This goes down as one of the coolest looking things I’ve ever made. Yup.
Before going into the oven I sprinkled cinnamon and powdered sugar over it then glazed it once it came out. It’s super simple to make and it looks great, I’m happy.
Eric
(Take those 3 beans out of the front, buy a square plate)
Just working on a few things here. Mostly different starch like products I can introduce into a meal without having to go there. I picked up these sunchokes at the farmers market this past weekend and I wanted to put them to use along with the beans I picked up. It’s basically the root from a species of sunflower. It cooks like a potato and has a nice bland taste like a potato so after a little manipulation it’s brilliant!
(Peeled one so you could see what it looks like)
I am always in the mood for pork. One of my favorite styles of pork preparation is fried pork chops. My mom makes a killer fried pork chop and I have been trying to duplicate her touches to it for quite some time. Well, I’m still not close. Mom’s is still the best but this will pass 
.
I took the sunchokes then poached them in clarified butter with leeks, salt, and pepper until they were soft enough to puree. I strained them then pureed them with a little heavy cream and butter….mashed potato style…then ran it through a fine mesh strainer to give me a smooth texture.
The pork chops were dry rubbed with a special mix that I have been working on forever.
It looks like I used a typical “sazon” packet but I didn’t. I’ve been working on this rub forever and it’s pretty close to what I want it to be…oh no, I have to make more fried pork chops!!!! I sauteed them in clarified butter in a large skillet then threw them in the oven to finish cooking.
The sofrito sauce is a typical sofrito with recao….finally!!! It’s a whole different ball game when I’m using recao instead of cilantro to make sofrito. I pureed the sofrito, strained it, then worked in soft butter to tighten the sauce. I took half of the sauce, pre-butter, and finished cooking the beans in them.
Put it all together and I think I’m onto something. The sauce on the plate needs to be cleaned up. I can achieve that with a square plate that will give me more room to play. Overall the flavor is where I want it to be and having the sunchoke makes this something new for me instead of depending on the typical potato pairing.
So there you have it, my take on pork and beans.
Eric
Need a little heat for the dish? Try Eric’s private reserve Pique….NOW WITH RECAO LEAVES!!!
Oh yes, it’s great, will only get better with age!!!
I’m part of a cult. I know what you’re thinking… “NO ERIC COME BACK, SEE THE LIGHT”. No, I have seen the light, it pinches a little but with a little work there is a plentiful bounty of white meat to be had but only if it’s sustainable!
The homerun hitting Waterfront Seafood Grill brought together their amazing crew for another night of showcasing one of my favorite things to eat, crab! “Eric, would you like to attend this event?” The stars lined up perfectly and I was able to join up with my BFF Andrea, Randall PR, Keren Brown (FOODPORTUNITY!!), a ton of writers (Thrillist, D-List, and Wasabit Prime to name a few), the CEO of Mackay Restaurants, Frank Rogusa from Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Executive Chef Peter Levine, and more!
The evening started out by Executive Chef Peter Levine telling us a little bit about the work involved into finding the best crab available. It’s more than just finding crab, it’s about finding sustainable crab. Yes, it’s great to put something on your menu but is it ok that you have no idea where it came from? You might get a great price on your crab order but if the source isn’t sustainable then how the hell are you going to sell it when you cause the source to dry out for your “great” price?
(Deconstructed Crab Louie: Asparagus, tomato, egg, olives, dungeness crab, louie. Served with an equally amazing Jaillance Cremant de Bordeaux Rose sparking wine. Each little bite amazing, it allows you to build your own bites or put them all together for an incredible dish. I love deconstructed dishes because they allow the diner to build their own bite….finally control!)
In steps Frank Rogusa. He works for Ocean Beauty Seafoods and worked with Chef Levine to make sure the items not only featured the best crab but made sure these varieties of crab they are to feature on their new menu are from sustainable sources.
