Narcissism pt. 2

" The best way of fulfilling your own interest is to take care of others" - His Holiness The Dalai Lama

In my last post, The joy of narcissism, I touched on the happiness and warm fuzzys I receive when I am able to make people feel good through cooking but today I was able to be a part of something, that even though I didn't realize it at the time, multiplied that feeling tenfold.

At first when I was asked to give a demo/lecture on using marinades and seasoning blends to survivors of mouth and throat cancer, I was hesitant . Having had my mother go through the pain and problems associated with esophageal cancer, I really didn't want to bring up some of those memories.

As the lecture was only to be 30 minutes I agreed to do it and I am extremely glad I did. Having the survivors ask me questions on how to prepare food that they can not only swallow but enjoy, and then seeing their eyes light up when I was able to share my knowledge and skill to give them answers and ideas that will help improve their quality of life was, to quote the commercial, priceless.

I think helping these survivors not only made me feel a sense of well being, but I believe it also helped me understand to some extent what mom was going through and that gives me a sense of inner peace.

O.k. enough of the philosophical mumbo jumbo for a while. I promise my next post will be more food based
and less introspective.

Until next time, enjoy life.

The joy of narcissism

Ok I admit it - I am a narcissist. In my line of work you have to be. Not in a cocky, I am the best-the rest of you are shit kinda way but in the food service / hospitality sector you need to derive a certain self satisfaction from seeing the delight and gathering the praise from your customer.

In the past two weeks I have received a couple of compliments that, to me, were as good as winning any competition or monetary compensation.

Last Saturday I was asked to cater a wedding for some friends of ours that just going to be a buffet style menu for the couple, their respective families and a few friends. The menu was simple, roast pork loin, rosemary garlic potatoes, fresh green beans, salad and bread - a meal I can do in my sleep ( and probably have back in my hotel days). The meal went well and the bride and groom were both happy, I believe the groom went up to the buffet 3 times, but the highlight of the night was when the mother and father of the bride came up to tell me how good it was and the dad said " I don't know how you can make a dead pig taste so good"! Man, that is one of the best compliments I can remember.

The other event happened this Friday. My daughter's swim team was hosting the true team swim meet on Saturday ( they took third - way to go ladies!), and the tradition is that the captain's parents hold a pasta dinner the night before. Again the menu was very simple - tortellini, Alfredo and marinara sauces, Caesar salad and garlic bread - no biggie, but watching the girls eat and listening to them have fun really made me feel good.

Being a little narcissistic is not always a bad thing especially if you are getting self satisfaction from causing joy.

" Inner peace comes from taking other's interests to heart" - His Holiness, The Dali Lama

boom chicka boom boom

this my brain on smoke!

I have been racking (racking -ribs - get it?) my brain trying to come up with an insightful, relevant, and entertaining topic for the latest installment of chef's musings but as it is late and the weather outside is really starting to tick me off(possibly snow by Saturday), I am not feeling very insightful, relevant, or entertaining.

So my fallback is to post gratuitous food porn pictures of dishes I made this year- cue the cheesy  music.

Oh.. and If you like these, there are more over on my Instagram page. Follow me @ prus613!

photo by Samantha Ruszat

photo by Samantha Ruszat

photo by Samantha Ruszat

Ok so not a dish I made, but really good pie . photo by Michelle Ruszat

Bottle of wine

Most bistros, restaurants, etc... have a really crappy off brand red or white that they call a "house" wine. Why do people buy these? These wines are most likely stored in the refrigerator or worse on the bar back in a bottle that was opened sometime during the Clinton administration and in the worst case scenario are actually a couple of different opened bottles mixed together( trust me, I have seen it happen). Do yourself a favor spend a couple bucks more and buy a decent glass to compliment your meal. Unless, of course, your goal is to get really plastered  and throw up in technicolor purple then by all means get the crap.

That being said, I am not anti-cheap wine or a snob by any means. Currently my favorite red wine, our "house" wine if you will, is a red blend with a Zinfandel base wine by Apothic aptly called Apothic Red. I have tried many wines in the 30$ and higher but I can honestly tell you that this 8$ wine has many of the same qualities at 1/3 of the price and it pairs well with food, which really is the point. Isn't it?

