JG's pantry

The truth...

2011-02-19T22:01:00.003-05:00

My industry is full of hostility, It is full of negativity, it is full of people that are quick to stab you in the back. The life of a chef in a typical restaurant can be summed up in three stages and doesn't last more than a few years at best.
Yes, as with anything, there are exceptions to the rule. There are those lucky few chefs that find a place and stay there for most, if not all of their entire careers. There are those restaurants that have almost no turnover for chefs, and the occasional chef does find a place to call home for many, many years. I am truly happy for those few exceptions. For the rest of us, well, good luck, it's just the nature of the beast. I hope to someday find that restaurant to call home for years and years.

The Stages of Life

Stage 1
The Honeymoon Phase
Everything is wonderful! You love the new job, you are praised regularly for your hard work. You might even get a small bonus here and there. You work your butt off to get everything in place, all systems running smoothly, food cost in line, labor cost under control, quality where it needs to be. You work hard to meet and exceed the expectations of the restaurant ownership and upper management. You spend more time at work than you do at home. Your family doesn't mind, they love you and support you every step of the way.

Stage 2
The Routine
You're now used to the day in day out of running the restaurant. You're used to the long hours, the hard work and you don't mind the every day monotony of your job. You look forward to writing your specials everyday and you really enjoy the small bits of variety your job provides you. Food shows, order days, inventory once a month. Off site functions like festivals catering events. Through it all, your family still sticks by you and supports you. The hours are long, 65-75 hours a week. But, it's a tough gig, you knew that going in. There are no such things as holidays off, birthdays, piano recitals, church, family events and functions. These things only exist to you if you can get lucky and schedule them on one of your 2 days off, if you actually get lucky and get 2 days off. No one really tells you if you're doing a good job or not. You just keep doing what you're doing, assuming that all is well.

Stage 3
Put out to Pasture
By now you're pretty much on top of your game. You've been through a lot at the restaurant that you call home. You've got your routines in place, and you don't spend as many hours at work as you used to when you first started. You're now down to an average of 60-65 hours a week. Manageable.
Then something happens. You are asked to do things that seem unreasonable. But, giving it your best, you start to spend more hours at work.
The more you do, the more is asked of you until you get to a point that you realize that you have set the bar for yourself (and now your staff) so high that there is nothing left but completly unreal expectations. You were at the top of the hill only a month ago. Now it feels like you're in first gear and giving it the gas, but still slowly sliding backwards down the hill.
Seeds of doubt are now planted in your head. Not about the restaurant, but about yourself. You start to doubt your own abilities as a chef, and even start second guessing your career choice.
You decide to stand up for yourself. You will no longer be taken advantage of and used like a doormat. Walked on and left behind.

But, it's too late.
You're at the point now that you're ready to be relieved of command.
The long hours.
The lack of respect from your upper management/restaurant ownership.
It's too late.

You let go. You decide to let management have their way. If they feel they can do better, then let them try. And they do, (try).

The rest is history. Hopefully, we learn from our mistakes and find another gig that pays as well, and keep an eye out for the warning signs to stop the madness before it starts. Chances are, the last place you were where you got burnt out at is doing the same thing to some other poor unfortunate chef. You've moved on. You've found a new home, and this time, hopefully, it's a permanent one. You'll be one of the lucky few.

That's what keeps chefs going. Hope, the hope that we'll be one of the luck few.

Eat well,
J.G.

Kitchen Confidential Updated Edition: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.)

Rethinking Technology

2011-02-17T11:37:00.001-05:00

So, I have never been a fan of the e-books. I always have and always will be a fan of the printed page. There is just something about the feel of the page. Holding the book. Being the first person to break in the spine on a new book. Even the smell of a new book is nostalgic.
After much thought and deliberation, I think I am officially a fan of the Kindle.
The thought of having all of my cookbooks and reference books in one device is appealing to me. The space is not an issue, after all, I already own and store all of my paper cookbooks. It's the idea that I could now take them with me wherever I go, not have to leave them at work, or at home. Not a bad concept, just try to keep the thing away from foods and liquids! 1 gallon freezer bag might do the trick.
Now, if I could only afford the thing!

Eat Well,
J.G.

Jessie's Wish List

The World of Preparedness

2011-01-28T12:34:00.000-05:00

It's hard to know what's around the bend. Well, actually, it's impossible for us as mere mortals. Which is why being prepared is such a tremendous tool. Preparing in all the ways that it is possible to prepare is best, but sometimes we only know a few ways we might prepare. Preparing by having a pantry stash, water storage, and long-term food storage are all ways to prepare to be able to live without an income. Additionally, putting money aside for emergencies is a tremendous resouce. My wife's church recommends building toward a three-month supply of food and money as a first step in preparing for the unforeseeable. In reflection, I can see that if we had been able to prepare with both of these tools, we would have had sufficient for our needs in each of the experiences with joblessness that we have, as yet, endured. Even though three months would be best, we may only be able to do far less, because of our circumstances. But doing a little bit can help a lot.

I was let go from my full-time position as Executive Chef and took a demotion to line cook at the same establishment. Why was I let go? Because my boss decided I wasn't doing enough. I was doing more than my employees told me he ever did when filling my job, but it was still not enough for the boss. Because I am the provider for my family and did not have a backup job, I took the demotion. That was uncomfortable for me only with my boss. My former employees, who were then my co-workers were great. Were? Yes, I was finally let go in the middle of November because I refused to break Labor Law by working without pay. Fired for doing the right thing. And such is life sometimes. Even when we're doing the right thing, bad things can and do happen. Thus, being prepared is so very valuable and important.

A number of circumstances led up to my family having a slight savings accrued, which enabled us to be prepared financially in a way that we'd not been able to do previously. Compared to experiences with joblessness we've endured before, having some financial cushion made a tremendous difference. During the days (just short of a month) that I was completely unemployed, we were far more at ease and at peace about the whole situation than we'd ever experienced before. Of course, that probably has a great deal to do with the other way in which we were much more prepared. But the financial cushion definitely played a large part.

