Thee Southern Reuben

Just for the sake of my own sake, I brought the "Kraut" up to a boil (and also to tenderize it a bit more, nest time I will julienne) then wrapped it hot to let steep and mature.

After thinking on the drive in today about what would be an appropriate use for this new staple, I was kinda thinking Sauerbrauten and Kraut, but man I love a good Reuben.

So, the thought process starts. One thing I will miss about working at Seabrook was the time to think during that 45 minute drive down a beautiful moss shadowed drive, time to to really zone out and let your mind wonder to far off places or ask yourself questions to try and answer.

Like: What would make up a new type of Reuben? A southern Reuben?

I think I nailed it. The protein was the hardest thing to come up with. At first I was thinking a pounded flat piece of fried chicken, but then I started thinking about how much pork there is in southern cooking. So, the question started to become answered. Collard Kraut, Lowcountry Island Dressing (a concoction to be divulged later on), Roasted Pork Butt and Pimento Cheese!

The only thing missing from this version is a Cornbread like pullman loaf bread that will come later. I used swirled rye for this practice round. The rye adds a familiar Reuben flavor.

Poor man's pudding

Trying to quickly read a post in the NY Times, a little side note was on the page that said something in a different language that according to the Times website (I was going to put link here...but what do you know? It won't work!)
Meant: Unemployed Pudding. It was a dish from Canada.
It said: Biscuits, cream and sugar. At least, that's what I was left with in my head. So... I did just that, the way I pictured it along with some cinnamon and maple syrup.

In the oven for 35 minutes and it smelled great. It was still kinda dry surprisingly. Many thoughts come back to it and what could make it better.
Maybe not even bake the cream with it, maybe pour the cream on afterward and let it sit. Or, bake it with milk and then let it sit in fridge for a couple hours to homogenize into a milky dense sweet mass?
Hmmm...there's still something good here. Not over the top skill required, but a quick fix for something sweet, rich and familiar. I mean, a little fruit on the bottom and you have a pretty familiar dessert.

BBQ Consomme

I just really like doing the gelatin clarification thing.

I think Ranch and Buffalo will be down the road.

Collard Kraut

I'm from PA. I love Sauerkraut.
My home is SC. I love Collard Greens.








It's only natural.
Salt, Sugar, Worcestershire, Hot Sauce, Red Wine Vinegar, Garlic, Onions......


Time.

We'll see how long everyone can take the smell.

Taking stock/Corn nuts: what not to do.

Days like today.
I've been working at the same place for a year now. Tomorrow will be my anniversary actually. During this time: I've contributed very little to this Blog of mine, I've read very little, I've created even less, I've taken pictures of what I like to think I had something to do with, I stopped carrying my camera with me so much..., then it broke.
In the past year I left Pennsylvania on an unexpected wave of opportunity. I quit a job in the middle of: cold as shit, one traffic light town, and headed back to what I feel is now my home and f*&%ing sank!


Bitter is the taste of so many things we ingest daily. Coffee, tea, citrus,....
I had in my head that I would be moving forward. I would be sacrificing a couple years in the north in order to get my personal finances straightened out and then come back. I guess that worked....for the most part.
I thought I would be partaking in this job for, the most, four months. Then, I would be steering the wheel of my my own ship. Sailing towards "Rich Land". No, I wasn't that stupid. I did, think I'd have my own restaurant by now though.

I guess.......sometimes, when you have a simple idea in your head of how something should turn out....you glaze over the in between parts.
The in between has been shit. Maybe I haven't done enough to make things happen. But, I don't know what to do in reality! I know what I want to happen and what the outcome to be, but I really have no way to make those thoughts and dreams be forced on to a bank statement right now.

Here I am, a full year later.
I have a job. I have a good income. The country around me is not fairing as well. The state I live in could digest me and poop me out, and put me on the list of unemployed.
My simple idea of how to turn hominy in to corn nuts.......didn't work. So what.

Where do you bury hundreds of thousands of bodies?
Haiti has it worse. There's nothing in my life that will ever compare to what anyone still alive on Haiti is facing.
There are times when you can (very easily) put your life into perspective. This is one of those times. Nothing that has ever happen to you is as bad as what they are going through.

This is a time to give thanks. And hope.
And help.

Starting Early

So far: Basil, Rosemary, Thyme, Cubanelles, Banana Peppers, and Cilantro.

Christmas Duck

I kinda messed up the whole drying process. Somehow, while placing in the brine still a little frozen, I missed the fact that the duck hadn't been eviscerated. So, after hanging and drying, I then had to gut and rinse out the cavity.

After a little mixing of flavors and rubbing under the skin....

Donald came out pretty damn tasty.

New Camera!

It's about time, I've been going crazy taking crappy pictures with my phone.

This one's pretty awesome so far and I'm not even sure what all it can do yet.

It has some sweet features on it, like 10 frames per second if needed, HD Video and a bunch of other stuff.

Carrie got it for me and I can't wait to take some pictures.

Here's some:

This guys been hanging for a bit in front of the fan. Soon to go into the oven.

