Not really news, but today I finally attacked what I call a beast, Beef Heart. For about six months I've had three hearts in the deep freeze and I have not had a clue as to what to do with them, until about two weeks ago. As a kitchen staff, we headed out to dinner, in celebration of a succesful promotion and Chirstmas gathering of sorts. At the restaurant, we enjoyed some classicaly preperations of Duck Liver Mousse and Country Pâté , which had Reggie thining about what to do with a few pounds of meat scrap we have at work. This in turn had me thinking about what am I going to make while my mother is here for Christmas, and what the heck am I going to make with the heart of a cow? Country Pâté , of course. I guess technically it would be pâté grand-mere, but what ever you want to call it, it will be good. I broke down the heart and weighed out the marinade, pork and other ingredients so that I could let it sit over night in the spices and herbs before we go about searing, grinding and cooking.
This morning, I went out and bought some bacon and brandy, just in case I needed some more. Reggie, who lives near by came over to show me once again how to do it and off we went. Sear the marinated heart cubes, chill and mix with marinated pork, degalze the pan with shallots and crushshed garlic and the brandy used to macerate dried apricots. Grind meat and aromatics, emulsify with the macerated apricots and panada, place in bacon lined loaf pan and bake at 300F until it is done. I love that last instruction "until done."
Dec 19, 2009
Nov 27, 2009
Thanksgiving
Labels:
catering jobs,
cook's soul
As most of you know, I love cooking and I love the fact that having a knife roll gives me a great excuse to have some sort of adventure. This week, after putting in two doubles at work, My Wife and I headed up to a bison ranch on the Colorado side of the Colorado-Wyoming border. I think I've been worried about this trip since late summer when I agreed to come up here. The Chef is an alumnus of where I went to culinary school. She set out to become more than a caterer, but a high end caterer/private chef. Chef D. was a guest chef for my class and cooked at an open house I helped while I was attending. That was when I got to hear her stories of cooking on the bison ranch and all the place she has been able to visit and cook for some well off clients.
I don't know if the private chef gig is for me per se, but a few days on a ranch, cooking and spending time with My Wife are things I enjoy. When we got up here, Chef D. was already here over night and was finishing up with lunch for the family. At the moment the family is around 15 people, plus us and a few of the actual ranch hands that get invited to dinner. So we cook for about 25 people. I learned in the past, all the wives would get together and cook all the meals for everyone, and they would never get to spent time with one another or relax, as is the intent of going away for the Holidays. So they found Chef D. and she's been cooking for the family ever since.
Fortunate for us, the menus are not too intense, but there is learning to cook at altitude that makes cooking crazy. The kitchen itself is a high powered home kitchen. The cook top is a six burner stove with a griddle and two under stove convection ovens. The fuel situation is bizarre, as you use more, the less power you have. So like making turkey stock requires you to keep the pot in half the oven, so you don't have to use the stove top. Along with the cook top, we have a gigundous center island that is useful for prep, but not for service. We also have a 72" grill outside to use as a second stove at service time.
When we're prepping, we have a huge sliding door that keeps us separated from the family, when they are in the Gathering House, which I call a club house for the entire ranch. When it comes close to service time, we put the buffet spread out, on the counter, open the door and the family comes up to eat. I like the think that instead of ringing the dinner bell, we open the door to tell them to come and get it.
Anyway, My Wife and I are off for breakfast, but we will have Lunch and Dinner to serve tonight. In the mean time, I'm going to keep sipping my coffee and enjoy the views.
I don't know if the private chef gig is for me per se, but a few days on a ranch, cooking and spending time with My Wife are things I enjoy. When we got up here, Chef D. was already here over night and was finishing up with lunch for the family. At the moment the family is around 15 people, plus us and a few of the actual ranch hands that get invited to dinner. So we cook for about 25 people. I learned in the past, all the wives would get together and cook all the meals for everyone, and they would never get to spent time with one another or relax, as is the intent of going away for the Holidays. So they found Chef D. and she's been cooking for the family ever since.
Fortunate for us, the menus are not too intense, but there is learning to cook at altitude that makes cooking crazy. The kitchen itself is a high powered home kitchen. The cook top is a six burner stove with a griddle and two under stove convection ovens. The fuel situation is bizarre, as you use more, the less power you have. So like making turkey stock requires you to keep the pot in half the oven, so you don't have to use the stove top. Along with the cook top, we have a gigundous center island that is useful for prep, but not for service. We also have a 72" grill outside to use as a second stove at service time.
When we're prepping, we have a huge sliding door that keeps us separated from the family, when they are in the Gathering House, which I call a club house for the entire ranch. When it comes close to service time, we put the buffet spread out, on the counter, open the door and the family comes up to eat. I like the think that instead of ringing the dinner bell, we open the door to tell them to come and get it.
Anyway, My Wife and I are off for breakfast, but we will have Lunch and Dinner to serve tonight. In the mean time, I'm going to keep sipping my coffee and enjoy the views.