I have now been employed for just over a month at a private location and enjoy my work. I am also very hopeful that it may become THE work resource that my family needs for a period of time. Even though I am working full-time, I am underemployed because of the hourly rate. Had we had the three month supply of both food and financial resources, we would have been compeltely able to sustain ourselves without any assistance. The reality is often different than the intention, as is the case for us. The experience of this trial and difficulty is good because it enables me to have a clear, very clear, goal in mind to make our future more stable and sound.

And all this prepraration is our goal so that I can make sure my family and I will be able to do what I encourage all to do:

Eat Well,
J.G.

Hunting for Food

2010-12-04T13:00:00.002-05:00

While I know hunting is a less popular activity among those who consider themselves more civilized and cultured, I believe hunting is a valuable and even necessary skill. It is possible to live without meat. Many argue that it is healthier to live the life of one form of vegetarian or another. However, in my life, I enjoy consuming meat and desire to maintain the ability to do so even if I cannot continue to obtain it in the most normalized ways in our country and current culture.

So what do we do? We hunt. We hunt for our food. It's a part of living prepared for the unknown, in my opinion. There is no need to go far to bring home some meat (though not bacon) for most people. A BB gun filled with pellets, instead of BBs, is sufficient to drop a few squirrels. A squirrel in a pot with some veggies is some pretty good eatin'! Even my wife, who has a terribly time with looking her food in the face, enjoyed the preparation of our favorite neighborhood rodent as a soup. It definitely helped her that the meat was not discernably part of a form that could be confused for a squirrel! When you make up the soup, say some carrots, potatoes, celery, oinions, herbs, and a couple tablespoons mashed potato mix to thicken the broth, make sure to add a drop of vinegar in with the wild meat and the gameyness of it disappears and makes the meal much more palatable for the "civilized" guy or gal who believes they cannot tolerate wild meats.

Until Next Time,
Eat Well,
J.G.

Cookin' Up Some Chicken

2010-11-19T06:18:00.001-05:00

Since we became chicken owners, every time I suggest preparing some chicken for dinner my children ask if we're going to kill and eat a particular bird. We have too many roosters. I know, they know, my wife knows it, but we haven't brought any of the roos to the table yet. It may be, in part, because the birds are more pets to my wife and daughters. Really, though, it has much more to do with the fact that I don't have an appropriately large pot in which to boil a bird I might terminate so that I can more easily pluck out the feathers. I'm definitely not in favor of pin feathers in my chicken skin, so boiling is a requirement to make the process of de-feathering more tolerable.

As a result of being properly equipped with a pot, I have continued to prepare chicken and my family continues to eat it. I'm pretty sure my eldest daughter counts the birds in our Chicken Tractor to make sure we're not eating Chris-Grey, the roo we need to get out of that yard.

My family's favorite preparation of chicken, it seems, it baked. Because it's such a success and so completely enjoyed every time, I wanted to share some of our favorite baked chicken flavors:

Rosemary and sage with a tiny bit of thyme mixed beforehand or directly sprinkled onto the skin before searing and baking was THE go-to combo for many months of chicken, which we consumed once every other week - or once a week when we were feeling more prosperous.

Parsley, oregano, and basil is another good trio of herbs to try out.

Butter. Just butter and salt is amazingly delicious in baking chicken AND turkey.

I made a dry rub for our chicken dinner last night that turned out really well and was very well received. The rub contained brown sugar, dry mustard, whole leaf dried thyme, oregano, cumin, real salt, and chili powder all to taste, really. My family doesn't do well with spicy concoctions, so the chili powder was added more for the complexity than the heat.

Eat Well,
J.G.

Food Fatigue When Living Off of Food Storage

2010-08-24T15:30:00.001-04:00

Did you know that food fatigue is a REAL problem? There are actual cases of people dying when there was food around simply because they would rather not eat one more bite of the same stuff. Can you imagine? I can. Well, not for me, personally, but Tori and our girls have dealt with this problem a little bit. Tori the most. Obviously, not to death, literally, but during the first tour of living off of food storage, Tori did get so tired of eating certain things that she simply would not eat them when she prepared them for the family.

What is "food fatigue," then? Also referred to as appetite fatigue, it is the issue people who normally have a pretty wide variety of foods to consume face when they are put in a position of much less or barely any variety in the foods they must consume. ("Appetite" and "fatigue" are both links in the preceeding sentence. While they are not "official," I figured being able to read about the issue elsewhere could be valuable.) The problem of appetite fatigue is particularly troublesome for the elderly and the very young. I prefer, myself, to call it food fatigue because it is really a process of becoming so tired of eating one thing that you'd rather not eat it any more at all. Perhaps ever.

How do you avoid food fatigue? When building, re-establishing stores, or replacing food storage items make sure to build in variety. If you can include grains in your storage supply, build in a variety of grains. Even different kinds of noodles will make eating noodles more interesting and more palletable. Build spices into your storage program. Store a variety of sweeteners: honey, granualted sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, etc. If you dehydrate fruits, veggies, or make/buy jerky, use a variety. Make the jerky with different recipes and use more than one type of meat.

Variety really is the spice of life! Good storage building to you.

Eat Well,
J.G.

Food Storage Verses Food Hoarding

2010-08-17T15:30:00.001-04:00

It may seem trite to some, but to my way of belief and understanding there is a chasm of difference between food storage and food hoarding.

One of the largest of the numerous difference is that true food storage involves intent to provide for one's family and share with those in need who live near or are also in need. Hoarders have no intent to share. They are thinking only of themselves and their family.

