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| Crippen's
Country Inn & Restaurant |
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At Crippen's. Dishes are visual works of art as well as culinary ones.
PHOTO BY SCOTT CROWDER |
“The food is the number one reason people come here.”
Jimmy Crippen and his wife Carolyn have owned Crippen’s Country Inn & Restaurant in Blowing Rock, N.C. since 1994.
“One thing I always make sure of is that we do things right.”
Crippen was in the right place at the right time when he met his good friend and now head chef, James Welch, 17 years ago. Today, Crippen runs the front of the inn while Welch holds court in the kitchen. The head chef also has full say of what appears on the menu, even if it’s a meal as unusual sounding as Bittersweet Chocolate Infused-Espresso Crusted Grilled Beef Tenderloin…
—Steve Sears
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Featured Recipes:
Crippen's Horseradish-Crusted Salmon
INGREDIENTS:
6 7-ounce cuts of salmon
salt
6 tbs. horseradish
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 tbs. butter
5 medium potatoes, peeled and cooked
6 tbs. butter, melted
2 tbs. sour cream
2 tbs. wasabi
1/2 cup Mirin (Japanese) wine
1/2 ounce soy sauce
4 tbs. sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 to 1 cup butter
12 shallots, peeled and sliced
METHOD:
Salt the salmon. Combine horseradish and bread crumbs and coat salmon. Melt 2 tbs. butter and sear salmon on both sides in hot skillet; place in 375-degree oven for 5 to 8 minutes. Mash potatoes and add melted butter, sour cream, wasabi, 2 tbs. of sugar and a sprinkling of salt. Place in skillet with salmon. Reduce Mirin, soy sauce, and 2 tbs. of sugar, stirring until syrup-like; add cream and reduce until thick and bubbling. Slowly add chunks of butter, stirring until melted and incorporated. Season with salt. Fry shallots until crispy. Serve
salmon with potatoes and garnish with shallots. Serves 6.
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Crippen's Apple Tart
Ingredients:
1 or 2 18x26-inch puff pastry sheets
1 jumbo-size egg white
1 tbs. water
6 tablespoons almond paste
3 Granny Smith apples
6 tsp. sugar
6 tsp. cinnamon
6 tsp. butter
Directions:
Cut pastry into 6 squares. Be sure each is large enough to accommodate a tablespoon of almond paste in the center and half of a cored, sliced apple. (Pastry may need to be rolled out more to give extra room.) Mix egg white with water and stir until well blended. With a pastry brush apply mixture to the six cut pastry sheets. Put 1 tbs. almond paste in the center of each. Peel and core apples; slice very thin crossways. Surround almond paste with sliced apples. Mix sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle equal amounts on each tart. Place a teaspoon of butter on each tart and bake in a 350-degree oven for 7 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for 7 minutes more. Serves 6.
Caramel Sauce:
2 cups sugar
1 lemon, juiced
2 cups water
2 tbs. butter
1 quart heavy cream
1 quart heavy cream
In a medium-size heavy saucepan put in sugar, water, juice of lemon, and butter on medium-high temperature. Stir frequently until mixture turns a brown color. Turn heat to low and slowly add cream. DO NOT LET BOIL. Remove from burner immediately, until burner cools down. Set aside.
Serve with:
1 quart good quality vanilla ice cream
cinnamon to taste
Scoop out sufficient ice cream for 6 small servings and whip in cinnamon just to taste. To serve, place tart on a desert plate, drizzle with warm caramel sauce and place desired amount of cinnamon ice cream on the side of tart. Serves 6.
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Grilled Jumbo Asparagus Salad with Crispy Pancetta, Chopped Egg, Shaved Reggiano, Balsamic and Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Ingredients:
5 stalks jumbo asparagus
(peeled at the ends)
1 hard boiled egg
1 thin slice of pancetta
shaved Reggiano parmesan cheese
balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Directions:
Blanche (or steam) asparagus lightly then shock in ice bath to stop further cooking. Brush with olive oil. Add salt and pepper then grill (wood chips for flavor if desired). Lay on a bed of greens, grate hard boiled egg, crumble baked pancetta. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then shave Reggiano parmesan.
Makes 1 serving.
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