Chef Quote of the Week: Andrew Carmellini

“I’m going to try not to sous vide anything over there,” he said. “It takes some of the love out of cooking, for me. It takes out some of the fire and smells and caramelization. Some things are just better roasted in a pan.”

Chef Andrew Carmellini of Lafayette

It's been awhile since I've updated the blog, and I feel reinvigorated to do so with all the food and wine activity here lately.  I've met some wonderful new friends who are very talented, and I've gotten a chance to reconnect with some old ones.  

Look for new and more frequents posts in the coming weeks...

Saluting a Mentor and Master

When cooking for someone of importance, there is an undeniable motivating energy that comes while doing so.  You have an extra "umph" to your slice, an extra "snap!" to your dice.  When I first got out of school, I made a goal of setting a standard: "Never put out a plate that you wouldn't be proud of serving one of your instructors [from CIA]."  I still use that credo today.  But, when you're cooking to posthumously honor someone- and a very famous someone at that- not only do you step it up, but you feel a twinge of apprehension and a pang of pensiveness.  "Must- not- mess- this- up."  

Mind you, high-end restaurants do their best work when the conditions are just right.  That is, the tone is set by the chef and drives the rest of the kitchen.  Create some "healthy anxiety" (as Charlie Trotter would say) and you'll get a lot more out of your people.  They know it, too.  When preparing the same food, day-after-day, this kind of diversion can be a welcomed change in the line-up.  Such as it was earlier this month at The Whist Club.  We honored the late Julia Child on what would have been her 100th birthday with a special Chef's Table event.  All the courses were chosen from or inspired by her essential cookbooks and ground-breaking cooking show.  

As I spent the days leading up to the dinner, I became engrossed in Julia's books (Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vols. 1&2 and The French Chef).  Having met Julia while employed by the Virginia Hotel in Cape May as dining room manager, I felt a certain connection that brought me back to her memorable presence.  And, what's not to love about her off-the-cuff, self-deprecating style of charm?  You can actually hear her voice when you read the recipes.  I can't say that about very many cookbooks I own.  And so, with precision and determination, my team performed admirably.  A great time was had by all.  Here is the menu and some shots from the dinner.

THE CHEF’S TABLE

at the

UNIVERSITY and WHIST CLUB

of WILMINGTON

CELEBRATES JULIA CHILD’S

100^TH BIRTHDAY

AUGUST 16, 2012

Diner en Bleu
a nod to Julia's alma mater, Le Cordon Bleu

RECEPTION

MOUSSE DE FOIE DE POULET

PALMIERS GOURMANDES

Gosset Brut Excellence, NV

Outstanding, robust style of sparkling
from the oldest Champagne house in France

Chicken Liver Mousse, p. 559 Mastering the Art of French Cooking  Vol. 1, here on toasted brioche with fig jam and chervil

Our version of "palmiers" or elephant ears- savory;
one with sundried tomatoes, the other with pesto and goat cheese

AMUSE BOUCHE

RIZ DE VEAU

VEAL SWEETBREADS, BEECH MUSHROOM, COGNAC

A not-so-timid bite to begin:
dusted lightly in almond flour with cognac demi-glace and mushroom

FIRST COURSE

POTAGE AU CRESSON

WATERCRESS SOUP WITH POACHED OYSTERS

Domaine du Carrou Sancerre "La Jouline"

Vieilles Vignes 2010

Velvety and fresh- the oysters from Cape May (Salts), NJ

SECOND COURSE

SOLE À LA NORMANDE

FILLETS OF SOLE WITH SHELLFISH, MUSHROOMS AND TRUFFLES

J.M. Boillot Meursault, 2008

Delicate fillets of Dover sole with shrimp-scallop vin blanc,
black truffles and mushroom

INTERMEZZO

MOUSSE AUX PECHE, GLACÉE

PEACH SHERBET

with candied ginger

MAIN

BOEUF À LA BOURGUIGNONNE

BRAISED BEEF, RED WINE, HAND-CUT NOODLES

Château Bahans Haut-Brion, Pessac-Leognan, 2000    

Julia recommends buttered peas- but, we couldn't resist the Doc Martin limas we got earlier that day.

Hand-cut pappardelle noodles for the stew.

CHEESE

TOMME DE SAVOIE, PICO, SAINT AGUR

AND ÉPOISSES; SUGAR PLUMS

DESSERT

VIENNESE CARDINAL SLICE

Mas Amiel Muscat de Rivesaltes, 2009

layered meringue, genoise, espresso mousse with almond Anglaise

MIGNARDISES

PETIT FOURS AND MACARONS  

As always, a little last few bites: apricot petit fours, chocolate-cherry and strawberry macarons.

