No. YOU are FORKING FANTASTIC!

A little bit ago, aka a bunch of months, I get an email that led to a call with a casting agent in England which led to an "underground supper club" in Astoria (right around the corner from my apartment) hosted by the lovely and talented Tamara and Zora. Oh yeah there was some Jamie Oliver guy there too, but that was not the star of the nite.

The wholly unholy food these ladies produced drove me crazy. They had me at Candied Bacon but the rest of the meal was SPECTACULAR. After promising to keep in touch about my upcoming adventures with culinary school and to come back for another Sunday Dinner; I was sent on my way with a hug and a full stomach.

Needless to say, like almost everything in my life, I have not been able to keep those promise, but they have! Since that lovely meal the ladies have been kicking out amazing meals month after month. Yes I have been cooking up a storm, but checking out their menus always give me a kick. Now you can see a TON of the food they love to make in their very first COOKBOOK! How awesome is that?

Forking Fantastic! Put the Party Back in Dinner Party is a kick-ass guide to entertaining. That is the way they desribe it. Me, I say they are making throwing a great dinner party easy for the people that are too scared to get in their(in some times too small) kitchens. From baby steps to the big daddy menus, they guide you through every step and show you how badly you COULD have messed up by giving you little "learn from our mistakes" call outs.

The Tamara and Zora have just arrived home from a WHIRLWIND, Cross-Country book tour and have landed home with a menu this month that pulls from all the people and places they have seen along the way. The book is available NOW NOW NOW! Go get it off Amazon NOW! Go to the bookstore NOW! If you are not convinced that this book rocks, go to this website NOW!













http://www.ForkingFantastic.com

PS, check out that Jaime Oliver link to get that candied bacon recipe . . . don't tell your doctor.

So That's It!

January 10th 2009 until August 30th 2009.

That was Culinary School.

What seemed like something that was going to last a LONG time, went in a flash of medium diced potatoes, awesome croissants, french, spanish, italian and asian traditional dishes and a ton of foie gras and bacon with a group of great instructors.

First of all I would like to thank my instructors and some that were "around" to lay down some knowledge as well:

Chef Ted (Mod 1 and 2): The BEST MOD 1&2 instructor I could have asked for. He was like a drill instructor since day one. Not because he was an ass, because he wanted you to do it right. Ok is not good enough. Perfect is CLOSE, but you can do better. Could talk all day, but he was great and that is that.

Chef Allen (Mod 3): This man has so much knowledge stuck in his head that you could listen for days. If you want it, he is willing to give it to you. Taught me a ton about regional cooking and even trumped Chef Teds' fix for a broken Hollandaise sauce. PS, I still want that mythical "NO STIR" Risotto recipe damnit!

Chef Jeff (Mod 4): Pastry. You are a cruel cruel thing. This is the one mod I was dreading the most. OK, everything is yummy and delicious but it is also INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING! Icing cakes made me want to punch myself in the face. It have a FIRM grasp on how to do the basics, but I also understand why the professional pastry class is almost as long as the professional culinary class. Great teacher, nice dude and you are lucky if you get him.

Chef Chris (Mod 5): One thing. Make it beautiful. It seems like such a bland blanket statement to say but after a little while . . . you get it. Make food, enjoy doing it and what comes out WILL be beautiful. Every day in the kitchen for this guys is better than the last and he makes you feel the same way. As great a chef as he is, the stuff I learned from him was not so much technique but attitude and work ethic. Always learn, always try something new and never be afraid of your instincts.

Secondary thanks to Chef James (ICEs' own CHOPPED champ) who destroyed me with skill when we were doing our plating in Mod 3. Came in, made a new sauce from MY sauce, re-cut the protein I had made, plated the polenta and basically showed me that food IS/IS NOT art and I have to look at it like that. You gotta see how you want to eat it, not the other way around. Chef Laurie, I am glad we were the first class you ghosted before you started at ICE, those little tod bits of knowledge along Mod 3 were great. Chef Andy, I appreciate your help in guidance in the Food Network stuff and getting us all the extra opportunities around town.

The sheer amount of food I have prepared in the past 9 months BOGGLES my mind when I really sit down and look at it. 7 binders FULL of recipes. In condensing them this past week, it has taken more than 3 4-inch binders to consolidate them. It is almost like cooking your way through 5 cookbooks in 9 months. Feels like MORE!

The next few posts I am going to post by breakdowns of each of the modules. What I learned, what I liked and what I still would like to get into.

But first, GRADUATION!

Dream Team: Jack, Molly, Scott, Ashley, David (CHEF CHRIS) and Me

I partnered up with my most like minded classmate, Scott Sykes. He likes to same food I do, we have the same work ethic and he is good at what he does as well. After a few brainstorming sessions we got our menu together.

