Gluten Free Ancho-Pecan Fudge Brownies...

(Discliamer: I have always wanted to maintain this site as an ad free website.  It is something I do out of love so I have no issues with the cost of maintenance.  My endorsement of any products is based solely on my own opinion.  Furthermore, I have never been compensated for using this or any product on my site, I plan to keep it that way.)

Some of the things I’ve heard spoken in my dining room, by seemingly normal people, have run the gamut from funny to downright offensive.  A few examples, I’m not making these up, ask any chef friends you have and they will have heard the same, if not similar, one liners.

“Can I get that burger without the bun and some extra fries instead?  I’m on Atkins”

“I’ll just have a coke.  You think the chef would mind heating up this Big Mac for me?”

“What kind of water do you use to make ice?”

“Can I get that bottle of wine half off?  I know how much it costs at the liquor store.”

“I’m allergic to shellfish so I’ll just have the scallops.”

And for the first time in the late 90′s I heard “Is there gluten in that?”

I had no idea why she cared, I really at that point had no idea period.  I asked for the server for more information.  “She says she is allergic to flour.”  was the response.  I’d heard of some odd allergies, shallots, garlic, onions, fish, shellfish, soy, nuts, but this was the first time I’d ever heard flour.  I prepared her dish sans flour and went about my life.  It wasn’t long before I had the same request.  Gluten allergy, no flour and no processed foods.  I did a little homework and found out that these individuals had Celiac disease.

Celiac disease was not life threatening as far as I could tell, but was capable of causing severe discomfort in those affected were they to consume products containing gluten.  Over time it became a more common request.  Today, menus have GF (Gluten-Free) sections, there are GF cookbooks and GF blogs, one of the better ones being elanaspantry.com.  It has become a business within a business with an ever growing following, mainly because testing for gluten sensitivity has become increasingly easier.  Even so, only 1 in 10 afflicted with Celiac disease is aware of it.

For chefs, GF cooking is relatively simple.  Avoid flours and processed foods to compose your dishes.  This is a much more difficult proposition for pastry chefs and bakers who live and die by the scale.  As a chef, all I had to offer Celiacs was fresh fruit for desserts.  I wanted to find something else.  I purchased specialty flours and began working on something suitable for Celiacs to be able to have for dessert.  I spent a week failing miserably.  I bought pre-made mixes that, while attractive, tasted like beach sand.  I gave up, I wasn’t a pastry chef so I was comfortable that I could do my part for Celiacs.  I’ve done that for the last 8 years, went out of my way for the occasionally afflicted guests, it’s the least I could do while munching on Ciabbatta, pasta and chocolate chip cookie dough.

Earlier this year I met a man, Jared, who was making and selling his own GF dry mixes.  I remember those mixes from the late 90′s and how horrid they were.  I was skeptical but he seemed like a genuine enough guy so I had to try for myself.  All I can say is, GF has come a long way.  I made golden raspberry pancakes and these ancho-pecan brownies.

To be honest, the taste wasn’t the same, but it wasn’t that far off either.  The original mixes I had tried were bitter, dry and had an odor of leather.  Jared’s brownies were moist, chocolatey and far better than I would have imagined.  If I had eaten them without knowing what they were, I may not have even noticed they were gluten free.  I added 3 tsp. of ancho chile powder and a 1/2 cup of pecans to the recipe but followed the instructions otherwise.

The name of Jared’s company is Lillabee.  You can find some info on his site for obtaining his mixes if you’re a local of Colorado, if not, maybe he’ll mail it to you.

Chunky Guacamole and Trying to Get Home...

a beautiful avocado

Having been involved in food professionally for the last 25 years, it has always been an excuse to eat out as often as possible, to try new things in new places. But sometimes, and all of us feel this way, we want to go back to something familiar. Thus the massive resurgence of so-called ‘comfort’ foods. Gussied up versions of the type of food mom served or that you could get at the local diner, that trend has now morphed into streetfood, simple foods done well.

In 2001, just after the 9/11 tragedy, I found myself stuck in Germany with no chance of getting stateside any time soon. It was an odd feeling being American and working in a European Hotel where the news of 9/11 was a brief mention in passing conversation. I was angered at what was happening as I sat and watched CNN, with no sound in the staff dining room, I wanted, needed people to be angry with me.

