Friday, October 30, 2009

Your telling me its in the skies well use your eyes.. .....

Go Green....

We hear it everyday from Auto Industry, Diaper Companies and the President. But really, can everyone really go green...totally green?

Well, probably not. Not unless you want to give up some things that frankly, I  for one don't want nor think I should as the impact on the earth and my carbon foot is relatively small.

But what i do think as a whole world we can do is to feed ourselves with local farmers. Every nuck and cranie has farms. There are dairy, fruit,vegetable,grain ,pig etc farmers everywhere. With in 50 miles of where you live there are probably 10 farms.

Sustainability is a key to our own survival. We have far to long raped the earth of its resources and now  have to sort of back track in our thinking about food sources in the long term way.

There is no reason to go all crazy and go vegan ...that's just nutters. We have the teeth we have for a reason. But that being said there is no reason to go all crazy in the other extreme and eat tons of beef. Like anything moderation is a key here ...think of it as a life cycle diet. You're born you live and you die....in between that time we eat and grow..in more than one way too.


But all the planning is fine and dandy on paper...it is the execution that fucks it all up.

To many chiefs and not enough Indians make for a bloody mess and then everyone is left wondering.."WTF?"
OR " I didn't do it." One voice needs to lead and bring people together to form some sort of coalition with farmers and manufacturers in order to process food products or food for the consumer that are free of chemicals, low in fats and are sustainable to the earth.
One group can not control everything if we are to replenish ourselves for future generations...the WHOLE world has to be on board too.

It boggles the mind that as a WORLD...we are not speaking to each other more and with better communication skills about food and such. We all have to eat...Each Country has specific locations that have weather patterns and growing seasons...why do we not work with each other to ensure we are ALL eating properly...(when i say this I mean that we as a world are sharing our food wealth...we can not force someone to actually eat the food...though i love to .)

We are a wealth WORLD.....instead of being dicks to each other , why not just shut the fuck up and do the right thing/ No one nation is better than the other. There is no one perfect out there. But there are a lot of people with good ideas that need to be heard.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

What does not not kill you, only lets you marinate that much longer.....






My Pastry Chef made this for a friend of mine's boyfriend......it is a butter cake....Julia Child would be proud.




 

 

Show plates to impress a client.....we got the account.





 

 

part of the grain bar we do...





Lobster Bisque in Shot Glasses...I am nutters for using shot glasses ...everything is better in a shot glass




Making Spatzel



With a Squirt Bottle





Smokey Gazpacho with Creme Fraiche and Sourdough Cruton...mmmmm

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

More and More and More FOOOOOOD PORNNNNN!!!


Kosher Turkey with roasted peaches and cranberry glaze


Smoked Salmon Platters...mmmmmm

This actually looks and tastes amazing...though not so here...
Chicken Florentine with herb wild rice blend pilaf and butternut squash with wild flower honey and butter.



Paul being silly....as usual!



Bittersweet Chocolate Wafer Cake...i still have some in my fridge.



Seafood Cerviche in English Cucumber Cups





Lemon Meringue Tart Bits




Trio of desserts>Black Forest Terrine, Fresh Peach and Almond Tart and Fresh Berry Trifle


Turkish Salad Mix


Dinner Menu





It's still fall and it has snowed already.




close up of delish cake
 

More Food Songs...cause i have a memory that comes and goes.

Tart Tart
Judge Fudge>>>>>Happy Mondays
Jellybean


Candy> Morphine
Fried Chicken> Ice -T
I want a little sugar in my bowl> Nina Simone
Honey> Moby
Orange Crush> REM
White Chocolate Space Egg - Liz Phair
Cornflake Girl - Tori Amos
Constant Craving - k.d. lang
 

Monday, October 26, 2009

Pills, Thrills and many Bellyaches later.........



Step by step of me making Butternut Squash,Sage and Roasted Shallot Raviolis in Brown Butter

And the finished product...for a wedding


If you have the time...do them this way. So easy and soooooo yummy

Monday, October 12, 2009

I should have been a pastry chef like all little girls want to be

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/fbh/1402551779.html


job posting was brought to my attention by a friend.

why don't the Germans need a highly educated female chef to teach them how to cook american comfort food?
because they don't want to get chubby probably.....lol

Though I am not sure Europe is ready for a 1/2 breed of American traditional food done the way I like to do it( not with the traditional twist bullshit but better with multicultural influences and "styles"...whatever that Rachael Ray word means..) Hell I am still trying to figure out what  I mean by that.....

Sunday, October 11, 2009

They shoot horses don't they....

So Conde made the great descision to close the doors on one of the few food magazines that is ,while a bit pretenious, is a rather good read. There are really only a few food magazines:
Food and Wine
Bon Appetite
Saveur
Cooks

That are any good, though i dare say Bon is a housewives wet dream for cooking better, Food and Wine for people looking to seem they know what they are talking about when it comes to food, Saveur  and Cooks are the ones i do like because of the tone of magazines.

Gourmet is sort of like Vogue for cooks... a bit flashie, showie and some of the articles probably even make Jacques Pepin shake his head.

But to close it after all these years....shameful. Pick on some other crap magazine CONDE...you own enough of them...like ...Bon Appetite!!!! and Teen Vogue...lol


What will probably come of this is some "chef" will think they have brillant ideas that need to be heard by the masses and will try to start their own magazine....


