First Timers, My review

Growing up in CT there are numerous area restaurants people talk about, many of which are in Hartford and West Hartford.  Today I’m going to give you a little review of my first time at one of the well-known ‘great’ restaurants.  It is not very often that I have the opportunity to go out and have a nice dinner with my girlfriend, (because of my career path of course) so I took this opportunity to go somewhere a little nicer than the local pizza place or sushi yet again.  So Thursday evening, we decided to try Grants,  I know Grants has been there for 9-something years, but I had never been.  I have always heard mixed things about Grants within the restaurant industry.  I had been to Bricco (Billy Grant’s other restaurant) on a casual double date once before and I enjoyed it the food was  very well prepared but the atmosphere was a little more casual that I initially expected. With mixed ideas and not knowing what to expect we ended up going in with a positive attitude.

We began our meal seated at a cozy table off the side of the bar, it was quiet enough for me so I was happy.  we were greeted by our server Maegn (as it was spelled on our check), she was very nice and knowledgeable of the menu.  As we looked over the menu many different things had intrigued me such as a  seared duck breast with Butternut Farotto, that’s just one of things we had to turn down in order to actually decide on what we would eventually order.  After we decided on what we would order we picked out a decent wine in our price range,  A MacMurray Pinot Noir, Pinot being one of my favorites and something we both agree on.  The bread came out just after placing our order and they were home-made , buttered Parker rolls, they were light and airy with a nice light crust, i thought they were great, Sarah thought they could use a little butter or oil.  Although I started with oysters (2 blue points and 2 Shiny sea), the wine still complimented them with a subtle sweetness and tangy zip, that paired well with the mignonette.  Sarah had the French onion soup (she loves it everywhere) and I assume it was wonderful she didn’t share any with me (just playing Sarah). She realized that when the busboy cleared our plates and apologized for not sharing.

Then out came our entrees with enough time to talk and discuss our meal and everything this was well paced, we did not feel rushed more like encouraged to enjoy ourselves, not just the food.  Sarah had ordered the Duck confit raviolis with chanterelle mushrooms, They were tossed in a wonderfully creamy sauce and arranged on the dish simple yet delightful.  I had ordered the Ribeye of lamb, medium-rare.  The lamb was perfectly cooked and heavenly tender, the sauce was rich and sweet with carrots and artichokes (I’m not a big fan of artichokes)that were perfectly cooked and lent themselves perfectly to the dish.  This was a wonderful dish that I was more than happy i ordered.  Sarah did remember to let me try her Raviolis, they were very good.  My one disappointment may have been that the lemon zest in the confit way have been a touch overpowering and took away from the rich duck flavor, but other that the pasta was perfectly cooked with enough of the pasta to still taste it, not too thick or too thin.  The mushrooms in the sauce were perfectly cooked still a little bite and a nice meaty nutty flavor, this was a good dish.

We finished our meal, Sarah wrapped the rest of hers to save room for dessert.  We pondered over the dessert menu and Sarah loving chocolate didn’t see anything that really made her excited. Myself, being a “former pastry chef”, wanted to indulge in a sampler, but Sarah doesn’t like chocolate mixed with things, so we decided to go basic and ordered cheeses and an apple crisp with vanilla gelato.  We ordered two cheeses, a goat’s milk cheese and a cow’s milk cheese, two very similar in appearance but completely different in flavor.  The apple crisp was very good the topping was a little too crunchy, and the Gelato was creamy and perfectly lent to the overall dish it was quite good.  I had also ordered a 10 year Tawny port to sip on after the meal and it was all delightful.   I had an amazing time and I would suggest this to anyone looking for a good meal and a great time.  I look forward to getting a chance to dine out again soon, please let me know where i should go next? Thank you for reading, I will write again soon.

 

Keep Cooking.

Kitchen Accidents

Just for some this is not for people with a weak stomach.