Oct 28, 2009
Beef Tongue
Labels:
cook's soul,
recipe
Beef Tongue:
Tongue
Mire Poix
Salt
Pepper
Stock
White Wine
Beer
Dry Herb de Provence
Bay Leaves
Black and White Peppercorns
Allspice Berries
- Put all of the ingredients in your slow cooker
- Turn it on low for about eight hours
- I then pulled it and chilled it overnight
- Peel the outer skin and unsightly fatty bits (like if it looks like the taste buds, take it off)
- Put all the ingredients back in the slow cooker and let it go another five hours
- Turn off the slow cooker and let the tongue rest in the cooking liquid
- Strain the cooking liquid
- Pull/tear the meat heat in strained cooking liquid and serve
Oct 25, 2009
Beef Tongue or Shredded Beef
Labels:
cook's soul,
recipe
Tonight was the first time I cooked, served and ate beef tongue. Apparently, my wife has had this growing up and wasn't too excited about it, but when it comes to offal, I'm all for it. After getting advice from Stach and Reggie on how to prepare it, I went for it. You see the tongue is the most used muscle on the animal, so it just means it will have tons of connective tissue which translates to collagen or yummy richness.
I tossed the frozen tongue, salt, white wine a bottle of Coors Original and some mire poix in the slow cooker at about 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, when I finally headed to bed at 10:00 p.m. I pulled it out with the liquid and cooled it in my fridge overnight. First thing today, I cranked up the slow cooker with the cooking liquid and proceeded to peel the outer skin off. 5:00 p.m. I shredded the meat some, so I could serve it to My Wife without her freaking out about the fact it was a tongue. Like I said, offal, especially well worked muscles, are one of those things that I enjoy cooking and eating. What I find hilarious and upsetting is when I asked my in-laws for the tail of the next cow they bring in, 1. they looked at me like I was nuts (tail being at the back end isn't a coveted meat) 2. when they asked the butcher, "he put it in the ground meat" 3. we got two tongues and a heart instead.
When I started thinking about the butcher taking the tail meat and turning it into ground beef, I realized that's too much work for such little reward, so I'm under the impression they either tossed it, kept it to sell, or kept it to take home and enjoy it for themselves. Anyway, we have a potluck at church next week, I may cook another one off and turn it into barbecue beef?
I tossed the frozen tongue, salt, white wine a bottle of Coors Original and some mire poix in the slow cooker at about 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, when I finally headed to bed at 10:00 p.m. I pulled it out with the liquid and cooled it in my fridge overnight. First thing today, I cranked up the slow cooker with the cooking liquid and proceeded to peel the outer skin off. 5:00 p.m. I shredded the meat some, so I could serve it to My Wife without her freaking out about the fact it was a tongue. Like I said, offal, especially well worked muscles, are one of those things that I enjoy cooking and eating. What I find hilarious and upsetting is when I asked my in-laws for the tail of the next cow they bring in, 1. they looked at me like I was nuts (tail being at the back end isn't a coveted meat) 2. when they asked the butcher, "he put it in the ground meat" 3. we got two tongues and a heart instead.
When I started thinking about the butcher taking the tail meat and turning it into ground beef, I realized that's too much work for such little reward, so I'm under the impression they either tossed it, kept it to sell, or kept it to take home and enjoy it for themselves. Anyway, we have a potluck at church next week, I may cook another one off and turn it into barbecue beef?
Oct 21, 2009
Misson vs. R3Volt
Labels:
cook's soul,
Top Chef
As many of you might now, I am a Top Chef fan, and I run commentary while I watch it with my wife. On Wednesday night was the well anticipated elimination challenge of Restaurant Wars. It is of my opinion that this is when cream rises to the top.
Before the elimination challenge, they had to pull off another team quickfire, which shows the creativity of the suits on the show. The teams had to cook a dish in a tag team format. Once the teams were picked, they had half a minute to decide what order they would cook and NOT discuss the dish. I believe order had everything to do with it. Having the most experienced cook with the quickest hands go first seemed to make a difference. When all things said and done it was a pretty impressive because the catch was they weren't allowed to discuss the dish and the entire team wore blindfolds until it was their turn to cook. When I put myself in cheftestants' shoes, I don't know what I would have been able to help the team out.
As for the restaurant wars, Tom deemed the winning team as the best restaurant of all the restaurant wars. It showed that once again, when the cheftestants pick their strengths, the team will end up loosing. Laurine, who is an owner/caterer, and has been in the middle of the pack, finally was exposed as a mediocre chef. Instead of asserting herself and shining in the front of house hid in her shell. The rest of the team, allowed her to be the front, only for Mike I. in hindsight saying, it's what I do run busy restaurants. WHAT!?!?! Really dude, this is why you are not a chef, because someone you don't trust is managing the FOH, and probably you could probably have done better.
What gets my goat the most was that I have had those nights, where service just doesn't go the way it should have. When a tough service is done, you tend to second guess things and try to figure out when the wheels fell off the bus. Mission knew, poor communication and having some one in the front of house who is naturally shy was the recipe of disaster. Oh well, I just wish Robin soon gets eliminated, because she has been on the bottom too many times and just happen to be on the team with the Brothers.
Before the elimination challenge, they had to pull off another team quickfire, which shows the creativity of the suits on the show. The teams had to cook a dish in a tag team format. Once the teams were picked, they had half a minute to decide what order they would cook and NOT discuss the dish. I believe order had everything to do with it. Having the most experienced cook with the quickest hands go first seemed to make a difference. When all things said and done it was a pretty impressive because the catch was they weren't allowed to discuss the dish and the entire team wore blindfolds until it was their turn to cook. When I put myself in cheftestants' shoes, I don't know what I would have been able to help the team out.
