Ok, lets close this review up

Final stretch...

Four meals in the Toughest Strip Club in LA is just what it sounds like.  Honestly, not that much about food here, but I did learn a new cocktail.  The ingeniously-named "Adios, Motherfucker", a long island with blue curucao instead of triple sec and 7up instead of coke.  According to one of the dancers, its 'all the rage in Paris.'  That was the single best thing I read in this mag.

The Breast Giveth- Is a discussion of milk and food that comes from it, with recipes.  Forgettable, but there is a cool frozen yogurt version of Key Lime Pie i'd like to try.

Make Yourself Useful- is a kind of unsettling story about a trek through the jungle killing and stuffing exotic birds.  Not really for me, but you might find it interesting.

Meat Maids is a nasty photo-essay of some butcher women in Ho Chi Mihn's Chinatown.  They must not like ice or refrigerators there.

Amaranth is a short story about a girl in an awful situation taking control of it in a very negative way.  A good read, but frankly disturbing.  Don't see what it was doing in Lucky Peach, but I read it and I'm glad I did.

Then, a couple of mom's meatloaf recipes.  Pretty standard, but I love the way they are written.  Real cooks talking to real cooks.  You should check this one out.  Ignore the photo of the dude in red trunks.

Then a really, really weird article about sexual reproduction from Harold McGhee.  A little too technical for me, but it raised some interesting points about the future of genetically modified produce.

And lastly, a bizarre little piece about turtle scrotum tea, which Jamaicans (apparently) drink for enhanced sexual male performance.  Should have been on the man side.



That's all babe.  Some of it was a little silly, but there was good in there.  I can't wait to talk about the next issue.

Lucky Peach Gender Issue Review Part II

Ok, we continue.

Next feature (continuing on the male side): The First Cut is the Deepest
-Okay, this one is a little gross, but culinarily, it is the most interesting of the issue so far.  It discusses the capon industry.  (A capon is a rooster that is castrated as a chick.  They grow big, mild, and tender.)  The article talks about what to do with all of the extra testicles.  This is a little nasty, but I sincerely believe that as custodians of meat, we need to understand the nasty parts of the business, too.  And after that, there is a food feature with a chef from Quebec, and I am really, really into Quebecoise cuisine these days.  Good recipes, even if one of them is rooster-testicle cassoulet.


-Food Ain't Nothing but Sex Misspelled- This is a series of vaguely pornographic drawings featuring food and sex.  Kind of a waste of paper.


And then, the feature that bridges the gap between the male and female sides, appropriately, an article about sea creatures that spontaneously change sex.  Not interesting in the slightest, once you get past the initial shock of the concept.

And then I started the female side:

-As Alice Sees It- A short piece on Alice Waters and being a woman running a restaurant.  Not that cool. I feel like it would have been better to interview a woman who is in the kitchen NOW, not the 1970s.  Her story has already been told.

-Great Chefs Around the World- By Naomi Duguid (one of the all-time great cookbook authors OF THE WORLD), a short piece celebrating the accomplishments of Burmese housewives, who make literally everything from scratch, every day, with no gadgets or anything.  Makes one feel great respect for women, but the sexism is a little hard to swallow.  Not that that is the fault of the article, she is just reporting the way it is.

Then a piece on the Haenyo Divers, Korean old women who dive for abalone.  Not super interesting, but it is cool to read about such a roughneck job that is traditionally girls-only.

Next, Pussy Rules- An interview with a big bad black lady that works the night shift at The Wiener's Circle in Chicago.   This was cool to read, because these girls are LEGENDARY.  Being from Chicago, I have heard all about this place, its been around forever.

And I will end on this one,

Dick Soup, by Fuchsia Dunlop.  She is an authority on regional Chinese cooking (she is British, but whatever).  I like her writing and have a bit of a crush.  Anyway, she wrote a long article about eating soup made from animal penis, which the Chinese are into.  Kind of a funny article, with a recipe that starts out by calling for Stag Penis.

NEWSFLASH!!!!!  In deference to you, I have been scouring this magazine for anything actually insulting or offensive, and this is the first I have found.  The article itself was well-written and respectful, but I protest it going onto the women's side.  Penis soup is made of male parts, and traditionally eaten by men.  And yet, they put in on the female side of the issue, presumably because female readers are more interested in having dicks in their mouths?  Which is, admittedly, heterocentric.  So I admit, darlin, I did find one thing that was actually disrespectful for gays, lesbians, and anyone else who might have a non-traditional stance on dick-sucking.

Thats all for now.

Lucky Peach, Gender Issue Part 1

Okay, so here is the deal.  Lucky Peach has always meant a lot to me, and not in the least because I was turned on to it by my sweet little sister.  And now, my sweet little sister, playing to stereotype as the easily offended gay woman, has gotten her little tail-feathers in a ruffle and I must defend the Lucky Peach.  It is too emblematic of our friendship to be dismissed so easily...

So what I'm doing is reading each article, and letting you know what you just can't miss.  A lot of it is silly, kinda shoe-horned in to fit the theme, but some of it is cool and so far, none of it has been offensive in the slightest.

Do I think the concept on the whole was kind of dumb?  Yes, of course.  But I think they just got the idea for the cover and went for it.  And as far as you not wanting to see naked men or whatever, please remember that 90% of the population is totally at peace with encountering both sets of equipment throughout our lives.  So lets not be homocentric, my darlin' dear...  :-)

I started with the male side (because I am a chauvinist, of course)

1) The Ten Manliest Meals In America- Tony Bourdain writes an essay about the futility of discovering the 'Manliest' food in the country.  Cute, but skippable.  Interestingly, it sort of makes the point that gender-fueled food journalism is silly by definition.  An intriguing way to start a collection of gender fueled journalism...

2)Dad #1- A long, boring piece on how an Australian chef is able to balance home life and work.  Dullsville.  Don't read this one, not because its offensive, but because you could be reading something engaging instead.

