Enjoy a taste of Daniel Boulud's Miami-inspired recipes

Looking for a taste of Miami during the second half of the Sunshine Double? Renowned chef Daniel Boulud has served up three exclusive recipes to Baseline inspired by the Magic City to help your cause.

A native of Lyon, France, Boulud is an acclaimed culinary authority of 40 years in the U.S. From Michelin stars to James Beard Foundation awards, the 66-year-old’s signature contemporary take on soulful French fare has complemented an ambition to continue evolving his culinary footprint in propelling the chef and restauranteur to a career defined by longevity. One might say it’s a Grand Slam winning formula akin to the ATP’s Big Three.

He's no stranger to the Miami scene, either. In 2010, Boulud added to his global empire by opening the Mediterranean-inspired Boulud Sud Miami on Biscayne Blvd. inside the JW Marriott Marquis Miami. Twelve years later, it's thriving stronger than ever.

Below are a trio of dishes sure to evoke the essence of standing in Boulud’s kitchen. Ready, plate!

Tarbais Bean Puree

• 2 cups dried Tarbais beans
• 3 quarts chicken stock
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 4 pieces
• 1 celery stalk cut in 4 pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• Salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar
• Freshly ground white pepper

Cod Confit

• 2 cups kosher salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 lemons, finely grated zest
• 4 limes, finely grated zest
• 1 2 pound skinless, boneless cod filet preferably from the thicker end
• 3 cups olive oil
• 1 sachet (1 clove garlic, peeled, 2 sprigs thyme, 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon each white peppercorns and coriander seeds, and a pinch chili flakes wrapped in cheesecloth and secured with butcher’s twine)

To Finish

• 1 tablespoon chicken stock
• 1/4 cup small-diced manouri cheese
• 1/4 cup chorizo, cut into a small dice
• 4 teaspoons lilliput capers, drained
• 24 small flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1 pinch Korean dried chili threads
• 2 teaspoons Marcona almonds, finely chopped
• 1 pinch of piment d’Espelette

Method

For the Tarbais Bean Puree

Rinse the Tarbais beans with cold water until it runs clear. Cover the beans with the chicken stock and refrigerate overnight. Stud the onion with the cloves. Transfer the beans and stock to a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan; add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a low, steady simmer; cover.

Cook, occasionally stirring and skimming the foam that rises to the surface, until the beans are tender, about 4 hours. Season with salt in the final 15 minutes of cooking. Scoop and reserve 1/2 cup of the cooked beans for garnish.

Continue cooking the remaining beans for another 45 to 60 minutes, until very soft.

Pick and discard the vegetables. With a slotted spoon, transfer the beans to a blender and mix with enough stock to form a thick puree. Stream in the olive oil and vinegar. Pass through a fine-meshed sieve, season with salt and pepper, and reserve, chilled.

For the Cod Confit

In a nonreactive container, mix the salt, sugar, and zests. Add the cod and pack the salt mixture around to coat completely. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Remove the cod; rinse off and discard the salt mixture, then pat dry. Reserve, chilled.

In a 3- saucepan, combine the olive oil and sachet, cover, and warm over low heat for 30 minutes. Remove and discard the sachet; set aside.

To Finish

Rest the cod at room temperature for 10 minutes and heat the prepared confit oil to 165°F. Submerge the cod in the oil and begin checking for doneness after 8 minutes by piercing the flesh with a cake tester. When the fish is easily pierced and the fillet shows signs of separating, remove it from the oil (the internal temperature should reach 135°F) and keep warm.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm the bean puree. In a small sauté pan, bring the chicken stock to a simmer, add the reserved beans, and toss to warm.

For each serving, spread a spoonful of the puree into the center of a warm bowl or plate. Gently break the warm cod into large flakes and place 4 to 5 flakes on top of the puree. Arrange some of the whole beans with a few pieces of manouri cheese around the perimeter. Sprinkle the chorizo, capers, parsley, dried chili threads, and chopped almonds on top of the fish. Sprinkle some piment d’Espelette over everything.

Poached Shrimp

• 2 quarts water
• 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
• 1/2 bulb fennel, roughly chopped
• 1 small carrot, roughly chopped
• 1 lemon, split
• 1 lime, split
• Salt, to taste
• 2 ounces fresh lemon balm stems
• 30 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Marinated Melons

• 7 1/2-inch slices of summer melons (such as watermelon, canary, cantaloupe, casaba, charentais, galia, honeydew, and orange fresh honeydew)
• 7 stems lemon balm springs, chopped
• 2 tablespoon olive oil

Lime Sauce

• 8 limes
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Lime Gelée

• 1 egg white
• 2/3 cup lime juice, reserved from above
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon powdered gelatin (or 1 sheet gelatin)

Charentais Melon Coulis

• 6 ounces ripe charentais melon, roughly chopped (or any melon of your choice)
• 1 sachet [1/2 teaspoon each fennel seeds, coriander seeds and black peppercorns wrapped in cheesecloth and secured with butcher’s twine]
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 pinch of salt