.......huh, not a half bad idea;)

Sunday, October 4, 2009

I wonder what kind of sauce goes with a rainbow?

Had an Idea to gather all the songs i knew that had food or were food related in the title.
All I have is EAT IT....must think about this more.


ok, so here we go:
Eat for Two: 10,000 Maniacs
Sushi Bar : Shonen Knife
Mayonnaise: Smashing Pumpkins
Quiche Lorraine: B 52's
Hot Cakes: Carley Simon
Egg Man: Beastie Boys
The Egss of Satan: Tool
Spam: Monty Python
Pulling mussles from a shell" -Squeeze
Soup is Good Food- Dead Kennedys
Satan Gave me a Taco- Beck
Chicken- The Cramps
Pork Soda- Primus
 Chocolate Jesus- Tom Waits
Hot Sauce- Thomas Dolby
Pour Some Sugar on Me - Def Leppard
Peaches-Stranglers
Lemon" - U2
Strawberry Fields Forever - Beatles
"Raspberry Beret - Prince
Cinnamon Girl" - Neil Young
I want Candy- Bow Wow Wow
American Pie Don McLean
Brown Sugar The Rolling Stones


thats all i got right now as I am very tired and need to sleep some before work....

Rock and Roll may soothe the soul but Osso Bucco makes me hot and bothered...

I love the rich , deep flavors that fall brings. Fall and Spring bring the best variety in terms food.
I mean , really venison, turkey, cranberries, squashes, rabbit,potatoes, root vegetables apples and pears..mmmmm
The colors of lend themselves to creative palates of dark chocolate browns and , deep sienna reds , burnt oranges and rich yellows.
We also indulge in musky ,oakie, earthy  flavors...you almost feel like your tasting the mother nature. Rich goat cheese is made,  pomegranates  their rich color and antioxidant qualities are just the surface beauties of this hard to get at seed that adds texture and a burst of flavor to salads and sauces.
Fall harvest my favorite herb: Thyme. I LOVE THYME.....it goes with everything...salads, sauces, soups, ice cream( yes Ice Cream!!!!!) not one thing except say sushi can be enhanced by thyme.

Fall is probably one of the most over looked culinary seasons. People tend to lean to heavy dishes of stews and casseroles as the weather cools. But this need not be the case. Osso Bucco can be a light earthie dish  ,rich in oak and current flavors if done right.
Butternut squash and acorn squash tend to be over cooked then mashed up with cream and butter...nothing wrong in that. But why not simpley  steam them and puree with a bit of vegetable stock or soy milk for a light healthier soup or side. I personally like to roast either with olive oil and kosher salt...nice and carmlized.

And what about meats? Have you given Bison a whirl? Much leaner and tastier than regular beef. Makes excellent chili..but can be slightly pricier...FYI...ground beef peeps: get the 90/10 blend...better for you. and yields more end product than the much fattier 70/30 blend.
Or maybe rabbit and venison? A bit more of game taste to them but lean and delish!!


Hasenpfeffer rocks!!!


but i ramble as usual. ......

I almost forgot one of my favorite foods: APPLES !!!!!!
I love apples as much as i love diet pepsi!!!!! I mean they are so good in stuffing, pies , sauces, chutneys,bread muffins ...gosh i could go on and on!!!!!!!!

APPLE BROWN BETTY!!!!!!

OK SO i THINK YOU GET MY DRIFT!!
I will go have to find my fav apple recipe and post it. .....that's if i can find it in the mess i call home..lol

Thursday, October 1, 2009

All good things to those who wait

I suppose in this day and age of " Give it to me now or I'll cut the bitch" attitude, It doesnt surprise me the lack of food knowledge among the younger generation. Yes, I am speaking to you miss 18 -25 year old.

Not everyone has the patience to cook what people coin as gourmet meals. Hell most chefs would rather nawh at a piece of MR to almost with a pulse slab of beef than eat escargot or pigeon. But we know what we are eating.
I have listen to many a child( I will call my "students " child as a general term and is in now way meant as belittling to them) ask.."what is it " to something as painfully obvious as country fried steak but will shoval other things that just because there is one thing familiar on it they assume it is what it is,only to get surprised....I actually do love the.."oh shit " look.

It's painful to see kids load their plates up with pizza hamburgers and wraps all on my plate then have the balls to turn to us and say I have stomach problems because of the food you serve me. Guess again sunshine.
Even my 10 year old knows that he should have 4-6 servings of fruit a day.

Personal responsibility about food seems to have gone by the waste side these days and its easy to blame the food service industry than to say.." well I am a fat fuck so maybe i shouldnt eat 4 slices of pizza , two burgers, two desserts and a salad loaded with ranch and shredded cheese. I serve 90% good solid homemade food. Sure there are some "canned" products and prepared foods that we use as a convience but not as often as you running to Taco Hell for your Gorditio fill.


Love your body...listen to it and its natural cycle....eat decently....I am not an advocate for all natural organic tofu woohooo stuff. But you dont need a dozen doughnuts..not even a chick on her worse PMS day could do that ..........

...............................well maybe if there was a diet pepsi or two involved.