I was talking with chef about a month ago about tapioca maltodextrin and how cool it was. Take something with a fat content and mix it together and you can create powders! Even something without a fat content can be transformed, it’s amazing! I was selling the idea to him like it was a late night infomercial and he said, “alright, show me”.
So the next day I brought in my tub of maltodextrin into work and proceeded to spin some clarified butter with it and I had him taste it. He grinned and told me, “alright, are you sure you can do this with the chorizo”. I said, “yes, of course”.
I gave him a list of things I needed and when I asked for chorizo I wanted three pounds and he gave me five and said he didn’t want to run out. The event we were planning for was the Seattle Food and Wine Experience. I covered it last year as “media” and this year I would be at the event working behind the scenes (awesome!)….and not only would I be working the event I would also bring Mindy along to help out and unleash my chorizo powder creation on the world!
First run: I sliced the chorizo really thin, about 1/16 of an inch then placed it in the ovens at work but the problem was that the ovens at work can’t be set to the setting I needed them to be….200F minimum. I knew this would be a problem because I would be cooking the hell out of the chorizo. I did it anyway and told chef that I would be able to control the chorizo at a lower temperature with my dehydrator. He wasn’t very happy with the first run but he let me do it anyway after I convinced him I would get it to work.
(Yeah, how about no….)
So why cook it?!!!?!? Well, this idea is pretty much what I like to call Modernist Bacon Bits. Bacon bits are pretty cool but they are so 1990…..we need an update! The thing I like about bacon bits is they are crunchy…..I needed a way to make the chorizo crunchy but without losing a lot of color so off to the meat slicer and off to the dehydrator.
8 hours in the dehydrator and at a certain temperature these little pieces will keep their color and become crunchy! The only problem I had was that I had a four tray dehydrator and I could only fit about 1/4# of chorizo at a time so I spent a few days cycling the chorizo through (ugh…). After the chorizo comes out of the dehydrator it goes to the refrigerator to cool down.
The next step was to send it through the food processor and create bits. I had to do these in batches too and I had to make sure the bits going in were cold. After they came out I started doing small batches again of chorizo bits with maltodextrin. I tasted it and it needed a bump in flavor so I took left over pieces chorizo and rendered them in clarified butter then processed that with the maltodextrin then combined the bits and the clarified butter mixture.
After combining I laid everything out on two sheet pans and refrigerated them for a few more hours then sent them through a tamis to create a smaller powder.
Pack it up and get it ready to take to work now.
When I went into work then I transferred the powder into shakers so that way we could finish off the plates we would be serving up for about 1100-1500 people at the Seattle Food and Wine Experience. No pressure! Chef tried the powder as I was placing it in the shakers and he grinned again and said, “You know, I was a little worried about the outcome but you nailed it”.
So off to the show!
POWDERED CHORIZO!!!! IT’S ON THERE!!!! HOW COOL!!! The fun thing about this dish is that it was pretty elaborate. Two sauces: Piquillo pepper puree and an aji amarillo sauce, rye bread crisp, pickled shallots (says red onion on the card but chef opted for shallots…they’re better for this application), crispy chick peas tossed in a fennel seasoning, fried parsley, and in-house hot smoked Neah Bay black cod. There are days of work into this and the person that walks by and just grabs the dish will just eat it in two seconds and walk to the next booth…..that’s how it works! However, we had people stopping in their tracks and asking about everything on the plate. The sauce, the chickpeas, the cod, the powder, everything! It was a success!
Do that 1100-1500 times…every time!
The best part is that Mindy came along for the day to help out so it was nice to really show her the madness of what I do. She had a great time! She’s also a natural at plating so that helped out tremendously!
During the event chef told me that he wanted to do more stuff like this in the restaurant so I have a green light to bring my crazy ideas into the restaurant now and we’re now brainstorming the Voracious Tasting in April which will be the same kind of atmosphere but more restaurants will be featured. We’ve tossed a few ideas around and in the next week I have to put these ideas in front of him so we can start a first run and do it all again.
Ericci Riverotti (my self-made Italian name….I still think it’s funny) is back!!!! Last year I went to the Festa Italiana and I was working the event as a chef assistant. This year I was back as an observer (school needed volunteers but I had an opportunity to interview a cookbook author at the event….cool vs. cooler). and I had a great time.
I didn’t have much time because I had to go to work later in the day so after my interview with Mark Leslie (click), I headed over to the main stage to check out one of my favorite chefs, Luigi Denunzio, show everyone what Italian cooking is all about.
I love chef Denunzio’s demonstrations. He opens up and really speaks his mind and gets the crowd involved immediately. I hope one day I can be that comfortable on stage.
Chef Luigi Denunzio’s Deconstructed Lasagna
If you ever get a chance to see chef Denunzio in action then it’s a definite must see….he is f’ing hilarious.
I wish I had more time to see some of the other chefs but that’s the way things go these days…busy!
I can’t wait for Festa Italiana 2011, it will be right around this time where I graduate….maybe they’ll ask a Puerto Rican to cook some Italian food on stage!!!
I was asked to cook up a few things for the Grand Opening of a store called Mud Bay. They cater more to the four legged friend variety so they asked me to use ingredients normally found in their pet foods in order to feed some people at the event. No problem!
After a little back and forth with emails I decided on a dish that would incorporate a lot of the things I like to make as well as something that would be fun for the people eating it.
We did have a couple hiccups with this planning process. #1, I don’t have a restaurant so prepping things beforehand was not an option. I planned a risotto and I planned to par cook it then finish it at the event…..nope, not happening. I planned to use chicken stock…..made beforehand, can’t use it….. I planned to buy the salmon from one of my favorite suppliers…nope, since I don’t have commercial refrigeration equipment the fish had to be bought near the site and held minimally in a refrigerator…not a cooler.