As for the restaurant wars, Tom deemed the winning team as the best restaurant of all the restaurant wars. It showed that once again, when the cheftestants pick their strengths, the team will end up loosing. Laurine, who is an owner/caterer, and has been in the middle of the pack, finally was exposed as a mediocre chef. Instead of asserting herself and shining in the front of house hid in her shell. The rest of the team, allowed her to be the front, only for Mike I. in hindsight saying, it's what I do run busy restaurants. WHAT!?!?! Really dude, this is why you are not a chef, because someone you don't trust is managing the FOH, and probably you could probably have done better.
What gets my goat the most was that I have had those nights, where service just doesn't go the way it should have. When a tough service is done, you tend to second guess things and try to figure out when the wheels fell off the bus. Mission knew, poor communication and having some one in the front of house who is naturally shy was the recipe of disaster. Oh well, I just wish Robin soon gets eliminated, because she has been on the bottom too many times and just happen to be on the team with the Brothers.
Oct 1, 2009
Off day thoughts
Labels:
cook's soul,
job search,
NoBo,
now what,
the line
If you've been tuning in from time to time, you know that My Wife and I have a 1/3 CSA share this summer. Because for the past few weeks I have been working on Saturdays, I have not been able to keep up with the big project cooking. So today, I started making a quiche, a good way to get veggies in to my system, and I was blind baking the store bought shell, it cracked in three spots on the high part of the crust and the entire center pulled out when I took off my weights. That was disappointing enough to make sit on my couch to watch a Military Channel show on Kung Fu.
Not to be defeated, I got back up later on and made a chowder with corn from our garden; CSA: celery, maroon and regular carrots, and onions; garlic and of course bacon fat. I think I have almost two gallons made, which I think will make a good base for things like clam chowder or even chicken pot pie. At this point, I have to let it cool and then I'll get it put away.
A big thing in Boulder I noticed is confit pork, so at work we've been making all sorts of confit items, especially duck. Stash and I figured, "why not pork butt, it is fatty, tough like a duck leg and a bit cheaper." Here at home I decided I'd do the same thing. So After skimming off stocks at work, I managed to save a gallon of chicken fat, which I'll use to confit the pork butt I have curing and pressing in my fridge. For the cure: Asian cured black beans, salt, sugar, black and white peppercorns, whole cloves, all spice berries, dried orange peel, and bay leaves. I'll use some herbs from the yard and reset all the aromatics from the cure in the confit to ensure I get the flavor working.
So with the termination of Spew, this has now bestowed the title of sous chef on my shoulders. And in fine Barney fashion, we believe he finally had it with Stash and I asking him to work and help us out with some bulk prep items. He walked out on the second half of his double on our wine tasting night. Fortunate for us, Ball has a friend who was out of work and switching jobs and he was on the line by 5:00 and was up to speed in the pantry station with in minutes.
One last thing, 5280 has given us 3.5 of 4 stars, making mention to some specials, regular menu items and of course our desserts as well. If you haven't read it, here is the direct link to the review on line.
Not to be defeated, I got back up later on and made a chowder with corn from our garden; CSA: celery, maroon and regular carrots, and onions; garlic and of course bacon fat. I think I have almost two gallons made, which I think will make a good base for things like clam chowder or even chicken pot pie. At this point, I have to let it cool and then I'll get it put away.
A big thing in Boulder I noticed is confit pork, so at work we've been making all sorts of confit items, especially duck. Stash and I figured, "why not pork butt, it is fatty, tough like a duck leg and a bit cheaper." Here at home I decided I'd do the same thing. So After skimming off stocks at work, I managed to save a gallon of chicken fat, which I'll use to confit the pork butt I have curing and pressing in my fridge. For the cure: Asian cured black beans, salt, sugar, black and white peppercorns, whole cloves, all spice berries, dried orange peel, and bay leaves. I'll use some herbs from the yard and reset all the aromatics from the cure in the confit to ensure I get the flavor working.
So with the termination of Spew, this has now bestowed the title of sous chef on my shoulders. And in fine Barney fashion, we believe he finally had it with Stash and I asking him to work and help us out with some bulk prep items. He walked out on the second half of his double on our wine tasting night. Fortunate for us, Ball has a friend who was out of work and switching jobs and he was on the line by 5:00 and was up to speed in the pantry station with in minutes.
One last thing, 5280 has given us 3.5 of 4 stars, making mention to some specials, regular menu items and of course our desserts as well. If you haven't read it, here is the direct link to the review on line.
Sep 23, 2009
Pints and Bites
Labels:
cook's soul,
culinary school,
just graduated
One of the coolest things I have found with being a graduate of a smaller, local culinary school is we become a small family of people who share a similar experience and passion for food. Today I am headed to Boettcher Mansion for a CSR sponsored event tied in with Great America Beer Festival and increasing the awareness of Farm to Table programs. Yesterday I spent the better part of the day prepping at the school. While walking around there, many great memories rushed back as I stepped in to different areas of the kitchens, certain smells and sounds that reminded me of some of the fundamental classes of the first few weeks as well as the last few after coming back from France.
