OK, I just wanted to record this recipe that I found for pate brisee a few months ago that I totally love. It is here:
http://joyofbaking.com/PateBrisee.html

I actually pretty much only follow the recipe for making the dough itself. I'll have to write down what to do once you've got the dough some other time. The key things that are cool about this recipe is a: it uses a food processor instead of a stand mixer or just by hand, and b: the result is AWESOME. Seriously, some of the flakiest, nicest pastry EVAR.

I just wanted to post the link here so I wouldn't lose it.

OK, back to work. Time to make a shaved fennel salad, and a blue cheese and wild mushroom tart filling. Hmmm... or maybe I'll use mascarpone instead...?

Last night, we cooked the inaugural "Trust menu", which is my restaurant's answer to the Press Gang's drill. We do five courses for $45. Any regular readers of this blog should know that I am so excited that this is happening.

If I was content with my job before, now I'm actually happy. Here's what we did last night:

Seared U-6 Diver Scallop, Cauliflower Puree, Thai Basil, Pink Peppercorn

This is pretty good. Can you call a scallop "U-6" to the general public? I think that's still a bit jargon-y.


Maple Roasted Quail, Mushroom Truffle Terrine, Frozen Grapes, Amarena Cherry Gastrique


Seared B.C. Coho Salmon, Pumpkin Pan Bread, Proscuitto Hair, Beet Crisps, Ginger Molasses


Tandoori Roasted Lamb Rack, Polenta "Fritters", Fennel Dill Raita

And then we served some of our normal desserts. I don't recall which.

Anyway, not too bad for the first go. So far, it is a bit close to our regular menu, which is a bit disappointing, so I hope we sell some more tonight, and can do some more different gear. One thing that was good about the drills was that we could poach gear from the feature menu that we changed every week. Even better, there was often stuff left from the previous feature menu, and sometimes even stuff that we had done in advance from the next feature menu. So there was always all this great STUFF around every day. Combining that into impromptu tasting menus was super fun. We're just starting out now, and it will take time to get into the hang of doing extra sauces/garnishes/etc to make our tasting menus as great a success.

This is going to be good.

Consider me a convert. The cooks in the audience may be familiar with the idea of brining poultry, and I put it to great effect today.

Last year, Jessica and I had our first thanksgiving here by ourselves. We roasted a little chicken, made some mashed potatoes, and enjoyed each other's company. It was low key, cozy and kind of nice. Thanksgivings have pretty much been like that for me my whole life. Except with my parents and sister. It was kind of nice last year, but it was also maybe a bit lonely. Only a bit, but you know.

This year, hykue had the idea of putting together an "orphan potluck". So many of our friends are away from our families. Why have a little chicken in our homes alone, when we have so many wonderful friends. So it was decided to have the potluck here- we have the best dining area, and plus it would mean that I could roast the turkey.

We corralled friends, and here's who showed up:

The lovely glapaloopscap, of course- we worked all day yesterday to make the apartment ready.
Lisa and her boyfriend Mike, who brought delicious roast pepper and mushroom salad, garlic bread, and some good Okanagan wine (and some chairs, since we only have 4)
coldconfusion, who brought pumpkin pie
hykue, who brought juice, and a pomegranate, and homemade apple crisp, and some broccoli to steam (and a steamer), and forks and knives (because we only have flatware service for 4), and smiles and awesome. Julie rocks!
tattiana_mai, and Hugh who brought a fantastic baked gnocchi in a garlicky tomato sauce that rocked, and home made orange and date muffins (and two more chairs - see above)

In addition to the turkey, stuffing and gravy, I also whipped up a batch of the cranberry, mint and rosemary compote that always goes over so well.

This was, I think, the best thanksgiving ever. The feast was so over-the-top amounts of food, and there was much laughter and happiness. We paused just before we ate, and had a quiet moment of reflection on our good fortune, an acknowledgement of our thanks, if you will. Kind of like when Christians say grace. It isn't a bad idea - to take a moment of reflection before indulging in what must be one of the greatest pleasures in life - a feast with friends.

I made way WAY too much of everything. I think if everybody had been starving, and there had been no other food than just the turkey, we would STILL have outrageous leftovers. But only five people ate the turkey, and there was so much other awesome bounty, it was just too much to take.

The turkey turned out SO well. I tried a few different techniques for this one, and the end result was so good. First, I brined the bird overnight.
( Recipe for brine here )

Second, I barded the breast meat. Since the breast meat wants to be cooked to a lower temperature than the dark meat, one effective (and delicious) way of keeping the temperature of the breasts lower is coating them in bacon. I used guanciale from Oyama, and it seems to have worked gorgeously.

Thirdly, if you haven't already got one, please PLEASE get a Digital Remote Probe Thermometer. I love being able to monitor the internal temperature of a roast while it is still in the oven.

A party in my mouth

So I've wanted for ages to try playing with pop rocks culinarily. My golden opportunity has arrived, but I'm unprepared! People have been telling me about the Fireworks ever since we got to Vancouver, and now the time has arrived, and I'm working very very close to a perfect spot to watch them from. Last night was Canada's entry in the competition, and it was stunning:


Seriously- just really really amazing. I've never seen a fireworks show like that in my life. I can't wait to see the other countries entries.

I just wish I had thought in advance to develop a speciality for the occasion involving pop rocks. Because I think that would be clever and fun.

Now to practice my set for tomorrow night.