Ok, so no big deal. I’m still going to make risotto, it’s just going to take a little longer (I’ll just ask for a helper in the crowd….THANKS MINDY!). No chicken stock….I’ll just use water and herb the hell out of it with fresh herbs…… You say use canned chicken stock…I say, not a chance in hell. Salmon? Well, we’ll have to take a chance and see what’s available at one of those big name grocers about 30 minutes before the event….no problem!
I wrote my prep list
PREP LIST:
Cutting boards (white and black)
2 sauce pans
Large sauté pan
Large pot for risotto
Herbs, thyme, basil, oregano, tarragon
Square plate
Strainer, large
Tasting spoons
Spoon to stir, fish spat, whisk,
Black chef jacket
Black apron
White towels, all of them
Bowls, stainless steel
Knives, Thermometer
White container for dishes….immersion circulator tub
Microplane
Squash
Shallot
Tomatoes
Butter
Cheese
Black Pepper Mill
Sel de Mer
Lemons
Arborio Rice
Items left to buy:
White wine
Salmon
Paper Plates, utensils
I arranged for the people staging the event to have other items needed to satisfy the health department and when “go” time came around I was ready, the health department gave me perfect scores, and I could get to cooking.
What did I cook?
Wild Alaskan Coho Salmon with Heirloom Tomato and Heirloom Squash Risotto with Pan-Sauce Buerre Blanc and Blueberry Black Pepper Sauce.
I was invited to attend a celebration of heirloom tomatoes at the Cedarbrook Lodge over the weekend. They said heirloom tomatoes and I was there but they added a lot more to the lineup to solidify yet another amazing experience at the Cedarbrook Lodge (click).
A list of amazing restaurants:
Chef William Belickis, Mistral Kitchen
Chef Mark Bodinet, Cedarbrook Lodge
Chef Christine Keff, Flying Fish
Chef Bobby Moore, Barking Frog (Willows Lodge)
Chef Jason Wilson, Crush
Chef Michael A. Young, Olives Café Wine Bar
Chef Paul Bosch, The Resort at The Mountain
Chef Gabriel Claycamp, Alchemy Meats
Chef Dalis Chea, Herban Feast & Fresh Bistro
Chefs John & Chris Hussey, Private Chefs (Soap Lake, Wash.)
Bernie & Delia Flores, Salsa Champ
A list of amazing wineries and brewers:
Left Coast Cellars
White Heron Cellars
Chatter Creek Winery
Wineglass Cellars
Tertulia Cellars
The Pike Brewing Company
Maritime Pacific Brewery
And live music by:
Black Lab Trio
First Circle
Uh, that’s a big time event….I have to go! So I packed my camera and my stomach and raced around for an hour before I had to go to work. I would have loved to stay longer but that whole work thing….paycheck thing….yeah
I knew there were a lot of different varieties of heirloom tomatoes but seeing them up close and personal is a little staggering. They set up a tasting and viewing table so each attendee could try the tomatoes….see for yourself!
I showed the video to Mindy and I saw the amazement in her eyes. I think this will raise the bar for her farm next year……MORE TOMATOES!
The restaurants and chefs that were there were featuring lovely tomato dishes using these fabulous tomatoes. I had the pleasure of trying these myself and let me just say they were all fantastic. I grew up not liking tomatoes because they were the run of the mill red beefsteak tomatoes that had no flavor or excitement. Over the last few years I have been searching for a way for tomatoes to redeem themselves. Tomatoes, you are redeemed and you have the chefs at Tomatofare to thank for this.
Mistral Kitchen:
The shot glass has tomato water in it with little crunchy pieces of bread. Absolute genius. Totally stealing that!!
Cedarbrook Lodge:
I kept waiting for the chef assistant to walk away from the table so I could have just grabbed the entire pie. It was really good. Great job Chef Bodinet (pictured below)!
Fresh Bistro (CHEF DALIS CHEA (not pictured)!!!!!! One of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. Fresh Bistro is one of my regular hang-out spots. Love that place! Best brunch dish I’ve ever had…Loco Moco.)
Olives Cafe and Wine Bar:
I’ve never heard of this place but after this showing it’s a definite must visit restaurant. They’re located in Edmonds (thanks for the correction Carolyn). I ate three of these……
The Barking Frog:
It was hard to eat this because it looked so pretty. I just wanted to stare at it for a while but not in a creepy way…… It was verrrrrryyyy good.
The Resort at the Mountain:
This dish helps my a.d.d. I can do two things with one dish! Cool! Eat and drink! It was simple and tasty.
Alchemy Meats:
I’ve said it on this blog a few times. I’m a huge fan of Chef Claycamp. He brought us The Swinery, Culinary Communion, and gypsy dinners. It was very cool to see him at this event serving up a panzanella salad. Good luck with your new venture chef!
Crush:
Jason Wilson is on fire right now. The James Beard award winner for best chef in the Northwest. He showed up ready to rock with his tomato dish. Loved the pesto foam!
Finally, I’ll leave you with a picture of the one of the coolest chefs I’ve ever met. Chef Breiman is the culinary director for the Cedarbrook Lodge and has put a lot of time and passion into turning the Cedarbrook Lodge into a top destination resort in the Northwest. Everytime I talk to him I am excited to hear what he has to say and it was very nice of him to take a little time to show me around the event as well as introduce me to his wife, Mrs. Tomatofare
Thanks again to everyone at the Cedarbrook Lodge as wel as all the other chefs, restaurants, wineries, and bands in attendance!
Wait, someone else is taking pictures??? Thanks Mindy! The debut of a new food blogger!
I have been studying cooking demonstrations for over a year in the hopes that someone would ask me to do one. I have seen Nick Stellino rock a stage like no other, I have been part of a demonstration as an assistant during last year’s Festa Italiana (click), I have seen The Chef In the Hat and Ethan Stowell work seamlessly together and feed off each other throughout a demonstration (click), and I have also seen some pretty brutal chef demonstrations…..those are the ones where I learned what not to do (TALK!!!!! DON’T JUST STAND THERE AND COOK!!!! TALK!!!!!)
