By Laurie Pellichero

The recent opening of the Graduate by Hilton Princeton hotel on Chambers Street and the long-awaited reopening of Triumph Restaurant & Brewery in its new location on Palmer Square have brought more delicious culinary options for area diners and beyond.

Here we meet their chefs, who also share some of their favorite recipes.

(Photo by Andrew Frasz)

Richard Brower

Richard Brower (Photo by Jeffrey E. Tryon)

Ye Tavern Restaurant and Bar at the Graduate by Hilton Princeton features a a menu of elevated pub favorites and unique pre-Prohibition era cocktails in a relaxed atmosphere.  Its name comes from a storied restaurant that once occupied the same site in the 1930s.

Richard Brower, executive chef at Ye Tavern, has been working in professional kitchens for more than 30 years.  A graduate of Johnson and Wales University, Brower has honed his culinary talents in restaurants in New York, New Jersey, Florida, and the Cayman Islands. He says he is proud to have been a part of a team that was awarded four stars from the New York Times and three stars from the Michelin Guide.  He has led teams that have been awarded five diamonds from AAA, as well as earned accolades from GQ, Conde Nast Traveler, Forbes, Travel and Leisure, and Philadelphia magazine, among others. Brower continues to develop and find new ways to improve his culinary skills.

Pan Roasted Salmon with Smoky Bacon Broth, White Beans, and Cabbage

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 7 oz.  salmon filets, skin on
• 2 lbs. smoked bacon: 1 lb. chopped up for the broth, the other half cut into 1-inch strips
• 2 small onions: 1 ½ diced medium, ½ cut into ¼-inch-wide strips
• 3 small carrots: 2 peeled and diced medium, 1 peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice
• 3 leeks: 1 chopped medium, 1 julienned very fine, 1 cut into strips about ½-inch wide
• 3 stalks celery: 2 cut and diced medium, 1 peeled and cut on the bias into ¼-inch wide pieces
• 8 fingerling potatoes, cooked through, skin on, and then cooled and cut into ½-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon parsley, washed and chopped very fine
• 10 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 2 small bouquet garni (thyme, parsley stems, and bay leaf)
• ½ cup garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 ripe beefsteak tomato, chopped up
• ½ small head of savoy cabbage, cut into strips
• ½ cup cannellini beans, soaked overnight
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• ½ lemon, for squeezing
• Salt and white pepper

1. Drain the soaked beans and place them in a pot with plenty of water. Place 1 tablespoon each of diced celery, diced carrot, diced celery, and garlic. Add one bouquet garni and let cook until beans are tender. Add salt to season and let cool.
2. In a small rondeau, render smoked bacon until brown and crisp. Pull bacon from pot and put aside to cool for future use.
3. Add medium diced onion, carrot, celery, cabbage, leeks, and bouquet garni. Sauté all together until tender, add garlic and cook.
4. Add chicken stock, bring to a simmer. Let cook until very aromatic and flavorful. Set aside to cover and steep for 30 minutes.
5. Sweat the onions in extra virgin olive oil with a little of the broth and some water. When tender, add the cabbage and wilt lightly. Blanch the carrots and celery in boiling salted water.
6. Fry the finely julienned leeks in oil until crispy. Let cool on paper towel. Season with a little salt and chopped parsley.
7. Preheat an oven to 450F.
8. Sauté the salmon in pan skin side down until browned, turn the salmon and place in the preheated oven for five minutes.
9. While in the oven heat the blanched celery, carrots, fingerling potatoes, cabbage and onion, 4 tsp. of the reserved browned bacon, and cooked white beans in the strained bacon broth.
10. Spoon the vegetables into the center of a dinner bowl, top with cooked salmon, and add the broth around the vegetables in the bowl. Pour a little extra virgin olive oil, squeeze a little lemon into the broth, and top with the fried leeks.
11. Serve.

