Chef in Residence - KJARTAN SKJELDE
 Kjartan (Char-ton, but who goes by "Charlie" in English) and I met in a rather serendipitous manner in Papantla in March, 2002. He and some colleagues were creating a culinary-adventure pilot and planned to shoot the first segment in Mexico. The director wrote me a few weeks in advance for advice on meeting vanilla growers. When they discovered I would be there at the same time, we arranged to meet. Charlie said, "You won’t have any trouble finding us – we’re a bunch of tall blond guys!" Although we missed connections by telephone, we indeed did meet in the plaza. And…he was absolutely correct; they looked like Norwegians and were head and shoulders taller than most of the locals.
I had great fun with Charlie and his cohorts. They were all smart, witty, creative, and resourceful. I was written into the script, playing myself -- the Vanilla Queen. All I had to do was to show up. The story line was simple – a chef and his friend were in pursuit of wild vanilla from the original source. We shot part of the footage in town, and part in the countryside on the land of one of the vanilla growers. The film was a four-language venture: the men spoke Norwegian to one another and English to me, which I then translated into Spanish for the extras. In a couple of scenes we then needed the Spanish translated into Totonac, a truly international endeavor.
Some very dear, elderly Totonaca women allowed us to use one of their homes for a scene; they ground masa for tortillas in the Nixtamal, and prepared totopos, a flavorful and delicious corn-based cracker flavored with piloncillo (raw sugar) and sesame seeds.
Sofia and Maria were quite fascinated by the equipment the men used, and giggled into their hands like little girls when we explained we couldn’t talk while the film was being shot. The roosters and turkeys didn’t understand the "no noise" policy and continued to crow in the yard. There was no way to explain to the women that the birds added to the setting, so Sofia, whose job was more as cook than actress, periodically grabbed a stick and chased them away. This brought about more giggling – we women are the same worldwide!
 My scene was shot in the woods overlooking the ruins of El Tajin. I played a mythical version of Tzacopontziza, the legendary princess who was turned into Xanath (vanilla). My role didn’t require that I morph into a plant; I just needed to act "mythical." We borrowed an enormous vanilla bean crown crafted by Heriberto Garcia, a local Totonaca artisan. The crown was gorgeous, but it was heavy, so heavy, in fact, that it created a goose egg on my forehead (one of the wages of being Queen).
Later, we returned to town and Charlie prepared a fantastic three-course meal for one of the final scenes in the pilot. It was great fun watching him prepare the meal; even more amazing, he worked with minimal equipment in a very challenging kitchen. It never ceases to amaze me at how skilled good chefs are, and how they can perform magic under nearly impossible circumstances.
Now about Kjartan: Born in Norway, when he was graduated from high school he studied for a year at a culinary school and then began his apprenticeship as a hotel chef. After the three-year apprentice program he received his chef’s license. Having dreamed of travel and wanting to see the United States, Charlie says, "Right away I went straight to Vegas and worked at the Flamingo Hilton for a year and a half."
 After the U.S. stint, Charlie returned to Denmark and worked at a restaurant, Christies, which is where he says "I really started to cook!" Later he worked for Port farmers in Portugal, a fascinating adventure. Then the opportunity arose to be a traveling chef for the Djuice Dragons on their around-the-world Volvo Ocean race. When we met, Charlie was taking a break to film the pilot in Mexico after having followed his racing crew from Europe to Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and across to Brazil. From Mexico he went to Miami, then Baltimore, and across the Atlantic back to Europe, with the race ending in Gotham, Germany.
Happy to be back home in Norway, he has taken a "fantastic" job in Oslo at the Palace Grill. The pilot should be completed in August and hopefully will sell right away, so at some point we can expect Charlie to be back on the road. Oh, did I mention that Charlie isn’t even 30 yet?!
Now for the recipes: Charlie shopped at the Papantla markets for the meal he prepared for the pilot. Although he was working with Mexican ingredients, he produced a world fusion menu, using local ingredients to create a lovely European Bistro-style meal.
This was the first course. King Fish is a very common fish worldwide though its name varies region by region. The best news is that it’s not on the endangered list, so using King Fish will not deplete world fisheries.