Yesterday I wasn’t feeling tip-top, a little under the weather, and very tired.  While working, the knife guys came in and replaced our knives with freshly sharpened knives.  This presents one minor problem, these freshly sharpened knives stick in the cutting board, they tend to be hard to handle for the first day or so.  Anyway, I was trying to cut some parsley and I was being careful because normally the parsley looks as though it was cut by a weed whacker and if carefully cut it could look beautiful and fluffy, not wet and grassy.  As I cut through half of the pile, I was working quickly and in turn took half my finger tip.  I rinsed my finger very painfully and watched as it took a moment for the blood to begin gushing out.  So I quickly wrapped my finger in a large wad of paper towel, then proceeded with a sanitizing rag and wiped down my board and rid of the knife.

I have never cut myself so deep and so quickly, I feel embarrassed and stupid for having done this.  I sat down and attempted to clean it and almost passed out it hurt so much.  Orange juice and a moment to sit and collect myself helped a lot.  I bandaged it up and slowed the bleeding enough to finish out my 12 hour shift (I did this at 1030 and i had to work till at least 9 last night).  The chef and owner prompted me to go to the walk-in clinic in Avon but i refused knowing they really cant do anything other than put me in excruciating pain cleaning it, it cant be re attached the nerves are already dead.  so i worked the day through, slow and steady, changing gloves  and bandages often.  The final time I decided to change my bandage before we began to clean I cleaned the wound and looked at what appeared to be bone, so I threw up.  Wish me luck in changing the bandage later.  when i got home last night Sarah proceeded to hand me things to be funny, a prop spoon I made for our Halloween party, some finger cookies Linda made for our party, some pumpkin seeds (witch fingernails), she said we have plenty of fingers and nails i could use.  So Ive attached some photos, if your easily grossed out don’t scroll down.

By the way I was still bleeding as I wrote this, but I’ll be fine i just gotta keep it clean and make sure it doesn’t get infected. Thanks for reading

 

Keep Cooking (be careful)

Roux-in Your Sauce

Sorry it’s been so long, I’ve had a rough week, and work was not easy.  I hope you have hung in there and will continue to read and support my growth in the culinary world as well as the act of future authorship.  I am very open to suggestions about what to write about.  This is still new to me and I love a little inspiration here and there.

Well back on track I have two simple things to discuss.  The first deals with a wonderful but small party for Halloween.  We decided to have some friends and family over for Halloween and like always I had that urge to cook.  So I made a bunch of little things (too much, we hoped more people showed up).  I made little meatballs, and grilled flat-bread pizzas.  Sarah made devil eyeballs(eggs), and her awesome dip with sour cream spider webs.  It was a fun little spread.  The thing I wanted to talk about was something excellent,  i was planning on making wings, and Sarah said to marinate them for more flavor.  I thought, one step further, why not just brine them.  So I made a spicy, herb brine, with salt and sugar.  I put the wings in the brine as it cooled then left it in the fridge over night.  I strained them then cooked them for the party.  These were incredible.  So I can finally say something to my, Cavey’s friends in confidence.*  “No Sauce Necessary.”  I did it, simple yet sensational.

The second item for today is a little help for some home cooks.  Sometimes people have questions about making menus, how to prepare something, or even how to eat something.  I’m going to talk to you simply about roux.   Roux is very easily described as equal parts fat and flour blended together then cooked to a desired color.  They are used for soups, sauces and I have even recently used them to thicken a custard base for a baked dessert.  Butter is the most commonly used fat for making roux, this is because of its rich fat content, heavenly flavor and availability in the kitchen.  You may also used margarine, animal fats (bacon, chicken, beef fat), and sometimes oils.  The common mistake is that if you use one cup of fat you need one cup of flour, well it’s not that simple, it is weights that need to be measured.  But if your like me you dont have a scale in your home kitchen, so don’t be afraid.  Prepare your roux like so,  melt your fat or heat it slowly, then the fat is melted or warmed, pour in one rounded cup of flour, but be sure to have more on hand.  Mix it with a whisk until the flour is absorbed, if is still runny and moist add a small amount of flour till it begins to look thin.  Continue cooking until it is the correct color and consistency.  You cook the roux to remove the flavor of raw flour, it is just not an appealing flavor.  Sometimes when I make roux, I may saute shallots or garlic in the pan before adding the flour this adds an extra little zip in the finish.