3)America, Your Food is So Gay- A fun little essay about how American cuisine was shaped by 3 gay food writers, Craig Clairborne, James Beard, and Richard Olney.  Read this, and then consider reading some of those guys' works.  Clairborne's stuff is kind of dated, a lot of New York Times cookbooks, not a lot of soul.  However, Richard Olney's stuff is great in that it shows real attitude about the French country gastronomic way of life, kind of like Elizabeth David, who you should also check out.  And James Beard's American Cuisine is THE definitive work on the subject, from the era of the founding fathers up until the gastronomic revolution of the 1970's.

4) In Bloom- A piece about cooking with flowers (which is on the male side because flowers are plant penises...I think).  Interesting.  Nothing earth-shattering about flowers, but they do touch on some cool techniques in practice.  Worth reading, if only to drive home the point that flowers don't taste like much, and require flavorful dishes behind them to highlight them.

5) Wow, this Guy Can Really Cook-  A kind of pointless essay on how John Ritter's character on Three's Company helped push the image of the male chef in America.  I'm too young to remember Three's Company, so I can't imagine you'd get much out of it, plus you and I have grown up in an era where male chefs are the norm.  A historical footnote, nothing more.

6)Horseradish: A Gentleman's Condiment- Fluff piece about a guy that makes handmade horseradish at a market stall.  Inspirational in a do-it-your-self kinda way, but hardly fits the theme.  Good pictures.

7)Deliverance- A collection of interviews with Chinese food deliverers.  Nothing unexpected here.  Just tales of bad tippers, low wages, and long hours.  I was expecting something crazier.  Kinda boring.

8)Hieronymous Beef a la Orange, Christmas Pudding, and the Supernatural Food of Bachelor Mountain Ascents- A trippy piece about mountain climbing.  I don't know why this went on the male side.  Im sure there are female climbers, too, and their camp cooking is just as rough.  The recipes were kind of fun.  Recipes for orange beef and christmas pudding using only trail supplies...  If that grabs you, check it out.

AAAAAAAAAaaaaand, thats as far as I've gotten.  Let me know if you read any of these, and I will post again in a couple of days.

The Ten Commandments of Nouvelle Cuisine, Louisiana Edition (MENU COMPARISON)

Ok...so I FINALLY found the menu that you and I did together for a "Fine Dining" experience with traditional Louisiana Cuisine. I think the best way to do it is to discuss what rules the item follows best and also what rules it doesn't follow at all.   Here goes....

Apps...

Sausage Patter w/ Homemade Pickles and Toast
Follows #10 & #3 (Part 2): I feel like this is a unique way to present a charcuterie platter. Its not your expected cured meats but an assortment of fresh housemade sausage that shows off the many varieties of wild game that can be found in the area.
Disregards #6: The use of pickles was to cut the fat of the sausage but this rule would not like any part of pickles or sausage and certainly not together.

Crawfish Etouffe Dip w/ Rice Crackers
Follows #3 (Kind of), #3 (Part 2), #4 (Part 3), & #5 (Part 2): This Étouffée showcases one of of the most 'famous' creatures of the area...the crawfish. It also slightly lightens the menu by using rice crackers. This plays on the traditional dish usually served over rice making it easily shareable and fun.
Disregards #7: Roux is used as a thickener in the dish.

Oysters on the 1/2 Shell
Follows #1, #2, #3, #3 (Part 2), & #8: This dish is served raw, the ingredients are fresh out of the Gulf, and it is served with a citrus mignonette to brighten the dish. Oysters eaten in moderation are very healthy source of protein.
Disregards #10: This dish is not inventive at all but a great classic.

BBQ Gator w/ Mirliton Slaw
Follows #2 & #3 (Part 2): Fresh local mirlitons and Louisiana gator would make a perfect sweet and savory dish.
Disregards #6.1 (Kind of): Mainly because of the BBQ sauce.

Crab Beignets w/ Remoulade Sauce
Follows #3 & #10: It is a lighter and inventive way to serve crab as appose to crab royal with lots of cream and cheese or crab cakes with lots of butter and bread.
Disregards #8: Still not a very 'healthy' dish.

Ok I am going to stop here for the night and will continue soon. Let me know what you think! I am excited about the discussion this menu is going to bring. Hope you are well.

Wine Tasting Group Episode One

So we joined a wine tasting group.  We each bring a bottle, and we go through the Court of Master Sommeliers tasting grid and try to guess what each other has brought.  Its a bunch of Advanced Sommelier candidates, and me.  To amuse myself, I started recording what dishes I would put with each wine, and am recording them here just so I have them.  This is less of a blog entry and more of me just transposing my notes, so don't feel the need to comment, but I hope you find it interesting.

Wine #1: Sancerre, Domaine Sauterau, 2012 (Dry, grassy, citrusy white)
Food Pairing: Hamachi Sashimi, Mild Ginger Oil, Verjus, Green Papaya, Poppy Seeds
[Dish plays off of acidic and tropical fruit notes in the wine.]

Wine #2: Nikolaihof Gruner Veltliner, Wachau, 2011 (Funky, earthy, surprisingly rich herbal white.)
Food Pairing: Poached Pheasant Breast, Pureed Sunchoke, Toasted Pine Nuts, Chicken Fat-Honey Vinaigrette {using Alsatian honey vinegar}
[Dish matches honeyed, nutty notes in wine, sunchokes match its herbal nature.]

Wine #3: 2011 Chateau Villa Bel-Air Bordeaux Blanc (Minerally, stone fruit/citrus white)
Food Pairing: Half-cooked Salmon, Peas, Pearl Onions, Mint, Parsley, Sel Gris and Parsley Juice
[Dish touches on wines herby notes with the peas, minerally notes with the sea salt.]

Wine #4: Pino Nero, Alto Adige, 2005 (Odd-ball Northern Italian Red)
Food Pairing: Venison Carpaccio, Crispy Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Huckleberry Reduction
[Dish matches wine's black-fruit and spice characteristics, without trampling its subtlety.]

