Chef Vanessa Davis Recipes: Highfields Restaurant – Eagle Mountain House, Jackson, NH, USA

Executive Chef Vanessa Davis is the new, young talent in the kitchen at Highfields Restaurant at the Eagle Mountain House & Golf Club in Jackson, New Hampshire where she is clearly in her element. The restaurant’s focus is on classic comfort food with a twist. Nice flavor profiles, and attractive presentations that deliver on the palate, make the restaurant a hidden gem in the White Mountains in an area renowned for its art colony, ski resorts, and outdoor activities.

We had the opportunity to meet with Chef Vanessa Davis before having dinner at Highfields Restaurant in late February 2016. Chef Vanessa Davis’ mother was in the food industry and she explained that she kind of fell into her chosen career. She learned her culinary craft at the Lincoln Culinary Institute in Suffield, Connecticut and honed her skills post graduation working her way up the culinary ladder at Timber’s Restaurant at the Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vermont, J. Morgan’s Steakhouse in Montpelier, Vermont, Arvad’s Grill and Pub in Waterbury, Vermont, and at the Essex, Vermont’s Culinary Resort & Spa, before joining Highfields Restaurant as the Executive Chef at the Eagle Mountain House & Golf Club in Jackson, New Hampshire in 2015.

Every chef has their favorite "go to" item and for Chef Vanessa Davis it is the ever versatile potato which you can prepare in so many different and interesting ways. She loves purple potatoes, baby rainbow carrots and multi-colored radishes which inspire her to create dishes that showcase nature’s artistry.

Chef Vanessa Davis

One of Chef Vanessa Davis’ favorite items on the Highfields Restaurant menu is her Fall Vegetable Curry, made with roasted root vegetables, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, toasted cashews, and chickpeas over ginger rice pilaf, for which she graciously shares the recipe. The dish is a lovely mélange of flavors with toasted curry, sweet coconut milk, and sweet potatoes, and is bright and colorful. She found her inspiration for the recipe watching a curry segment on the Food Network channel and wanted to create something that would appeal to the restaurant’s diverse clientele as well as to vegetarian palates. 

She also likes to incorporate her family’s Portuguese heritage into her recipes using Portuguese foods and seafood. Portland is located 70 miles from the restaurant, which provides her with the opportunity to purchase fresh seafood for the restaurant. The area also has nice game available. For spring, Chef Vanessa Davis will feature local "protein" grass-fed beef, organic poultry and duck on the menu. She is also working on a clamcake recipe, new risotto dishes, and a chicken dish that sounded wonderful. Her goal for the restaurant is to take difficult techniques and make them accessible.

When not working in the kitchen creating new recipes or spending time with her husband, Chef Vanessa Davis likes to watch the Food Network channel to learn about new trends, learn new techniques, and find inspiration for developing her recipes.

Chef Vanessa Davis graciously shares her delectable recipes for Curried Vegetables with Ginger Rice Pilaf & Coconut Curry Cream Sauce, and an Orange Bowl filled with Orange Curd to tempt your palate into dining at Highfields Restaurant in Jackson, New Hampshire.

Chef Vanessa Davis – Highfields Restaurant at the
Eagle Mountain House & Golf Club, Jackson, New Hampshire, USA
Menu
Curried Vegetables with Ginger Rice Pilaf & Coconut Curry Cream Sauce
Orange Bowl filled with Orange Curd               

Curried Vegetables with Ginger Rice Pilaf & Coconut Curry Cream Sauce

Ingredients

Method: Preheat the oven to 375° F. Meanwhile peel and small dice all of the vegetables and toss with all of the ingredients (except for the chickpeas). Lay flat onto a small sheet tray. Once as the oven is ready, roast for 15-20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Let cool until needed.

Ginger Rice Pilaf

Ingredients

Method: Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, then add the butter. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil. When the butter gets foamy, add all the ingredients except for the rice and water, sauté until the onion is slightly translucent, about 2-3 minutes.

Add the uncooked rice and sauté, stirring constantly, for about a minute, or until the rice is fully coated with the melted butter. Add the water; bring it back to a boil, then cover and place the entire pot in the oven. Cook the rice pilaf in the oven for 18 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. If after 18 minutes there’s still liquid in the pot or the rice is still too moist, re-cover and return the pot to the oven for another 2 to 4 minutes.

Remove the pot from the oven and gently fluff the rice pilaf with a wooden fork. Then place a paper towel across the top of the pot, replace the lid and let the rice pilaf stand for 10 minutes.

Chef Vanessa Davis

Curry Coconut Cream Sauce

Ingredients

Method: Place all ingredients into a small sauce pot and whisk together over medium heat. Let the sauce simmer until the sauce has thickened about 20 minutes. Be sure to taste, add more salt and pepper if needed. Once the sauce has thickened add in the roasted vegetables along with the one can of drained chickpeas. Let ingredients cook for another 5 minutes. Serve the sauce over the ginger rice pilaf and garnish with toasted cashews and fresh chopped cilantro.

Orange Bowl filled with Orange Curd            
Serves 6

Ingredients

Method: Using a channel knife or zester, remove the zest of 2 oranges being careful to avoid the white pith. Juice the 2 oranges. Save the juice for later, you will add this as part of the orange juice needed further in the recipe. Cut the other 3 oranges in half and hollow out with a paring knife to form a bowl. Refrigerate the bowls until needed.

Chop the orange zest with a knife. Add the sugar, orange zest and butter into a mixer. Cream the butter mixture on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs in 1 at a time. Once as all the eggs are incorporated, add the orange juice and salt. Mix until combined.

Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 15-20 minutes), stirring consistently. Be careful not to have the heat too high because it can scorch the bottom of the pan and cause the eggs to scramble. Remove from the heat and pour into a shallow container to allow to cool. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours.

After curd has cooled and stiffen a bit, scoop some into the orange bowls. Garnish with whipped cream, toasted coconut and some fresh mint leaves.

Highfields Restaurant is open daily for Breakfast from 7:00 am until 10:00 am, and for Dinner daily from 5:30 pm until 9:00 pm. On Friday and Saturday the restaurant is open from 11:30 am until 10:00 pm.

Eagle Landing Tavern is open for cocktail libations throughout the year and for lunch during the high season. In the winter months, the tavern offers a daily Apres-Ski Menu from 3:00 pm until 6:00 pm.

Highfields Restaurant

Read about our dining experience at Highfields Restaurant in the Restaurants section.

Read more about our experiences in the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire in the Restaurants, Chefs’ Recipes, and Gastronomy sections.

Highfields Restaurant at the Eagle Mountain House & Golf Club
179 Carter Notch Road
P.O. Box 804
Jackson Village, New Hampshire 03846
United States
Toll-Free:        +1-800-966-5779
Telephone:     +1-603-383-9111
Email:             reservations@eaglemt.com
Website:        www.eaglemt.com/
Facebook:      www.facebook.com/Eagle-Mountain-House

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