This mornings latest food competition at Myrtle Beach

I arrived late yesterday afternoon to drop off a very full speed rack worth of stuff to the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. You see, this morning, I had the pleasure of, once again, competing with my fellow chefs at the Us Food Service Food Show. It was a modified F3 (or W - Wild card) where you had access to a common pantry and didn't know what your protein would be until your start time. For me, I was given Red Snapper (not the freshest, mind you, but good enough for the local ACF chapter to offer, apparently, lol).

I'd like to back up a little for a minute and whine about my horrible hotel first. I got on the web and googled "hotels near the Myrtle Beach Convention Center" and The Boardwalk Beach Resort came up on one of the travelocity web sites. First of all, it was ON the ocean and cost under 80 bucks a night, which should have been a red flag. Second, its about as much a "resort" as the single wide trailer my neighbors live in. I asked for a non-smoking room and they put me in one that kinda smelled like my old bachelor pad first thing in the morning after a really rough night. The elevators smelled like vomit and french fries and the hot water took about 10 minutes to make it up to my shower. The place was rotting around itself in the "kitchen" and the drain was so clogged, the water filled up to mid-shin by the time I finished my cold, eventually scalding, shower. A couple homeless dudes were living in the lobby and doing their laundry in the guests washers, and so on...BUT!!! if you can get past the cigarette smell, butt burns on the furniture and the sticky alarm clock (eww), the room did have a really nice view of the ocean (its saving grace, apparently). This has GOT to be the only reason this shit hole is still open. Partying college kids on spring break could care less about a clogged tub drain or smelly elevator, they just need a place to puke and sleep in.

After further review (I should have done is BEFORE I booked, but live and learn...) Here are a ton of negative reviews I found on their web site.

Anyway, the receptionist was nice, lol...

Back to the competition. After a restful 4 hours sleep in my smelly hotel room, I did stumble upon a God-Send Starbucks a block away from my hotel. I ventured out in the 30 degree/ 40 mph wind gusty streets to grab my hot Venti Bold that gave me hope.

Arriving at the convention center about 30 minutes early gave me time to acclimate myself to my surroundings. I got to meet a couple of my fellow competitors, shake a few hands and enjoy my coffee breakfast.

At 6:45, I set up my station to my specifications. You know, knives in pans on a side towel, my cooking utensils like so, sanitizer buckets filled with a ton of side towels, and so on. Once I got organized, slugged down the last gulp of my coffee, I was in my element. Organization and a slight humming in my head from caffeine always makes me feel sane, lol.

The protein was handed to me at 7:00 am, I wrote my menu which was a bit like this:

Pan-seared red snapper with roasted mushroom risotto, root vegetable medley and basil pistou

I handed that to the floor manager and she rushed it off to the judges and in like 5 minutes, returned with a nice fresh printed version of my menu for my records. At 7:15, I was off!!!

Blink-blink-blink, my one hour flew by and it was time to plate up at 8:15 sharp. 7 minutes later, my hot plates with hot food on them were whisked off to the picky-ass judges that (ok, get ready for another rant... lol)...

I've been to about 10 of these mind numbing events and every time there are different judges and every time they want something different based, mostly, on preference. The fat ones usually complain about not having enough sauce. Doesn't matter what it is. Could be freshly made marinara, chocolate syrup or cough medicine. If the judge weighs more than 300 pounds, he, or she, will ALWAYS complain about not having enough sauce. If the judges are from anywhere near Europe, they will judge you and your food based on "standards" that no one has practiced since the Brady Bunch drove that huge brown station wagon. Mainly because of their lack of practicability or American palate. The EU folks always expect you to have the Escoffier book memorized and if you don't, you suck, end of story. If they're in any branch of the military, or were at one time, they complain about the fact that you can't make 500 of whatever it is you are trying to show off to them. It never fails. Every judge is just that, a judge. Most of them hadn't stood a foot in their own kitchen or held a knife for a living since Nixon but have all the answers, covering them up with acts of mentor-dom (is that a word?). I would pay double the price of a ppv event to watch these old coots compete under the stresses and so-called "competition standards" they put us through. Shit, their damn hips would pop out of joint, most likely.

Wow, tangent, lol, back to the competition. I rant like that, mainly, because I'm still smarting from the crap these dudes complained about this morning. The double standards. I look at the food that they consider gold medal worthy and I think, "Yeah, looks good, but not better than mine!" lol.

I have hope and faith that, one day, I'll have the perfect combination of working clean, hot plates, properly cut veg and the right amount of sauce to appease the masses and WILL get that damn gold medal. I've been chasing that stupid thing for over 10 competitions so far! With entry fees and cost of food and travel, that's a lot of money invested just to hear Mr. Saur Kraut from Belgium whine about how much risotto I should put on my damn plate!

Anyway, I did, however, have a great time (believe it or not). At the end of the day, it's all about the creation of food. If I can learn something along the way and win a medal while I'm at it, its that much better. I just cant wait to finally please these dudes, lol.

Thanks to the program chair person and my apprentice for helping me through all this! Thanks to my employer for shelling out the entire $100.00 for sign up fees all on their own, lol. Thanks to all the free coffee samples (does anyone really like that "coffee on demand stuff?" just curious). Thank you, Father, for getting me there safe through the crazy rain and back home through the even CRAZIER wind (was like a hurricane man!).

There's another competition coming up in April, think I'll pass on that one, I need a break...

Pics-

My winning soup recipe...

Not sure what happened, but I completely forgot to blog about winning a recipe contest for a local TV show/ foodie web site called "The Chefs Wife". Its a "cooking" show where the wife of a chef asks her chef husband what he's doing and why he's doing it so that the average home cook could understand what he's doing. Great concept.

Well, no big deal, really, me and a couple others sent in random recipes that were based on our birth month and the top three "best" won. First prize was $250 bucks, second and third, I think, won chef coats.

Kinda funny, I just randomly sent in a recipe for a soup I make quite often with roasted butternut squash. It's based on my birth month of November in which butternut squash is in season. Kinda reminds me of the cold winter days growing up in NH and the comforting effects of hot soup!

