Kitchen Talk

There are over 6500 official languages spoken in this world and I know one of them...English. So then how can I consider myself bilingual.

The language of a kitchen. The pans clinking over the fire, chefs screaming, some spanish here and french there. The kitchen is a mix of words, silence, and noise and yet it is a place with the best communication, a sensible chaos to those who speak it. With a kitchen that does not speak comes a failed restaurant.

I used to have a chef that would say, the difference between a cook and a chef is that a cook sees fire while a chef can hear it from across the kitchen. He would know if the fire was too high by its sound and that is how a kitchen communicates. Your back is turned chopping onions and you sense your veal reduction boiling over. That is the language of a kitchen.
Kitchen may not be an official world language but it is one that takes practice, dedication, and devotion. It is ready to be recognized and respected.

Gold At The End Of The Rainbow

GOoD for you,  HeALtHY, LOw fat, LOw sodium, fat FReE  are all major marketing terms pushed on todays health conscious society. With the trend of organic and local making their way into households via Wholefoods and farmers markets people are finally starting to realize there is more to keeping your body healthy besides buying 90 calorie packs to replace those double stuffed oreos. With my cooking background and multiple nutrition classes under my belt I have been trying to stress this point. It is important what you put in your body. For many it is unnecessary to consume vitamins and minerals in the form of a pill if you "eat the rainbow", meaning try and have a serving of every color fruit and vegetable a day.
After nine months of indulging myself in the culture of Napa Valley  I took a drastic approach to eat healthy. For years I have been wanting to try a detox. With a new appreciation for fruits and vegetables I decided there was no better time. I chose the seven day detox by Dr. Alejandro Junger featured on Gwyneth Paltrow's goop.com to kick start my renewed eating habits. This one was great for me. Every day's meal was completely mapped out and it was not 7 days of starving myself. I actually found myself trying to keep up with the multitude of meals and snacks.

A typical day on the goop detox

DAY FOUR

7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Mango and Coconut Milk Smoothie
11:30am: Coconut water
1:30pm (lunch): Miso Soup with Watercress
4pm (snack): A handful of blueberries
6pm (dinner): Steamed Salmon and Greens

After finishing the detox I have found that besides losing weight I was more energized through the entire process. By consuming the appropriate amount of nutrients my body functioned the way intended. This is motivation enough for me to continue to "eat the rainbow".

Graduation Day

This post is a bit over due but I am officially an alum of the Culinary Institute of America!!!  After walking in my high school and college graduation ceremonies I expected the same old, when is this going to end thought, sigh of relief...it was a very enjoyable afternoon. Unlike any other graduation before, this ceremony was personal and even did what it was supposed to and offered usable future advice. Two students down since our start in July, 31 fellow classmates and I climbed the stone steps of the Greystone building, toques standing tall and alumni pins glistened as the rest of the student body clapped while we entered our ceremony. One of my favorite chefs, Chef Lars Kronmark, spoke giving great advice on how to suceed in this industry followed by Chef Sheamus Feeley of Farmestead giving equally valid advice. The outcome of all the advice...positive attitude and endurance.

I have taken that advice and am now back in Chicago working as a line cook at a upscale, Asian fusion celebrity hotspot.

2011 ACAP14 Graduating Class

Other students clapping for us as we entered graduation

Winery Highlights

Pre CIA, before living in the Napa Valley, and of course the time I thought opening a bottle of wine that was even a dollar over the cost of two-buck-chuck was expensive I could not appreciate the complexities of a port. Why drink a thick overly sweet dessert wine. I then visited Jessup winery. The wine educator there made me start to understand ports. There is a time and place for port. He had me imagine just finishing a meal and retiring into the den, sitting in front of a fire, and slowly sipping a port while enjoying the company of friends over some cheese. That was as Oprah says, my "aha moment!".  I became less dreadful of the tasting experiences that involved port. I started to pick out their nuances and eventually even asked for a tasting if it was not offered. 

I now can create new images in my head. Port does not need to be limited to a fireside chat after dinner. Soak dried fruit in it and serve it on top of a duck breast. You can even get crazy and serve it pre-dinner. Everyone loves brie en cruet as an appetizer, try a glass of port with it. It is about getting past the immediate sweet flavor and tasting the individual fruits and even the sometimes present brandy. 

I was not about to end my stint in America's wine growing region without bringing home a bottle of port to signify my pallet's growth. After enjoying the Benziger Family Winery (Biodynamic Wine Makers) and purchasing their award winning 2008 Bella Luna Vineyard Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley(first pinot noir to win against the French in competition), I could not help but take their advice and visit their other winery Imagery Estate Winery. There I purchased my first bottle of 2007 Petite Sirah Port. 