EXECUTIVE CHEF ROBERT A LHULIER

SOUS CHEFS ANDREW RAMAGE and STEPHEN SETH

PASTRY CHEFS DEBORA SAIENNI

and MICHAEL PRESKE

UPDATE:  See a feature article in the Wilmington News Journal that ran today on the dinner!  And more photos on the Second Helpings Blog.

RE-UPDATED: Ok- and now some video, too!  This from Signature Brandywine Editor Lucia Blackwell (also in attendance for the dinner).

Chef Quote of the Week: Thomas Keller

“With the relatively small number of people I feed, is it really my responsibility to worry about carbon footprint?” Mr. Keller asked. “The world’s governments should be worrying about carbon footprint.” Chef Thomas Keller on "chefs' obligation"

Happy New Year

Farewell, 2011! 

It was another interesting year for food, celebrity cook-types, wine, The Phils and of course, music.

A VERY quick wrap of some of my 2011 favorites.  

Dinner at Amis after ONE of the blizzards in February.  Guinness Export: first time in the states since- 1940s? Dope.  Eleven Madison Park and Rotis cookbooks.  

In concert, Aimee Mann, OMD and English Beat.  On TV: Portlandia, Workaholics, and Beavis and Butthead.  

2011 Philadelphia Phillies- 102 wins, 5th consecutive NLE Championship.  And on that note, Vance Worley's pitching.  Wilson Valdez's winning pitching effort in the 19th against the Reds! What the WHAT? Cliff Lee's first major league HR.  Hunter Pence (Good Game! Let's Go Eat!).  And following it all on Twitter was pretty fun, too.  

Beer got more delicious.  Produce got more local.  Good cheese became more available.  In addition to my 4 year old's penchant for seaweed, olives, bacon, salmon, and soba, we added shrimp and octopus!  Three or four dozen delicious Sunday dinners at M&D's (right?).  

The Chef's Table revival at the UWC.  Shigoku oysters from the West Coast (holy mother of God- over the top).  Foie gras and shrimp toast together in one dish.  Scallop dumpling and squab consomme.  Amazing locally foraged mushrooms- and monstrous porcini from Oregon. Kabocha squash (don't know how I missed this).  Barely Buzzed coffee-rubbed cheddar from Bee-Hive Cheese Co.  And, home-made Orange Grappa from Italy.  

Domestic sparkling from Argyle in Oregon and Gruet in New Mexico.  Robert Stemmler Pinot Noir, Estate.  Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc. Mission Estate Pinot Noir.  Barricadiero, carried all the way back from Italy (MiMi!).  Just about every wine I drank from Moore Brothers, especially the wines from Mas Amiel.  

Gabrielle Hamilton's Blood, Bones and Butter and the return of non-fussy food. Amazon's Cloud Player and Kindle App. for the Android.  

I caved in and for the first time watched episodes of Top Chef: Texas and Harry Potter.  I liked both.  

To anyone I cooked with, ate with or drank with in 2011, I'm looking forward to lots more in 2012.

Chef Quote of the Week: Roy Choi

“It’s like when you get stoned, sometimes things go into different worlds and fabrics and textures. It’s a little crispy, then it’s spicy and warm and soothing. It helps me bring in a whole pantry of ingredients that as a chef I may have considered not good enough. Using [classical] techniques but then balancing it with straight French’s yellow mustard, or bringing in some ghettos--- that you pull from your cupboard.”  Chef Roy Choi 
On inspiration (ahem) and where he gets his~

Chef Quote of the Week: Michel Richard

"Before nouvelle cuisine, no chef had the right to create their own dishes. You had to copy Escoffier.”  

Chef Michel Richard

on the late Jean Louis Palladin's contributions to the culinary world.

The mentality among the rank-and-file chefs back in France, notes Richard, went something like this: “Creating your own dish when I was a young man? Are you sick? You’re not smart enough to create your own dish.”

Richard is honoring Chef Palladin ten years after his death with a multi-course tribute meal at his DC eatery.   Read the article in the Washington Post here.

F&C Rewind: By The Book: A Cook's List of Essentials

At this time of year, it becomes very challenging to focus for an hour or two on producing a new post.  As such, I like to pull out particularly poignant posts and put them back up to keep you interested!  Since it is the gift-giving time of the year, I thought it'd be apropos to re-run my list of favorite or must-have cookbooks to add to your arsenal.  In revisiting this piece, I found that while I have since added many more to my collection, those I originally chose for The Top still retain their standings.  Bon appetit!

