I have a tasting on Wednesday in Burbank that I am thrilled about doing. They are opening a new tapas/mezze restaurant and a 400 seat banquet facility in Pasadena...and I am trying out to be the Executive Chef. A lot of work...they have just begun demo on the old and think they will open in January or February. I say think because I have done this a couple of times and it rarely goes as planned. Even if there is a ton of money behind it.
So, here is what I am planning...
9 Items for which to taste:
1: Hummus with Roasted Red Peppers
2. Tabbouleh (with a mix of quinoa and couscous, a little nuttier)
3. Caprese on a skewer..simple straight forward app
4. Lemon and Mint marinated Grilled Lamb with cranberry-mint Israeli couscous
5. Taglitelli with roasted butternut squash with sage and browned butter
6. Porcini Crusted Salmon over sauteed garlic spinach
7. Spaghetti Amatriciana with zucchini, yellow squash and pancetta
8. Roasted Chicken Roulade with prosciutto and ricotta and fresh tomato sauce
9. Dessert...something chocolate...decadent...pots du creme?
I prep everything here and take it to Burbank..I am going to be there by 2pm on Wednesday. 3 hours should be plenty...including cleaning up. I am excited and nervous and just want people to taste my food...I was good at this shit 4 years ago..feel like I am rusty. Creaky.
Showing posts with label chef. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chef. Show all posts
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Ideas...
Ideas in my head that I can't seem to pin down... write down one thing yet while in the middle of it, it comes out something different than you imagined, and WAY better.
BleuBerryBacon Burgers, with a toasted, brioche bun, alfalfa sprouts, avocado and a couple leaves of butter lettuce...and a light smear of blueberry bbq sauce.
Those luscious Brussels Sprouts that I learned a long time ago, that just improved as I tweaked it.
Southern Fried Quail Legs with Corn Cake and Radish-Apple Slaw, and Quince Vinaigrette
Spanish Chorizo in Malbec with Papas Rojo
Pan Toasted Green Beans with Sea Salt and Pink Peppercorns
Curried Duck Confit-Bok Choy Wontons
Bar Food....Skewers, things on sticks. Sweet, savory, make them DRINK MORE.
Paint brushes the sauce on the plate..same stroke over and over..sliced avocado
fanned out at 11 oclock..charred and blackened duck breast, cooked rare, and bloody, sliced on the bias fanned across the middle of the 9in square...chopped daikon-cucumber and Thai-chile-vinaigrette in the 5 oclock...rough chopped cilantro litters the plate. Maybe a stray Lemon verbena leaf, or kaffir lime chopped....
I'm fixing a hole where the rain came in to stop my mind from wandering...
BleuBerryBacon Burgers, with a toasted, brioche bun, alfalfa sprouts, avocado and a couple leaves of butter lettuce...and a light smear of blueberry bbq sauce.
Those luscious Brussels Sprouts that I learned a long time ago, that just improved as I tweaked it.
Southern Fried Quail Legs with Corn Cake and Radish-Apple Slaw, and Quince Vinaigrette
Spanish Chorizo in Malbec with Papas Rojo
Pan Toasted Green Beans with Sea Salt and Pink Peppercorns
Curried Duck Confit-Bok Choy Wontons
Bar Food....Skewers, things on sticks. Sweet, savory, make them DRINK MORE.
Paint brushes the sauce on the plate..same stroke over and over..sliced avocado
fanned out at 11 oclock..charred and blackened duck breast, cooked rare, and bloody, sliced on the bias fanned across the middle of the 9in square...chopped daikon-cucumber and Thai-chile-vinaigrette in the 5 oclock...rough chopped cilantro litters the plate. Maybe a stray Lemon verbena leaf, or kaffir lime chopped....
I'm fixing a hole where the rain came in to stop my mind from wandering...
Monday, July 20, 2009
My first cooking experience
Scrambled Eggs.
That is the first thing I learned how to cook. I was eight and I can remember standing in the kitchen at the old O'Keeffe and Merritt stove my mom had (still has). Cracking the eggs into a bowl, fishing out the shells, the sizzle of butter in the pan and the sound of the eggs as they spread across the pan bottom and bubble because I had the heat too high. I like my eggs a little over cooked, the bottom browned a little and dry. Cooking eggs is a test of skill in the kitchen. Most think that if you allow a chef to make eggs, over medium (the hardest to achieve), an omelet or the perfect hard boiled egg, you get a sense of their talent in the kitchen. Omelets are hard, especially on a flat top. I can do it in a saute pan, no problem. Hell, I can fry eggs and get them over and easy with a flick of my wrist....but I am NOT a short order cook. Short order guys are talented. But they end up stuck in it because they do it over and over becoming second nature to them. I have seen guys try to step up to working a saute station and they lose it.
Enchiladas/Tacos
The next thing I learned...My Aunt Marcy is credited to this, because she taught my mom.
We slightly fry the corn tortillas and put them into the enchilada sauce, remove, fill and roll. It is a process and my mom was happy when I was tall enough to help. We would make 2 13x9 pans, which became 1 and now she rarely makes them. If I go home I should make some for my Dad, he loves green sauce...And my enchiladas ROCK! It's all in the sauce making. However, we never did that. A big can of La Victoria was what we used. I make red or green sauce today. My green sauce is probably the easiest.
