After a long hiatus of not eating out, and looking at a long run in the future, I’ve happened to eat at both the Greenhouse Tavern and Fat Head Brewery within the past 8 days. I’m happy to say that between the two places I spent less than $100, including drinks, which is very impressive and important these days. Generally I liked all the food I ate. I had chicken wings at both places. This isn’t because I’m a chicken wing fanatic, but is why my bill came in so low. Both places did wings differently, and very good. The Greenhouse wing that had no skin, where very crispy, borderline dry, with no sauce, but they where amazingly tender and the meat fell off the bone in a mind blowing fashion. I have to find out how they do that. I’m not a fan of really crisp wings, which these were, but they were very enjoyable. The FHB has two wings on their menu, fried and smoke house. We got the smokehouse with honey chipotle sauce. The wings tasted great, served whole which I liked, and there was a very full meaty smoked flavor. The sauce was pleasantly hot, but overpowered the finesse of the smoking.
Beer, Beer, and more Beer!!! Greenhouse had a nice list of artisanal beers, a limited number on tap though. FHB had some 50 beers on tap. Matt Cole is the brew master there, formerly of Rocky River Brew Co. I was not a fan of RRBC beers. They all tasted the same, and /or overly flavored. This is very much not the case at FHB. We tasted 4 different house made brews and all were very different, flavorful and filling.
The green factor was mostly absent at the Greenhouse. I was hoping the server would pontificate the environmental responsibility of the ceiling tiles or something to draw my attention to the amount of time and money spent on making the restaurant a responsible one. Instead we found half filled labeless wine bottle on our table. After a quick inquiry, a unanimous discussion was made to push what was described as ‘table water’ to the side. I’m not drinking water from a bottle that’s been sitting on the table before I sat down. We were advised of a $5 split plate charge on a pasta dish that we all agreed was rather excessive. Give the explanation that it’s an ‘inconvenience’ to the kitchen did not soften the blow given my personal flexibility with splitting plates or sharing ect…
To charge for bread or not, that is the question. Unfortunately most dinners would agree that a good dinner starts with and overflowing glass of water that is always full, and an endless basket of bread with either butter or oil, whichever the restaurateur want to give me for free. For the environment we stopped pouring water endlessly, but bread? When I see how much goes into making bread, or how much money is spent on bread, it’s very understandable to charge for bread, but what if bread comes with an appetizer and you ask for more (3 people sharing 5 apps). To go against the grind is always hard, and this is something that has creeped up on us recently. In the kitchen I’ll tell you charge them for bread….and extra for the butter….but when I’m at the table I’m thinking, “everywhere else gives me a little piece of bread, what the hell?”
I’d go back to both, without question.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Local poll results
Local may be a word that can best be defined by what it isn’t rather than exactly what it is. For instance, local can be far away, but not too far away, and if you are at the cut off for far away and can see something just over the hill, well then that isn’t too far away either. Geography might only begin to describe what local means, for example Amish, are considered local to this area of North Eastern Ohio no matter the exact location of this specific group of people. Local could very well be defined by growing regions, but even these lines blur, but surely here in Cleveland I would shy away from local citrus fruit for example. All of these are ideas up for conversation, but from the poll results we can all agree on two things that local are not; first, anything grown in the USA, or secondly processed goods that use raw ingredients that are close to the processing plant while neither are close to you.
From what I’ve read in the NY Times the second of these two ideas that we agree are not within the definition of local are exactly the ideas that big business are pushing on use, and I’m both offended and scared by this. Organic labels means very little to me these days. The idea has been watered down to the point it too is better defined by what it isn’t rather than exactly what it is. I’ve discussed organic with farmers and dinners alike and most people convey that “organic” has a feeling of both corruption and elitism. Perhaps I’m interpreting this to the extreme. But it’s a slippery slope till labeling things as local gets the same stigma.
I regress, and wait patiently for my favorite farmers markets to open. Only 2 weeks till Lakewood and Kamms.
From what I’ve read in the NY Times the second of these two ideas that we agree are not within the definition of local are exactly the ideas that big business are pushing on use, and I’m both offended and scared by this. Organic labels means very little to me these days. The idea has been watered down to the point it too is better defined by what it isn’t rather than exactly what it is. I’ve discussed organic with farmers and dinners alike and most people convey that “organic” has a feeling of both corruption and elitism. Perhaps I’m interpreting this to the extreme. But it’s a slippery slope till labeling things as local gets the same stigma.
I regress, and wait patiently for my favorite farmers markets to open. Only 2 weeks till Lakewood and Kamms.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Must Read
With regard to the current poll, and my personal opinion of the state of food today I urge you to read this piece from the NY times. This is just the tip of the iceburg on how bad things can get. When prepared food companies give up on sourcing raw products in a honest, safe, humane way, the consumer is horribly in trouble. I guess it really comes down to, "every man for himself" in the world we live in today.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Leg of Lamb
Last week I wanted to play with a meat special or two. We are consistently offering multiple seafood specials, and they are moving out the door at a nice pace. Lamb was the perfect option. It’s more interesting that any old cut of beef off the grill, yet it’s familiar enough to draw people’s attention. I left a note to order 10 legs of lamb, when I really only wanted ten pounds. Luckily they ran small, between 2.5 and 3 pounds each. They were butchered wonderfully. They were not butterflied open and rolled up like I’ve seen in the past. The bone was cut out in a way as little of the meat was cut through as possible. The guys down at Dee Jay’s do an amazing job. The flavor profile was great as well. Very nice looking meat with little sinew or fat. I am very happy with this product and hope to find a place for it on the menu for the summer.