To Finish

• 1/4 cup small lemon balm leaves
• Olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground white pepper

For the Poached Shrimp

In a medium saucepan, bring 2 quarts water to a boil with the onion, celery, carrot, fennel, lemon and lime, stir in the lemon balm stems, season with salt to taste. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve, discarding the vegetables. Chill half of the liquid over ice and return the other half to the same saucepan and bring it back to a boil.  Arrange the shrimp in a single layer in a baking dish and pour the boiling liquid over the shrimp, making sure they are submerged. Cover and steep for 2 minutes, or until the shrimp are cooked through. Strain the shrimp and transfer them to the court bouillon set over ice; stir until chilled. Trim the ends of the shrimp so they can stand. Reserve, chilled.

For the Marinated Melons

Place melon slices in a single layer in a shallow dish, drizzle them with some olive oil and sprinkle the chopped lemon balm over each slice. Cover and refrigerate for minimum 4 hours, or up to 4 days.

For the Lime Sauce

With a vegetable peeler, peel the zest from the limes in long strips. Squeeze and reserve the juice from the limes. Use a paring knife to remove any remaining white pith from the strips. Place the strips in a small saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a simmer. Strain and repeat the process 3 more times. Strain, return the zest to the pan, and add 1/2 cup water and the sugar. Simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Transfer the mixture to a blender with 3 tablespoons of the lime juice and puree until smooth. Stream in the olive oil until emulsified. Pass the purée through a fine-mesh sieve, transfer to a piping bag, and reserve, chilled.

For the Lime Gelée

In a small saucepan, whisk the egg white until frothy, then whisk in the lime juice. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer, allowing the egg white to rise to the surface and clarify the juice. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve. In a separate saucepan, bring 1/2 cup water with the sugar to a simmer until dissolved. Whisk in the strained lime juice and the gelatin, stir to dissolve. Remove from the heat and pour onto a rimmed dinner plate or small baking dish. Refrigerate until firm, then use a 1/2-inch ring cutter to punch out discs of gelée. Reserve, chilled.

For the Charentais Melon Coulis

Place the melon and sachet in a medium sauté pan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring, until the melon begins to break apart and its juice reduces to a syrup, about 5 minutes.

Add the heavy cream, bring to a simmer, and reduce by one-third, about 8 minutes. Discard the sachet, transfer to a blender, add the xanthan gum and salt, and puree until smooth. Pass through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl set over ice. Stir until chilled and thickened. Transfer to a piping bag and reserve, chilled.

To Finish

Season the poached shrimp with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Cut the compressed melon into desired shapes and divide among 6 chilled salad plates. (For the photo, the melon was cut with a ring cutter into half-crescent moon shapes and arranged into a pinwheel.)

For each serving, brush the melon with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stand 5 shrimp around the melon, garnish with several dots of lime sauce, lime gelée and charentais melon coulis, decorate with a few small lemon balm leaves.

Grapefruit Granité

• 1 cup Ruby Red grapefruit juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Sesame Crumble

• ½ cup almond powder
• ½ cup flour
• 3 tablespoons tahini paste
• ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature

Rose Water Chantilly

• 2 teaspoons rose water
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Assembly

• 1 Ruby Red grapefruit; peeled, segmented and diced (mixed with 1 teaspoon honey)
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream
• 3 ounces shredded halva (also known as halva floss and resembles cotton candy; we recommend ordering online from La Boîte or on Amazon)
• 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

Method

Grapefruit Granité

1. Juice 1 cup grapefruit juice and combine with 1 tablespoon of sugar into a small enough container which will create a 1-inch thickness. Place in the freezer for at least 3 hours
2. Remove the frozen grapefruit juice from the freezer. Using the tip of a fork, scrape surface of the frozen juice back and forth to create “snow” - this is called “granité”. Return to the freezer until ready to assemble.

Sesame Crumble

1. Preheat the oven to 350⁰F for the crumble.
2. In a food processor (or by hand), combine all of the ingredients for the sesame crumble and pulse until well-combined. Remove and form into 2 balls, wrap in plastic wrap, and then chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. With your fingers, crumble the dough onto a nonstick sheet pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove and cool completely.

Rose Water Chantilly

1. Combine the rose water, sugar and heavy cream and whip to stiff peaks.

Assembly

1. Cut the top and bottom off the grapefruits and peel them carefully using a sharp knife until no pith (white part) remains (following the shape of the grapefruit). Individually cut out each grapefruit segment and cut each into 3 pieces and mix with 1 teaspoon of honey; reserve.
2. Place one scoop of vanilla ice cream into each sundae or coupe glass (or even a martini glass). Top each scoop with a generous portion of grapefruit segments, followed by granité, crumble and a dollop of rose cream. Pull apart some shredded halva and set it on top. Sprinkle with the black sesame seeds.