Pork Belly and Black Garlic, Day 2

Out of the brine and now cured with a Black Garlic Rub...

Connected by MOTOBLUR™ on T-Mobile

Small pleasures.....

Sonic commercials and a request from a wise one has had me wandering the boundaries of what a hot dog could be.  Call me silly but if every topping u can imagine was produced not only from scratch but from a higher level of respect than things canned, where is the end?  So far I have sourkraut, 2 mustards, coleslaw, chili, easy cheesy sauce, relish, pickled banana peppers and jalapenos, peppers and onions, and then bypassing the ketchup.  A previous attempt on the fly at work weeks back leaves me to nod fondly to Heinz and let them have their moment.  Sweet and hot Italian sausage, kettle chips, yukon fries, corn dogs, and arepas......gotta throw in something Mexican.  One more day of prep....after a little shrimp fest!

"You have to work to get better...It doesn't just happen"

.......my brother humbly said at our chef's meeting today. The words stuck with me throughout the day. Although it's human nature to want to make things easier on yourself, choose a tv show or a video game instead of a cook book after a 12+ hour day. Anything that doesn't take anymore brain energy. I've found that you have to constently recommit yourself to this business to avoid slipping into the complacent "going through the motions" phase. It's not always easy or fun at times, but a great chef once told me that what you spend all your money and time on is what you eventually get really good at. It's time for me to recommit myself to the necessary homework this business demands to avoid stepping sideways for too long. It helps when your surrounded by people who share the same goals of moving forward. Sometimes you just have to hear said from someone else. Thanks for saying it Chris. And in case I haven't said it yet, I'm glad your back.

Live and let live............

So I am finally doing something cool again.  Catering a birthday for my best boss'ss 3 year old son Carter.  I wanted to make my own hot dogs.  They sucked.  No self respecting 3 year will eat a dry as dirt, wrinkly, grey member that was a result of my 1st test.  Hopefully I can kill it on the condiments..............luv u people and bye bye

Changing the Way We Think

I have been salivating uncontrollably over the Modernist Cuisine Series. In a big picture sense, I feel that chefs should constantly try to manipulate the way we think about food. This series illustrates this in a very real time vision. Adding, Subtracting.....adding by subtracting....nothing is ever set in stone. If you look at roasting a red pepper and say, "this is how its done and there is nothing else to discuss" then I'm sorry but I cant work with you my friend. Sure there are rights, wrongs, and in-betweens but one should always allow new thoughts to enter the arena of thought. I remember years ago when I was first asked to roast a red pepper, in all honesty, I didn't even like to eat peppers much less care about the subtleties of cooking them. Brennan was there and I thought I was going to just throwing some chopped peppers in the oven and roasting them that way, but to my everlasting shock I watched Brennan drop a pepper right into the inferno of a lit stove top burner. As I watched the skin blacken I think I had an awakening of sorts, the whole pepper was completely black with shades of carbon gray. "What next?" I asked, the answer was putting said peppers in a bowl and covering it with plastic wrap to complete this cooking process. That was a real big step forward from working at Hooter's(that's right, I was a Hooter's Master Chef). Fast Forward a couple of years later...... I'm reading Rick Bayless, I've had a couple of hard years growing as a chef and I have just started to really understand this world we live in. Skimming through one of his recipes and read over him describing how to roast a pepper, the whole procedure was more involved but the thing that struck me the most is that he suggested covering the pepper with a kitchen towel instead of plastic wrap......? He claimed that plastic wrap would almost certainly overcook the pepper and you know what.......its a bonafide fact. This epiphany only comes from someone who truly understands that you are never done learning...... I know that I dont have it all figured out yet, but I wont stop the reinventing myself to get there....gotta scratch up the coin to to get these six volumes, if you didnt know the price tag is around 500 clams.....yikes!

Buzz Buttons

Connected by MOTOBLUR™ on T-Mobile

Ocean Grill Tasting

So, yesterday I did a four course tasting with an amuse for the Ocean Grill Chef gig here at Omni Amelia Island. The brief explanation is, I came on as the supervisor but the chef above decided to move on within the first two weeks I was there, so naturally I applied and was granted the opportunity to cook for the Executive Chef, F&B Director, Assistant F&B Director, and......wait for it.....Brennan! For me tastings are always rewarding learning experiences. This the amuse, house made brioche toasted with foie gras butter, scallop, and radish salad.

Here's a copy of the menu I printed out....

First course, Point Reyes Blue with Heirloom Tomato, Fig Vin Cotto, and Micro Kale....I think I was probably a little off on the ratio of blue to tomato, and originally I wanted fresh figs but the one's we received didn't make the cut.....

