A Comforting Meal that sent me down this path.

So far this week I've spent a bit of time experimenting with cuisine, ranging from redoing a simple staple (fajitas) to trying something new (potato soup).  I guess that's what happens when you are home by yourself all weekend with nothing but cookbooks from 3 awesome chefs and the Food Network going.  Well, I guess I could have been watching basketball, but after the Huskies were eliminated, food seemed far more interesting.  But I digress...

I usually like to intersperse my experimenting/learning meals with a few of my comfort classics.  These are meals that are simple, easy to put together and reliable.  With my experimenting there is sometimes the risk of a flop followed by tuna melts for dinner.  Today's default was actually to one of the new entrants to the comfort food menu, one that actually started as an experiment, my risotto.

Prior to making my first risotto, the meals that I made for us were good.  They were pretty simple, and pretty basic.  I could grill a steak, bake some pork chops, things like that, and put together decent, palatable meals.  Stretching was when I learned how to steam salmon, or put pre-made mango salsa on halibut.  When I first made the risotto, it was shortly after I returned from my work trip to Vegas, and my first meal at the Mesa Grill.  I had purchased the cookbook, and was flipping through it trying to figure out what should be the first thing to cook.  When I got to the risotto, I decided to give it a try.  It looked simple, something I figured I wouldn't screw up too badly.  It also would allow me to cook with things that I hadn't used before like chicken stock and arborio rice, not to mention use the blender for something other than smoothies and margaritas.

All in all, it turned out well.  I followed directions well enough.  The risotto was a little al dente, and stuck to the bottom of the pan, but it was good.  I topped it with a seared diver scallop and a little tropical salsa from Whole Foods, and we had a nice dinner.  But, most importantly, it gave me confidence to keep trying new things, stretching myself a little more, experimenting with different things in the cookbook.  And, it was good enough that I could try it again, slowly perfecting then adapting the recipe to my personal tastes.

The base of the risotto is always the same.  Saute some onions, add the arborio, then white wine, then chicken stock until it is all absorbed.  But from there, that's where the experimentation starts.  I've done red pepper puree, green peas, or just cheese.  I've added bacon and fresh tomatoes, and different types of cheese.  I usually serve it is a bowl with some sort of seafood on top (tonight was shrimp), and then something sweet to balance the savory.

It's a hearty, healthy dinner, full of grains, vegetables, and proteins, but low on fats.  And it's something that just always seems to hit the spot.  But most of all, when I cook a risotto it puts a smile on my face because not only does it feel like I'm cooking something a little more fancy, but it reminds me that this simple recipe really helped set me off down the path that I'm currently on.  Who knew all of that would come from 7 ingredients?

Soup's On!!

For the past couple of days, it has been uncharacteristically stormy here in Seattle.  Strong winds and heavy rains have made it quite unpleasant outside.  But, the stormy weather has done nothing to dampen my spirit, and has in fact stoked my appetite...for soup that is.  Soup is just one of those great comfort foods.  It's filling and delicious, and on cold and blustery days, it's just the perfect thing to warm you up from the inside out.  I'm sure there are plenty of you out there that feel the same way.

So, I decided that tonight would be one of our soup nights.  Up until this point though, I had always "cheated" a little bit.  My favorite soup was one of those powdered cheese and broccoli soups.  Add 8 cups of water bring to a boil, add the powder, stir, simmer, serve.  Easy enough, and usually pretty good.  But, I'm moving away from the simple powder mixes and into the world of "from scratch".  So tonight's plan of attack was a potato soup, based on a recipe by Michael Chiarello of Bottega in Napa Valley.

When I got home, I jumped right into it, and quickly realized that this was pretty easy.  I cooked down some aromatics, then added some potatoes and chicken stock.  I let that cook for awhile so the potatoes could soften.  The hardest part is at this point is that I wasn't able to taste what was going on as it would have just been leek infused chicken stock.  I had to ride it out, and if the flavors didn't come together, pull out the leftover fajitas from a couple nights ago.