I know that there are many people who attended there to get the instructing they needed to advance their careers; other treat it as a means to learn more about being a great home cook; then there are other who showed great excitement going and leave wondering why they ever went; and then there are people, like me, have had their eyes opened to what it really means to be a culinary artist and are out there trying to give people a life changing experience when they eat some thing as simple as mashed potatoes.
With all that being said, an event like this is incredible for the school to take part of, and for me, I'm excited to be part of it. The group of students in there currently are an incredible group who show great talent as well as attitude with facing the small challenge of changing the world through the food they cook.
I know that there are many people who attended there to get the instructing they needed to advance their careers; other treat it as a means to learn more about being a great home cook; then there are other who showed great excitement going and leave wondering why they ever went; and then there are people, like me, have had their eyes opened to what it really means to be a culinary artist and are out there trying to give people a life changing experience when they eat some thing as simple as mashed potatoes.
With all that being said, an event like this is incredible for the school to take part of, and for me, I'm excited to be part of it. The group of students in there currently are an incredible group who show great talent as well as attitude with facing the small challenge of changing the world through the food they cook.
Sep 10, 2009
Yes, I'm a Geek
Labels:
cook's soul,
culinary school,
France,
NoBo,
the line
When we were first married, in our itty-bitty apartment, My Wife would buy vegetables in great volumes, and I would end up having to trash more than half of what ever it was because I could not cook it up fast enough or store it well after I did. Well as a birthday gift and long awaited purchase we bought a 21 cubic foot upright freezer. I know you can fit quite a bit more in a coffin, but this one allows me to see what I have in the freezer in it's entirety. And it doesn't eat up a six by six area in my garage.With in a week of having this freezer I made 5 gallons of chicken stock followed by beef remi for some beef stock down the line. I also made 2 gallons of shrimp stock as a base for seafood dishes. I also have about two gallons of vegetable stock. I have some random things in there for future cooking projects like mushroom stems, chicken bones and cheese rinds. I love having this freezer, because I keep my ice cream bowl frozen as well as random meats I find on good deals at the grocery store.
Our biggest project now is trying to store the bounty out of our garden. We've given up on our greens, because we have more greens than we know what to do with from our Community Supported Agriculture share. I love having it, because it reminds me the days in culinary school when we were in France. I don't pick it, they just send it. Some of the things I have made to store in the freezer are zucchini bread and gratin; spinach, chard and goat cheese quiche; fennel oil and soon I'll make some beet soup as well . I've been able to recreate Individual Quick Frozen corn on the cob, along with green and yellow beans from our garden.
As for other news, Spew was let go last week, which means I have pretty much secured my day shifts with Stach having to work four opens and three closes with two whole days off. This means Chef will be three nights in Saute, another new guy, I'll call him Ball pretty much working nights in my station. I don't believe we will be bringing more guys on, but Stach and I were trying to figure out how to bring back Gonz and the last p.m. pasta guy, who had a lot of talent and use them more on a part time/on-call situation. If this works out, then both Stach and I would be able to take some time off on Christmas.
Anyway, I've got to go to the station to pick up My Wife. We've been down to one car for about a week now.
Sep 2, 2009
So I'm a bit of chef geek
Labels:
cook's soul,
job search,
this blog,
Top Chef
So I was cruising through my emails tonight, and among them was an alert that a previous Top Chef winner has posted on Craig's List for some line cooks. After watching him win, I told My Wife that I would love to work for him, because he seems to be the type of chef who is perceived as arrogant and cocky, and has the ability to make you want to put your best foot forward and turn yourself inside out What I saw as a man who had the superior skills and understanding to cook what is appropriate based on time, audience and product. Unfortunately for me, he's hiring for a place in the West Village, which I am to assume I would not be able to get him to relocate me, but I know now where to try to go when I visit in NYC.
As for other news, I just got done with three straight doubles and I'm now off for two days, which then I don't work Saturday regularly, and we're closed on Sunday, so that is four days off, and then I realized we're closed on Labor Day, so that will be five off days, yippie. Stay tune for other news.
I also just got done watching Top Chef: Las Vegas, and I am impressed by the talent level of the group, but there are some pretty poor representation of what it means to be a chef on the show. I did notice that this group is mature compared to the past seasons. Many of the chef-testants are decorated or have been nominated for industry accolades. Tonight's challenge was one I wouldn't really want to be a part of, but cook for 300+ people using the only what is an Air Force base galley. From what I saw, they were pretty handcuffed and I know that I would be to, but after watching the episode, the person removed deserved it, the person who won deserved it, but the surprise of the evening was one of the people brought in with the top picks was also brought right back in for the bottom three. Good call Bravo, I like the decision on that one.
Anyway, I'm three days behind on watching the Tour of Spain.
As for other news, I just got done with three straight doubles and I'm now off for two days, which then I don't work Saturday regularly, and we're closed on Sunday, so that is four days off, and then I realized we're closed on Labor Day, so that will be five off days, yippie. Stay tune for other news.
