Summer, see you on the flip side

26Sep10

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Pho bo with a twist

11Sep10

I can’t mention how much I love pho, a vietnamese noodle soup usually served at stalls throughout cities in Vietnam.

The broth consists of beef marrow bones, brisket, charred onion, fish sauce and a bunch of spices most noteably cinnamon. Our condiments were: Thai basil, bean sprouts, cilantro, pickled onions, siracha. Each bowl got some of the simmered beef as well ad thin strips of raw rib eye.

Hearty and unusually refeshing food that is completely worth the simmering time.

Ps. Made some bahn mi since we already had most of the ingredients including some still warm fairway baguettes.

The recipe comes from HERE Great Post Jaden.

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Tags: noodles, pho

Sprechen sie deutches?

11Sep10

A few friends of mine had a German wine tasting last weekend. German wine is almost synonymous with Riesling although there many other wine varieties with can be just as deep and alluring.

Like most cork dorks I am incredibly partial to riesling. The acid and depth of secondary flavors almost always leads to a thought provoking wine.

I decided to spoil my self a bit so my additon was a donhoff oberhauser bruke Riesling from 2007. One of my favorite wine makers and a classic vintage in Germany. Rich full mouthfeel, cooked peach, slate, and violets on the finish. Beautiful wine. There were many other intersting bottles as well as my first taste of spatburgunder which was everything that I expected.  Delicate Pinot Noir flavors and a nice hint of earth that I unfortunately don’t get often from California or Washington State wines. Beautiful night and the joy of tasting riesling back to back to back. It doesn’t get better than tha.

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Tags: german wine, riesling

Feeshhh.. Part deux

10Aug10

Some say it takes great patience, skill, and knowledge to lure a worthy catch onto the bow of ones ship; well not me. This catch was purely coincidental, although not unwelcome. I’ve been meaning to cook fluke whole since flatfish lend themselves so well to that technique.

Fluke en papillote (or en foil, whatevs)
Basil
Onions – awesome by the way
Olive oil
Lemon

So simple yet so luxurious.

This ones for DP and Mona. You guys are kick ass. And as always thanks for the trip Jack and K.

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Summer Et Cetera

07Jul10

It’s been a busy couple of weeks and I just haven’t gotten a chance to really sit down and work techniques and recipes. The great thing about food and cooking is that it’s a necessity, so I’ve had a ton of opportunities to play and enjoy what the season has given me thus far. These are some shots from the past couple of weeks.

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Fried spuds yo!

07Apr10

Nothing hits the proverbial spot like fried potato. Whether it be French fries, potato chips or hash browns, the starchy crust on a fried potato is everything comfort.

I’ve been playing with a couple of different croquette techniques to maximize the crunch of the crust, fluffiness of the potato and maximization of the main flavor(cured ham, onion, etc.

First breakthrough is in the potato. I cook them using the flavor throughout the cookin process. Second is in the breading. Double breading and using wondra as the flour has yielded crisp and stable crustage.

Can’t wait to try this with ramps!

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Beer fest!!!

31Mar10

Any excuse to expand the palate right? I made it to the spring craft beer festival at Nassau coliseum.

The beer selection was incredible. Unlike most wine tastings the crowd was a little more interested in libating on the magnificent beer but nonetheless most brewers came with interesting and exciting stuff.

There were a couple of highlights. Great south bay’s blonde ambition stands out. A beautiful crisp blonde with distinct floral notes. Violets and roses all day. Crazy brew.

Everything from LIBA. I hope I got the name right. Insane beers. One guy brewed an ale with roasted hazelnuts. Yum.

I can’t remember the last, I was a bit inebriated by then, but I tasted an ale brewed with grape must and aged in oak barrels. Complex.

Fun time with good friend. Thanks guys.

And to this guy….I didn’t forget about you bro!

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Jamie’s Food Revolution

27Mar10

I have followed Jamie’s career for quite a while now.

Show Website

As a young cook I gravitated to learning more about fine cuisine, innovating techniques and the ever long search for an incredible new flavor combination.

At some point I began falling in love with food, not as a color wheel to express my creativity, but as a basic staple of life.

Now I know that my level of enthusiasm isn’t going to paralleled by everyone, and I don’t expect people to share my passion, but at the core of this is a major health crisis.

I love kids, and I know how frustrating the whole situation is with all the bureaucracy, ignorance, and and negative feedback, but they are our babies! Let’s feed them well.

I can go on and on about this issue, about the importance, necessity and the overall brevity of our kids nutrition, but this is more of a personal mission. I don’t know exactly where I’m starting, I don’t exactly have Jamie’s Influence or Scope but I’m going to give it a shot. I’ll update as I go and hopefully soon have something to share.

Eat a bean!
Diego

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Insert the Funk, Thai Style

24Mar10

From thai steak

I remember my first taste of south pacific flavors.  A completely basic
Tom Ka Gai soup was almost more than I could handle.  Soup for me was
the obvious, chicken, and that was the end of it.  Sure there were aromatics,
celery, carrot, but nothing so punchy as to really challenge my taste buds.

From thai steak

The first hit of lemon grass and coconut really made me excited.  And that
was just the beginning.  The Acid was awesome.

From thai steak

I learned more about these flavors through a couple of chefs I staged with.
Chef Farmerie’s kitchen unraveled the mystery that was  Thai curry pastes.
The difference between store bought and home made curry paste is night and day.
Seriously dude give it a try it will knock your socks off.

During a stint at Chef Fraser’s amuse bouche station, I got a sense for the
depth and funk that Fish Sauce and Oyster Sauce can bring to a  dish. ( even though
I thought fermented fish juice was the most revolting thing that I’d ever heard of)

From thai steak

I had a craving for these flavors so I set out on a mission…To taste them again!!!

These are Thai Steak wraps marinated in fish sauce, Soy, Ginger, Lemongrass and
garlic. The Veg includes pickled green papaya, Carrot, Ginger, Cilantro, Mint and
Lime Juice.

From thai steak

In my opinion this is the perfect, and I mean PERFECT summer food.  Great with
a  cold brew.

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Brainstorm…ing

17Mar10

Exploding with ideas. Need
To write them down. Nite taking is not something that comes naturally to me but is a skill that I have come to rely on

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