- Beef Tenderloin with a Bourbon Mustard sauce
- Roasted Asparagus with Horserasdish Sabayone with a folded-in White Pepper Whipped Cream topped with Fresh Bacon Lardons
- Sweet Potato Puree with Molassas Marshmallow Streak
- Chips and Dip for Desssert - Churro Style Tortilla Chips, Sweet Heat Salsa(Strawberry, Raspberry, Apple) and UnGuac(Lemon curd with Green Whipped Cream)

SO MUCH YUM! Beef, Sauce, Sweet Potato, Asparagus, BACON and Sabayone.

And that was it. The food went like CRAZY, our table had a line all 2 and a half hours. If I could have brought some home/back to work I would have.

I am honestly going to miss alot of the people in my class. Of course everyone at my table, yeah "dream team", and I am going to try to keep contact as best I can. There are a few people that I really REALLY never have to see again. I would caution you to ever even GO to the restuarants they are associated with.

If this course has taught me anything, it has taught me to cook with passion, confidence and a sense of urgency. Some individuals never found those aspects to their cooking and I will wager HEAVILY that they never will. It really does amaze me that some people never "got it" no matter how hard the Chef Instructors drilled it into their heads. Prep your food, get your gear together and just cook. Not rocket science, but I guess that is why people go to school for it. Some people have it, some people don't and some just never will.

I am not one of those and I hope I never am.

My world has come full circle.

I think I might have to start celebrating an anniversary on the the 16th of August every year.

A day so ground breaking and important to my that it is not ETCHED in my mind forever.

This day my friends . . .

I made my own BACON and HOT DOGS!

Yes, it is true. 2 of my most favorite things in the the culinary world from my own 2 hands. Marinated, seasoned and ground the meats, pressed them into casing and at the end of the day smoked those bad boys. The bacon was cured last week and smoked this week. It was DELICIOUS!

Yeah we made some other stuff like some seafood mousseline and a killer goat cheese mousse hors d'ouvere but the killer was all the force meat makin'. Schezuan sausages will make their way to work tomorrow for everyone to enjoy.

This lesson was certainly best saved for last. I think if we had done this one in the beginning I might have thrown my hands in the air and just said . . . "I AM DONE! I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED EVERYTHING I CAN IMAGINE!" and the rest of my time would have been all downhill from then on.

This was one of for that we made that day. Thank you Chef Chris!

The LeMans of Cooking

The masterminds at A Razor, A Sharp Knife are doing something quite amazing. So amazing that I wish I knew earlier and was able to join in or at least GO to it.

They are going to cook 3 meals in 24 hours.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
8 courses per meal.
EVERYTHING FROM SCRATCH!

They will start prepping Friday nite and get to cooking in the AM on Saturday. I think the best part is that they will be demoing, instructing and interacting with anyone that buys admission to this culinary carnival(over $300 for all the meals); infact your participation is expected and requested.

Looking over this blog, I love what they are doing and only hope I can start pushing myself like this. They have a great culinary/gastro point of view that really intrigues me. Take a look for yourself and you will see what I mean.

WWBC? - Next Food Network Star - Ep. 2

Two episodes in and I am already yelling at the TV.

The quickfire this time was an Esquire Magazine challenge. Cook something using "bachelor" ingredients. Alot of them were RIDICULOUSLY easy pairings. Pork chops and coffee, Rib Eye and Maple syrup, T-bone and whiskey, Lamb rack and corn flakes. But there were 2 that were real punches in the gut. Ground beef and pickles and Chicken and maraschino cherries. Seriously, not easy, but these are the ones I narrowed it down to because of that!

Flipped a coin and the winner is Ground beef and Pickles!

First thing that runs thru my head, like on the show, was a burger. No can do. Second thought run on the meatloaf route but I think that sits in the burger realm. After that I turn to a beef patty but it is not enough time if there is no dough ready to go.

What about an awesome sloppy joe? That actually might throw them off JUST enough to get by.

UnSloppy Sloppy Joe with pickled slaw

- Ground beef sauteed in a skillet, drained and tossed with spice mix
- red onion sauteed in the fat, pincage(brown the tomato paste) them
- deglazed with tomato water from the tomatoes you chop up and a couple you squeeze out
- add tomato paste and sauce to the pan, and get it bubbling and turn it down to a simmer.
- season sauce and get it reducing quick as you can.
- Once you are here, drain the pickles and keep the brine, add acids, salt, sugar and lemon juice to revive and toss it to wilt the cabbage, carrots, onions and cucumber.
- Season up the reduced tomato sauce and add TO ground beef so you can keep it REALLY think, only coating the beef lightly enough to hold it together.
- Get it on a bun, taste and plate the slaw.