Well... it's been a week since my mom was here. The meal that I prepared for her when she was here turned out very well. I have some pictures:

Amuse: Thai Coconut Soup with tempura sunflower sprouts

As you may recall, I was having trouble figuring out the accompaniment with this amuse. It was the chef who provided the idea for tempura sunflower sprouts, and they worked very well indeed. Unfortunately, my guests forgot to get a picture of the initial presentation, so they photographed the aftermath instead. Jeska was a bit late arriving, so I sent her out a single, which they did manage to get a shot of:

(hooray edible flowers!) I was disappointed that my tasting menu didn't have an opportunity to use these beautiful tempered glass plates that we have, so when the time came to send out this single amuse to Jeska, I saw my chance and I seized it. Aren't these pretty? Anyway, moving on:

First App: Foie Gras torchon, Manchego, Vanilla Poached Strawberries, Ginger Beer reduction, smoked sea salt.

The closer plate is out of focus, but you can see the further one more clearly:


Not sure that this worked quite as well as I hoped. Oh well.

Next was:
Second App: Roast Beef Spring Roll with Spicy Okanogan Apricot sauce- Fresh, rice paper wrapped salad roll with beef prime rib, horseradish aioli, mint, cilantro and sunflower sprouts

Sadly, this course doesn't seem to have been documented visually. :(


Salad: Orange, Yellow and Purple Heirloom tomatoes- served with thai basil sprigs, black lava salt, and panko crusted fried fresh mozzarella

That was followed by:
Intermezzo: Watermelon and bubbly shooters

Again, unfortunately this doesn't seem to have been photographed, but I think it went over very well.

Entrée: Maple-Tamarind Glazed Pork Tenderloin Medallions, truffled green pea puree, pomme dauphinoises and roasted baby heirloom beets

This course turned out SO well, I'm quite disappointed that it wasn't photographed. :(

And finally:

Dessert: Lemon Cheesecake with rhubarb sauce and saké-mirin stuffed local raspberries

This plate presentation is my nod to the 1980s. The truth of it is I was extremely busy, and didn't have enough time to create something a bit less clinical/minimal/nouvelle cuisine. I was laughing about this as I plated it, but I guess it kind of works. It just seems very... ridiculous... I guess.

Everybody loved it, which is great. It's funny to me how many burgers and fries I did in the midst of cooking this meal. The place where I'm working is pretty cool like that- we've got a pretty killer foie gras torchon, and our house smoked duck is awesome, but the real money is in the burgers and *dun dun DUN* brunch. *shudder*

My favourite part of this meal was the few times during service that I could hear my mom's laugh out in the dining room. It was amazingly good to see her. So wonderful to spend even a little time with my mom. The next day I showed her around the neighbourhood and we pretty much hung out. It was great fun, as could have been expected, after almost a year away.

What I really didn't expect was the melancholy that I felt after mom went back home. I mean, I've had my moments of homesickness, and for sure, I miss my parents. But after mom left, it was on a different level. It didn't really hit me right away. We went for an underwhelming meal at a restaurant called Milestones, and what was lacking in the menu/decor/setting/etc was more than made up for in company. Jeska and I, mom, and a bunch of family having a lot of fun. We parted ways at around sunset, and I got up early the next morning to go to work.

It wasn't until after I got off work that BOOM, all of a sudden I realized that I miss my parents more than ever before. Is this normal? If so, what is it going to be like after I go home for one week?

Anyway, fortunately the feeling seems to subside after some days, but it was rough for a while. I suspect that I will need my friends to distract me once I get back in September. Party time, ok?

Looks like I'm going to be spinning in one week at Organix. I've got a bunch of new music, so watch out. Also we've got some specials for tomorrow. Hmm... what to do with halibut cheeks and ling cod? I've got some smoked duck fat that I reserved, and I'm trying to infuse some vinegar with juniper. Lets see where that leads us. Halibut Cheek "Gravlox"...? hmmm.....

OK, the meal went very well, I hope to have pictures to show soon, but first I wanted to say thank you to the anonymous commenter who writes:

This is a fantastic story. As a young cook still learning and working my way up in this industry, I find myself relating to your words with my own experiences walking into a new kitchen. Having to prove yourself to a chef who might just be impossible to impress.
I totally enjoyed reading this. Thanks for sharing

In response to my post from back when I was staging at the Prince George in Halifax. The post that I made regarding that day was epic.

Wow, three years later, and my heart is still in my throat reading that. I had definitely forgotten many of the details, but I'm glad that I have the timing written down. Man, I was there for an hour and I was almost ready to go when the power failed. Not too bad.

It's funny- apparently, because my blog somehow got a high google rank for a few years, that post showed up on google searches for the PG, and management/ownership of that hotel found me. A year later, the chef told me that they had actually discussed my experience at length at a management meeting, talking about how the establishment is viewed by outside.

It certainly was a day to remember, and I'm glad I wrote that post that night, because I've actually lost a lot of it. PTSD maybe?

Anyway, thank you anonymous poster, for reminding me of that time. I hope everything goes well for you in your career.

Edit: Oh yes! Do me a favour and check out http://www.scriptedfun.com/herder/
I've been having so much fun with this! My best score is 91 so far. See how well you can do!

Tonight (I hope)

Amuse: Thai Coconut Soup with .... something

First App: Foie Gras torchon, Manchego, Vanilla Poached Strawberries, Ginger Beer reduction, smoked sea salt.