KING FISH WITH SAVORY VANILLA MANGO-TOMATO MARINADE
Ingredients:
4 medium boneless filets of fish, skin on
1 large shallot, peeled and chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and cut in half
6 tablespoons olive oil
1-1/2 cups red wine vinegar
splash lemon juice
1 medium-large mango, chopped
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 cups green beans, lightly cooked
2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Saute shallot, garlic, and vanilla bean in olive oil in a medium saucepan until shallot is golden, about 5 minutes.
Add vinegar and bring to a boil and cook until the mixture is reduced by 1/3. Allow to cool to room temperature. Add salt and pepper and a splash of lemon juice, then mix in mango and tomato pieces. Set aside.
Heat grill pan or heavy skillet. Add King Fish filets, skin-side down. Place a heavy weight (a brick or another skillet works well) on filets and cook over high heat 4 minutes, rocking pan back and forth and removing from heat periodically if it gets too hot. Remove weight, flip fish, and cook briefly on other side.
To Assemble:
Saute green beans in butter with a little salt and pepper. Place in four mounds in the center of the plates.
Place fish filets on top of beans. Pour some of the marinade over each serving. Sprinkle pieces of tomato and mango on top of fish and around plates.
The second course. Charlie used chopped nopales in the bean compote. If you have access to these succulent cactus paddles, do a coarse chop of a couple of paddles, then sauté them and add them to the beans after they are cooked.
The first course was served with white wine. This next course was served with red wine.
HERB-STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS
WITH BLACK AND WHITE BEAN COMPOTE
Ingredients:
Two boneless chicken breasts, cut in half, skin on
Fresh tarragon leaves (six leaves per breast half)
1/2 cup black beans
1/2 cup white beans
2 quarts chicken broth (preferably homemade or low-salt broth)
1 vanilla bean split in half.
4 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste
lime juice
Instructions:
Carefully separate the skin from the chicken breasts. Slip tarragon leaves under the skin. Place in refrigerator until ready to cook.
Put white beans and black beans into separate sauce pans with 1 quart broth and 1/2 vanilla bean each. Cook until done. Drain off any extra liquid. Mix beans together, add 2 tablespoons of butter, a squeeze of lime juice and salt and pepper. Keep warm.
Heat a heavy skillet, then add chicken breasts, skin side down. Weight breasts with another skillet or brick wrapped in foil. Cook about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, remove weights and allow to cool down slightly.
Flip chicken breasts over and finish cooking in two tablespoons butter, just until meat is no longer pink.
To Serve:
Mound black and white bean compote on four plates. Place chicken breasts on top of compote. Garnish with tarragon sprigs.
And for dessert, the third course. The caramelized sugar/rum/vanilla sauce really gives the pineapple zing.
PINA VERACRUZANA
Ingredients:
1 medium-to-large pineapple
2 cups white sugar
2 vanilla beans cut into small pieces
1-1/2 cups dark rum
water
Instructions:
Place vanilla beans in the dark rum and allow to sit several hours (overnight or longer if possible).
Remove the ends of the pineapple, and then peel, leaving the pineapple whole. Using a melon ball spoon or a grapefruit spoon, remove the spines. Stuff the small holes with pieces of vanilla bean. Place in a baking dish and set aside.
Place 2 cups of white sugar with a bare 1/8 cup of water in a heavy saucepan. Put on high heat, and stir constantly until sugar is dissolved. Allow sugar to caramelize, stirring occasionally or tipping the pan back and forth, until sugar is golden brown. Remove from heat and allow to sit for a few minutes.
Add the dark rum to the caramelized sugar and return to heat. Bring to a boil and allow mixture to reduce by about 1/3. Pour hot syrup over the pineapple and place in a 350 degree oven. Bake for about 1 hour, periodically basting the pineapple.
When pineapple is baked, remove from oven and let it cool to room temperature.
Serve sliced lengthwise or in rounds, on a pool of Crème Anglaise or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Ladle some of the caramelized sauce over pineapple or ice cream. Add a touch of freshly ground black pepper if desired.
These and many more wonderful recipes using vanilla are found in our recipe area. Print friendly versions of these recipes are there as well.
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