Another difference between storage and hoarding is the use or lack thereof of stored items. Hoarders will purchase and locate space and even time to organizing and so forth, but they will purchase items with extreme shelf-life with little intent of using or cycling their food hoard. True food storers keep a cycling pantry storage of grocery store items as well as longer-term food resources that they keep in continuous use. FIFO: first in, first out. The first items purchase are the first items used. The last items purchased are moved into head position as the first items are consumed. There are really great shelving systems (the link is only one of many out there) avaialable on the market. Additionally, you can make your own food storage cycling shelves by building them with a little bit of slant from higher at load point to a couple of inches lower at remoal point. This is one of our family's goals.

Those who build truly usable food storage supplies know, because they plan to and implement use of said food stores in their regular meal planning and daily life, that they must purchase foods that they can and will consume. Food hoarders don't necessarily think of the practical application of food storage and are more motivated by fear than real intent. They buy, primarily, grain, sweetener (like honey), dried milk, legumes, maybe some dehydrated eggs, and salt and, if they have a large enough supply of these things (like a year or two for each person in their family), they feel accomplished and relief from fear. This is, I must admit, the sort of supply we were able to aquire the first time we bought a year's-supply of food (for one person). And it was sufficient and provided sustenance for more than three months, but it was very difficult to use (because it was not in our regular diet and because we were not rotating it in on a regular/daily basis). Said food resource added to the stress of that difficult and already stressful time. It was a blessing, but could have been better if we had been wiser.

I've already mentioned the one of the biggest differences between hoarders and storers and I've alluded to another difference in the preceeding paragraph. Now I'm going to specify the latter: food storers are motivated by Faith, while food hoarders are motivated more by Fear. This is my opinion (and from experience). Take it or leave it.

Stay tuned for more on food storage - as I see it! I'm working on every Tuesday for a while and then it may move to monthly posts about food storage with other subjects throughout the rest of the month.

Eat Well,
J.G.

Why I Believe in Food Storage

2010-08-10T15:30:00.003-04:00

Why do I believe in food storage? There are plenty of people out there who store food in anticipation of Armaggedon. I rather consider many, though not all, such people food horders rather than food storers. I'll explain the difference, in my opinion, in another post. While Armageddon is surely an event scheduled for an unknown future date, that is not why I believe in food storage. I believe in food storage because we have used, needed, and even almost completely consumed complete food storage supplies in the history of my relationship with Tori.

I haven't always understood, nor do I proclaim to fully understand, even at this time, the ways of women. Tori is my main and, certainly, most current experience of the gentler sex. As such, with our relationship moving quickly toward ten-years, it seems to me that I would grow to understand, at least, her. I am a man, though, and to me her "control panel" looks a bit like the control panel for a Leer Jet with Egyptian Hyroglyphs to describe functions of buttons and toggles and the directional manual written in Greek. (Even with my vast accumulated stored of knowledge, I cannot decipher Egyptian Hyroglyphs and I do not understand written or spoken Greek.) What I do know, though, is that sometimes Tori just knows things. I haven't always believed this, even though she assured me many times it was true. I believe most of the time now.

In the beginning of our relationship, she began to inspire in me a desire to store food. I didn't always agree with her methods. And sometimes, to be completely honest, I teased her about the "extra food" she felt compelled to bring home from grocery shopping trips. She had a terribly difficult time then, and to this day can rarely stay within budget when grocery shopping. This has been a source of concern for me, but because of past experiences, is much easier to overlook now than it used to be.

Over the course of many months "extra food" shopping, early in our relationship, Tori grew a good store of canned food items. I would say it was a solid three-month supply with pretty good variety. Sometimes I was in agreement with the "extra" purchases, sometimes I harrassed her about them. And then I seperated from the NAVY. At first this was really not a big deal, at least to me. Tori had been through an experience of tremendous job change when her Dad left the NAVY, so it was a big deal for her for months before my seperation. Perhaps her past experiences are the reason for the way she felt compelled to purchase "too much" food every time she went to the grocery store. Whatever the reason, the extra food she bought provided a good supplment to our increasingly meagre food resources of that transitional time. That reserve of food was extremely valuable. That experience was the beginnings of a foundation, in me, of belief in food storage.

I wish I could say I was as fast a learner and believer in food storage as I would like to say I was. But I was not.

My next experience which solidified my belief in Food Storage came after our second daughter was born. During the nine months Tori was pregnant with our second daughter, she again felt an urgency to build/re-establish our food storage. She continued her "extra" purchases from the grocery store, but I'd been doing the food shopping more since the time she'd been teaching full-time, so our compliation of canned foods was not what it would have been if she'd been to the grocery store more. With my approval, for the most part, Tori purchased a 1-year's-supply of food for 1 person from http://www.beprepared.com/ with some of our tax return money. Why a one year's supply for one person when we were becoming a family of 4? Well, our second child was soon to be born, for which homebirth we paid for out-of-pocket and a large portion of our tax return money was used for that purpose. As a result, we didn't have as much tax return money to spend on food storage as we might have had otherwise. Since we've pretty much lived paycheck-to-paycheck for most of our relationship, we did what we could.

A rather unexpected firing from a job, unexpected to me at least, sent me to Florida to find a job. Three weeks after our second daughter's birth (and about four months after the job hunting excursion), we moved to Florida with job leads, but no solid offer. We did have a house to move into, at least. Because we were able to sell the mobile home in which we lived, we had enough money to pay for the rental home for a couple of months, but not much beyond that after covering moving expenses. For the first few months of living in Florida, we went to the grocery store a total of, maybe, 5 times for very limited purchases (under or around $10 each time). The rest of our caloric needs were met by the food storage Tori had purchased with my agreement. I began to more fully recognize the providence of food storage. I came to fully believe in it and felt the reward of having it when it was needed.

The next time Tori felt compelled to purchase food storage, I was completely on board. We bought a nicer 1-year-supply for 1 person with some tax return money (again limited by another imminent birth) and it has provided needed cushion at times when funds have been low. Specifically, that food storage supply provided a good deal of nutrition for us during a time when I left one part-time job (out of two jobs; the other one being a full-time position) and it took a little bit longer than anticipated to find another second job.