Second App: Roast Beef Spring Roll with Apricot sauce- Fresh, rice paper wrapped salad roll with beef prime rib, horseradish aioli, mint, cilantro and sunflower sprouts

Salad: Orange, Yellow and Purple Heirloom tomatoes- served with thai basil sprigs, black lava salt, and panko crusted fried fresh mozzarella (di bufala? hopehopehope)

Intermezzo: Watermelon and bubbly shooters

Entrée: Maple-Tamarind Glazed (Pork Tenderloin Medallions?), truffled green pea puree, pomme dauphinoises and roasted baby heirloom beets

Dessert: Lemon Cheesecake with rhubarb sauce and (ice wine?) stuffed local raspberries

Considering how crazy busy we've been the past few days, I can only PRAY that this will go anything close to according to plan. I've got it pretty much ALL coming from my station, and a lot of the elements are on the menu already. By my count, I only have eight special preparations to do for this menu. Nine, once you include cutting the cheesecake into tasting menu size portions. If I can manage to clear away a shelf in my fridge to store all these components, then I just *might* be able to pull it off.

Or it could be a total disaster and I'll end up shooting myself in the foot.

I think that Chef and I are on the same page when it comes to doing special shit like this though. I guess I'll find out today. I'm going in about 4 hours early. I hope he lets me try this.

Hopefully somebody will get a few pictures, one way or another.

My plan 'B' is everybody gets cheeseburgers. And fries.

Well, after making a semi big deal about the last place where I worked, I'm much more reluctant to enthuse semi publicly about my new job. Yes, to my surprise and dismay, it turns out that the Revel Room decided that I am not a "fit" for their establishment.

I'm now working at a new place, and it is going well.

I did my first special last night. Roasted Rack of Berkshire Pork, with baby zucchini and patty pans, served with an apricot salsa, dressed with a smoked jalapeno and mango aioli.

It was super awesome. I'm working with people who I like, who are passionate about food. It's all I really want.

Oh man. I have been thinking about this post all evening. At first, I thought that I'd start by talking about how Claudio taught me about grilling heads of Romaine, and how much I love them, or something... y'know give some fancy pants cooking directions or something. But now, sitting here, I'm so excited/happy/elated that I have to just write it out directly. We had our first special tonight! Chef and I developed it, and it was very well received.

Then I got off early (started early too), got to see the sunset, walked the long way home, and have beers now. Two days off in a row! woo!

OK, so as for the special, it so happened that we had a case of Green Leaf lettuce for some reason. I asked chef about it, and he said that we had gotten the case for a menu item that didn't end up on the menu. Hey, well... we should try cooking it!

Turns out he's got this chili-lime vinaigrette, and I know that grilled lettuce is awesome. We've got these killer jet burners for our woks, so we can easily accomplish extremely high heat searing.

Witness the birth of tonight's Wok-Seared Green Leaf salad with chili-lime vinaigrette. boom!

The reason I'm so excited is... well, come to think of it, I haven't actually created ANY specials since I left the Press Gang. *contented sigh* I knew it was a good idea to go and work at RR.

oh yeah, my set last night? Let's just say- Chicken Squawk! Woo-hoo!!!!

Two months ago, over on VideoSift I promised a "how-to" cooking blog. I kind of lost track back then. I think the best way is to private message me with requests, and then sporadically, when the mood strikes, I'll try to answer them here and there.

Two months ago, deputydog asked:
is there somewhere i can go for my mature cheddar cheese addiction?

This is a serious problem which affects us all. Cheese addiction affects over 50 percent of the population, ruining families, and destroying lives.

What are the symptoms of cheese addiction? There are many, but the foremost is a marked desire to consume large amounts of delicious, delicious cheese at every given opportunity. For deputydog it may just be mature cheddar, for countless others it may be Mozzarella Di Buffala, Limberger, Manchego, Castello di Roma, Parmigiano, Piave, Chevre, or Brie.

Other symptoms include

Uncontrollable salivation at the mere mention of gooey, luxurious melted raclette,

Urges to find and eat crispy toasted provolone

Lust for even just a picture of some aged emmental cheese with its wonderful holes.

Knowledge of all local Greek restaurants and which serve the best flamed Kefalograviera cheese (Street name: Saganaki)

While the problem is multifaceted, people should be aware of some of the so-called "gateway cheeses" like creme fraiche, cottage cheese (sometimes known by its street name 'curds'), or ricotta. "I'll just have a little, it goes well with some fresh apple slices" a young person might think. Before long, it's cream cheese and mascarpone, then exotics like cambozola or tallegio, and soon after they are spending their entire pay cheque on hard cheeses like Peccorino Romano or Grana Padano. It's a sad story that professionals such as myself see day after day.

Other dangers include cheese burgers. These, seemingly innocent food items, can send a chronic cheese addict over the edge, into binge consumption. Especially dangerous are so called 'blue cheese' burgers, with their insidious use of seriously habit forming cheeses like stilton, roquefort or gorgonzola.

Lasagna; Omlettes; Pizza; Salads; Sandwiches; Soups; Chicken; Pork; Vegetables like Rapini, Broccoli, Asparagus, Cauliflower; Mushrooms, the list of foods that a serious addict may consume with his habit is almost endless.

For example, a sautee of fresh nova scotia fiddleheads in some olive oil chilies and garlic, then deglazed with a dry white wine and served with melted danish blue is pure ecstasy to the afflicted.