After being chosen as the winner, they came by my place and took a few pictures, ate some soup and left. Nothing too exciting. The free money was nice, paid for a few gallons of gas for my thirsty truck, lol.

Here are a few pics they took. Learn more about the contest here.

My adventure with Sous Vide

Up until just about a year ago, I've never really had any interest or knew too much about cooking sous vide (French for "under vacuum", it's a method of cooking that is intended to maintain the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period at relatively low temperatures. More info on that here.)

A few months ago, a chef I worked for bought two immersion circulators to start cooking this way and adding these food items to his menu. Each unit cost about $800 bucks! That made absolutely no sense to me, but I was intrigued. They were shiny and had red flickering lights, a couple knobs and just cool looking in general.

Eventually, we started experimenting with it and had a blast. We put chicken breast and marinade into a bag, cryovac'd it and cooked them at a low temperature for a few minutes. We did that same thing with steaks and duck breasts and the results were incredible! Of course, before serving, we had to sear them on a hot pan to create a nice crust and to crisp up the skin. Wow! Tender and juicy and just insane.

Fast forward about a year and now and I'm in the position where I want to use this process but don't want to blow all that money. Knowing for certain that I just CAN'T be the only frugal chef out there that would like to sous vide, I went on a quest to find a cheap(er) alternative to this amazing cooking process.

Well, after a good bit of searching, I found the answer to my dilemma and all for the low price of around 40 bucks!

I found the "PRESTO KITCHEN KETTLE MULTI-COOKER/STEAMER FRYER" on eBay for 30 bucks (after shipping) as the heat source. Apparently, they are known for their ability to stay at a constant low temperature consistently. In order to keep the water "circulating", I grabbed an 8 dollar fish tank bubbler at Walmart and 2 bucks for an instant read thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature. Total investment, right at $40.00!

As soon as it arrived in the mail, I took it to work and we started to experiment. Since I am pretty new to this, I went to my favorite online book store and bought a couple books on the subject; Under Pressure by Thomas Keller and Cooking Sous Vide by Jason Logsdon. Upon a little reading, I found some really useful info on this interesting cooking technique and went on my way.

On our first run, we've done the following:

Two types of duck breast (one marinated in ponzu sauce, garlic, sesame oil, fresh herbs and honey, the second in green tea leaves, olive oil, pink and black pepper corns, bay leaves and herbs)

A piece of hickory smoked salmon (smoked in house), marinated in roasted garlic, fig puree, olive oil, soy sauce and herbs.

All of the above was done at 140F for about 20 minutes for the salmon, 30 minutes for the duck breasts. With a nice hot pan-sear to achieve a crust and a crispy skin (yum), everything was perfect! The salmon texture was soft and perfectly medium in the middle and the duck breast had a perfect medium rare center and an amazing mouth-feel behind that crispy duck fat.

Next, we did fingerling potatoes marinated in veal stock, roasted garlic, shallots and butter and baby artichoke hearts in the same marinade. Both went for about an hour at 185F and cooled over night in the cryo-bags. I hadn't had a chance to eat either yet, but I can only imagine how yummy they're going to be.

SO, I guess this experiment proved one thing; that one does not really need to spend 1000 bucks for a sous vide experience. I spent forty. Granted, I can only do like 3 pouches of food at one time (which is not much in a restaurant, but plenty for the house). I do plan, however, to create a larger sous vide bath so that I can make enough portions for a dinner special a couple nights a week, which will entail a giant crock pot and a temperature control device (total cost should run me about 125 bucks +/-). More on that later!

A sucessful beer dinner with Highland Brewery

This past weekend, we pulled off a 5 course beer dinner using a Carolina favorite brewery from Asheville, North Carolina. Highland Brewery sold us 6 types of their beers (listed below) and a local sales rep and I discussed the food and beer courses to almost 50 hungry and eager diners.

Being as I dont drink, I had my good friend Chef Dominic from Red Rocks Cafe help me match their beers to my food with great success! Rave reviews were had by all.

Right after we layed out the last course, I had to run to catch a plane to fly to NH for a family emergency. Its SO GREAT to have a staff that I can trust to take care of things during my times of need. No matter what.

Check out the menu and a few pictures below;

Included a complimentary glass of Black Mountain Bitter

Starter

Sage and fennel Scotch quail egg with house-made whole grain mustard on local mesclun greens
Paired with: St. Terese's Pale Ale

Soup

Beer cheddar soup with curds, house-cured hickory smoked bacon, caramelized
pearl onions and crispy fried potato hay, finished with truffle oil
Paired with: Oatmeal Porter

Salad

Honey stout poached pears, arugula, crumbled Maytag blue cheese,
sweet spicy walnuts, balsamic vinaigrette, parmesan curls
Paired with: Kashmir IPA

Main Course

Braised beef short ribs, roasted fingerling potatoes, sautéed French green beans and house-made demi-glace
Paired with: Gaelic Ale

Dessert

Molten chocolate cake with blackberry sauce and house-made
vanilla bean frozen custard, short bread cookie garni
Paired with: Black Mocha Stout

Hickory Smoked Braised Beef Short Ribs (famous three step process)

Molten Chocolate Cake with Porter Stout Vanilla Ice Cream and Short Bread Cookie Garnish (yum!!!)

Beer Cheddar Soup with Cheese Curds, Pearl Onions, Bacon and Potato Hay

Building the arugula salads!

Recent chili cookoff

A couple days ago, I had the pleasure of being asked to guest judge a local chili cook off in Statesville, NC. It was for the CASI - Chili Appreciation Society. They have competitions nation wide to raise money for charity.

According to their web site, "The Chili Appreciation Society International, Inc.'s mission is to promote chili and raise money for charity. We are involved in over 500 chili cook offs per year and raise over $1,000,000.00 annually for local charities."