Lemon Parmesan Risotto

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup arborio risotto
• 2 oz. shallots, minced
• 1 preserved lemon, white pith removed, minced and blanched three times
• 2 quarts vegetable stock/broth
• Bouquet garni (thyme, bay leaf, parsley)
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 oz. extra virgin olive oil
• ½ oz. unsalted butter
• ½ lemon, for juice
• 6 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated fine
• 3 tablespoons parsley, washed and chopped fine

1. In a large straight-sided sauté pan sweat the shallots and garlic in the olive oil and butter. Meanwhile, heat the vegetable stock in a sauce pot. Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
2. Once the shallots are tender, add the preserved lemon and bouquet garni. Cook about two minutes and then add the rice. Turn the rice with a wood spoon or rubber spatula until well coated with oil and butter. Cook for about two minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Add the white wine. Continue to stir the rice as it cooks and starts to get creamy.
4. Once the wine is cooked out, start to add the stock in increments of about 3-4 oz. for 20 minutes. Once the 20 minutes is up, pour the rice mix onto the lined sheet pan and set to cool in the refrigerator.
5. When ready to serve, heat with more vegetable stock until you have reached al dente. Finish with lemon juice and the Parmesan cheese.
6. Serve with chopped parsley and grated Parmesan.

(Photos courtesy of Triumph Restaurant & Brewery)

Michael Perselay

Michael Perselay, executive chef of Triumph Restaurant & Brewery, was born in Newark and followed in his family’s footsteps majoring in constitutional law at Fairleigh Dickinson University before realizing that his true professional calling would focus on food and his love of preparing it. He began his culinary career at Chez Catherine’s, a four-star French restaurant in Westfield, under the tutelage of renowned French Chef Catherine Alexandrou. Since then, he has spent more than 40 years working in professional kitchens. His first helm was at Riverstreet in Hoboken, where he and his staff hit the forefront of Regional American Cuisine with high accolades in the
mid-1980s.

As chef /proprietor, Perselay opened La Maison des Poëles in Peapack in 1989. He earned four stars and it was rated in the top 10 restaurants in New Jersey by the New York Times. Perselay also owned Zoota Eclectic American Cuisine in Phillipsburg and was the executive chef at numerous restaurants in New Jersey and New York City. He was the original chef for Triumph Brewing Company in 1995, and now brings his talents and experience to the new location.

Cod and White Beans

Serves 4

• 4 6 oz. portions of cod
• 4 oz. butter, cut into 4 slices
• 4 oz. white wine
• 4 oz. breadcrumbs/panko
• 2 oz. butter

Melt the 2 oz. of butter and stir into the panko/breadcrumbs, set aside. Place cod on a tray or in a pan, place the crumb mix on top of all four pieces of fish. Top each with butter slice, pour wine in the pan, and set aside.

• 6 plum tomatoes, cut in half length wise
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
• 2 oz. olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Cut the tomatoes, add to a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss well. Place on a tray or in a pan cut side down. Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool enough to peel the skins off and discard.

• 2 cans of precooked cannellini beans, drained and washed
• 4 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade (sliced thin)
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped fine
• 2 oz. white wine
• 2 oz. butter
• Salt and pepper

Add all to a pan and cook until just hot, do not cook out the liquid.

Plating:

Place the cod in the oven; cook for about 12 minutes or until the crumbs are golden brown. While the cod is cooking, heat the beans and tomatoes on the stove. Separate into four bowls, reserving the tomatoes. Place the cod on top of the beans and top with the tomatoes, three pieces on each. Place a small pinch of micro greens on each and serve.

Sweet and Salty Pears with Whipped Honey and Fromage Blanc

Serves 4

• 4/5 pears of your choosing
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 6 oz. sugar

Cut the pears by four, then cut the seeds off and cut the quarters in half, lengthwise. Place all in a large bowl and toss with the salt and sugar and roast in the oven at 350 degrees for 18 minutes or until just soft. Cool the pears.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle, place 6 oz. of honey and whip until thick. Add 12 oz. of fromage blanc or substitute (crème fraiche). Whip until thick.

• 4 oz. toasted hazelnuts, crushed
• Freshly ground coarse black pepper
• Fresh honey
• Micro greens if available

Plating:

Place the five pear segments in a row on the near side of the plate, point-in point-out pattern. Take a large spoon and dip it in hot water. Roll the spoon in the cheese mix along the edge to make an egg shape and place the cheese in the center of the pears. Sprinkle with the hazelnuts and grind the fresh pepper on top. Drizzle a little honey and place a pinch of micro greens on top of the cheese and serve.