Currently, we are working to build up our freezer supply a little bit at a time. We also have a couple extra pantry items that we're working to cycle (first in, first out). Our goal is to build a three-month pantry supply and then compile a one-year supply of longer-term food storage. We also need to re-establish our water storage. Currently we have only seven gallons of water on reserve. We aim at a three days worth, then a seven day supply of water for drinking and food preparation (about 3 gallons per person, per day). Thus far we haven't established more than seven days worth per person. But some day we would like to have significantly more so that we'd have enough to cleaning, bathing, and garden watering as well as drinking and food preparation. We'll see how that goes.

Stay tuned for more on food storage!
Eat Well,
J.G.

Writing

2010-08-09T21:05:00.006-04:00

I really am trying to post more regularly. My busy schedule as an Executive Chef makes it difficult. Please bear with me.
Thanks,
J.G.

It's Been Too Long

2010-08-08T15:30:00.001-04:00

And why? Because I've been buried at The River Grille on the Tomoka where I've been working as the Executive Chef for the last 16 months. I've also been buried in the process of buying a house and working to maintain and improve it. But mostly I've been buried by the work at The River Grille and still trying to be a good Daddy. Life is good. Difficult and trying at times, but very good.

My work life will be changing here in the near future. My aim is to have more time to be The Daddy. Tori keeps telling me that's the only place I'm irreplaceable. And I know it. As part of those changes I'm becoming an online writer for the Examiner, with http://www.examiner.com/. As soon as I have my home page and my first article is approved, I'll provide a link here so you can check it out. I'm considered a "citizen journalist" with the site and pay will be per contract specifications, which includes quality of page views. What does that mean? The more you visit and the longer you stay, the better my pay! No pressure, of course. I'll write interesting articles, so it'll be easy to stay and read for a while. The hard part will be tearing yourself away!

One way you can help, since I know you want to, is share my home page (the Examiner one which will be here in the near future) in your blog, on your Facebook page, via Twitter, StumblUpon, or any other social networking medium, for that matter. I will appreciate the plugs, for sure!

I will do better about updating here as well. This is where I'll still get personal and share my experiences as a Chef and with food. I have a lot to share about the last 16 months, which will come soon. The Examiner writing, as per requirements outlined with the site, must be objective. Specifically that means I cannot write in first person. I'll still write in first person here, though.

See you soon.
Eat Well,
J.G.

A Meal to Remember

2009-03-12T09:18:00.005-04:00

Not many people in this industry are excited to find out that they would be getting at closing time. Most are frustrated if any new customers come in within half an hour of closing time. I generally don't mind at all, after all, why turn down the business, especially in times like these!

Well, this happened to me the other night. I was closing up the kitchen, wrapping up my station, cleaning coolers, we hadn't had a table since about 9:15 p.m. and we close at 10:00 p.m. At about 9:50 my server, let's call him Ollie, came into the kitchen and told me I had a call in the dining room. I went to the phone and found that it was someone I had prepared food for several times in the past. She wanted to call and make sure that it was o.k. for her to come in with two very special friends of hers that she' d like me to prepare food for. Of course I agreed, with the permission of my dining room manager.

Now, I will not say in this post that I cooked for them. I did not cook for them. You see, these friends of mine run with a small crowd. They are raw foodists. Vegans specifically. Yep, that means that they only eat raw fruits and veggies. Nothing heated above 118 degrees.

I don't get to stretch my legs in the raw food world that often but when I do, I really enjoy it. So, without any further ado, here is the meal I had 10 minutes to plan.

Course 1
Massaged Salad
Thinly shaved fennel and granny smith apples, skin on. Marinated in Mirin with a touch of sesame oil.

Course 2
Eggplant scallopine
Ponzu cured eggplant rounds with alternating rounds of arugula and sweet red pepper salad. Dressed with a honey, cider vinegar and chili vinaigrette. Side garnish of valencia orange supreme with chili and lime.

Course 3
Pasta Marinara
Fresh cut zuchhini as the noodles smoothered in a raw marinara made from sundried tomatoes and fresh garlic.

I wish I had a camera with me that night to take pictures, the dishes were beautiful and fresh. Every thing was plated beautifully and simpley not to complicated.

Hope you all enjoy this, and let me know if you have any raw food adventures.

Eat Well,
J.G.

It's been a while....

2009-01-13T00:13:00.003-05:00

My oh my. Has it really been that long? I guess it has. Well some updates for you and as always a bit of random food for thought, so to speak.
As many of you may or may not know, I have recently started a new job. I still maintain my previous job as line cook/sushi chef. I've just added another restaurant to my list of employers. I am currently working breakfast and lunch 3 days a week as well as 2 nights a week at a traditional Italian themed restaurant. I can't say enough good things about the place, the chef there is great and I really have a lot to learn from him.
My family life has of course changed. Our new baby is growing day by day and it is simply amazing to watch it all over again.

First a bit of household history and then some food thoughts for you.

Allright, our oven started going kaput about 2 years ago. About a month ago we had it replaced. After our handyman installed the new one for us we discovered that the new oven doesn't work at all. So we went from and inaccurate oven to a completely useless one. The stove range however works extremely well and we've made due, and we currently are waiting to see what the handyman will do to remedy the situation.

Now, for the food thoughts.

Let's make a New Years resolution together. Let's start looking at our food in different ways. More specifically, our ingredients. Lets start using them in ways that we haven't before. That's not to say that the old ways are always bad or worn out, just that we need to start having more fun with our food.
Now, I'd like to think that most people would be really upset if their oven went belly up. Would you. Here in my household, we just took it with a grain of salt and have made due, and I for one have enjoyed the outcome. We're using our ingredients in different ways and coming up with surprising results.

Had enough yet? Well, just bear with me and I'll be done soon.
If you look back over my previous posts you'll notice I love lists. So, I'll start the New Year off for you with a list! This one is a bit different though. In this list I'm gonna give you a list of foods and ideas of what to do with them. Please try them out, some of them may suprise you quite a bit. So without further ado, the List.

