Sorry about the delay, but back to business...

Thanksgiving has come and gone and the christmas is well upon us. As winter's icy grip tightens, we are greeted with need to eat more high caloric foods. Even if we tell ourselves that we won't have that second piece of pie, we all know that deep in the recesses of our primal instincts that we crave for those foods that will help up keep warm though out those cold months. Problem is we don't live in caves anymore. And we all rely on artificial heat provided by the electric, oil, or gas company. So, there is  the rub.  Extra calories that we usually burn off during those rough winters when food is scarce.  Nowadays, there is always a supermarket that seems to never run out of food, in season or not.  Pastry chefs are faced with a major problem this time of year (depending where you live). Local and sustainable seems to be out of the questions when the weather takes a turn for the worst.  The question is what do you make at this time of year?  Fruits don't make sense, even apples go out of season.
This is when I turn to the bottle. My desserts take a dive off the wagon and get a little inebriated.  Bourbons, liqueurs, and other spirits seem to fill my pantry shelves as staples instead of the berries and drupes of summers past. Caramels and spices inhabit my recipes as I try to find the proper balance between sweet and savory. And still to this day my favorite ingredient in a winter dessert is maple syrup. Not only maple syrup, but maple and whiskey.  Sweet and smokey.  It's like eating a butterscotch candy with a kick and a hell of a lot more flavor.  
I've poached my last pear, and cooked my final strudel.  Even pie does not excite me anymore.  Winter is upon us, it time to eat and enjoy like we really should.  Gluttony is a sin, only if you feel guilty about it... And that's what New Year's Resolutions are for anyway.  So Bundle up and loosen that belt it's time to have dessert.


Here is an easy one for those last minute dessert requests.
Ricotta Impastata Cake with Spiced Berry Compote





1# Ricotta Impastata 
4 yolks 
3 oz heavy cream
1 orange, zested
4 oz sugar
1 tbsp vanilla


1. Cream ricotta and sugar.  Add yolk one at a time.
2. fold in cream, zest, and vanilla.  
3. Bake in a covered water bath at 300F for 40 minutes.


Spiced Berry Compote


1 cup blueberries
1 oz dried cherries
4 oz sugar
2 oz pomegranate juice
2 oz water
2 cinnamon sticks


1. Add al indriedients to a pot.
2. Simmer till blueberries burst and cherries rehydrate. chill and set aside. 


Enjoy!  Stay sharp and happy holiday!

Best part of my day...

Best part of a meal is probably the entree. But the thing that you probably remember is the dessert. You can have a great steak dinner, a nice glass of wine, but for most people that order dessert this part of the meal will overshadow the the preceding events.

Sure you'll remember that you had a good dinner. That fish dish with that sauce was good... What was it called again. Or the steak, yeah with the potatoes. It was nice.

But dessert, if you choose to go down that path will haunt you for better or worse you'll always remember that white chocolate and cardamom ice cream from Restaurant Theo (RIP... The restaurant not Theo). Or that crazy celery gelato that Johannger made at AIX... Another great restaurant that met it's fate due to the economy. How about Francoise Payard's macrons (yes I still have that recipe!).
There are a few meal that remember vividly. Some are great some are not, but I must say the thing that I remember the most is the desserts that I have ordered and made.
Pastry has allowed me to express my creative and destructive sides at he same time. I've used my DIY handyman skills to create some interesting presentations. Can't say that about cooking so much. For this reason, I am passionate about being a pastry chef.

I cook because I can. I bake be cause I love it.

On to the recipes. BTW, i'm posting a picture of something totally different.  I know it's not apple strudel, but it's apple related.  (also, those are not giant berries)






Braided apple strudel.
(So easy it can be done at home. )

1 sheet puff pastry (store bought is fine)
5 apples (granny smith, gala, and similar fruit works well).
1/4 cup dried cranberries
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp corriander
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground Ginger
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup 10x

1 Peel, core, and dice the apples. Combine with all of the spices, cornstarch, and sugar.

2. Let macerate in a sauce pot until liquid begins to come from the fruit. Add the cranberries and lemon juice and cook over medium heat until the cornstarch thickens and the apples are tender.  Set aside and let cool.