My first instinct was to simply roast the whole leg with some herbs, salt and lemon. It took about 40 minutes at 340 degrees to get a nice crust, but a rare inside which allowed a little leeway in re-heating the portions. I cut 6-7 oz portions to order, laying them on sizzle platters with parchment on top and a few drops of water. The platter sat of the flat top for just a few minutes to warm the meat up. We served this with either fingerling potato ‘steak fries’ or rosemary-roasted garlic whipped potatoes, sautéed Brussels sprouts, and either a cucumber-mint cream or smoked tomato vinaigrette. The end result was great. The meat was very tender, and the slow cooking rewarded us with an even doneness throughout.
After selling out of roasted lamb two days in a row it was time to mix things up! It’s been a long time since I had a nice, simple, chunky, fresh Greek salad the way my old friend Nick used to make us. I figured something so pleasantly simple would be a great base for lamb. So keeping with the Greek theme I cut up two legs into one inch dice, roughly 1oz portions and marinated it in dried oregano, black pepper, lemon zest, sea salt, lemon juice, lemon infused oil, and extra virgin olive oil. I don’t make a dressing per-se for my Greek salad, but I don’t like using straight red wine vinegar either. I make red wine syrup consisting of 1 part honey to 3 parts red wine vinegar and the slightest dusting of corn starch of which gets reduced to a loose syrup. I like to use this with olive oil over the vegetables, but the key is giving the whole thing a good hard stir, this way all the vegetables give up a little liquid to the dressing. The lamb got a hard sear for about 3 minutes in a non-stick skillet and a 2 minute rest off the heat where I squeezed a little fresh lemon juice overtop. This was an amazing meal. I don’t eat full meals very often at work, but I devoured one of these salads, and wanted more.
For this coming week I’ve begun work on a long time vision. I’ve had lamb Reuben knocking around in my head for years now, so finally it will happen. When 10 pieces of lamb where delivered last week instead of 10 pounds I knew this was my chance. I took three whole legs of lamb and started them in pickling brine for corned beef as described in Charcuterie by Ruhlman and Polcyn. (As a quick side note, I’m finding this book a true reference. I find myself referring to its pages more and more often. At first glance I wondered how relative it could be on a daily basis, but it provided a great jumping off point for a number of situations, and I can say that I’ve not been let down by any of the recipes.) The legs should be done in the brine tomorrow, Tuesday. I plan to cook them even slower than the roasted ones, an hour and a half at 325. Then cool it and slice it on the machine. I plan to use pickled red cabbage, a thick chunk of Middlefield Swiss, and a house made Thousand Island over rye of course. We will see what happens?
My first instinct was to simply roast the whole leg with some herbs, salt and lemon. It took about 40 minutes at 340 degrees to get a nice crust, but a rare inside which allowed a little leeway in re-heating the portions. I cut 6-7 oz portions to order, laying them on sizzle platters with parchment on top and a few drops of water. The platter sat of the flat top for just a few minutes to warm the meat up. We served this with either fingerling potato ‘steak fries’ or rosemary-roasted garlic whipped potatoes, sautéed Brussels sprouts, and either a cucumber-mint cream or smoked tomato vinaigrette. The end result was great. The meat was very tender, and the slow cooking rewarded us with an even doneness throughout.
After selling out of roasted lamb two days in a row it was time to mix things up! It’s been a long time since I had a nice, simple, chunky, fresh Greek salad the way my old friend Nick used to make us. I figured something so pleasantly simple would be a great base for lamb. So keeping with the Greek theme I cut up two legs into one inch dice, roughly 1oz portions and marinated it in dried oregano, black pepper, lemon zest, sea salt, lemon juice, lemon infused oil, and extra virgin olive oil. I don’t make a dressing per-se for my Greek salad, but I don’t like using straight red wine vinegar either. I make red wine syrup consisting of 1 part honey to 3 parts red wine vinegar and the slightest dusting of corn starch of which gets reduced to a loose syrup. I like to use this with olive oil over the vegetables, but the key is giving the whole thing a good hard stir, this way all the vegetables give up a little liquid to the dressing. The lamb got a hard sear for about 3 minutes in a non-stick skillet and a 2 minute rest off the heat where I squeezed a little fresh lemon juice overtop. This was an amazing meal. I don’t eat full meals very often at work, but I devoured one of these salads, and wanted more.
For this coming week I’ve begun work on a long time vision. I’ve had lamb Reuben knocking around in my head for years now, so finally it will happen. When 10 pieces of lamb where delivered last week instead of 10 pounds I knew this was my chance. I took three whole legs of lamb and started them in pickling brine for corned beef as described in Charcuterie by Ruhlman and Polcyn. (As a quick side note, I’m finding this book a true reference. I find myself referring to its pages more and more often. At first glance I wondered how relative it could be on a daily basis, but it provided a great jumping off point for a number of situations, and I can say that I’ve not been let down by any of the recipes.) The legs should be done in the brine tomorrow, Tuesday. I plan to cook them even slower than the roasted ones, an hour and a half at 325. Then cool it and slice it on the machine. I plan to use pickled red cabbage, a thick chunk of Middlefield Swiss, and a house made Thousand Island over rye of course. We will see what happens?
