Welcome Back!

Wow, what a summer! I have been super slammed with all sorts of stuff from church, to moving, to working, and keeping my relationships alive! After it is all said is done, I can’t wait to recover and take December on with full strength!

Quick overview of my summer to catch everyone up:

I got promoted at work from line-cook to sous-chef. It’s a great gig. I am now, 1 of 3 managers in the kitchen. This has been a challenging transition, but no complaints. My church has taken a small make-over this summer. There used to be a senseless grassy patch that I dug up with Jessica and converted it into a little garden. We used shrubs and colorful flowers to fill the space. The hope is to do more in the future. Most recently, my livening situation has moved. I thought it would be nice to move closer to work. So I did. My commute to work is less than 5 minutes. After all is said and done, it has been a pretty huge summer for me; I hope yours was exactly what you wanted from it!

My plans for this blog are going to transform a little bit. Every single post being a recipe is a little taxing; however, in addition to recipes I’ll add posts about technique, news, and anything related to food and food service industry. I should be back soon writing more regularly.

I’ll keep in touch world.

E

Summer Cookout - Let’s Put it ALL Together!
Over the past couple of months I’ve been writing about the tools you need in order to pull off a great cookout: what to grill, great meat marinades, and a two-piece article on fish! Now that Memorial Day is behind us, let’s try some new things with what we’ve learned and have some fun with friends and family!
I’ll give you a great sample menu that you can use for your next summer get together! The things that will be addressed are appetizers, entrees, and side dishes. Enjoy!

If you can't stand the Heat, get out of the kitchen!

If you can’t stand the HEAT, get OUT of the kitchen!

      Oh man guys, it has been a while since I’ve written. Due to the NBA finals, I put the blog on hold. Now that the NBA finals are over, back to writing!!! I hope everyone had a great Easter and Mother’s Day! At the club, we cooked for 1K people on Easter and 750 people on Mother’s Day. Jeeze, those were long days!

Since the Chicago Bulls had a crushing destructive series against the Miami Heat, I need to resort to some simple comfort foods that I ate as a kid. Korean Lettuce Wraps. These suckers are so simple, tasty, and keep your recipe base diverse!!

Fish is sexy, just like women!

If you haven’t yet, get over and read the first part of “Here fishy, fishy!” This is Part II of the two part series about fish. My main focus will be on cooking fish, but I will also hit points on quality of fish. 

I have to start off by saying that the information on fish is so vast - I’m barely scratching the surface here. I’m going to pass along a few general guidelines on how to cook fish, but as you will come to realize, each fish should actually be treated differently when it’s cooked due to its fat content and its firmness.

From: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/member-recipes/Cooking%20whole%20fish/103

Here fishy, fishy!

Gosh, I love fish! So much in fact that I will be writing at least two parts on fish. Also, I’d claim to say that of all things I cook these days, fish is the item I’m most comfortable with. That being said, most fish, if not all fish, are commonly misunderstood. From raising the fish, to catching the fish, to preparing the fish, to cooking the fish, the general public is probably pretty clueless. I’ll take it upon my shoulders to do my best to scratch the surface of aquaculture and our food.

Fogo de cHAO?

Fogo de how?

Fogo is known for the endless amount of meat that we can consume (though we hate to admit the amount is far from endless in reality). Not only is it possible to eat way more than we should, it also tastes phenomenal! Thank the Argentinean gauchos for that. South America has very unique ways of flavoring their meats. One way is with an herb marinade. This gives the meat herbaceous notes that go well with flavorful steaks that, at times, can seem like a heavy load for your stomach. Not only have these marinades contained herbs, but also incorporate spices that bring depth of flavor without over powering your meat!

So what is a marinade? I suppose the culinary school answer would be a mixture of liquid and aromatic ingredients. Here is a two second lesson on marinades:

A nickle for my pickles!

It is just barely the beginning of spring and I'm already considering the end of summer! To be honest, I'm already looking forward to December at work! But hopefully this post about pickles will give you some clever ideas of what to do with your harvest!

At the end of the summer, what do you do when your garden has cramped your kitchen? Give some to neighbors and friends? What do you do when your garden has flooded their kitchens too? PICKLE!! This is a great way to preserve your vegetables!! It brings a sweet and a sour twist to your crops!!

OK, OK, I know it’s a little pre-mature to be talking about pickles; people are still considering what to plant in their gardens!! Here is a list of things that are exceptionally delicious when pickled:

Peppers pickled with soy sauce

• Asparagus
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Peppers, Jalapeños
• Mushrooms
• Watermelon Rind

Before we go any further I have to say this: if you pickle your crops you’ll probably want to “can” them in mason jars. I’m not an expert, so do this at your own risk. It is a very simple process that if researched, can easily be successful! However, if you don’t do it correctly, some serious bacteria can develop and the outlook will not be good. “Can” at your own risk. 

This is an article about pickles.