Creme Brule; Make this one without using an oven!
Cupcakes; Bake as normal, puree them, than add them to something!
Romaine lettuce; Add it to a sauce
Parsley; Make a soup out of it, this stuff has lots of flavor, it's not just a garnish,
Salt; Use it as a main ingredient in a dessert
Bannanas; Soup!
Lime; Salad!
Barbeque sauce; Bread!
Cocoa Powder; Chili or Barbeque Rub
Breakfast Sausage; Dinner Casserole
Tofu; Milkshakes
Crispy Bacon; Brownies
Eggplant; Raw food preparation, in otherwords, don't cook it!

Allright. I hope this gets you started. It's already got me thinking. Please do try some of these ideas and leave me comments, good or bad. I'm very open to criticism, most of you know that.

That's it for now folks. Happy New Year!
Eat Well,
J.G.

Baby Foods

2008-11-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

As many of you know, or don't know for that matter. We have a new arrival in our family. I am now the proud father of (count em) 3 girls. Our youngest was born on Saturday, October 26th at 10:36 p.m. She weighed in at a whopping 10 pounds 4 ounces. Just to put it into perspective, that's more than 2 bags of sugar from the grocery store.
We had a wonderful home birth attended by our amazing midwife and her assistant. We welcome this new addition to our family with loving open arms and we are so grateful to be blessed with such a beautiful family.
Having had 2 weeks now to adjust to the new baby I've had time to think recently about food. Baby food in particular.
Now, when most people think of baby food, I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind are the little jars of mashed stuff. For me however, I think of delicious greens, pea tendrils, squash blossoms, sprouts of all kinds, and tons of other foods, in their baby form.
As a whole, our society doesn't really use these foods as much as I'd like to see. So, I'm just gonna ramble a bit for you and hope that you see something that peaks your interest, you go out and find the food, prepare it at home, and then post a great comment on this blog, and then everyone's happy!

Here we go...
Sprouts
Baby Carrots
Baby Arugula
Squash Bloosoms (sauted or stuffed, yummmmmm)
Pea Tendrils
Micro Greens
Eggs! Amazing egg art!
Tobiko (fish roe caviar)
Fiddleheads
Brussels Sprouts
Baby Brie
Baby Corn
Baby Spinach
Baby Iceburg Lettuce
Baby Tear-Drop Tomatoes
Baby Pattypan Squash

Allright, this is a short list, but I hope it gets your creative juices flowing. Try something new, have fun with it and share your stories on my comments.

Eat Well,
J.G.

The Spice of Life

2008-11-08T10:15:00.004-05:00

To me, there are actually two different things that I consider the spice of life. One is variety, without variety, life and food, become bland and plain. Next, and just as important is the the topic at hand.

Salt. You gotta admit, this stuff is great. Did you know that as an American , you'll use more than 16 tons of salt in your lifetime? About 40% of that will go on our roads for de-icing purposes. This is just another great use for salt, it is the most efficient de-icing agent we can use, and it's also the safest!

Salt is also an "essential nutrient" which means that it is something our body needs to survive, but cannot produce on it's own. We literally, have to eat salt. Without the sodium and the chloride from it, we will not survive.

Allright, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume you have salt at your house.

Have you tasted it? Seriously, have you ever tasted just your salt. Have you ever put several different salts next to each other to taste the difference in them all? I do this regularly with new brands or salt types at the house. Try iodized, kosher and sea salt. Try each one separately with a swish of water afterwards to clean your palate. If you haven't already done this, you'll be amazed at the differences in flavor and texture. I keep all three in our pantry and each type of salt has it's own particular uses.

I could go on a lot longer about salt, but I won't. If you'd like to know more about it, just shoot me an e-mail and I'll bore you in private. In the meantime try this recipe out.

Salt baked fish? You'll be amazed. Give this a shot.

Salt Roasted Snapper.
4 cups salt, preferably kosher(I wouldn't use iodized here)
1 whole snapper or similar fish, about 2-2 1/2 pounds (very important that the skin is on still)
1 lemon
2 sprig thyme
2 small sprigs rosemary

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Rinse fish inside and out with cold water, make sure there are no gills, guts or scales left.
Place herbs inside cavity of fish. Cut about 3-4 slices of lemon and place slices inside cavity of fish. Line a roasting pan with foil and place 2 cups of salt on foil. Place fish on top of salt and place remaining 2 cups on top of fish. You want the fish basically covered tip to tail in salt. Roast until fish is at your desired doneness. You'll need an instant read thermometer here since you cannot peek through the salt.
Once your fish is done, tap the salt on it and it should flake right off. Now use a long spatula to seperate the top filet from the bones, it'll slide right off. Next, pull up on head of fish and lift the skeleton right off of the bottom filet. Now you're all set.

Give this recipe a try, you won't regret it (unless your allergic to fish). Oh, and try a salt tasting at your house, it's fun and surprising.

Eat Well,
J.G.

I'll Have Decaff, Please...

2008-09-21T18:18:00.006-04:00

My daughters like to collect many things. They love rocks (only the pretty ones), the little seeds from the cabbage palm tree, and most recently, acorns.
We were spending some time outside under a big beautiful oak and my daughters were busy collecting acorns. "We're not bringing those inside" I told them. They begged me to be able to keep the tiny handfuls of acorns and I was standing my ground.

But then I got to thinking.

As a boy I was fascinated with the civil war and any story that revolved around it was amazing to me. One of the things I remember were the stories of the confederate soldiers drinking acorn coffee because they couldn't purchase the real thing. They would gather the acorns, shell them, roast them and brew them up like regular coffee.

There is not a big market for acorns. As a consumer I've tried to find them on the internet, not easy. So if you want to make your own acorn coffee, you may as well grab a bucket and go find the closest oak tree.