My buddy Kevin of Tar Heel Catering invited me. We hung out, talked about food and met some awesome people. I learned some really cool tricks and, at the end of it all, judged 3 types of salsas, 3 types of beans and 28 types of chili! Needless to say, we were pretty full, but it was for a good cause. Loads of money was raised for charity and I met a few new friends. (not too mention a free sample of Kevin's pulled pork BBQ and a bottle of his secret BBQ sauce, lol).

A family that came all the way from Texas won, which was great as they had my favorite.

Check out these pictures;

My new column at Basil Magazine

Recently, I began writing a column for a great online magazine called "Basil Magazine". Being a huge proponent for eating local and supporting the local economy, I thought I'd run with this theme and start a column based on my passions. For some reason, the editors at this magazine thought it necessary to edit it a little bit. I suppose they didn't have enough space on the page or what. Visit monthly at basilmagazine.com and look under the "Live" heading.


For those of you that are following along, here is an "exclusive" look at my original first column;

Seasonality and eating local
Chef Bradley Labarre CEC

As a first time contributor to this fine digital media publication, I would like to take a brief moment to introduce myself. For me, I like to know a little bit about the person who wrote what I am engrossed in, it helps me paint the vivid picture in my minds eye.

Well, lets start at the beginning, shall we? I was born at a very early age 38 years ago of two food loving parents and the time of 12 channels, UHF and the clicker. Of “Dinner is served promptly at 5:30” together with the entire family. Of Atari 2600 video games, rotary dial phones with no call waiting, no cell phones and going OUTSIDE to play until the street lights came on. Boy, have times changed since then!

Seems like yesterday I was standing on a kitchen chair rolling cookie dough with my mom while Julia Child was playing on public TV in the background! I knew I wanted to be a chef since as far back as I can remember. When I was twelve, while delivering the morning paper (yes, I'm also from a time when work ethics started early), there was this small diner in the neighborhood that was making greasy spoon stuff at 5:00 am for the blue collar mill workers. The smell of bacon and eggs frying inside that little place that wafted up my nose used to make my mouth water! I used to watch the grill cook through the frosty window working his fingers to the bone in there making stuff so fast it would make my head spin! It was very impressive to me and I knew that, one day, I would do that for a living, just like Martin Yan and Julia on TV! Well, when I turned 13, I walked in and asked if I could have a job. The owner, Lorette, filter-less cigarette in her wrinkled lips, said with a raspy voice, “Are you old enough to work?” Well, not knowing how old that was supposed to be and thinking about the 3 paper routes I just finished delivering, I said confidently, “Yes, of course”. Well, by the weekend, I was scrubbing pots and pans and cutting french fries downstairs in the dank basement of this place thinking, “I have arrived!” That moment set off a chain of events that brings me here to you, my eager reader. 25 years of flipping burgers, 18 hour days, country clubs, a few bad decisions, fine dining restaurants, alcoholism and the corporate chef scene, I survived to tell the tale. Currently, I am the executive chef at a country club in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. My menus consist of mainly locally produced items and seasonality. My column will consist of that with recipes and some helpful information that I hope you will be able to use.

Now that we are slightly acquainted, lets talk about food! That's why you're here, right?

So, as I sit here at my laptop, it's raining and cold outside. Nasty weather. Days like this make me think of warm comfy things. Beef stew in the family crock pot, a cup of black coffee, “Hot Now” donuts from Krispy Kream, apple cider, my fat cat and most of all, soup. During this time of year with all this great stuff out there in season at the farmers market, I find myself leaning towards hard squashes, greens, apples and venison. All of this stuff makes great soup! Good thing about that is that you can make a lot in advance and freeze it to enjoy until spring.

If you hadn't had the pleasure of visiting your local farmers market, please do. It's a treat. You get to meet the people that actually picked the stuff out of the ground or raised the pigs, beef or chicken. Putting a face to what we buy is a great thing. Buying local is not only more nutritious and better tasting, but it's great for the local economy and the environment. Think about how much fuel it takes to get a crappy hockey-puck tomato from across the country of from another continent. It's crazy to think. To make matters worse, in most cases, the items we are buying out of season from other places have been genetically altered to withstand travel and resist disease so they can increase production. Out of season produce is more like luggage than food, if you think about it! Eat an heirloom tomato right off the vine in the summer and you will know exactly what I mean.

I'm not saying I don't buy maple syrup or avocados because I live in a state that doesn't produce those things, I'm just saying that, when creating menus, writing recipes or feeding the family, I try to use things from where I know the story and from as close to home as possible. For me, I don't eat strawberries in December or put apples on my menus in May. They don't taste that great, to begin with, and they would have to come from a third world country to boot! It just doesn't make much sense to me.

As we progress further in our reader/ columnist relationship, my plans are to share with you seasonal recipes as well as tips and tricks to take advantage of your farmers market bounty year round. I will visit my local farmers markets and share with you my findings and what's in season in my area. Also, since I love to travel so much to learn more about what everyone else is doing in the industry, there will be some stories about that as well. I'll dabble in a little bit of everything and, hopefully, you will return for more fun-filled information in the future.

A couple sweet projects...

I love being a chef, as I'm sure most of you already know this about me. Not only do I get to create some great food, hang-out with some cool people (yes, even a few lazy over paid ones, lol) and eat, I get to play a little once and a while. It's not all work all the time, right? RIGHT? :)

The holiday season is upon us and, as you know, people eat more than of necessity, but out of the need to be with friends and family. Eating together is probably one of the oldest holiday rituals in the world.

This holiday season, my small and hard working team and I were able to pull off two huge buffets with loads of choices including many many entree items, desserts, omelet bars, pancake bars and carving stations. This last one, I decided it'd be a great idea to make a gingerbread house. After a couple nay-sayers thought it would be a waste of money, I convinced them it was for the children, and after a good eye roll, they also agreed it would be fun.

Check out these pics:

A wide angel shot of the entire thing, complete with reindeer and a sleigh.

Side angle...

We made our own play-dough and hand formed these eerie creatures, complete with frill-pick antlers, lol. The legs are tooth pics wrapped in said play-dough and the eyes and noses are "Nerds" candy, lol. James thought it would be funny to give them sharpie marker eye-balls.