I also just got done watching Top Chef: Las Vegas, and I am impressed by the talent level of the group, but there are some pretty poor representation of what it means to be a chef on the show. I did notice that this group is mature compared to the past seasons. Many of the chef-testants are decorated or have been nominated for industry accolades. Tonight's challenge was one I wouldn't really want to be a part of, but cook for 300+ people using the only what is an Air Force base galley. From what I saw, they were pretty handcuffed and I know that I would be to, but after watching the episode, the person removed deserved it, the person who won deserved it, but the surprise of the evening was one of the people brought in with the top picks was also brought right back in for the bottom three. Good call Bravo, I like the decision on that one.
Anyway, I'm three days behind on watching the Tour of Spain.
Aug 29, 2009
Chef
Labels:
cook's soul,
just graduated,
NoBo,
the line
I think one of the biggest crimes many professional cooks commit is calling themselves chefs or letting others call them chefs. I may have had this rant once before, but if you wear a white jacket and apron to work; cut up veggies; bake, boil, braise, or broil bread, beets, or beef; and you don't tell people what to do, you are not a chef. I'm sorry, I have deep issues being called a chef. It happened a month or so ago, where I was in a meeting with a few kung fu instructors (yes I'm one of those too) when one of them saw the scars on my arm from burns and said, "are those from training?"
I replied, "no, their burns from work."
"What do you do?"
"I'm a professional cook."
"Why don't you just say you're a chef, people would know what that is," chimed in another instructor.
"But I'm not a chef. It's like having a student you're teaching calling themselves a kung fu master."
Everyone in the room, "Oh that makes sense."
You see, I've been a sous chef, and it was because I was the only one who was trained in culinary arts. I've been a line cook, and now I call myself a professional cook. The only why I say it that way, because I hope to convey to whomever I'm speaking to that my job is career choice. For as long as I can remember, everyone in this industry will tell you, "I'm here until I get a real job." Guess what, this is a real job, and can be a great career path as well. I'm not wanting to be on the line when I'm well aged, but I do hope to be a part of it in some other capacity. So, I don't call myself a chef, and I will deny it when you try to call me one. I will also get on my little soap box and explain to you why professional cooks are not chefs, unless they are the one in charge.
I will leave you with this, because it was on when I typing this.
I replied, "no, their burns from work."
"What do you do?"
"I'm a professional cook."
"Why don't you just say you're a chef, people would know what that is," chimed in another instructor.
"But I'm not a chef. It's like having a student you're teaching calling themselves a kung fu master."
Everyone in the room, "Oh that makes sense."
You see, I've been a sous chef, and it was because I was the only one who was trained in culinary arts. I've been a line cook, and now I call myself a professional cook. The only why I say it that way, because I hope to convey to whomever I'm speaking to that my job is career choice. For as long as I can remember, everyone in this industry will tell you, "I'm here until I get a real job." Guess what, this is a real job, and can be a great career path as well. I'm not wanting to be on the line when I'm well aged, but I do hope to be a part of it in some other capacity. So, I don't call myself a chef, and I will deny it when you try to call me one. I will also get on my little soap box and explain to you why professional cooks are not chefs, unless they are the one in charge.
I will leave you with this, because it was on when I typing this.
Aug 23, 2009
Thyme, where has it gone?
Labels:
cook's soul,
NoBo,
this blog
I mean really, I don't know what I have been doing in the last two months. I can tell you this, My Wife's birthday brought a visit from my parents. This also brought about the end of My Wife's summer with a month long publishing workshop she participated in followed with the start of law school. We're pretty excited about these new happenings in our life. As a birthday/anniversary/happy we've-been-in-our-home-for-a-year gift, we bought a 21 cubic foot freezer to start stashing foodie things like stocks and fats; large volumes of meat; half prepared foods; as well as the bounty of our garden.
As a result of the freezer, I bought a few short ribs to cook off at some later date, but with My Wife taking classes at night it is now important that I cook food for her to eat as dinner during the week. If I can't be there, I can at least give her some comfort in home cooking. In preparing these short ribs, I use some old pot roast sauce, as well as, some beef remi I just made. As for the herbs, I picked some marjoram, lavender and rosemary from around my home, as well as some parsley from our 1/3 share of CSA produce. I pretty much cooked them way I usually do, brown the meat, sweat the veg, deglaze with Capt. Morgan, bring the sauce and remi to a simmer and place all in the slow cooker on warm for eight hours.
Yesterday, as part of our lunch, I pan fried some pumpkin blossoms stuffed with Swiss and Asiago cheeses in a simple egg coating. I set the pan on medium and this proved to work well, because I tossed some basil in the hot frying oil right before placing the blossoms in the oil. I over did it with the cheese, but it was like eating pumpkin flavored melted cheese.
Tonight for dinner and left overs, I poached Yukons in bacon fat, grilled: a large zucchini, rib-eye/rounds and Olathe sweet corn. I "pan roasted" the Yukons to get them to let loose some fat as well as season them, in a cast iron skillet on the grill. I let the beef rest, which proved to help them stay very juicy. My Wife worked on our garden which included picking some yellow and green beans, which I need to give some love to.
As you may know, I have been enjoying my schedule that seems to be the envy of Spew, but honestly, he asked to be the one who was noon to close mainstay. I went into the job looking to work lunches/prep with one or two dinners a week. Being salaried, I can have that, and My Wife and I love it. I put in 27-29 hours on Monday and Tuesday and then I "open" Wed-Fri. Anyway, I'm hoping with My Wife in night school that I will be able to return to banging on the keys on my keyboard to keep you up to date in my world.