Or a deep rich french onion soup with a garlic rubbed crostini of baguette with some grated gruyere toasted on the top can warm the soul of a poor cheese addict like almost nothing else.

Or even the simple grilled cheese sandwich! With the addition of a few filets of anchovy, and use of a suitable cheese like Mozzarella di Bufala, this traditional 'gateway dish' becomes something more- a habit forming problem of its own.

So in conclusion, there is no easy answer for a serious cheese addiction. While many programs exist, the mere sight of a tray of fresh fruit, sage darby, asiago, manchego and boschetto al tartufo will send even the hardest rehab graduate spiralling back into their love of all things cheesy.

My recommendation is to embrace your addiction. Find people who enable you, and then find yourself the nearest cheese shop- and indulge!

I think I'll have some smoked gouda myself! mmmmm!

(edit: Little known fact: if you write a long paean proclaiming your love of cheese -- it doesn't matter how cleverly or wittily you disguise it as a dire warning -- Within a short period of time you will DIE if you don't eat some delicious delicious cheese. Thank god glapaloopscap had a stash of havarti in the fridge.)

As a food nerd, a classically trained Italian cook, a lexophile logophile* and a candidate for early-onset curmudgeonity, is there any wonder that the pronunciation of the word bruschetta is a serious sticking point with me?

The very first restaurant that I worked at was the Cellar Bar & Grill in downtown Halifax. Most of the people there pronounced it brushetta. There was one wonderful spanish lady named Maria, who I will never forget. She steadfastly and consistently pronounced it properly. She didn't (that I recall) try to correct anybody, nor did their egregious mispronunciation seem to phase her in the least.

After my brief time working there, I went to work at Piccolo Mondo. It was there that I learned the truth. Any person caught saying brushetta at PM was immediately scolded and corrected. Our caesar salads were Insalate Cesare, and woe be unto the person mispronouncing gnocchi.

A little bit of leniency was observed for words like Tagliatelle due to the difficulty of the 'gli' sound for english speakers- we got away with just sort of turning the glia into a kind of 'ya' or 'ia' sound. But bruschetta was sacrosanct.

After I graduated from Piccolo Mondo, I discovered that English speakers, as a group, tend to really dislike being corrected on their pronunciation of bruschetta. Suddenly I was the snooty minority. For years, and even to this day, my skin just crawls when I hear somebody say 'brushetta'.

At some point, somebody opined to me that pronouncing bruschetta the Italian way seems almost 'putting on airs' like somebody pronouncing Paris as 'Paree'.

I think this is absurd. These are the same people that will make fun of a customer for mispronouncing 'guhnocky' telling me that it is uppity to pronounce bruschetta correctly?

Fast forward to Cru. I was working the station that was responsible for the bruschetta. Time and time again, the chef would call for 'brushetta'. There is no way I'm going to correct her. So I thought back to my days at The Cellar in Halifax. My old friend Maria, always saying bruschetta in a kitchen that refused to believe it.

Turns out, this is the best strategy. Don't preach. Don't correct others. Just be correct yourself. Every time chef called "ordering one brushetta" I would answer "One bruschetta".

I even heard them say it a few times eventually, to my eternal satisfaction.

Definitely a lesson that has much broader implications. If I were a professional writer, I'd probably take the specific example of doing what I know to be correct in my heart, and generalize it to life, morality, and the Canadian Way. But I'll leave that to you, the reader to do for yourself.

Maybe you can think of a better example from your life. When did you do something that you knew was correct, quietly, consistently, even though everybody else around you was incorrect?

PS: As an aside- I'm not the only one with a bee in their bonnet regarding bruschetta. The Wikipedia article even has an audio file linked with the proper pronunciation.
* (thank you, fellow logophile semiotic_trader)

Well, i have to say- so far so good. Jessica and I went adventuring downtown today. We laughed at the throng of last minute christmas shoppers, were in awe of the snow covered mountains, and found a FANTASTIC little asian noodle/tapas place on uh... robson or something.

I don't think I've mentioned how much I heart heart heart heart the library here- especially the main branch. It's a work of art. No, really- look it up. Wow. Anyway, I noticed that the map out front of the Library had... THE CRAW!
No, not the "Craw" -- THE CRAW!

That's a joke for my mom. I doubt anybody else will get it, but I'll tell you that it is a reference to Get Smart and say no more.

We went to T&T, my favourite supermarket EVER, as I've detailed before. I have never ever worked with live shrimp, and let me tell you it is a HOOT! Jessica and I were daring each other to eat them sashimi style. I'm embarrassed to admit that I wimped out on the roe, but we each ate a tail. Man, talk about an intense experience!

We're just chillin. We watched the 1989 Batman, with Michael Keaton, we watched Cars, we're reading.

We just barely made it to the liquor store on time. We got a bottle of cheap bubbly, and some rhum to go in the egg nog, aaaaand... a bottle of 2005 Chablis! Go ahead and try to find a chablis in nova scotia. You aren't going to be lucky, we looked. Anyway, we raised our glasses to my dad, who strongly recommended chablis to me last summer, but I was unable to find any. Very nice.

So dinner plans. Everybody likes my food posts. Well, tomorrow, we're going roast chicken and sweet potato, with some cranberry-mint-rosemary compote, smashed new potatoes and broccoli. Oh and my mom's secret stuffing recipe. I won't say too much but I'll tell you that it PROBABLY ISN'T stove top stuffing from a box, and it's TOTALLY CULINARILY HUGE and PROPER and I'm not lying! Ah yes, comfort food at it's best.