The hotel was in St. Moritz, Switzerland, beautiful and perfect in every way, from the narrow cobblestone streets, to the shops and markets to the town square with a large copper plaque in the shape of the US, and a star in the center denoting Vail, CO as its sister city. Whenever I felt a little homesick, I would take a walk to the square, pick up a USA Today and head over to see the plaque. After 9/11, the plaque no longer gave me comfort. It was as if things were changing back home, which they were, without me and I felt even more disconnected.

Once my contract for the summer season was up, I decided to head home. But getting home was going to be no easy task, airports were closed and travel was grounded. A German girl, Stephanie, I worked with offered me a place to stay with her family until I could arrange a flight (I would end up marrying that girl, in case you were wondering). It took about a month to be able to secure a flight back, in the meantime, I was glued to CNN, I wanted to be home more and more every day. Stephanie mentioned that she had worked at a Mexican restaurant as a hostess and wanted to know if I was interested. Needing something familiar I was game, besides, all the restaurants we had been to featuring other ethnic cuisines had been fabulous, and Mexican food seemed the easiest of all, how wrong I was.

The only saving grace for that trip to ‘Chili’s’ was the Dos Equis, the food was barely edible, but Stephanie, having believed this was Mexican food, enjoyed it. When Stephanie came stateside in 2002, she tried and fell in love with guacamole. She would buy the bland pureed versions at the grocer and go to town. I forget how it happened, but one day I made guacamole at home. Fresh, chunky, spicy and bright, I think we were having friends over for drinks and apps. She still hasn’t forgiven me for allowing her to eat that premade crap at the grocer for so long.Here is that guacamole recipe…

Guacamole
3 Avocadoes
1 Tbs. garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, seeds removed and miced
½ cup onion, minced
½ cup cilantro, chiffonade
Juice of 2 limes, 3 if you like it more tart
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper

Method:

1. Starting at the top, run your knife around the entire circumference of the avocado.
2. Twist the two halves in opposite directions to separate.
3. Remove the seed with a knife (if your confident) or a spoon (if your not).
4. Holding the avocado in your hand, gently run your knife through the flesh of the avocado 3-4 times vertically and then horizontally, gentle enough not to go through the skin, yours or the avocadoes.
5. Scoop the avocado into a bowl.
6. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well with a fork, allowing the avocado to to break up in the bowl.
7. You can serve immediately but the guacamole get better after a few hours.

You can substitute the cayenne for any type of chili powder you like, sometimes I’ll use chipotle powder instead.

Gazpacho with Spiced Shrimp, Lemon Crema...

A simple Gazpacho

This is a post I’ve been looking forward to writing for a while now. Not so much for the recipe, but for the chance to apply some, if not all, of what I learned at the Food and Light Workshop held here in Colorado to my images. It was organized by Jen at userealbutter.com and included three of food blogging’s heavy hitters, Todd and Diane of WhiteOnRiceCouple.com and Helene from MyTartelette.com.

The workshop was attended by both professionals and newbies and seemingly every skill level inbetween. It was held at the Rembrandt Yard in Boulder in a space that looked liked it had been designed solely for shooting food. There were giant windows casting fantastic light on 3 sides of the room.

Topics covered everything from getting your camera off the AUTO setting to direction of light and types of light. The 2 days was highlighted by styling demos from both Helen and Diane. Apart from learning more about shooting with off-camera strobes, this was the main reason I was here. While I feel my photos are technically strong, I don’t feel they convey any type of style or forethought and that’s what I want to change. The photos on both their sites, and like  Jen’s site, seem like they were created effortlessly.

Normally when I take out my camera to shoot for my site, I put no other thought into the photos other than “Do I have a correct exposure for the light available?” and”Do I have the proper portion of my subject in focus?” What I learned was to think about what type of light I had, which direction was the light coming from, what mood I wanted to convey with my photo and the layers I needed to present my dish. These were all the things that I put into the photos of this Gazpacho. They are not perfect, but they represent a step forward for me, and for that I thank Jen, Todd, Diane and Helene.

