Denis Culinary Tours

Ingredients 2 puff pastry rolls 1.5 pd fresh salmon 4 slices of raw ham or prosciutto 2 fennel 1 shallot 1 lemon 15 cl of white wine 1 egg 100 g butter 10 cl cream 4 pinches of anise salt, pepper Melt the chopped fennel in a little butter with 2 pinches of anise and lemon juice. Salt and pepper, and cook 20 minutes. Add the cream and let reduce. Preheat the oven to 420. Fill the pan with puff pastry, place the slice ham in rosace, half of the salmon, the fennel and the left of the salmon. Cover another with the second puff pastry, cut to the size of the pie. Brush with beaten egg and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 360 and cook for 35 more minutes. Reduce the white wine with chopped shallot. Filter and bring to boil. Remove from the heat and add the butter and pepper.  Enjoy!

You probably don’t think of Independence Square as the dining mecca of the Kansas City metro area.  But one talented guy is doing his best to make you think of taking the short trek to Independence if you’ve not been there before.  Chef Bobby Stearns has been serving up fine cuisine in very contemporary surroundings at Ophelia’s for the last two plus years.   He started really young (junior high!) and worked in several restaurants in every possible capacity, from washing dishes to serving to frying.   The works, in other words.   That includes corporate owned restaurants, a country club, local places from KT’s Fried Chicken to head chef of Taste in Overland Park.   He says a good chef needs all that experience in all those different places – they are where he learned attention to detail, cooking clean as he goes, and meticulous organization.   He also went to Broadmoor Technical Center in high school where he studied in their culinary progr...

Twelve Days of Fondue Deals Monday, December 1 Ugly Holiday Sweater Night- Show us your most awful Holiday sweater!  Everyone wearing a Holiday sweater tonight will receive a card good for a free chocolate fondue on your next visit! Tuesday, December 2 Free split of champagne with the purchase of 2 four-course combinations. Wednesday, December 3 Sing your favorite holiday song and receive a prize! Thursday, December 4 St. Jude double bonus… Donate $10 and receive two St. Jude $20 Donate and Dine Cards Friday, December 5 Double bonus day!  Receive 2 $30 bonus certificates with the purchase of $100 in gift cards. Saturday, December 6 50% off any bottle of wine with the purchase of any 2 four-course dinners Sunday, December 7 We will be offering our Family Feast special all day – cheese fondue, entrée and chocolate fondue for $25 per person. Monday, Decemb...

In grade school, I was a voracious reader and I loved books where fancy people ate “hors de vors” before dinner.  It was years before my mom told me, laughing, that I meant hors d'œuvre and this was simply  “orderve.”  Thankfully, I’ve become a bit smarter the older I’ve gotten and the more I’ve eaten.  Still not sure I like someone laughing over my pronunciation, however. Realistically in Kansas City, it’s probably not terribly necessary to know what poutine is (fat hand-cut fries, cheese curds, with hot gravy poured on top) or how to pronounce it (peu-tin, kinda like the Russian president) since we don’t live in Quebec.  (However, I just must add I can think of three or four restaurants and a food truck that do serve a mean poutine.  But then, I’ve never been to Quebec.) Back to my point, have you ever felt intimidated, shy, or just plain reluctant to ask what something is in a restaurant?  Or worse, have you pretended you know, only to ha...