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Oh the pain!
I managed to cut my right point finger on the inside crease of the first knuckle. It's a tiny cut. In fact I don't remember it happening, and you can barely see it. It's almost like a crack more than a cut. Surely there is no blood to speak of. Unfortuanatly though, this is the finger I stick in the salt and pepper cups to season food all night. On top of that, I insisted on sqeezing fresh lemon juice on the sautee'd lamb. Now, a little salt and lemon juice never felt so good. Quick math, we did about 12o covers, lets say only 100 ordered entrees, and the other 20 orders a salad or something I don't cook, well, that's nothing, ok, about 3 things. So for every entree I cook at least one side that needs to be salted, then 80% of the proteins are cooked to order so another 80 items to be salted, plus 10 lemons squeezed. Jeeze, that's 190 plus clicks on the ouch meter. Good things I've got two days for that little stinger to heal.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Got Local?
It wasn’t long ago that a term like “local organic products” drew a small, yet committed crowd of individuals who had similar ideas about farming, food distribution and environmental responsibility. Today it seems that everyone from the President to the free soup kitchen wants to use these kinds of bold statements in a very general sense. Look at how big business snatched up the term ‘organic’ twisted it, and chipped away at its meaning leaving us with little more than undersized produce with a bright sticker on it declaring its organic-isity. Ever wonder how that adhesive on the sticker could possibly be healthy to digest? The same is being done with the idea of “local” and the big boys are gearing up to destroy yet another adjective that once was very meaningful.
Kim Severson examined some of these ideas with a bit more objectivity in this week’s NY Times, it can be found here.
I’ve posted a new Poll that centers on this information, thanks in advance for polling.
Kim Severson examined some of these ideas with a bit more objectivity in this week’s NY Times, it can be found here.
I’ve posted a new Poll that centers on this information, thanks in advance for polling.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Poll Results
Another poll comes to completion, and we are lucky to have a total of 30 votes placed. That is a record so far, thanks to everyone who participated. I’m very impressed by the results. I’m not a big fan of the pot luck. I’m sure if we could get a group of chef friends together all willing to shell out a few bucks and the results would be fantastic. Unfortunately, Aunt Edna, Uncle Bob, and the neighbors three doors down all get involved. I’m not un-appreciative of their enthusiasm, just the quality of their output. But, from the looks of these poll results, if I was to invite my blog readers to pot luck, we would be very pleased.
Where did the votes fall? Most people are looking to ‘wow’ us with their pot luck creation, and we sure can’t complain about that. A good number of individuals are born leaders and jump on the proteins, the bulk of any meal. There is always space on any pot luck for more protein. Man cannot live on macaroni salad alone….no matter how good it is. A few people would not hesitate to stick with what has worked in the past, and there is nothing wrong with this approach. If it ain’t broke, don’t try fix’n it. A very small majority of people, in fact only 2, would try pulling the wool over our eyes playing the old switch it out game with some of their dirty old dishes and store bought food. I don’t condemn this, if you can’t, don’t want to, or buy something really good, then go for it. Lastly, stone soup!
Stone soup is not a real dish, at least not in the way I intended it. Stone soup is something of a personal philosophy that cooperation among differing people will result in a greater good. The story of Stone Soup is a Grimm Brothers tale in which 3 travelers/soldiers are wondering the country side in search of nourishment. While not a single person in the city they come upon is willing to furnish them a meal, each person is willing to donate a small garnish to the pot of soup the travelers started by adding a stone to a pot, and offering the end product to the community as a whole.
I like the idea of stone soup, it’s a romantic tale, it shows people have heart, a true love for each other. It’s got 1967 Haight-Ashbury written all over it. Everybody gives a little and you end up with a lot. No CEO bonus money, no buy-outs, no stimulus…no organic, no GMO, no E. coli….no interest rates, jobless rates, or rat race. A single person with a pot and a stone, yet in this day and age we’re worried he would hit us with the stone and put all our pot luck delicacies in his pot and run off.
Where did the votes fall? Most people are looking to ‘wow’ us with their pot luck creation, and we sure can’t complain about that. A good number of individuals are born leaders and jump on the proteins, the bulk of any meal. There is always space on any pot luck for more protein. Man cannot live on macaroni salad alone….no matter how good it is. A few people would not hesitate to stick with what has worked in the past, and there is nothing wrong with this approach. If it ain’t broke, don’t try fix’n it. A very small majority of people, in fact only 2, would try pulling the wool over our eyes playing the old switch it out game with some of their dirty old dishes and store bought food. I don’t condemn this, if you can’t, don’t want to, or buy something really good, then go for it. Lastly, stone soup!
Stone soup is not a real dish, at least not in the way I intended it. Stone soup is something of a personal philosophy that cooperation among differing people will result in a greater good. The story of Stone Soup is a Grimm Brothers tale in which 3 travelers/soldiers are wondering the country side in search of nourishment. While not a single person in the city they come upon is willing to furnish them a meal, each person is willing to donate a small garnish to the pot of soup the travelers started by adding a stone to a pot, and offering the end product to the community as a whole.