Our favorite white right now is not a brand but from a region. We have been drinking Vouvray wines  from France. Vouvray whites are made from the chenin blanc grapes and to me are a good example of the concept of terrior, which in a nutshell means grapes grown in a certain area are going to make a wine that is unique to that area. We have tried chenin blanc from South Africa, California, and Australia, but none of them taste quite like the Vouvray.

So now it's your turn. What is you house wine?  Not a wine drinker? What's your go to beer(Guinness for me). Leave a comment, I am always looking for a new wine at a good price.

and now for your listening pleasure......

Iron chef-fing it after the farmers market

As a chef I love this time of year in Minnesota! We have a local market for just about every day of the week and granted , earlier in the growing season they are all pretty much the same, but right now the fields and gardens are exploding and you can find something different very day.
Saturday morning I went to one of the oldest and best in the area and in tomato nirvana. There were hybrids and heirlooms of all shapes, sizes, and colors. I opted for for a pint of romas and a pint of yellow plums.
I also picked up a nice box of small Yukon Gold potatoes.




As I was driving my delicious bounty home I thought " Great, now you got it, whatcha gonna do with it ?"
Ok now think... obviously since I bought sauce tomatoes I need to make sauce(brilliant, I know). However since I have two types of tomatoes, I will need to make two sauces----
1) farmers market tomato sauce -
1lb fresh, ripe Roma tomatoes
with a small knife, make an "X" on the top of the tomatoes and put them in boiling water for about 45 seconds. remove with a tongs or slotted spoon and plunge(or place - but plunge is more dramatic-BAM) into ice water and let sit another 30 seconds or so. This is done so you can easily remove the skin. now remove the skin and either run the tomatoes through a food mill or pulse them in a processor.
2 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic smashed
whatever fresh or dried herbs you like - basil, oregano, thyme .... just remember to taste and if you use dried use 1/3 less
heat the oil, saute the garlic, add the tomatoes and herbs, let simmer until it thickens up the add another Tbs of olive oil and keep warm
2) yellow tomato basil sauce -
do the same skin thing with the you did with the yellow as you did with the red - heck do it at the same time and save time
* if you so desire remove the seed goo before grinding up the tomatoes - I don't desire so I don't do*
2 Tbs olive oil
3Tbs prepared basil pesto (fresh or jar)
heat the oil add the tomatoes and pesto simmer until slightly thickened, add 1 Tbs olive oil and keep warm

So I have two sauces - now what? on top of potatoes? ain't that a little avaunt garde?
nope this is where my Polish, Irish, Lithuanian roots meet my "I wish I had some Italian" roots.
Gnocchi, potato dumplings, kluske, what ever you want to call them - the are light and fluffy and delicious with tomato sauce.
 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
3/4 cup flour
2 eggs

Boil the potatoes until soft, drain and as soon as you can touch them without burning your hand - peel them.
Now,run the potatoes through a potato ricer right onto a large cutting board or cookie pan. spread them gently and let them cool slightly. Sprinkle half the flour over the potatoes and push the whole mess into a pile and make a well in the middle - kind of like a volcano. crack the eggs into the middle and use a fork to mix the eggs into the potato/flour mixture. Start kneading the dough with your hands , adding flour as needed, until you have a soft, silky, light dough roll into a ball. Cut the ball into quarters and roll one piece at a time into a snake about 3/4 inch in diameter. Cut the snake into smaller pieces about an inch long. Now using a fork or gnocchi board, roll the tines of the fork over the dumpling to give it some grooves or roll it on the gnocchi board .

Once you get all the dough made into dumplings, place them on a cookie sheet, sprinkle them with a little flour and cover them with a towel. Let the dumplings rest while you get a big pot of water add some salt and bring to a boil. Add the gnocchi to the boiling water and let them cook until they float. Now you can either put them on a cookie pan and toss with a little oil and put in the fridge until ready to use, or better yet get a pan put some of your sauce in the pan, add some of the gnocchi, heat until everything is hot put on a plate and top with some Grana Pandano  or Parmesan cheese and eat!

this is the Farmers Market tomato sauce above

and below is the yellow plum tomato and pesto

Enjoy the food and enjoy your local markets!



Happy Birthday Julia!