3. If you can't find almond flour great of not follow this step. Freeze the almonds and them grind them in a food processor. Add the 10x and grind further. If you have almond flour, just combine equal parts 10x and almond flour.

To assemble:
Place the cooled apple mixture in the center of the puff pastry. Next, slice 1 inch strips down each side of the puff pastry. Next, dust the apple mixture with the almond sugar mixture.  Brush the puff strips with an egg wash.  Then braid the strips alternately down the apple mixture. Brush the top with egg wash and then dust with cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until puff pastry is full cooked.

Enjoy and stay sharp.

j-

Enough with the rants... Time for some FOOD!!

Okay... it has been a slower week at work and I have been able to play around a little more.  Here goes in no particular order.

Here is my take on a tequila shot...
It's a Prosciutto brittle and Grenadine Caviar (yes meat for dessert and no it's not fish eggs), Patron Gellee, Lime Ganache Truffle.  It's a progressive trio tasting. First spoon is the salt, next spoon is the tequila shot, the last is the lime.  At the time of presentation it is interesting to see the people's faces when they are told what it is.



Next up is a play on the classic apple tarte tatin.  Here I used petite anjou pears.  I slow roasted them with caramel in a 250 F oven for about 2 hours.  Hit it with a a puff pastry base and stuffed it with honeyed vanilla mousse (can't see it in the pictures, but trust me it's there!)



Third up to bat is another dessert trio.  Here I have a Deconstructed Tiramisu.  It's a maderia wine genoise, Mascarpone mousse, and esspresso spheres.  Encased in a chocolate tear.  Next to that is a mango, tamarind, and thai basil salad millefeuille. And finally that pink thing on the end is a Strawberry Nuage topped with Champagne Noodles... kinda a take on champagne and strawberries.



hope you all like the eye candy... make sure to follow my blog to keep up with the new things I'm doing and for those special invitations to the tasting we do at work.  I have a Champagne Tasting coming up in the near future paired up with some desserts that i have created.  So 4 Champagnes, and 4 Desserts to match... what else could you want.

Stay sharp!

j-

Back to work again.

Sorry for the delay on posting.

As of late I have been contemplating the idea of working in a kitchen. Why the hell would anyone want to do it?

I spend at least 12+ hours of my day in a room without windows. I am Surrounded by machines spewing flames and hot steam.  The only thing I can really trust is the edge of my Masahiro 240 Gyuto, and that's starting to dull. I eat my meals standing up. I drink my coffee black. Every third word that comes out of my mouth only consists of four letters, not including the simple suffixes to help emphasize it's meaning. I yell alot. I cut my self alt least 3 times a week, and let's not get into the burns. Did I mention that I curse alot... Oh wait, I did in my long winded rant about suffixes. I find solace in butchering the carcasses of long dead animals.
I frequently ask myself why do I continue to do it.

Well for one, after the 13th hour of work and ninth pint of coffee, when you look back at the fleeting accomplishment that I've just plated up for my customers. I see them smiling like overstuffed pigs waiting to be slaughtered. You just have to smile and take in the moment. For that time while they were enjoying the fruits of my labor, I was able to make that person think of nothing else other than that thing I just created. Not many people can do that. Hopefully they will come back to see what else I can create. Now, I ask myself the same question. Why the hell would I want to cook?

The answer is simple...  It's cuz I sure as hell don't want to eat what your making.  J/k!

I do it because I love it. Anyone can become a good cook. The technique is no secret. The problem is do they have fortitude to keep up with it all.

Escoffier's Sous Chef said it best. "Heaven gives us good meat, hell gives us good cooks."

Enough with the culinary tirades... now on to the recipes 


Burgundy Poached Seckle Pear with Burbon Caramel


6 Seckle Pears, peeled and cored.
2 cups Red Wine, (burgundy or something similar)
3 cups water
2 cups Sugar
1/2 Vanilla Bean (optional)

Boil the wine, water, and sugar with the vanilla.  Lower to slow simmer. 