Benziger Pinot Noir

Imagery Port and Snifter

Recipe Box

Ceviche
garnish of english cucumber and citrus supremes

With the snowy season slowly coming to an end, there is nothing better to get us in a tropical mood then a refreshing plate of spicy citrus ceviche. This dish was made for my Cuisines of Americas class. It is supposed to be a Peruvian ceviche, but lets be honest there was no recipe followed and it quickly became a mix of Peru, Mexico, and Florida. A Peruvian ceviche uses blanched fish and is tossed in acid at the last moment. It is the technique, fish, and supplemental  ingredients that determines the type of ceviche.

CEVICHE

2 oranges juiced (seeds and pulp removed)

5 lemons juiced (seeds and pulp removed)

5 limes juiced (seeds and pulp removed)

3 habanero peppers minced (seeds and membrane removed)

1/2 red pepper diced

1/2 bunch cilantro rough chopped

1 red onion diced

1 cup shrimp peeled, deveined, and chopped

1 cup scallops chopped (muscle removed)

1 sea bass fillet chopped

1 mahi mahi fillet chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Note: Any mixture of seafood may be used. Best to use what is freshest for the season and the area you are living in.

Prepare all ingredients by having all cleaned, chopped, and ready for use. 

Blanch whole peeled shrimp in boiling water then shock in ice water to stop cooking process. 

Combine all citrus juices with vegetables and chillies. Toss all seafood in mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper. Let sit covered in a refrigerator for 3 hrs to overnight. Ready when majority of fish has turned opaque from acid. 

*It is important to remember that you are dealing with a raw product and proper sanitation must be carried out. The acid from the citrus fruits will denature proteins and kill most bacteria, but there is still no heat being applied to most of the ingredients.

Restaurant Review

Bar and Communal Table

Open Kitchen

I have a officially been converted to the vegi way of life. Not that I ever had anything against vegetables. I am always game for a vegetarian meal once in awhile, but dinner at Michelin star restaurant Ubutu in Napa could have changed my meat and potato ways. They are a vegetable cookery restaurant that does not claim to be vegan or vegetarian. With an attached yoga studio there is an earthy urban hipster vibe throughout the entire restaurant. Chef Jeremy Fox passed the torch down to 26 year old CIA alum Aaron London who is continuing the glory. Perfectly seasoned and beautifully presented you walk out not feeling over stuffed but extremely satisfied. The service is on par with the food. The staff were all very helpful and friendly throughout the entire night. At the end of the meal, coming back to my seat, I passed Chef London. I thanked him for a gorgeous meal and without asking he followed me back to our table to introduce himself to our entire party. 

"David Littles" Potatoes; kraut ash, caramelized sauerkraut, radish, black kale

Spiced Almonds

Amuse Bouche: Spicy Mushroom Soup

Garden Snake; greens, leaves, flowers, roots, truffled pecorino

Chiaggia Beets; smoked blue cheese, "bacon" avocado, crushed olives

Steam Bun; burrata, citrus marmalade, sunchoke

Garden Infused Fiore; artichokes in various preparation, caramelized grapefruit, 

Arbuckle Grits; hedgehog mushrooms, fried egg, cheddar, goats ricotta fennel frond beignets

Compressed Brownie; pine needle ice cream, pine nut pudding,  kumquat

Espresso

Mignardise: S'more

The Best Thing I Ever Ate?

Mondrian Cake
Vanilla cake, Red velvet cake
Valrhona Chocolate ganache

I took a cue from Chris Cosentino and the Food Network recently. While on a trip to San Francisco's Modern art museum, the SF MOMA, I stopped by their rooftop coffee bar, which is operated by Blue Bottle Coffee, for a blood sugar upping. Pastry Chef, Caitlin Freeman, has taken a creative approach to creating her cakes and cookies by modeling them all after different pieces of art around the museum. 
Chris Cosentino on a recent episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate  made a claim that the Mondrian Cake at the SF MOMA was the best piece of cake he 
had ever eaten. My friends and I got a piece to share and found it beautiful to look at, but maybe not the best piece of cake we had ever eaten. The crumb(inside of cake) of the cake was moist and dense, and the ganache piping, used almost like caulking work, was very tasty. Later research led me to discover how this cake is made. 
“Freeman makes one Mondrian cake per day. She bakes a big oblong white cake and smaller yellow, red and blue cakes, and cuts them into long thin shapes. She coats each of the pieces in ganache – a thick, rich covering of cream and dark chocolate – reassembles it all in a long loaf pan, lets it chill overnight, then ganaches the whole thing.

Each slice has squares of yellow, blue and yellow interspersed with white squares separated by dark chocolate lines.” Further reading on how the Mondrian Cake is made. 

I think where we went wrong was thinking that a piece of $8 cake, claimed to be the best dessert ever eaten, was going to send off some sort of fireworks in our mouths. Was it tasty and interesting to look at, yes....but the best piece of cake I ever ate, thats up to the judges. 

Piet Mondrian, Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue, 1935-1942