Wine #5: The Wild Boar, Syrah, Cotes de Rousillon 2010 (Rich, full-bodied Southern French Red)
Food Pairing: Pan Roasted Duck Breast, Sauteed Young Kale, Mole Negro Sauce
[The wine wanted game and had a coffee finish that reminded me of mole, the savory Mexican sauce.  The sauce would start with a puree of fried pumpkin seeds, cocoa beans, and sesame seeds, let out with pureed piquillo peppers and reduced duck stock.]

Anyway, that's not really a post, just some ideas.

Nouvelle Louisiana Cuisine

So as you know, I have been thinking recently about Cajun and Creole, and their need of a legitimate reinvention.  I am not talking about what Susan does, of just doing Euro cuisine with the occasional Louisiana ingredient.  I am also not talking about the Tory MacPhail solution: make regular NO restaurant food, but with more foie gras.

I am talking about a thoughtful re-imagining of the two great cuisines of South Louisiana.  As you recall, in 1973, Henri Gault published the 10 commandments of Nouvelle Cuisine, and I feel like they are pretty applicable, even now, all these years later.  I reprint them here, with revisions and addendums.

Part 1:

The Ten Commandments of Nouvelle Cuisine, Louisiana Edition
By Henri Gault, Annotated by Jesse S.

1) Thou shalt not overcook.  
I like this one unedited.

2) Thou shalt use fresh, quality products.
This one too.

3) Thou shalt lighten thy menu.
Cajun and Creole food don't have to be as heavy as they are on most menus.  I'm not saying they will ever be light, but maybe we don't need to put brown roux and bacon fat into absolutely every seafood soup.  Delicate flavors shine through light preparations.

4) Thou shalt not be systematically modernistic.
After all, we want our cuisine to be true to its roots.  Just because we want to honor Louisiana flavors in a modern way doesn't mean we should try to modernize gumbo.  A classic is a classic for a reason.

5) Thou shalt nevertheless seek out what the new techniques can bring you.
This is the soul of Modernist thought.

6) Thou shalt avoid pickles, cured game meats, fermented foods, etc.
This one I am not a big believer in, but I left it in for one reason.  Chefs in the south, particularly proponents of the Lardcore movement, are a little over-reliant on bacon, ham, and sausage.  I love these things, but if you put them in everything, it becomes redundant.  Perhaps we could rephrase:

6.1) Thou shalt avoid slavish over-reliance on cured meats, hot sauce, 'big explosive flavors' and the temptation to make everything taste like barbecue sauce.
See, that is the same idea, but addressing the excesses of our cuisine now, rather than French food in the 60s.

7) Thou shalt eliminate rich sauces.
This one was a little silly, even then.  Nouvelle Cuisine was the home of buerre blanc.  I think by rich, Mr. Gault really meant 'heavy,' like roux-thickened brown sauces with chopped sweetbreads in them.  Butter sauces, hollandaises, these are NOT what he was referring to.  Also, I think this one stands in opposition to commandment 4, in the context of Louisiana cuisine.  To totally eliminate rich sauces is to damage the soul of Cajun cooking.  Perhaps instead of 'eliminate' we could say 'reduce the frequency of.'

8) Thou shalt not ignore dietetics.
I feel like if we respect the urge to cut back on heavy-for-heavy's sake sauces and bacon in everything, this will come naturally.  Also, I feel like this commandment asks us to respect vegetables and their seasonality.  

9) Thou shalt not doctor up thy presentations.
So no garnishing plates with a whole lobster head, there, Emeril.

10) Thou shalt be inventive.
Nuff said.

Part 2

The 5 Additional Commandments of Nouvelle Louisiana Cuisine

1) Thou shalt respect the separate identities of the two component cuisines that make up South Louisiana cuisine, Cajun and Creole.  Thou shalt never utter the phrase "Cajun/Creole cooking.'  Thou shalt respect that city and country can live together on the same menu, but allow each to keep its soul.

2) Thou shalt avoid 'creole seasoning.'  Let each dish have individually selected herb/spice profiles rather than grabbing for the green can of lazy.

3) Thou shalt use, promote, celebrate, and rejoice in the array of amazing, unique products and ingredients that South Louisiana has provided us.

4) Thou shalt respect tradition, even while reinventing classic dishes.

5) Thou shalt never forget that South Lousiana cuisine must, above all else, be fun.



So that's what I've been working on, sweets.  What do you think?  Is Charleston ready for that?

Modernist O.o and ??Questions??

I have always been told that cast iron skillet should be well seasoned and HOW to keep it seasoned but I never knew it had a name for the black non-stick layer that developed over time AKA Patina. I also had no idea that a wok was judged heavily on its patina along with the material makeup.

Have have you ever played with an AccuTemp Griddle? I think they are really fascinating but have a feeling they are incredibly expensive.

Also going back to Roasting...I am confused about they way heat is "acting" when they talk about heat varying at the inverse square of the source. This is the picture I have in my head as to what I think they are talking about. Am I right? and if so could you explain and if not could you also explain lol.

I am going to go home this weekend and pick up my 21 X 15 X 3/4 in. aluminum plate and will either cook pizzas that weekend with my family or very soon! I'll keep you posted of course!

 

A Great Quote by American Food Writer Waverly Root

Okay, so I am reading (among other things) Food, a culinary dictionary/encyclopedia by the 20th century American food writer Waverly Root.  Root was born in Rhode Island in 1903, and was the Paris correspondant for the Chicago Tribune.  Its really an odd-ball book.  It is 600 pages long, and set up as a series of small articles, but its too well-written and funny to be taken as a reference book.  It wants to be read, but its far too long and dry to just hit cover-to-cover.  So I am picking away a few pages a day.  I started it the day I finished Modernist Cuisine.

Anyway, in the article about flatfish, he is talking about the popularity of Dover sole, and he challenges the notion that it is the greatest of all fish.  His point is that all of the dishes cover it with all these different sauces, and different fillings, and that a really great ingredient doesn't need all that.

