teaching. learning. and the general spreading of knowledge.

being a chef requires a lot of things.  


patience.  timing.  passion. palate. skill... just to name a few.


another aspect of being a chef is learning.  i try to do something new every week at the restaurant. something i've never done before.  maybe it's a flavor combination i've been thinking about or a cooking method i've been wanting to try.  maybe even a certain vegetable i've never worked with.  either way, i think it's important to keep learning.  


in this ever changing business, it's a matter of survival.  


teaching...  when i was in high school, i remember thinking i wanted to become an art teacher.  obviously that never happened.  but in a way, i do pretty much the same thing.  i instruct on different methods.  whether it be how to properly braise a lamb shank, or how to chiffonade basil.  and everything in between.  i try to instill inspiration. 


there comes a time when, in order to help teach, you must let your student go on their own.  let them make their mistakes.  and let them learn from them.  


last week, i let my sous chef make his own special for the weekend.  with minimal guidance, he made an awesome dish.  he made his teacher proud.  and i know if/when it is my time to move on to another venture, he'll continue to make his teacher proud and do an amazing job.


here are some pictures of his dish: horseradish crusted pork tenderloin, honey port braised cabbage, dijon mash.

for the record, the special sold out.  mad props scotty!

miscellaneous photos...and technical difficulties.

first of all.  let's be clear about this.  i'm not a tech savvy guru when it comes to computers or cell phones.  i know how to use them well enough.  but even the greatness of some can fall short at times.  


example.


a few weeks ago, i had accumulated quite a few photos on my phone of food that i had done and wanted to blog about.  putting it off long enough, i finally emailed photos to myself to get back on that blogging horse.  in my excitement and eagerness, once i sent the email, i promptly deleted pics off phone to open up space.  apparently...i shouldn't have done that.  email came, but no photos.  


oops.


so.  not an excuse for not blogging.  well..... kind of.  


here are a few of the pics that actually made it...and some other randoms from the last month.




chorizo chive tater tots.  mango ketchup.  awesome.

the first dish with the beet pickled eggs.  roasted beet.  fried shallot & parsley salad.  beet pickled eggs.  notice the pink in the eggs isn't all the way to the yolk. (now go look at the other pic...totally pink.)

had some fun with this one.  tamarind fried shrimp.  chickpea & tomato fritter.  apple chive slaw.  melba sour cream.  smoked paprika oil.

i think it's a pretty cool thing that i get to play with fire and knives and get paid for it.  cooking off some baby portobellos for the risotto.  

best smell in the world.  caramelizing onions.  yum.  

worst smell in the world.  chicken liver.  this is how it makes me feel.

short ribs browned and ready for the sauce before braising for 13 hours.

fresh outta the oven...

final product.  braised beef short rib.  potato turnip hash.  pickled red onions.

done.  

now that the last month has been caught up... time for new stuff.  and i'll try to not let another month pass between posts.

bone marrow stuffed mushrooms wrapped in bacon with beet pickled eggs, baby arugula and bacon horseradish vinaigrette.

see previous blog post about long descriptions. 


baby portobello mushrooms.  cleaned. roasted with extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper.

bone marrow stuffing: toasted bread crumbs. caramelized shallots.  bone marrow.  parmesan. s+p.  parsley.

stuff the shrooms.

 after they are stuffed, put them in the fridge to cool.  don't want all that bone marrow melting away!

after cooled, wrap in bacon and cook at 500 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.

this was probably one of my favorite things to make lately.  the whole thing just looked and tasted amazing.  

bacon wrapped hazelnut cherry stuffed chicken breast with stilton cream sauce and chopped spinach salad

sometimes i say to myself, "self, what is the longest possible description of a dish i can come up with just to F*** with the people who have to serve it?"

i'm joking.  it just happens that way sometimes.

couple weeks ago i did this.

bacon wrapped hazelnut cherry stuffed chicken breast with stilton cream sauce and chopped spinach salad.

it's super easy and really good.  i mean, really good.

first, you need some boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  clean it.  butterfly it.

i suppose i should have taken pics of the stuffing making process, but didn't.  but all you need is toasted hazelnuts, dried cherries, and some balsamic vinegar.  throw it in your food processor and blend the crap out of it until its the desired consistency.  put it in some plastic wrap and freeze it.  once it's frozen, take off plastic wrap and cut a chunk however big you want for stuffing.  (the freezing makes it easier to work with).  put that chunk in the middle of your butterflied chicken breast like so.

 roll the chicken.

wrap it in bacon.

bake at 350 degrees until its just cooked. probably 15-20 minutes.  let cool.  refrigerate.  


