Dollar General Challenge Part 1

Dollar General Tasting
Sunday, July 11th

1st Course
masa flour chicken crepe, Spam tamale, roasted arbol and guajillo chile, nacho cheese, Dorito powder

2nd Course
bacon and eggs

3rd Course
compressed Ramen noodle

4th Course
fried chicken and beans

5th Course
spaghetti alla carbonara, crisp Spam, artichoke and Albacore ravioli, pea puree

6th Course
PB&J

7th Course
Dirt Cake



What fun! What a challenging mess! We fed 10 people 7 courses for about $115. I did 1st course then Brennan, me, Brennan, me, etc. The menu is vague. Promise to write some descriptions tomorrow as I'm sure Brennan will also. Till next time.....

The Dollar Store challenge is around the corner

Braised Pork Butt, Carrot confit, balsamic bar be que
Organic Salmon, Sesame vinaigrette, Udon noodles with lemongrass broth

Chilean Seabass with potato gnocchi puttanesca

We cooked 5 coarses for 12 people, ran through a ridiculous amount of wine and established the rule that you can't pass out before your guests leave

Roasted beef tenderloin with seared foie and bacon wrapped fingerling
Veal two ways with creamed corn

Roasted lamb rack with vegetable slaw and micro cilantro

Shrimp, Lobster, and snail slowly poached in a mason jar with light broth

Till Death Do Us Post.......

Damn......it's been a while. The raft I was floating around on (pardon me), the refrigerator/inter tube combo I was borrowing on the Atlantic finally drifted into an oil patch and I was rescued by some tree-hugging, porpoise humpers. In fact, it was those whale war keeper wackos. They saw nets being deployed, they opened an arsenal of non lethal smell-er-y then shotgun-er-y. Turns out we were in the gulf. Turns out, tis only shrimps in yonder nets.....Sorry folks, lieutenant Dan started off with no legs, now he has no head. What a world! Damaged for life I shalt be.
What about food you.........
So, I have a couple pictures to post with captions. I have become enamoured with a banana pepper plant and meyer lemon tree-esque thing in my yard. They are relatively significant to me. I also fashioned a smoker of sorts that needs discussion. It was not miraculously but functionally beautiful!

On short notice, I have this to write. I lie. On lack of motivation and timing, I have this. It's the title of my next blog. A real one. I just wanted to put it out as he did so I can look at it again and think before I elaborate on my view......
"A cook and a chef are different entities. "chef" is a title...But when you are a cook, that is who you are. It's your spine and your soul."
I never wanted to be a chef. I guess that's where I'm going with this. Till next time and sooner than later.......

So.....here it is. Isildur Barbour's Bane. It does not look like much in retrospect. A new menu to breath life back into things. With little trial and error, writing recipes on the fly, a dim but now deep hope of accurate replication, all is well. I shall resume writing about this and that soon me thinks. Once again and once upon a time, there was a restaurant and it yearned to find it's place. It was simple.

From the Grill

Zaitoon’s Grilled Kebabs
choose from marinated chicken thigh, lamb medallions, kefta or a combination of two meats,
grilled and served with seasonal vegetables, basmati rice, and tzatziki sauce

Steak au Poivre
peppercorn dusted grilled prime sirloin, wild mushroom cabernet reduction, rosemary and roasted garlic potato puree, red onion compote

Maple Cured PorkTenderloin
scallion spaetzle, grilled asparagus, “French Onion” jus

Mediterranean Flavors

Rustic Braised Lamb Shank
tomato caper ragu, warm olive and fennel salad, rosemary and roasted garlic potato puree

Signature Curried Snapper
sautéed snapper with coconut scented yellow curry, apple-mango chutney and basmati rice

Our Bouillabaise
sauteed diver scallops, shrimp, israeli couscous, blood orange fennel broth

Poisson en Papilotte
seasonally inspired fish wrapped in parchment and steamed with accompaniments

Moussaka
traditional Greek dish with layers of eggplant, potato, and a mix of ground beef, pork,
tomato, and spices, baked in a savory bechamel

Pan Roasted Chicken
roasted half chicken, rosemary and roasted garlic potato puree,
spring onion and fresh thyme pan sauce

Fettuccini al Puttanesca
a ragu of sauteed olives, capers, roasted peppers, and San Marzano tomato over fettuccini

Featured Vegetarian Plate
a selection of the freshest produce prepared seasonally

deep plate dish and more Ocean Grill Specials

Steelhead Trout with braised fennel and caper almond relish
Seared Red Fish, bacon ricotta agnolotti, cipollini ragout

Apple wood brined chicken breast, bacon ricotta agnolotti, cremini mushroom confit

Our Garden is really starting to pop....