Once the potatoes were soft, I dumped everything into a blender to puree.  It was at this point that I realized the importance of one of those hand blenders.  I could have simply blended all of the ingredients in the pot rather than having to dump it into the blender and splashing it all over myself.  But, I managed to get it blended smooth and back into the pot where I added a little cream to smooth it out.  Then I added my own twist on it with some sauteed Canadian bacon, and a smoked mozzarella and cheddar blend, making it more of a baked potato style soup.  When I took my first bite, the taste was just what I had hoped for.  It was hearty and full of flavor, and the addition of the Canadian bacon really balanced out the potato flavor.  The only thing missing was a little green on the top, something like scallions, and maybe a little additional cream or butter to thin it out just a little bit more.

Overall, I would say that the first step down the homemade soup path was quite a success, and one that will definitely be repeated in the future, with a few more tweaks of course.  I had a lot of fun with the process as it was simple and not overly intensive, but created a lot of wonderful aromas throughout the process that just stoked the hunger, and made the final result just that much better.

Restaurant Review: Deck on CraftSteak

I definitely don't want to make a habit out of posting past dated restaurant reviews.  And actually, this should be my last one as I head out on the road to Boston next week, and can dive into the restaurant reviews.  But it would be sacrilegious to have a food blog and not talk about my dining experience at CraftSteak.

CraftSteak, one of the Craft family of restaurants created by 5-Time James Beard award winner Tom Colicchio, is located in MGM Grand in Las Vegas.  Besides being an award winning chef, Tom Colicchio is the head judge on Top Chef, one of my favorite food shows on television.  So, after watching him rate, review, and breakdown contestants, I wanted to see if he could really deliver the goods.  So, since I was in Vegas, I grabbed my friend Nick (aka DJ Nicky Tsunami*), and headed over for dinner.

After a day at the pool where we hadn't exactly consumed a lot of food, we sat down at our dinner ready to eat.  Fortunately I had thought ahead to make a reservation as it is quite the popular place, though the bar does offer the full menu.  The first thing that came out was a pan of dinner rolls.  Eager for some sort of sustenance I dove in.  The rolls were absolutely delicious.  Light and fluffy rolls with buttered tops, but it was the hint of salt on top that actually put them over the edge.  We each put away two rolls before we even opened the menu to look at the food.

With our hunger briefly satiated, we took a look at the menu.  It featured a wide variety of steaks and sides and appetizers, all of which had the potential for deliciousness, that Nick was trying to wrap his head around.  So, rather than try and figure out what was best, I suggested that we do the Wagyu chef's menu, figuring that it would be better to let the chef put his best foot forward.  The chef's menu consisted of three courses; appetizer, entree and dessert, and all of the courses consisted of multiple dishes, and to say that we were excited to see what would come out is an understatement.

Within a few minutes the appetizers arrived at the table, and instantly we knew that we were in for something special.  We both went immediately for the steak tartare served with a nice crostini.  I heaped a generous portion on the crositini, took a bite, and felt like I could die happy.  The texture was so smooth and creamy, the flavor of the beef was so rich, and then the crunch of crostini was just perfect.  It was so incredible that it is making my mouth water right now, just thinking about it.  I could have made an entire meal out of that alone.  But that was only one of the appetizers.  Also on the table in front of us were some delicious and perfectly cooked breaded prawns.  As an appetizer on their own, they would have been excellent, but they paled in comparison to the tartare.

Now sufficiently happy, full of tartare and more rolls (seriously, they were just addictive), it was time for the star of the show.  You can't possibly have a restaurant called CraftSteak without serving steak.  I should also say here that I don't go to a lot of steak houses because I feel like for the price, I can make something that is equally good.  But this was Tom Colicchio's restaurant, so I gave in.  And am I glad that I did.  We did not only have placed in front of a beautifully prepared, medium rare, prime cut of filet mignon, but also an even more beautifully prepared, medium rare prime cut of Ribeye, hands down my favorite cut of meat.  Our server could barely get his hands back in time before the forks went flying into the steak.  One of my biggest criticisms with a lot of places that do steak is that they don't let the meat shine.  There is too much seasoning and flavoring and sauces on top of the steak or it's not rested properly or it's overcooked or any number of other things that ruin a steak.  CraftSteak knew how to make the meat shine.  With a light spice blend that seemed to feature no more than salt, pepper and rosemary the flavor of the meat was just the star.  The first bite was the filet which was so moist and juicy, just terrific.  Then there was the Ribeye.  The Ribeye was a thing of beauty, an unbelievable cut of meat that put a smile on my face and made me close my eyes sit back and enjoy.