I like the idea of stone soup, it’s a romantic tale, it shows people have heart, a true love for each other. It’s got 1967 Haight-Ashbury written all over it. Everybody gives a little and you end up with a lot. No CEO bonus money, no buy-outs, no stimulus…no organic, no GMO, no E. coli….no interest rates, jobless rates, or rat race. A single person with a pot and a stone, yet in this day and age we’re worried he would hit us with the stone and put all our pot luck delicacies in his pot and run off.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Asparagus
At first glance asparagus is not all that special. It's available year round. It's consistently sized and priced. It's a standard on a lot of restaurant menus, and is almost universally liked. We can identify it in the restaurant by its awkward and bulky plastic box. Most people don't understand what white asparagus is, cooks included, but it's a rare find at the local grocery. We identify asparagus as a spring harvest, but eat it year round sourced out of South America.
If this is your general opinion of asparagus please check out this quick read in the NY Times.
My opinion; I tend to make asparagus for myself only when it's a local harvest. I've worked with a lot of asparagus in my time in the restaurant, and every once in a while you get some and say, "Damn, that's tasty," but who knows what the next case will taste like. I'm finding it difficult to instill the superiority of local asparagus in my staff and patrons, I think because it is so widely available year round. Even I have a renewed appreciation for asparagus after reading the Harold Magee piece. I will keep trying.
If this is your general opinion of asparagus please check out this quick read in the NY Times.
My opinion; I tend to make asparagus for myself only when it's a local harvest. I've worked with a lot of asparagus in my time in the restaurant, and every once in a while you get some and say, "Damn, that's tasty," but who knows what the next case will taste like. I'm finding it difficult to instill the superiority of local asparagus in my staff and patrons, I think because it is so widely available year round. Even I have a renewed appreciation for asparagus after reading the Harold Magee piece. I will keep trying.
Monday, May 04, 2009
New poll
The last poll drew alot of attention, 23 submissions! And with very interesting results to show for it. I figure with the graduation, picnic, shower season in full gear, where do you stand when it's your chance for culinary glory? The new poll is currently open.
Last weeks pics
Wild Alaskan Salmon, sweet corn risotto, house cured bacon, pearl onions and ramps.
This is a row of plates waiting for rainbow trout; fresh artichokes, pearl onions, radishes, English peas and golden beets with a smoked tomato vinagrette.
Fresh artichoke and ramp brushetta. First we soaked the bread in browned butter, then topped it with a ramp pesto, sliced artichokes and parmasean cheese before toasting it and topping with a chifonade of ramp tops. I want to run this again but with Lake Erie Creamery Carphilly cheese melted over top.
House cured bacon that is sliced up and ready to go. I was really happy with how this bacon turned out. It's Curly Tail Ranch pork that I cured it for 7 days in equal parts sugar and salt with garlic, thyme, and chili flakes. After rinsing off the cure I cooked the large pieces at 200 degrees for 2 hours. The sweet and salty flavor is really enjoyable without cooking the bacon any longer. I thought the slices of this bacon that I crisped up lost alot in depth of flavor. The process is really simple, It's definatly worth doing again.Sunday, May 03, 2009
My Favs
Cory over at Trials of a Young Cook set me up on this one, his post is here. My opinions are as listed:
Favorite Domestic Beer: Steel Reserve
Favorite Import Beer: Moylan Brewery, imported to Cleveland from Cali
Favorite Red Wine (varietal): Chimney Rock Cab.
Favorite White Wine (varietal): Camus Conondrum
Favorite Liquor: Wild Turkey 101
Favorite Non-Alcoholic Beverage: Water
Favorite Candy: Jelly Beans
Favorite Movie Theater Snack: Popcorn
Favorite Carnival Food: Soft Pretzle
Favorite Chip: Vinager
Favorite Vegetable: Fresh Artichoke hearts
Favorite Fruit: Banana
Favorite Protein: Eggs
Favorite Cheese: Right now, Lake Erie Creamery Tomme, epouisse a close second
Favorite Nut: Toasted sliced almonds
Favorite Dessert: Aged manchego with truffle honey at Momocho
Favorite Cookbook: Culinary Artistry by Dornenburg and Page
Favorite Knife: Pink knife from Target that no one else touches
Favorite Cooking Style (technique): Sauces, everything from reductions to vinaigrettes
Favorite Food Show: Bourdine’s No Reservations, I like the travel parts too
Favorite Mexican Restaurant: Momocho
Favorite Asian Restaurant: Buddikan, Chicago
Favorite Bar: The Lodge, Chicago
Favorite Fast-Food: Rally’s
Favorite Cheap Eats Restaurant: C-town pizza delivery
Favorite Fancy Smancy Restaurant: Bistro Pierrie, Philly
Favorite Local Restaurant (any): Subway, consistency!
Favorite Not So Local Restaurant: Morimoto, Philly
What Would Your Last Meal Be: Foie Gras and sweetbread wrapped in bacon, and smeared with maple syrup then slow roasted and served over brioche with a stone fruit gastrique, sliced almonds, and flambae’d with drambuie, and to drink a bottle of Makers Mark, and for dessert, one ripe mango.
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Favorite Domestic Beer: Steel Reserve
Favorite Import Beer: Moylan Brewery, imported to Cleveland from Cali
Favorite Red Wine (varietal): Chimney Rock Cab.