Well, my day finally came yesterday as the Queen Anne Farmers Market was nice enough to invite me and give me a chance to do my thing. I chose the date a few months ago with the expectation of having a few of my market food favorites being available….tomatoes, peppers, onions, and garlic.
So what to cook?!?!? I tossed a few hundred ideas around and I finally came down to something that I hope will become a little more normal around the Seattle area…..plantains! I know, plantains aren’t something you can buy at a farmers market in this area but in Puerto Rico you can so this little Puerto Rican guy decided to bring his two worlds together in order to make something that is very near and dear to him. Tostones!
If you go to any Puerto Rican restaurant you’ll see tostones on the menu but what I don’t like is that a lot of people don’t realize how easy they are to make. I think plantains are great. They cook like potatoes and their flexibility allows them to be cooked in many different culinary methods…..fry, braise, saute, bake, etc…. The green ones are perfect for frying and doing a light sear then braising in the oven. The yellow ones are good for desserts….easy dessert, wrap a yellow plantain in foil and bake until the plantain is completely soft then remove and place on a plate for a sweet explosion of flavor…how easy is that?!?!?
(Leave the chef jacket at home…..wear normal clothes….just hang out and cook something)
I packed up my stuff and headed to the market. I was ready for anything and had two escape dishes just in case the power wasn’t working or something else popped up….I was ready! I planned on deep frying at a farmers market…..it’s crazy but it’s very fitting in my mind…..if you ever go to Puerto Rico then you’ll see what I’m talking about.
What I planned on making was a simple dish with no fancy ideas attached to it….just food that I grew up eating and something I wanted to share with people that normally don’t eat this type of food. Sure, they’ve probably had something like it but this is the real deal!
Fried Plantain Cups with a Market Sofrito and Mangalitsa Bacon!!
First off I started by chopping up a few market vegetables that I found at the market.
Sofrito Ingredients:
Mangalitsa Bacon Fat, as needed
Mangalitsa Bacon, as needed
1/2 Walla Walla Onion, medium dice
3 Italian Purple Garlic Cloves, crushed
1/2 red bell pepper, medium dice
1/2 green bell pepper, medium dice
1/4 ivory bell pepper, medium dice
1/2 beefsteak tomato, seeded, and quartered
Two thyme sprigs, whole (Mindy Rivera Farms)
Three oregano stems with leaves on (Mindy Rivera Farms)
Two Fresh Bay Leaves (Mindy Rivera Farms)
Adobo, use this like your salt and pepper…I have my own but you can find Adobo at many grocery stores in the Hispanic section
Procedure:
Heat up bacon fat in a pan then add the garlic and let it toast lightly.
Add onions and bell peppers and saute until the onions are translucent.
Season and add tomato and cook until tomato breaks down.
Add fresh herbs and bacon and cook on low heat.
Check seasoning and serve
Next up is preparing the plantains for their double fry action. Cut the ends off of the plantain then slice the plantain vertically about 1/4 inch deep in order to remove the peel. Once the peel is removed cut the plantain into 2 inch sections. Have a deep fryer set up at around 360-370F. The reason I have it set so high to begin with is that the more things you put into the deep fryer the more the temperature will drop. The ideal fry temperature is between 350-360F. Anything less will lead to a greasy nightmare and much more will cook the item too fast on the outside and will leave the inner part raw…. I keep a thermometer inside the oil so that way I know when I’m overloading the fryer….if the temperature is dropping the just give it some time to recover and you’re all set!
Place the plantain until it starts to turn a golden color (about 1-2 minutes) then remove and place on a paper towel. At this point you can make a cup out of it using a cup molder or you can smash it flat to make tostones. Also, at this point you can freeze them for later use which I recommend because then you can enjoy plantains throughout the week!
If you decide to go for the second fry then after you have molded the plantains place them in the fryer again and wait a minute or two and wait until they turn crispy then remove and place on a paper towel and salt or use adobo to season them. Once they are seasoned then top them with whatever you want! Try the sofrito recipe above first.
That’s a quick how-to on working with plantains. Thanks again to everyone who showed up and to the Queen Anne Farmers Market for inviting me (click).
Mindy and I made our way through the Bite of Seattle this past weekend in search of food and for me, a cooking demonstration by Chef Ethan Stowell and Chef Thierry Rautureau.
First we stopped at the Alley which had a few different restaurants offering a bite or two of some of their best dishes in order to benefit Food Lifeline (click)
Lots of great stuff to get the stomach rolling in the right direction. We walked around some more and stumbled our way through more food but I was here to see a cooking demonstration by Chef Stowell and Chef Rautureau.
We made our way to the stage and the producer Russ Nelson noticed I was taking a bunch of pictures so he asked us if we wanted a little tour of the stage.
One day I’ll be on this side of the stage but until then it’s time to watch a few masters demonstrate their skills.
In 20 minutes Chef Ethan Stowell with the assistance of the host of the show, Chef Rautureau, rocked a Roasted Halibut with Taggiasca Olive Puree, Roasted Fennel and Green Olive Vinaigrette. Sounds amazing right?
The only problem with this is that the health department in my state doesn’t allow them to actually serve the food to hungry onlookers. The bright side was that they handed out the recipe and now I’ll be able to try it out for myself!
Well, that was it for me at the Bite of Seattle….had to go to work!
I would like to start off this post by thanking a few people and organizations that made this all possible. First, my wife Mindy, for letting me spend time away from her and allowing me to cook food for other people instead of being her personal chef at home. Next, Chef Lisa Nakamura, Chef Anna, and the rest of the crew at Allium for taking me in for a few days at their amazing restaurant. Foodbuzz, you have been nothing but great to me ever since I became a Featured Publisher with you…I can’t believe this is my fourth 24×24 event you have sponsored for me. Lone and Jeremiah for giving me an affordable place to stay in your lovely home on Orcas….I can’t thank you enough and sorry for not being able to at least make breakfast for you both. My parents for sponsoring my trip and for helping me sponsor my tuition at school….I can’t wait to show you what I’ve learned when you come visit in November! Finally, I would like to thank the people that visit this blog. I see people visit this blog from all around the world and I would really love to come visit your places and learn about the great food you eat, I’ll keep studying and working hard so we can meet up one day and break bread together……if you have a restaurant or know of one then let them know I’m crazy and I like to work in kitchens on my days off!!!
