinate them with juice from one lemon, salt, pepper and olive oil. Then, roughly chop the rest of the cauliflower, and with a food processor blend until couscous-like texture. Season to taste with the zest of remaining lemon and juice. Set aside. 

Cauliflower puree 

• 4 cups of cauliflower (florets and heart) 
• 2 cups of cream 
• 2 garlic cloves 
• 2 sprigs of thyme 
• Salt  
• Pepper 

Chopped the cauliflower in the same size chunks then set them in a pot with the rest of the ingredients. Lightly season. Let it cook down until cream is almost evaporated. Blend until smooth texture, season to taste. Set aside. 

Garlic scape   

• 8 garlic scapes 
• ½ cup of chicken stock 
• 1 tablespoon of butter 
• 1 sprig of thyme 

Melt the butter in a sauté pan, add the scape and thyme, sauté for about a minute on medium heat. Add chicken stock and let simmer. Reduce until scapes are glazed. 

Vin Jaune cream  

• 5 cups of homemade Brown chicken stock
• 2 julienned shallots 
• 1 tablespoon of butter 
• 3 garlic gloves 
• 2 sprig of thyme 
• 1 cup of Vin Jaune 
• 2 cups of cream 

Reduce chicken stock to two cups. In a separate saucepan melt butter. Sauté the shallots, garlic, thyme until golden brown. Add the Vin Jaune reduced it to ¾ down add reduced chicken stock and cream. Reduce it to desired consistency. Season to taste. 

Japanese Fried Chicken | Seabourn, Somewhere at Sea 

When you sail every continent like Seabourn does, the sky’s the limit when it comes to gastronomy. Here’s a simplified version of a new dish featured onboard at Earth & Ocean, inspired by Chef Anton Egger’s trips to Japan and Thailand.   

Ingredients  

Chicken Breasts 

• 2 pieces skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 6 large chunks 
• ½ cup / 60 grams all-purpose flour 
• 2 whole eggs, beaten 
• 1 cup / 120 grams panko breadcrumbs 
• 2 tablespoons shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7 x spice mix) – available online 
• Pinch coarse kosher salt 
• 2 cups / 500 ml vegetable oil / for frying 

Red Thai Curry Sauce 

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
• 1 ½ tablespoons red Thai curry paste 
• 1 ½ cups / 350 ml coconut milk 
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce 
• ½ teaspoon palm sugar / or white sugar 
• 1 piece kaffir lime leaves (ideally fresh) 

Wilted Spinach 

• 4 handful fresh baby spinach, washed and drained 
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil 
• pinch coarse kosher salt
• pinch fresh ground black pepper 

To garnish the dish… 

(If you prefer not to garnish the dish simply leave out Steps 3 and 4.) 

Blistered Tomatoes 

• 1 handful cherry tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 
• pinch coarse kosher salt 
• pinch fresh ground black pepper 

Oven Roasted Shiitake (Mushrooms) 

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 
• pinch coarse kosher salt 
• pinch fresh ground black pepper 

Jasmine Rice 

• 2 side bowls cooked jasmine rice / or any other rice  

Let’s cook it… 

Step 1- Preheat the Oven 

Preheat oven to 425° Fahrenheit / 220° Celsius. 

Step 2 – Make the Red Curry Sauce 

Heat up the vegetable oil in a medium-size skillet on medium heat. Add red curry paste, sizzle for a few seconds, and then pour in coconut milk and bring to the boil. Add kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce and a pinch of sugar, reduce and simmer for 3-4 minutes; and set aside. Tip – if you like it saltier, add more fish sauce; if you like it sweeter, add more sugar. 

Step 3 – Make the Blistered Tomatoes 

Wash the cherry tomatoes and dry with paper towel. In a bowl, combine all ingredients and toss to coat. Transfer the tomatoes to a baking sheet pan layered with aluminum foil. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the skin starts to blister of the tomatoes, remove from oven and set aside. 