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

I've lost track of how many cookbooks I own.  Yet, I always know when one is "missing".  I do know that as I get older, I buy fewer.  But, the other night I thought that it had been some time since I pulled out a cookbook just to peruse the contents for pleasure.  I grabbed the Frog Commissary Cookbook, an oldie, but a goodie.  I had actually just gotten a copy, so while it was published in 1985, it was new to me.  

By all standards of what a cookbook should be, it's one of the best.  It has simple, succinct recipes with quick, informative descriptions of ingredients, methods and dishes that may not have been common knowledge in the Decade of Greed.  My favorite part is the "how to" in the margins.  I think it's useful to know, for example, the items and quantities to set up a proper bar for a cocktail party of 50.  Or, the essentials of setting up a raw bar, hors d'oeuvres buffet or continental breakfast.  This is real, practical stuff.  The style of food is eclectic and not pretentious.  But, by today's standards, the book would never sell more than 1000 copies.  

It wasn't designed for the coffee table.  More like, it was designed to put your coffee cup on.  Nor does it have full page, glossy, sexy food porn shots.  It doesn't praise the farmer who delivers their eggs, it doesn't feature drawings or paintings from staff, and it doesn't cost $55.  It's a true utilitarian cookbook.  

The Moosewood Cookbook of old is another with easily-soiled, coloring book quality pages, and matching hokey drawings of dancing broccoli from a time when vegetarians weren't so annoying (yeah, I said it).  Another paperback, it may be the gold standard for diverse, non-meat recipes that runs the full gamut of appetizers to desserts.  And, I dare say they're healthy, too.

The Silver Palate is another crossover book that should sit on the shelf of the serious cook.  It too is from an age when the author sought to give not just a broad spectrum of current, creative and healthful recipes, but it came from an accomplished cook who, like Julia Child and James Beard, wrote for the everyday cook.

So, why then, do I have so many cookbooks if I already know how to cook?  I'm trying to figure that out myself.  After much consideration, beyond the obvious answer of "recipes", my collection provides inspiration.

I own every cookbook from Thomas Keller and Charlie Trotter, because I admire their style, their philosophy, their creativity and probably above all else,  their discipline.  I can pick up one of their books and feel their unique style ooze out of a phrase of admonishment.  To prepare food at that level requires a certain work ethic and commitment on the part of the chef.  At times, I'll open the books and page through them simply to look at their pictures, presentation or what ingredients they combine.  Maybe even peruse a particular season to get ideas.  Often, I just like to revisit an idea.  But, I rarely prop them open and "cook from them".  They are conceptual books meant for the lover of food and art.  This is the style of cookbook most common on the shelves today. 

In this same genre, I have the Inn at Little Washington books.  Along with Trotter and Keller, they tell of the building of their brand:  the loyalty of their staff, faithful customers and what a unique dining experience they are.  It's like buying the program at the ballgame.  You saw the show, now take the glossy keepsake home for years of enjoyment to come.

Another section of my culinary library is built on the "must haves".  My go-to book for classical Italian is Marcella Hazan, my Japanese, Nobu.  Baking, CIA and Cheese, Steve Jenkins.  Some genres require more than one, and as a Francophile, I own no less than 20 French cookbooks.  Paris cooking is covered by Patricia Wells, while country cooking is beautifully and completely rendered in Anne Willan's recent Country Cooking of France.  I have a rudimentary, yet useful book of recipes from the Basque region (in French).  I have the masters; Blanc, Ducasse, Guerard, Bocuse, Troisgros, Girardet.  Then, cross over into the US for the expats, and I have Ripert, Boulud, Robouchon, Richard, Jean-Georges and Pepin.  

Recipes from Da Fiore of Venice focuses on the gorgeous seafood and regional ingredients of the Veneto.  While the publisher BK (from England) has put out several primers on ethnic cuisine, of which Indian Cuisine has been the most useful to me.

Saveur's three book series on American, Italian and French cuisine is a must for their "real" recipes, grounded in tradition and authenticity.  It doesn't hurt that they have some of the most beautiful photography of any food magazine today.  

Back when I was just a waiter aspiring to take over the world, I bought a copy of Larousse, Gastronomique.  It is the mother of all culinary tomes, both encyclopedia and recipe collection at once.  It has entries on Antonin Careme and Julia Child.  It has the origins of salade nicoise and the proper way to make a vegetable "charlotte".  It's very...old school.  If, on the other hand, you need a reference guide, whether you're a newbie or want to check your spelling on a menu, The Food Lover's Companion is the most user-friendly resource on the market.  There are three editions, two editions of the Wine Lover's Companion and now the Cheese Lover's Companion, the last husband-wife collaboration before the founder, Sharon Tyler Herbst passed away just a few years ago.