Gummy worm and m&m chimney, 100 calorie Oreo roof shingles, and Christmas lights from a doll house store to set things off.

A good friend of mine gave me the idea to create stained glass windows with Jolly Rancher candies! Awesome.

In addition to the crazy schedule of parties, meetings, gift buying and so on, I found time to submit two more settings to the deep plate exercise on this months plate. I smoked a ton of Carolina trout filet's and decided to put a few of them to good use.

Creamy shiitake mushroom and butternut risotto, hickory smoked
Carolina trout and sauce vierge garnished with Italian parsley, tomato
chip and fried farm-fresh egg.

"All-local" fall salad of mesclun greens, pan roasted root vegetables,
charred grape tomato vinaigrette with Hickory smoked Carolina trout
and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Squeezed in two private caterings (sorry, don't have any pictures to post yet). One for 12 people, heavy appetizers and the other for 13, a three course luncheon at a doctors office. More details on that one later.

I'm looking forward to spending time with family soon and eating some more great grub. That's what its all about, right? ;)

Roasted pumpkin soup

With the cold weather creeping in and all these old pumpkins laying around from Halloween, I came up with this simple soup that will warm your bones and get rid of that door stopper gourd you have laying around. This recipe makes a ton and can be frozen to be eaten all winter long!

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Yield:

Makes about 1.5 gallons

Ingredients:

1 medium pumpkin (about a 5 pounder)

1 stalk of celery, rough chopped

4 medium onions, rough chopped

3 large carrots, rough chopped

6 bay leaves

1 T dried thyme

1 T dried basil

1 T dried oregano

1 T crushed red pepper flakes

¼ cup olive oil (plus more for roasting pumpkin)

1/2 cup of white wine

1 quart of heavy cream

2 quarts of chicken or vegetable stock

Kosher salt and pepper

Method:

1. Split pumpkin in half, scoop out seeds and reserve. Cut the pumpkin into large chunks, about 4-6 inches in size, leaving skin attached. Rub the pieces down lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in a 350F oven until tender and golden brown (about 30 minutes). Cool enough to touch and peel off skin.

2. Rinse and dry seeds and saute in olive oil and butter until golden brown, season with salt and pepper, set aside on a paper towel for later.

3. Sweat your celery, carrots, onions and dried herbs and spices until lightly caramelized.

4. Deglaze with wine and reduce by half.

5. Add pumpkin and cover with cream and stock, stir well.

6. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes to build flavors.

7. Remove bay leaves and puree entire mixture with a stick blender until very smooth.

8. Strain, check seasoning and serve, sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds.

9. Alternatively place caramelized pearl onions, diced roasted pumpkin pieces, pumpernickel croutons and fresh herbs in the bottom of a soup bowl and pour hot soup liquid over the top right before serving (see image), adding garnishes of choice (Suggestion is sour cream or crème fraiche).

A great weekend with friends, family and food :)

With the thanksgiving holiday coming to an end, we reflect on all the things we are grateful for, well, at least we supposed to, lol. Unfortunately, there are people out there that can never be satisfied and therefore can never be grateful, but let's save that for another blog!


Before feeding the masses all day, as many chefs do on thanksgiving, my wife and I flew up to sunny New Hampshire for a few days. We went up to spend time with my family and, thanks to facebook, with some buddies I hadn't seen in at least 20 years! As with most family visits, in addition to hugging, laughing and site seeing, our trips are mostly based around food one way or another. When you do what you love, you have to love what you do, right? Well, I love to eat ;)

Here is a run-down of our weekend;

Our weekend started off with a pretty uneventful flight into Logan Airport followed by a "mind numbing" ride in a shuttle van that should have taken 45 minutes but took over 2 hours! (thanks for that, we'll get a rental next time, lesson learned).

Upon arrival and a quick settle-in, we headed to my buddy Chads house for a mini high-school reunion. I came up with a menu a few days earlier that consisted of rib-eye steaks, grilled local veggies, a couple steak toppers and a simple arugula salad. One of my friends brought not one, not two, but THREE kinds of cheese cake with 4 different toppings. It was a great meal! I brought some cigars to enjoy while we watched the bon-fire and had a few laughs.

That next morning, we met with MORE old friends for a huge breakfast at a local Portuguese breakfast hot spot where we enjoyed yet MORE laughs and an interesting take on eggs Benedict with sausage instead of Canadian bacon, yum, washed down with a few cups of coffee.

Saturday night, yes, even MORE friends at my brothers place of employment for a lovely "2 for 20" dinner special. Laughs out the door. I almost peed :)

Sunday, well, that was thanksgiving lite just for us. My mom, as usual, created an amazing meal full of love and yum-yums. Turkey, corn bread stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts (which I made, recipe below), salad, and so on, followed by two of the best desserts I've ever eaten that only the one who bore me could make, apple pie and pumpkin pie (burp**). Awesome! (whipped cream optional, but recommended).

More cigars, more laughs (laughing rocks), more friends, quality time with my family and, yes, more food. (moo).

Monday, we decided to take a road trip with my little mother, thought she might like to get out of the house. I heard about this smokehouse in Canterbury, NH that smokes local meats with Hickory and sells to the public through a small retail area. This is where I discovered smoked cashews and rhubarb soda. I don't know what to say except, please buy some NOW!

Wow, and they make this smoked pepper jack cheese that would make you lie and write bad checks! We made panini sammiches with that stuff later that afternoon and cried a little.

Well, we made it though that and decided to go to a planetarium (yawn) we all acted like we were a little interested, pushing buttons and watching videos (yawn). No food was involved, maybe that's why we didn't enjoy ourselves, lol. I must admit though, we saw a space shuttle tire, THAT was cool. They're smaller than I thought, but HEAVY!!!

On our way home, we stopped by a local chain called The Common Man restaurant where we enjoyed a mediocre sandwich and a really good diet root-beer. What stuck out most, besides the service, was this cheese and cracker station where you make yourself a plate of Vermont cheddar cheese, spreads and crackers plate while you wait for your meal. It's great if you're "wicked stahvin' ", which we were.