But tonight we had PAELLA!

I had some paella at a place called Centro last friday, and it was ... fine. Actually, no it was really boring. I said to Jessica, it was probably about a 3/10. Honestly, to make a shrimp that insipid, you need to really be doing SOMETHING wrong. Now, in their defense, we DID stipulate that we were in a hurry, so I shouldn't really even be writing this on the internets.

In any case, it inspired me to make my own and just LOOK!


Yeah, we bought WAY too much shellfish. Live shrimps, manilla clams, mussels- yum. Ooh and cuttlefish. Apparently, it is an italian tradition to only eat fish on Christmas Eve. There wasn't actually enough room in the pan for all the awesome.
Last christmas eve you might remember I was grilling lobster with my dad. That was awesome. Lobster and beer with pops. Tonight's Paella and Chablis with my fiance was similarly awesome.

What else? Well, I have been experimenting with the recordings I took from Organix last week. Oh wait, I didn't mention that before? Yeah, I'm hoping to record my set next week, and get all you crazy kids yelling and showing support in the mix, too. It's COMPLICATED. I rented mics and a mixer from Tom Lee, a music store on Granville. It is going to be a pain in the ass, and there are a LOT of difficulties, not the least of which is that they run the board so hot that it distorts. But hopefully I'll have a live mix to send home in the next few weeks.

I promised to talk a bit about the details of my set, but dammit it's xmas eve- I wanna chill and keep reading. Ken Follett's Whiteout is awesome- my favourite part is where he is dissing Marcel Proust HEAVY. Totally hilarious. Anyway, I'll talk psytrance later. For now- it's long winter's nap time. Vernor Vinge and Orson Scott Card, here I come.

Ciao.

John-Arthur: i cooked for my parents. it was so awesome

Jessica: yay! what did you make?

John-Arthur: amuse bouche was fried plantain chip with roasted sweet potato and rendered double smoked bacon

John-Arthur: first app was house smoked duck and grilled peach spring roll, house gravlox, served with cilantro aioli and aged balsamic vinegar

Jessica: what is gravlox?

John-Arthur: gravlox is juniper cured salmon. it is so awesome

Jessica: huh!
ok!

John-Arthur: very ginny
i bet my dad loved it
i'm not sure that the spring rolls really worked.... but i only had a bite of one, and it was too hot, so it was hard to tell
i'm going to have to ask my mom tomorrow
notice the aged balsamic? i brought it from home heh
ok so...

John-Arthur: second course was tartare of beef tenderloin served with an organic micro salad with yuzu and orange vodka vinaigrette

Jessica: oh yeah nice, our own balsamic

John-Arthur: so i bought the yuzu vinegar
it's crap
utter crap

Jessica: aw!

John-Arthur: it's SO tart, and not even hardly yuzu-y
terrible
hm! yuzu is a fantastic scrabble word

Jessica: that is disappointing.
indeed!

John-Arthur: ok moving on
mango blood-orange sorbet

Jessica: NICE.

John-Arthur: oh right- i forgot- the second course had some havarti

Jessica: k

John-Arthur: no! first course havarti
with the gravlox

Jessica: oh

John-Arthur: the second course had some blueberry coulis to decorate the plate
it was awesome
ok
next course was lobster and porcini risotto with a parmesan sail
the whole thing just gooey with parmesan- delicious
except.... onozomg dad is allergic to cheese GRAGH!

Jessica: what happened?

John-Arthur: so i whisked away his risotto and whipped up some porcini sauteed sea scallops, garnished with pickled ginger

Jessica: yay!

John-Arthur: not too bad, eh?

Jessica: saved the day!

John-Arthur: actually, pickled ginger, scallops and porcini go surprisingly well together

Jessica: sounds delicious

John-Arthur: shockingly well, even

Jessica: yeah? you're going to have to make that for me sometime then

John-Arthur: and the shock of hot pink with the deep brown- almost maroon of the porcini sauce- pickled ginger is a really startling colour

Jessica: did you have time / camera to get any pics?

John-Arthur: it looked like... i dunno... it looked awesome
yeah, dad brought the camera and got pictures of all the plates, i think
ok, so on to entrees
main course was lavender glazed chop of australian lamb, served with puree of roasted pear and mashed potato and steamed chinese long beans
roasted pear and mashed potato is SO GOD DAMN GOOD

Jessica: mmm, roasted pear
I believe it!

John-Arthur: seriously, it blew my freaking mind
oh god, i should have put truffle oil on it!
anyway, it is awesome, truely awesome- everybody else thought so too- it's probably going on the feature menu next week

Jessica: nice!

John-Arthur: finally dessert- a brulee of chocolate and kahluha with grilled pineapple, house made bailey's ice cream and fresh raspberries

Jessica: oh YUM.

John-Arthur: we got bailey's- c-creamy- and everything we need.

Jessica: snort
still laughing.

John-Arthur: ok i wrote this, after describing the meal to the chogster:
it took over 3 hours to eat all of this
hell, it took me like five minutes just to type out what all it was
my parents took pictures of all the food when it came out
so i should be able to show you soonish
it was dead slow at the restaurant too, so we all got to focus our energy on cooking for them
they were entertaining the director of the marblehead to halifax race as well as the judge and his wife
i'm so glad they came in- they really got to see me at the top of my game tonight
i'm cooking better than I ever have before, and creating these fantastic dishes...
i'm really proud of the job that i did, and that everybody did- proud of the food that we served them
i had nothing at all to do with the dessert

Jessica: oh!