The color of roux depends solely on what you are making.  The color of a roux can effect two things the flavor and the thickening power that it has. There are three basic shades for roux, white, blond and brown.  There is also lard based roux, in which you can toast flour in the oven then mix it in and cook it on very low heat for a long time to achieve a deep color and nutty, rich flavor, too long and not careful it can be turned bitter very easily.  This is most commonly used for gumbo.  White roux is cooked shortly and has great thickening power.  Blond roux takes on a richer flavor but has a slightly less thickening ability.  The brown roux is cooked to a golden brown or even darker color, this has much less thickening ability.  Color and thickness in soups and sauces is great but how do you add them in.

The best bet is to prepare your roux ahead of time and let it rest while you prepare your soup or stock.  When you are ready to thicken it, turn the roux onto medium heat and add some of the hot liquid(soup broth, or sauce) while vigorously whisking and bring it to a boil on higher heat stirring till it is smooth.  Then you can add it to you final product with no lumps and a smooth finish.  Bring your soup or sauce to a simmer and let it thicken.  This is the easiest I can describe that for you.

I hope you learned something, if not ask, don’t be afraid to ask me questions.  I’m here to help and talk about the thing I love to do, cook.  Thanks again for reading and hope to write again soon.

 

Keep cooking

A Little More Inspiration

Last night I finally finished reading Jacques Pepin’s autobiography ‘The Apprentice; My Life In the Kitchen’.  In getting through the final two chapters, as i was reading I found myself smiling more and more. Have you ever smiled so much that it actually hurt a little bit?  I have never read anything that really touched on how I feel about food and reflects my exact opinions.

“I am not a skittish eater.  While I enjoy the esoteric, refined food of the great restaurants, I eat that food only occasionally.  My everyday tastes tend to a fare of roast chicken, braised pork, sauteed whiting, and tomato salad.  I love chocolate desserts and custards and… large, bluish, juicy cherries… and apricots… still warm from the summer sun and sticky with natural sugar and ripeness.  I like copious glasses of wine with my food and I do not like to eat alone.  I need family and friends to enjoy the dishes and the pleasure of dining.”

I understand what he was saying and I couldn’t agree more.  I love great food and all, but to me nothing makes me happier than the simplest of dishes(hence the previous blog of meatloaf).  It is fun to experiment and try new things but most of the time at the end of the day nothing beats a simple roasted chicken seasoned simply with oil, salt, and pepper.  Serve that with Mashed or roasted potatoes and simple sauteed vegetables, a nice bottle of wine(red or white whichever), and finish all that with a small dish of chocolate ice cream or whatever you like.  That is so simple but if shared with someone you love it becomes a truly great experience.

Thanks again Jacques!

Keep cooking!

It’s Just that Simple

I’m actually getting a chance to write after a busy first couple weeks at the new place. It is going great and the public loves us already.

I got a request for something to put up here and thank you for that. I will begin sharing recipes with my readers.  Now keep in mind many of the things I make don’t have recipes.  So from now on I will try to write down all the in the dishes I prepare so I can share them with you.  Before I begin I would like to say, I know most home cooks follow recipes, most of the time, they follow them almost exactly.  This doesn’t need to be so, in most kitchens, cooks tend to steer away (unless specified) from recipes.  In fact I rarely use recipes, and I like more to refer to them as references.  Once you have the taste for something committed to recipe its pretty hard to not re-create that dish again.  And some people don’t understand that you can change a recipe and make it your own.  You can change ingredients and sample new ways to prepare a dish, be creative and have fun with it, that’s what I do.  For example, a simple condiment such as Tartar sauce, i have a ’secret’ recipe.  It is a simple thing pickles and mayonnaise but why not mix it up. Add onion or shallot, add capers, add a little hot sauce and it’s outstanding.  It really is just that simple.