Well, after we got back home, relaxed and chatted a little about our day, my brother (who is an up and comer in the restaurant world, invited me to his place for his famous "Philly Cheese steak Nachos". Just when I thought I had seen it all (and ate it all), this is something I had never heard of but couldn't wait to try. It's a great bar app that you just cant pass up. Yum.


After a wonderful trip, we get home and I was back to work the next day to get ready to feed almost 200 people. My small and able staff and I cranked out the food and made everyone happy (even the ungrateful ones, I'm sure). While it's great to get away, its best to be home.

Happy thanksgiving everyone!

Oh, and here's my recipe for roasted brussel sprouts:

1 pound brussel sprouts (stems trimmed off, cut in half)
3 strips of bacon (cut into small dice)
1/2 medium onion (minced)
2 cloves of garlic (smashed into a paste)
salt and pepper to taste
splash of white wine
splash of chicken stock

1. Render the bacon until lightly crispy
   
2. Add onion and garlic, sweat until translucent.
3. deglaze with wine and stock
4. add sprouts and cover, bring to a boil and then simmer, stirring occasionally, until just knife tender
5. remove lid and evaporate all liquid until almost dry
6. brown brussel sprouts until golden brown
   
7. check seasoning, remove from heat and mount with about a tablespoon of butter.
   
8. eat and grunt while doing so.
   

My favorite indulgences...

People ask me, on a regular basis, what sort of food I like to cook on my days off and what my favorite foods are. I tell you, those are tough questions that cannot be answered off the cuff. I would have to say, with a little thought, I like to cook many things on my days off and have MANY favorite foods.

Oddly, the word "Favorite" is defined as; something regarded with special favor or liking. So, I guess, technically, I should only have ONE favorite food. Hmm, wow, impossible. I'm obsessed with the whole food category and anything that falls into it, what am I to do! Guess I'll have to create a new and improved definition and start a list, lol.

My earliest memory of putting a food item into the "favorite" category has to be moms mac-n-cheese, ooey, gooey, white-cheddary with that crunchy butter cracker crust, golden brown and delicious. All these years later, I still get giddy when I smell that creamy bubbly concoction doing its thing in the oven during holiday visits! Adding onto that list would have to be, at the very least, moms meatloaf, dads porcupine meatballs (meatballs with rice mixed into the ground beef simmered in a Campbell's tomato soup based sauce, yum!), moms fresh baked white bread with real butter, dad's American chop suey, moms Boston baked beans, etc., etc.!!! Yes, the list could go on for a while. My childhoods filled with favorite foods.

Fast forward over 30 years later and, wow, my favorite foods list has grown to a humongous level!!! I just need to share these things with you so you, yourselves, can get your foodie fingers on these great things too. I'll have to list a few recipes later, stay tuned for that!

In order to make our lives easier (and to keep this blog to a manageable length), I've come up with a top 10 favorite food list for you to check out. To be fair, I've not listed my family childhood favorites (yawn, right?).

10. Steak and Cheese Grinder - Bob Nadeus Subs = 776 Mast Road Manchester, NH

These guys started out pretty much out their garage when I was a kid. Famous for this steak and cheese grinder on awesome bread! They marinate chuck steak for a few days, cook it on this flat top grill with mushrooms, peppers and a shitload of cheese (with hots, of course). I mean, this sub is AMAZING!!! In my opinion, the best grinder in Manchester. Ive been eating them for 20 years and every time I go up to visit, I make it a point to grab at least one while I'm there.

9. Kane's Donuts - Saugus, Mass. After a 20 minute wait, grab yourself two or three and a cup of that amazing coffee and enjoy. You may remember this listed in a previous blog. My mouth is currently watering upon reflection.

8. A well made Reuben.

I don't care where I get a Reuben, just as long as its on thick sliced rye or pumpernickel, with THINLY sliced corned beef, 2 sliced of Swiss cheese and sour kraut with plenty of scratch made 1000 island dressing, toasted on a buttered grill . Unlike this sorry piece of crap they tried pawning off on us at O'Malleys On Main in Waynesville, NC a few weeks ago. I've seen better sandwiches in public school! What a joke of a restaurant! But, that's another blog. I hate a bad restaurant, especially the ones that are seemibgly doing great business! DON'T PEOPLE KNOW!

7. Egg Food Young. If you don't know what that is, Google it then go order some :)

6. Braised beef cheeks. See, well, its part of the face of the cow, braised slowly forever in a flavorful stock and red wine, need I say more? I just had some the other night at The Liberty restaurant in Charlotte, NC and it was ridiculously great!

5. Fried pork rinds. They pop in your mouth like pop-rocks!

4. Five guys burgers. If you have one in your area, GO NOW!!! And, please don't order a large fry if you are alone, you might cry.

3. Bacon. (needs no introduction!)

2. Double stuffed Oreos :)

1. Fois Gras on a really good baguette and sea salt.

Ok, I have MANY more favorites that would probably take days and pages worth of blog space to list and, we all know you wouldn't read it all, lol, but I think the above is enough to get you to run out to your local neighborhood restaurant or fresh market to indulge.

If you have any favorites you'd like to add, feel free to let me know for the world to see!

My recent F1 competition

This past Saturday, I had the honor to be a part of an F1 mystery basket competition up in Woodbridge, VA. For those of you not sure what that is, it's an "Iron Chef Style" competition where the judges give you 3-5 mystery proteins and access to a well stocked pantry of staples and 4 hours to setup, create a menu on the fly, cook, plate up 12 plates and clean up. You go through this not only for the experience, but to learn how to be better for the NEXT competition, maybe win some money and/ or a medal along the way. I love doing these to keep me sharp and to meet other chefs as well as pick up some new ideas.

My mystery items were...

Proteins:

Bone-in leg of lamb
A whole red snapper
Frog legs
Chevre (soft fresh goat cheese)

Produce:

Red bell peppers
Asparagus
Crimini mushrooms
Pink striped beets

My menu was...