Eric, what is a stagiaire?!?!?!??!!??!?! Well, it’s like an internship but it’s more of a tryout for a new person coming into a kitchen. It’s a great way for restaurants to see if that fancy resume of a new employee will hold up. Basically, you send your information to a restaurant….they look at it and say, “yeah, come on in for a day or two”. Then you walk in and show them what you’re capable of. Depending on the position you’re trying out for they will assess if you’re the right person for the job. A stagiaire can last for a few hours, days or months with each second in the restaurant being a test and also being unpaid……like an internship but you’re actually doing something important (sorry office workers, I was one of you once and this is a whole different ball game).
At the end of the stagiaire the person trying out will typically meet up with the chef and then they will talk about how they faired during their stagiaire. I’m not sure about the bad side but my experience is that they offer you a job or an open invite to stagiaire as many times as you want until you graduate from culinary school and your schedule opens up (I’ll explain this in a separate post). :)
Why Allium?
It was an extremely easy choice for me. A few months ago I went to The Herbfarm and had a great dinner there courtesy of Foodbuzz and I had the pleasure of meeting Chef Lisa Nakamura. My reason for going to The Herbfarm was simple, I wanted to meet Chef Nakamura and at the time my only way to do this was to ask Foodbuzz to pick up the bill at the restaurant that was a budget killer for me. Foodbuzz accepted then sent me for a dinner there. (Here is a link to my original post about The Herbfarm) I met Chef Nakamura after dinner service and she acknowledged me as “the culinary student”, which was pretty awesome. She asked me a few questions about what I wanted to do after school and what type of food I liked to cook. I wasn’t really sure at that time so I said, “anything and everything, that’s what I like to cook”.
I found out about Chef Nakamura through the cookbook from The French Laundry and also through a random conversation I had with someone at Metropolitan Market in Federal Way.
When I first started culinary school the first two books I checked out were The French Laundry and Alinea. I was curious to read these two books and both of them went in different directions. Grant Achatz had spent some time at The French Laundry then went on to open his restaurant Alinea in Chicago and he would bind his world of molecular gastronomy into the classical French techniques he had learned at The French Laundry. When I read both books at the same time it blew my mind and still does to this day.
(Chef Nakamura in The French Laundry Cookbook)
I was in Metropolitan Market one day and in the line I struck up a conversation I had with a lady in line who noticed I had a bunch of random ingredients in my cart. She asked if I was a chef and I said, “not yet but I’m working on it”. She told me that she had a friend that was just named the Chef de Cuisine at The Herbfarm and that she was a fantastic chef that had spent some time at The French Laundry. I said, “holy crap, that’s incredible”. I had no idea who or what The Herbfarm was so I did my research, submitted my proposal to Foodbuzz then there I was, meeting Chef Nakamura for the first time.
I met Chef Nakamura one more time when I worked at The Herbfarm for a few days as a server. She asked me, “why are you working on the dark side?” I said, “I don’t know, I want to cook”. Well, things didn’t work out at The Herbfarm with me as a front of house person…….I’m back of house material!!!
I started following Chef Nakamura on Twitter just so I could get tips or just insight so I could figure out a way to work alongside her at The Herbfarm. I wanted to go back there and show everyone that I could work at a restaurant at that level. Well, a few months passed then Chef Nakamura announced she would be leaving The Herbfarm. I didn’t know if I would get my chance but then she announced she would be opening up her own restaurant on Orcas Island named Allium. I contacted her, she accepted, and then the planning started.
Orcas Island from Seattle is about a three hour commute. You can drive then take a ferry and drive some more or you can take a Kenmore Air flight and be there a lot quicker, the choice is yours. My first experience with Orcas Island was brief. Mindy and I owned a courier/notary company that would deliver/have signings on the island every once in a while and I made a trip up there with her to do a signing. We were there for a total of three hours and at the time I didn’t understand why anyone would live there. An intense focus on food has changed my opinion on the places where people visit and call home but I’ll get to that by the time this post ends…you’ll see.
Wait wait wait……how did Chef Nakamura end up on Orcas Island?!?!?!!??! The French Laundry, The Herbfarm, the Orcas Island?!?!?? What?!?!? Here, read her blog post (CLICK). Yes, she blogs, another reason I love her work…..A CHEF THAT BLOGS!!!!
So now it makes sense. Orcas Island……Allium…..a stagiaire…….a visit for a few days……call for favors……make a trip……let’s go.
DAY 1
Taking the ferry ride in the early morning when it’s drizzling rain and cold is not very exciting…..there, I said it. Stop complaining though because you’re on a kind of brief vacation. Yes, I’M ON A BOAT!! The views bring me back into a sense of normalcy and calmness. It’s f’ing June and it’s in the 50′s….seriously?!?!?!?
The trip is beautiful and as the minutes on the ferry go by I start to realize that things are going to slow down a bit. Relax, let things happen, accept “Island Time”. Ok! I work at a restaurant now that does an average of 150 covers per night. I have worked a few nights where it has been 350 and I have prepped a few days where it has been over 400. The change of pace was needed. I needed to feel the artistry of food again and focus on making great food instead of worrying about how many people came in through the door. Each dish is special and even if it’s just 1 then that dish is a work of culinary art…..this was my expectation for Allium. My expectations were met.
I arrived on the island, stopped at the house I was staying at then changed my clothes and walked to the restaurant. It was about a 1 1/2 mile walk but it wasn’t uncommon for me to walk to a restaurant/school/or other places. I like the walks, they help me focus and think about my next step in my career. It helps me slow down to 3MPH walking while my brain races at 100MPH.