Acorns are a very healthy food and the Native Americans used them for many things. They made meal from them, coffee (although no caffeine), flour, soups, breads, and who knows what else.

Well, long story short, I commissioned my daughters to gather acorns for coffee and we took them home, much to the delight of my girls.

Next, we were ready to shell or "process" the acorns. I found the easiest way to get the shell off was to use a pair of pliers and give the acorn a squeeze, but not to hard, you'll crush the actual fruit inside. You'll notice the fruit is actually orange and looks like a little pumpkin. Throw any bad fruit out and place your now processed acorns on a sheet pan. Roast in the oven at 325 degrees until dark enough for your liking, but not burnt.

This is where it gets fun.

You're going to notice an amazingly fruity and nutty aroma. It's hard to describe the actual smell. The best description I can think of is "Christmas." It's like all Christmas smells all rolled up into one. Fireplaces, chestnuts, pralines, nutmeg, hot cocoa, fruit, all of it. it's all in there.

Once your fruit is toasted, let it cool a bit and grind it down. I used a mortar and pestle to get it to a pretty small grind. I didn't use a coffee machine. Instead I used a pot and some water. Good old cowboy style coffee. I used about 1 cup of water per teaspoon, But would have preferred it much stronger. My wife and kids loved the stuff, especially with a bit of sugar, cream and NesQuick.

Next time, I plan on trying milk instead of water, and make a really great hot cocoa out of it, maybe even with a tiny pinch of cayenne at the end to make it interesting.

I hope you try this, it's a really fun family activity for foodies, and it'll make you appreciate your food and heritage.
Eat Well,
J.G.

Here, take my clogs

2008-09-09T12:20:00.005-04:00

Just try them on .
"It must be so much fun to be a chef!" I hear this comment a lot. I also get the question "so what is your favorite food to make?" Both of these are honest comments from the community thanks in part to the Food Network. I'll do my best to sum up my life experience as a chef, and address both of the previous comments.

"It must be so much fun to be a chef!" Well, that really depends on your idea of fun doesn't it? To most the life of a chef is a very romantic idea, making gourmet food, talking to your customers, creating your own awe inspiring recipes for others to enjoy. Don't get me wrong, all these things do happen, just not as often as you think. This isn't everyday stuff.

Everyday stuff, that's what being a chef is really all about. Long hours in the kitchen. Doing the same thing every single day. Teaching the same people the same thing everyday to make sure your food is consistent. Trying not to get overly frustrated with the wait staff for really simple mistakes every day. Keeping your menu affordable, but pricing it so you make a profit. Keeping your cost of labor down. Standing in really hot areas for long periods of time, you have to enjoy sweating.

People that aren't in the industry often comment to me about what I eat. " You must get to eat some really great food!" or "I bet you eat a lot of steak and shrimp!" Actually, no. Now, if we do get in a new steak product or try a different supplier, then certainly we will try the product to make sure it is good. But after that, we really don't eat a lot of steak or seafood. These things cost money. My meals in the kitchen usually revolve around a bowl of soup, a really great caesar salad, or some really simple sandwich or wrap. Other than that I peck at fries and chicken fingers from the fry station, or nibble on veggies from the pantry station. That's about it. Ohh, and lots and lots of water and the occasional sweet tea.

When I eat in the kitchen, it's more of a maintenance thing than it is an enjoyment thing. This isn't to say that I don't enjoy what I eat. It's just that I simply can't afford the time at work to make myself a really great meal, it's much easier to eat a quick salad and keep on truckin.
Everybody loves the holidays right? Well, as a chef, I don't get these days at home with my family. I'm in the kitchen making dinner for hundreds of other families. My family and I have a tradition regarding our holidays. We celebrate our holidays on the next day off I have after the major holiday. It's just as special to us, just a little different.

Supporting my family as a chef has proved to be the hardest part. Working two jobs isn't terribly draining on me, it just sucks not having a lot of time with my wife and kids. I'm on the lookout, as most chefs are, for the "big job". The job that I can get that actually pays an honest wage, a wage that compensates me for what I'm worth. This is why chefs move between jobs alot, they're just trying to get by.

Please don't think I'm complaining, I'm just getting some things clear. After all is said and done. I love my career. I really am happiest doing what I'm doing and can't see myself doing anything else.

Eat Well,
J.G.

Provoked by a fishing trip -or- Looking your food in the eyes.

2008-09-01T01:22:00.010-04:00

After returning from fishing the other day, I set to work right away on cleaning my fish. I caught some really nice size mullet in my cast net and wanted my family to experience how great these fish taste. I brought home quite a bit of fish and wasn't about to let any of these go to waste.
I set up my little fish cleaning area outside the garage and got to work. After cleaning about 20 of the fish I looked in my "Gut Bag" and was a bit shocked at how much I was wasting! I consider my fish monger skills to be very high, and it's not any more than what would normally be left on the carcass when I clean fish. It was just the amount of leftover stuff that bothered me, it was actually a bit shocking.
In other countries, France and Spain in particular, they use every part of their beasts. There are no "bad" or "unusable" parts. They use the brains. the kidneys, the livers, sweetbreads and all the things that we (generally) as Americans cringe or turn our noses up at.
Why do they use all that stuff anyway? Well, simply put, out of necessity. They had to. It wasn't choice to have to use all of the nasty bits and pieces. No refrigeration makes you look at other ways of preserving meats. Poverty made them appreciate every scrap of meat they had.
Now, put yourself in the position of the farmer. He looks his food in the eye. He looks at the pig or cow or chicken right before he slaughters him, he probably raised the animal. He has respect for the animal and a set of ethics that goes back many generations. Out of respect for that animal, he refuses to let any part of the animal go to waste.
He has learned to appreciate and just as importantly, enjoy, these other parts. He has incorporated them into his diet and actually looks forward them, they have became the delicacies of the world.
This looking your food in the eye doesn't have to be just about animals. I look at vegetables the same way. I don't like to just throw the scraps away. I use them for stocks and sauces. Using my scraps this way ensures that I get the most out of my food, and money, as I can.
We live in a world where thousands of people starve to death every year. There are people living on the street that would give anything to eat what you throw away on a daily basis. Lets stop wasting our food. Lets stop teaching our children by example that it's o.k. to throw away most of our most precious resource.
Look you food in the eye. Waste it less, appreciate it more. Please.

