At home with chef Adam Galloway

Adam Galloway, the executive chef of The Bird & The Bread in Birmingham and Vinology in Ann Arbor, said he clearly remembers making bread with his mother when he was just around 6 years old.

“My mother said she knew I would end up becoming a chef, but although I was always interested in cooking, I never thought of it as a career until I was in my senior year at Western Michigan University, majoring in biology and chemistry,” said Galloway, 32. “I left because I didn’t like the prospect of working in a nine-to-five job. I need the excitement of the restaurant life to make me happy. It’s not a normal job. It keeps you on your toes.”

Galloway moved to Chicago in 2006 to attend the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, earning an associate degree in under two years.

“One of the reasons I moved to Chicago was to have a chance to work at Mota, a restaurant, now closed, that specialized in molecular gastronomy,” he said. “I worked there for two years, both while I was at school and after. Their chef, Homauro Cantu, blended my two passions, cooking and science, together. He didn’t just look at the finished plate. It was all about the process and doing small changes to effect the final result.”

In 2008, the chef decided to move back to Michigan.

“All my family is from here and I missed it,” Galloway said. In 2014, after stints at Europa Bistro in Rochester, the Roostertail in Detroit, Vinology in Ann Arbor and the Sheraton Hotel in Romulus, Galloway was named executive chef for The Bird and The Bread, as well as Vinology.

Galloway said he enjoys cooking at home on his days off.

“I like to do batch cookery,” the Belleville resident said. “I get everything ready for a week’s worth of food, utilizing what’s available at local farmers markets.”

Galloway said he often makes this chilaquiles recipe for his wife because “it’s a delicious Hispanic breakfast dish and eggs and bacon get a little tired. It’s also a good way to use up almost stale tortillas.”

And he chose this beets recipe because baby beets are currently plentiful at local markets .

“They are also sweeter than older beets and tend more towards the earthy side,” he said. “And I really like to cook seasonally in the restaurants and to eat seasonally at home.”

And next up on Galloway’s menu? A baby boy due to arrive any day.

“I’m planning on making all of his food,” the chef said. “I plan to get him used to global flavors.”

Black Bean Chilaquiles

Salsa Verde

3 cloves minced garlic

1 pound fresh tomatillos, husked and rinsed

1 small onion, quartered through root end

2 serrano chilies

1 jalapeño chili

1 poblano chili

1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

Coarse kosher salt to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 limes, juiced

1 bag corn tortilla chips

Preparation of the salsa verde

Preheat grill on high. Blister and char all the chilies on a grill. Once charred, place in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Once the chilies are cooled, rub the skin off of them under running water and discard the stems and half of the seeds (for extra heat, leave all of the seeds in.) Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until you have a smooth consistency. Then, in a stainless steel pot, bring the mixture to a simmer and reduce by one third. (Reserve corn tortilla chips for final assembly of the chilaquiles.)

Charred Corn Pico de Gallo

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tomatoes, diced

2 ears of corn

1 poblano chili, diced

1/2 medium red onion, diced

1 bunch of chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 lime, juiced

Coarse kosher salt to taste

Preparation of the corn pico de gallo

Preheat grill on high. Add small amount of oil to ears of corn, place on grill and roll by quarter turns until it is fully charred. Allow corn to cool and then remove corn kernels from the cobs and place in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients, mix well and season to taste.

Mashed Black Beans

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 red onion, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 15-ounce can of black beans, drained

1 cup chicken stock

To prepare the black beans

Preheat a small saucepot on medium heat. Add oil and onions and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook until it becomes aromatic. Add drained black beans and chicken stock and reduce heat to low. Then, with a wooden spoon, coarsely mash the beans and stir until the mixture thickens.

Egg topping

4 sunnyside-up eggs

1 avocado sliced

4 ounces grated cotija cheese

To assemble the chilaquiles

Toss corn tortilla chips with warm salsa verde and place on plate. Top the chips with the mashed black beans and the corn pico de gallo. Cook the four eggs and place on top of the black beans. Garnish with sliced avocado and crumbled Cotija cheese. Serves 6.

Per serving: 711 calories; 41 g fat (9 g saturated fat; 52 percent calories from fat); 75 g carbohydrates; 10 g sugar; 143 mg cholesterol; 692 mg sodium; 15 g protein; 12 g fiber.

Wild Salmon and Parisian Gnocchi

Gnocchi

2 cups water

8 ounces unsalted butter

2 tablespoons salt

3 cups flour

2 tablespoons of whole grain mustard

2 tablespoons grated parmesan

6 whole eggs cracked

1/2 teaspoon of ground white pepper

1 tablespoon chopped chives

1 tablespoon chopped thyme

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

To prepare the gnocchi

Add water and butter to sauce pot, bring water to boil and let the butter melt. Mix salt and flour together. Then, quickly add flour to the boiling water and reduce the heat to medium. Stir the mixture constantly until it begins to pull away from the sides of the pot. Transfer dough to stand mixer with paddle attachment. Add whole grain mustard and cheese and beat on medium low speed. Add eggs one at a time, waiting for dough to fully incorporate each egg before you add a new egg to dough. On your last egg addition, add in your herbs and white pepper and fully incorporate. Place finished dough in piping bag or zipper bag and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Bring a large pot of salted boiling water to a simmer. Cut a 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch opening into the end of the piping bag, depending on desired width of gnocchi. Holding piping bag above the simmering water, slowly cut gnocchi into 1-inch lengths using a paring knife. Continue to cut gnocchi for 1 minute at a time, then stop and let gnocchi cook for about 3 minutes or until they float to surface. Remove gnocchi from water and drizzle with oil and allow to cool on a flat surface.

Oven Roasted Beets

2 pounds assorted baby beets with green tops

2 sprigs fresh rosemary sprigs

3 cloves garlic smashed

1 shallot sliced

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Kosher salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

To prepare the beets

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash and trim all the beets, reserving the greens for later use. Place trimmed beets, rosemary, garlic, shallots, salt, pepper, and butter into roasting pan. Add water 3/4 of way up the pan and cook the beets until tender, about 45 minutes. (Test beets with fork for tenderness and allow to cool.) Once cooled, peel skin from the beets with a dish rag and gloves.

Salmon

1 3-pound wild salmon side cut into 6 filets

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon shallots, chopped

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

1 sprig fresh thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

To prepare the salmon

Remove all scales and pin bones from the salmon. Blot skin side of fish with paper towel and season both sides with salt and pepper. Preheat pan to medium high and add small amount of cooking oil. Cook fish skin side down being careful not to overcrowd pan. Once skin is crispy, flip fish and reduce heat to medium. Add butter, shallots, garlic, and fresh thyme sprigs to pan and finish cooking to desired temperature. Remove salmon from pan and allow to rest. Then place the chopped and cleaned beet greens into the pan where you cooked the salmon. Once greens are cooked, add peeled baby beets. Lastly, melt butter in nonstick pan over medium heat and add cooled gnocchi to pan. Cook gnocchi until golden brown on all sides.

Place cooked salmon on a plate. Top with beets and gnocchi mixture and enjoy. Serves 6.

Per serving: 925 calories; 51 g fat (28 g saturated fat; 50 percent calories from fat); 60 g carbohydrates; 8 g sugar; 376 mg cholesterol; 2,701 mg sodium; 53 g protein; 5 g fiber.