5 Easy, Unexpected Wylie Dufresne Recipes to Make at Home
Get a taste of trailblazing chef Wylie Dufresne by preparing one of his clever home-cook-friendly recipes in your own kitchen.
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
2001 F&W Best New Chef Wylie Dufresne is celebrated for his innovative, science-driven approach to preparing familiar foods in unexpected ways. A pioneer in molecular gastronomy, Dufresne is perhaps best known for his decade-plus run at the helm of Manhattan's wd~50, where he paired unlikely flavors and turned ordinary dishes completely on their heads. Here, he demonstrates his style with deconstructed Eggs Benedict, complete with sous vide egg yolks, cubes of fried hollandaise breaded in English muffin crumbs, and ultra-thin Canadian bacon wisps. If you're in New York City, you can still get a taste of Dufresne's fare by trying one of the improbable pies at his Stretch Pizza — alternatively, whip up one of these home-cook-friendly recipes in your own kitchen.
Roast Chicken Thighs with Tomato-Tapioca Porridge
Dishes at Wylie Dufresne's seminal New York restaurant wd~50 were famously complex and labor-intensive to prepare, but when F&W challenged the chef to develop a fast recipe, he quite literally stepped up to the plate. This inventive dish features a surprising tomato-infused tapioca porridge to accompany simple roasted carrots and crisp-skinned chicken thighs.
Sea Bass with Edamame-Rye Crust
This recipe first appeared in Food & Wine in 2001, the same year Dufresne was named a Best New Chef. It's a stunning, verdant dish featuring black sea bass fillets on a bed of Yukon Gold mashed potatoes. The fish is encrusted with finely chopped edamame that's been cooked in butter with rye breadcrumbs; a generous drizzle of chive oil rounds it all out.
Onion-Clove Compote
It takes just four ingredients to make this sweet, fragrant condiment that's superb with grilled steak, chicken, or pork — you'll need butter, yellow onions, whole cloves, and salt.
Creamy Mushroom Tartlets
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
“Whether you need passed canapés at your next cocktail party or a stunning side dish to pair with a main course, this dish hits all the marks,” Wylie Dufresne says. To make it, he tops rounds of store-bought puff pastry with a cream sherry-infused cashew spread and heaps of fresh shiitakes, then bakes them until they're delightfully golden.
Root Beer-Date Puree
Rehydrating dried dates with root beer and blending them until smooth produces a sweet compote that's a natural match for rich meats and oily fish. “They both have dark, opulent caramel flavors that play off each other,” Dufresne says of his clever ingredient pairing.
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