Favorite White Wine (varietal): Camus Conondrum
Favorite Liquor: Wild Turkey 101
Favorite Non-Alcoholic Beverage: Water
Favorite Candy: Jelly Beans
Favorite Movie Theater Snack: Popcorn
Favorite Carnival Food: Soft Pretzle
Favorite Chip: Vinager
Favorite Vegetable: Fresh Artichoke hearts
Favorite Fruit: Banana
Favorite Protein: Eggs
Favorite Cheese: Right now, Lake Erie Creamery Tomme, epouisse a close second
Favorite Nut: Toasted sliced almonds
Favorite Dessert: Aged manchego with truffle honey at Momocho
Favorite Cookbook: Culinary Artistry by Dornenburg and Page
Favorite Knife: Pink knife from Target that no one else touches
Favorite Cooking Style (technique): Sauces, everything from reductions to vinaigrettes
Favorite Food Show: Bourdine’s No Reservations, I like the travel parts too
Favorite Mexican Restaurant: Momocho
Favorite Asian Restaurant: Buddikan, Chicago
Favorite Bar: The Lodge, Chicago
Favorite Fast-Food: Rally’s
Favorite Cheap Eats Restaurant: C-town pizza delivery
Favorite Fancy Smancy Restaurant: Bistro Pierrie, Philly
Favorite Local Restaurant (any): Subway, consistency!
Favorite Not So Local Restaurant: Morimoto, Philly
What Would Your Last Meal Be: Foie Gras and sweetbread wrapped in bacon, and smeared with maple syrup then slow roasted and served over brioche with a stone fruit gastrique, sliced almonds, and flambae’d with drambuie, and to drink a bottle of Makers Mark, and for dessert, one ripe mango.
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So, what's been going on?
Wild Alaskan Salmon is available, at 18$ per pound, it’s gonna be a long season.
Alaskan Halibut is beautiful, and half the price.
Fresh artichokes are available, so are English peas and pearl onions.
I like shucking peas, don’t mind trimming artichokes, absolutely hate peeling pearl onions!
I visited Murry Hill Farms in Wakeman, Ohio. It’s a wonderful place. Makes me want to live on a farm.
Fiddleheads are in too, but I don’t mind cleaning them.
Fresh picked Asparagus from Murry Hill Farm is awesome, so are the Blue Eggs!
When is the farmers market going to get started already? Lakewood? Kamms?
Organization is the key to success.
At the restaurant we buy milk in a five gallon bag that we pour into a bucket with a spout that has a label that reads, “Leaky”?
The Black River Café sign is very small, and oddly placed, if you can’t find us, we are across the street from Subway.
After all the fuss, now my dad want’s to try sushi.
If you where the only two people in a restaurant 20 minutes after they closed would you feel uncomfortable?
I need to learn how to make 2-3 unique desserts and stick to them.
My 40 minute commute is sometimes tiresome, sometimes relaxing.
Why isn’t the volume level of music in the dining room ever consistant from night to night?
The volume level needs to be adjusted as to mute the sound of our foul language coming out of the kitchen.
I bought a pink knife with hopes no one would ask to use it, this stategy has worked!
Lamb meatballs with tomato sauce and feta has been the only special that bombed so far.
Why do the Sysco croissants suck so badly? Can you say, “Flake”
Lake Erie Creamery and Mayfield Creamery are two very awesome local companies.
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Alaskan Halibut is beautiful, and half the price.
Fresh artichokes are available, so are English peas and pearl onions.
I like shucking peas, don’t mind trimming artichokes, absolutely hate peeling pearl onions!
I visited Murry Hill Farms in Wakeman, Ohio. It’s a wonderful place. Makes me want to live on a farm.
Fiddleheads are in too, but I don’t mind cleaning them.
Fresh picked Asparagus from Murry Hill Farm is awesome, so are the Blue Eggs!
When is the farmers market going to get started already? Lakewood? Kamms?
Organization is the key to success.
At the restaurant we buy milk in a five gallon bag that we pour into a bucket with a spout that has a label that reads, “Leaky”?
The Black River Café sign is very small, and oddly placed, if you can’t find us, we are across the street from Subway.
After all the fuss, now my dad want’s to try sushi.
If you where the only two people in a restaurant 20 minutes after they closed would you feel uncomfortable?
I need to learn how to make 2-3 unique desserts and stick to them.
My 40 minute commute is sometimes tiresome, sometimes relaxing.
Why isn’t the volume level of music in the dining room ever consistant from night to night?
The volume level needs to be adjusted as to mute the sound of our foul language coming out of the kitchen.
I bought a pink knife with hopes no one would ask to use it, this stategy has worked!
Lamb meatballs with tomato sauce and feta has been the only special that bombed so far.
Why do the Sysco croissants suck so badly? Can you say, “Flake”
Lake Erie Creamery and Mayfield Creamery are two very awesome local companies.
