Becoming a Vegetarian

I started school in December of 2012. During our first phase, we watched a few movies in class, like Food Inc. and Forks over Knives. I was appalled at most of the things I seen in these movies. However, not appalled enough to stop eating meat. My wife on the other hand viewed these movies from a different perspective then me. She has spent the majority of her life in animal control, humane society or assorted animal rescue foundations. These movies prompted her to go on Net-Flix and find others like them. After finding several documentaries about food and related subjects, she announced from that moment on, she had become a vegetarian. I was sure this was just a knee jerk reaction to the brutality that was viewed. Not taking it seriously, I went on in my usual manner of preparing meals. Much to my surprise she would not eat what I had made and insisted on making her own dishes. It has now been nine months and her resolve has not wavered in the slightest. For all intents and purposes, she has become a vegetarian.

Learning from Teaching

My daughter-in-law is not much of a cook. However, she is willing to learn. An endearing quality on which we can find common ground. She always comes to me with her culinary questions. If for some reason I do not know the answer, I strive to find it. She also assists me at all family functions where I am required to cook. I try to instruct her as we go along with the things I have learned at school. The last time we were together, she wanted a dish that would be easy to make, but seem as if she invested a lot of time in it. I went back through my cookbooks and found a perfect dish for this Italian girl. Angel hair puttanesca topped with a garlic-seared chicken breast. I gave her the grocery list, the wife and I went over to their house for lessons and a dinner. Our time was well spent, dinner was great and I got to spend quality time in the kitchen teaching what I have learned. What I take from these experiences is the joy that I see on her face, the knowledge that she took these seemingly random items and created something wonderful from them.

Staying On Track

The pull of the lake. Fish are biting, and I can only spend an hour or so with them. Soak in the hot tub; finish with a quick dive in the pool. Done by 9:00am. Time to get back on track with the homework. This is a constant battle with myself. The discipline required for this is much different from before. I was interested, engaged and enthusiastic about cooking. The history of my food and the proper preparation held my attention completely. It has been a long time since high school. These courses are a poignant reminder of what that felt like, boring and mind numbing. Even now, I find myself drifting off subject. The lure of something more interesting to do is pulling at me. I have to finish what I started, and give it 100%. I must stay on track.

Never Shop Hungry

I went grocery shopping for this camping trip after school. All I had for lunch that day was a salad. I was hungry while shopping. I thought I was planning my meals in a meticulous manner. Now that I am on day three, I find that I definitely over shot my grocery needs. This will not be a problem because it will all just go home with me. However, it is a lesson learned. I look back at my time in the store and realize what I did. I chose my groceries according to my desires at the time. Yes, I got what I needed for the meals planned. I also bought many extra items simply because they looked good to eat right then. Lesson learned. Never shop hungry.

Camping Ala Carte

Just because your camping does not mean you have to eat in a rustic manner. Take day one for instance. After setting up camp and relaxing for a bit, it was time to plan my meal. Entrée was an easy one, butterfly pork chop stuffed with bacon and wrapped with bacon seasoned to perfection. On the grill of course. Vegetable was going to be one of my favorites, blanched fresh asparagus with an awesome cheese sauce, my rendition of a Morney sauce. The starch would have to be potatoes. I would definitely have to kick those up a notch by sautéing some onion, morel mushroom and topping them with fresh chopped chive. A good bottle of wine. A great way to start a camping trip. The thing about camping alone, you do not have to slice the dessert pie. Even Alton Brown would have to say, “That’s good eats”

Its All A Matter Of Perception

There are those who will not eat pork. A cow is sacred to some. Dog and cat is a taboo food source for most. Horses must only be food product for other animals. Growing up in the country, your food more then likely consisted of rabbit or squirrel, venison was often on the table. Killing and cleaning your food was an everyday part of life at one time. What that food source would be depended on whether or not you caught anything that day. To judge another culture for what they consider food is presumptuous in the extreme. We as Americans whine and cry about world hunger, and yet we chemically euthanize thousands of animals a day. Rendering them useless for consumption just to appease our sense of right and wrong. While all the starving children go to bed with an empty stomach once again, we sleep soundly in our righteousness that at least no one on our watch is eating Fluffy or Fido. Its all a matter of perception, what is not food to you may very well be a delicacy to others. At the very least, it could mean the difference between life or death.

Trial By Fire

Training can only take a person so far. There has to be something inside each of us that training can't give. A work ethic that surpasses what the requirements are, a sense of responsibility to our fellow workers and our employer, a desire to achieve success through mastering our skill set. I had the luxury of some free time a few days ago, so I decided to tag along with my executive chef and learn from him what he was willing to teach. During our time together I learned of other students who have been through his restaurant. I got to hear about their strengths and their weaknesses. What we have learned in culinary school is taught in a controlled environment, for the most part there is no pressure. When you get that first job, put on the line, and believe me when I say, school is over, the pressure is on. This is the moment when who and what you truly are will show. Will you break and run? fall behind and fail the line? or will you walk through the fire and come out stronger on the other side? Those who wait till the last minute to find this out may have wasted their time and money.

Cooking For One

I am taking a four day camping trip by myself. A chance to unwind, to re-center myself  and relax. I started making my grocery list, planning for one and making scrumptious meals without a lot of labor. This chore requires a lot more thought. I want to spoil myself on this trip, so no easy hamburger helpers or hobo packs here. Now is the time these school-books will come in handy. I've decided, yes indeed, my grocery list will come from our international cuisine book. Each day will be another adventure, a trip to another country through their cuisine, without ever leaving the camper.