So I’m going to share with you 1 (really 3) super simple recipe for soup.  Remember the recipe is interchangeable and you do not need to follow it exactly. Many of you know and love my incredible artist girlfriend Sarah, she loves lentil soup so I’m going to give you a super Easy lentil and Butternut Squash soup recipe.  I have made this for her more than once, I like to make this in a low-fat non-traditional way. Lentil soup is made with beef stock and generally has bits of ham from a ham bone thrown in to cook with the soup.  The first time I made this soup was with a herb/vegetable stock.  The second was with chicken, and actually the first time was actually better. But still equally good.

Lentil and Butternut Soup

1 lb Dry lentils

2 small yellow onions, chopped small dice

5-6 cloves garlic, minced finely

2-3 medium carrots, chopped small dice

3 stalks celery chopped small dice

1 half large butternut squash diced(wrap other half in plastic wrap and store in crisper for up to 2 weeks)

1-2 Tbsp Minced fresh herbs, Thyme, Sage, Parsley (whatever you may like)

2 quarts Stock(*Herb/vegetable or **chicken preferable)

Olive oil/avocado oil A/N

Salt and Pepper to taste

Put the onions in a large 3 qt soup pot with a splash of oil, turn heat to medium-low.  Begin to Sweat the onions. After about five minutes add the garlic.  Sweat them together, do not brown or caramelize, if you see them starting to turn brown add a splash of water and let it simmer to evaporate.  Meanwhile put your stock into another pot (if you have it) and put on medium heat (you just want to get it hot for when you add it to the soup, this speeds the process up it is not necessary though).  After the onion and garlic are sweat down add the rest of the vegetables and cook for about 5 more minutes and as soon as they are hot mix in the lentils (if using cold stock add now too).  You want to get the lentils good and coated with the oil and other veggies cook that for about 5 more minutes.  When the squash looks like it is starting to soften add the hot stock and herbs. Let that simmer on low for about 1 hour salt and pepper to taste and then you have your soup.

*herb/vegetable stock-  I like this because its easy and tastes great.  Get a large pot of cold water and add a bunch of chopped parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage, garlic, onions, and celery, all very roughly chopped, don’t go crazy its gonna get thrown out anyway.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20-50 minutes or until the broth is green and it has a rich herb flavor, this can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 6 months

* Chicken stock-  There are many ways to make chicken stock, many chefs roast the bones then make stock other use raw bones, I like to do a mixture of both.  You can purchase legs/thighs, and wings at the store and use those.  Or if your like me, you can buy whole chickens and break them down and keep the bones in your freezer for future stocks. if you use the thighs and leg be sure to save the meat for soups, chicken salads, or anything else you might like with chicken. Anyway, roast half your bones for 15-20 minutes in a 450f oven, or until browned.  Mix all bones and carrots, celery and onion (1;1;2 the proper ratio respectively) into the mix, all rough cut.  you can take garlic and cut bulbs in half to use them. bring to a boil, them reduce heat to a simmer, I like to let this simmer for at least 4 hours you can go less or more if you want, just taste it and be the judge.

I hope you enjoy the soup and I will write again soon. Thanks for reading

Keep Cooking

Saving with Milk

Here’s a short little piece for you today, since I am busy and I am still settling into my new place of employment.

It’s simple enough, people love milk, I love milk.  No one wants to pay so much for milk, you go to the grocery store and milk generally is around 3.49-4.89. This is ridiculous, a little hint that i learned from the great Uncle Herman.  Go to a convenient store or a gas station, the price is cut almost in half.  A gallon of Guida 1% milk is 4.29 at the Stop and Shop, yet you go right around the corner to the 711 or the Sunoco, the price is 2.39.  I know its only a little but if you drink a gallon or so a week that’s an annual average of $99 saved.  So keep that in mind next time you need that beautiful white liquid.