John-Arthur: kat and our new scotsman neil came up with that, and it was perfect
the risotto was a collaberative effort between chef matt and our line cook shawn

Jessica: cool that your dad got to impress his sailing friends with his cheffy son!

John-Arthur: matt, kat and I came up with and executed the pear/potato together
it was ... it was the perfect drill

Jessica: jeah
I'm glad it worked out!
especially since you were having trouble with ideas this morning

John-Arthur: the only fish that went out was the lobster risotto which was not at all fishy- it was earthy instead with the mushroom, and the gravlox and scallops which were so clearly the PERFECT thing to give to dad, i'm sure mom understands- hell, she didn't even get the scallops
no repetition of flavours

Jessica: :D

John-Arthur: a steady pace of courses without being "relentless"
it was... perfect
oh re: the dessert- what i said before isn't entirely true- i grilled the pineapple- but it was kat + neil's project

Jessica: sure, fair enough

John-Arthur: they gave me the pineapple and said grill it
my mom LOVES raspberries so i bet she loved that

Jessica: raspberries are awesome.

John-Arthur: i was hoping to work in some anise flavour for her because she loves licorice, but it didn't work out

Jessica: oh well. another time!

John-Arthur: heh
i don't know when i'm going to be able to cook another fancy meal for them

Jessica: true enough
but there will be other times.

John-Arthur: this totally blew away all the other fancy meals i've cooked for them

Jessica: just... not for a while.
awesome!

John-Arthur: AND they didn't have to deal with ANY dishes or stress in the kitchen

Jessica: they are all proud of you :)

John-Arthur: hell I didn't even need to stress in the kitchen
i not only had the infrastructure around me- ie:equipment, par stock, par prep, mise en place, stocked bar, ingredients, etc...
but i had a team of talented chefs helping me
AND a dishwasher

Jessica: nice to have staff eh?

John-Arthur: but in the end.... it really felt like I was cooking for them
even if shawn cooked the lamb and risotto, even if matt wrapped the spring rolls earlier in the day for me... it was my show
i got to be chef for that table
sigh
it was so awesome

Jessica: I'm glad it worked out that way!

John-Arthur: mom took meticulous notes, so i'm going to debrief her at length tomorrow

Jessica: sweet, so you can get detailed feedback

John-Arthur: yeah! and pictures!

Jessica: oh yes, pictures!

Oh the games we chefs play. Last night we had a fantastic drill. The first course was Tempura Halibut served with flash-fried polenta "fries", Cilantro Aioli and Tomatillo "ketchup".

The second course was grilled medallion of beef tenderloin on grilled flatbread, with a (HUGE) piece of seared foie gras, some nice shoots, caperberry, grape tomato, and fennel slaw.

Then some of my kick-ass green apple and gin sorbet

Main course was Bacon Confited Chicken Thigh with pan roasted corn cake "waffle" and chipotle demiglace. ... I'm certain there were more components on that plate...

anyway, it was the most fun we've had in a while, because the first course was "fish and chips" followed by "burger and slaw" and finishing with "chicken and waffle"

:)

Hm, what can I say, I've got a bunch of stuff saved up to talk about.

The other night we had some customers in that ordered the drill and loved it- an adjective that they used to describe their experience was 'exciting'.

I love it. This makes me happy. This is why I am so enjoying my position now.

At least one of the courses that they got was this:

orach leaf, green and white asparagus parmesan-fiddlehead tart, seared foie gras, and beet-balsamic ice cream and grilled medallion of beef tenderloin

..

that's right- ice cream with steak.

omg.


So anyway, yeah, still loving it. Check out this special that Chef and I developed for this week, since fiddleheads are about:

Fiddlehead trio- Parmesan-Fiddlehead Tart, Sauteed in Butter and Garlic, Tempura battered with Mirin, Soya, and Sesame


Love. :)

I wonder if roasted red pepper ice cream goes with steak...?

In other news, new plates next week. woo!

No pics, unfortch, but how about...

Seared Rare Marlin, with Orange-Coriander Demiglace, wilted Arugala and Miso-Marinated Roasted Portobello

Chop of Australian Lamb stuffed with Chevre and Chive, Wrapped in Prosciutto uh... with more stuff, i think...? I wasn't involved with middle course, because I was busy preparing:

Lavender Sorbet

Medallion of Beef Ribeye with baked and then chargrilled potato, Foie Gras Confit of Cape Gooseberries, Salmon and Spinach wrapped in Phylo Pastry

...

Did I mention I love my job?

Oh yes, I have one more piece of advice for people who want the best drills. If you recall I had mentioned that if you call ahead we can do up even better drills for you, and obviously monday and tuesday are going to be better for you than say, friday or saturday.

But here's another tip- come in at 5:30. There is usually a period of an hour or two where we are not yet busy with other tables. Hopefully we're all done our prep and ready to cook for you, as we eat our supper. That was how we were able to really play with the drill I described above. It was our very first table, and the board was clear from distractions. SO MUCH FUN!

Now, what on earth am I going to do with rapini and brioche today...?