Eat Well,
J.G.

Black as night

2008-08-28T09:15:00.008-04:00

There is a very vital tool to have in your kitchen, at home or at the restaurant. I keep one on my stove at all times, it seems to be the best place for it. At work, I keep one close at hand just in case we need it for whatever reason. Any idea what I'm talking about?

Cast Iron.

A good cast iron pan is something to be proud of. Some people like to have an entire set from the baby all the way to the grand daddy. I find that all I really need is a large (8 inch diameter or larger) and a small (4 inch diameter). With these two cast iron skillets, I've always managed to get done what I need to get done.

A piece of cast iron is a remarkable tool. It is an excellent heat conductor and transfers heat more consistently and evenly than anything else in the kitchen. The cast iron also holds the heat for a while which is also a nice bonus to using it. I've heard that cooking in a cast iron pan can help with iron absorption in the body, though I haven't been able to find solid proof. It can't hurt though.

Cleanliness.

Now, this is where some folks out there like to get away from the common food safety standards. Ask anyone how to clean a cast iron skillet. Most people will tell you "Never Use Soap!"
Me? I say "ALWAYS USE SOAP!" Now, this doesn't mean getting out the heavy scouring pads and steel wool scrubbies. It does mean however to get out the dish soap, a dish rag, and get that thing clean! Give it a good rinse and put it on low heat on the stove. After you see the last bit of water evaporate, turn it off and put a very very thin layer of oil on it. Done.

What's that? You have an old cast piece of cast iron that's rusted? You just bought a piece of cast iron that is not yet seasoned? Funny you should ask I was just about to talk about that!

Seasoning/Restoring

First things first. You need to get rid of the rust. This can be a serious health issue if you just decide to leave it. You need to get some emery cloth, sand paper, steel wool, anything to get the rust off. All of it. Simply using a dish scrubby is not going to cut it. Yes, it may look like the rust just magically disappeared, but it didn't. You now simply have wet, soapy rust.
O.k. You got all the rust out. Now, I take some Kosher salt, a bit of oil, and a rag that I don't mind throwing away. I put the oil and salt in the pan and use the rag to scrub this mix around. The salt is a good abrasive and the oil is what is actually seasoning the pan. I do this until my salt is broken down all the way or until no more brown stuff is coming off of the pan.
Pour out the oil and salt, discard. Wipe out your pan leaving a good layer of oil on it.
Lastly, I place the cast iron in the oven, UPSIDE DOWN with a cookie sheet under it to catch the oil and let it go for an hour at 350 degrees.
Once you remove the pan, just put it back on top of your oven. It's ready to go!

That's it for now. I"ll follow up with another installment of cast iron 101 soon.
Eat Well,
J.G.

Soaking Wet

2008-08-23T08:53:00.006-04:00

Well hello there. Now that the threat of the possible hurricane is past us it's time to update! Well, we are all fine here in our sleepy little beach town, just a ton of rain. On Thursday the eye of the storm was directly over our town for most of the day. Now, just in case you're not familiar with tropical storms or hurricanes, the eye is a good thing. It means calm. For the two days before, it had been raining pretty much non-stop, and has pretty much been raining since with a few breaks here and there, but never for very long.
We were prepared for the worst. We had our food and water supplies ready, candles, propane etc. There were reports from southern part of the state that up to 30 inches of rain fell. So, I sandbagged the garage and the doors to keep possible rising water out.
Now that tropical storm Fay is gone we are still getting rain but not as bad as before and the relentless wind has finally died down to the warm breeze that we're used to. Life is slowly going back to normal.

During the thorough dousing we had this week, it got me thinking about food! What are some ways that we can soak our food? A good brine is an often overlooked and under used method that always, always yields good results. Brines are simple and can be modified as you see fit.

Here's a good start:
1 quart of water
1/2 cup salt of your choice
1/2 cup sugar
Mix all ingredients until dissolved.

Now, how long you brine is up to you. But generally speaking, red meats and poultry can stand overnight, fish a few hours.
Some people rinse the brine off and others don't. I prefer not to. This is a choice you'll have to make for yourself after some experimenting.

Another tip, never re-use your brine. Just a bad idea anyway you look at it.

Try adding some flavor to your brines, dried herbs like rosemary, juniper berries, candied ginger, anything really to add another layer of flavor and depth to your food. Have fun and experiment with it. You'll be glad you did.

Eat well,
J.G.

Hurricanes, barbeque grills and family

2008-08-20T10:56:00.006-04:00

As the Tropical Storm Fay draws closer to my home I can't help but think about it and my family's safety. As far as being prepared goes, we're in pretty good shape. We keep food and water on hand for emergencies like this. It beats going out last minute and waiting in long lines.
I think about the possibility of losing power and the thought doesn't immediately bother me. Actually the thought of it comforts me in a small way. When I grew up, there was a period of time that my family couldn't afford to have electricity and didn't have running water.
I'm not gonna try to sugar it up at all. Not having running water sucks!
On the other hand, not having electricity wasn't that bad. It really brought my family closer together and made us thankful for the smaller things we had.
And now for the food.
Believe it or not, it is entirely possible to cook without electricity. I know, I know. You think I'm crazy right? (Huge amounts of sarcasm here.)
The things that come to mind for me are the things my father prepared over a Coleman camp stove or a nice warm campfire outside. The same things I'll be making for my family if we lose power when Fay gets here.

