A Childhood Memory and Favorite

As a kid growing up, Saturdays were our (me and my sisters') day to hang out with our dad. We would do all sorts of things on Saturdays like go play golf, go to the movies, slot car racing and usually watch Mel Brooks' History Of the World Part One. We did not always do a cooked breakfast, but when we did it typically was Corn with Eggs and Tortilla. My dad was trying to get the corn to taste like the corn on a Chilean dish called Pastel De Choclo, which he came pretty close too, and he turned it into a breakfast. This is the dish that inspired me to start cooking as I would try to recreate it. While making this dish, I also realized my love and passion for cooking. It ultimately led me to culinary school, becoming a chef, and working in restaurants. Over the years I have tweaked this recipe to make it my own. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, as a matter of fact I will be making it for my breakfast today as soon as I finish sharing my recipe with you.

Yield: 1 serving
Canned corn    1 ea.
Butter               1 tbl spn
Garlic Minced  2 tbl spn... You can never have too much Garlic.
Dried Basil       2 tsp
Mrs. Dash Dries Chipotle flakes   2 tsp
Kosher salt       To Taste
Pepper              To Taste
Whole Shelled Eggs   2 ea.
6 inch Tortillas Corn Or Flour   2 ea. (For my Photo I used whole wheat pita)
Avocado         1/4 ea.      

-In an 8 inch saute pan melt the butter and add the garlic to lightly brown over Medium high heat.
-Add Corn to pan and toss. Allow to cook for 2 minutes.
-Add Dried Basil, almost all of dried Chipotle Flakes Salt and Pepper toss and allow to cook additional 2 minutes.
- Push all corn in slightly toward center of the pan. Using a spoon or spatula make 2 holes about the size of a 1/2 dollar in the corn, if corn slightly falls back into the holes it okay.
- Crack open eggs and place in the holes you made in the corn sprinkle remaining Chipotle flakes on eggs.
- Place lid on saute pan and reduce heat to low. Allow to steam until eggs are almost fully cooked.
-Lift lid and place tortillas on top and replace lid. Cook for 45 seconds.
- Eggs should be filly cooked, yolk should be hard.
- For Plating remove eggs from pan. Mound corn in center of the plate. Place eggs on top of corn. Slice avocado and place on top of eggs.  Fold tortillas and place on edge of place.

Mix and Match Dinner

So a few days ago Cristina and I came home and decided to make dinner. Neither one of us wanted to go to the store so it was time to raid the fridge and see what we, and by we I mean what I could come up with. We had a butternut squash and Cristina has been wanting me to make butternut squash Gnocci. So that was one item... But what to do with it. I continued to look through the fridge where we had
kale, butter, cherry tomatoes, avocado, red bell peppers, shallots, minced garlic and 1 green onion. This is what I came up with...

Chilled Roasted Cherry Tomato stuffed with Mango and Avocado Salsa

Yield:1
Cherry Tomato                   1ea            Top cut off seeds removed
Blood Orange Olive oil      1 tsp
Shallots                               1 tsp        Minced
Avocado                             1 tsp         Minced
Mango                                1 tsp         Minced
Red Bell Peppers               1 tsp          Minced
Garlic                                 1 tsp         Minced
Lemon Juice                      1 tsp
Kosher Salt & Pepper         To Taste
Ginger White Balsamic Vinegar         2 tsp
Lime Olive Oil                                    1 1/2 tsp
Green Onion                    1/2 " sliver   2 ea.

Ok so here we go ..
Take the tomato ans drizzle with the Blood Orange olive oil. Bake at 300 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool at room temperature for 5 minutes and place in Fridge to cool.
Gently Mix remaining ingredients minus the green onions.
Using a spoon place salsa in the tomato.
Garnish with green onion slivers.              

Butternut Squash Gnocci in a Burnt Butter Tarragon Garlic Sauce topped with Toasted Butternut Squash Seeds and Crispy Kale.


