Archives for September 2008
Leftovers.
22 September 2008 | delicious, eating, old blue | No Responses
I get sent home with a fair amount of food. Working in kitchens, you don’t go hungry. Often, pre-seared lamb won’t get sold, and won’t make it until Monday. Enter the fat kid!!! And how about a deli cup of those delicious fucking beans with the shredded duck confit? That would go great with this lamb. I’ve got that balsamic glaze from Italy in the cupboard at home, for drizzling. All the cooks know they can get rid of their various use-able odds, ends, bits and pieces. I used to have a line on some halibut scraps, but I haven’t seen him in a grip. Yes I will have two deli cups of garlic oil. Yes I will take home a day old loaf of brioche. (French Toast, bitches!!) How’s about Chimichuri marinated flank steak? Why yes I can find a use for that. To feed my ever growing teets!! With power-lunch-stlyle sammy action on old blue. Enjoying some vino from the vineyard always helps wash this all down quite nicely. In light of some rather alarming new statistics, it’d good to know that food isn’t going to waste, but to my waist.
Still More Eating in Paris.
16 September 2008 | Europe, delicious, eating | 3 Responses
The last night we were in Paris we ate at Les Cocottes, a short walk from The Eiffel Tower. The chic dining room and meat hanging in the windows drew us in. Our glorious meal was accompanied by a bottle of Beaujolais and dark rainclouds. Our appetizers arrived as it began to drizzle. I had a crab salad which had been meticulously packed into a tiny mason jar. Shaved cucumber and homemade mayonnaise blended it together well. Kate’s salad was simply mounded with bacon, and an oozing quenelle of goat cheese sat melting on top. Kate sipped her wine as I drank her in. What a babe. Later that night we got engaged. The small restaurant was filling up, people bustled in from the blustering rain. The place was full and people were waiting by the time our entrees arrived. I was immediately jealous of Kate’s scallops. They swam in a foamy and delicious smelling sauce. I was straight drooling. She gave me only one taste. Good Lord. C’etait delicieux!! My steak dish was very meat and potatoes for Paris, but was well executed and well, it was meat and potatoes. Man I wanted those fucking scallops. We laughed and talked for awhile, digesting and enjoying the wine. This was our last night in France, and we were savoring every minute. We finally ordered dessert, she the chocolate tart, and me the clafoutis. The simple dark tart sat silky on the plate, a texture that would prove to taste as good as it looked. My dessert was strewn with port soaked prunes, a pot of pancake. Totally sated and elated we paid our bill and left with smiles. I lifted an umbrella from a pot by the door on the way out. That rain was really coming down.
Read Ideas In Food.
13 September 2008 | blog, creative presentation of the week, delicious, food porn | 3 Responses
If you aren’t reading IDEAS IN FOOD, my faithful readers, You should be. I look forward to their frequent blog posts. Food Porn in it’s purest form. Innovation through science. Pictured here is chicken skin crusted skate with rhubarb mustard, shrimp spaetzle, arugula and fresh bergamot. Chicken skin crusted!?! And what the hell is bergamot? Seriously, Cheers to you Ideas In Food Chefs. I want to eat your blog. How could I not? 32 preparations of Foie Gras? And what about Hot Ice Cream? Amazing stuff here guys. Best food in the Blogosphere. Look at this Torchon!!
How to Pull Your Pork.