Place pear in liquid and place a weight ton top in order to submerge the pears fully (a plate should be fine).  

Cover and let poach for 30 - 45 minutes or until tender.

For Caramel:
2 cups Sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups Heavy Cream
1 cup bourbon


Scald the haeavy cream and Bourbon mixture. Lower fire and keep warm.
Caramelize sugar and water mixture.  
When amber in color slowly add haeavy cream and whip with a LONG whisk!  
Be very careful because the molten sugar will bubble and splash when the cream is added. 


Assemble by removing the pear from the liquid and let dry a little.  Sauce with the caramel and a dollop of whipped cream.  Enjoy! 

Cooking at home VS. Cooking at work.

I have been cooking for quite a number of years now and yet I hardly cook at home.  Here are the my top reasons i don't cook at home....

First off  I don't have a fully stocked pantry and a walk in fridge.  Also working on all electric applianaces really stinks.  I miss my jade burners when I cook at home.  There is nothing like having a 14" sautee pan heated up by15000 btu of gas power.  Plus I can cook 12 things simaltaineously at work.  At home i am limited to these chipped nonstick pans that can barely fit a whole egg to make breakfast.  My main complaint about cooking at home is i don't have my dishwaher, pot washer and porter  cleaning up after me.  I miss throwing 16 different bowls/utensils/pans into the pot sink and looking over five minutes later to see them cleaned.  Not only that, the garbage magically takes it self out.  I don't know how, but it does.  The main reason i don't cook at home is i'm ussually the one telling people what to do, but once take off the chef coat and clean my knives... I am no longerthe boss.  I'll admit it, because I don't mind.  I do enough nagging at work, I guess it's only fair that I recieve my dose too. 

There is an old saying, "if you go to a carpenter's house you'll find a three legged table."  If you come here you'll probably find a Big Mac Extra Value Meal and a diet coke... got try and keep it healthy. 

Now on to the recipies.
Lambic Braised Beef Short Ribs with Swiss Chard.  for 6 people.



5 lbs Beef short ribs(of the bone, if on bone add another pound)
1 bottle cherry lambic
1 cup Beef stock (the canned stuff is fine)
1/4 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced carrots
1/4 cup  diced onions
5-6 springs  of  thyme chopped fine
3 cloves of garlic( minced)
1/4 cup Dried Cherries (Cranberries work too)
1/4 cup flour
Salt and Pepper to taste
Vegetable oil
Swiss Chard or Escarole

1. Season the short ribs with salt and pepper.   Dust lightly in flour and sear them in a sautee pan  with a little oil.  Make sure to brown all the edges nicely.  Don't worry about over cooking the meat...
2. Remove the meat and set aside, drain excess oil and deglaze  the pan  with the onions, garlic and thyme. 
3.Sweat the onion mix and then add the celery and carrots.  cook till all ingriedients are light golden color. 
4. Replace beef with veg mix and add lambic beer.  Bring to simmer on the stove top and then cover and place into a 325 F oven for the next 2 hours. 
5.Clean the vegetables (swiss chard or escarole) and chop onto bit size pieces.
6. during the last 5-10 minuts of cooking, lightly brown some minced garlic in a sautee pan and then add the green leafy vegetables.
7. Sautee  the vegetables intil tender and season with salt and pepper. 

If you really want to take it a step further, you can make some gremolata. 
Zest a couple lemons, limes and oranges.
Mince some garlic and add it to the mix.
Do the same with some finely chopped parsely. 
Add some nice olive oil and salt and pepper.
Squeeze in some citrus ( a little of each works) and there you go... this stuff will last a while in the fridge and goes nicely with meats and fish.   Enjoy

J-

What makes good food good?

Cooking is a combination of flavor characteristics, technique, and the product we use.  When we first begin to create an idea for a dish we must first look at the flavor characteristics that we want to use. This is done by selecting the best product out there in order to make the best food possible. Only then can we establish a technique to present the item we are cooking to it's fullest potential. 