Yield: 1 portion
Butternut Squash Whole          12 ounces
Blood Orange olive oil             2 Tbl
Egg                                           1 whole
Whole wheat Flour                   As needed
Nutmeg                                     2 tsp
Cinnamon                                 1 tsp
Kosher Salt                               1 1/2 tsp
Pepper                                       1 tsp

Sauce:
Butter Unsalted                        3 oz
Dried Tarragon                         1 tsp
Garlic Minced                          1 tsp
Salt and Pepper                        To Taste

Crispy Kale:
Olive oil Canola Oil mix          2 Tbl
Trimmed Kale                           3 pieces the size of a quarter
Kosher Salt                               To Taste

Peel and cut the butternut squash. Remove seeds. Clean the seed and toast them.
Drizzel Cut squash with Blood Orange olive oil. Roast at 350 degrees until tender. Time will depend on the thickness.
Mash squash with a fork and chill. Once chilled mix in one whole egg. ADD salt, pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon and mix. Slowly and gently fold in Wheat flour until it is firm enough to roll into a log 1/4" in diameter (use only 1/4 of mix for one plate). Be careful not to overwork or the Gnocci will be dense and not light and fluffy. Cut the rolled dough in 1/4" pieces. Cook in Boiling salted water.

To make the Sauce, Mel the butter over a low flame. Once putter is melted add Garlic and Tarragon. Cook Until the butter begins to brown. you will smell a popcorn aroma. Add salt and Pepper to taste. Immediately remove from heat and add Gnocci to sauce and toss.

Crispy Kale:
Place Cold Oil in Cold Saute pan
Place Kale in pan and turn on heat to medium high heat
Fry until crispy flipping occasionally.
Once crispy Remove from pan an place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
Lightly season with Kosher salt.

I hope you enjoy these two dishes as much as I did.
Bon Appetit

Something Different

So as many of you may know I have worked in corporate restaurants since I was 15. Every company I have ever worked for has had great food and I have the belly to prove it. However no matter how good the food or how extensive the menu, having the same things over and over again gets very boring. Many of us in the industry end up doing one of two things. Either we begin to trade out food with other restaurant managers, or like me we begin to "play" with the product we have available to us. Depending on where I have worked and how extensive their menu, I have had opportunities to be more or less creative. Today I had a recipe that I just could not get out of my head. I had to make it happen. So when it came time to make my meal for the day I brought my creation to life. It was amazing. It came out better than I could have ever imagined so I have to share it with you. So here it is, Spicy Ahi Spring Rolls!

Yield 2 Spring Rolls
Ingredients:

Spring roll wrappers 2 per roll
Easy egg (egg wash to seal roll)
Avocado (1/8 ea. sliced)

Mix The following ingredients:
2 tsp Furikake seasoning
4 oz sticky white rice

Mix the following ingredients together in a mixing bowl:
4 oz Sashimi grade Ahi Tuna (cut in 1/4 inch cubes)
1 Tbsp green onions (sliced)
1 Tbsp diced sweet white onions
1 oz ponzu
1 tsp sesame seeds (toasted)
1 Tbsp mayo
2 Tbsp Siracha
3 oz shredded Napa Cabbage

Directions:
-Lay out 2 wrappers. One directly on top of the other.
-Spread 2 oz of rice mix just lower than centered. Spread to 1/8 of an inch square rectangle length wise. Be sure to leave room at edged and top to be able to roll.
-Place avocado slice on top of rice.
- Place 1/2 of Tuna Mixture on top of rice and avocado. Match size and shape to rice.
-Roll bottom corner up an over. Push down lightly to form. Apply egg wash to side corners and fold over. Coat remaining top corner portion with egg wash. continue rolling making sure it is tight. Be sure that the Flaps that fold over have egg wash where they touch to ensure a good seal.
-Fry in 365 degree oil for 3 minutes.
-Let cool slightly and than slice.
Note: Tuna should still be raw in center.

Southern Style BBQ

What are the different types of BBQ you find in the U.S.A? In all reality there are many types of BBQ in the U.S.A. most of which involve dry rubbing the meat and slow smoking using some type of wood or another.  The most commonly used woods are cherry, mesquite and hickory.  There are also different schools of thought on how to smoke meat. Some people swear by open wood pits while others prefer closed smokers. No matter what your preference, real BBQ is smoked. Everything else is just grilled. 

It is possible that I was spoiled by running a kitchen of a southern style BBQ restaurant for almost 3 and a half years, but almost every restaurant I have been to that boasts great southern style is horrible. Most places either don’t smoke the meat long enough, too high a temperature or they smoke it for way to long.  When it is under smoked, the meat is tough and chewy. When you cook the meat at too high a temperature the same thing happens. When you smoke meats too long, the meat may fall off the bone, but the meat dries out and no amount of sauce can save it. It is really a delicate process that takes time as well as trial and error to perfect. This blog was inspired by a recent experience at a high end casual restaurant that boasted good BBQ and turned out to be a real disappointment.