If you have read my blog you have probably noticed that I like to walk around Seattle and just post information about new restaurants or places I have visited. It’s a fun way for me to see the city without having to worry about $20 parking. I kept that same thing in mind for Orcas Island and decided to walk around as much as I could.
One thing I wasn’t expecting was the smells and scenery. Deer don’t hang out in Seattle so once again, this trip was going to be different.
There isn’t tall grass and fields of wild flowers in Seattle.
Eric, you’re not in Seattle anymore. Welcome to Eastsound on Orcas Island.
This place doesn’t seem real. It’s an oasis, it’s a dream, it’s something, I don’t know yet but I’ll try to make sense of it somehow. Keep walking and go to the restaurant and don’t get distracted by the views!
I arrive at the restaurant. I walk in through the rear door and say meet Chef Anna for the first time and she guides me upstairs to me with Chef Nakamura. Chef Nakamura isn’t there but I get to see what she’s working on. Breaking down some high-quality chickens for the evening’s dinner service. Chicken coq au vin would be the destination for these chicken parts as well as a chicken stock for the carcasses. I can’t help but notice the view from her station on the line……it’s amazing.
Don’t stop there. Check out the patio for yourself.
I go back inside and I notice how clean and consistent each chicken carcass is. No meat left behind. Perfect for stock. This is art to me.
Chef steps in and says hello then directs me to the refrigerator next to the line that has pasta dough in it. She ask me, “do you know how to roll pasta?” I said, “well, I’ve done it once with a machine…”. She says, “ok, let me show you how to do it this way”. No machine, just a manual pasta roller to roll out the dough for her duck egg ravioli. She tells me it’s her best-seller so I feel like the pressure is on….. The amusing part is that she never acts like that, I just created the pressure on myself. It takes me a lot longer to cut press these pieces of pasta than I wanted to. Right off the bat I’m feeling like I’m wasting everyone’s time there but chef comes by and tells me that I’m doing a good job. Great, 9 orders of duck egg ravioli are finished.
I ask her about her source for duck eggs then she proceeds to tell me about the difference between Seattle and Orcas Island. It’s a small island and around 3,000 people live on it. During the summer months the population triples. The largest amount of people will be there for the 4th of July which is another week away. She tells me that when she started the restaurant she ran into a guy that sold duck eggs. He told her that if she wanted some she could find them in a cooler at a disclosed address. She was thinking big city style cooler but when she got there the cooler was nothing more than a beer cooler. Adjustments were made and now the duck eggs are part of a much larger order on a day to day basis….less than 1 mile away from the restaurant, very awesome.
Next, she pulls three boxes of mushrooms and tells me about how these mushrooms got to the island. She has a great relationship with the people from Kenmore Air. They bring her ingredients that she needs that she can’t get on the island. At that moment I start to realize how hard it would be to be in chef’s position. She has worked at these amazing restaurants like The French Laundry and The Herbfarm. They specialize in growing a lot of their own ingredients and sourcing local products, Chef Nakamura was doing the same thing but at a much faster pace. It took her less than a month to open the doors there and a short time after she had all her resources working for her and even got her liquor license in the State of Washington in under 6 weeks which is unheard of. She is setting the pace in more ways than one.
The mushrooms are cleaned and ready to go. I place them on chef’s station.
She begins to work her magic and makes filling for her ravioli. I’m done so she tells me to help out Chef Anne downstairs with her pastry/baking work. I portion out cookies for a VIP visitor and baste biscuits with buttermilk for the evening’s service. I have people at school that hate me (in a joking way) because I can work the bakery and pastry side along with the “regular” culinary side.
I find it amusing because my first experiences with cooking were baking…….those just add water, oil, and egg boxes of cakes were my first experience with bakery products. My sister and I would work on them together then I would find myself taking a spatula and working icing on the finished product. The best part? Licking the icing off the spoon. Those days are over now, I want big flames, fire, and high heat where I work but if no one is looking I want to see what the pastry chef is doing. They are the future of the culinary world (more on that in a separate post).
Chef Nakamura is completely different than the last time I saw her. The chef jacket is gone. I brought my black chef jacket with me in anticipation of wearing it to fit into the kitchen…..it would stay in my bag. Chef told me that she was done wearing a chef jacket. She wanted all the same things for her restaurant but didn’t feel like a formal chef jacket would accentuate or enhance the diners experience so she chose to go without them. Like she said to her servers later that evening, “I want to give my guests white tablecloth service without having white tablecloths.”
It’s just before dinner service and chef tells me that I need to go outside to view the deck again before the madness happens. I go outside and take the best picture of the trip, in my opinion.
The view from the deck is worth the price of admission but the food completely undermines the view. You’ll see what I’m talking about.
I talked a little with Chef Anne and she asked me why I came up to Orcas Island from Seattle and away to work there on a few days off for me. I told her it’s simple. This is the best chance I would get to see a new restaurant opening up from the ground up. In addition to that I would get to see a world-class chef personally serve every dish that came out of the restaurant.
I work in a restaurant right now where the focus is to get as many people in as possible. It’s true that every restaurant focuses on this but Chef Nakamura is a rockstar in the culinary world to me. French Laundry, The Herbfarm, etc……..working/eating here is like having your own personal chef cooking for you with a resume that would make any chef jealous. It’s amazing and I’m right in the middle of it….working with chef at her own restaurant.
Chef Anne walks up from her pastry/baking floor and the two chefs meet up for a crew meeting.
They talk about what’s going to happen that evening. They discuss specials, VIP guests, and changes to the menu. Everyone is locked in now, there’s no going back. Dinner service is minutes away from beginning.
At this point in time my job is to sit back and observe. There are employees that chef has hired that are being trained to work there full-time/part-time so they get full attention. This stagiaire is a little different for me because at this time I’m not pursuing a job at Allium, I’m just there to observe and hopefully line myself with a job later on with Chef Nakamura.