The quote:
"Foods may be classified, like genetic elements, as either dominant or recessive.  Then they are dominant, there are not dozens of ways of preparing them, there are only a few, for the simplest possible treatments are the best, to preserve undisguised their basic individual flavors."

All that, what a great thought, buried in an article entitled 'Flatfish.'  What a strange, huge book.  Its like an Easter egg hunt.

I chose that image because it juxtaposes ingredients which are exemplars of the two categories Root talks about.  Caviar is perhaps the ultimate dominant ingredient.  It is great on toast, or blini, or garnishing scrambled eggs or raw seafood, and it is utterly pointless to do anything else to it.  The egg, despite its biological similarity, is the opposite.  There are thousands of ways to cook eggs, and ingredients that compliment them run the gamut from bacon to anchovies to cheese to chocolate.

Got me thinking...  Its the difference between a Louisiana oyster and a Canadian oyster.  Louisiana gulf selects are great as a Rockefeller, Oysters Katherine, fried in a po'boy, in an oyster shooter, whatever.  And if you're gonna have one raw, it will be on a saltine with horseradish, lemon, and Crystal.  But if you have a Beau Soleil on your hands, the juice in the shell is absolutely the only sauce it needs.

And not all dominant ingredients need to be expensive.  I challenge anyone to find a way to improve substantially on a satsuma in their season.

Any thoughts?

Day off!

So we are off today and D isn't feeling well, so we are just going to make dinner at home and watch Darwin Barney and the Cubs take on the hated Texas Rangers.  Who are way better than the cubs this year...  So we'll just see how that goes.

But anyway, our dinner is as follows:
Roasted corn on the cob, sauteed local shrimp with butter, lemon, and fleur de sel,
and...

BOUDIN.
We are eating that boudin you and Rachel bought us.

I have cajun on the brain, so here are 3 short-term Cajun goals I will accomplish before mid-summer.

1) I will make my own boudin.
2) I will make my own tasso.
3) I will accomplish the Boudin Corn Dog.  (Rules: must be crunchy on the outside, must be soft-boudin-texture inside, and must stay on the stick.)

Its on, I'll let you know how it was...

Who dat, go Cubs!

Traditional cooking...GRILLING

I can honestly say I never thought of grilling as a art or even a skill that is difficult to master but I humbly stand corrected. Lots of fun and interesting facts came out of this section and I wanted to share (even though you have already read this) and asked a few questions.

• Charcoal burns "cleaner" than wood? I have tried to look up this terminology and have read it over and over again in the book itself but I feel that a Jesse explanation would help me more.
• Drippings are what really flavors the food not the coals or wood. (O.o) That's my new Mind Blown face...anyways. If this is true then is that another reason for a marinade? The meat juices and marinade that drips into the fire, causes a flare and then smoke, is what actually flavors the food? Is stressing about the type of wood to use as fuel better left for smoking purposes? Also what do you prefer when you BBQ? I know my father likes charcoal.   
• Thinking of radiant heat as a light ray has really helped me to picture what is truly happening on a grill and in understanding how distance from the source of heat isn't a simple lifting of the rack. (hee hee last words made me chuckle)
• Also most grills are black? Who decided this and should they get a slap on the wrist? If the best grill is reflective then why don't we all have chrome grills besides the fact that it could be a costly endeavor. The last one is just me ranting. I will look it up and get back to you unless you have some wisdom on the matter already.

 Moving along nicely now and enjoying getting (O.o) about ever other paragraph! Hope you are well and I will talk to you SOON!

I miss Louisiana

So I finished the Charleston Grill cookbook, and I gotta say, uninspired.  The recipes were too simple to have been real restaurant recipes, yet the book was of no use to the home cook because they kept calling for things like microgreens and demiglace.  I don't have a problem with the demiglace thing, except that there was no recipe in the back for it...  Bullshit.  Worst of both worlds.  (Stole a couple of good ideas, though, see previous post.)

Anyway, I started my next book, Real Cajun, by your uncle Donald Link.  I just read the intro, and it is so well written that I wanna be sitting in a lawn chair in someone's back yard drinking a long neck of Dixie and eating boiled shrimp and corn like its my job.

Apart from making you want to be there, he is doing a great job of writing, really writing, how to cook.  For instance, when he talks about paprika, he says he prefers hot to sweet.  He also says either one will work.  He also says, and this is the kicker, that if your paprika doesn't say sweet OR hot, its no big deal, go ahead and use it.  Its a little thing, but it means a lot to me.  I get so obsessed with doing a recipe just right, that I could see 24-year-old me stopping what I was doing and driving over the river to Whole Foods (cause they are the only ones that have sweet AND hot paprika) with my kitchen destroyed and the chicken part-way seasoned on a cutting board in my kitchen, with D totally pissed at me, and getting the stuff when the stuff I had at home that I got for $4 at Piggly Wiggly would HAVE DONE JUST FINE.  And you are cut from the same cloth, Boo Bear, so I know you know what I'm talking about.

So anyway, I have been inspired JUST FROM THE INTRO to write a short list of things I miss, food-wise, about living in Louisiana.

1) Steen's cane syrup, and its bizarre by-product, cane vinegar
2) A million cases of satsumas for 20 cents a pop at the French Market
3) Zapp's Chips, especially Dill Gator-Taters and Cajun Craw-Taters
4) Stock crabs at the grocery store
5) Fried chicken at gas stations
6) Crab boil potato salad... How can the potatoes at a crab boil taste better than the crab?  And yet...
7) Boudin, and boudin balls
8) The two schools of po'boy thought: wet and gravied, crispy and fried, plenty of mayo on either
9) Turtle soup
10) Barbecue shrimp at Pascal's Manale
11) Corn pudding and a Vietnamese iced coffee at Pho Tau Bay
12) Little greasy bags of fried pork skin at Swamp Fest at the Zoo on St. Charles
13) Every restaurant having red drum on the menu all the time
14) Creole mustard being the standard mustard for everything
15) And lastly, although I didn't even know about it when I lived there... Slap Ya Mama hot sauce.  It is the gold standard by which all Louisiana hot sauces are to be judged...  In the words of New Orleans drag-queen rapper Big Frieda "When the Queen come round everything shut down.  You hoes, get back, all you hoes bow down!"

