Chef for many switches gears in meal for two.

Byline: The $10 Gourmet by Jim Boyd The Register-Guard

DONALD BURTON, a chef for the University of Oregon's Barnhart Hall housing complex, offers a vegetarian menu for today's edition of The $10 Gourmet.

The main dish, a marinated artichoke and mushroom tart made with a potato crust, is so tasty and hearty, however, you won't think of it as a meatless dish.

Burton serves steamed broccoli flavored with sesame oil, soy sauce and roasted garlic as an accompaniment. He garnishes the plate with wedges of apple cut into a decorative shape.

Dessert is a comice pear poached in apple juice flavored with vanilla bean and fresh ginger and then glazed with a sauce made from the poaching liquid and apricot jam.

Burton's receipts from the Willamette Market of Choice and the Friendly Street Market show that he spent $10.12 on the meal. Not included in the accounting are a cube of butter and small amounts of aluminum foil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, soy sauce, olive oil, apricot jam, sesame oil and fresh rosemary from his home kitchen.

The $10 Gourmet is a feature designed to allow professional cooks to give menu suggestions to home cooks. To do this, the chef is asked to prepare a meal for two that costs $10 or less (not including small amounts of kitchen staples).

A vegetarian, Burton has cooked professionally since he was 19. He currently prepares meals for 350 to 400 people a night in the Barnhart kitchen, but will be trading jobs to become a University Housing catering chef for the rest of the term.

"I do a couple of other things, too," he said. "The Obsidians - the hiking group - I've been their summer cook for the last five years. This year, we're going to Hells Canyon."

Last year, the group went to central Wyoming, where Burton and a prep cook handled the meals for 110 people. Also, for the past three years, he has cooked for a group of therapists who hold a 10-day camp in the mountains about 15 miles east of Santa Cruz, Calif.

Burton is scheduled to cook a special dinner (salmon or vegetarian) as a benefit for KindTree Productions Inc. (also known as Autism Rocks), a local nonprofit organization that serves and celebrates people with autism.

The dinner and auction will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. April 13 at the Hilyard Community Center, 2580 Hilyard St. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for kids 15 and under. To buy tickets, mail a check to KindTree Productions, 2096 1/2 Arthur St., Eugene, OR 97405.

For more information, call secretary-treasurer Tim Mueller at 521-7208.

Marinated Artichoke and Mushroom Tart

2 1/2 large russet potatoes

1/4 large yellow onion, grated

Sea salt

1 egg, beaten (for crust)

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Freshly ground black pepper 

1 stick ( 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted, and a pastry brush

2 strips of aluminum foil each 4 inches by 18 inches

1/2 pound medium Cheddar cheese, grated and divided

1 small jar (6 1/2 ounces) artichokes, drained

1/4 cup marinade from jar of artichokes

3/4 large yellow onion, finely diced

1 teaspoon chopped dried thyme

1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced

1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Pinch cayenne

2 eggs, beaten (for filling)

1 firm Roma tomato (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place a strainer or colander in a bowl. Grate potatoes and a fourth of an onion into the colander in several layers, salting between layers. Let drain for 15 to 20 minutes, squeezing occasionally to press out liquid. When drained, add 1 beaten egg, chopped rosemary and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Melt 1 cube butter in a small sauce pan. (This is more butter than you should need, but the extra can be refrigerated and used later.) With a pastry brush, paint an 8-inch pie pan with approximately 2 tablespoons melted butter. Press potato mixture into pan to form a crust about 3/8 inch thick. The top of the crust should protrude 1/4 inch above the rim of the pie pan.

Fold aluminum strips in half lengthwise, oil one side and arrange around crust lip to protect the edge of the crust from drying and burning. When applying the foil, be careful not to crush the crust lip.

Bake approximately 1/2 hour, remove aluminum foil strips and brush potato crust lightly with melted butter (approximately 1 tablespoon). Return crust to oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes to brown the crust.

Remove from oven and spread a fourth of the grated cheese on bottom and up the sides of the crust a bit. (The melted cheese will help keep the crust from becoming soggy when the tart is filled.) Set crust aside until the filling is prepared.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Drain marinated artichokes, reserving the marinade. Feel the pieces of artichoke and remove any tough, fibrous outer leaves that may have been missed in the canning process. Cut in a rough dice and reserve.