Tomorrow would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday so for all of you who grew up watching her and were inspired to join the culinary brigade and all of you from a newer generation that discovered the wit and charm of Julia through the movies, join me and raise a glass of champagne(properly chilled of course) to toast America's true top chef on her birthday. Salut, Julia!
Watch "Julia Child Remixed | Keep On Cooking | PBS Digital Studios" on YouTube

Make no mis-steak

I admit it. Hello my name is Paul and I am a meat-aholic. I love meat, plain and simple. Beef, lamb, chicken and above all pork.
We have a freezer full of dead animal parts that are waiting to be devoured, but every now and then I will find a deal that is just too good to pass up. Case in point, earlier this week I found a thick cut porterhouse that was looking way too sexy to pass up at 7.48/lb.



If you have read my blog in the past, you may have picked up on the fact that I perfer to let the food speak for itself and season only to compliment/enhance the natural flavors.

Here then is my favorite preparation for any grilled steak in quick form--
hot grill
room temperature meat
a little olive oil brushed on with fresh rosemary both sides
a couple grinds of fresh pepper - medium course grind
just a touch of sea salt- not much because you will be adding more salt later.
one lemon cut in half and cut ends dipped in olive oil

throw the steak and lemons(cut ends down) on the grill put your rosemary on the steak as it grills
cook to SLIGHTLY LESS than desired doneness and place on a plate or cutting board. gently squeeze the lemon on the meat add a few more grains of salt and let rest for 10-15 minutes.
eat.

red wine, bread, some potatoes and a salad and you my friend have a meal fit for royalty. non vegan royalty.

Thoughts on hospitality and service with help from singing utensils

Hospitality - according to Dictionary.com

"The friendly reception and treatment of guests and strangers."

"The quality or disposition of receiving and treating of guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, generous way."

As I was looking for background information about hospitality and service as it relates to the service industries(restaurants, lodging, retail, etc...), I came across many, many quotes that while inspirational, funny, or motivational, just didn't click with what I wanted to say.

quick aside - my two favorites were

Steven Wright- " I went to a restaurant that said breakfast anytime, so I ordered French toast during the Renaissance"

and

unattributed -" In the real world there is yes and no, in the service world there is yes and may I suggest something else?"

Then I remembered a clip from the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast, where Belle finally comes down to the dining room and most of the servants are so excited to be serving again that they risk the ire of the Beast just for the chance to give Belle a dining experience.

Those of you in the industry- Are you a Lumiere or a Cogsworth? Hopefully you are a candlestick and can make your customer's day a little brighter.

Julie and Julia's Big Night eating Ratatouille with Martha and Babette

Last night my beautiful wife Deb and I had a date night. Dinner at Jule's Bistro and a movie at home with a bottle of Vouvray. The movie we watched (on VHS) was one of, if not THE best food movie ever made - Babette's Feast.

For those of you that haven't seen this masterpiece, do yourself a favor and watch it. I have the tape luckily because DVD versions are going for over 50$ on Amazon and eBay! Netflix does have it (or at least did yesterday so it could be gone now).

After the movie I started thinking " What are my favorite food movies?" so without further ado--

Babette's feast

Big Night - Stanley Tucci and Tony Shaloub as Italian immigrants trying to make a go of it with a small restaurant.
The dinner scene at the end rivals or maybe even surpasses that of Babette's. The sound track is awesome

Mostly Martha/Bella Martha - a great German film about a self-absorbed chef whose life is turned upside down with the arrival of her niece. If this sounds eerily similar to the Catherine Zeta-Jones/Aaron Eckhart film "No Reservations" that's because not only did they rip off Anthony Bourdain's title, they also made a mediocre remake of a great film.

Ratatouille - yeah, yeah I know..... But the fact is, it was a great food movie, except for the whole rats in the kitchen thing( at least they washed their hands).

Julie and Julia - this is only half a movie for me but the Julia scenes with Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci (again) are great! Julie scenes --not so much.

Dinner Rush - Gangsters and food - c'mon fuggetaboudit. Great movie about a trendy trattoria in New York. Anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant will definitely recognize many of the workers and customers.

and finally... The Godfather...." Leave the gun, take the cannolis " and who could forget the restaurant scene at Louie's in the Bronx? Also it is the best movie ever made, period. (even though some people's father just doesn't understand ).

If anyone knows of another food/restaurant movie that I should see, please feel free to leave a comment!