Gazpacho with Spiced Shrimp, Lemon Crema (8 servings)

2 English cucumbers, peeled and rough chopped
8 ripe tomatoes, rough chopped
1 red onion, rough chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and rough chopped
2 Tbs. garlic, minced
2 cups Tabasco bloody mary mix
2 oz Sherry Vinegar
4 oz extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. parsley, chopped
1 Tbs. oregano, chopped
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree till smooth.
2. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Spiced Shrimp

1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 Tbs. pickling spice
1 Tbs. cayenne pepper
1 Tbs. fresh ground black pepper

1. Bring 2 qts of water to a boil.
2. Add the pickling spice, cayenne pepper and black pepper.
3. Bring the water back to a boil.
4. Add the shrimp to the boiling water and turn off the heat completely
5. Allow the shrimp to remain in the water for 10 minutes.
6. Remove from water and chill.

Lemon Crema

2 oz. sour cream
Juice of half a lemon

1. Combine the sour cream and lemon juice.
2. Mix well and reserve for service.

One quick note about poaching shrimp…In the last fifteen years I have seen cook after cook boil shrimp until they were done, or overdone as was mostly the case. There is a fine art to cooking a shrimp so that when your teeth sink into it, you can hear and feel that ‘pop’ of a perfectly cooked prawn. As a rule of thumb, I use 1 gallon of cooking liquid per 2 lbs. of shrimp. Bring the liquid to a boil, add your shrimp and then turn the heat off… yes, off. Allow the shrimp to cook slowly in the liquid as it cools, check for doneness at about 5 minutes. Remove the shrimp to an ice bath to halt the cooking process immediately. This is pretty much a no fail method, get in the habit and get used to perfectly cooked shrimp.

It’s a Food(ie) thing…...

What is a foodie really?  Is it someone who loves food?  It has to be more than that, I’m quite sure that non-food lovers are in the minority, I mean, everybody loves SOME type of food, I’d bet on it.  Is it someone who works with food professionally?  I suppose it could be, but then aren’t you getting paid, decent incentive to be a foodie.  I’ve known several people who work with food professionally who take no interest or pleasure in working with actual food.  Maybe it’s a person, who may or may not work with food professionally,   who chooses to work/cook/photograph/ponder/write about food and it’s preparation/origin on a non-compensatory basis, they just do it because they love to.  I’m good with that, how about you?

Now that we have established what a ‘foodie’ is, what should we call them/ourselves.  How should we identify them/us as ‘foodies’ without actually using the word foodie, because apparently ‘foodie’ isn’t good enough or proper?  I can understand that, it has a juvenile and unprofessional ring to it.  Many ‘foodies’ started out as such and have been able to turn being a ‘foodie’ into a business.  So perhaps something more fitting is necessary.

It does seem odd though to have to devise a word or term for a group of people who love food, specifically because I can’t come up with any monikers for people devoted to other interests.  Music lovers are ‘musicers’, photography buffs aren’t ‘pictophiles’.  Are you saying there are people who consider themselves ‘clownies’?  With that in mind, is ‘foodie’ really that bad?  Sure, it sounds somewhat childish, but it is still able to convey an idea of who you are and what you love.    I feel like trying to define what we call ourselves is blurring the focus of what drives us, the food, recipes, photos and stories associated with all.  For all I care, you can call me a ‘sumnabitch’, just as long as I get to spend my days being passionate about food.

I’m a chef, I have been for 25 years, I’m also a ‘foodie’ and I’m not ashamed to say it.

Vietnamese Beef Pho...

Vietnamese Beef Pho

No matter the situation, if you look hard enough you’re bound to find a silver lining. Something that makes all the hell you’re going through worth it, or just something you want to take with you. I’ve posted several times about my experience with corporate cooking, how it wasn’t a good fit and how I felt completely and utterly stifled. Yet, I was able to find a food to fall in love with, Pho.

Pho is a beef and noodle soup that started in the north of Vietnam and made its way south until it became a country staple and is traditionally it is eaten as a breakfast food. Variations are numerous and you can add a myriad of ingredients that I haven’t used in this recipe. Other Pho might use, shrimp, chicken, peppers, offal or meatballs.

At the casino, there was a large contingent of Asian gamblers. This was one of the reasons that corporate decided to move the corporate Asian chef to Colorado. Specific dishes were added to the menu to appeal to these gamblers, Pho being one. For all the grief I give corporate America when it comes to food, once in a while, and I hate to admit it, they get something right.