As a result of the freezer, I bought a few short ribs to cook off at some later date, but with My Wife taking classes at night it is now important that I cook food for her to eat as dinner during the week. If I can't be there, I can at least give her some comfort in home cooking. In preparing these short ribs, I use some old pot roast sauce, as well as, some beef remi I just made. As for the herbs, I picked some marjoram, lavender and rosemary from around my home, as well as some parsley from our 1/3 share of CSA produce. I pretty much cooked them way I usually do, brown the meat, sweat the veg, deglaze with Capt. Morgan, bring the sauce and remi to a simmer and place all in the slow cooker on warm for eight hours.
Yesterday, as part of our lunch, I pan fried some pumpkin blossoms stuffed with Swiss and Asiago cheeses in a simple egg coating. I set the pan on medium and this proved to work well, because I tossed some basil in the hot frying oil right before placing the blossoms in the oil. I over did it with the cheese, but it was like eating pumpkin flavored melted cheese.
Tonight for dinner and left overs, I poached Yukons in bacon fat, grilled: a large zucchini, rib-eye/rounds and Olathe sweet corn. I "pan roasted" the Yukons to get them to let loose some fat as well as season them, in a cast iron skillet on the grill. I let the beef rest, which proved to help them stay very juicy. My Wife worked on our garden which included picking some yellow and green beans, which I need to give some love to.
As you may know, I have been enjoying my schedule that seems to be the envy of Spew, but honestly, he asked to be the one who was noon to close mainstay. I went into the job looking to work lunches/prep with one or two dinners a week. Being salaried, I can have that, and My Wife and I love it. I put in 27-29 hours on Monday and Tuesday and then I "open" Wed-Fri. Anyway, I'm hoping with My Wife in night school that I will be able to return to banging on the keys on my keyboard to keep you up to date in my world.
Jun 20, 2009
Dinner
Labels:
cook's soul,
recipe
On one of our trips to my in-laws' ranch in Nebraska, I ended up with two pieces of venison "backstrap," so I thawed one of them. What I thought was going to be a gamey tough piece of meat, I discovered it be tender like a beef tenderloin. There went my plan to chop it up and braise it or grind it up make chili. Plan B or the new idea venison fillet mignon with rhubarb sauce, sauteed garlic spinach and leek risotto. The sauce was supposed to be a gastique, but really it was a savory pureed rhubarb sauce thickened with bloomed gelatin. The spinach was from our CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) 1/3 share. A friend of ours bought in on it last year, and they had too much food. We offered to buy in with another family and now we have a 1/3 share. The rhubarb was fresh cut from my garden.
I simmered the rhubarb in red wine to break down the fibrous skin along with some aromatics to add some complexity to it. Like I said, it was supposed to be a gastric, so I made caramel, deglazed with vinegar reduce added the broth, reduced again and added in the puree. simmered and slowly reduced. As for the venison, cut it in portions as if it were beef tenderloin, seared them and finished in the oven. As for the rissotto, classic prep, sweated out the leeks, cut in half rings, added the brunoise onions slice garlic, carnaroli, white wine, veg stock and parm at the end.
I simmered the rhubarb in red wine to break down the fibrous skin along with some aromatics to add some complexity to it. Like I said, it was supposed to be a gastric, so I made caramel, deglazed with vinegar reduce added the broth, reduced again and added in the puree. simmered and slowly reduced. As for the venison, cut it in portions as if it were beef tenderloin, seared them and finished in the oven. As for the rissotto, classic prep, sweated out the leeks, cut in half rings, added the brunoise onions slice garlic, carnaroli, white wine, veg stock and parm at the end.
Really, where has all my time gone?
Labels:
cook's soul,
culinary school,
job search,
just graduated,
NoBo,
the line,
this blog
As I look back on the month and a half that was there is too much to report and yet nothing to say, at the same time. It could be said that I have been in a fog or trance like state with working mostly days with a few Saturdays mixed in. In the past month, My Wife went away for a weekend to celebrate a friend's wedding in Boise, Idaho. We both headed out to Salt Lake City, Utah for both a graduation and a wedding. The graduation was for her youngest cousin from high school and the wedding was for her grandfather who lost his wife in a bout with cancer about two years ago. As for culinary perspective, I try to avoid having to eat fast food on long road trips, but I was not able to prepare a picnic basket for us before leaving.
At work, I have seen my fair share of working mostly days with doubles and closes mixed in. Chef likes how Stach and I work together and is likely going to keep it that way, even giving me more Saturdays off than actually working. To give you some perspective, each of will complete major prep items between 8:00 and 11:00, which allows for us to focus on cooking for lunch service and really letting me cover the whole line while he fabricates all of our major proteins.
As for the food itself, it's spring time now, actually summer. Most of what is available from the local farms are greens like spinach, baby kale, arugula, "spicy greens," etc. We received some lists from some distributors who have a schedule for product availability. We're still trying our hardest to create some great food using northern Italy as inspiration, but as the hot weather comes on we cannot help but do things like grilled cantaloupe salsa or preserved lemon and sun dried tomato sauce for our fish specials. I have had a few specials on the menu, unfortunately I'm a fall/winter type when it comes to my dishes, so things like, brandy enriched caramelized shrimp stock is a bit out of season right now.