Christmas diner like in the "Christmas Story"

This guy is currently soaking in some lovely star anise and cinnamon brine.

$15 from H&L Asian Market in North Chuck. That place is amazing.

Early Christmas

My brother gave me this.

Bourbon is just "one of those things".

I remember hearing in a movie "a man knows what to order when you walks up to a bar" "There's no hmm hawin or ordering something complicated or fruity, a man walks up to a bar and orders a man drink."

I like and I appreciate bourbon, I usually go for the cheaper Jim Beam but I do that because I like the flavor.

This Evan Williams is so smooth though.

Dale's Pale Ale

Yes it's in a can.

I think there's something missed about cans. I freakin love a Pepsi or a Dr. P in a can. Ice colder! For some golf tournament at Kiawah when I was there they ordered about a thousand cases of...water in a can. Ech right?

NO! Delish! Cold! We had buckets of ice water packed with cans of water all summer. Imagine the mightiest of thirst quenched by shot gunning a can of ice water.

Dale's is the same way. It's a better Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and it's in a can. Super hopped from Colorado.

I really can't think of any other beers that might come out of Colorado that might be in a can..... hmmm........nope, nothing. At least nothing anywhere near this type of quality. The can is good. The can is good.

Missed Maybe?

Just found a bunch of older pictures on my girlfriends laptop. I think the mess of having digital cameras that come and go over the years have caused this.
But, this picture reminded me of what I'm not creating right now. I don't really remember what this dish is...but, I'm gonna guess at what I wish it was now. I'm thinking it's a specially seasoned venison leg loin over a chili braised beef and corn stew, masa and savory seasoning braised waffles, with a sauce of Mexican chocolate, natural jus and maple.

It looks like something I'd like to be selling today. Sadly, anything without mashed potatoes is hard to sell right now.

I hate feeling stuck and I hate not being able to create, and man I hate this recession.

Peach roasted chicken

Ice Man

Banana Guacamole

Seared Scallops, Truffled Sweet Potato Puree, Red Hots Pear Crisps and Banana Guacamole.

Pimp yo grill

Real simple.

Purchase at $30, then charge $100

Blue Cheese Brownies

Going Back.

It was hard just to find this picture.

Circa: Barely 2005.

The thought of Blue Cheese and Chocolate was given to me as a challenge for the most part.

Something leftover from the former holder of my position at Charleston Chops. (R.I.P.)

A late night conversation about how Jeff always wanted to pair blue cheese with chocolate and the guy before me was determined to do it...

I was more determined, no offense to that guy.

It's still evolving though.

For so long now, I've been watching and reading about all these trendy spots mixing Chocolate with Bacon.............................................Yeah. OK. It's not as weird as it sounds, and if it gets someone into Food Arts WhyTF am I not in it? I didn't know that when I realized that Chocolate worked better with savory foods, that other people didn't know that. Now it's all over the place. I'm not looking for anything, I'm just sayin....

So, years ago this picture comes out of Chops kitchen and is met with luke warm to cold response and duely so, it's hard for someone to wrap their mind around, along with their taste buds and also being 4 to 5 years ago. I might be wrong actually, it was probably longer.

This happens a lot though, someone gets to be well known for their...oh, lets say their "General Tso's so and so item" It's not like you talked to them about this idea while you worked with them, or placed this item on a personal tasting menu of yours, it's more the fact that someone else maybe forgot that you placed that little gem in their brain a year or so prior to them coming up with it. No, it's more about the guy or girl that's in the moment. The one or two lucky ones that hold the limelight and can put on display anything that you haven't read about yet and claim it as their own. Well, nothings new, I know that. There's no Patent on food. There is that one guy that's trying to though.

That is why food is art, it's interpretation. It's the individual human that made it their way that one time that makes it "theirs".

Bygones be bygones (i don't really know what that means really), under the bridge.

I am a little jealous though. I wish my vision and version of savory chocolate would have struck a nerve with someone years ago. And I'm glad it's still gonna live on. I put the word out to Jeff to "add Bacon Fat to the recipe" like replacing the butter!

Chocolate.

Blue Cheese.

Bacon.

That should be on a tombstone.

Really.

Trotter Totters?

Randy ran the name by me after the fact.
First off, Let me knock the dust off of this website for a minute. PHEWWW.

Still behind on everything I want to do with this career.
My personal life is wonderful though.
The recession "that's the worst in 26 years" (or something like that) is just that, I've been keepin on keepin on. A job is better then no job.



Any who. I was talking about rolling up bbq pork in some leftover mashed potatoes when Randy said " that sounds like something I read about on the new Cypress menu." they called it " Trotter Totters?"
I like the name. Wish I would have thought of the name first. But, still, my current quest for all that is filthy good continues. I just don't own the place in which it will be delivered.

Nor do I own a proper camera at the time.

Smoked Cheddar cream and Sweet and Sour Brussels to complete the other factors of a southern meal all rolled into one. Pun intended.

Floating

I miss having my own kitchen. I miss the motivation.

I miss the future.

Shrimp and Grits Pizza

It's real good.