Also a little update the restaurant is going pretty well it hasn’t been as busy as we initially intended but that’s alright.  This slower period is giving us a chance to work out the small problems such as computer glitches, servers learning dishes and how to simplify dishes and work more efficiently.  once we have all these things down we will become comfortable in our work habits and we can advertise and bring in some more customers.  I look forward to hearing from some of you as you come in and check it out and even ask for me to come say “Hi”(if I’m not too busy).

Thanks for reading and keep cooking

Shhh Show

Well in trying to keep it clean, today was the first day of cooking for ‘customers’ at my new place of employment, and it was chaos.  In other words it was a sh** show.  We were in complete chaos but the food that went out was actually very presentable and we only had one complaint that the food wasn’t hot enough.  This was not our fault it was in fact a server’s fault, but like us cooks no one is perfect and the servers are still training.  The ‘customers’ that came in today were family friends of management and some local business owners.  As chaotic as it was I feel it will only get better.  We all had smiles and started to get a good feel of where we were needed in the kitchen. Our plating was on time and I look forward to having a lot of fun working in this kitchen.

Tomorrow is another day and I will try to write again soon with more kitchen chaos.

Keep cooking

Just like any first day…

Most people know that changing jobs can be exciting, stressful, and most of all frightening.  For me the first time was really the only time I ever was any of these things. People always ask, “Are you excited (nervous/scared) about your new job?”  I usually just say yes, but I realized last night I should be honest.  To answer all of those i guess I could just say, “No.”  The point of me (or any cook/chef), is to work in an environment in which they find suitable and the food is always something they would want to prepare.  We usually go through a process before we are even hired.  If you don’t mind I will go through this process briefly.

1. Applying- we find a place that catches our eye and apply, If we hear back we go in for the next step

2. Meeting- we meet the owner/chef and discuss our experience and background, then we discuss goals and pay, yet again if this goes well we move to the next step.

3.Stage or Test-  a stage is when the cook-to-be goes in and basically works a day (or period) to demonstrate his/her abilities and a test is generally to show skill and ability.  Then when all are done you may be hired or not.

This simple process reveals to both employer and employee whether or not they would want to work in a restaurant.  In many cases the employer may really like the applicant but after the process he/she realizes this is not the food, environment or people they would want to work with.  I have been through this before and I have made the mistake of not examining the whole process and I ended up with jobs I did not enjoy.  I have also been through and avoided failing restaurants,  working with inferior products, and even disgusting environments.

I would also like to say that going from one kitchen to another is easy.  A friend once told me not to be scared or nervous going from one restaurant to another, because it’s just cooking in another kitchen.  I love that and it couldn’t be more true.  The only thing you can really honestly worry about is the people you will be put to work with. And even that I have come to accept that no matter the skill level every person i run into in this industry will have something new to teach me, and I am always open to learn and teach.  It’s all about building to make myself and those around me better.

So, my first day went well, and I have to thank you all for support.  I feel like this is going to be a fun place to work.  It is a very eclectic menu with a lot of items that spark my interest, and makes me excited to cook for customers yet again.  I will be around cooking , but we will be opening on the 14th and we have a soft opening this weekend. Well I have to go make dinner now.

Keep cooking and Stay happy

I’ll talk to you soon…

Dining In

This is a picture of the dinner I prepared on Thursday evening.  Sarah and I had her Aunt and uncle over for dinner so I decided to scrounge up a meal for the four of us.  They live so close and I love to cook for people, so why not, right?

Before I tell you what I made let me start by saying the protein in our meal was originally conceptualized in a dream.  Here is how it came about.  I love meatloaf despite its bad reputation from television.  There are two basic types of meat loaf, the free-form, and In the pan.  I like both for different reasons.  I love the free form because it has more crispy edges, yet I love the Pan version because it retains the moisture better and is more consistent with size of slices.  I thought to myself there has to be a way to combine both.  It turns out i’m right.