Connie's Salsa Verde
10 lbs tomatillos, peeled and cleaned and cut 1/2
5 whole jalapenos (will provide good amount of heat, reduce if sensitive)
olive oil
salt and pepper
Toss tomatillos and jalapenos in olive oil and lay cut side down on baking sheet,
sprinkle with salt and pepper, roast in hot (400) oven for 15 minutes, until skin begins to split and brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
2 bunches cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup FRESH lime juice
salt to taste (do not add until processing is done)
crushed red pepper, to taste (add last for another layer of heat if you choose)
Once everything is cool to touch, place tomatillos, jalapenos and above ingredients into a blender.
Do it in stages if you must, trying not to make a mess. Once you get it all processed, refrigerate and that's it!!
You can add sour cream to it for a dip, braise a pork butt in to to make Chili Verde...whatever. It will last a long time in the freezer.
So, now I have posted my first recipe...if you use it, let me know how it works out for ya.
That is the first thing I learned how to cook. I was eight and I can remember standing in the kitchen at the old O'Keeffe and Merritt stove my mom had (still has). Cracking the eggs into a bowl, fishing out the shells, the sizzle of butter in the pan and the sound of the eggs as they spread across the pan bottom and bubble because I had the heat too high. I like my eggs a little over cooked, the bottom browned a little and dry. Cooking eggs is a test of skill in the kitchen. Most think that if you allow a chef to make eggs, over medium (the hardest to achieve), an omelet or the perfect hard boiled egg, you get a sense of their talent in the kitchen. Omelets are hard, especially on a flat top. I can do it in a saute pan, no problem. Hell, I can fry eggs and get them over and easy with a flick of my wrist....but I am NOT a short order cook. Short order guys are talented. But they end up stuck in it because they do it over and over becoming second nature to them. I have seen guys try to step up to working a saute station and they lose it.
Enchiladas/Tacos
The next thing I learned...My Aunt Marcy is credited to this, because she taught my mom.
We slightly fry the corn tortillas and put them into the enchilada sauce, remove, fill and roll. It is a process and my mom was happy when I was tall enough to help. We would make 2 13x9 pans, which became 1 and now she rarely makes them. If I go home I should make some for my Dad, he loves green sauce...And my enchiladas ROCK! It's all in the sauce making. However, we never did that. A big can of La Victoria was what we used. I make red or green sauce today. My green sauce is probably the easiest.
Connie's Salsa Verde
10 lbs tomatillos, peeled and cleaned and cut 1/2
5 whole jalapenos (will provide good amount of heat, reduce if sensitive)
olive oil
salt and pepper
Toss tomatillos and jalapenos in olive oil and lay cut side down on baking sheet,
sprinkle with salt and pepper, roast in hot (400) oven for 15 minutes, until skin begins to split and brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
2 bunches cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup FRESH lime juice
salt to taste (do not add until processing is done)
crushed red pepper, to taste (add last for another layer of heat if you choose)
Once everything is cool to touch, place tomatillos, jalapenos and above ingredients into a blender.
Do it in stages if you must, trying not to make a mess. Once you get it all processed, refrigerate and that's it!!
You can add sour cream to it for a dip, braise a pork butt in to to make Chili Verde...whatever. It will last a long time in the freezer.
So, now I have posted my first recipe...if you use it, let me know how it works out for ya.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
THE FIRST SENTENCE
HI!! okay, so this is the first sentence of what I hope will be a good, entertaining and funny story.
I am a chef.. I am unemployed, I live with my in-laws and I have a lot of cookbooks. I also have a lot of music. SO, that said, I am going to spend the rest of the summer cooking, writing and talking about music and food. I am also going to tell you about my life. While it isn't particularly any more interesting than anyone else's story, it was fun. It has also been sad and disheartening. But, we are not going to talk about that...we are going to talk about my favorite dishes, why and what music goes with them or inspires me or whatever I feel like at that moment. I may talk about the sad stuff. But my goal here is to talk about me. And my friends and family and to tell stories...and probably be told "that's not what happened" and to cook what I feel and listen to what makes me feel like a human being and to share all that stuff with everyone. As we all know now, the world is very small, all bound up like a rubber band ball, and sometimes the band get too tight, and too worn and maybe they will **SNAP**
I am a chef.. I am unemployed, I live with my in-laws and I have a lot of cookbooks. I also have a lot of music. SO, that said, I am going to spend the rest of the summer cooking, writing and talking about music and food. I am also going to tell you about my life. While it isn't particularly any more interesting than anyone else's story, it was fun. It has also been sad and disheartening. But, we are not going to talk about that...we are going to talk about my favorite dishes, why and what music goes with them or inspires me or whatever I feel like at that moment. I may talk about the sad stuff. But my goal here is to talk about me. And my friends and family and to tell stories...and probably be told "that's not what happened" and to cook what I feel and listen to what makes me feel like a human being and to share all that stuff with everyone. As we all know now, the world is very small, all bound up like a rubber band ball, and sometimes the band get too tight, and too worn and maybe they will **SNAP**
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