Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all the chefs out there who are working hard this holiday to make this a merrier christmas for all the patrons.

Wahoo!

I have myself an extern! It's so good to have help in the kitchen. It was only her first day so far but she's eager and bright eyed and enthusiastic so I'm excited. I'm thankful for the extra hands. Maybe now I can let go of the cranky monster that has been taking over me during the past couple of months at work. I remember how I was right out of culinary school. I was naive. The kitchen was so new and cool to me that it overshadowed the reality of the hard work it takes to be in the kitchen. I have to say the past several months have beaten me down. I see myself lacking motivation and heart in what I do and that makes me sad. I have to put my heart into the pastries I'm making or else they come out looking like shit.

During school I did my extern at a restaurant that I truly believe in and love. Daniel was the first "fancy" french restaurant that I ate at. The experience blew me away. When it came time to choose a place to stage I hoped Daniel would take me. On my interview I was really nervous. I thought the chef was going to be this fat old mean french guy who would blurt obscenities to me in French. The chef turned out to be this young, tall, skinny guy who was funny and nice. He was an awesome teacher and really set the tone for my cooking career. I think the first chef you work under always keeps a place in your heart. Chef Dominique was a great teacher to me. He didn't just make me peel boxes of apples in the corner. He took the time out to teach and guide me and let me get my hands in everything. I was given a lot of responsibility and was shown all aspects of the kitchen from production to service and recipe development. I have a lot of respect for the crew at Daniel. They work hard and they have fun at the same time. Since I have such fond memories of my stage I want to do the same for my stagiaire. It's weird to have someone working under me and following my orders. I still feel very wet behind the ears. I'm going to try to teach her everything all the great chefs I worked under have taught me.

I've Been Very Good Santa!

Things I would like for Christmas, aside from shiny diamond things and expensive accesories of course!A split door refrigerator/freezer that hold full sheet pans
A hobart floor mixer
A pacojet
A Vitaprep blender

Hard Times

Right now times are rough for the restaurant world. Actually times are always rough in the restaurant world. The kitchen is a harsh place to be. But now its worse. The economy is not doing well so people are brown bagging their lunch, opting to drink at home instead of ordering a bottle of wine with dinner, skimping on dessert and pastries, and having dinner parties at home instead of eating out. Chef Shuna wrote an interesting post on evil restaurants that stiff their workers. Go check it out. Her blog is one of my favorites. She gives really good insight on how it is to be a chef and work in a kitchen. Everything she writes hits close to home for me. The pastry shop I work at hasn't been doing well. I am constantly having to harrass my boss for my paycheck and it is constantly late. Just last week my paycheck bounced. I love to cook. But I don't do it for free. I know many chefs do it out of the passion they have for their trade. But this girl has to eat too. Don't be a fool! Don't work for free! I think chefs should ban together and fight for our rights.

Wafuu Curry

I was looking for this recipe for a tart that used almond paste in its crumble topping. I saw it the other day but I don't remember where I saw it. I think it was in a magazine. Good luck finding it since there are SO MANY magazines floating around my house. While looking for the magazine that might hold the golden recipe I came along a Saveur from February 2007 that I never looked through (yes magazines just pile up unread). What an awesome discovery because inside was a recipe for one of my favorite dishes, Japanese curry, also known as wafuu curry! It was my turn to make dinner tonight so I decided to give it a whirl. I went to the market and picked up the veggies that I will need and I happened upon some other lovelies while I was there:
Some imported anchovies from Italy. Look, they are bigger then my finger!
And some gorgeous mixed olives. Yum!