As for adventures, My Wife and I celebrated our third anniversary almost two weeks ago. This meant that we spent the night enjoying a meal at Frasca Food and Wine. I have mentioned this before here, for where I can afford to eat, top 5 ever in my life. They have two options, ala carte or "Quattro Piatti" (prix fixe). There are four courses for the Quattro Piatti, in which you choose one from each for the bargain price of $66, you pick from the same exact menu and enjoy antipasti, pasta, main and dessert. They change their menu pretty frequently, so you only have 4-6 items per course to choose from. I had the sausage and cabbage, followed by porccini rissotto, then the braised beef short rib and their baked ricotta cake.
As for other cooks, my friends/former stages graduated from culinary school last week. Unfortunately, their experience was not quite the same as mine, but they did enjoy their experiences in France. Currently they are on the opening stages in their adventure into the culinary world. I feel like I've have to keep giving them advice, as a father who brings their child on board in the family business. I'm torn, because I want to see their dreams work out, but I know they have to fight get their. They won't learn until they trip up and make the mistakes necessary to learn. Oh the stress of being a friend.
So that's really the last three weeks, and there will be more to come as my adventure continues...
At work, I have seen my fair share of working mostly days with doubles and closes mixed in. Chef likes how Stach and I work together and is likely going to keep it that way, even giving me more Saturdays off than actually working. To give you some perspective, each of will complete major prep items between 8:00 and 11:00, which allows for us to focus on cooking for lunch service and really letting me cover the whole line while he fabricates all of our major proteins.
As for the food itself, it's spring time now, actually summer. Most of what is available from the local farms are greens like spinach, baby kale, arugula, "spicy greens," etc. We received some lists from some distributors who have a schedule for product availability. We're still trying our hardest to create some great food using northern Italy as inspiration, but as the hot weather comes on we cannot help but do things like grilled cantaloupe salsa or preserved lemon and sun dried tomato sauce for our fish specials. I have had a few specials on the menu, unfortunately I'm a fall/winter type when it comes to my dishes, so things like, brandy enriched caramelized shrimp stock is a bit out of season right now.
As for adventures, My Wife and I celebrated our third anniversary almost two weeks ago. This meant that we spent the night enjoying a meal at Frasca Food and Wine. I have mentioned this before here, for where I can afford to eat, top 5 ever in my life. They have two options, ala carte or "Quattro Piatti" (prix fixe). There are four courses for the Quattro Piatti, in which you choose one from each for the bargain price of $66, you pick from the same exact menu and enjoy antipasti, pasta, main and dessert. They change their menu pretty frequently, so you only have 4-6 items per course to choose from. I had the sausage and cabbage, followed by porccini rissotto, then the braised beef short rib and their baked ricotta cake.
As for other cooks, my friends/former stages graduated from culinary school last week. Unfortunately, their experience was not quite the same as mine, but they did enjoy their experiences in France. Currently they are on the opening stages in their adventure into the culinary world. I feel like I've have to keep giving them advice, as a father who brings their child on board in the family business. I'm torn, because I want to see their dreams work out, but I know they have to fight get their. They won't learn until they trip up and make the mistakes necessary to learn. Oh the stress of being a friend.
So that's really the last three weeks, and there will be more to come as my adventure continues...
May 9, 2009
The Perfect Storm
This weekend, as I supposed in most college towns, we have the graduation of over 5,000 students from the University of Colorado - Boulder (CU). At the same time, it is Mother's Day weekend. Both of which are pretty big deals with in ten miles of Boulder. With NoBo being in North Boulder, it isn't too much of a surprise for us all. At the same time though, with us regularly being closed on Sundays, it took us for a surprise when on Tuesday, Chef turned to the salaried guys that we would be working. It really wasn't too much of a surprise, because we all knew we were open, the entire HOH wasn't scheduled.
In hopes to ease the pain of the weekend, we put together a menu supplement, that featured all the specials for the weekend, and a few notable menu items. With this being the case, Last night wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, with only 65-95 seats (if you count the patio) we could have easily seen the wheels fall off quickly, but in all honesty, we did about 90 covers all night with three pretty distinct pushes to keep us on our toes for the bulk of the night.
I covered the wheel as the new guy covered pasta, Spew on saute and Barney in the pantry. Chef was the float/relief for the most part and that keep me from loosing on the grill. I'm starting to really love what I do, because I'm now on salary, which means that I have to be there longer, but in all honesty, I also see a lighter day when I'm there through the night. Next week, I have two 12 hour days, one 14 hour day an open and a close. If this works out well, I'll feel better about work and contributing to the kitchen.
With Boulder seeing a large amount of people flooding the town, I'm sure we'll see a few more amateur dinners in our building tonight. I'm hoping that they are excited with what we have to offer, as opposed to just ordering things they know and going for exciting things like duck two ways, or ham and clam risotto. Anyway, not real rants or frustration to get off my chest, I'm just hoping Barney behaves better than he has all week, but I don't think that will be the case.
In hopes to ease the pain of the weekend, we put together a menu supplement, that featured all the specials for the weekend, and a few notable menu items. With this being the case, Last night wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, with only 65-95 seats (if you count the patio) we could have easily seen the wheels fall off quickly, but in all honesty, we did about 90 covers all night with three pretty distinct pushes to keep us on our toes for the bulk of the night.