How Time Flies

I work on Thursday's. I have the whole third floor to myself. This is my chance to organize and get some deep cleaning done before the weekend rush. With no supervision, and no great expectations of much being done other then restocking needed items. I am not that person, so I exceed their expectations simply by being who I am. I have six hours, so with a plan in mind I attack that which begs to be done. The dirty jobs don't bother me much, so get the worst out of the way first, take the fryer apart and make it look new again. Flat-top is in my sights next and then on to the floors. The walk-in is begging for attention, here is where my O.C.D. is really going to kick in. Start by throwing out anything outdated, pull everything from their shelves and clean,clean,clean! Once this is done its time to label the shelves and place items back in according to serve-safe storage protocol. The day goes by fast, restocking only takes a short time. Now its time for a break, but wait, six hours are gone and my day is done.

The Wonder Of Bread

I recently finished with baking class, in which we made a variety of breads. I also had the opportunity to take home a 17 yr. old pre-ferment dough from our Chef Instructor. So I dug out the old bread machine, dusted it off, and commenced to playing around with different bread recipes. Incorporating the pre-ferment into most of them produced some amazing results, also a few catastrophes. While some were not exactly perfect by any standards, they were all edible. Which brings me to my point. Bread at its basic is nothing more then flour and liquid, start adding yeast and whatever else you may find in your pantry for flavor, and it can become whatever you want it to be. Bread is truly a wonder.

Fulfilling A Need

My wife's employer hosted a pool party on Sunday that was catered by an ex-NFL player, this individual also owned a restaurant in Creve Cour, Mo. Upon finding out I was a current student at Lecole, he informed me that one of our instructors received their start from him. This man was drafted straight from college to play for the St.Louis Cardinals and then went on to play for the Denver Broncos, what most people would consider the pinnacle of success, and yet this individual found something lacking in his career. His need to find that which made him happy, to find that place inside each of us that can be satisfied by the praise of others for making them happy. I find that the more culinary stories I hear, the more a recurring theme keeps presenting itself. The fact that one can be satisfied with what we do and produce as Chefs is a great thing, but the knowledge that we fulfill a need, that our skills are desired, that our work is appreciated and that praise is evident from the first bite fulfills a need in each of us, that what we do matters.

photo from Rockford Register Star

Smelling A Memory

Everyone, young or old, male or female, has one thing in common. That ability to trigger a memory by something as simple as a smell. For some it may be the perfume your Mother wore, or your Fathers cologne, for others its as simple as fresh baked cookies, bacon frying in the morning, or even a cup of coffee. My Mom is from Arkansas, they have a tradition that I have only seen done by a person from there, by most peoples standard its probably nothing special, but for me and my brothers and little sister too, it still triggers the memory of home life as a child, with no worries about tomorrow, no stress, no responsibilities except who's turn it is to take out the trash. A sense of comfort and protection, that all is right with the world and always will be. What could this magical dish be you ask? Only in the winter months, on Sunday morning, my Mom would make homemade buttermilk biscuits and cocoa gravy with a big dollop of butter on top. That wonderful smell coming from the kitchen always pulled our sleepy heads off the pillows, to stumble into the kitchen into a little glimpse of heaven, and as I sit here writing this at 50, I find that my appreciation for what she did is stronger now then it was back then. Because of her making a simple breakfast a special occasion, and only doing that one day a week in the winter months, I am able to recreate that any time I want, when things get stressful, the weight of the world too much or I ever lose her. I can go to my kitchen, put together the ingredients, and smell a cherished memory.

Old Dog, New Tricks

I am 50yrs. old, first born with 3 siblings, learned to cook at a very early age and have done most of the cooking my whole life. Needless to say, I am pretty confident in my ability to produce a very nice and hearty meal. Having said that, I was very confident when I started culinary school and assumed this would be a walk in the park, not even close. I was forced to re-evaluate the end results and the procedure I took to get there. I was very surprised to learn something as simple as water temp could change not only the texture of your dish, but the flavor as well. This is only one simple thing, and there have been many more since, I learned very quickly to forget what I thought I knew, open my mind, close my mouth and learn it all for the first time, again.

Taking a Shortcut

After finishing and passing the first part of my Culinary Degree, having done everything in a very strict and precise manner in which I had been taught. Never having had experience in this industry other then raising and feeding my family who always looked forward to Dad coming home because I believed in home-cooked meals, the shock of my first job in the culinary field was an eye-opener at best. At first I was appalled and almost walked away, but then I realized, even bad lessons are still lessons. What I needed to do was learn from this experience what I could, try to change the practices in question and accept that which I could not change. As long as I stand true to my values, my lessons and that which I have been taught is the right thing to do, then I have done all I can. Some things cannot be achieved by taking a shortcut

The Final Product

The Final Product

When a car manufacturer builds an inferior product, it is recalled because the manufacturer is held responsible. This holds true for almost every product that is made. With this thought in mind, graduating students are the final product from whatever institution has taught them, this is what they produce. Therefore when a school or instructor, insists on passing an inferior product through the system in order to meet a quota or to keep the finances in place that were awarded, they should be held accountable for turning out that inferior product. We live in a world of "everyone gets a trophy" when there are no losers, how do you know who the winners are?