1. To quick-soak cannellini beans, rinse the beans under cold water in a colander. In a large sautoir, combine the beans with enough cold water to cover them by 2 inches. Bring the water to a boil, and boil the beans for 2 minutes. Remove the sautoir from the heat and let the beans soak, covered, for 1 hour.
2. Combine the beans with enough cold water to cover them by 2-inches and simmer them, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until they are tender. Drain and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, cook green beans a l'anglaise, dry and french. (Beans should be slightly crisp, as they will finish cooking in butter and water a la minute. Also, do not french beans before cooking, as they will curl.)
4. Prepare a persillade, mixing remaining parsley, garlic paste, apple-mint, lemon juice and olive oil. The consistency should resemble a paste, rather than a liquid.
5. Once cannellini beans are finished, sweat onion and garlic in 15 mL of the olive oil. Emonder tomato and rough chop. Add this to the onion and garlic mixture, along with the celery, lemon juice and cannellini beans. Set aside.
6. Cook baby asparagus, gold beets and baby carrots a l'etuve, separately. If not cooked a la minute, this should be done as close to service as possible, so vegetables don't shrivel. They can be reheated briefly with additional butter.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. If mushrooms are dry, reconstitute in hot water and save for sauce.
3. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Caramelize onions and sugar.
4. In another pan, add all mushrooms, garlic, basil, parsley, rosemary and thyme and sauté over low-medium heat until mushrooms are tender and brown, about 7-10 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
5. Season mixture to taste with salt and pepper, waterchestnuts and lemon zest.
6. Whisk eggs, cream, milk, 1/4 cup Parmesan, salt and pepper in large bowl to blend. Add bread cubes; toss to coat. Let stand 15 minutes.
7. Stir in mushroom mixture.
8. Transfer to buttered timbale. Line deep roasting pan with paper towel. Place puddings in pan. Pour boiling water into pan, until it reaches halfway up sides of puddings. Cook in the waterbath ~60 minutes, or until top is deep golden brown and toothpick comes out of the center, clean.
9. Cool on baking rack.

1. Macerate cherries in wine, set aside for 30 minutes. Reserve some of the juice for the stock.
2. Meanwhile, trim pork tenderloin of excess fat and silverskin. Truss with cooking twine, to hold shape and ensure uniform cooking. If one end is particularly thin, fold over on itself so that the thinner end doesn't burn while cooking. Brine in salt-water-sugar solution with thyme and juniper berries for 30 minutes.
3. Rinse pork of brine solution. Pat dry thoroughly so that no moisture remains. Season with pepper.
4. Heat pan with corn oil, almost to the point where it is smoking. Sear pork. This will seal in the juices. If the pan is not hot, the oil will stew the meat. (For the same reason, do not use a sautoir or rondeau with high sides, as steam will billow up the sides of the rondeau and effectively stew the meat.)
5. Once meat is browned and caramelized, set aside. Degrease pan and, using water or stock, deglaze with wooden spoon to remove sucs. Pour sucs, macerated cherries, cherry juice and enriched stock into stock pot. Reduce by half. Season with salt and pepper. Add red wine vinegar to boost flavor. Skim frequently to remove grease.
6. Strain sauce through an etamine (fine mesh) chinois. Return to heat and reduce until nappant. Add truffle oil and balsamic vinegar. Simmer for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and reserve for service.
7. Bake tenderloin in a 350°F oven for ~5-7 minutes each side, until internal temperature reaches 130°F. (Residual cooking will bring internal temperature to 140°F.) Meat should be pinkish-red in the middle (medium rare). Remove meat from oven and let cool on wire rack for approximately 10 minutes. This will allow the meat to rest and seal in juices.

1. Slice the miniature purple eggplant vertically, and remove some of the flesh with a spoon or melon baller, forming a trough. Cook a l'anglaise, for ~1 minute. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Reheat green beans in a small amount of water and butter. Tie with a blanched chive, sprinkle with a bit of the persillade and rest inside purple eggplant boat.
2. Pipe red pepper puree into miniature pepper. Flash on a sizzle platter for 1-2 minutes to reheat.
3. Inside white eggplant, drizzle olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Fill with bean mixture and flash on a sizzle platter ~2 minutes or until hot. Remove and garnish with chiffonade sage leaves.
4. If not prepared a la minute, briefly reheat carrots, asparagus and gold beets in a sautoir with butter and a splash of water.
5. Reheat green beans in the same manner.
6. Slice tenderloin on a bias. Fan slices on the bottom of the plate and surround with demiglace. (Do not pour directly on meat). Sprinkle meat with a few Zaresh berries and garnish with flowering sage.
7. Carrots and asparagus are plated to the right, at 1 o'clock.
8. Half of a golden beet lies next to the chantrelle pudding, at 10 o'clock, along with the miniature white eggplant.

In Florence every day, hundreds of Italians gather at the indoor Central Market. This is located in the heart of the city, adjacent to the basilica. Within a cluster of palazzos and interior courtyards you can find everything from leather goods to dried shrimp. By Day 5 of any overseas trip, you'll invariably find me exploring local markets like this one. One hour after I wandered in there, I emerged with a bottle of Montepulciano and a somewhat smaller bottle of 60-year-old vinegar. The label on Leonardi Balsamico al Ciliegio reads: "Grape must, acetified for a long time in casks of cherry wood." When you uncork the bottle, the vinegar pours thickly, like maple syrup. It also tastes sweet, and is the perfect accompaniment to Morello cherries.