The Pho was rich with a homemade veal stock, simmered for 24 hours, scented with ginger and spices. I could smell the stock cooking next to my kitchen; I couldn’t wait for the next fresh batch. It was prepared on the buffet a la minute. I would trade the little Asian cook great slabs of medium rare prime rib for a bowl of pho, brimming with tender beef, rice noodles and bean sprouts. I had a bowl on my last shift. Then I set to making my own at home. This is what I came up with this morning; I’ll be making it again…

Vietnamese Beef Pho
8 cups veal stock (you can substitute sodium free beef broth)
1 shallot, rough chopped
1 medium yellow onion
1 piece of ginger, approximately 3 oz.
3 green onions, rough chopped
1 lime
4 star anise
1 tsp whole peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seed
1 cinnamon stick, approximately 2 inches (you can substitute ¼ tsp ground)
3 Tbs. fish sauce
1 oz soy sauce

Method:
1. With a pan or the back of a knife, smash the unpeeled ginger to soften it up.
2. On a grill or in a cast iron pan, preferably in a grill to avoid the smoke in a kitchen, char half the onion (reserve the 2nd half for service) and the 3 oz. of ginger till it blackens on the outside lightly.
3. Place those onions and ginger in a large heavy bottom sauce pot.
4. Half the lime and squeeze one half into the pot, place the used lime in the pot as well.
5. Add the veal stock, shallots, half the green onions, star anise, peppercorns, coriander seed, cinnamon, fish sauce and soy sauce.
6. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour.
7. Strain into a 2nd pot and reserve.

Assemble the Pho

1 lb beef top round, trimmed and shaved thin
1 lb rice noodles
2 Tbs. basil, chiffonade
¼ cup cilantro leaves
½ yellow onion, sliced thin (use the 2nd half from the recipe above)
3 scallions, sliced thin
2 oz crimini mushrooms, sliced
Sriracha (optional)

1. Soak the noodles in room temperature water until pliable.
2. Return the broth to the heat and bring to a hard boil.
3. In 4 bowls, divide the meat, noodles, basil, cilantro, onion, scallions and mushrooms.
4. Pour the broth into the four bowls and allow to sit for 2 minutes, garnish with a tsp. of sriracha and serve.

Moving On and Heirloom Tomatoes...

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘one step up, two steps back’, but as simple as that statement is, it’s no truer than ‘one step back, two steps up’. I find myself thinking about the latter phrase in light of a new position I have taken at a restaurant outside of the corporate world. I’m leaving the giant of the casino world, at least here in Colorado, for the greener pastures of an independent, forward thinking, chef driven restaurant in the hustle and bustle of downtown Denver. It’s good to be home.

It’s not the Executive Chef position I have been accustomed to over the last 12 years, but it is a step up from where I was in the corporate world, a world I had reached my ceiling in due to my lack of experience in the corporate world, it’s a horrible catch-22. In making the switch, my focus moves from “Can we get them out of the restaurant faster so they spend more time gambling.” to “Can we keep them in the restaurant for another course because the food is why they are here?” Personally, this move gives me peace, food is once again the priority. Sure, there are bottom lines, expenses and the entire business side that are basis of every venture, but when the product you serve makes you proud, makes your staff proud and your clients happy, and you do it in a responsible fashion, the business results are much easier to attain.

It’s time to get excited again, and I am very excited. I feel like a kid again, just like I did when I got my hands on my first case of heirloom tomatoes in the early 90’s. At that time, heirloom tomatoes were the gold standard of fine dining, independent restaurants and the start of what I believe to be the food boom in this country that has brought us to today, where such an emphasis is placed on local, organic, sustainable product. Words that now are the vernacular of virtually every chef and food blogger, 20 years ago were only spoken by a handful of chefs like Alice Waters and Jeremiah Tower.

Heirloom tomatoes opened the door to chefs to find out what else was out there that we hadn’t seen or used in 50 years. Are you asking what an heirloom tomato is? Heirloom tomatoes are several hundred varieties of tomatoes that, in essence, were commercially nonviable when the US began mass producing food for a growing population. Though they were superior in taste and texture, they had very short shelf life and were difficult and expensive to grow. Yields on heirloom tomato plants are low and they tend to be less uniform and free of blemishes than the hybrid tomatoes we find in the stores today. All this lead the farmers to limiting production and growing the hybrids which were more disease resistant, lasted longer on trucks for shipping and were more appealing visually.