Hot chocolate in a percolator on a cold morning.
Venison roast wrapped in bacon.
Dads biscuit dough fritters.
A big mess of beans on the camp stove that have been simmering all day.
Birdies in a nest.
Ramen noodles.
Cornbread.
Country sausage.
Potato and onion hash cooked in a cast iron skillet.
Breakfast burritos.
Cornmeal battered fish fillets.

All these things we enjoyed as a family. The bonding over food brought us together as a family.
We didn't just bond over a meal. It was the making of the meal. Hunting with dad. Going fishing with the family and catching our dinner there on the riverbanks in Tennessee. Learning how to do all of this and make a great meal of it.
You don't need electricity, you need family.

Eat Well,
J.G.

Liquid Comfort

2008-08-19T09:38:00.004-04:00

While making chicken etouffee last night, I took my scraps from the chicken and veggies and made some great stock. Is there anything quite as gratifying as making your own chicken stock? It's a simple process really, but the results are always delicious. A nice golden colored stock full of chicken flavored goodness . Here's how I usually get my chicken stock together.
I start with a whole chicken. Break it down and use the scraps for the stock, these scraps include the neck, the back from between the thighs, wing tips and any other small pieces that I can't cook up for something else.
Next I get my veggie scraps together. I don't mind using the entire veggie, but prefer to use the end pieces that I'd normally throw away. I generally only use the aromatic veggies for my stock. Carrots, onions, and celery, occasionally though I throw in some pepper tops or something to add a little more depth.
Lastly I throw in my bouquet garni. This is just a fancy word for the herbs: bay leaf, thyme and parsley. Usually they are tied together or tied up in a piece of cheesecloth. I use a coffee filter and a twist tie since they are things that I always seem to have around the house.
Now, as far as the water goes, I try to get about a quart of stock out of one carcass. So I use about 1 1/2 quarts of water to start and reduce it down to one quart.
If you want a little deeper flavor in your stock, try roasting the carcass first till it's nice and crispy.
Now, as you can tell, I'm not much of a purist when it comes to chicken stock, but, in the end, it always turns out great. Now, we just need to figure out what use the stock for!

Kid Food

2008-08-18T12:18:00.001-04:00

Kids and their relationship to food has often been something I worry/wonder/amuse over.
I worry about my own two children and if I am giving them all they need in their diet. This is something I think all parents tend to worry about from time to time.
I also worry about what we as a society are telling our kids about food. Here's an example.
Go to your favorite restaurant. Look at the kids menu. What's on it? Chicken fingers, a burger, hot dog, and if you're lucky some mac & cheese.
Now, go to the restaurant that you dislike the most. Look at the kids menu. What's on it? See what I'm getting at here? No? o.k.
We are telling our kids "Don't eat what we're eating. You won't like it. Here, eat this instead, it's fried, you'll like it, it's the same thing you eat every time we go out."
We need to encourage our children to have the same variety in food and life that we like to enjoy.
Next time you go out, don't even get a kids menu. Let them order off of the normal menu instead, help them choose something you know they'll like. Make it a big deal, they get to order off of the "Adult menu!"
The things I wonder about are usually how my children interact with food. "Should I make them stay and eat the entire meal or should I let them come back to it and pick at it here and there"
I don't want to encourage my kids to over eat, or under eat for that matter, and it's a hard decision to sometimes make them clean their plate. I tend to let them tell me when they're done, or I ask.
The things I amuse over. Any young child eating and finally giving in, putting down the silverware, and diving in, face and hands first. I love it.
Enjoy your food, and encourage your kids to do the same.

Ohh, and who doesn't love a good food fight.

A few of my favorite things.

2008-08-17T16:15:00.004-04:00

Allright, the title pretty much says it all for this post. These are some of my favorite things when it comes to being a chef. Some of them may sound odd, but they all have a very good explanation.
Without any further ado:

Sharpie Brand fine point permanent markers, all colors.
Blue masking tape.
Heat proof rubber spatulas (red handle)
New Skin
Rubber bands from bulk asparagus
fresh clean towels
salt
Ipod
pocket size notepads
bleach
large notebook
digital thermometer
parchment paper
Robot Coupe!
A good bag to carry your stuff
Dansko clogs
A good sharp knife
Wooden Skewers

Beans for dessert.

2008-08-16T08:43:00.000-04:00

While preparing for a class I was to teach a week or two ago I was writing recipes and didn't really have any dessert recipes for beans.
I guess you need a little history here. I teach classes on food preparation for our church. The classes focus on foods that can be used in long term storage. We use our food storage for anything that might happen, hurricanes, long term power outages, periods of hardship etc. Each one of the classes I teach, I try to give them insight for whatever product we are working with and some good recipes that can be prepared from food storage products only. As far as recipes go, I try to always include a breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert recipe. But this proved to be a problem for me. I mean, who eats beans for dessert? Dinner didn't give you enough gas and you wanted to come back for more?

And then came the beans.

There are only two kinds of beans that come to mind when I think of dessert. First is the wonderful vanilla bean and second is the adzuki bean which is pretty big in asian desserts specifically Japanese dessert. Yumm, adzuki bean ice cream at the sushi bar......

A few notes about beans.

First, beans should be soaked before cooking. Why? Simply put, it reduces our bodies reaction to them (gas). It will not eliminate it entirely, but will certainly reduce it greatly.
Next thing is that beans can be cooked plain and added to other dishes, either whole, mashed or ground to a pulp, literally.
Also, beans can be used in baked goods to replace the fat 1:1 So if your baking recipe calls for 1/2 cup of butter, try substituting 1/2 cup of plain cooked beans instead.

Long story short.

After playing around with beans for a while I came up with two great desserts, pinto bean chocolate pudding, and White bean fudge brownies.

The test.

Allright, so now I can make this stuff. But who is going to eat it? Does it taste good? Yes. Well, at least that's what my two daughters tell me. One is 4 and one is almost 2. They happen to be some of the best food critics I know. They especially like to put the pudding on top of the brownie.
"And it is good!" says Ria.

Recipes to follow soon?