(What, you are a member of Louisiana gay culture and you don't know about Big Frieda???  Go to youtube and type in "Na Who Mad" right now...  You'll hate it, but its awesome.)


(And in the interest of equal time, a very, very short like of things I DON'T miss about Louisiana)
1) 24 hour liquor stores.  You know me.  Sometimes I need someone to tell me its time for bed.
2) Chickory coffee.  Gross.
3) Mirlitons.  I have never completely understood mirlitons.  Texture of apple, flavor of potato.  Why do coonasses love them so much?


Anyway, that's all I got.  Great fishing weather, but I'm working 1000 hours a week, so no go....
Talk to you soon...

Got Caught Up in the Numbers...but I think I am back on track...

OK...so remember how you and Nate would tell me I would was getting too caught up in the numbers therefore missing the big picture or over all lesson...well I did it YET AGAIN but at least this time I was able to step back and start on a new (hopefully better) path. What had happened was... I finished Book 1 early YAY so I decided that I would go back and write down notes of all the facts I thought were interesting....next thing I know I got a full blown outline (practically rewriting the book) and caught myself worrying about formatting of ALL THINGS! Needless to say I got behind and just started Book 2 today....a little late but thankfully nothing earth shattering.

The two things I wanted to talk about are a from the end of book one...

First) Radiant Heat.... I feel like my mind should not be this blown but it is! SO Toast since it starts out in most cases white has high reflectivity therefore takes longer to brown but once it starts to brown and becomes darker its reflectivity lowers because black absorbs more light than white. This is why Toast takes FOREVER to brown but once it browns it literally burns if you blink your eyes. SO here is the question...giving this new found knowledge...Will pumpernickel bread toast faster than white bread? I know heat plays a roll and not just the color of the bread... just curious.

Second) Leidenfrost Effect... It happened to me on a regular basis at work but instead of wondering why it was happening or how... I was usually just annoyed because it meant my pan was WAY to hot. After reading about it I am more curious than annoyed. I was wondering... Since the water forms almost perfect spheres in the pan because of the steam encapsulation ...would it make an almost perfect sphere if you dropped the water droplets out of the hot pan straight into liquid nitrogen?

I am so happy you liked the fishing book and look forward to many days at the pier hearing all about it. Hope to hear from you soon! Thanks for getting me back in gear.

Inspiration Stimulus Package

Well, Sweets, you said you needed a little inspiration, and today I reached the halfway point of the Charleston Grill cookbook.  It's kinda lightweight, but I definitely got 4 great ideas out of it.  The recipes themselves are kind of imprecise, but the ideas....

#1) Salad of Veal Sweetbreads, White Asparagus, Fried Black Trumpets, and Citrus Truffle Vinaigrette
      Not so much on the salad angle, but the black trumpet-white-asparagus-truffle combo is hot!  And imagine if you considered the sweetbreads to be interchangeable with poultry.  You could have Crispy Confit Duck Hearts with a Saute of White Asparagus, Black Trumpets, and Truffle Jus...

#2) Salad of Bresaola and Porcini with Arugula.
      Remember bresaola?  That's the air-dried beef loin, like steak prosciutto.  That with porcini (AKA ceps) the most earthy mushroom ever.  Dank, mineral-y flavors abound.  The kicker, though, is that the book recommended this with a white Burgundy.  Rich, robust white wine with gamy salty dry meat and the funkiest of shrooms...   Lemme get that.

#3) There is a recipe for garlic soup, which is cool, but we both know Susan Spicer's is pretty damn good.  What I thought was cool about this recipe, however, was that it called for roasted garlic AND sauteed garlic...  Got me thinking, garlic has so many faces.  We should devise a dish that calls for garlic in all three of its forms.  Think about the savory, even boldness of roasted garlic, the mild complexity of blanched garlic, and the metallic twang of raw garlic.  If we could separate the flavors enough for them to be distinct, and then recombine them in a way that doesn't let them get lost...

#4) There is a recipe for fennel soup, and it talked about cooking it with vermouth.  Its not a new idea, I used to see Grant Achatz doing it WAY back in 2001, but it is still a cool move.  Fennel has that spiced-wine flavor to it, so vermouth will reinforce that note.  Gotta play with that one.

So that's three unanswered posts, boo-boo.  Where yat?  You can't possibly be as busy as me...

p.s. I hope this Supreme Court thing goes your way.  There will be some funny looks on some Louisiana faces....

Fisherman's Ocean- Completed!

I have officially finished Fisherman's Ocean.  It was informative, and scientific.  Its scientific nature was its blessing and a curse.  Instead of straightforward hints and tactics, the author gives you an idea for how to gather data and results to make your own tactical decisions.  This makes it a lot more informative in the long run than any fishing book I have ever read before.  He teaches you how to figure out what to do in changing situations, rather than just how to handle specific situations.

Ultimately, I think this is the only strategy that can work.  Any fishing author can relate things that were successful.  This guy, instead, told how he built his strategy based on information, and how to gather that information.

Other fishing books: "Here is how you rig up to catch a mackerel."

His book: "Here is a list of factors that influence whether or not you will find a mackerel.  Even if the conditions are wrong, you may still find one.  Conversely, even if conditions are right, you might not find one.  If you find one, here are a list of rigs that might work, and why they might work.  They might not work though.  If not, here is a list of factors to consider.  Write down your experiences, log what works and what doesn't, change spots, change strategies, and eventually, you should catch more mackerel."

In a way, he is the only honest fishing author I have ever read.
Thanks, Sweets, for the well-thought out and informative read.

Next, I go through Charleston Grill cookbook with a highlighter, tagging anything that I think is at least 20 years out of style.  Woo!

A Culinary Hi-Wire Act!