(Crab and Sweet Pea Panna Cotta “Peas and Carrots”. Spiced carrot broth, fried tarro served with a Leth Gruner Veltliner Steingrund ’08. The spicy broth and the delicate creamy taste of the sweet pea panna cotta along with a touch of crab and the crispy tarro set this dish into the stratosphere. Not too light or heavy, just decadent with intense flavor)
Making sure you can get fish from a sustainable source requires a lot of work like Chef and Mr. Rogusa explained. Chef said it required a massive amount of phone calls, last minute flights, new relationships, partnerships, and breaking down suppliers to make sure they were serving the best product….”good doesn’t cut it”.
Mr. Rogusa explained that there are three important requirements for his definition of sustainability:
All of the crab caught for that evening’s dinner were from the United States. Many restaurants will buy crab from sources and not realize the crab comes from half a world away….all they need to do is ask questions. Ocean Beauty asks questions!
(Dungeness “Banh Mi” Sandwich. Pickled daikon and carrots, head cheese (I can’t get enough), cilantro, and jalapeno mayo paired with Long Shadows Riesling Poet’s Leap ’08. I love banh mi. Frequently on my Facebook page I proclaim “BANH MI TIME” when I’m hitting up various locations for this perfect sandwich. I almost yelled my catch phrase in the restaurant but I decided not too…..I whispered it quietly to myself. Crab in a banh mi? Excuse me while I kiss the sky.)
This all lead to Chef Levine proclaiming that he fights to have the best quality seafood caught in a great manner. A respect for food but an equal respect for the animal that is giving up its life to feed his customers.
Earlier that day Chef Levine had bagged up over 200 lunches for a charity event and then raced over to the restaurant to prepare the evening’s meal. He was proud to say that he did all the cooking for the event by himself and it didn’t even phase him. He just wanted to provide the charity and all of us with a great experience while not having his line cooks worry about the extra duties. How awesome is that?
(Maryland Soft Shelled Crabs. Green bean, cucumber, almonds and shaved fennel salad paired with Domaine du Prieure Sovigney-les-beaune ’06 and Cameron Abbey Ride Pinot Noir ’07. I think this was the first time a lot of people in attendance had seen a soft shelled crab before because they kept asking how to eat it. Good thing there were some east coasters in attendance because they said, “eat the whole damn thing!”. I have had these in a sandwich, in a salad (click), and now served the Waterfront way. I love every way)
I was sitting next Evan, from D-List Magazine, and Mrs. Rogusa for the dinner. We all talked and had a great time sharing stories and information on crab. There is one picture I don’t have and it is of the Maryland Blue Crab Ravioli with shaved asparagus, butter braised leeks, and lemon zest paired with Sparkman Chardonnay Lumiere ’08 (awesome) and Clos de la Roilette Fleurie ’08. I didn’t take a picture because I wanted to leave this one for you to see for yourself. When I tasted the dish I was already full but I devoured it completely. I turned over to Mrs. Rogusa and said, “this is amazing, I could eat this everyday”. She agreed completely.
Dessert came and the evening closed. Another great experience at the Waterfront Seafood Grill. Great company, great friends, great food, just great….everything. I suggest you try them. I’ve written three posts about this restaurant and if you haven’t gone by now then I will have to go again and again until I prove to you that the Waterfront Seafood Grill is worthy of your time and money. DON’T FORCE ME TO GO AGAIN! Oops, to late…..they have a wine event in the Spring that I am going to be attending….SABER TIME!!!
Thank you once again to the amazing staff at The Waterfront Seafood Grill (CHEF LEVINE!!!!!), Andrea at Randall PR, Frank Rogusa and his lovely wife Linda, all the fantastic writers, and sustainable crab. Coolest cult to be part of!
Eric
I went down to the West Seattle farmers market this past weekend and I saw these beans and I knew I needed to do something great with them. I love beans! I grew up on them so when I have a chance to work with some great quality varieties my mind starts racing to figure out a way to make them amazing.
(soaking in water)
It doesn’t take much but you know me, I’m crazy and I like to do a billion things at once even when I’m doing something as simple as a stew.
First I took the beans and soaked them overnight. I placed them in a stock pot then simmered them until they were 80% soft.