I sit back and watch. Chef Nakamura putting together her Half a Chicken: Coq Au Vin, Roasted Breast
This dish is a revelation for me. I love coq au vin…..chicken leg braised in wine and I also love an airline chicken breast sautéed but to put them together with an amazing sauce is just brilliant. This is the first dish I see at Allium….I’m amazed.
More tickets come in and I notice the way the tickets are held down. Very different than a typical kitchen where there is a stainless steel bar that holds tickets in place…..Chef Nakamura has chosen a lava rock to hold her tickets. There isn’t much space in the kitchen so I understand how this is a quick and efficient way for her to see what tickets she’s working on.
The night goes on. I watch, take notes, and start to remember the components of each dish. I won’t be needed this night but I get a chance to photograph the dishes as they pass by.
The Daily Gnocchi: the season’s best with a drizzle of white truffle oil and Oregon Bleu Cheese Brioche “Pizza” with Bacon Crumbles, Mango-Spring Onion Relish.
Barley Mis Marinated Alaskan Halibut with Ginger Risotto Cakes and Sugar Snap Peas and Painted Hills New York Strip Loin Steak with Yukon Gold Gratin, Black Dog Farms Braising Mix with Oregon Roquefort
Coriander-Crusted Wild King Salmon Filet with Black Dog Farm New Potato, and Elephant Garlic Confit, Braised Celery.
It was towards the middle of dinner service and chef told me that at 8:45 I needed to decide what I wanted to eat for dinner. I wanted to tell her that I wasn’t here for the food but I learned that when I’m in a chef’s domain I should just listen and follow so I chose the Halibut dish.
Absolutely amazing. Each component of the dish worked so well together. Perfectly seasoned, the fish was cooked with perfect. Dammit, the whole thing was perfect…..yes, perfect! I wasn’t just kissing ass, this dish showed a lot of things I lack…….restraint, execution, and perfect pairings across the entire dish along with a wine pairing that blew me away. This is amazing, I thought to myself…..how did I end up here…….how do I stay here…….what…..when….why…how……yes! This is the effect of great food. You feel happy, you question it, you appreciate it, then you try to break it down, you are lost, you are happy, you are full. This is great food.
Day 1 comes to a close with chef telling me that the next day is normally their day off but they have a banquet for the local Lion’s Club. They will cover their expenses and not make a profit in order for them to create exposure amongst the community on Orcas. This is a bold move for a new restaurant but with the guidance of Chef Nakamura it’s just another day at the office.
I am told that I will have a fun day on Orcas. I’ll hang out with Chef Anne and we will go to Black Dog Farms (one of their main sources for ingredients on the island) to tour the facilities. I walk home in the dark and sleep until the next morning in anticipation of the next day of cooking.
Day 2
Today I’ll be more involved in the kitchen work during service. The Lion’s Club is coming in for a private dinner with a set menu of the halibut or schicken coq au vin with accompanying dessert. Chef starts me off on breaking down the chickens. I don’t get enough practice doing this so the first few take me a little longer than I want but that’s ok, the point is to cut nice pieces because they’re going to be showcased for the dinner party.
This is my first encounter with the “one-butt line”. I’m used to a 7 butt line at work so this is a welcomed surprise. I get tired of all of the hustle and bustle sometimes so it’s nice to be able to be the only one that can physically fit in there……you have no choice!!! GO THE OTHER WAY I’M COOKING HERE!!!!
Chef Anne comes upstairs then whisks me away once I am done with the chicken in order to get some lunch at a local restaurant (I’ll write about it in a separate post….EAT THE STREET!) then we will go to Black Dog Farm to pick up the daily produce order.
The farm is about 2 miles away from the restaurant and it is one of the many farms available to Allium. Chef Lisa and Chef Anne have great relationships with the farmers and have some great stories about a few of their first encounters with Black Dog Farm….I would get into it but I’m not much of a storyteller.
The farm is open to the public and they do a great job displaying their own products that are for sale.
Our order is ready so we stuff everything into Chef Nakamura’s car (almost a one-butt car!).
We say hi to the farmers on the field then get back to the restaurant to prep for the private party.
When get back I start working on the peas we just picked up from the farm. Chef wants them cleaned and cut. Unfortunately, I end up taking a little too much off and I chef lets me know about it but not in a demeaning way….she just says, “I like to do it like this”, which is a subtle hint to do it like her next time……I’m just happy that chef says there will be a next time.
The crew moves towards completing the prep for dinner service. Tonight I will be working on the side of the line next to the oven which will house the saute pans with each dish that will be staged and ready to be served to each table. This isn’t a normal dinner party where 38 people come and they eat out of a buffet trough….no, this is not that kind of restaurant. Each dish will be plated individually with care and a pursuit of perfection.
It’s dinner time and chef starts to call out orders. The President’s table goes first then each table is served. A few people show up late and chef calls the orders to complete each table at the same time. It’s a balancing act that chef plays beautifully. I’m a little nervous but looking at the chaos that chef is controlling calms me down. 45 minutes and we’re done with dinner service. We take a few more late-comers then Chef Nakamura and Chef Anne prepare for dessert.
All 38 desserts are plated at the same time. It’s chef Anne’s angel food cake with strawberries from Blackdog farm.
38, all perfect and amazing. Service is over so we clean the kitchen. It’s a successful evening and I overhear one of the patrons tell Lisa, “you’re going to be rich”. Every item that has been served has a high level of execution that proves that Chef Lisa and crew know what they’re doing….they have been open for less than a month.
Day 3
The weather on this day is perfect. It’s my last day at Allium and I will be to see lunch service. In three days I have seen dinner, a banquet and lunch. The timing of my trip worked out perfectly. I’m a little sad that I have to leave but I start a new job at a new restaurant and oh yeah, that school thing too. I want to stay on Orcas!