With how many years I have worked in the industry, I understand that all of us in the industry have our moments where we are less than perfect.  No matter how good you are in the kitchen, bad dishes do occasionally go out to the guest. It is for this reason that I believe in second chances.  Look for a review of Bone Yard Bistro in the near future.

The "China Box"

On a trip to Costa Rica with my wife and her family I was exposed to what they call a “China Box.” It was one of the most interesting concepts I had ever seen and produced one of the best tasting and juiciest whole roasted pigs I have ever tasted.

The ”China Box” is made up of a oak box with a steel top. Wood that has been lit on fire and allowed to amber is than placed on top of the steel cover. This created a slow roasting mechanism. The pig is butterflied and placed in a steel mesh holder which is lowered into the box. The box has a small drainage tube for all the fat that needs to render.  

The end result is a whole roasted pig. The skin is crispy and full of flavor. The meat on the inside is tender and juicy. Pork is eaten with tortillas and a variety of Costa Rican salads.

This was one of the cooler things I have seen. I just wanted to sare it with all of you!

Flavored Olive Oil

While going through culinary school I learned a lot about infused oils. An infused oil is basically an oil that has been altered to take on the flavor of another ingredient, usually a spice or herb. There are two ways to infuse an oil. There is the cold infused method and there is the warm infused method. To simplify it, both methods essentially involve steeping the spice in the selected type of oil.

What I know about flavored oils, or at least what I thought I knew, all changed last summer on a trip to Sonoma, California. My wife Cristina and I were there on our vacation with the intention of going wine tasting. That was until we walked into Jacuzzi Family Vineyard. It was the first time I had ever been exposed to an olive oil tasting room. While The Olive Press is a separate company it is located inside the winery and they are set up similar to a wine tasting room.

We walked around and tasted oils that were very similar to those I experienced in culinary school. Then I tried citrus olive oils. I tried Blood Orange olive oil, Lime olive oil, Clementine olive oil, and Limonato (Meyer Lemon) olive oil. The only olive oil I did not try was the Jalapeno olive oil, simply because I have never been a huge fan of Jalapenos.

Immediately after tasting these oils, my mind began to race and recipes just started forming like rapid fire using these oils I had just experienced. I had to buy some. So I then made my big "MISTAKE," I asked the associate about the citrus infused olive oil. I then received a very informative lesson on how they make they make their citrus oils. They actually press not infuse the citrus rind with the olives. This gives the olive oils a rich and robust citrus flavor followed by a familiar earthy olive oil flavor.             

The Olive Press also carries a variety of flavored balsamic vinegars, which can be paired quite well with any of their oils. A personal favorite of mine, for dipping bread in, is the blood orange olive oil and black currant balsamic.  It also makes a great combination for cooking. Look for recipes using these oils in next months newsletter.

If you are interested in flavored olive oils and are from the Greater Los Angeles area and don't want to drive to Sonoma for an olive oil tasting, there is a company in Agoura Hills, California named The Olive Vineyard that makes and sells flavored olive oils.  I even have some of their products in my kitchen as well.  I recommend that everyone do an olive oil tasting, whether it is at The Olive Press in Sonoma or The Olive Oil Vineyard in Agoura Hills. An olive oil tasting is something that every foodie should experience.

For More information, visit the sites below.
The Olive Press
www.theolivepress.com
The Olive Vineyard
www.theolivevineyard.com

THE ELUSIVE FOODGASM!!!!!!

I did not learn what a “foodgasm” was until I went to culinary school. After which I was sure that that I had experienced several throughout my life but that I simply did not know it. The first “foodgasm” that I remember having was when I was in culinary school. It came from what I believe to be a very unlikely source. I have never been a fan of Bloody Marys, but when one of my chef instructors made a Bloody Mary Consume, I was overcome by my first “foodgasm.”

 A "foodgasm" is a very intense sensation one gets when they eat something so amazing that they experience ecstasy. Most people have actually had a "foodgasm" and simply failed to comprehend the experience. It begins when the food hits the table. You are overcome by the complexity of the aromas that surround you and your mouth begins to water. While the appearance of the food adds to the overall experience, it does not influence it. As you take your first bite, your taste buds explode. The hair on the back of your neck stands up. You begin to breath a little harder. Every time you chew the flavor become more intense. Before you know it you have a feeling of complete satisfaction. The sensation is so intense that you actually feel mental, emotional and even physical satisfaction.

That is what a "foodgasm" is!