Step 4 – Oven Roast the Shiitake Mushrooms 

Wash the mushrooms and then dry with paper towel. Leave mushrooms whole, just trim the stems a little. In a bowl combine all ingredients and toss to coat. Transfer the mushrooms to a baking sheet pan layered with aluminum foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, turning mushrooms once or twice. Once done, remove from oven and set aside. 

Step 5 – Prepare the Chicken 

Season the chicken breast pieces with kosher salt.  

Prepare three dishes: 

• one with the flour
• one with the eggs 
• one with the panko breadcrumbs combined with the shichimi togarashi 

One by one, dredge each chicken piece in the flour, then the egg wash, then the panko-spice mix, then set aside. 

Step 6 – Fry the Chicken 

In a large skillet, heat about a 1/4 inch (1 cm) of vegetable oil on medium heat. Fry the chicken pieces in batches for about 3 minutes per side or until they are cooked through and crisp on the outside. (The internal temperature should reach 165 degrees F / 74 degrees C.) Transfer the finished chicken pieces on paper towels to drain. 

Step 7 – Cook the Spinach 

Heat a large skillet over high heat until hot. Add the sesame oil and the spinach and toss quickly with oil to coat. When spinach is just wilted, about 2 minutes, remove from heat and season with salt and fresh pepper. Discard any access liquid of the spinach and set aside. 

Step 8 – Plate the Dish 

Arrange the spinach onto the serving plate. Place the fried chicken onto the spinach. Spoon red curry sauce around the spinach. Arrange the blistered tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms onto the plate. Garnish with some fried sage or fried basil. Enjoy! Serve with jasmine rice on the side. 

Oven Baked Peaches ‘n Vanilla Gelato | Seabourn, Somewhere Else at Sea

Peach season in The Peach State – aka, Georgia – runs May to September, so if you can’t find seasonal fruit for this mouthwatering dessert from Chef Anton “Tony” Egger at the moment, you should be able to soon. Either way, this one is worth the wait.  

Ingredients 

For the Peaches 

• 6 pieces fresh, very ripe peaches – halved and pitted 
• 6 teaspoons brown sugar 
• 2 tablespoons butter, unsalted – cut into 12 small pieces 

For Serving 

• 2 scoops vanilla gelato / or greek yogurt / or whipped cream 
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar 

Let’s cook it… 

Step 1 – Preheat the Oven 

Preheat oven to 400°F / 200°C 

Step 2 – Prepare the peaches 

Wash the peaches under cold water, cut in half, and remove the stone. Transfer the peaches to a baking sheet pan layered with aluminum foil, open face up. Spoon ½ teaspoon brown sugar in the center of the peaches and place a small piece of butter on top of the brown sugar. Place peaches in the oven and bake uncovered in mid-shelf position until the peaches are nicely roasted and fork-tender, about 10 min. Remove from the oven and let over cool. Keep the peach roasting liquid; which is left underneath the peaches on the aluminum foil. 

Step 3 – Serve the Peaches 

Transfer the warm roasted peaches onto a serving plate. Spoon the roasting liquid on top of peaches. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with vanilla gelato, (or greek yogurt or whipped cream) on the side. 

Tip – Top the peaches with one small round of fresh black pepper from the mill (adults only) and sprinkle little with Maldon Sea Salt flakes. This will give this dessert an extra kick. Enjoy… 

Mezcal Smoky Tea | Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan

Principe Bar at Dorchester Collection’s address in Milan may be a long way from the agave fields of Mexico, but that doesn’t mean Bar Manager Daniele Confalonieri’s team can’t stir up a mean mescal cocktail – or a nice one. 

Ingredients 

• 50ml mescal 
• 25ml savoia blue black tea 
• 20ml orange liqueur 
• 15ml agave sour syrup 
• Dash of egg white 

To Prepare 

Shake all ingredients and pour over ice. Serve in old fashion glass garnished with lime and amarena.