I suppose if there were one book that was a game-changer for me, it would have to be Gray Kunz "The Elements of Taste".  For an advanced cook, you long for a collection of thoughts and ideas that encompasses and sums up the building and layering of flavors from a conceptual standpoint with examples to back it up.  When this book was released, I read it from cover to cover.  I began to think differently in the way I wrote menus, created dishes, the way I seasoned food and more importantly, the way I corrected my seasonings.  The book is broken into four categories:  Tastes That Push, Tastes That Pull, Tastes That Punctuate and Taste Platforms.  And, rather than arranging food by course or primary ingredient, they identify 14 basic tastes (salty, sweet, floral, herbal, "funky," meaty, etc.).  The binding on my copy is beaten up, the pages slightly stained with wine and demi-glace.  It's the one book I don't loan out anymore, and it's because it's not in print anymore.  New copies on Amazon start at $355 each (*$136 today-R.A.L.).

I have several books on only one subject from, pancakes and foie gras, to truffles and duck.  Soups, sauces, shellfish and seafood, mostly by James Peterson.  You need Harold Magee to answer those nagging questions about which boils faster, hot or cold water?  Or, how to hard-boil an egg without the green sulfuric ring around the yolk.  It goes without saying, but Beard and Child belong on your shelves, and should be read.  Craig Claiborne, Deborah Madison and Mario Batali have earned the right.  There are so many other great books- all of which have contributed to the enormous array of talent we experience today.  

Whatever reason you like buying a particular cookbook, it is personal and you don't owe it to anyone to explain why.  The above mentioned books have broadened my knowledge and creativity in the culinary arts, and I hope you find the list of use.  No matter what your level of cooking, is there ONE cookbook that changed your life?      

Chef Quote of the Week: Danny Meyer

"Within moments of being born, most babies find themselves receiving the first four gifts of life:  eye contact, a smile, a hug and some food.  We receive many other gifts in a lifetime, but few can ever surpass those first four.  That first time may be the purest 'hospitality transaction' we'll ever have, and it's not much of a surprise that we'll crave those gifts for the rest of our lives."  

Danny Meyer from "Setting the Table"

Chef Quote of the Week: Alain Ducasse

“Desserts are like mistresses. They are bad for you. So if you are having one,
you might as well have two.”
- Chef Alain Ducasse

Chef Quote of the Week: Anthony Bourdain

"I was about getting the biggest paycheck then, so I could see music, smoke expensive weed, do cocaine, that kind of life. It was less important to me that I would get good at my craft. I deluded myself into thinking I was good."   Chef Anthony Bourdain



Biggers with Roy Yamaguchi

 In the age of oversaturation of reality shows, we have reached a perverted gladiator-style of entertainment, and the arena is the kitchen.  We've come a long way from the Food Network's "Ready, Set, Cook!" in which perky host Sissy Biggers egged on a studio audience to cheer for their favorite cook as they raced against the clock to create a dish from a mystery basket of ingredients.  The winner was decided by a majority of flashcards held by the studio audience depicting either a tomato or a bell pepper for their favorite contestant. 

Today, debasement, sabotage, plot lines, humiliation and real live injuries are not just common, but necessary to attract viewers.  It is the Wild, Wild West, and there no heroes, just survivors.

So, it's very rare when a ribbon of truth ekes out into the MSM about what it's really like in a professional kitchen.  And, when it does, it seems to fall on deaf ears.  This is why I chose to make Anthony Bourdain my "Chef Quote of the Week."

Successful author and TV personality Bourdain recently had a very (public) self-deprecating moment, and it was directed at a portion of the audiences who one day aspire to culinary greatness.  He calls it "My Favorite Mistake".

"If you’re serious about cooking and your craft, do the opposite of what I did."

Read the full piece in Newsweek here.

Chef Quote of the Week: Alain Ducasse

On wine:  "There are no rules...You have to taste the wine with an open mind. You can drink red wine with lobster and white wine with lamb."