Next, Duck prepared three ways with pistachio. Seared breast, Duck Confit and Farmer's Cheese Agnola and Powdered Duck, I really liked this one......

Butter Roasted Halibut, Candy Stripe Risotto with Goat Cheese, Baby Fennel and Fennel Butter....This was a solid dish, but I feel I could have used regular beets and that it was a mistake to not showcase the unique look of the candystripe beets...I always keep that fennel butter in my back pocket, a little thing I picked up at the bluezoo....

Last, Hanger Steak with Turnip Greens and Tabsco Foam, there was a little Maderia glaze for some sweetness.

And that's that, its always fun to challenge yourself and would encourage young cooks to do the same given the chance.....till next time....

First of the season!

Connected by MOTOBLUR™ on T-Mobile

New things......

I don't really get excited about too much.  I tried to convince myself and my wife that I was really into astronomy a few years back and Needed a super bad telescope.  Then it moved onto a PS3.  Both of which I have the unfortunate truth of saying that I have the attention span of an eight year old on their best of days.  However, and in the realest sense, this curse is selective at best.  There are those things and events that hold, captivate, and steal my attention as well as my soul at times.

Off the top of my head I'll say Top Chef, my wife, tacos, Umphrees McGee, my yard, my new bamboo streamer, Saveur, my wife, my somewhat stressful job, and my soon to be new knife. 

I have been on the hunt for years internally but about a month or so real time.  It has been 3 years I think since my last new knife and a world away.  I can count the number of chef coats and Birks I have gone through and all were the same.  But this knife had to mean something different for me.  It was a change of thought or symbolic some way.  I have always used Wustof.  My baby is a 6 inch white handled beauty.  Sure I have to switch to a 8 inch for fish or meat butchering or a 5 inch utility for cleaning poultry or pork but I love that knife.

I knocked the tip off, corrected, the tile floor knocked it off after the 20th leap off a table.  I was sad for a while.  Now I am excited.  Brennan and I talked knives a bit and I decided on Horimoto.  It's like welcoming a new member of the family.  Not sure you trust them, having to prove their worth but exciting non the less.  Hope I like it.  Hope all who read are still doing well.  Paella this weekend.  My take anyways.  Dreaded paella.  Until the next and welcome back into town Mr. Pyk......

Broken Veal T-Bone, Potato Ravioli, Heirloom Salad, Maderia

Connected by MOTOBLUR™ on T-Mobile

chalkboard specials...

So I planned on writing about weekly specials.  Just a simple shout out of what was good in my mind by friday of each week.  This past weekend was a dish of braised short rib, farro, grilled beets, chipotle, and espresso demi glace.  It worked great.  Sorry but no pics of it.  Dinner tonight @ home was all about Asia and chilies.  Lumpia, fresh spring rolls, pork laab salad, and Chinese sausage shu mai.  A good long dim sum kinda meal over many hours and a good movie then Top Chef.  The pic is some beautiful Thai chilies from a local market.  Marinated in fish sauce, lime, and vinegar, they make me weep with joyful heat.  Till next time...

New Beginnings

Okay, let me get the past two months out of the way. Cooking in Charleston was a great experience and working for Kiawah Island Golf Resort did a lot for me as a chef, but I guess it wasn't where I really needed to be. Around mid October I started looking for a new gig mainly in the southeast. I did multiple interviews, a couple of tastings, and even worked with a couple of recruiters. It was a slow process and sadly at the end of December I was let go from Kiawah and began two month stint of unemployment which obviously invigorated my job search. It was good in the sense that I had many issues with the leadership of the outlet I was working in and I was able to get that monkey off my back. It was around this time that I started really feeling the need to be closer to Brennan and Mike and that's when I decided to get in contact with Chef Dale Ford at Amelia Island Plantation which was recently bought by Omni Hotels. It took some time but finally they were able to open the right position for me. I am now the supervisor of The Ocean Grill, the fine dining outlet on the Plantation. I'm working with a young and talented group of chefs and the best part.......lil bro is working in the next building right across from the hotel and mike is a quick 40 min trip south. This makes it a lot easier for us to collaborate and we are currently planning our first dinner with all three of us cooking, its gonna be epic!

So, now that we've had the cliff notes of the past two months lets get down to whats going on with Foodbros. All three of us have been pretty vocal lately about the losses we have suffered over the past 5 months and I think its time for us to put those things behind us and look towards the future. We started this blog not only to showcase what we do, but to also challenge ourselves and maybe share a story or a laugh along the way and its time we got back to doing just that.