I had a sous vide sauce ready that was made last week and was ready to go. It consisted of tomatoes, fresh parsley, fresh oregano, fresh basil, leeks, olive oil, salt, pepper, and anchovy.
I had a bit of linguica hanging out in the refrigerator so I started rendering it lightly in olive oil. I deglazed the pot with red wine then added salt, pepper, anchovy paste, then the sauce, and finally the beans that I drained. The last 20% of cook time for the beans would allow them to soak up the sauce. Low and slow is the key with this one.
Eric
Oh experiments….where are you going to take me? Probably drive me mad but it’s ok.
I am working on a few things so don’t pay attention to this post too much. I used lecithin to achieve the foam with the red bell pepper. I had larger granule lecithin which I need to grind into a powder next time so it doesn’t weigh the foam down. The recao oil was perfect with a little agar to stabilize it into an almost jelly like state. The yolk was the easy part.
Finding a store that carries recao? Yeah, it took me 6 months.
Eric
Mindy’s dad is building a shed for us outside of our house so we can have extra storage. It amazes me to see someone who can take a few pieces of wood and make something so functional and brilliant out of it. His work inspired me this morning to create this dish.
I started by grating fingerling potatoes then cooking them in a cast iron pat with lots of clarified butter, salt, pepper, and tarragon filler. On the stove for a bit at medium-high heat to get a nice crust then into the oven to finish off the potatoes. I didn’t flip it like I normally did because I wanted to try out a technique my chef at school taught me….it worked. Once it was done I drained the butter off and adjusted the seasonings on it with a little salt and pepper.
(Yes, the contact points on the stove top suck…big deal)
I can make these in my sleep but I wanted something different this time…..something exciting. To the cookie cutter drawer! Round and nice…
I had a couple leeks, ham, and carrots lying around so I prepared them by cutting the leeks and carrots lengthwise the doing a julienne on the ham. I sauteed the ham first in duck fat then added the carrots and leeks with a little red wine vinegar, salt, and green peppercorns. At the same time I had two small cast iron pans going with 1 duck egg in each. Once it was done they received the cookie cutter action.
I removed the vegetable/ham mixture from the pot then deglazed it with red wine and built the sauce with glace de viande. I took the pot off the heat then stirred in some whole butter then sauced the plate.
Potato, leek/carrot/ham, then egg on top. Ready to go.
Thanks for the shed Bruce!
Eric
I f’ing love pasta and shrimp day. I need to go to Puerto Rico….. Take it away mom!
“Hello boy!
Today was one of those busy days. All I wanted was to hurry up, get home and fix something quick, fresh and yummy. Well, while I was driving I said to myself, “it is pasta and shrimp day”. Here is the finished product. All the herbs are fresh from my garden and of course the aji dulce. “
LYA,
Ixa
Back in October of 2009 I had the pleasure of dining at Spring Hill. It has taken me four months to go back between all the moving, schooling, working, and all that jazz. I told my wife and countless others about the fantastic the food at Spring Hill. When people asked me where they should eat in Seattle I would give them a list of three restaurants with Spring Hill being the first.
(1/2 Dozen Kumamoto Oysters, Medium Brine, From Willapa Bay, WA)
I love Spring Hill because the food is flawless and there is always more on the plate than what the menu suggests; under sell, over deliver. It’s not a pretentious place….You can go in dressed casual and hang out by candlelight then just relax and prepare for an amazing meal.
(Dinah’s Cheese, Kurtwood Farms, WA- Melted over toasted baguette, caraway onions, beef jus, parsley salad)
The staff is fantastic and the best part is is that the kitchen is open. I get to see what they’re doing while they are preparing all the different dishes for the evening. This is great for me because I get to see how calm and focused everyone is while they’re cooking. No yelling, no music, just a few pots and pans clinking around while the finished dishes are heading under the heat lamp to be picked up by the server.
(Fattened Duck Liver Terrine (Hudson Valley, NY) – lillet blanc jelly, tangerine marmalade, griddled brioche.