After devouring the steak and a good, though unspectacular accompaniment of side dishes (potatoes and asparagus), we were treated to a variety of dessert options.  For me, the sorbets were excellent, especially the pear sorbet, one of my favorite flavors of anything. 

CraftSteak absolutely lived up to its billing.  The service was fantastic, the type of service that is efficient, but non-invasive, where we were able to have a conversation, look down, and our plates and silverware had been swapped out for the next course.  For me, the only non-amazing parts of the dinner were the plating (very simplistic, but expected for a more "family-style" service approach),  the side dishes which were for the most part unmemorable, and the desserts which were pretty simple (unlike Fleur de Lys, where I actually had to take a picture prior to eating).   

But the steak, oh the steak.  It was far and away the star, and made all the other things not really matter that much.   CraftSteak is an absolute must visit on your next trip to Vegas.  As Nick described it, "That was the food of the Gods".


*Side note:  Nick has been helping me promote my blog, and I need to help him promote his music.  Check out his mixes at http://www.letsmix.com/nicky_tsunami.  When it comes to food, I'm your guy, but when it comes to music, it's all Nicky Kats. 

From Dislike to Like; Opening my eyes to Avocado

In the previous post, I wrote a restaurant review on one of my favorite restaurants. These type of reviews will definitely be a staple of this blog as they are fun and relatively easy to write. The thing is, when I'm not traveling, I don't go out to eat that often, I cook. And it's the stories of my cooking adventures, learning new techniques, experimenting with flavors, that I think will really make this into an interesting and fun blog about my "food journey". But, before diving into the first of this type of post, I have to give thanks where thanks is due. This wouldn't be nearly as interesting and fun if it wasn't for my soon-to-be-wife Jennifer, and her willingness to be the primary taste tester for whatever I end up creating. So far it has been mostly good which I suppose meakes it a little easier to tolerate.

Yesterday actually featured a lot of new and different things (as tends to happen when I have all day to cook).  I decided to do fajitas which up until this point usually consisted of sauteing some peppers and onions, adding chicken and a few pre-packaged spices, and serving on a tortilla with cheese and sour cream.  Good, but not super exciting, and definitely ripe for experimentation.  In the end I did something different with nearly every component, except the cheese (who messes with cheese?), but it was using an ingredient that I am not particularly fond of and never cook with that actually ended up being my biggest success.

If Jennifer has one gripe about my cooking (other than sometimes experimenting too much), it's that she doesn't get things that she likes because I don't like them, and therefore don't cook them.  The top 3 on her list; Avocado, Mushroom, Tofu.  So, feeling adventurous, I decided that this was as good a time as any to experiment with Avocado.   And for those of you going "WTF, who doesn't like avocado?", the answer was "This guy".  There has always been something about the texture that never worked for me, and the flavor was just not that appealing.  But, in the spirit of trying new things, I thought I might as well give it a try.

Previously, while watching Food Network, I remember Bobby Flay doing an Avocado Crema (yes, I like and watch other chefs, leave me alone...).  By smoothing it out into more of a sour cream texture, I thought it might be more palatable to me.  So, I took an avocado and added some lime, honey cilantro, a dash of oil and vinegar, and a little bit of water, many of the primary ingredients of a good guacamole, and blended it right up.  I debated adding a bit of sour cream, but thought I could always go back and mix that in later if I wanted to.  After a couple minutes I pulled the lid off for the moment of truth.  I dipped in the spoon, took a bite, and was pleasantly surprised.  I couldn't believe that what I had just tasted.  It was this nice, sweet, almost silky like Yoplait yogurt texture.  I decided to forgo the sour cream and simply serve it as is.  I can definitely see adding some chopped red onion and tomato to the crema and making a creamy, slightly sweet guacamole.  This may not be something for the guacamole purists, but I know it is something I would sit down and eat with a big bag of blue corn chips.