Heirloom seedlings were passed down through generations of family gardeners who mainly grew them for their own families and friends. Over the course of several decades they made their way back to prominence in restaurants and homes alike when people, concerned with what they were eating and serving to their guests wanted something better. In addition, many other varieties of heirloom vegetables made a resurgence such as melons, carrots, beans and even potatoes.

Heirloom tomatoes are widely available now but none are better than those grown at home. There are several websites for buying seeds and close to 700 varieties of tomatoes, each one suited to a particular dish or taste. Do your home work and enjoy.

A simple dish I’ve done every summer for the last 8 years pairs fresh Alaskan Halibut with heirloom tomatoes, arugula, ricotta salata and basil vinaigrette. The recipe is easy and extremely elegant.
Serves four

Ingredients:

Four 6 oz pieces halibut loin, skin off
2 oz red onion, julienned
12 oz heirloom tomato wedges, use your favorite, I like the ‘slicer’ varieties for this dish, large, juicy tomatoes
4 oz. ricotta salata
2 cups arugula, packed
A pinch of sea salt and a couple of turns of cracked black pepper.

For the vinaigrette:
1 oz garlic cloves, minced
1 oz. shallots
1 ½ oz basil leaves
½ cup red wine vinegar
2 cups olive oil

Method:

For the vinaigrette:

1. Combine the garlic, shallots, basil and vinegar in a blender.
2. Puree on medium speed while slowing adding the olive oil in a steady stream.
3. Remove to a container and set aside.

To assemble:

1. Cook the halibut to your liking. It can be pan seared, oven roasted or grilled.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the red onions, tomatoes, arugula and ricotta salata.
3. Season with the sea salt and black pepper.
4. Toss together with enough of the basil vinaigrette to moisten.
5. Divide the salad over 4 plates.
6. Top with the halibut and finish with a little more of the basil vinaigrette.

Greek Salad ‘Salsa’ Bruschetta...

Greek Salad 'Salsa' Bruschetta with Grilled Shrimp

One of the great perks to being a working chef with a little reputation is the ability to consult with and for other restaurants.  Usually this means taking on the role of the chef for a particular period of time or it could just be menu and recipe development, hiring a chef or any of a multitude of responsibilities where you’re experience is required.  Generally the requirements of a consulting chef are to aid in areas of financial concern or in systems development and analysis, meaning, does the kitchen/restaurant really function as efficiently as possible.

Celebrity chefs lend their names and staff as consultants to establishments with deep pockets to help generate buzz.  But the best and rarest of these jobs is on the creative side.

Recently, I was asked to provide menus, 22 in all, for a local Italian eatery that wanted to upgrade and contemporize (if that’s not a word, it is now) the food.  They have been a red sauce and pasta house for years in north Denver.  Over the last 5-6 years, that area has exploded with several chic, trendy and contemporary food spots.   My client, being what it was, an old school American-Italian restaurant was having a difficult time pulling in a new younger, hipper clientele, thus the need to lighten the fare, provide value and be in a better place to compete.

We change the menu every week.  I write it on Thursday, test it on Monday and go live on Tuesday.  It is the perfect side job as it allows me to be creative, work with food and go home to leave the execution during the week to the staff that I have trained.  That is where my responsibility ends.

The menus I have written for my client are simple.  They focus on quality ingredients handled as gently and minimally as possible.  The dishes themselves are light, refreshing, clean and simple to produce at home since that is what good Italian food is to me, uncomplicated and ingredient driven.

The following dish is just that.  Utilizing a combination of flavors found throughout Greece and Turkey, I’ve applied them to a simple bruschetta.

Bruschetta, pronounced broo-SKE-tah, is one of those dishes in Italy, that exists in variations around the country. The common thread is the bread is rubbed with garlic and olive oil and grilled.   It can be prepared with vegetables, legumes and cured meats and cheeses.