The tomatoes are really coming through, peppers, eggplant, cuke's and herbs are on the way as well.....

Brown Butter Potato, Local Barrelfish, and The Dynamic of Working for a Resort...

This is our resident grinder Willie, an essential aspect to our daily kitchen life. He does all the jobs no one else wants to do, and despite how gung ho a dedicated chef might be......there are always jobs they don't want to do, and if they say otherwise, they are either a robot or lying.

Anyways, Willie helped me out with this picture by holding up this Barrelfish we got from the fishermen at Cherrypoint. We are starting to develop a relationship with them and its worked out so far giving the success of the Wreckfish a week ago.

The fish was relatively easy to break down, no unique surprises or differences. I took a note from Brennan and decided to give it a quick cure with lavender, salt, sugar, and some fresh herbs. BRILLIANT TECHNIQUE for cooks to add flavor and a new texture to fish.

The fish was settled, now what do I put with it? Well, I've been obsessing with brown butter lately...this stems from reading IIF's blogs about brown butter puree. I wanted the flavor, I just need a more substantial medium.......POTATOES......!

Silky and delicious, they worked perfectly....start with making your brown butter and seperating the milk solids with a coffee filter. For those who have never made brown butter, this is the process where you take whole butter and cook it to a point where it takes on a rich, caramel flavor(in its most simple terms). I proceeded to blend the potatoe puree with the milk solids as if I were mounting with whole butter, the result is beautiful. As soon as I find some milk solids I am going to make this puree without the potatoes.

Lastly, on a "we as cooks note" I'll just say that I personally think every cook should work a couple years in a resort or major hotel at some point in their career. The range of experience you get is priceless. Brennan, Mike and myself were all branded in the fires of a saute station that carried 70% of a menu in a busy seafood restaraunt. The glory station. But that restaurant was just one of many we toured through at the resort. Every place you work has an effect on what kind of cook you become, you become the sum of your parts... It will dictate what holds value, and what you hold as an important trait for you as a line cook, and eventually as a chef. I can tell you with complete certainty that fast line cooks have the most success......but the next level is the fast line cooks that can do it with consistency.......quality.....and for lack of a better word....perfection..........

The only constant in our world, is constant hard work..........

(i sound tired dont I?)

Ahhhh Simple

So little is I find. On any given day, the hugely important or significant down to the mundane, never really seem to be easy. I suppose it's all about perspective but tell me life does not have a way of getting utterly complicated.
It is this very fact that day by day, layer by layer, life in all it's complications seems to cement my approach to food. I like simple, comforting but at the same time interesting and a degree of history or soul. It has taken me a very long time to find my voice and see a clear perspective. I was cluttered for a long time. Trying to assimilate too many cultures, styles, bad or unhealthy
influences, choke down an ego, etc. Then one day...clarity. Today is a good example. I woke up and knew exactly what I wanted to cook. When I found myself @ the produce at Publix, all the voices which say "go this way or that, why not try this with this," were at peace in silent harmony. My waking brain said "make pasta and use whatever is in the freezer, the rest will work itself out......but since you're out getting a sub at Publix, find something cool. Some kinda green or hey, spaghetti squash!"
I love cooking for my wife. I love cooking in my own kitchen. Frozen chicken thighs, a slab of pate, a chicken carcass, and some maple cured pancetta turned into chicken farce ravioli w/ spaghetti squash and a jalapeno parmigiano reggiano broth then liguine w/ chickeny pancetta ragu.














@ the restaurant, the wrong size case of fresh mozzarella turned my head back to Rome and to the present....a hot week in Florida. Simple, fresh, regal mozzarella, roasted cherry tomato, prosciutto, red onion, and basil. This one flash frozen for my 2am enjoyment. Simple.

Wreckfish

I had never tasted Wreckfish until I moved to Charleston......it is delicious. Apparently Chucktown plays host to one of the few places Wreckfish concentrate for spawning. They can be caught all throughout the Atlantic but are only harvested off the coast here in an area called the "Charleston Bump," 80-130 miles offshore.

The flavor is relative to Grouper and I have read that its texture is comparable to Swordfish but I get a slight flakiness that reminds me of sea bass. We decided to give this guy a pan sear and let the fish speak for itself......

Keeping with our rustic Italian cuisine, a ragu of spiny lobster and golden tomato seemed fitting, tossed with fresh pasta and herbs. The foam is made of lobster stock and truffle oil, solid flavors for a solid fish.....

Tarragon Scented Scallops, Carrot confit, butter poached lobster and new potatoes

Organic Salmon, lobster and bean sprout salad, beef ravioli with horseradish potato puree

Intermission

Took a break from the kitchen today to check out this guys causing a stir behind the clubhouse. It was about 10ft. and was acting very aggressive. Its hard to see but the front bumper of that security truck was ripped of by our friend here after the security guard tried to convince it to move.