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Wednesday, April 29, 2009
I'm No Butcher
I found this article in today NY Times very interesting. In short the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association spend $1.5 million and five years searching for both cuts of meat, and ways to market them, cut from cattle that I thought we had pretty well worked over already. The grocery store meat case is something special. Pre-packaged, shrink wrapped, gassed, brined, marinated pieces of meat with little or no apparent connection to the animal from which it was taken. With the sheer quantity of product available at your average grocery store it lulls your senses that might normally connect an animal to that piece of meat. So when you start to think, there are only two hams on every pig, only two rib roasts or 20 rib-eyes on a single cow. Now you look at the meat case with 20 hams, and a huge stack of steaks, this should awaken some sense of responsibility in most people. This is one reason I think it's a good thing the cattle industry is marketing these new cut, and making available more of the type of cuts consumers want. While taking the long road, it is a means to using more and more animal from nose to tail.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Shocking Poll Resualts
Wow, I’m truly shocked by the results of this poll. It evolved slowly, and predictably, until the very end, when a surge from who knows where pushed the results in a totally unthinkable way. With all that happens in Cleveland, we surely cannot count ourselves as trend setters, rather a very health vector of wholesome restaurant patrons who can spot a trend and lift it up, or shatter someone’s dreams. I have my opinion, and from those polled I’m not lucky enough to be looking for change in the near future. A lot of different people all over the world have an idea of what pizza is, and I’m quite open minded to those opinions. I have one simple critique, or observation that a pizza is not a cracker; you should not be able to see through your pizza. Your pizza crust should not be able to cut you. A pizza, like a woman, should not be flat, overly salty, and overpriced. For some reason this is exactly what a lot of people are calling artisanal pizza here in Cleveland. I’m not gonna hold back on this one, but a single serving cracker thin pizza for $16 is just wrong, and unlike most pollsters, I’m not just predicting, but hoping this trend sinks faster than a bucket of pizza sauce, since you aren’t getting any of that moist sauce on your cracker pizza!
Sushi seems to have run its course and entrenched itself in your culinary scene. People don’t seem as fanatic about it as they did a few years back. I think there is a core group of sushi patrons that are educated enough now to differentiate from the good and the bad so quality across the board has risen and will stay there over the long haul. The novelty of eating raw fish has also diminished. Not that it is any less enjoyable now, but those people who where squeamish about it 5 years ago, have just gotten over it. Sushi is here to say, and let us all hope it doesn’t go by the way of the Chinese Take-out.
Mass market coffee is only a few well placed television spots and another shock to the economy from disappearing. Small, local, homey coffee shops will live on, but their evil corporate money eating monster of a brother will not survive. I’m seeing pictures of people in the unemployment line on the cell phone, sipping Starbucks, and I wonder which will happen first…..the coffee or the phone? As soon as CNN runs the story every half hour that describes the hundreds of dollars in coffee you spend every year, I think a lot of people are going to take notice. Not a single one of them is going to stop drinking coffee, but they will make more economically conscience decisions on where they purchase it from.
Green dining, in the height of all it’s glorying, entering the spring harvest season, with the opening of the not at all ironically named Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland and 40% of the poll results concur that Green dining will be the first of the previously mentioned trends to hit rock bottom. Wow, this seems unthinkable, Slow food, Local Food Cleveland; we are all feeling like we just got punched in the gut. I do see where there is a reasonable argument that due to the economy the majority of restaurant patrons with be focused on value over quality. On the other hand, the ‘green’ message has been growing very fast the past few years, and the message has reached a maximum number of people. Not just our dinning choices, evidence found in the Greenhouse Tavern, and not just in restaurants, but everything from cars to toilets are going green. While due to the current economic situation green dining might have, or in the near future reached a platue, I do not see it regressing any time soon.
Sushi seems to have run its course and entrenched itself in your culinary scene. People don’t seem as fanatic about it as they did a few years back. I think there is a core group of sushi patrons that are educated enough now to differentiate from the good and the bad so quality across the board has risen and will stay there over the long haul. The novelty of eating raw fish has also diminished. Not that it is any less enjoyable now, but those people who where squeamish about it 5 years ago, have just gotten over it. Sushi is here to say, and let us all hope it doesn’t go by the way of the Chinese Take-out.
Mass market coffee is only a few well placed television spots and another shock to the economy from disappearing. Small, local, homey coffee shops will live on, but their evil corporate money eating monster of a brother will not survive. I’m seeing pictures of people in the unemployment line on the cell phone, sipping Starbucks, and I wonder which will happen first…..the coffee or the phone? As soon as CNN runs the story every half hour that describes the hundreds of dollars in coffee you spend every year, I think a lot of people are going to take notice. Not a single one of them is going to stop drinking coffee, but they will make more economically conscience decisions on where they purchase it from.
Green dining, in the height of all it’s glorying, entering the spring harvest season, with the opening of the not at all ironically named Greenhouse Tavern in Cleveland and 40% of the poll results concur that Green dining will be the first of the previously mentioned trends to hit rock bottom. Wow, this seems unthinkable, Slow food, Local Food Cleveland; we are all feeling like we just got punched in the gut. I do see where there is a reasonable argument that due to the economy the majority of restaurant patrons with be focused on value over quality. On the other hand, the ‘green’ message has been growing very fast the past few years, and the message has reached a maximum number of people. Not just our dinning choices, evidence found in the Greenhouse Tavern, and not just in restaurants, but everything from cars to toilets are going green. While due to the current economic situation green dining might have, or in the near future reached a platue, I do not see it regressing any time soon.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Fascinating Food
Sometimes, if in the right state of mind, it’s very interesting to just ponder food. Think about what we eat, why we eat it, who chose to eat that specific thing first? Surely we can all agree that on the most basic level we eat for sustenance. But there is so much more, for thousands of years we have manipulated our food. We could, if we chose to, walk out our front door and begin eating whatever green sprouts we find or furry animal we catch, but we don’t! Let me give you a few examples, and examine them with a child like mind because I can Wikipedia their history just as easy as you can. How about your pantry basics….