\


Last night I did something amazing.  We had 2 tables in the book, and the GM came back and told me that there was a 5-top VIP regular coming in, and he wanted me to just cook whatever.  Great, right?  Well, the kitchen was on sort of a short crew for the slow night.  Me on GM, a pizza guy, and my shakiest saute cook on saute, and no expo at all.  Plus, I had a trainee working with me on GM.  It was his first night.  Not second, or third, first.

I couldn't plan the meal until I knew what the wines were, but he didn't pick them until they all sat down.  So I have a VIP tasting, on a short crew, with no menu or prep.  Hmm....  This might get dicey.

So he picks two big, bold reds for his meal.  Dammit.  The only red meat I have in house is steak, so I start to look around for other things I can use that can stand up to these wines.  Chorizo, speck, mushrooms, cool, I have options.  I start to get a plan together.  Then, his server comes back and orders a round of apps "to get him started."  A chorizo and speck plate, a mushroom appetizer, dammit dammit dammit.  There goes my entire plan.  The server (a rather attractive young Viking named Carlie Van Horn) comes back and tells me to go ahead and get it started.  Then, we get crushed.  Walk-in 15-top, VIP 2-top, 3 4-tops AT THE EXACT SAME GODDAMN TIME (7:30, to be exact).

So my shaky saute guy gets clobbered, I am training my new guy who doesn't know how to do anything, and pizza stays busy, all while I make up dishes for this guy WHILE HIS TABLE IS FIRED.

And it all came out ok.

The menu:

First Course (while they were having a round of Champagne)
Seared Sea Scallop, Butterbeans a la Tourangelle, Onion Soubise

Second Course (CA Syrah)
Hot Duck Confit, Red Potatoes Cooked in Duck Jus Rotie, Buttered Green Asparagus, and Reduced Shortrib Braising Juices

Third Course (Cab/Merlot blend from Alto-Adige, Northern Italy)
Medallions of Flatiron Steak, Walnut-Truffle-Parmesan Farrotto, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Vin Cotto, Shaved Bone Marrow Torchon

And for dessert (with their Alois Kracher Chardonnay/Welshreisling blend late-harvest white)
Heather the Elf's Passionfruit Panna Cotta with Lemon Jam, Bruleed Bananas, and Plantain Chips

All's well that ends well, but I really don't want to do that again.

V Day Sushi Adventures

Sushi made with the help of Nobu Now cookbook Rachel found in the donation pile at the library!

From left to right: avocado, home made picked carrots, masago, blanched baby bok choy, sautéed baby bok choy leaves, cucumber, seaweed salad, home made crab salad, asian pear, and panko. 

Roll 1: White fish, pickled carrots, seaweed salad, asian pear, panko, and home made spicy mayo.

Roll 2: Shrimp tempura, sautéed baby bok choy, crab salad, pickled carrots, cream cheese, cucumber, avocado, masago, and sweet soy with sesame seeds.

This was sooo much fun! I see why people go out for sushi though because it's not that it is too difficult to execute but MAN what a process! My favorite part was making the rice. I read the recipe and just at first glance for some reason I didn't think it would work but I decided to follow it to a T. I was soo happy with the end result and even more thrilled because I had to cook it on an electric stove. 

Sushi in a Bowl

OK so I realize that some Sushi Master is rolling over in their grave right now because of course the AMERICANS always find ways to bastardize things but this was created out of laziness/necessity. I unfortunately cannot take credit for being the 1st to make this atrocity. The next day I had to work a PM shift and Rachel wanted sushi again for lunch and so did I. I didn't have time to orchestrate rolling more sushi but I did have time to sear some tuna and then put all the ingredients I had from the night before in a BOWL! It was amazing and we ate sushi this way two times after that (I over prepped go figure) : ). 

AND FOR THE BONUS! 

Mock Turtle Soup is called "Mock" Turtle Soup because it usually doesn't have any turtle in it at all! Turtle is too expensive probably because they are hard to clean, yield very little meat for the effort, and because Rachel said you would have to pay her a lot of money because she loves them too much. It was created by the English in the 18th century as a substitute for Green Turtle Soup. It was usually made with the brains and organ meats of calves or even their hooves! The joke made in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is that the soup is made from Mock Turtle as if it was an actual species of turtle. P.S. Ask D to show you what Rachel made for me on V Day! Miss YOU!

F.O.P.R.

Fisherman's Ocean progress report, part 2.

On page 183, I have encountered the first real, non-theoretical fishing tip in the book.  It concerns using different sorts of lures on the same line.  The suggestion was to use a fly (the tiny, weightless lures used by the obsessive-compulsive psychopath philosophers known as fly fishermen) as a 'teaser,' tied only a line a few feet up from the main rig.

The article's main point was that fish feeding habits are variable, and very hard to observe, so giving them options is one way to beat them.

I here present my fishing goals for the 2013 season.

1) Attempt to get a sheepshead off the Cooper Pier at least 5 times.
2) Attempt to get a flounder of the bottom of Breach Inlet at least 5 times.
3) Go to the Folly Pier as often as possible, and every time I go, try at least 1 alternative bait set up on top of my normal shrimp/cut bait double-drop bottom rig.
4) Get the Trolley Line up and running.

This book is getting good.  Part 1 is all environmental theory, part 2 is all descriptions of types of fish, and part 3, which I will arrive at today, is all practical advice.

Miss you, sweets, we should try to talk soon.

Mardi Gras

So we can't really have a Mardi Gras party this year, cause D is still kinda broken, so instead we are having a small (well, smaller) scale dinner-and-drinks thing.  We are calling it the Krewe of Legba Founder's Dinner, Shrimp Boil, and Hammertime Shit Show.  I wish you both were here.

The menu this evening:

Carolina Calico Bay Scallops Raw on Nabisco Club Crackers with Sel Gris

Mock Turtle Soup

Shrimp and Andouille Boil (featuring Slap Ya Mama devil dust)

Chanda's Meat Pie (which we have formally re-named the Myocardial Infarction Pop Tart)

And my signature cocktail, the Cooter Brown (It's Rebel Yell Bourbon and Steen's Cane Syrup on the rocks with club soda).