Back at the paperchase cafe once more. This really is the best coffee shop in Halifax. Much thanks to glapaloopscap for getting a picture of me in my favourite seat here. My only problem is no power outlet nearby, so no go if my laptop isn't charged. They have couches too, but i like this booth.

So to start, let me say that I went to a rave on Saturday night. You read that correctly- a RAVE. Ever since my experience at SubRosa some months ago, I have been struggling to figure out what is different now. What is SO broken about the rave scene in Halifax. Finally, on Saturday, I think I figured it out.

The biggest difference is attitude. Raves used to be special, new, and exciting. The constant influx of new ravers back in the nineties really did make it seem fresh every time. People dressed up. People acted silly. People were there for a good time.

See, while I am not personally a heavy drug user, I've tried some occasionally (oh hi mom!) and, full disclosure, they can be fun. But it's not what I'm into. It just feels fake. But having said that, I believe that drugs are emphatically NOT what's wrong with the rave scene. Drugs use has always been part of this movement, and I've always supported the sober-raver movement, and drug harm reduction by the way of education, pill-testing, or what have you.

No, it's all too easy to say, "oh, too much drugs is the problem". I agree there is rampant drug use. But the issue becomes insurmountable when the drugs are the MAIN reason that people are going to raves. SubRosa was like a grotesque caricature of the worst elements of what used to be a beautiful and thriving electronic dance community.

Saturday night reminded me what it used to be like, and made me proud of my city once again. Shiny happy people. Glo-Sticks, Fuzzy Boots, cute hats and hot skirts. Hippies, goths, punks, lesbians, candy kids and nerds dancing together. People united by an unignorable bass beat, compelling us to dance, late, late into the night. People rejoicing in the effect of repetitive, relentless drums. The archaic revival once more.

So yeah, I'm glad that it wasn't just me. It really was the scene. And it really can still be different. You can bet that you'll see me at the next one on May 5th. I might even bring glow sticks. (scandal!)

---

I posted a method of roasting chicken last week that blew me away with its simplicity, price, and flavour. I liked it so much that I decided to try it again.

I got a bunch of photos, chronicling the dish from beginning (at pete's frootique) to the end (on the dinner table). All told it took 2.5 hours, but the majority of that time was waiting for dinner to cook. The total cost was 12 bucks.

Oh, plus $15 for a bottle of wine. The pictures are here:

From Roast Chicken

I'll put proper captions soon, I promise. :)
And that's about it for today.

Oh yeah, one last thing- congrats to Jesse on getting number 1 AGAIN. Cheers, bro.

Oh yes, you KNOW you love it! :) This is my feature menu item this week. We've gotten in some gorgeous 16/20 Shrimps, which I have poached in a court boullion and chilled. Then I've marinated julienne of daikon, cucumber and carrot in cilantro, mint, lime juice and a touch of fish sauce. This is my thai "slaw", which I've wrapped in a thin slice of cucumber and garnished with Maldon Sea Salt (the salt is a bit melty in this pic, but oh well). Finally I've popped some black wild rice to sprinkle on the plate as a garnish as well.

So things are going pretty well at work. We now have three matts working- chef, sous-chef and our new intern is also named matt. It's a bit confusing, but at the same time, it is so exciting to have all this new talent in the kitchen. Chef and I are definitely on the same wavelength when it comes to plate presentation. I wish I had gotten a few more pictures last night. All week we're running a salmon plate (we got shorted on Mahi-Mahi :( ) which is pan seared, then roasted with cilantro puree, then served with corn cakes, grilled corn and a smoked tomatillo katsup. The presentation of that dish is super hot. :) Definitely makes me a happy boy.

Now, I don't know if I've raved about the tasting menu we have on our a la carte or not, but I've always thought that it was my favourite thing about working at the pgng. Basically, we have an option where people say we'll eat whatever you bring us, and we put together a 5 course tasting menu on the spot for them. We call it the Chef's Drill.

It's always exciting (especially on a monday or tuesday if it's slow and we have time to do some extra special), and we often get new ideas for our specials. Usually pans will do a fish or shellfish first app, then grill (that's me!) will do a meaty second- then we send a sorbet, and grill and pans collaborate on the main.

Last night we had a drill main that blew my mind. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture, but here's what was on the plate:

Herbed Potato Rosti, with Raspberry Infused Breast of Brome Lake Duck, Pan Seared Sea Scallops with Chipotle Compound Butter.

Sounds good, and the presentation was even better.

As you might expect, with new responsibilities it's not all sunshine and roses. It's always difficult to adjust to a position, and this one is fairly demanding. Aside from the burns and cuts that we all love so much, it's the mental strain that is tough. Monday and Tuesday were both really heavy on the grill, and on Monday I got buried. Ask any cook, and it is those moments when the "heat of battle" metaphor starts to really kick in. It is exhausting, and when the customers end up waiting for their food, it really takes a tole. Such was the case on Monday.

I got off work, still a bit stressed, since my prep list for the next day was as long as my arm, and slouch back up the street home. As I went to put the key in my door, I heard Jeska inside on the phone. I only listened for a moment, but it sounded like she's distressed- perhaps she's just gotten an exam back and is crying and stressing on the phone with her mom.

To my shame, my first reaction was not- "OMG, I better go comfort Jessica", and rush in and listen to her stressing and freaking. Sometimes, it seems... you just don't have the strength. I decided that I needed a pint of brew first. I was still so tightly wound that I couldn't deal with more stress right at that moment.