1st course:

Crispy fried frog legs with fresh marinara over house made pasta and thyme
(critiques were something like this; pasta was perfectly made, impressed that you made it from scratch but needed more sauce. Frog legs were perfectly cooked but not brown enough, suggest adding paprika or soy sauce to your flour in the future. Marinara was delicious, but would have liked to have had more. The fresh thyme leaves needed to be chopped and added no flavor to the dish at all, unless you physically put them on your fork, overall, great job!)

2nd course:

Pan-seared red snapper, roasted beets over rice salad with bibb lettuce and Italian parsley with roasted red pepper vinaigrette.
(critiques; Snapper was perfectly cooked, skin was nice and crispy but got soggy with the dressing. This is not a vinaigrette, its a dressing. A vinaigrette is clear; oil, vinegar and seasoning, that's it! We shouldn't mis-use terminology like that, its a sign that we've become lazy as chefs (ouch). The rice salad should have been served at room temp, not cold and a few grains of wild rice weren't quite done, otherwise, delicious. )

3rd course:

Roasted leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary over cous-cous, grilled asparagus and lamb demi.
(critiques; Lamb was perfectly cooked, tasted delicious, but sliced too thick. Cous cous was perfect but a little dry, needed more sauce. Lamb demi was delicious, but needed more.)

4th course:

Pear tart with bitter caramel, pear chip and maple goat cheese Chantilly cream
(critiques; Pastry didn't puff up enough but impressed that I made my own 3-2-1 dough. Pear tasted good but needed to be poached a little longer. Chantilly cream wasn't fluffy enough but tasted delicious, could have used more goat cheese flavor, great idea in using the goat cheese. Caramel was delicious, but needed more.)

Overall critiques:

Needed more sauce on every plate (I'm going to make sure I bring a bag full of gravy boats to the next competition!), everything was seasoned perfectly and tasted great but there was too much food. I shouldn't have used starch/ protein in all of the first three courses. Great job!

I silvered this one and, apparently, missed the 3rd prize $500.00 prize by a lousy point! SHIT!

As usual, I had a great time. As slow and boring as it's been at work these past few weeks, it was REALLY nice to have a little stress under my collar and cook!

I need to thank them for giving me a great intern to assist in setting up and cleaning up as well as lending me everything I needed to cook! I was under the impression, according to the rules, that I was only supposed to bring my knives! Boy, what a shocker when they told me I had to bring all of my own equipment! YIKES! But, it was in a culinary school and they had more than what I needed, it all worked out in the end.

February at Myrtle Beach is my next competition adventure, cant wait! Another F category and a GOLD THIS TIME!!!

Check out a couple pics of the event below:

Filleting a beautiful red snapper

Rolling and tying a leg of lamb that I boned out a little earlier

Plate-up of course #3

Making pasta from scratch (angel hair)

Checking to make sure my sauces are OK!

Thanksgiving turkey class at William Sanoma

The other day, I was asked to teach a few neighborhood foodies a few basics on how to brine, truss, season, roast and carve a turkey, what fun!

Brining the turkey

Trussing the turkey

Roasting the turkey

Carving the turkey

We also discussed a few side items that WS sells there; cranberry relish, herb paste to rub under the skin of the huge-mongous holiday bird, carving sets, trussing needles, roasting pans and butchers twine dispensers, to name a few!

No pictures were taken, but you can check out their very informative web site for more information.

We had a great time, as usual, and I got rid of another 15 business cards! (no, still no calls), I think people like the IDEA of hiring a chef for private parties and not actually the commitment, jeesh. Maybe I should be careful what I wish for, eh?

Happy thanksgiving!

Mega blog update, all-in-one post for your convenience! :)

Well all, I've been a little bit of a slacker when its come to keeping this blog updated. I could say its because I've been too busy, but I'd be lying a little as lately, I have NOT been very busy (well, at least the way I'm used to!). I've had just enough to do to keep me from going batty but not so much that I couldn't find time to sleep 8+ hours a night or update my blog for you, my one and only reader :)

First, I'd like to take a moment and show this to you: I almost died of laughter when my son mms'd this to me the other day. Needed to share this with you. It's based loosely on an old movie from the 80s, youtube it, lol.

OK, so, for your convenience and reading pleasure, I've decided to get up-to-date all in one big blog post! Just this once, ok? :) You can read it in "6 easy installments", kinda like buying a shitty over priced curling iron from QVC, if you'd prefer.

First thing that is worth writing about since you last read was, well, Rob H. called me trying to apologize for walking in 1.5 hours late into his shift and quitting on me (long story), (2 months after the event occurred). I wasn't in the mood to deal with him or his bull****, so I didn't give him the time of day. I, with almost gritted teeth, told him I didn't want to talk and had to go. Well, that was a couple weeks ago. Ive been taught that I have to forgive those who have wronged me. And, well, after further thought and meditation on the subject, I forgive you Rob. You're not worth being angry over as you just hurt yourself. We are doing great/ better without you and I wish you luck. (you're still a douche bag though, but a forgiven one at that). Thanks to those who have asked about my little "P.S." at the bottom of my blog about being an asshole.

Next thing, well, this is kinda cool. A good friend of mine turned me onto this site called Deep Plate. From what I understand, its a blog where this plate company guy posts pictures from around the country of chefs plate-up submissions. See, if you sign up to become a part of this monthly "project", he will send you a plate to play with. The only catch is that you have to be a professional chef working in an actual kitchen and you are required to plate something onto that plate, take pictures and send them off to him. He will then post them on his blog and facebook page for the world to see. You get free advertisement and so does he (and his gorgeous plates!). Its like a win-win. I've seen challenges between other chefs, some judging is involved, very cool site and great guy to deal with. Check out his site and tell me what you think.

Here are my submissions for this months projects. I need to work on the colors a little bit as my camera is in need of a replacement. You get the point.