I feel that my skillset is going to be put to good use at The Ocean grill, the dish up top is a pork rib tortellini I did last night with jus and dijon cream. A beautiful piece of Red Snapper went over the haricot vert but I was snapping a lot of pics and got distracted doing preservice before I got the last pic. Fresh pasta is something that belongs in great kitchens and I don't think I would have nurtured that technique if I hadn't gone to Charleston. I've got so many ideas right out of the gate I kind of had to have Brennan slow me down a little bit. I'll be posting more about the kitchen, the dining room and the staff in the near future so please stay tuned.

The last thing I want to say is that I kind of think the blog itself has gone through somewhat of an identity crisis. I wanted it to look impressive and professional but, I'm thinking it might be time to strip it down some and try to reinvent. Mike and Brennan echoed this sentiment Sunday night. Its just a little over a year old and to be honest we don't need the bells and whistles. Not to say we wont change the look in the future but for now......the food and the words will be the ones making the impressions.

Latest Deep Plate Dish

"Black and Blue" Beef tartare with blue cheese ice cream, butter lettuce and rye croutons

......so many roads.

Time to come back to the place we always were at.  How clouds of sadness and such seem to hide, cover up, and distort the basic truths of life.  There is good, there is light, there is laughter and joy.  We need to look for and strive to find it I think.  This is one way that I relate to the world.  Food is good, cooking is good, and it relates to us all.  It binds us, it comforts, it heals, it nourishes, and it finds us in the light and in deep, dark places. 

I can not and will not let all that is dark distract me from the pure joy of cooking any longer.  It is time for a return to the kitchen and a true return to cooking.  As Brennan put it so well, it is time for something simple.  There is a common denominator that has bonded myself to the Pickren brothers and it is food in it's stripped down, true form.  Really and truly, we were too young, stupid, and green when we first started our twisted relationship to see anything other than food and the business as raw, bare bones product and potential.  We got caught up in it.  We got clouded.  We worked too many hours.  The faces and breathes of those too near and dear are not familiar enough. Not constant.  We saw many sides of this thing, this beast that is hotel/FnB/restaurants.  I think and hope we are better people for it.  But here we are searching for.......what? 

I am in a food town.  I have wandered an amazing food market, but I do not belong here. 

         Perhaps it is life's challenge to bring that which I know of to where it is not?  How contrived is that?  Very....look, very bottom line truths here.   I have talked a lot of trash about the town I live in and it's food culture but no where in my self absorbed rants did I ever try or think to try to do anything about it.  It's a specialty of mine.  Selective judgement from a pedestal of apathy.  Love to criticize, never feel much like doing anything about it.  

      But what do mine eyes see on yonder horizon?  Could it truly be that we are back? 

Crazy that we started this blog to get our name out, relieve stress, rant about nonsense-mostly me, but all of it across miles or hundreds of them.  We have been given the rare opportunity to come back home where we first met, regroup, and go onward.  I see better than to take that which we know and throw it out in a vast variety of ways.  Foodbros @ ur next county fair or festival or street corner.  Time to take the food I believe we know so well and bring it to the people.

So, on a real level, here's what's happened.  I went to the Dekalb Farmer's market outside of Atlanta.  For those of you like me who don't know better, in Georgia, the "L" is silent.  Maybe it's me but if I wanted to say De-kayb, I would spell it as such.  Anywhoo, this place rocks but no pics are allowed.  Food network or some equivalent made them feel to big for their britches me thinks.  But it is pretty cool comparatively speaking.  Seafood and proteins aside, the produce, asian specific, along with spices and dry goods is pretty impressive.  Honestly, the isles of spices, flours, legumes and their pack sizes at this place make me kinda in need of a shower and a cigarette after I'm done.  Too much stimulation and culinary possibility at the risk of..no wait, I've already gone gross with this.  A beautiful assortment of habaneros, chipotles,  Garam Masala, Tandoori Masala, Poonjabi Masala, Cocoa Nibs, and Sechewan peppercorns all for less than $2 for a 2 oz. container.  

I have made a valiant effort to keep my posts clean.  I did otherwise a year ago because it seemed funny, rebellious.  I come off sounding like Sir Lancelot defending some maiden.  It's made me more of a douche I think.  But here and now I have to cut down to the brass and say that it has been a pretty shitty end of 2010 and beginning to 2011.  I want and demand better for us all, those of you who I know well and those who I know not.  Happy thoughts people and happy cooking. 