Lunch service is relaxing to set up. We’re not expecting too many people so chef has me make a few different things then has me make some spaetzle. It’s going to go with the special of the day, goulash. I have made spaetzle in class before but the recipe we used was complex. Chef Lisa has me write down five ingredients and I make some pretty damn good spaetzle. I wrap it up and get it ready for lunch service.
It’s slow and chef asks me what I want to eat before I leave. I tell her that the goulash with that amazing spaetzle is my choice
It’s sooooooooooo good and once again I start trying to figure out if there is a way I can stay……how about? Ugh, fine, I have to leave.
I say goodbye to everyone at the kitchen and make my way to the ferry dock. I have learned a lot in three days. This is the way I want to learn how to cook in a restaurant. This food takes time to prepare. All of the ingredients are fresh and the level of execution on them is flawless. It’s going to take a lot of work to get there but I am confident I can achieve those goals.
Chef Nakamura and Chef Anne are living my dream right now. One day I’ll open up a restaurant and hope it will be half as successful as Allium on Orcas. Until then, the door is open for me to go back again and stagiaire. I cant wait to go back.
This past weekend Mindy and I were invited to attend the Mad Merlot event at the Tulalip Casino. It’s been a little while since I have visited the Tulalip…..the last time I was there the hotel was not built yet. It’s a whole new experience now! The restaurants sprinkled throughout the casino and then finally the hotel, which looks like a luxurious resort…..in my little Washington and not Las Vegas! I love going to Las Vegas so if I close my eyes on the drive up to the Tulalip then just walk in then I truly feel like I’m there…
“Eric, stop kissing up and talk about some wine!!!”
So I walked in and saw over 50 Washington wineries, food, and a stage for cooking demonstrations. “Eric, you’re not really good at painting pictures with your words…..don’t you have a video”. YES!
MVI_7250
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Lots of room to stumble around with red lips and teeth. It’s wine time!
My first visit was over to the Sparkman Cellars table. Like I have said many times, I’m a novice in the wine world so when I find something I like I tend to stick with it. Everything I tasted from Sparkman Cellars I have loved so I started there first. Mindy agreed it was pretty amazing.
Next up we visited the Otis Kenyon booth.
Yeah, this one goes on the “awesome wine time” list. Tons of flavor and a great stand alone wine. I’m trying to find great stand alone wines so I will force myself to drink wine instead of always turning to Mr. Captain or beer….plus, I feel kind of snobby when I drink wine and I’m not sure if that’s a bad thing.
I’m starving.
Indian grilled American lamb loin with apple, peach and apricot chutney and curry lavash
Heritage salmon over fire-roasted corn fritters
Spaghetti cake with Isernio’s (you’ll be seeing them later this month!) provolone and herb chicken sausage and roasted tomato-fennel sauce
Red beet and goat cheese with citrus and balsamic vinaigrette with micro greens.
Back to wine! We tried more wine and walked around for a bit longer. Here are a few other great Washington merlots that you should try out.
Great wine, great food, great location, and a great time hanging out with Mindy! Thanks again for inviting us!
Hallie the co-founder of this TEDxCLE talk sent me over this video to share with you. Michael Ruhlman, in my opinion, is one of the best if not the best food writers out there. He has written some of my favorite cookbooks (Ad Hoc, A Return to Cooking, French Laundry, The Soul of a Chef, and the amazing list goes on) and books having to deal with the world of cooking (you have seen a few on here and there are a lot more on the way, just need to focus and read!).
When Michael Ruhlman writes, I read. When he speaks, I listen. When he’s in a video, I watch. His message is simple, you need to cook more….we all do, as a society. No more excuses for not having time or being too busy. Just cook something, get the aroma of food flowing through your home, be proud of your meal, your family, and the time you spend together. If it doesn’t turn out then order some pizza or kill it with a bunch of hot sauce, the fact is that cooking does amazing things for anyone who is willing to take the time to do it. I believe it, I live it, and it’s nice to have someone like Michael Ruhlman to put it into to better words than I can. Cook more!
Thanks again to Hallie F. Bram and Eric Kogelschatz for founding this TED talk in Cleveland. Mr. Ruhlman,if you’re out there, thanks for being an inspiration while I cook a lot!
I was invited to do a cooking demonstration at the Queen Anne Farmers Market on August 5th. I think you should be there too! What am I going to cook? I don’t know, that’s where you come into play. Help me think of something fun to cook during the demonstration. I have two hours to cook it so I’ll probably end up cooking 10 things …….all you have to do is give me a few ideas then please show up and rally me on while I cook live! It’s free to attend so I think you should come out to Queen Anne and check it out.
I don’t ask you for much but it would really be cool if you could attend this event. After party at my house???? It’s August, it should be nice…..I’ll grill something!!!!!
I attended a wine tasting for the International Society of Africans in Wine the other day arranged by master coordinator Keren Brown. She read my little wine rant and decided to show me the light…..the red, white, and sometimes sparkling light (oh man, I’m on fire!).
Cheri Walters, a sommelier, was there to explain a few things about wine and then Keren pointed out that the only reason I use wine is to deglaze food or cook with……awkward!!!! Cheri decided to break it down for me without being snobby and without looking at me like I’m a fool with no class. Hey, sometimes I drink beer in a glass!
I filmed a three part video of her explaining the basics of wine and why people move the glass around before they drink it. I always thought it looked really pretentious but there is a reason behind it!
Watch all three…..IN HD (if you have a fast internet connection and computer)!!!!!
And you get to find out my favorite drink here……haha
So there you have it…..the basics. Another thing I want to find out is why it’s ok to spit out wine when you’re “tasting” it. Even if it’s bad it still has a desired effect….those crazy legs! I’ll save that for another time.
I suggest you check out the event that is being thrown on April 25th which supports these African wines. The benefit and the wines help Africans go to school to learn about wine and it also helps them run their own vineyard. South Africa is a great place to grow wine because it has the Antarctic air that helps keep a nice balance between hot and cold which gives you and I a great bottle o’ wine.
African wines you can buy?