This recipe should make about 4 servings, depending upon you and your guests appetite.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup small diced Roma tomato
• 1 cup small diced Spanish onion
• 1/2 cup minced kalamata olives
• 1 cup diced cucumber, peeled and deseeded
• 1 cup Greek feta Cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup olive oil, pure or extra virgin
• 1 oz vinegar, sherry or red wine
• 1/4 cup parsley, rough chopped
• fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
• 1 baguette, French or Italian
• olive oil
• minced garlic

Method:

1. Slice the baguettes on a bias about half an inch thick.
2. Rub one side generously with olive oil and minced garlic.
3. Grill the bread being careful not to let it burn, should be very quick.
4. Combine the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl.
5. Lay the grilled bread on a plate and top with the ‘salsa’.

For the restaurant I topped three pieces of the grilled bread with 3 grilled shrimp marinated in olive oil, lemon and red chile flakes to add a greater perceived value.  This step is optional but the shrimp go well with the dish, adding texture, temperature and a little briny spice.

Roast Corn & Goat Cheese Tamales...

Now that I am a father, soon to be a father again, I am beginning to realize how traditions play a major role in developing an identity, not only for a family, but for children as well. Growing up, we celebrated the American holidays although both my parents were European and had come to the US as adults in 1970. They could very easily have bypassed these holidays since they had no ties with Thanksgiving or July 4th. But living in the US they felt that it was important for my sister and I to develop attachments to these days, to view them as time with the family.

As I got older and began to work in kitchens, I spent less and less time doing family things at the holidays. I would try and stop by the house where the celebrating was going on, but I would be wired from working and they would all be in a tryptophan induced coma. After a while, I stopped going altogether, as I began to climb the culinary ladder and my responsibility grew, there was less and less time for holidays. Holidays themselves began to symbolize ‘more work’ so that everybody else could celebrate. Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Eve, these were the days I knew I was putting in 16-18 hours in the kitchen and for the last 24 or so years, I was fine with that. It was what was expected and I wasn’t the only one.

This past Thanksgiving I worked. My wife and daughter had plans to spend the day with friends but came down ill and opted to stay home. Some friends came by to drop off turkey and trimmings but it’s never the same. Overall, my wife was disappointed. I find that curious as she is German. Born and raised, English is her second language. She came to the US in 2001 and immediately was attracted to the social aspect of Thanksgiving. We have no family close to us so we generally celebrate with friends. She is so much more a family person than I ever was. She talks to her parents daily, spends months a year in Germany visiting and is close to her sister, cousins and parents. I, on the other hand, have never been family oriented. I’m fine on my own. I once spent Christmas day by myself, watching movies and eating Chinese delivery without ever speaking to anybody but the Chinese lady who took my food order. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, but my mother has passed and I speak to my dad every month or so, we email mostly. I speak to both my sisters once a year, never on the holidays, just at random times. And while this was OK for me, it isn’t for my children.

I want them to have their own traditions, things handed down from our family to theirs. I understand now why my wife makes a big deal about Thanksgiving, although if you asked her, she probably wouldn’t have a clue how or why it originated, then again, the same could be said for a fair amount of Americans. I want my children to be able to identify the holidays with friends, family and laughter as they get older, not ‘more work’.

This I plan on being the first of a couple of New Year resolutions.

Being in Colorado and the cusp of the Southwest, tamales are an amazingly popular part of the holidays, both at Thanksgiving and Christmas thanks to the large Latin population also adopting the holidays of their new home. Traditionally they are filled with beef or pork and in the Southwest, smothered in ‘Christmas’ chile, both a red and green variety. I use them on my menus throughout the year as an appetizer or starch for something appropriate. They really do convey a homey, rustic atmosphere when incorporated into something a little more high-end. Tamales are comfort food to people in this part of the country, simple to make although I prefer give them a little twist with new and different ingredients.

Roast Corn-Goat Cheese Tamales (makes 8 tamales)

Ingredients:

8 Corn Husks
2 cups maseca corn flour
2 cups water or chicken stock
½ cup grilled corn
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
½ cup butter or shortening, room temperature
½ tsp coriander, ground
1 tsp. chile powder

4 oz. goat cheese
½ cup grilled corn
1 Tbsp. fresh basil, chiffonade
Juice of half a lemon

Method:

1. Submerge the corn husks in hot water and allow soaking for 20 minutes.
2. Grill one ear of corn, when cool, remove the corn from the cob with a sharp knife. This should give you about 1 cup of corn which you can split between the goat cheese and tamale dough.
3. Combine the goat cheese, basil, grilled corn and lemon juice. Mix well and set in the refrigerator.
4. Mix the corn flour, baking powder, grilled corn, salt, coriander and chile powder together in a large bowl.
5. Add the chicken stock/water into the corn flour and mix well. Allow to sit for 20 minutes.
6. Add the butter/shortening and mix well. Your tamale dough should resemble soft cookie dough.
7. Measure out 3 oz. of dough per tamale.
8. To assemble your tamales, watch the following video…

Are you really qualified to review my restaurant?...

