Tuesday, January 30, 2007



"World, the time has come to: DON'T HOLD BACK!"
- Chemical Brothers & Q-Tip


The new year is in full swing and things, obviously, haven't changed. So, as usual, it's up to me to make the world a better place through my borderline-prophetic presence.

I've thought about my impending Pastry career. I've thought about working out more. Hell, I've even thought about growing up a little and maybe try doing things the right way rather than my preferred method of SYSTEM D. I'm actually VERY fond of Le Systeme D, it's just one of those things cooks DO weather they call it by name or not.

One of my favorite moves when it comes to System D is cooking off chicken breasts in boiling water and then dropping them in a bucket of barbecue sauce. When it comes time for service, they are quickly marked on grill and pushed onto, eager, waiting plates.

I can hear it, I can feel it... That gasp of contempt from the culinary elite. Those people who SWEAR they never cut corners. These are, mostly likely, the same people who tried to convince their peers that they had a BF\GF in Canada when they were in grade school.

Nonetheless, I take pride in my work. My food is not just edible, it's what most people would consider good. And yes, just about every person I have ever cooked for has been subject to the infamous System D.

Ha ha suckers...

So as the Year moves on, so will I. Pastry, I have found, is not just a science. It is a meticulous endeavor that is utterly exacting. THAT, I would like to say, is not my forte. Which, ironically, is odd seeing as I am a very patient person. I guess I can just blame it on too much Techno and Rock 'n Roll.

\m/


systemDgroove:
Chemical Brothers & Q-Tip - Galvanize
Fingathing - Superhero Music
Oakenfold & Brittany Murphy - Faster Kill Pussycat
Public Enemy - Sophisticated Bitch
Sex Pistols - New York


Monday, January 15, 2007



Sometimes I feel bad when I get gifts from people and don't exactly use them the way they are intended.

Example...

For Christmas, Sue, Greg, & Claire got us a Chocolate Fondue set. It's a nice little set with a ceramic bowl and stand. It's the perfect size too, just right for two people.

But being that it's still so close to the Holidays, there is a ton of chocolate and other goodies we're slowly chipping away at - so Chocolate Fondue hasn't happened yet. It will, I assure you, just not yet...

What has happened, though, is a leisurely Sunday dinner featuring Double Stacked Cajun Sliders with Chipotle Mayo & Waffle Cut Garlic Fries with Cheese Fondue. Check it...






Oooh yeah. Yumm-aye!

Saturday, January 06, 2007



Over the Christmas break, there was much traveling to be done.

There was the trip up to Toledo, then back down to Cinci, then over to Olney, further over to St. Louis, back To Olney and finally home to Cincinnati. It was a long week, but we got a lot of enjoyment out of it all. Family, friends, and of course, the food.

The two major deal-eee-ohs were my Pibil and Maragritas, always a treat to make, and a stop at Fitz's in St. Louis.

Fitz's was a great experience. The food was good and the place was in a nice Ann Arbor-esque neighborhood. I had the River City Burger and a French Fries. And, to be honest, THAT was how a burger is supposed to be. The bacon was cooked perfectly, the burger was done exactly to my specifications, and the french fries were a fluffy golden peek at Heaven.





To finish things off, Kerrie and I split a Root Beer Float. A massive mug of Root Beer topped with five scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream. Oh yeah, we killed that bitch.



After many hours in the car, over the span of 10 days, it was good to come home. Being away from home gave me time to think about some of the things I want to be doing - especially in the kitchen. Tomorrow I'll be making Guinness Braised Pork, and I'm hoping on Monday to make a nice dish of Ravioli, Italian Sausage, and a Creamy Tomato Basil Sauce. Despite the fact that we're not having a winter this year, I still feel the desire to make some homey comfort food.

Speaking of being in the Kitchen, Kerrie's sister Sue got me the 7" Santoku knife I've been after for a while. It was shipped via UPS and somehow things got... kookie. First off, UPS couldn't deliver the package because there was no apartment number listed. Instead, they sent me a post card, TO OUR APARTMENT, to tell me I had to pick it up at the UPS hub in Sharonville. (Try not to think about the irony of that scenario or your brain might cave in on itself.) After a quick dinner, Kerrie and I went over to their hub and I picked up the package. The rest of the story you can pick up from my puzzled facial expressions...






"I'm a minimum-wage renegade..."
- Mojo Nixon

"I hear the Jury is still out on 'Science'..."
- Gob Bluth, Arrested Development

"This moment is so great I want to have Sex with it..."
- Dr. Cox, Scrubs

Monday, January 01, 2007



"Cooking hasn't been the same since you left..."
- Jeb, to me over the Christmas break

It was weird hearing that. I have never really thought of myself as a gourmet, nor have I ever really thought of myself as the most competent of cooks. Nonetheless, I've never been afraid of taking a blind stab at doing something just for the hell of it... And after Jeb said that to me, I realized how much I miss cooking for people.

And by people I mean friends and family, Not the myriad of fucktard customers who mistakenly believe they matter to me on a day-to-day basis. I miss those chilly winter nights where we would all crowd around Billy's dinning room table picking at a big bowl of Ragu Napoletano, or perhaps that one epic evening at St. Marks for that 7 Course Meal I did...

After all the traveling over the past 10 days I've found that cooking isn't the same anymore, but I've found that I still get the same rush when I prepare a meal for other people. Last week, in Olney, I made the fabled Puerco Pibil and my own special Margaritas. I had a ball doing even the most monotonous of tasks, and the food came along perfectly.

I think the big realization out of all of this is that I really need to stop working and start producing. I need to get away from the University and all the junkies, ex-convicts and single mothers, and go on my own way. Cheesecakes? A Coffeehouse? Both? It's going to take some thought and a lot of willpower, but it needs to happen.

For everybodys sake...


lifeaffirminggroove:
Goo Goo Dolls - Bitch
Dusty Springfield - So Much Love
Cry of Love - Bad Thing
Morcheeba - Blindfold