This one is not elegant to say the least, but they always say to cook what you love and I love me some sloppy joes!

Seems no one wanted to see the duck, anyone vote to see this one made and put up here for you to try?

WWBC? - Next Food Network Star - ep. 1

Oh crap, here we go again.

Brian has an idea.
It is a project.
An idea.
CAN HE KEEP IT UP?

Maybe. Let's see how I do.

The project?

What Would Brian Cook?

Here is the basic idea. When the contestants get a challenge, I will come up with my ideas of what to do. the next day I will write it up here with a short method of preparation/grocery list/recipe and you can tell me if you think I would have been the winner, safe, or eliminated. If you think it would be a winner, I am going to make it and tell you all about it. Sound fun?

The beginning of the Next Food Network Star was a challenge to create a buffet for the networks 16th anniversary. As they began to clamor for who was going to lead and who was going to cook what, my mind started winding up.

If I could have gotten myself into a leadership position, I would have done a simple, but flavorful appetizer to start the buffet. Nothing too labor intensive so i could keep moving around the kitchen. What is simple?

Shredded, glazed duck breast
in a bib lettuce wrapper with a reduced citrus dipping sauce

- Rendered and seared duck breast, fork shredded(to reduce cost on the budget) after glazing and RIGHT BEFORE service.
- Three citrus fruit reduction. Lime, orange and the sweetest third citrus available
- Quickly blanched Celery root, carrot and maybe a spring onion added in to add some crunch

Would it be tasty, I am sure.
Would it get me the win? Who knows.
Would I have been safe from elimination, TOTALLY!

I can't say I am too impressed with this package of contestants but we will see if I can keep keeping up.

Butcher Bay - NYC

This Sunday, I busted free the shackles of "breakfast cooking" at school and headed down to BUTCHER BAY for a friends birthday dinner. I had heard nothing but good things, from trusted sources, and I have to say I was a bit excited to have a meal here.

When you walk in the front door you get comfortable. Very welcoming decor and personnel. It being a birthday and all, I really saw this as a way to see how accommodating they can be. They were! From letting the B-day girl arrange her table and sabering(yes sabering) a bottle of bubblies for the ladies at the table.

The beer list was perfect for a "Maryland" oyster house and the menu followed suit nicely. Everything you might expect was there. The fresh oyster po'boy and the fried chicken. Being from the area myself (thanks MumMum Rose) I was ALL OVER the chicken in the hopes that would be the real deal. I was not disappointed. It was almost SPOT ON. From the buttermilk bath, to the par boil to the breading. YEAH BUDDY, this is the only place I am going to be eating fried chicken at in the city. Hands down.

All of the starters we tried were very nicely done (fried clam bellies, steamed mussels and shrimp hush puppies) and very filling, generous portions. Prices were completely reasonable and well aligned with the level of food. I am looking forward to the whole fish they have and tucking into a plate of the fresh oysters.

BUTCHER BAY
511 East 5th St
www.ButcherBayNYC.com

Something new to check out

http://www.jamesbriscione.com/

He is an ICE Chef Intructor and recently won an episode of CHOPPED on the Food Network.

That is all well and good, but the blog he is writing is pretty good and written the way I like to read. The cookbook he has coming out is going to be on my BUY NOW list when it hits stands.

It's a nice day for a . . .

WHITE CASTLE WEDDING!


My apologize to Billy Idol, but you have to see this.

Couple gets married at the White Castle where they met

Risot-OH NO

OK, let me just say that I have NEVER made a "good" risotto. EVER. But this weekend I was determined to actually get it right. I was going to watch the Chef, I was going to follow his steps and I was going to get it RIGHT!

Yeah, that is not what happened. For the first time in 3 months Chef Ted just didn't like my dish.

I know what I did wrong and all but damnit, I hate failure. There was quite a crippling effect to getting it WRONG. After a little bit I was able to shake it off a little and enjoy the rest of the day.

It is preparation that takes alot of concentration and patients. The second is what I lack. Had my hand in too many things and let the butter brown JUST A LITTLE and that is all it took. Down hill from there. Got frustrated and added the stock, reduced, add stock, BURNT MY HAND ON THE SALAMANDER, reduced, added stock, turned for a tasting spoon, over reduced the mix, added stock, tasted fine and salted a little, added stock, grabbed a bowl, went to plate and it had thickened too much. The problem being is that I had already added the final liason of butter and parmesan so I could not reboil it. Mind you, in retrospect, I could have added a LITTLE stock and incorporated it to thin it out a little.

Moral of the story, I am going to be making some risottos for the next few days/weeks/years until I get it RIGHT!

Wish me luck.