Flour is something we can start with. So at some point there was a person who out of the blue rubbed some wheat between two rocks transforming wheat into flour. Okay, maybe it was an accident or something, but that person stuck with it and made something with the flour that was worthy of spending energy to rub rocks together to make the flour again in the future.
Sugar has run a full course in the great culinary race and lap’d itself. We have come all the way wrapped around sugar that we no longer want all that sugar and make fake sugar! Why do we even like sweet things anyhow?
Salt…..it’s a rock, why don’t we grind up any other rocks and eat them?
Salad greens come in all shapes and sizes these days. When we get a fun batch in at the kitchen we run our hands through it, pick out the weird shapes, or bright colors and ponder, just who, where, and under what circumstances did someone pick this leaf out among all the others, put it in their mouth, and decide, “yes, this is good enough to eat again.”
Artichokes are dear to my heart as they are in season and my fingers are currently stained from cleaning them. Upon embarking on cleaning a case last night I started to wonder how desperate the person must have been who grabbed a big thorny flower bud, stripped off all the leaves only to eat the base and choke on it, get another thorny flower, strip off all the leaves, remove the choke eat the base and decide it was worth all that work?
Eggs make me wonder as well. It just doesn’t make sense to me at any point to take an egg that weights maybe 4 ounces and eat it instead of waiting 6 months for a 4 pound chicken?
There are endless examples if you look around that will make you wonder, why, who, or how when it comes to food. There is a history to all these things now, but if you can make your mind think about things before this reasonable history existed, then you will find a lot of the food we take for granted very fascinating.
Flour is something we can start with. So at some point there was a person who out of the blue rubbed some wheat between two rocks transforming wheat into flour. Okay, maybe it was an accident or something, but that person stuck with it and made something with the flour that was worthy of spending energy to rub rocks together to make the flour again in the future.
Sugar has run a full course in the great culinary race and lap’d itself. We have come all the way wrapped around sugar that we no longer want all that sugar and make fake sugar! Why do we even like sweet things anyhow?
Salt…..it’s a rock, why don’t we grind up any other rocks and eat them?
Salad greens come in all shapes and sizes these days. When we get a fun batch in at the kitchen we run our hands through it, pick out the weird shapes, or bright colors and ponder, just who, where, and under what circumstances did someone pick this leaf out among all the others, put it in their mouth, and decide, “yes, this is good enough to eat again.”
Artichokes are dear to my heart as they are in season and my fingers are currently stained from cleaning them. Upon embarking on cleaning a case last night I started to wonder how desperate the person must have been who grabbed a big thorny flower bud, stripped off all the leaves only to eat the base and choke on it, get another thorny flower, strip off all the leaves, remove the choke eat the base and decide it was worth all that work?
Eggs make me wonder as well. It just doesn’t make sense to me at any point to take an egg that weights maybe 4 ounces and eat it instead of waiting 6 months for a 4 pound chicken?
There are endless examples if you look around that will make you wonder, why, who, or how when it comes to food. There is a history to all these things now, but if you can make your mind think about things before this reasonable history existed, then you will find a lot of the food we take for granted very fascinating.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Top Chef Poll Results
We all agree there are great expectations put on the Masters series of the forthcoming Top Chef saga. The idea of throwing roughly two dozen accomplished chef/personalities in the Kitchen Aid, turning it up to 10, and seeing who flies out first is oh so tantalizing. Why will we watch is a more personal question. Will we watch for a masterpiece to be created, or a faux pas, exceptional knife skill or a sliced finger, imagination run wild or re-hash of the classics…do we want to see the masters triumph or succumb to the familiar failures we find in our own kitchens so often?
What scares me is how bad this idea can run amuck. Nobody wants to watch thirty people cut apples again, especially not the pick of the litter. Please don’t send the masters off to cook cafeteria food in Beverly Hills, on a ten dollar budget with guest judge Mr. Puck. With hundreds of years, thousands of menus, maybe a million services under their accumulative belts accomplished in restaurants kitchens, please don’t take them out of there! There will be no joy in watching, nor any sense of quality competition to watch this status chef cook breakfast on a beach over a charcoal fire for example.
There is a bright side! Assuming the silly competitions are eliminated….ok, limited at least, and the product placement doesn’t carry on to any more extreme measures, the opportunity to see a little bit of these chefs’s personality is very cool. Throw out the, “I’m so mean and yell at everyone. I’m supreme leader!” fake persona that most chefs tend to convey to the masses until you find them on a bar stool half in the bag. Even a twinkle of fascination, passion, or admission of fatigue or pressure will reassure to us their humanity. What emotion or who it comes from doesn’t really matter at this point; let’s just hope it can be incorporated into the show.
I’m looking forward to the next season of Top Chef, as are most of those who responded to the poll. I really hope we get to see the best of the chefs competing. I am looking forward to seeing something great come from their kitchens. With any luck, the best chef will win.
What scares me is how bad this idea can run amuck. Nobody wants to watch thirty people cut apples again, especially not the pick of the litter. Please don’t send the masters off to cook cafeteria food in Beverly Hills, on a ten dollar budget with guest judge Mr. Puck. With hundreds of years, thousands of menus, maybe a million services under their accumulative belts accomplished in restaurants kitchens, please don’t take them out of there! There will be no joy in watching, nor any sense of quality competition to watch this status chef cook breakfast on a beach over a charcoal fire for example.