Maybe I'll turn these into a delicious Puttanesca sauce. By the way, La Famiglia DelGrosso makes an awesome puttanesca sauce in a bottle called Uncle Jim's Late Night Puttanesca. Okay now I'm waaaay off track. Back to my wafuu curry. I usually use the instant kind but this recipe taste just as good and is just as easy. Here's my adaptation of Saveur magazine's wafuu curry:


Wafuu Curry (Japanese Curry)
3 c chicken stock
canola oil
1 lb chicken, cut into 1 inch cubes (I used skinless breast but you can use skinless thigh if you like)
3 T butter
1 inch chunk of ginger cut into thin strips
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 T flour
5 T curry, S&B brand (I used the spicy one)
2 small tomatoes, large dice
1 dried bay leaf
1 medium carrot, medium diced
1 medium potato, medium diced
1 small apple, small diced
honey, soy sauce, salt to taste

1) Simmer chicken stock.
2) Liberally salt and pepper chicken chunks. Toss with a tablespoon of cornstarch. (T= tablespoon t= teaspoon, you all know that right?) Saute in oil until golden brown on all sides. Set aside.
3) In the same pan, melt butter and sweat onions. Add garlic and ginger.
4) Stir in the flour and cook until browned, stirring constantly.
5) Add curry powder and tomato. Slowly add half a cup of chicken stock, whisking vigorously to combine and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Add the rest of the chicken stock slowly while stirring.
6) Add the chicken, onions, garlic, ginger, carrots, potatoes, apples and bay leaf and bring to a boil.
7) Simmer on medium-low until all the carrots and potatoes are soft. Make sure to stir once in a while. If the sauce gets too thick and dry add a little water.
8) Season with honey and soy sauce to taste. The more soy sauce you add the more honey you will need because soy sauce tends to be slightly acidic. Add some salt if you like the sweetness level but think it needs to be more salty.
9) Serve with a short grained rice.

79 Hours

Damn you Thanksgiving. Because of all you lazy non cooking folk, who just want to pick up a cake or tart to go to you're family's house, I am working 15 hour days. The owner has been complaining that I am working too many hours and racking up too much OT but what does she expect when I'm just one person doing the job of two. Honestly I don't really want to be in the kitchen more then 10 hours a day. I would love to have a life, see my friends, shit in my own bathroom. But I don't because there's a lot of shit to do. And if she wants all of the products out then someone is going to have to make it. Fuck, cakes don't make themselves! Everything in the display case doesn't magically appear there. I don't have elves in the kitchen who bake the croissants for me at night. So to alleviate my huge OT bill the owner decided to help me in the kitchen. She has the whole day free but instead of helping me she comes in for an hour or two, does half of one or two things, and then leaves to go hang out leaving behind a trail of dirty dishes to be picked up after. That doesn't help me when my to do list is 15 tasks deep which doesn't include putting out all the items in the display case. It also doesn't help when she comes in the next day wondering why I worked so late the night before. Hopefully she makes money during Thanksgiving because she's been paying me late which pisses me off. I know she hasn't been selling a lot of product because of these hard economical times but fuck I'm not working for free.

No Title 2

Work. Eat. Sleep. Poop. Repeat.

No Title

Hot water faucet broken. No soap in dishwasher. Makes Eat Me Outta Here very very angry.

Don't Be Crabby

Crab season is upon us! Right now is the best time to eat crabs because they are meaty and full of delicious tamale and eggs. Males don't have eggs but their meat is sweeter then of the female. Invite some friends over, boil a big pot of water, cover the table with newspaper, and watch the party begin!

Yuzu Garlic Butter Dipping Sauce

3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
half a stick of butter
3 tablespoons Yuzu juice
salt
white pepper

1. Melt a little pat of butter in a small saucepan. Saute garlic and shallots on low-medium. When everything becomes fragrant add yuzu juice. Turn the heat up to boil. Cut the rest of the butter into small chunks and whisk into sauce. Add salt and white pepper to taste.

Want to see a big knife? Go here!

I went to this performance last year and it was pretty cool. Check out the knife the chef uses to butcher the 635lb Tuna. Please turn your head toward the right.