Dice the onion that remained after grating. In a saute pan, saute the diced onion in approximately 1 tablespoon butter until translucent. Add 1 teaspoon thyme and the sliced mushrooms. Saute until mushrooms are half cooked.

Remove from heat and add drained artichokes, 1/4 cup artichoke marinade, balsamic vinegar, pinch cayenne, half the remaining cheese, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Add beaten eggs and mix all together. Pour mixture into crust. (If it is running over the lip, take a bit out.)

Sprinkle the other half of the remaining cheese on top of the tart, keeping the cheese slightly away from the lip of the potato crust. Place tart on a cookie sheet in the middle of the oven. Bake 20 minutes, or until middle puffs up a bit.

When slightly cooled, run a knife around lip of crust to dislodge crust from side of pie pan. Use a sharp, serrated knife to cut through the tart. Then use a metal spatula to lift out the wedges. Garnish with a tomato slice on each wedge.

Great warm, cold or hot!

Garlic Lover's Sesame Broccoli

1 head garlic

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 crowns broccoli

Sesame seeds

1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari 

1/8 teaspoon dark sesame oil

Divide garlic into individual cloves. Peel and slice tough base from each clove. Toss with olive oil. Place on a pan in a 325-degree oven and bake, covered with aluminum foil, until the cloves soften and brown a bit. Do not burn.

Cut broccoli crowns into individual florets. Place in a steamer and steam until desired doneness. (Some people like crunchy broccoli, others do not.) While broccoli is steaming, toast sesame seeds in an oven or frying pan, being careful not to burn them. Dress steamed broccoli with soy sauce or tamari and sesame oil. Sprinkle steamed and dressed broccoli with the roasted garlic and toasted seeds.

Poached Comice Pears

1 can (12 ounces) apple juice concentrate

1 piece fresh ginger, 1 inch long, sliced

1 piece vanilla bean, approximately 1 inch long

1 small beet, peeled and sliced

2 firm comice pears

1 small lemon

1 tablespoon apricot jam

Prepare the poaching liquid by putting the apple juice concentrate, the amount of water called for on the concentrate can, and the ginger, vanilla bean and beet into a pot large enough to hold the poaching liquid and pears. Simmer for approximately 1/2 hour. Remove the pieces of beet (which are needed for color but should not flavor the liquid). Leave the ginger and vanilla bean in the liquid.

Peel each pear and remove the core through the base, leaving the stem at the top of the fruit. Rub with lemon to keep from discoloring. Place the pears in the poaching liquid, which should be deep enough to cover the fruit. Simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes. Check by inserting a toothpick to determine that the fruit is softened enough to serve. Remove the fruit from the poaching liquid. Strain the pieces of ginger and the piece of vanilla bean from the liquid.

Return 1/4 cup of the poaching liquid to the pan and reduce it by boiling it to half its original volume. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to this glaze. When the poaching liquid is reduced, remove pan from burner and add the apricot jam to the glaze. Mix together. Glaze the surface of the pears before serving.

Note: For a garnish, Burton peeled and sliced a green kiwi, dotted the slices with dried cranberry and arranged three of the slices on the plate with the pear.

SETTLING THE BILL

Broccoli crowns: 83 cents

Organic sesame seeds: 12 cents

Eggs: 99 cents

Medium Cheddar cheese: $1.75

Bulk thyme: 9 cents

Yellow onion: 39 cents

Mushrooms: 65 cents

Comice pears: 88 cents

Small jar marinated artichokes: $1.19

Vanilla bean piece: 10 cents

Baby lemon: 20 cents

Russet potatoes: 75 cents

Dried cranberries: 13 cents

Apple juice: 99 cents

Roma tomatoes: 22 cents

Garlic: 20 cents

Fresh ginger: 14 cents

Kiwi fruit: 34 cents

Beet: 16 cents

Total: $10.12

CAPTION(S):

Meal includes an artichoke and mushroom tart, seasoned broccoli, and a poached pear for dessert. WAYNE EASTBURN / The Register-Guard Donald Burton flip-stirs part of his $10 Gourmet dinner.