Mini egg rolls with duck confit, dried cranberries and black currants (plumped with bourbon), siracha, ponzu, fish sauce, etc., Asian slaw and there are a pile of ginger fried wonton strips for crunch. After taking this image, I decided to make the next batch with shredded cabbage and carrots INSIDE the eggroll and the result was a much better product. The ones pictured were pretty yumm-alicious, but the next batch was a LOT better. (how bad can house-made duck confit taste anyway!?)

Local venison three ways. I roasted a rack wrapped in bacon, cut a chop, made sausage and made a boned, rolled and tied roast leg of venison. Each served with its on condiment; peach apple compote, venison demi and red onion jam respectfully.

Top Chef season 7 is taking audition videos for the next season of the best food show on TV. This is my second attempt at this show, so I tried to make it the best one yet. Once the envelope hit the mailbox, I turned it over to God. I just want to make it fun and not fret over whether or not they pick me out of 30000000000000 other contestants. If its meant to be, its meant to be, right? Here's a sneak peak of what I sent in:

"Back by popular demand", the members requested that I do another cigar dinner this month. The menu was some of my best work! Fall themed, manly food, cigars and good liquor. Perfect time of year to sit outside, enjoy the amazing views of the golf course and leaves changing color behind us, just AWESOME!! Well, sadly, None of the other members seemed to share in my excitement for a great night out on the veranda, lol, we had 2 sign up and we had to cancel the dinner. Shame. If you're curious, here's the menu.

Work's been SLOOOOOWWWW these past few weeks. I think the economy is hitting the area country clubs a bit harder than other food service establishments. Sucks. So, I decided to get off my ass and do an F1 competition coming up this weekend. Pretty excited. I'll keep you posted!


When I was writing this, it was my birthday. Yes, folks, I'm 38 today! Wow, hurts to type that. Seems like yesterday I was hitting the bong on my way to, er um, after class and growing out my hair to the official "metal" length! What a fantastic 38 years its been! (minus about 10 I don't really care to remember, but they were necessary, for sure).

To treat myself on this special day, I decided to surround myself with people I love and respect. My buddy Dan and I enjoyed a strong ass cup of coffee this morning discussing all things techie. From PS3s to the new Windows 7 OS that recently hit the streets to our cell phones (a friendly discussion about the pros and cons of my iPhone versus his Blackberry). You know, stuff that the wife only glazes over about when I try to tell her. Great stuff bro :)

After that, good and jacked up, I went off to enjoy an amazing lunch at Eddies Place in Ballentyne. I scarfed down a half muffulatta sammich and a cup of she crab soup (was a chilly day today, great day for soup).

Then, off to a nearby cigar shop to enjoy a Camacho Triple Maduro beast of a cigar! Wow, it was awesome. It tasted like love, man, 100%!

My good friend Brian sharing a laugh and a great cigar. Great time.

Look at that ASH! :) Retarded.

And, to end a great day, my lovely wife and I had a fantastic meal at this new sushi place called Enso in downtown Charlotte. I ate 6 kinds of sushi (toro tuna, uni, wagu beef, yellow tail, etc.) and a huge bowl full of edamame, washing that down with a quart of pelligrino, umph, I am still a little full. The wife had a fillet and a fancy-version of crab Rangoon, yummy!!! It really is one of the best sushi places Ive ever been to! Its a must go for that special occasion. After a little sticker shock with our dinner check, we waddled off to the house to digest.

Was truly a great day and I think I have you all caught up with things so far. Keep checking back and I'm sure Ill have something for you sooner than later.

My really cool job is what cooking is all about for me....today!

I know most of you have been following along with my career these past few years. If you were an earlier reader, you no doubt will remember my original blog titled "Day in the Life of  Corporate Chef" followed by "Day in the Life of a Private Chef", coming to the current title you read above. Before my life as a "semi-pro food blogger", I did everything from diners to fast food joints to nursing homes to country clubs. To say I've had an interesting career in the many facets of running a kitchen is an understatement!

We chefs that have been around awhile may try to look back at all the great and not-so-great things we've had to endure along the way and roll our eyes a little. To think of all the HUNDREDS or THOUSANDS of hours we spent on our feet, slamming pans, scrubbing pots and cutting shallots, it makes our heads spin!

Crazy, looking back, I remember thinking while cutting french fries on the dank basement of Lenny's Lunch when I was 13 that, if this is cooking, I don't want ANYTHING to do with it!!! A few years/ jobs later, while flipping square burgers at the local fast food chain, that "If THIS is cooking, I don't want anything to do with it!". And yes, a few years/ jobs later, while frying bellied clams, cleaning the hoods and boiling out the fryers that "If THIS is cooking, I don't want ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT,  AHHHH!!!".

And now, a few years/ jobs later, here I am, typing to you, I think I finally made it over the hump. All that bullshit, griping, whining and stuff lead me to this day. Wow, crazy.

I heard a couple new guys I have working for me complaining about peeling snap peas, dicing a few shallots and washing some dishes and I remember those same complaints my fellow grunts used to endure from ME and laugh a little.

I wonder how long it takes for us "lifers" to stop complaining and become overwhelmed with joy that we are chefs? I have NO idea. Its like this imaginary line that we cross one day in our careers where washing dishes, peeling carrots and chopping onions just becomes part of our soul and we are given the ability to pass that shit on to others, thanking God in a small way that we don't have to do that medial crap anymore, lol

See, I love cooking, and all the creative processes that lead up to a finished dish. I think, however, I like to mentor others into doing it for me better. Leading a team, I've finally figured, is what cooking is all about. It's like becoming a doctor or a classical pianists, you bitch and moan about the years of commitment, the practice, the books, the practice, the lack of sleep, whining along the way to, finally, get your lab coat or to lead an orchestra. You think, "Wow", I get it now!!! Well, that's where I'm at, finally.