And, I have an idea that homemade kahlua will be thrown down sooner or later.....


You give that Mardi-Gras hater Rachel a big hug and tell her I said she's a grouch, and if she was here, she'd be having a blast.  Tu es pas tu-ay WOOOO!


PS Bonus points if you can tell me what the meat is in Mock Turtle Soup, and what that has to do with Alice in Wonderland...

Fisherman's Ocean Progress Report

So I finished part 1 (of 3) of The Fisherman's Ocean.  It was a complete discussion of the marine environment, talking about tides, waves, currents, and salinity.  There was surprisingly little discussion of fish, and I started to get frustrated, but then I checked out the table of contents.

As it happens, the three parts cover different topics.  Part 1 is strictly on the environment, part 2 covers the fish themselves, and only in Part 3 does he actually get into functional tips on how to properly kick the fish's asses.  

So I started in on part 2, and it was immediately informative.  Not just on how fish work biologically, but how they think, too.  Its really starting to get good.  Here is a disturbing fun-fin-fact.  Fish look for eyes, because they are the least camouflage-able feature of a fish.  So a majority of fish-on-fish strikes are on the EYES.  Fish are weird.  That's why lures always have eyes.

In other fish-ass-kicking-related news, I bought a 12 foot surf rod.  It was actually pretty cheap, like 30 bucks.  I plan on using it to throw the anchor for the trolley line, but it will also be good for beach fishing, because it is so damn long it will be able to throw the bait a mile.

So that's what's up.  7 new dishes on this week at the restaurant.  There is 1 i am especially proud of, I'll post about it later this week.

(In other news, cool moment at the Moose the o

My problem with Fusion

Okay, so D and I went to Fish last night, and it was OK.  From an execution standpoint, it was really nice, but compositionally, I was left cold, and after a little while I figured out why.

I have a serious issue with fusion cuisine.  Technically, fusion can mean any 2 (or more) types of cuisine fused together.  (Mexican-Indian, Canadian-Vietnamese, whatever...)  However, most times it means using Asian influence in Euro-centric cuisine.

At Fish, they definitely took some of their stylistic cues from Asia.  There were positives and negatives.  On the positive side, the dim sum (pictured) was a great idea.  It was a way of allowing us to choose our own amuse-bouches.  They didn't necessarily use Asian flavors, just the spirit of dim sum dining, and they hit the nail on the head.

The negative is what struck me though.  Think about the great sauces of European cuisine.  Sauce Bordelaise is made by roasting bones, adding vegetables, caramelizing tomatoes, reducing wine, long, slow simmering, adding mushroom trim for depth, straining, skimming, and finishing with the flourish of bone marrow richness.  Ragu a la Bolognese is made by covering pork ribs and italian sausage with canned tomatoes and herbs (and other secret touches like parmesan rind) and letting it simmer slowly for an entire day, until the meat and tomato have become one silken entity, and all that remains is to remove the bones and bay leaves.

Now think about asian cuisine.  Red curry sauce is made by opening a can of red curry paste, mixing it with coconut milk, and seasoning it with ginger and lime.  I am not disparaging red curry sauce.  I love red curry sauce.  But to make it takes 5 minutes.  Any cheap, shitty Thai restaurant in a strip mall can still make an awesome red curry.  I require more out of my sauces at the fine dining level in terms of nuance.

At Fish, we had bread served with a sweet soy glaze that could have been had at P.F.Chang's, Snapper with curry sauce that tasted like a slightly more mild version of the one at Taste of Thai in West Ashley, and Triggerfish with a broth that tasted like the onion soup you get as a starter at Bushido.  It all tasted great, but Asian food is what I get for cheap lunch on the go.  It was all so... familiar, and not in a good way, when plates are $23 and up.

I feel like Asian flavors at western fine dining establishments are like Autotune in a song, or Photoshop Effects in a work of visual art.  They give a quick boost of awesomeness, but ultimately limit the heights to which that food can soar.  An amateur can make a simple, great sauce in five minutes for some shrimp, but may not be able to pull off Sauce Gran Veneur.  Similarly, a kid with an iPhone can make a cool picture, but a great artist would prefer working with more natural media.  Ke$ha can throw together a catchy, lucrative pop song in a modern studio with all the tricks and trimmings, but all Django Rheinhart needed was a guitar and eight fingers.

That is all.  For bonus points, what is Sauce Gran Veneur?

Our First Real Modernist Discussion

>With that said....can you help me understand the charts on page 193 and 194. I think I understand the chart >about meat roasts. Do those temps include any red meat?

Yes, those times include any red meat.  Remember, the charts are not exactly about ideal meat cooking time, just about salmonella reduction.  Those times show the times necessary for a 6.5D reduction IN PATHOGENS, not necessarily about how meat is done.  Remember, beef is servable RAW.  I.E. no cooking at all, I.E. 0D salmonella reduction.  The idea is that beef that has been properly treated won't be harboring any nasties, so killing the nasties isn't a big deal.

Furthermore, the red meat chart is only talking about the meat's exterior.  (It makes that note in the chart on the previous page in the beef entry) Since beef (and such) are not known to harbor salmonella internally, the standard applies only to the outside surface, which could have been contaminated at the butcher's.  This doesn't make a lot of difference if you are going low-temp, because at 54 degrees C, after 1H 54M (beef chart, line 1) the meat will be cooked anyway.  However, imagine you have a whole ribeye you want to serve as tartare, but you don't trust the butcher where you got it to use clean cutting boards.  You want a 6.5D reduction because you think he touched your tartare with his chicken hands.  You put it in a 60 degree C bath for 11 minutes, 34 seconds, and it will still be raw, but you will have
your 6.5D reduction in SURFACE pathogens, so you can go ahead and start dicing.

(One note: a case in which this does not apply to all meats is wild game.  It can have worms, or mites, or other weird shit that this chart doesn't address.)

>The one about chicken is really giving me a hard time, but I guess it is a result of being taught 165 F is the >temp you have to cook poultry to NO EXCEPTIONS. 