While I was deciding what to do with my stale website, I really had no interest in blogging or bloggers. I didn’t really know what it was. Then the more I got into photography, the more time I spent on the internet reading the blogs of photographers. They posted pictures, gave tips and let you into their world and asked, no, pleaded for your feedback. It was eye opening to say the least; the skill of a photographer takes years to hone, to learn about proper lighting, framing your image, accounting for movement and the marriage of aperture, ISO and shutter speed (I hope I’m not oversimplifying). And that’s just to take the picture, now to put it through digital post-processing? You almost need a degree to master the software used to finalize these images.

I began to draw comparisons between photography and professional cooking. Both are forms of art, not anyone can do it well, and both professional photographers and chefs can produce amazing results with the most minimal of tools. How? Just one word, experience.

Seeing that my foray into the photographic blogosphere went so well, I felt like there was much to gain and much I had to offer to the food bloggers of the world. And while there are many great bloggers and writers out there, there is an ever-growing segment that is out to ruin the restaurant industry, one vicious blog at a time.

The internet, being what it is, free and for everyone, has become the perfect place for these so-called ‘foodies’ to set up their soap boxes and be judge, jury and wannabe executioner for a litany of restaurants struggling to survive a rough economy. Every chef and owner will tell you, after time they don’t remember the good reviews, but the bad ones always stick with you. It’s the same with guests of these restaurants, ‘a good word travels a mile, a bad word travels 10’. To understand what I mean, stand in line at the grocery store and in a clearly audible voice say the word ‘butter’. Did anybody notice? Maybe the guy in front of you. Now, in that same voice, drop an f-bomb out of the blue and see how many eyes turn your way. That would take some cajones, wouldn’t it? Would it be easier if you were anonymous? $5 will get you $10 that the story will be repeated once or twice throughout the rest of the day.

These bloggers, shrouded in their anonymity, are tinkering with people’s livelihoods. People that earn paychecks, pay bills, support families and try to get on with everyone else. It’s bad enough we are subject to the scrutiny of trained reviewers, but to be reviewed by a recent college students who just graduated from grilled cheese and fritos to Torchon of Foie Gras is going somewhat overboard. Maybe that’s where my biggest beef lies. I’ve spent 23 years honing my craft of cooking, I’ve done it in the States and in Europe, and to have some 22 year old blogger tell the world via the internet my lobster bisque is a bit bland? Now that’s just ridiculous. Perhaps you just don’t like my bisque, perhaps the nuances of lobster and tarragon are a little too subtle for your palate, and maybe you just don’t like soup. I’m fine with all that, but to declare in your blog that my soup is now somehow unfit for the rest of the world? That makes my head spin. Here’s an idea, let me come down to where you work, hang out in your cubicle with you for a few hours and write down everything I think you do wrong, see I don’t really know because I don’t work in a cubicle, but I can probably figure it out what you’re doing wrong, right? (Disclaimer…no one has ever blogged about my lobster bisque that I know of, I am only trying to make a point.)

Let me be clear, if you don’t like the dish I made, I understand. That is your right and I know I can’t please every single person who walks through the front door, no matter how hard I try; it’s a fact I have to live with. But for any random blogger to take his personal opinion and try and make it the opinion of all my future guests, you might as well be saying, “I’m going to try and close your restaurant down.”