Seven Sisters-Chenin Blanc
M’Hudi Sauvignon Blanc
Seven Sisters Pinotage/Shiraz- my favorite of the evening.
I have a wine class next quarter so I decided I would start studying a little early and by studying I mean drinking……weeeeeeeeee!!!!!!! I’m still having a hard time understanding this whole wine thing so I have decided to immerse myself in the world o’ wine. It tastes fine to me but I don’t understand how people devote blogs, b.s., and incessant blabber about it.
(Cafe Campagne- Lamb Merguez Sausage with Chickpea Puree and Herbs)
Yes, I get it, you opened a bottle of wine and it’s ok but not great but does that qualify you as someone more important than the next person that hasn’t had it? You have a nice collection of wine, congrats, but why are ruining that steak with A1? Oh wow, you “discovered” a new winery or found a wine that nobody else can get their hands on anymore……Eric pats you on the head and says, “awwww, how cute…you’re excited about something that you have no direct link to”.
(Copperleaf Restaurant- Smoked Salmon “Tartine” with Mandarin Orange Creme Fraiche)
I like wine, I just don’t like what the world of wine has become. The people I have met have taken too much credit for their wine prowess. Eric, taste this, it’s amazing!!! Uhhh, ok…… See, I’m just tired of hearing everyone’s opinions about wine. I want to learn for myself!!! Mindy and I had dinner at a restaurant a few months back and we had a wine paired with dinner. The sommelier went on and on about how the wine would bring out the notes of this or that food that we ate and then she tasted it and said, “this makes the nice fish taste fishy, I don’t like it.” Somehow the wine just didn’t work, no big deal but the sommelier looked at her like she was out of her mind. This is my problem with the wine world. I like your suggestion but if it doesn’t work don’t get pissed off or give me weird looks……you didn’t make the wine!! All you did was open the bottle.
(Tulalip Bay Fine Dining- Asian BBQ Pork Slider with Cucumber Kimchee)
There are exceptions to this whole wine world when it is done right. The Herbfarm, Waterfront Grill, and Spring Hill nail this wine thing from my very few experiences dining out with wine in mind. They let the food do the talking then sweep in with a nice wine to accompany it. They treat it like an enhancer to the meal and not the end all says all. They don’t hide behind an impressive wine collection….
I want to figure out how to do this on my own so off to the Food and Wine Experience I went, with a few friends of course. We sampled wines, food, beer, and I made a pretty nice list of wines I will be trying again. You will see them here, on this very blog. If they don’t taste the way I remember then off to “deglazing world” they go! Muah hahahahahahah!
Sorry about the little rant. I’m just a little tired of seeing a million wine blogs talk about the same stuff over and over again. “I just opened a bottle of _____ and it was ________.” “Here is a lovely bottle of _____ and it has lovely notes of ____, _____, _____, and _____”. Talk about something when you actually do something.
My goal with wine is to find wines that are easy to drink, not pretentious, and tell a story that is fun to listen to. Wait until you see what I have in store for you wine snobs!
This is a cooking blog, if you’re offended then google “wine blog” and go find a home there.
I received an e-mail from an online friend of mine, Traca Savadogo a.k.a. Seattle Tall Poppy. She asked me if I was free to attend a private party featuring Andrea Nguyen, writer of Asian Dumplings (above) and multiple award winning cookbook “Into the Vietnamese Kitchen”.
I didn’t hesitate, I said yes and made a mad scramble to Square One Books in West Seattle to see if they could order the Asian Dumplings book (I wanted a clean signed copy!). Square one hooked it up without any problems and later that day I was ready to meet the master!
Hold on….not so fast…..there was a little pre-funk action before Andrea showed up. Quynh from nha22.com made some food from Andrea’s “Into the Vietnamese Kitchen” book and it was flawless.
Take some of these little seafood cups (they pop and crackle when they are moist…coolest thing ever)
Add some amazing seafood action or have a short rib or twelve
Put it all together and now you start to see why I raced over as fast as I could to meet Andrea.
Quynh also did all of the food shopping for the night and she gave us all great information on where to buy ingredients to pull off Andrea’s food (more on that later).
Eating a bunch of great food and then Traca arrives with these little amazing appetizer/drinks/pieces of perfection. Sake Jello Shots over Cucumber with Candied Ginger
Traca asked me to put the ginger on top and I employed my mom’s theory on food, “uno para ti, uno para mi (one for you and one for me)”. They were great but I knew they were pretty strong and I didn’t want to drool on Andrea so I ate a couple then moved on.
Andrea is amazing and super nice. I introduced myself while keeping calm….actually I was n 300MPH mode and was incredibly excited to meet her….hopefully I didn’t scare her (big fan over here!).
She got down to business and started showing us how to make dumplings. I have never made dumplings because I always found them to be intimidating. After reading Andrea’s new book and getting a personal demonstration I know I’ll be making these in my sleep! She gave us a few tips which I will include towards the end of the post for you. I think the one thing that I took away from the evening is that it’s all about repetition. Hmmmm, I’ve heard that a thousand times since entering the culinary world. Andrea talked about making hundreds of dumplings all over the world and she was still excited to make them; it was great to see that.
Here is a quick video and some tips on making her favorite shape………in HD!!
Andrea Nguyen
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Here are a few pictures of the finished products.
It’s pretty amazing to see what can be done when someone has truly mastered their craft. Andrea is amazing. I would like to thank her as well as Traca and Kathy for hosting this event. I would also like to thank all the other people there that I had the pleasure of meeting.
Tips from Andrea:
“When making a filling you want it to stick together so when it cooks it doesn’t break the wrapping”. She suggests adding a touch of cornstarch in order to help bind the ingredients.
She recommends Hong Kong style wraps and thin wonton wraps. In her book she offers recipes to make your own, that is always the best route.
Use a chopstick to fill the wontons, this will make it easier when you are doing larger volumes.
Here are a few places in the Seattle area where you can buy supplies to make your own Asian Dumplings:
(Yeah, how about no….)