Yeah, its hard to unlearn something that's been drummed into your head so hard.

>Am I reading the chart right? If I cook a chicken breast to 131 F and hold it there for 39m and 31s it is safe to >eat?! As a home cook can I achieve that accuracy with a conventional oven?


Yes, your reading it right.  But no, you can't really do that in a home oven.  The thermostats in those things are not very reliable, and the problem gets a lot worse at low temperatures.  Having said that, we tried it at Woodlands.  This is before these charts came out, and we cooked a chicken at 140 for like 12 hours in a convection oven.  We didn't serve it, but we did eat it.  It was nicely cooked, and very moist, and none of us died.

>Why are the sous vide times different? I don't remember reading anaerobic pathogens being harder to kill. 

Not sure why they are different.  I would guess that maybe poultry has lower density so the heat travels through faster, but I couldn't tell you.  It could also be something as simple as each of those charts came from a different researcher, with slightly different findings.  Science can be frustrating like that.


>How would I use the pasteurization recommendations in a home kitchen scenario? And is the fish freezing >recommendations how you make sushi grade fish and is that the only way to make sushi grade fish?     

As far as the pasteurization recommendations, I would say its sous-vide or nothing.  That really seems to be what they are gunning for.

As far as sushi-grade fish, yes, the freeze is the only way you can be guaranteed of pathogen/parasite free fish, but in the real world, you don't worry about it that much.  I eat and serve raw fish (at home) all the time and don't worry about that.  In life there is risk, and not everything has to be pasteurized.  You just don't serve it to pregnant women or babies (2 demographics that I avoid as a matter of course anyway.)

Great to hear from you, little sister.  I am through chapter 2 of Fisherman's Ocean.  He is still piling on the basics, nothing practical yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Temperature and Time = 6.5D Salmonella Reduction

Ok so 6.5D reduction kills 99.99997% of all pathogens present. The FDA requires this for most raw food products and other nongovernmental organizations find this to be too conservative and settle for a 5D reduction.

With that said....can you help me understand the charts on page 193 and 194. I think I understand the chart about meat roasts. Do those temps include any red meat?

The one about chicken is really giving me a hard time, but I guess it is a result of being taught 165 F is the temp you have to cook poultry to NO EXCEPTIONS. Am I reading the chart right? If I cook a chicken breast to 131 F and hold it there for 39m and 31s it is safe to eat?! As a home cook can I achieve that accuracy with a conventional oven?

Why are the sous vide times different? I don't remember reading anaerobic pathogens being harder to kill.

How would I use the pasteurization recommendations in a home kitchen scenario? And is the fish freezing recommendations how you make sushi grade fish and is that the only way to make sushi grade fish?    

Ok I am going to stop there. I am past that section of reading and on to food fads and how the FDA and other food distributor make up things like (more fiber can reduce colon cancer) without any real scientific evidence because it costs too much. But they can make money off of the hypothesis because people don't usually question it.....scary to say the very least.

Kielbasa and Cabbage

I am soo glad you enjoyed the sausage and hot sauce! I know you guys had a blast and I am soo jealous about the oysters! I haven't had oysters in a long time and seriously craving some! If you have any suggestions about a good place or places in NOLA I am ALL EARS!

New Years morning I cooked eggs in a hole for Rachel. It was the funniest thing while she was watching me cook. You would have thought I was performing magic tricks or something she was so amazed haha.

 She loved them! I also made some grits out of Anson Mills grits which I must say were the best I have ever had!

I recently went and visited an old college friend of mine and was lucky enough to score some fresh local red and green cabbage! My mom use to make me a dish when I was younger called Kielbasa and Cabbage. I know Kielbasa is polish for "sausage" and from what I read it is traditionally served with onions, red potatoes, and cabbage. So I cooked it the way mom use to for me in one pot. It came out just the way I remember it! Its not the prettiest dish but on a cold rainy day it was perfect! One thing I have to say that I LOVE about food is the ability to create something that makes you feel like a child again from your own hands but taught to you by the one who created that memory for you in the first place.

Reading Modernest diligently.... I promise. I am on Viruses and trying to keep up and retain something. : )

Christmas Gifts and a Happy New Year

To start, I just wanted to report that I have officially begun reading the Fisherman's Ocean.  I have so far gotten through only the preface and 10 pages of the first chapter, and its been a long day, so I have to relax now, but I will definitely be devouring this one.  I have no fishing mentor, I am kinda self-taught, so I need all the help I can get.  Thanks to li'l Swamp Fox for the thoughtful gift.

Speaking of Christmas gifts from li'l Swamp Fox, I would like to report that on New Year's D and I had Adam and Bobby (and later my parents) over for champagne and oysters.  We ate an entire bushel of Canada Cups in about 4 hours.  However, as anyone knows, oysters are delicious but not all that filling, so we took a pack of pork andouille and a pack of deer sausage (both gifts from my Lake Charles li'l sister) and boiled them up with some potatoes, pearl onions, bay leaves, and a downright unhealthy amount of Slap Ya Mama seafood boil.  Just for good measure, we added in the juice of all the oysters we shucked, which was a lot.  Thank you much for your generosity, it was delicious.

Also thanks to whoever cleaned up after dinner, because I don't, specifically speaking, remember going to bed.  But I must have, cause that's where I woke up.

January, its study time!

Sea-Beans

Sea-Beans
> AKA Drift Beans
>These beans do not originate from the seas just merely use it or any other water ways as a form of transport.
>They are said to grow from trees and vines in tropical areas. They fall into rivers and streams and find their way to the ocean.
>Considered a fruit because it contains seeds but I guess because of their appearance were initially thought to be a bean.
>Are incredibly buoyant because they contain seeds with air pockets. It has been tested, by a man named John Dennis, some of theses beans can float for 32 years.
>They can be found on coastal shores of the Atlantic especially during and after hurricane season because of the exceptionally high tides.
> They are usually used for medicinal purposes and available commercially as a nutritional supplement.
> I have never worked with them before.