I went down to Ginger's and ran into none other than trmanning, fresh from Japan. He's just visiting though, so it was good to see him. I explained my situation, and he seemed to sympathize. So, 30 minutes later, I feel better and rush back home.

Turns out I was mistaken all along! Jeska got 6 points above the class average on that exam. Woo! Go her! Boo on me! ;)

I had one more thing to share with you all today. As you may already know Ideas in Food is my favourite food blog. About a week ago, they posted a fantastic, basic recipe which I boiled down even further on Sunday. Here is thier version: Please Try This at Home.

For my version, I just took a chicken, split it down its back, and placed it on a bed of seasoned, roughly chopped rapini. Then I roasted the whole thing at 350 degrees. The whole thing took about 5 minutes of preparation time, and cost under $10. And was so CRAZY delicious I can hardly even believe it.

I say try it!

So, I don't like the pictures I got of our new feature menu that started yesterday, but I really like the presentation of this one:

Grilled Vegetable "Tower", Beet and Roast Jalapeno Coulis, Big Crouton

I created the coulis, at Matt's request. Everything else was his creation. A bit more current, I think.

I'll say this though- I hate our plates. Seriously, I don't think those stupid swirls were EVER fashionable. guh.

Then again, our old chef hated them too. He's been pushing for more contemporary plates for as long as I've worked there. I'm sure that was a symptom of the problems that caused him to leave. I hope that the company realises this and gets us some sexier gear.

In response to the anonymous commenter who asked why I wasn't considered for the sous-chef position, I'm not that upset. I'm fairly certain that it was one of Matt's conditions for working was to be able to institute his own sous. The way the hierarchy works in our kitchen, sous-chef and grill chef are not far apart. In fact, I expect that they are going to try and get me on salary in the next weeks. We are losing, in total, three salaried cooks, and one other line cook. Matt and Matt are going to be chef and sous- I expect to fill that third position, although i'm not sure that I want to be on salary.

Oh yeah! In other news, looks like i'm doing a good job on the grill:
Review of my restaurant

Although the restaurant is very busy, our server is attentive; but she doesn't quality-check our main courses. Fortunately, there is no need to. The medallions of beef tenderloin ($36) are cooked perfectly, as is the salmon in phyllo pastry ($27)
...
On to dessert, a pecan apricot tart ($8) and flourless chocolate espresso cake ($9). The tart is served with a tiny scoop of ice cream, which it doesn't really need, but who am I to turn away ice cream? The chocolate cake is the best version of a flourless cake I've ever had—the texture is silky, almost mousse-like, and the hint of espresso keeps it from being too sweet.

Wow, I'm certain that this review was written my very first night on the grill. Since we change our flavour of mashed potato every night, it makes it pin-pointable, and I think we did rosemary last friday. This means that I cooked their steak, AND that I made the desserts that they are raving about. woot! Go me!

Well, I'm the new grill chef at work, that's pretty cool. I bought me a few super sweet knives too. Love for new steel.

Also, I wanted to brag about my new GOLD STAR on VideoSift.com. Check me out: http://djsunkid.videosift.com/

I just spawned my collective, which is focussed on Italian-American Culture. You can find that here: http://goomba.videosift.com/ I'm especially proud of my godfather/videosift mashup for the group avatar.

Another couple of collectives that I'm into are http://cooking.videosift.com and http://obscure.videosift.com . Check'em out.

I've been tagged to do my top 5 worst culinary disasters, but I'm not up to it right now. Instead I wanted to share some food pics with y'all.

To start, I've got some great pictures from this past Sunday, when Jeska and I went to visit Kendra in the middle of nowhere in the Annapolis Valley. She was a wonderful host, and it was a lot of fun putting together some nice eats at her gorgeous house.

We started off with one of my favourites: Fresh Spring Rolls. I've done them with Smoked Mackeral before, and it is so awesome that I decided to try it again. This time, I had some beautiful little kiwiberries, so I decided to make a coulis with them to go with the rolls.


Next up, another variation on a theme that I've done before: Seared King Oyster Mushrooms, draped with Norwegian Blue Cheese, served with Ginger Beer Reduction and Essence of White Truffle.

Notice the "action" shot. Whee, fire! :)

For main course, I managed to snag some sailfish from work- total score. We got some cashews and ended up with: Sailfish Filet Crusted with Cashew and Green Curry, Jasmine Scented Basmati, and Nova Scotia Smoked Bacon Sauteed Bok Choy.


Finally Kendra had some perfect home made apple pie. It was a totally awesome night.

Moving ahead to wednesday, since C and I are the only ones that are going to be left, we were made responsible for the weekly specials which start every Wednesday. Yesterday was our first. I figured I may as well get some pics of what we came up with. See if you can pick out which details are mine!

Appetizer -- Pan-Seared Tuna with a Purée of Roasted Garlic and Parsnip and Propellor Gingerbeer Reduction

Fish -- Roasted Salmon Filet Glazed with Miso, Ginger, and Garrison Red

Fowl -- Grilled Breast of Pheasant with Smoked Jalapeño and Tomato Coulis

Meat -- Grilled Medallions of Beef Tenderloin on a salad of Mixed Greens with a Spicy Grapefruit Vinaigrette

Pasta -- Ditali tossed in a Blue Cheese Cream Sauce with Asparagus, Pan-Seared Scallops and Essence of White Truffle


It all turned out quite well. Now what about next week...?