What we do not want to do is try an recreate something that was not there to begin with. Nothing can taste more like an orange, except an orange. The flavor profile of a food product should be kept constant. Sauces, garnish, and accompaniments should compliment each other but hold true to the original flavor. 

As a chef, we come into this equation when we choose the flavors. People say what about the technique? But the technique is constant. There is nothing that hasn't been done before.  Molecular gastronomy is just another way to look at cooking. Big business has been using the same hydrocoloids in our food products "forever". Technique is one constant that a cook can count on. Once you learn it... It is put to use over and over. 

Now the problem lies here. If we are using flawed techniques, products, and flavors we will end up with flawed results. 

If I could turn back time and estage with the Medici's and learn from the masters of old what would I learn? Maybe the same techniques that have been taught to me already?  Of course, i probably wouldn't be able to use my buerre mixer or hobart.  

The thing that makes cooking revolutionary is bringing that technique to a level of near perfection. Making that piece of food taste as pure as it can be. As cooks we strive to make good food. As chefs we strive to make good food over and over and over. 

J-

For those of you waiting for a recipe... here you go.

Lobster Rolls with Tarragon Aioli, Fennel Slaw on a Brioche Bun

Fumet for poaching

1 - 2lbs lobster

1 oz red onion

1 oz carrots

1 oz celery

1 tsp fresh tarragon

1 tbsp Mayo

1/4 tsp roasted garlic

1 bulb Fennel

1 lime (juiced and zested)

.5 oz carrot

1/4 tsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

4 brioche buns

Make a simple fumet(2 qts water, 1/2 a carrot, 1 stalk celery, 1/2 an onion, couple pepper corns and a cup of cheap white wine). Bring to a boil. Then simmer for 10 minutes.  

Add your lobster, poach for 12 minutes and then cool it down.

Clean your lobster and dice into bit sized pieces. Set aside.

Chiffonade the leaves of the tarragon and mince the roasted garlic.  Combine herb and garlic mix with the mayo, diced carrots, diced celery, and diced red onions. Fold in lobster meat and season to taste. 

Slice fennel into paper thin strips and marinate them with lime juice, lime zest, julliened carrot, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

To assemble, lightly toast the broiche buns and generously portion the lobster mix on each bun.  Top the lobster mix with a portion of fennel slaw and finish off with the top of the bun.  Grab a cold Bottle of beer and enjoy!!!

P.S.
If you are having a cocktail party these make great sliders!

Trust me it is easier than it reads.  

Hopefully not just another food blog.

So it all begins with this blog. I started a weblog back in '99, way before they coined the term "blog". Yes. It has been that long. It was on a site called livejournal. Hell my blog may still be up there. Anyway, this was well before I found my calling for sharp objects and bloody items.

I've completed my "10000 hours" to become a cook more than once. My food reflects this repetition.  Practice makes perfect and muscle memory makes my knife handling kinda fun to watch. I try not to be a pretentious cook. Like I said I try.  Food on a plate is good. Good food on a plate is better. But having visually appealing food plated well is a totally different experience. 

It is amazing how much color and shape can affect how our minds interpret how food should taste. Creating food is not solely based on flavor combinations. Your sense of smell plays a major role in the experience. Texture rounds out the equation.  Eating is truthfully a full body experience.

A couple decades ago people went to restaurants because the restaurant had a great reputation. No one knew or cared about the chef.  Nowadays, people go to restaurant because they are following a particular chef.
Hopefully, one day that particular goal shall be achieved...

Anyway, I am starting this blog to rant, analyze, and explain my time in the kitchen. I'm here to post strange recipes measured in metric of weird food I like. Well it won't always be weird. Pictures will definitely be posted... Sorry to all the innocent parties. So come join me on my culinary misadventures and mishaps. Just be a little patient... between tempering chocolate training a new staff I promise to try and be interesting.  And in the end you'll at least get a cool recipe or two.

J-