The question is, can anything be done about the inexperienced, untrained palates that walk to any restaurant thinking that because they are dropping their own hard earned money, they have the right to criticize on a global level? Possibly. Two woman, Brooke Burton (http://foodwoolf.com/) and Leah Greenstein (http://www.spicysaltysweet.com/) have created a Food Blog Code of Ethics based in part on The Association of Food Journalists Food Critics Guidelines. They outline several of the key points most bloggers miss while writing their reviews. Personally, I would include a section regarding the experience or lack of experience of the reviewer be described in their ‘About’ section on the blog. Please describe your culinary expertise, training, background or the fact that this is your first time in a restaurant with napkins that don’t get thrown away, so I know where the curve starts. Also, remove the ratings from these websites. In this fast serve society, many people won’t bother reading the actual review; they will go straight to the ratings, not fair to either the blogger, who took the time to write the article, or establishment, who is suffering because of it. And yes, the dreaded ‘badge’ displayed proudly on the site stating that each blogger is mindful of the responsibility they hold and their duty to be fair without being vindictive.

So YOU wanna be a Chef?...

You’ve watched the Food Network since you were knee-high to a Wagyu calf. You helped your (mom, grandmother, older sister, best friends uncles mistress) in the kitchen and like a sponge you soaked it all in. You’ve thrown dinner parties that were such a success (they still talk about your Thanksgiving turkey) that people have wondered why you don’t do it professionally. Now, you’re bored with your career and looking to do “what you really love”. Or your fresh out of high school and couldn’t swing a tour at one of the colleges you applied to, let alone get accepted. You’ve done your homework, picked out a culinary school or gotten in at a local eatery in your neighborhood making salads. You’re up for starting at the bottom, the long hours, mediocre pay and non-existent benefits package? GREAT! But before they give you the pretty white jacket with your name on it above the cool logo, there are a lot of rungs on that ladder of success.

Over the course of the last 12 years, I’ve had students of every age and background. From snot nosed kids out of high school to 50 year old IT dotcom busters having to start again. What I have noticed from all these students, regardless of age, intelligence or social standing, is that they all have the same misconceptions and they all make the same mistakes their first time in a kitchen. Now granted, I don’t expect you as a student to come into my kitchen and know the ropes; chefs understand the learning curve although some are more patient about it than others.

Working in a kitchen is dangerous. The whole point of a kitchen is to induce a controlled damage upon flesh, whether it is cow, chicken, pig or fish. Knives and sauté pans and char broilers do not distinguish between human flesh and animal, they will burn and cut you as they were intended, as if you were on tonight’s menu.

That being said, I’ve compiled a list of things every FNG should know before walking into a kitchen, whether it is off the street or straight from some prestigious culinary institution. A few of these are to keep you out of harm’s way and a few are to keep you out of the Chefs way, who generally will not bother to remember your name until you’ve lasted about a month in his kitchen. If you find these helpful, please pass them along, any that I may have overlooked, feel free to add in the comments section.

First, one of two phrases will be put on my tombstone. Either “Watch your back!” or “Behind You”. These 2 phrases will eliminate 80% of all possible catastrophes in the kitchen. Cooks work on a hot line designed to allow them to take as few steps as possible. Therefore, cooks spin all night long from mis en place to cooking unit with knives, hot pans, food and all other manner of things, they are not expecting you to be standing there. If you walk behind someone, let them know, loudly.

Never start a sentence with “At my last job…” unless your last job was at Alinea or some other bastion of culinary extravagance. Chefs are trying to differentiate themselves, trying to set themselves apart. If the chef wants your opinion, he’ll ask for it, just make sure you give him YOU’RE opinion.

Graduating from culinary school does not make you a chef, sous chef, or chef de cuisine, nor does it grant you any type of favor in the kitchen. It just gives you a broader knowledge with which to start with. The transition from culinary school to a working restaurant is difficult; you need to gut it out.

Come to work prepared. Don’t ask if you should bring in your own knives, that is like a tennis player asking if he needs to bring his own racquet to Wimbledon. Have on the right shoes, clean, unripped pants, preferably black and a hat if required.

And lastly, have fun, act like you want to be there and learn. As chefs, we are natural teachers. It is a very specialized industry and the only way for us to further that is to pass on what we have learned to a new generation of cooks. Take notes; ask questions, oohhh and aahhh when appropriate, stroking a little ego goes a long way some times.

You’re in for a long ride, for some longer than others. But you will have that night where your creation was featured, it sold like gangbusters, the chef slaps you on the back and buys you a beer, and for one of THOSE nights, you’ll realize the whole thing was worth it.