Summer is just peachy to me

It's summer and it is as sweet as a white Georgia peach

seriously, to call
those slimy yellow things from a can a peach should be a crime against nature and cause for excommunication

Until later, eat well and enjoy the summer.

funny thing happened at the ballpark.......

So in my last blog I waxed poetic on the virtues of the the greastest sandwich at any ballpark which just happened to be be named after, in my opinion, the greatest Minnesota Twin of all time - Tony Oliva.
Call it fate, call it karma, call it manifesting my own destiny but a cool, crazy thing happened today during my latest visit to Target field.
My daughter Michelle (  www.justachefsdaughter.blogspot.com )  got off the train, went up the escalator grabed a couple Surly's, an IPA and a Saison, and headed over to the Tony Oliva Cuban sandwich stand, got our sandwiches, headed over to the condiment kiosk to get a little more more mustard and there he was in all his "outta be in the Hall of Fame glory" Senor Tony !!!!

The best sandwich at any ballpark

First of all I must, admit I have not been to every ballpark in the world but honestly, I don't need to, this sandwich is this good!!!!!

What!?!?  have you lost your mind?!?! How can you make such claims!?!?!?!

Chill out Guido it's just a great sandwich , I wasn't expecting a kind of Spanish Inquisition!

What is this sandwich? Drumroll please..........
It is the Tony Oliva Cuban

available just inside gate 34 of Target Field lurks roast pork and ham topped with swiss cheese, sliced pickles, and mustard in a crusty bread that is pressed panini style until the cheese goozes into the crevices in the roasted pork. Oh My God !!!!!

one last tip for the novice ballpark eater....

the sausage may cost 7 bucks but the condiments are free!



Musing in Chicago

Last week I happened to be in Chicago for training and having the evenings free to wander around(on foot) I of course decided that food would be a good way to pass the time. Here are a a few pics and my impressions of a few of them.

Sunday Night I was on my own and hungry for a deep dish Chicago - style pizza and as I was staying downtown in the Streeterville section I figured there was a good chance I would be able to find one.

*Travel tip #1* In an unfamilar city? make friends with a couple people - front desk,

bellstaff, and housekeeping. They best can be your best resource and make your trip more pleasant.

So I asked the front desk guy, who had an uncanny resemblance to Twins centerfielder Denard Span, where to go. His answer? Girodano's. He said it was his favorite, it was within walking distance, and he had a 20% off coupon.

Off to Superior street I go to order the house supreme( as recomended by Denard Span's doppelganger), which brings us to
*Travel Tip # 2 - if you are a single diner most places will let you sit at the bar and order off the full menu even without a reservation.

anyhoo..... I ordered the small supreme as it was to feed 1-3 people (yeah right).

1 small salad -ruffage is very, very, important - 2 goose island lagers - gotta stay hydrated- and 2 slices(slabs) of pizza later I am barely able to make the 4 block walk back to the hotel but when I did I did offer my take away to Denard and his co-workers which they gladly accepted.(see tip #1)

Pizza Notes  - crust nice flavor, corn meal texture - sauce a little bland, good slightly thick consistancy- fillings spicy sausage, peppers, onions delicious - and geezy was it cheesy. Well worth the 30 minute wait the pizza takes to bake.

Day 2 - The Weber Grill

As a "tourist-y" destination restaurant there were a lot of choices steaks, burgers, seafood, etc... I opted for the 3 meat grilled platter with sausage, brisket, and a house specialty grilled meatloaf with bbq beans and a bleu cheese, pecan cole slaw.

The meal was served with a really thick, sweet, bbq sauce, pretzel rolls with honey and cheddar cheese butters and I ordered a Weber Grill Backyard Ale ( again for hydration sake)

The meal was above average with the meatloaf being the star.

*Travel tip #3* If a restaurant denotes something as a house specialty they probably make it well and it is a fair bet that it will be good.

Tuesday- I was really looking forward to try a place called Coco Pazzo that I had read and heard about. It is a place similar to what I would love to run - higher end but still casual with the food being the main event , good wine good service. unfortuneately, Coco Pazzo was a little farther than we wanted to walk after a long day of training and as there were seven of us that wanted to eat together we really didn't want to coordinate cabs. Luckily for us the Coco Pazzo Cafe was 2 blocks from our hotel.