I returned to the country club scene after a 4.5 year stint with the corporate food world. Let's just say it was one of the more enduring times of my career. I loved the work but didn't care for many of the people above my pay scale, to be honest. Aside from a few "real" people that I loved and respected dearly, everyone else that worked for that company that I had to answer to was a bunch of shallow, arrogant douche bags that deserve each other. Although I appreciate the experience at the time, they are NOT what cooking is all about, truly. If you need a carrot dangled in front of your face to keep you motivated, then the corporate food service scene is for you. (Well, the hours were great and I got to meet some famous people, lol, that was cool :) )

Anyway, back to the country club. It's a blast. We get to make some amazing food that most members appreciate. I get to share my vision with the team and we put it out with smiles, fun. Since I began about 4 1/2 months ago, we cleaned that shit hole up, re-organized the staff, brought the food quality up to par, made some members happy and began a great relationship with a few local farmers. I'm having the time of my life man! And, to make it even better, I'm 10 minutes from home. Finally, no commute! I've had to drive for 45 minutes each way for years.

So, if you're starting out in this crazy biz and are committed to it 100% and feel that you JUST can't pop another fava bean or that you are going to kill the sous chef for burning the sauce in the bottom of the pot AGAIN!!!, breath. Just BREATH and hang in there. A few years from now, you'll have some cool stories, a few scars, a bad back and varicose veins to share with that dude that says "this sucks" under his breath next to you every 10 minutes. (and, hey, remember, chicks dig a dude that can cook! :) )

3 days and 2 nights of fresh air, great food and awe inspiring views...

It was time to just to get away and hang out without any distractions. We were blessed with the ability to visit Western, NC for three days and two nights. We saw some jaw dropping views, ate some pretty awesome food and met some great people! And, most importantly, got some much needed rest.

Our trip began with a 3 hour drive (two pee stops) to Waynesville, NC where we stayed at the gorgeous Waynesville Inn. It was one of the best views we've ever sipped our morning coffee to and, for the money, one of the nicest places to stay. The service was great and, aside from the weeds growing out of the gutters and a couple mold spots on the ceiling in our room, the place was impeccable. (I know, I'm such a pain in the ass noticing the details, but hey, that's what chefs do! :) )

We had a great meal there our first night at the "Cork and Cleaver Restaurant" on premises. The wife enjoyed the filet mignon, cooked medium, served with au gratin potatoes. I, even though noticing their "Niman Ranch" meat logo, opted for their 12 ounce veal porter house, cooked very rare served with awesome stone-ground aged-Gouda grits. I think there was a salad involved in all this, but I don't quite remember. That veal erased my memory. Everything was amazing (well, the cook needs to learn how to cook a filet medium, he sent it out mid-rare, but our server had that fixed, thanks!). Dessert, we split the chefs special "Apple Fritters with Vanilla Ice Cream", yum, basically an apple compote filled won-ton wrapper, deep fried and tossed in cinnamon sugar, delicious and warm.

After an amazing nights sleep in this huge king sized bed (weird, we never touched once in this cavernous thing!), we enjoyed a complimentary breakfast (great coffee!) and a ride into Bryson City, NC where we rode the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad through the beautifully historic smokey mountains. It was a 4.5 hour round trip train ride with a stop half way for a quick lunch on the Nantahala river. (nothing worth writing about, we just had hot dogs, chips, coke and ice cream bars, lol). The temperature was a cool 68 degrees, perfect early fall weather! To say that that area was beautifully breath taking is a HUGE understatement. The pictures I took do not do it justice.

On our way back to the Inn, we decided to take the long way and drive into Cherokee, NC. Which is basically a place where it's legal to gamble and is marketed solely to tourists. It wasn't what we expected. It kinda reminded us of Myrtle Beach, SC but without the ocean. Was a shame, really. I hear there are really nice places to see there, but I guess we didn't drive down the right side street or something.

After stopping into about 3 t-shirt shops, we heading on our way taking a short cut through the Blue Ridge Parkway. We've talked about driving through there for years but never got around to it. Wow, words cannot describe how amazing it is. You drive through these winding roads with breath taking views around every bend. Just crazy pretty. Please go if you get the chance, whether you just drive it for a few minutes or try to travel the entire 400plus miles of it, its a "must see before you die" kinda place.

We finally got back to our room with empty bellies and off we went to find nourishment. One of the guys that ran one of the t-shirt shacks we went to suggested the "Sweet Onion" restaurant in downtown Waynesville. This is my kinda place. Great ambiance, great smells, open kitchen and great food! We really stuffed ourselves at this place, wasn't hard, everything on the menu looked great! We started off splitting two appetizers; Stuffed Fried Risotto (gooey filed risotto, breaded and deep fried served with an awesome red sauce) and the Ahi Tuna Sashimi (perfectly pan-seared sesame crusted ahi tuna served simply with soy sauce and wasabi, perfect). Our main courses were fettuccine Alfredo for the wife and, (not sure what I was thinking) a gut bomb of a bacon wrapped meatloaf served with mac and cheese and a crisp cucumber salad. Aside from the meatloaf being a little dry, the meal was perfect for both of us! No, no dessert, we didn't dare try. It would have been kinda like that guy on the Monty Python skit with the "thin way-fare" and we surely would have exploded all over the place, could have been messy.

After a nice walk down town, and a stop in a bookstore, we headed back for a long nights sleep, heading home the next day.

That next morning, after check out, I discovered a great cigar shop and just had to stop by. The wife thought it would be a good idea to go shopping well I stunk up myself. I met some great guys and look forward to seeing them in the future. Smoked a great CAO CX2 cigar as well, which topped off a great trip perfectly!

If you live in the Carolinas and just want to get away for a quick weekend trip, check out Western, NC, there's tons to do and, compared to the big city, is like another planet!

Got some pics below, enjoy.

Half-eaten rare veal port house, whoa!

In Cherokee, NC in front of one of many "1/2 off Moccasins" shops

After taking a golf cart out onto the 18 hole course located in front of our bedroom at the Waynesville Inn, I discovered a wild apple tree and ate my weight in crisp, tart apples! I put some in Aprils purse for later, lol.

Nice :)

Perfect Ahi Tuna

Lunch on the Nantahala, what a great place to enjoy a hot dog, lol

The Blue Ridge Parkway, God's county, just awesome.

Amazing train ride, just amazing!