There is a bright side! Assuming the silly competitions are eliminated….ok, limited at least, and the product placement doesn’t carry on to any more extreme measures, the opportunity to see a little bit of these chefs’s personality is very cool. Throw out the, “I’m so mean and yell at everyone. I’m supreme leader!” fake persona that most chefs tend to convey to the masses until you find them on a bar stool half in the bag. Even a twinkle of fascination, passion, or admission of fatigue or pressure will reassure to us their humanity. What emotion or who it comes from doesn’t really matter at this point; let’s just hope it can be incorporated into the show.
I’m looking forward to the next season of Top Chef, as are most of those who responded to the poll. I really hope we get to see the best of the chefs competing. I am looking forward to seeing something great come from their kitchens. With any luck, the best chef will win.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Weekly Specials Anymore???
Specials are something that I’ve enjoyed sharing on this blog. At the Black River Café I am doing 2-3 different specials or fish preparations nightly and things are a lot less planned out than in the past. That is not to say they are not thought out, properly composed dishes, just that they tend to morph, and change daily based mostly on what vegetables I have prepped on that particular day. I’ll try to catch us up a bit with a list of what we’ve been doing the past few weeks.
Organic salmon over horseradish mashers with fresh artichoke, beets, and peas in leek vinaigrette
Shrimp and scallop pasta in a roasted mushroom cream sauce topped with crisp pork belly
Rainbow trout, kohlrabi slaw, garlic rosemary frites
Rainbow trout, fried chick-pea, roasted pepper and spinach salad, chili-almond reduction (mole)
Crispy braised chicken wings, citrus glaze, sweet potato fries
Vegan potato gnocchi from Ohio City Pasta with lemon oil, English peas, and fresh herbs
Seared scallops, cauliflower-almond puree, Breezy Hill Farms baby Swiss chard, leek vinaigrette
Spinach salad, Lake Erie Creamery goat’s milk feta, lemony onions, crisp pork belly, fried Amish egg
Herb encrusted wild stripped bass, braised salsify and young carrots, tomato-fennel confit
Slow roasted leg of lamb, lamb jus, garlic rosemary frites, braised Swiss chard
Crispy fried rabbit livers and loin, romesco sauce, pickled onion salad
Pork and Pea tasting, ham hock and pea soup, fried pork belly ‘BLT’ in a pea profiterole, ham, Swiss and pea quiche
Milk chocolate pudding with baked banana
Peanut butter parfait with fresh banana and strawberries topped with chocolate streusel
Lastly, Ben added an improved vegan entrée to the menu; crispy white bean croquettes, red pepper coulis, braised chard, and sweet potato fries.
Organic salmon over horseradish mashers with fresh artichoke, beets, and peas in leek vinaigrette
Shrimp and scallop pasta in a roasted mushroom cream sauce topped with crisp pork belly
Rainbow trout, kohlrabi slaw, garlic rosemary frites
Rainbow trout, fried chick-pea, roasted pepper and spinach salad, chili-almond reduction (mole)
Crispy braised chicken wings, citrus glaze, sweet potato fries
Vegan potato gnocchi from Ohio City Pasta with lemon oil, English peas, and fresh herbs
Seared scallops, cauliflower-almond puree, Breezy Hill Farms baby Swiss chard, leek vinaigrette
Spinach salad, Lake Erie Creamery goat’s milk feta, lemony onions, crisp pork belly, fried Amish egg
Herb encrusted wild stripped bass, braised salsify and young carrots, tomato-fennel confit
Slow roasted leg of lamb, lamb jus, garlic rosemary frites, braised Swiss chard
Crispy fried rabbit livers and loin, romesco sauce, pickled onion salad
Pork and Pea tasting, ham hock and pea soup, fried pork belly ‘BLT’ in a pea profiterole, ham, Swiss and pea quiche
Milk chocolate pudding with baked banana
Peanut butter parfait with fresh banana and strawberries topped with chocolate streusel
Lastly, Ben added an improved vegan entrée to the menu; crispy white bean croquettes, red pepper coulis, braised chard, and sweet potato fries.
Simple Cornbread
Good, solid, tested recipes are hard to come by. Even more so when they need not be committed to the written page and everyone/anyone can log in to their favorite web space and leave a list of ingredients and ratios that are a recipe for nothing but disaster. Fortunately, I stumbled across this recipe online, I can’t remember where. The facts are that it is quite a nice recipe, I’ve made it twice now with great success and thought “why not pass it on.”
Cornbread
2 oz butter, melted
1 sprig of sage
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup corn meal
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
Chop sage and heat with butter until melted, add to sugar and whisk, combine egg and buttermilk. Finally add dry ingredients. Cook in a buttered dish at 350 Fahrenheit for about 30 min.
Cornbread
2 oz butter, melted
1 sprig of sage
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup corn meal
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
Chop sage and heat with butter until melted, add to sugar and whisk, combine egg and buttermilk. Finally add dry ingredients. Cook in a buttered dish at 350 Fahrenheit for about 30 min.
Friday, April 10, 2009
New Top Chef
The contestants of the next installment of Top Chef have been announced, and with a star studded line up of chefs the coming season has gained the "Masters Series" moniker. For a list of chefs check here. From what I can tell, Rick Bayless might be the only chef with any relation to Cleveland. What do you expect from the next season, vote in my poll.
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