I covered the wheel as the new guy covered pasta, Spew on saute and Barney in the pantry. Chef was the float/relief for the most part and that keep me from loosing on the grill. I'm starting to really love what I do, because I'm now on salary, which means that I have to be there longer, but in all honesty, I also see a lighter day when I'm there through the night. Next week, I have two 12 hour days, one 14 hour day an open and a close. If this works out well, I'll feel better about work and contributing to the kitchen.
With Boulder seeing a large amount of people flooding the town, I'm sure we'll see a few more amateur dinners in our building tonight. I'm hoping that they are excited with what we have to offer, as opposed to just ordering things they know and going for exciting things like duck two ways, or ham and clam risotto. Anyway, not real rants or frustration to get off my chest, I'm just hoping Barney behaves better than he has all week, but I don't think that will be the case.
May 6, 2009
Top Chef Sighting
Labels:
culinary school,
NoBo,
the line,
Top Chef
As you might know, I do watch Top Chef. I find that it is good for any one in the culinary arts to watch shows like this. For a few reasons, ideas for dishes, see what is considered new in the industry, and of course it makes for good conversation at work. Last night, the winner of the most recent season came in to NoBo for the first time.
Chef looked at me and asked, "is that him?"
"Yes it is, did you know that he was a guest instructor when I was at Culinary School of the Rockies?"
Chef checks his apron and jacket to make sure they are neat and goes out there to talk to him. Chef returns and asks about the ricotta gnudi we ran as a special on Monday. I had about a half portion left the gnudi, so I fired up two pans and got started on the dish. Chef pulled out a pair of 11" plates with a 6" diameter plating area. "Here split it on these." Out it went, an amuse bouche of sorts to the reigning champion.
Barney didn't quite understand what the fuss was about, but I started giving him the Top Chef's pedigree. Explained that when he came to C.S.R. we cooked about a third of the dishes he cooked on the show. I also explained how the Top Chef needed to be his hero, because what he has learned in being a chef wasn't in school. And finally I explained that about everyone who comments on the Top Chef aren't that impressed with him. The guy won the last challenge and that is all that matters. "It doesn't' matter how many dragons you slay, on your way to save the princess," Chef Fabio.
So their next course was the beet, spinach and goat cheese salad special, and as a final course, the woman the Top Chef was with ordered the vegetarian platter and he ordered the halibut special, which I wasn't surprised. The pan seared halibut was served over roasted fingerlings, with fava beans tossed with Speck. On the vegetarian platter, was my new favorite starch, beet risotto, along with roasted winter and summer squashes, eggplant stuffed with goat cheese, balsamic caramelized onions, a salad topped with parsnip ribbons, and various nuts and cheeses.
They came in at the end of the night, so we were trying to clean and get out of there as well as serve them great food. Chef left after they were half way through their meal, and I headed out there at the very end of the night to shake the Top Chef's hand, congratulate him on his title and reintroduced myself to him. He said he recognized me, but he couldn't remember exactly where from. The Top Chef also mentioned that our class was the last time he was invited to he school.
All in all, he's a nice guy, and I'm glad I was able to cook something for him. I just wish I didn't leave my camera at home last night.
Chef looked at me and asked, "is that him?"
"Yes it is, did you know that he was a guest instructor when I was at Culinary School of the Rockies?"
Chef checks his apron and jacket to make sure they are neat and goes out there to talk to him. Chef returns and asks about the ricotta gnudi we ran as a special on Monday. I had about a half portion left the gnudi, so I fired up two pans and got started on the dish. Chef pulled out a pair of 11" plates with a 6" diameter plating area. "Here split it on these." Out it went, an amuse bouche of sorts to the reigning champion.
Barney didn't quite understand what the fuss was about, but I started giving him the Top Chef's pedigree. Explained that when he came to C.S.R. we cooked about a third of the dishes he cooked on the show. I also explained how the Top Chef needed to be his hero, because what he has learned in being a chef wasn't in school. And finally I explained that about everyone who comments on the Top Chef aren't that impressed with him. The guy won the last challenge and that is all that matters. "It doesn't' matter how many dragons you slay, on your way to save the princess," Chef Fabio.
So their next course was the beet, spinach and goat cheese salad special, and as a final course, the woman the Top Chef was with ordered the vegetarian platter and he ordered the halibut special, which I wasn't surprised. The pan seared halibut was served over roasted fingerlings, with fava beans tossed with Speck. On the vegetarian platter, was my new favorite starch, beet risotto, along with roasted winter and summer squashes, eggplant stuffed with goat cheese, balsamic caramelized onions, a salad topped with parsnip ribbons, and various nuts and cheeses.
They came in at the end of the night, so we were trying to clean and get out of there as well as serve them great food. Chef left after they were half way through their meal, and I headed out there at the very end of the night to shake the Top Chef's hand, congratulate him on his title and reintroduced myself to him. He said he recognized me, but he couldn't remember exactly where from. The Top Chef also mentioned that our class was the last time he was invited to he school.
All in all, he's a nice guy, and I'm glad I was able to cook something for him. I just wish I didn't leave my camera at home last night.
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