10 September 2008 | beer, delicious, eating, faithful readers, pig | 2 Responses
My brother Jaybill has perfected southern style smoked pork. He finally showed me how to do it, and it really got my faithful readers excited. The 20 hour process involves brining, rubbing, smoking, roasting and only about 15 minutes of actual work. Most of it is a drinking waiting game. The night before you’re going to smoke, you need to get your pig in the brine. I used two six or seven pound boned-out boston butts. Jaybill swears by the bone-in cut, and I tend to agree with him. I think the bone adds flavor as it cooks, and my dogs just love those things. So you’ve got your meat, now crack a beer. The brine is a simple recipe, taking just a few moments to prepare. Whisk the ingredients together then sink in your meat. Make sure the pork is covered with the flavorful liquid. Optimal brining is about 12-14 hours. Any longer, it might get too salty. I floated mine at 6 pm the day before I was going to smoke, and pulled ‘em out at around 7:45 am the following morning. Pat the meat dry to remove any excess moisture. Now comes the rub. As a cook, there have always been certain jobs that I’ve found naughty, almost erotic, and spice rubbing meat is certainly one of them. Prepare your rub and go to town on that meat. Every inch of that sucker should be crusted with spicy goodness. When the meat is enrobed in deliciousness, get the smoker ready. The genius of Jaybill’s smokers comes from their simplicity. The parts for which can be found at any home and garden store, the heating element at your local Fred Meyer. These things are everywhere. Fellow Alton Brown fans the world over embraced this DIY set-up, and our recipe featured here is adapted from his “Q” episode. Jaybill taught me to smoke the butts for four hours. You’ll need at least a 12-pack of crsipy Longhammers for this part. When four hours is up, remove the pork and tightly wrap it in tin foil. Roast for an additional four hours in a pre-heated 300 degree oven. Don’t be tempted to raise the oven temperature to shorten the cooking time. All of those delicious juices you’ve worked so hard to create are going to escape. Don’t you know, that with the pork bro, slow and low that is the tempo? After 8 hours of cooking you’ll be well brined yourself no doubt and ready for the fun part, pulling. After proper resting (about 20 minutes) pull back the foil and take in the sweet smelling steam. A pair of latex gloves will ensure your tender skin won’t get too warm as you pull apart the porky goodness. At this point, the entire neighborhood will be lined up to sample your pork. The smoke signal was sent out hours ago. Don’t Jersey up your meat with store bought barbeque sauce. I recommend a North Carolina style vinegar sauce and some srirachanaise. You can find AB’s original recipe here. For our adapted ones read on.
Brine:
1/2 cup molasses
24 ounces kosher salt
1 gallon water
2- 6 to 8 pound Boston butts
Rub:
2 tblsp whole cumin seed
2 tblsp whole fennel seed
2 tblsp whole coriander
2 tblsp chipotle powder
2 tblsp onion powder
2 tblsp paprika
Combine molasses, pickling salt, and water in large bucket. Completely submerge pork in brine, cover, and let sit in refrigerator 12 hours.Grind all spices to a fine powder in a coffee grinder.
Remove pork from brine and pat dry.
Rub them shits!!
Smoke them shits!!
Eat them shits with Foie Gras Baked Beans!!
Out Standing In A Field And Cooking…Again.
3 September 2008 | Ten 01, delicious, faithful readers, jack yoss | 2 Responses
We did it again, faithful readers. We rolled up into a vineyard and cooked a bad-assed meal. At Adelsheim Vineyards in Oregon wine country Chef and I cooked up a 5 course plated dinner for some lucky people. They had hor de oeuvres at the winery while we set up our food and the service staff set up the table. Nestled between rows of grape vines sat our al fresco kitchen, which was equipped with two low propane burners (the kind used for outdoor turkey frying,) a large charcoal grill, and ample plating space. The guests were enjoying Gazpacho shots, arugula pesto prawns, and hamachi tartare while I drank beer and spit cusses at the grill. I had one hell of a time getting that thing lit. It took a side towel soaked in lighter fluid, but I got that fire rolling. The guests strolled up in the waning evening light as the charcoal sputtered and spat to life. Spring Lamb Chops marinated. Chef seared scallops as the girls plated the first course. I scurried about, feeding chef clean pans and regulating fires and helping plate. The servers bussed and poured and ran the plates when each course came up. When it was time for the duck tits, the sheet pan flat top was again created, and the sizzling fat filled the air with a delicious smell. They were sliced and hit the plate with a scrumptous plop. The fading light mingled with the gasps of gastronomic pleasure, the breeze wafted sweet smelling smoke and aounds of merriment across the vineyard. The lamb chops hit the grill with a satisfying sound, that fucker was hot. Chef kicked me off grill duty as I blackened some of the chops. Fucking pastry chefs trying to grill, shit…