Pyk

Coming to an Ocean Grill near you.....

Atlanta.......

In Atlanta.   My brother and sister-in-law live miles from a jealous for life, farmer's market.  A famous one.  I have spices to bring home and happy thoughts for my niece to be.  Lucky man Kevin.  For food access and from what I see from the baby bump and her mom, one beautiful and healthy baby girl.  We will be back.  Don't think for a second that I am not already planning her 1st tasting menu.  Gerber has nothing on my soft foods. 
To yonder faithful foodbros followers however few and far between, I am mid-post.  Thanks for continuing to check us out these last many months.  There is a 14 course dinner and lots of posts about such along with invites coming soon......ps......we invite who we think we want.  If you want to come to a 14 course tasting for a meager charge comment back and get a seat.  We swears on the precious.

P.P.S.  Umphreys McGee, where have u been my whole life?

Livin the dream

Driving by this on my way to work everyday doesn't help with my nonsensical urge to drop everything, invest in a really good smoker and a couple hundred pounds of pork and just start selling bar be que for a living. Forget shmoozing guests, sitting in meeting, or trying to manage a staff. Just commit yourself to doing one thing as good as you can possibly do it. I love the time and care it takes to do good bbq. The brining, the rub, the smell of smoke that stays on your cloths for about a week. It's more than just slapping KC masterpiece on a piece of chicken half way through cooking in on your gas grill(although that's probably delicious, but in my opinion, not real bbq). One day. One day one of us will take the risk of doing our own thing. Whether it's Chris, Mike or myself, it will be an exciting time. Until next time, Dream Big....

Greg,

We miss you brother. You loved food, laughter and good times. You appreciated everyone for who they were and what they did. The world was a better place with you here. You made a huge impact on our lives and you'll always be in our hearts.

......

Me and my big mouth strike again.  I go through phases, periods of slack, then decide to come out of hiding again.  Mostly those 1st attempts are nonsense like my last post.  I said we were back.  We are in a sense but life, tragedy, and the trials of all that can be thrown by all that Is, has swept up a truly amazing, selfless, and undeserving group of people off of their feet for months now.  This last tragedy was so sudden, so unfair.  A good man is gone, some joy, and profound source of laughter has left this world which is eternal in it's saddness.  I am truly sorry and wish his wife and family my deepest condolences.  But a small favor....Greg, please watch over Keller and tell him stories of his incredible family.  Show him to laugh.
Food talk, happy talk, something positive soon to come I hope.

Big Flats forever....

How strange is the day and long since the hours found refuge for my weary, burdensom soul.  This is real to me, was real anyhow.  I went on an awesome vacation with my wife and friends.  I got sick.  A host of nasty bugs prodded at me and my bits.  I went delirious at some moment through fits of ocean swells both external and those rocking my inner shores from end to end.  It sucked.  I felt like a bitch.  I was without relief, without end. 
But it was fun.  I spent the 1st night watching the waves break through moonlight while those I traveled with slept.  Before the party.  I took my wife to see the waves break.  We saw the Bahamas and Barry's daquiris, a strip mall with cheap booze, the bahamas version of Subway, moonshine, Half Moon Cay, and how difficult it is to serve 1000 people hot food in one seating.
It was an escape from it all.  I feel like a douche that it was not more memorable of one.  How interesting to serve 2000 people from a floating, moving hotel.  How bizarre the constraints.  Even water consumption, waste, storage, holding...what a nightmare. 
We're back.  Food Bros I mean.  Slowly.  It's funny how the cold that has raped the nation has slowed our collective skull to an output of mouse farts at best.  But things are happening.  Not to the degree that I say they will because I never live up to that which I say cause I'm a lazy person of massive sucking but we shalt try. 
I miss cooking with my brothers.  I miss cooking in general.  I miss Chris. more to come.  be good.... Go valentine's day......

"Cheese- Milk's leap towards immortality"~Clifton Fadiman

Inspired by Mike's quest for cheese making and my need to think about something other than work for a while(starting to feel more like and peace keeper and a babysitter than a chef), I've decided to explore the craft a little myself. After doing a little research, I've found that yogurt can be a subsitute for thermophilic cultures and buttermilk, which I've used before to make farmer's cheese, can be used as a mesophilic culture. With the help of some rennet that Mike gave me, a candy thermometer, cheesecloth, a block of wax and Courtney's little knee high fridge out in the garage(covered in Pittsburge Steeler's flair. It's now been set to a temperature of 55 degrees), maybe I can make something that both doesn't suck and won't kill me either.