I can honestly say that if I were to open a restaurant it would be modeled after Spring Hill. The small bar, the dim lights, the food, the execution. Everything works and everything compliments itself perfectly.
(Beef Steak Hot & Cold, Snake River Farms, ID- Raw Steak Tartare, Grilled Wagyu Sirloin, Potato Cracklings, Yolk)
(Mulling Spiced Duck, Maple Leaf Farms, CA)- Crispy Confit, Cranberry, Sage Spatzel, Brussels, Apple Chouccroute
I love how they feature the sources of their food on the menu. It allows me to add them to my list of places to buy from when I need great duck, cheese, or just about anything else. When I see local sources I smile with pride to know that Washington is the best place to live.
(Wood Grilled, Dry Aged Rib Steak, Painted Hills Ranch, WA- “Pot Roast” Vegetables, Cured Butter, Beef Jus)
If you’re ever in Seattle and you want a great restaurant to visit then Spring Hill is the place to go to….one of my top three! That’s it, plain and simple. Hey, I live in West Seattle now so I might join you!
Spring Hill (click)
Fried Chicken Dinner on Monday’s…..That’s my next visit!
Thanks to Brad and Kristie for hanging out with Mindy and me. I am sorry for taking pictures of the food…..I know, it’s annoying
I love clean soups. I love clear soups even more but I decided to bring a few experiments together in order extract the most amount of corn flavor into a soup. What this ends up being at the end could be called a creamed corn soup but I think it’s a bit more than that.
I saw Heston Blumenthal do something similar to cauliflower except for his was a dish where he used a puree, a sauteed piece, and a roasted piece. I wanted to do the same 3 way play but decided to make a soup and substitute the sautee for sous vide. Why the sous vide? It allowed me to keep all of the juices from the corn intact while I played with the other techniques being used in the soup.
I started by roasting some corn in the oven with a little butter, salt, and pepper. Once the corn was done roasting I removed the kernels then pureed them, the strained them. I put chicken stock in a pot then added the roasted kernel juice. The soup was left to simmer while I had more corn in its vacuum sealed temperature controlled water bath (sous vide). Then I took some raw corn and made a puree then strained then added it to the simmering soup.
When the soup was nearing completion I sauteed some leeks in butter to use as a garnish. I had previously noted on this chicken stock that I used leeks so this would be a nice finishing touch….the green looks pretty cool floating around.
I prepared a piece of baguette with Beecher’s flagship cheese, thyme oil (prepared a few days ago), leeks, salt and pepper then broiled it until the cheese melted. I was going to cube it and throw it in the soup but I wanted a nice clean soup so I made the decision to serve it on the side as more of a dipping bread.
The soup was ready for the sous vide corn so I pureed it, strained it then added it to the soup along with some cream. I would love to learn how to make an essence of corn but I will save that for another time.
The cream helped thicken the soup a little bit which is what I was looking for. I adjusted the seasonings of the soup with a little salt and pepper then plated, garnished, and served. Everything worked the way I wanted to but I will explore different plating options next time.
Eric
This sandwich has a little bit of everything and while it may seem there is too much going on the flavors compliment each other in such a great way.
I made my way to the farmers market and picked up some pancetta and then brought it home then sliced it up in order to lightly cook it. This is an easy way for me to salt something without having to add a bunch of extra salt, also the fat that is rendered off in the small saute pan worked out to be the starter for my vegetables along with a little help from some duck fat. You might as why would I take an expensive piece of pancetta and do this to it. I say, it’s been done a billion times so don’t think I’m the crazy one.
While the vegetables (onion, bell pepper, pickled shallots) were sweating I added some yellow pickled mustard seeds to the mix. I wanted to see how they would react to higher heat than what I used to pickle them. They took on a little of the flavor from the fat which too me in a different direction for the next time I use these in a dish. The mushrooms were added towards the latter part of the sweating process in order for them not to be mushy.
The pancetta was removed earlier in the process and I placed it over some chopped kalamata olives. I think it’s best to have the salty stuff at the bottom of the sandwich because it allows your tongue to have that initial salt taste then as you chew the other flavors develop. The kalamata olives were in a standard bottle with red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil with a salty brine so this salty pairing was perfect for the bottom layer of sandwich.