So here is what I prepared, Potato-ricotta and arugula gnocchi, with roasted fall vegetables, and a Lamb loaf laced with duck confit risotto loaf.  The gnocchi were a mix of potato and ricotta and formed into quenelles dropped into the water.  They were light but heavy and very tasty.  I prepared a duck confit, and risotto using duck stock, then I used that as a stuffing for what was primarily a Braciole but instead of a whole cut of meat I used ground lamb prepared similar to a meatloaf.  The vegetables were roasted with fresh herbs and olive oil and simply tossed with the gnocchi.  With the remaining duck stock reduced i turned it into a white gravy to top the dish.  All of these items were tied in wonderfully despite the meatloaf was slightly overdone. But I know what to do different next time.

This was a fun dinner and I love cooking for people who I know will enjoy it.

I start my new job tomorrow, I will write and let you all know how it went.

Thanks for reading and Keep cooking

Ticki Tocky

So its been a few days, as many of you know Saturday was my birthday.  I had a surprisingly great weekend. I say surprisingly because my weekends recently haven’t been too wonderful.  I just had a great weekend filled with great friends awesome family and fun food/drink.

Friday-  I started my day like most Fridays working at Caffeines Cafe.  I was stressed thinking about the next destination, my next place of work.  This is a place where I get little respect and my ideas are shot down like ducks in hunting season.  I am stressed because of the fact that not only do i have to go in, but the Wednesday before I had just given my Two weeks notice.  The chef in this place doesn’t take things a lightly and usually expresses his anger loudly.  So of course I was scared to work and get yelled at, again.  Much to my surprise he greeted me with a smile, then kindly said, “If you want to grab your knives, I think we will be alright without you.”  So as I left the building knives in tote I apologized for the inconvenience and walked out.  As soon as I left I felt enormous stress off my back and I smiled.  By the way last week I got offered a job to work closer to home for better pay and i’m sure I will be treated with respect.  The new place is called Matthew’s.

I went to my parents house with my beautiful girlfriend, we had sushi for dinner. Then we went to my cousins girlfriends house for his birthday party and my parents anniversary.  We sat around a fire drank, joked and had an all-around great time.

Saturday-  Recovering from a hangover on your birthday isn’t always easy (okay for me it is). we had a slow start and ended up going out for burgers and beers (told you it’s easy).  I wanted to have a light evening, I knew what was coming on Sunday.  It was great to sit at home on a cool evening with my girlfriend, having pizza, beers, and a nice movie.  Oh yeah I cant forget our awesome hot chocolate with Irish cream and Godiva caramel milk chocolate.  Such a great end to a relaxing day.  This was strange though, it isn’t very often I get a Saturday night off.

Sunday-  This was the icing on the cake for a great weekend,  my friends and family all met up for dinner at an awesome restaurant for so much fun.  We went to the East Side restaurant.  The only disappointing part was our waitress was a bit rude the whole time.  Other than that it was such a great feeling to see all these people coming out to see me for my birthday and drink some big beers.  Over 24 of my friends and family decided to show up.  The sausage was great, the cole slaw and cabbage was incredible, everything was just excellent.  I do want you to know the beers are very large and I would love to go again.  I got a boot and of course with the boot come the loud dining room cheer of “DAS BOOT!!!”  It is so much fun to cheer with the Beirmeister when he would chant, “Ticki tocky, ticki tocky, HOY! HOY! HOY!”  I do remember all of my meal and of course all four of my Big boot beers.  I want to thank everyone who came out and celebrated with me.  Thank you all for your kindness and love to all of you.

Thanks for a great birthday and thanks for reading.  I’ll write again soon, I have a fun dinner in the very near future planned. Ill also try to get some of the pictures from my weekend.

Keep cooking,

I hope to hear some questions in the future