for the stilton cream sauce, get some good stilton.  any blue cheese will work, but i've got a thing for stilton.  add some cream.  cracked black pepper. a little balsamic vinegar. don't really need to add salt as the cheese has enough.


for the chopped spinach salad... chop spinach.  add some lemon juice and zest.  red onions.  good extra virgin olive oil.  season it.


once that's all ready, and your chicken has cooled... get a saute pan hot.  put in some olive oil.  throw in your chicken.  the main goal here is to get that bacon nice and crispy and to reheat the chicken.  finish it off in the oven.


done.  


we sold out of this in about 2 hours.  

special request

it's not uncommon for people to send me emails asking for special things for a birthday, anniversary or just because.  i like to do my best to keep these people happy, and it gives me a chance to do something different.


a couple weeks ago, i received one such email.  but this one was different.  the sender requested a special "cake" for her sister's birthday.  the issue with that?  the sister didn't like cake.  so, sender supplied me a list of things the sister liked, and we started an awesome, awesome "cake".  top things on the like list: grilled cheese, french fries, spicy. what followed was a thing of beauty.

first, cut up some ciabatta.

then, fry it in some clarified butter.  don't forget to season it.

golden brown is ideal, but if you make it, obviously your own preferences will be key.

 get a deep cake pan or roasting pan.  sprinkle the bottom with white cheddar.  or any cheese you want will do.  for this, i used white cheddar.  then do a layer of the fried bread.

 next thing.  the sriracha ketchup.  sweet. spicy. tomato-y. awesome.

more cheese.

caramelized onions.  my favorite part.

lots of cheese.

top with another layer of fried bread.  and more cheese.

pop that baby in the oven.  if memory serves, it was 350 degrees for about half an hour.

you'll want to dig right in.  but.  (there's always a but) let it cool for a good 15 minutes.  or, i promise you, third degree cheese burns WILL ensue.  

after its cooled and you've sampled it, without burning your face off, let it cool for another 15-25 minutes.  then, flip it out onto a cutting board or something that will hold it.  its going to be heavy, so make sure it can handle the weight.

for the "icing", i made a white cheddar "fondant".  just white cheddar, heavy cream, and some flour to stabilize it.  awesomeness.

for the white cheddar fondant, i lined a half sheet tray with parchment, dumped the cheese mix on that, covered it with plastic wrap and gently rolled it out.  then ever so carefully...take of plastic wrap and flip fondant on top.  if you pray, do that.  if not (like me) there was a whole lot of finger crossing. 

 finally, some sriracha writing for the birthday girl.

unfortunately, we didn't get to sample the whole thing.  but i saw the faces of the folks eating it.  they were happy.  and it looked effing good.  so..mission accomplished.

spring.

well.  i think it's safe to say that the last month has been a blur.  i have had every intention of keeping this blog up to date.  (i know there's a good "intention" quote to go along with that...but it escapes me.) so i'll just say this: doing my best to keep it fresh. new. exciting. in the mean time, i have a few more posts with things i've done in the last month.  


one of those things.  new mini garden at home.  went a little crazy at home depot and picked up a few (5) new plants, two of which are a blueberry bush and a heirloom tomato plant.  managed to pick up some seed packets as well.  corn, watermelon and zucchini are the first to make it in the planters outside.  a few tomato plants are in cups in the sunroom and are starting out nicely.  can't wait for these all!

well...um....

i know i know.  i've been slackin' on the blog.  i'm sorry!  really.  i've been a bit busy.  who knew a front page picture of your food would cause such a stir?!


well the last couple weeks have been a blur.  we sold an insane amount of fish and chips.  seriously.  in. sane.  now that i've had some time to catch my breath, and sleep for a minute, i'm getting back on top of things.  first, the blog.


a couple days ago, i got to shoot the first part of the demo for the tv show.  admittedly, i was nervous!  but after a few stumbles, i found my groove.  here's a shot of derek and david setting up the camera.

there are still a couple more shoots to do, and then lots of editing, which i get to be a part of.  super cool if you ask me.

now, on to food stuff.

i tried my hand at making some brioche a couple weeks ago.  not bad, but not perfect.  it was a little too dense for my liking...maybe if i have some time this week i'll give it another shot.

 i used the brioche above as slider buns.  insert some braised sirloin, pickled brussels sprouts and horseradish cream.... and you have this...

so. freaking. good.


the sunday after the big picture of the fish and chips hit the paper, we had our most insane brunch ever.  EVER.  preceded by the most insane saturday ever.  needless to say, i was happy to crawl home and sleep.  full board of tickets for 4 hours straight.  

so that's the last couple weeks in a nut shell.  have some more cool stuff in the works, but i'll keep that for another time.