The vegetables were finished so I placed them on top of the pancetta/olive layer then added some Beecher’s flagship cheese then placed the sandwiches in the oven under broil to melt the cheese. When I removed them I placed a few quick pickled cucumbers on top to give a crunch to the sandwich when eating. I think crunch is important for a sandwich like this.
When I make a sandwich like this again I will most likely make the bread myself. The bread really didn’t stand out the way it should have in order to make the entire sandwich great. I will chop the pancetta smaller and spread it out on the top and bottom of the sandwich in order to highlight it more. It wasn’t lost but it certainly could have been better presented. I think next time I will use pancetta rounds instead of choosing the flat pancetta.
Eric
The sauce is a hollandaise minus the egg yolk being worked in. When you break the yolk on the fried egg it combines with the sauce to give you the complete hollandaise experience when eaten.
The linguica sausage is seared then the pan is deglazed with white wine, then the potatoes are cooked in clarified butter until they are tender. Add the leeks, mushrooms, and linguica back and cook until mushrooms have released their flavor, the seasonings of salt and pepper are adjusted at this time. The items are removed from the pan and the pan is deglazed again with white wine. I place a little white wine vinegar, minced parsley, salt, dijon mustard, and pepper then worked in some butter until a nappe sauce consistency is achieved. While this is all going on I was frying an egg in clarified butter.
The plating as you can see above is quite simple. I should have made a parsley puree or fried some parsley to put around the sauce to bring a green/fresh appearance to the plate….next time. The plating will be improved as well by shaping the egg and the items underneath it with a mold.
The flavor met my expectations but it needs to look much more elegant.
Eric
Want to eat great pork? Ask a Puerto Rican to make it for you. Keep telling me about your great pork recipes and then I’ll wait patiently until you visit Puerto Rico (or me) and you will finally see why I smile a little bit everytime I try your recipe. Take a trip, it’s worth it (click)!!!!
Ingredients:
Procedure
Eric
HEART ATTACK TIME!!! Whew, it was only a small one that time. Yeah, this is one of those things you don’t want to eat very often. This is my answer to all those people who have “health” blogs that continue to preach the ideas of health and in the meantime they have banners and ads on their site for the most unhealthy garbage you’ll ever see.
I make no such health claims, I want you to eat whatever you want….as long as you cook it yourself or go to a restaurant that respects food. There are times when I hit up the frozen pizza or a something easy but I’m not going to sit here and tell you I’m “so healthy after my new diet after I cut out everything that tastes great”. Nope, I’m not that guy.
Something like poutine every once in a while takes the edge off. Eat it, who cares, but make it yourself! I think if people actually made things more and understood what goes into making “good” food then they will truly understand what healthy is or isn’t. Taking pictures of food that is pre-packaged or hitting up the big chain coffee shop for a low fat latte is hardly eating healthy and those blogs that do things should not be followed.
Why yes, I am settling into West Seattle just fine. Hippie rant!!!!! LOL!! (can’t wait for someone to actually take me seriously….moderate button is patiently waiting)
Ingredients………do you really want to know?
Procedure
Eric
How do you plate up chocolate? I don’t know! hahahahahaha
This little bite of amazing has been brought to you by my entry into the world of chocolate making. I’ve made chocolate before on here but I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I know a little more but I still don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Knowing what the hell I’m doing….probably about 65%. Anyway, this little bite of amazing is great and I highly suggest wasting a bunch of time to make it. Ta-da!!!!
I’m going to work on different shapes.
Ingredients:
Ganache
Outer layer (probably has a fancy French name….update: it’s couverture…Thanks ROB!)
Procedure:
Ganache
Outer layer:
Eric
(A little close up of a merlot and black pepper reduction)
I’ve been working on a few smaller components that will be part of a few meals here and there. I hope to bring these on the blog soon but until then all you get is a weird little picture with a description of what I am working on.
Eric