Mitsuwa
595 River Road
Edgewater, NJ 07020

No Introductions Necessary

Tonight my boss took me out for a little treat to the New York Taste 2008 Food Tasting because I've been working so hard. The event was really awesome. I tasted dishes from Adour Alain Ducasse, Per Se, Aureole, Craft, Le Cirque, Bar Boulud, and of course Morimoto. I was surprised to see many of the top chefs at the event such as Masaharu Morimoto, Marcus Samuelsson, April Bloomfield, Jonathan Benno, and Anita Lo. But then again some of these chefs are so big now they really don't cook too much in their respective kitchen so why not go out there and schmooze with the crowd. Anita Lo was walking around like a one eyed hunch back. She, maybe, should have stayed in the kitchen. My favorite dish of the night was Michael Laiskonis' dessert tasting of brown butter cream, sweet potato, pistachio, and red wine caramel. It was so fucking good I would have licked it off the floor. It was so good I went back for seconds, and then thirds but by that time it was all gone and they had to shut down their booth. It was like caramel pudding with crack sprinkled on top. No wonder Michael won last year's James Beard award for outstanding pastry chef award. My boss totally spoiled me by getting VIP tickets which was so worth it because you get to go inside an hour before the regular tickets. And let me tell you once general admission starts the whole place gets so crowded. With that extra hour you can leisurely visit each booth without fighting all the hungry people. And plus you get a really cool gift bag at the end. Oh my god I thought I was going to die carrying it! Inside a nice sturdy canvas bag was a big bottle of tomato sauce, an awesome Stella beer glass, two cookbooks, chocolate, vitamins, nail polish, eye cream, hand soap, soda, alcohol, mints, set of pajamas, etc. The best part of the night, other then dying after eating Le Bernardin's dessert tasting, was meeting Morimoto. His dish was an amazingly delicious Foie Gras Chawan Mushi, which I also had a second helping of. Morimoto seemed really sweet and nice and sooo friendly. He was being very silly and enticing everyone to try his dish, even spoon feeding them if they had too many plates in hand. He is an amazing chef, althought I'm not a fan of his NY branch Morimoto, the Philly branch has much better quality of food, and he seemed down to earth. The type of guy you can knock back a beer with at a local pub. I think I have a little crush on him!

Halloween Treats & Special Order Farm Animal Cupcakes

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I was going to wear mouse ears and whiskers in the kitchen today and be Ratatouille! But I was too lazy. For halloween I made sugar cookies, cupcakes, and candied apples for the pastry shop. Not my favorite things to make or eat but they did come out really cute.
The candied lady gala apples came out really darling!
I had a special order for farm animal themed cupcakes for a two year old's birthday. The theme of the party is Old McDonald had a farm, ee ii ee ii oo! I had no idea how I was going to do it so I figured I would just wing it. Usually inspiration hits during desperate times.
The pig came out the cutest.
The back is even cuter!

McDonalds, Dinner of Champions

When I'm exhausted and hungry after work I usually grab some McDonalds and scarf it down in my car or on the walk to the train station. I'm always afraid that I'll bump into someone I know with half of a Big Mac hanging out of my mouth and ketchup smeared all over my cheek. If you ever see me on the street doing this please just pretend like you don't know me. Thanks.

Hi Baby Lana!

Soon you'll be drooling and eating apple mush and making a mess!

Congratulations Annie & Paul

Kanoyama

Happy Birthday Amy!

I took my cousin Amy to Kanoyama for her birthday this weekend. I was actually trying to make reservations at Sushi Seki but they were closed on Sundays. I've never heard of Kanoyama but it's rated the same according to The Zagat. I ordered the sashimi tasting for the both of us, two appetizers, and two extra pieces of sushi. The waiter told us that it might be too much food for the both of us and we might want to just share one sashimi tasting. I canceled one of the appetizers instead. I figured how could it be too much food?! Most tastings are tiny and I can eat. In the end he was right. The tasting comes with soup or salad, 3 appetizers, 9 types of sashimi (2-4 pieces of each), and icecream. What I really liked was that they gave us all different appetizers so instead of having the same three we actually had six and each appetizer was a full serving unlike most tastings which are usually just a taste. The apps were more than enough for the two of us to have, well, just a taste!