The Nugg........

So so so......where does the time go really. I have to start by saying this. One of my all-time favorite songs is Strangehold by the one and only conservative insanity that is Ted Nugent. God I love that song. In fact, let us be blessed by technology. If time permits, pop up itunes and put the Nug on right now.......i'll wait.....really....giving you plenty of time...Fine then, be that way, looser. Just trying to make your online reading experience a little 3D Avatar-y- Mood music if you will.

One long Natty Ice night, perhaps 8 years back I called every radio station in Buffalo @ 3am to hear it. I'm talking rock, pop, r&b, classical, NPR.....to no avail. Anyways, Strangehold.....how it fits the particular construct of this business from time to time. It seeps the love, life, and soul out of ya but done so well, so cool, and rocks so very hard. Mother's Day and staffing issues...that is all I have to say about that Jenn-a-y.

I hate salmon. Kinda. I love it smoked, cured, and raw but cooked, a terrible level of sucking. I don't really eat much fish. Really. I was the pickiest kid ever, turned a new leaf in later years gobbling up anything, then turned back. Mind you, I will cook anything and love it. In fact I love cooking things I don't eat. I'm weird. I love the raw forms, the manipulation, I have tried just about all of it thus making the challenge, if I was to be hungry for this or that, what would make it fun, tasty, different? I've been waving my middle digit on both hands at those who asked for salmon for 3 years. What a stubborn fool I am, for real. "Give them what they want," playing over and over in my mind during a week of mother's day prep.

Why can't a big piece of cooked salmon be like the parts or preparations I do honestly like and sometimes crave? Big fillet....no smoke.....no cure.....they would kill the delicateness if it was cooked just a bit....in parchment! With some aromatics.

Salmon en Papillote w/ fennel, scallion blini, and a thyme and caper creme fraiche.

What else is going on? Trying to roll out a new menu soon. One to really be happy with. Buttermilk bleu gnocchi, roasted yellow peppers, zucchini, art hearts, diablo tom. sauce for the vegetarians. Oh, loving playing w/ flatbread pizzas for new menu....prime rib, grilled portobella, red onion, roasted peppers, buttermilk bleu, horseradish creme. Been messing with sauce bases for flatbreads like creme fraiche. Gorgeous and regal atop a crisp crust. Best seller is still my version of a Gyro on a flatbread: marinated roasted lamb shoulder, red onion, tomato, goat cheese base finished w/ Tzatziki. Thinking about duck legs and a 12 hour bath. Enough for now......

EAT DOMESTIC SHRIMP!!!!

Chadzilla's latest post on saving the bayous kind of struck a nerve with me. You can check out what he wrote and also take a look at the CNN John Besh interview he linked or just click on it here.http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/homestyle/05/12/besh.save.life.shrimp/index.html.

For chefs who don't read chadzilla(you should be), I wanted to just post something on here to reiterate the importance of supporting local fisheries. Here in Charleston we are removed from crisis in the Gulf enough to the point where, if you have been living under a rock, you might not even know what's going on. It up to us as individuals and responsible culinarians to do our part in protecting these ecosystems, so lay down the cheap china shrimp and opt for something a little closer to home.

Spiney Lobsters

Spiney Lobster Frito, Loaded Potato Agnolotti, Local Golden Tomato and Green Bean, Sweet Chive foam

Sea bass specials

Chilean Sea Bass over lump crab, grape tomatoes and calamata olives,

truffle agnolotti, tomato broth

Lightly smoked Sea bass, bacon and spinach risotto, over medium fried farm egg, pablano broth

Horseradish crusted Sea bass, Grit souffle, Prosciutto wrapped spaghetti squash

Surf and Turf

Prime Strip, Duck fat potatoes and melted shitakis. Vanilla butter poached lobster with pine nut and orange relish.

Smoked Mahi, Squash puree, Pink peppercorn meuniere

The mahi was cold smoked by ignited wood chips and immediately putting out the flames by suffocating it in an enclosed space with the fish a safe distance from the heat and then put straight into the walkin. Make sure to do it when the service staff is around to see it so they think your about to burn the kitchen down.

Meuniere is French for "miller's wife." Traditionally meaning a fish lightly dusted with flour, sauteed and then dressed with lemon juice and parsley.

Lightly cured for about 45 minutes. Equal parts salt and granulated sugar, basil, pink peppercorns. Quick curing fish is not only good for forming a pellicle for smoking but it also adds flavor and increases shelf life without changing the integrity of the meat.