As I said, there were seven of us and we had not made a reservaton.

*Travel tip #4* If you have a group and no reservation, go early. If you don't mind eating around 6 pm, many places will seat you to fill in the "dead spaces" before the dinner crowd starts coming in.

My dinner for the evening was a rabbit ragu on fresh papardelli pasta which was really good and not a sauce I would usually ma.ke at home

And for dessert a semi- freddo made with cocoa and hazelnut with creme Anglaise

nothing more need be said.

On the last night our group of merry mucnchers decided to try another iconic Chicago pizza place just down the street from Girdano's  called Gino's east(not sure if there is a north, south, and west).

This time there were six of us so the occasion called for two pizza a sausae supreme and pepperoni.

as you can see the Gino's pie is a lot sloppier than the Girdano's and while Girdano's crust was much more flavorful the sauce on the Gino's was a nearly heavenly experience. Seriously if I were thrown in a vat of this stuff I would try to eat my way out and die a happy man if I couldn't make it. It was that good.

All in all I gotta agree with The Chairman of the Board when he sings " My kinds town Chicago is"  

One last tip --

* Traveler's tip #5- Many local places will open outposts in the airport and the best of these in Chicago's Midway airport is Manny's beef. I don't have a picture but  I do have memories of the corned bef on rye with mustard! 





We are the Champions!

This installment of A chef's musings will be a bit  of a departure from my normal fare.
Last weekend I had the honor and privilege to be part of a history making event, the inaugural Grill Fest in downtown Minneapolis sponsored by Minnesota Monthly magazine.


My good friends Kristy and Jon Bialk are the owners of Willingham's BBQ  and asked yours truly to be part of their team for the weekend.


 Please visit them at www.willinghamsbbq.com.

Although I was unable to attend on Saturday due to a previous engagement, the team presented the judging panel with a take on the BBQ classic plate of pork, beans and slaw by putting in a tortilla and inventing Tennessee tacos which was received so well that they won the day and were advanced to the championship round on Sunday. On Sunday Chef Eric Simpson from Hazeltine National Golf Course, Jon Bialk, Jim Dehnke, and myself prepared to do battle with the remaining team and the elements as it turned COLD(at times we were able to see our breath). Our meat for the day was, once again, pork tenderloin. Not a team to rest on our laurels, Chef Eric suggested a revamp of Saturdays offering by giving it an Asian twist, so with the addition of rice seasoned with Willingham's W'ham seasoning, we presented Memphis Mu Shu in a Chinese take out container.





Apparently the combination was good enough as the judges voted us Grand Champions!

Ladies and Gentlemen the 2012 Minnesota Monthly Grill Fest Grand champions !

more fun with fire bricks on the grill

So this weekend we celebrated Mother's Day on the grill with kabobs, and shrimp and as I was trying to find inspiration I perused thought Mario Batali's Italian Grill cookbook and I came across several recipes that were prepared Alla Piastra. Which according to Batali is a popular method in Friuli and along the Adriatic coast of Italy. Basically this means cooking on a flat griddle over a fire, in Greece it's a metal sheet called a Satz, and in Spain its called cooking ala plancha.
I started thinking to myself, I said self, you cook pizzas, bread, and all manners of flatbreads on the firebricks in your grill, why not cook the shrimp alla piastra ? So that's what I did.





O.k. so not the greatest photo but I had a hungry mother-in-law waiting for food !

The recipe was quick and easy and delicious
Put your firebricks on the grill and crank that sucker up! Let it get hot while you are doing the marinade.
1 lb raw shrimp(16-20 count) peeled, deveined, and butterflied
( if you don't know what that means, shame on you, look it up)

1/4 cup olive oil

the juice and zest of one orange ( I actually used a tangelo as that is what I had)

 1 tblsp each of fresh chopped parsley, mint, and basil

 1 clove garlic - smushed
 2 twists of fresh ground pepper
 put every thing in a large ziploc bag, seal, and shake the blazing bejeezus out of it to mix it all up, unseal the ziploc and squeeze out the air, reseal. let sit for 20 minutes.

 Take the shrimp out of the bag and throw them on the firebrick( throw away the marinade) cook them until they just turn pink, pull'em off and eat them By the way, turn the firebricks on the side and they make a great stand for kabobs - see below