Gori Karaage - Deep Fried Baby Flat Fish

Yellow Tail Avocado Handrolls in Fried Wonton Wrappers - can you believe they give you three handrolls as an app for a tasting menu!

Ankimo Sashimi - Monkfish Liver

Some kind of Sashimi from the fish that was used to decorate the plate. Sorry I forgot the name. The fish was mixed with finely grated fresh ginger, scallions, and sesame and was paired with yellow and purple chrysanthemum. What I really loved about this dish was what they did with it afterwards!....

They actually took the dish away and then brought back the fish bones deep fried! It was deeeelicious with a squirt of lemon. Waste not, want not. I am a firm believer that every part of an animal can be eaten and is sometimes more delicious than its more popular parts. I ate the whole tail and body, bones and all. I only left the head.

Shisyamo- Smoked Smelt from Hokkaido, Japan

Our last appetizer was some kind of carpaccio that I can't remember. But it was really good. It was sprinkled with flower petals that added an interesting taste as well as a beautiful decoration.
I realize now that I didn't take a picture of this. I was too in a rush to eat.

Matsutake Sumiyaki- Grilled Matsutake Mushrooms over Charcoal
I ordered this on the side since I love mushrooms. It was served with lemon and salt but we were advised not to squirt the lemon on top of the coals because this would cause a lot of smoke!

Now on to our entree! Can you believe that was just the appetizers?!

This platter was for the both of us. I can't remember what was in it but I remember my waiter saying arctic char, sardines, tile fish, whiting, jack fish, blue fin toro, salmon, there were just too many!

Right side of plate

Left side of plate

Kanoyama's presentation is really beautiful. We sat by the bar and my eyes kept opening wider and wider! Everything was artfully presented. I couldn't stop asking, "What is that?" with everything that passed by.

Uni from Japan

Tobiko Sashimi with Quail Yolk

After all this I was stuffed. With the tasting we got a choice of ice cream, green tea, red bean, or vanilla. We shared the green tea and red bean.

I really enjoyed Kanoyama. I was really surprised at their variety and portion sizes. For the price you pay for the tasting you really get a lot. Both the sushi and cooked dishes are delicious. However I don't agree with Zagat's rating. I don't think it belongs in the same rating as Masa, Sushi Seki, and Nobu. The quality of the fish is good, good as in local sushi joint good. I wouldn't say it's a gourmet sushi, it's a fancied up very very good local place. I would definitely go again.


Kanoyama
175 2nd Avenue (Corner of 11th Street)
(212) 777-5266
www.kanoyama.com

Weeds

Usually on Tuesday, my first day back from my day off, I am in the weeds. The weekend totally wipes out my mise en place. On Tuesdays I start over again and try to build it up just so I can make it through the weekend. This Tuesday I walked into work to discover that one of my freezers was turned off. Everything inside melted. I managed to salvage some frozen blueberries and cranberries and the frozen fruit purees but everything else had to be thrown away. I was very very pissed off. In that particular freezer I store all my choux items such as eclairs, cream puffs for the St. Honore, and paris brest. I just did a big batch the other day so all the trays were full. Boy was I pissed to have to throw it all away. Boy was I even more pissed to realize I had to put my work to a halt in order to clean out said freezer. It was a gross watery disgusting mess.

I forgot to mention. The freezer isn't a normal door open freezer. It's the kind with a lid and it is about 3.5 feet deep which makes for difficult cleaning.