Chef also adds, "The world of wine is more creative than the world of cooking...There are so many impassioned winemakers. I think there are more impassioned winemakers than chefs."  Click for the full interview with the WSJ

Chef Alain Ducasse 

Chef Quote of the Week: Charlie Trotter

  “You know the old adage that the customer’s always right?” he said. “Well, I kind of think that the opposite is true. The customer is rarely right. And that is why you must seize the control of the circumstance and dominate every last detail: to guarantee that they’re going to have a far better time than they ever would have had if they tried to control it themselves.”  Chef Charlie Trotter

I've long believed that the adage about the customer always being right was never intended for restaurants.  It is meant (and I suppose true) for the service and retail industries, instead.  The main difference here, and certainly at Chef Trotter's level, is that you are dealing with the culinary arts.  At this level of restaurant (and those like it), you are experiencing food prepared by someone who has devoted their life to educating their palette, developing their craft and creating unique meals to be shared unspoiled.  

As I have discovered over the years, those with power like to exercise it to feel the full rush of what being powerful means.  Customers who like to flex that muscle and reconstruct a dish, substitute, omit and tailor a chef's menu to their liking are not, I repeat, NOT, getting what the chef intended, but some bastardized iteration that is akin to letting some unskilled orderly handle your delicate open-heart surgery.  Like giving your Mercedes to a hack mechanic and asking him to pimp it out and paint it cherry red.  Like ordering a diet coke with your breast of pheasant with morels and truffle.  There are those out there who disagree, and quickly bash chefs as egotists who are inflexible snots, simply because they believe they have the right to get what they're paying for.  I argue that those chefs have the right not to serve you, either.  

Charlie Trotter is famous (among all his skills) for being the first chef to go on record as saying that in order to perfect your product, service and brand- it's necessary to fire customers.  Get rid of those whose expectations don't meet your standards and focus on the ones who do.  At some point, the thinking goes, there will be enough customers who, not out of misplaced reverence, but respect for the chef and his vision, will frequent an establishment because of that vision, not in spite of it.  That was over 15 years ago.

A selection of amuse bouche from Trotter's September, 2000

If you care to read a bit more about Chef Trotter and his rare breed of customer service, click on the quote above that will take you to a recent article on the 51 year old chef and why he stands out (to some) as a genius and to others, a lunatic tyrant.  

Full disclosure:  I am a huge fan of Trotter's philosophy, his cooking, his books and accomplishments.  His style of cooking and commitment to excellence have shaped me and help me become the chef I am today.  I spent a week in his kitchen in September of 2000 absorbing, tasting, cooking and finally, partaking of his Grand Tasting menu.  It was, quite simply, one of the most unique experiences I've had in my career.  

The staff of Trotter's circa 2000. I am located dead center, (back) with the Cheshire grin next to my future buddy, and Top Chef Season 2 contestant, Otto Borsich.

The great artists are rarely understood in their time, and much of the article in The Times attests to that in its myopic view of Trotter as of late.  It attempts to psychoanalyze why Trotter is not in the press more or hasn't expanded his brand into multi-unit prostitution, or why he has failed in his attempts to do so.  In each of these scenarios where he tried to recreate the level of excellence at his restaurant in Chicago, there were contributing factors that didn't meet the standard of the original, and subsequently he pulled the plug.  While some call that failure, others would call it integrity.  

The copper pots that distinguish the tiny, talented kitchen.

As far as Grant Achatz is concerned, I have immense respect for him.  He is cut from the same cloth as Trotter, Adria and Keller.  Yet, I can't help thinking his publisher and/or partner pushed to create controversy to sell more books with all the volatile portions dedicated to his pent up angst toward Trotter- especially now, since he appears to have "a cordial if not close relationship" with him. But then, FUCT (F*$% You Charlie Trotter!, the acronym supposedly adopted by Achatz and his partner to emote his feelings about his post-Trotter's tenure) is pretty harsh, no matter how you slice it, and I believe somewhat unprecedented among chefs of such stature.  Achatz maintains it was included in the book to later draw a parallel between the two chefs and their shared commitment to perfection.  Still, the Golden Rule seems more apt among professionals.  

Van Gogh's The Golden Rule

Whatever your view, I believe there can still be room for an innovative artist and an artistic innovator in the same arena.  

Blood, Bones and Butter

Okay, I know I've given some time to Chef Gabrielle Hamilton on this blog already- but, I'm only on the third chapter of this marvelous memoir and I am rapt with my own memories of growing up, first food experiences, sibling rivalry and intense smell association.  In short, this is a chef's chef memoir, and I am devouring it.  More to come...

Chef Quote of the Week: Gabrielle Hamilton

“I’m going to eat foie gras...I’m going to have sex with whoever I want to have sex with. I don’t want politics to deny me these experiences. And I’m not having them every day. So it’s not rapacious or gluttonous. Please.”
Chef Gabrielle Hamilton, Prune, NYC