Crazy

Today is my fifth day in a row working 12 or more hours a day. I had a full sheet sized wedding cake to do plus another croquembouche and a specialty birthday cake. Tomorrow will be my sixth. Hopefully I'll get out early tomorrow, within 6-7 hours. Now that I only have one day off a week I find it hard to juggle the rest of my life. Being a chef consumes all of me. On Mondays I try to do my laundry( including all my dirty work clothes), run errands (such as going to the bank because it's closed by the time I leave work), spend time with friends, family, boyfriend, clean up the mess I make during the week, do some grocery shopping, do something for my mom because she is kind enough to cook me dinner and do the dishes for the 6 days that I come home late, eat, and go to straight to bed, do something for me that makes me happy, and have some time to relax and unwind and rest my sore body. Needless to say this doesn't all get done. I feel like I'm spreading myself thin. I feel guilty for not replying to emails sooner. I feel guilty when I can't make it to functions with family or friends (i.e. birthday dinners, holiday get togethers, etc) . I feel guilty that I only have time to call my boyfriend to say goodnight. I don't have too many chef friends. Sometimes I feel like the people around me don't understand what I do and my busy schedule. My lifestyle is not normal. I work early. I get out late. I don't have weekends off. Right now that's my life. So what am I going to do on my precious day off? I have to make myself a to do list or else I end up just sitting here staring off into space because my brain is dead. This Sunday night and Monday my plan is to spend a little time with my neglected boyfriend before he has to go to work, go to my cousin's baby's one month celebration, have lunch with a friend, pick up some stuff for work at the restaurant supply store, go home and do laundry, quit the gym because I never go, change my sheets because sometimes I don't have the will power to shower and I sleep in it all sweaty and gross, try on a bridesmaid dress at my friends house which I was supposed to do earlier in the week (sorry Terry!) , return some clothes?, and make dinner for my mom. I'm sure somewhere in there I am forgetting something. Oh yea my friend just had a baby so I want to visit her and the baby (Congrats Annie and Paul!). We'll see if I get everything done. But the one thing I will make sure I do is sleep in!

Saveur Breakfast

Did anyone check out this months edition of Saveur magazine? The whole magazine is dedicated to how people breakfast all around the world. It's quite interesting and worth a read!

My favorite quote from one of the articles is, "Breakfast is the most intimate meal of the day, occupying those moments between sleep and our reentry into the world." So true.

Any Given Sunday

I love Sundays. I love Sundays because it's the beginning of my one day weekend. This Sunday I went to a birthday lunch for my friend Amanda and gorged on delicious Filipino food with some of my piggie friends. It was good times. I wish I took a picture of the crispy pata for you all but it would have been all gone by the time I whipped out my camera. Did you ever watch the video of the cheetah chasing after the elk and then finally catching it and devouring it with animal lust. Well the spectacle at lunch was very similar. It was like a wild safari. If you stuck your hand too far out it might get bitten by a leopard! But in my case JR and Angel! (Hi to you guys!)

I also got a surprise from my boyfriend. Something I've always wanted, a dutch oven! But not just a dutch oven, a Le Creuset Oval Dutch Oven in red! Oooooh she's so pretty and shiny.

Morning Duties

Apple Tart Tatin
Madeleine
Blueberry Orange Muffin
Plain Croissant
Almond Croissant
Chocolate Croissant
Mini Croissant
Vanilla Millefeuille
Orange Eclair
Pistachio Eclair
Vanilla Eclair
Chocolate Eclair

Fresh Fruit Tart (large and individual)
Apricot Almond Tart w/Hazelnut Streusel
Pear Almond Tart w/Hazelnut Streusel
Linzer Tart (large and individual)
Saint Honore (large and individual)
Lemon Cream Tart
Passion Cream Tart(large and individual)
Blood Orange Cream Cranberry Tart
Dark Chocolate Ganache Tart
Pumpkin Tart

Pumpkin Cheesecake
Cheesecake
Carrot Cake
White Chocolate Strawberry Mousse Cake
Coconut Mousse Mango Gelee Cake
Chestnut Mousse Cake
L'Italian
Paris Brest (large and individual)
Pistachio Fraisier
Chocolate Mousse with Praline Crunch (large and individual)
Chocolate Caramel Ganache Cake (large and individual)
Black Forest Cake (large and individual)
Raspberry Vanilla Charlotte (large and individual)

Chocolate Chip Cookie
Raisin Oatmeal Cookie
Gingersnap Cookie
Flourless Chocolate Cookie
Sugar Cookie
Linzer Cookie
Meringue Kisses
Pecan Bars
Plain Brownie
Walnut Brownie
Milk Chocolate Macaron

Exhausted & Croquembouched Out

I'm exhausted after a 13 hour shift. My thumbs are all blistered from pulling sugar. My poor fingers tips were burnt several times from hot molten sugar. Legs cramping. Need to shower off my sweaty sore body. Hungry.

Don't Leave Me Taco Bell!

I love taco bell. There's one right by my house near my gym which I frequently visit (the taco bell, not the gym) I went there yesterday to pick up a quick dinner and it was closed! Signs taken down and boarded up windows and everything! I'm so sad now. As a homage to my beloved taco bell I am making tacos for dinner. I used taco seasoning, onion, garlic, cumin, peri peri chili powder, and ground turkey meat (to make it a little healthier). You can't have build-your-own-tacos without some side fixins': lettuce, tomato, sharp cheddar cheese, and sour cream. And of course the FIRE sauce from taco bell that I have stashed in my kitchen drawer along with the ketchup packets and McDonald's napkins that I've hoarded for a rainy day. I know you have one of these drawers too! If you are of asian decent I'm sure you have plastic forks and spoons in there too!

Japanese Food & Restaurant Show

The Japanese Food & Restaurant Show this year was awesome. Check out George's site to see pictures!

I AM the pastry department

I've been working like a dog ever since one girl got fired and the other got arrested for DUI and then admitted to her parents that she is bulimic and then decided not to come back to work. Opening the restaurant by myself after a two week break was not fun. Having to start from scratch and stock up the empty refrigerators and freezers with mise en place was not easy. Especially since we were open for business and I had to put items out in the display case for sale. Working alone is quit lonely. My only friend is my radio and it keeps me from going bonkers. Now that I am the department I have to work everyday that we are open. I've been pulling 12 or more hours a day. I come home and pretty much just have time to shower and eat before it's bedtime. The weekends have been crazy busy with specialty cake orders! The only way I am able to do this is I keep a tight mise en place and schedule and to work clean and efficient. My whole week is scheduled down to every tiny task. Sometimes I have to rotate things to put them higher in priority. I'm really proud of my mise en place. If you looked at it you wouldn't even know I was working by myself!

This weekend was a special weekend. My boss closed down the patisserie for her birthday on sunday which meant two days off for me! I'm loving it! I'm loving sleeping in two mornings in a row! I love seeing the sun and enjoying the day. I really don't have much planned except to rest my sore body.

Chocolate Lover's Cake

This weekend I made a birthday cake for my boss. It was a lot of pressure since everyone at the party was going to be eating it knowing full well that her pastry chef made it! This cake is a 14 inch chocolate lover's dream: Chocolate Cake layered with Hazelnut Mousseline Cream, Hazelnut Feuilletine Crunch, Dark Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Buttercream and covered with Chocolate Glaze. I was nervous when we cut into it but it was definitely a hit. People who said they didn't like chocolate or cake came back for seconds!

Panna Cotta

Two years ago I went to New York Mutual Trading Inc's Japanese Food & Restaurant Show in NYC and discovered Benimosu, a Japanese vinegar made from purple sweet potatoes. After tasting it flashbacks of my meal at Il Buco came to mind. Il Buco has this fabulous panna cotta drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar. The Benimosu has a gorgoues strawberry colored hue and is a translucent clear. It comes unsweetened and sweetened with honey, which is what I used on top of the panna cotta.

The panna cotta came out perfect. It was rich and creamy due to the heavy cream but not cloyingly sweet due to the slight tartness of the buttermilk. The Benimosu vinegar balances the richness and sweetness of the whole dessert. At first I thought it was too rich but with the addition of the vinegar I could eat a whole big bowl full.

This recipe is definitely a keeper. I think I will make it for my next dinner party since it's easy as 1-2-3 and impressive. Now I'm dreaming up other uses for my vinegar. Maybe a vinaigrette, a gelee, made into a gastrique, reduced to make a glaze, drizzled over strawberries, who knows!

Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Benimosu

2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons powedered gelatin
1 cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons sugar
2 cups reduced fat buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Bloom gelatin in water for 10 min.
2. Heat cream with sugar over low- medium heat.
3. Once warmed through and all of the sugar is melted add gelatin and take off heat.
4. Cool at room temperature.
5. When cool stir in the buttermilk and vanilla.
6. Pour into glasses and chill for atleast 4 hours.
7. Top with Benimosu and enjoy!

By the way New York Mutual Trading Inc. is having their annual Japanese Food & Restaurant Show this weekend! Check it out on their website. I bought the sake glasses from Korin. They are the same ones we used at Kyotofu.

Breakfast

I've been working long hours in the kitchen for the past two weeks since I'm the only pastry chef left. Usually when I eat it's quick huge bites between tasks while standing. When I come home and eat dinner I'm usually shoving food in my face so I can hurry up and go to bed and make it to the kitchen by 5am to bake the morning breakfast items. Today is my day off so I wanted to enjoy myself and relax. I made myself a really awesome breakfast! I fried up some maple bacon that I sliced at work, two eggs sunny side up extra runny, whole wheat toast, pineapple chunks, and a banana yogurt smoothie. For lunch I'm already eying the piece of ribeye steak I have left over from the other days dinner and some salad greens and the red wine vinaigrette that I also made. Oh and I have goat cheese in the refrigerator too and some figs. Lunch is already sounding pretty damn good!

Excited

I just received my package from Amazon. I ordered Thomas Keller's The French Laundry and Bouchon cookbooks and Pichet Ong's cookbook:





I usually don't buy books, instead I peruse the internet for good recipes, but I miss thumbing through all the recipes and looking at all the pretty pictures. I think I'm going to start building a cookbook library. I'm already eying the cookbooks of Nobu, Morimoto, Alinea, and Harold McGee!

Update

What does it mean to be a chef?

It means sticking your head into a lowboy to scrub off all the mold that proliferated during the two weeks that the restaurant was closed.

It means working 12 hour days 6 days a weeks and all weekends, the work of two to three people, because the head chef isn't coming back due to a DUI arrest and an eating disorder and the other girl sucks and got fired.

Chocolate Tiramisu

18" x 13" Chocolate Tiramisu Birthday Cake
Coffee soaked Chocolate Cake, Dark Chocolate Mousse, Mascarpone Tiramisu Cream

Frasier

Wedding shower cake
18 "x 16" Frasier
Buttermilk Cake filled with Strawberries and Pistachio Mousseline topped with Meringue

Scrabble Cake

10 inch Caramel Ganache Cake with Scrabble decorations

Halal Chicken

I love the halal chicken you get from the street cart. I don't know what they put in it, crack or something, that makes it taste so good. I've been tinkering with my own recipe at home. Just from the smell and taste I know there's cumin, coriander, turmeric, and paprika in it. I also added some onion powder, garlic powder, white pepper, chili powder, a little curry powder, a touch of sugar, and a some salt. The chicken is marinated in a mixture of all of these spices and yogurt. The yogurt makes the white breast meat so tender and juicy.

Halal Chicken
2 T cumin
1 T coriander
1 t turmeric
1 t paprika
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
1 t curry powder
1/2 t chili powder
1/4 t white pepper
2 t salt
1/2 t sugar
2 chicken breasts diced up
1/2 c full fat yogurt

1. Coat chicken in yogurt. Add 3 T of spices. Marinate for an hour.
2. Cook chicken in a hot pan with olive oil.
3. Serve with basmati rice.

Edit: Cumin and curry are strong flavors that some people might not like. I happen to love both. Feel free to add less if you like.