Being able to take something that I was never a huge fan of in avocado, and turning it into something that I enjoy to eat is the essence of what I love about cooking, and also why this made a great first post.  The avocado crema was an absolute success.  The pickled green and red roasted peppers on the other hand still have a little work, but that's a story for another time.

If you are interested in the recipe I used, feel free to send me an e-mail.  It should be noted that the base recipe is not mine, though I did adjust some ingredients (namely honey and cilantro) to my liking.  I'm still at the point of adapting existing recipes, or trying different tangents as opposed to creating from scratch.  All in due time though.

Restaurant Review: Deck on The Mesa Grill, Las Vegas

For my first restaurant review, it only seemed natural to go back to the place where it all started for me, The Mesa Grill by Bobby Flay at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.  The first time I went there was about a year and a half ago.  I was in Las Vegas for work, attending a small conference.  Not really wanting to venture out of the hotel as I had just wrapped up a day at the show and still had a bit of work to do that evening, I decided to just head down to one of the casino restaurants.  The Mesa Grill was close to my elevators, and looked interesting, so I headed in.  I recognized the chef from a Food Network show that I had seen as a barbeque guy, but really didn't know anything beyond that.

When I walked in, I headed to the bar.  I figured I was dining by myself, no need to get a table.  I ordered myself a beer, and asked for a dinner menu.  While looking over the menu, trying to find an entree that would allow me to stay close to my dinner per diem, I reached out and grabbed one of the bread sticks sitting up there.  As I took that first bite, the flavor just exploded in my mouth.  This was no ordinary breadstick.  Firm on the outside, but soft on the inside, with a hint of spice, and a dash of cornmeal.  I quickly polished that off and reached for another.

Now, with my taste buds alive, I quickly made a decision on the menu; the New Mexican Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Bourbon-Ancho Sauce.  When I asked how I'd like it prepared, I hesitated.  No one had asked me that on pork before.  The bartender, noticing my slight bit of confusion, said that the chef recommends medium.  So, I went with it.

About 15 minutes (and probably a half dozen breadsticks) later, I saw the plate making its way toward me.  At this point, I was almost giddy with anticipation.  The first thing I noticed was the aroma, a spice with a hint of sweet.  I cut into the first piece of tenderloin and took a bite.  Instantly, I knew this was like nothing I had tasted before.  The pork was so juicy, the spice blends just right, and the sauce just pulled it all together.  I quickly devoured the first piece of tenderloin before noticing that there was a tamale on my plate.  Thinking back, I think it was one of the sage butter tamales.  It tasted like a perfect piece of cornbread, but had this just creamy, melt in your mouth texture that was unlike any tamale I had ever eaten before.

When I finished every last bite on my plate, cleaned up the sauce, and had one last breadstick, I felt like I was in food heaven.  Now don't get me wrong.  It's not like this is the first time I'd ever been to a nice restaurant and had delicious food.  But for some reason, it was this experience that really seemed to bring everything together for me.  Food and flavor took on a new meaning.  I knew that when I walked out of there, I wanted to start trying new things, creating sauces to accompany my food, exploring different cooking techniques.  Why it was Mesa Grill, I couldn't tell you.  Maybe because the flavors were uniquely different and appealed to me.   Maybe because it took things that seemed so basic, and transformed them to something so much more.

The memory was so great that I had to revisit during my trip to Las Vegas last week.  This time, I dragged my friends with me.  I was a little worried because I had set such a high expectation in my mind, and in theirs as well.  Could Mesa Grill deliver the goods again?  In a word, Absolutely!  I recommend the pork to Nick, and ordered the Lamb Porterhouse for myself.  This time when I asked how I wanted it prepared, I remembered to ask, "How does the chef recommend?"  Again, I was blown away.  I've never had lamb cooked so perfectly, and flavored so wonderfully, with that perfect blend of spice with just a little sweet.  I don't know any other way to describe it.  But, the biggest telling point was when my friend Cliff took his first bite.  Before he had even finished chewing he said it was probably the best lamb chop he had ever eaten.  High praise for someone that has spent his entire life on a sheep ranch in Wyoming.

I know that this post has gone on for awhile, but, I think that the back story is important, and the Mesa Grill deserves it.  It opened my eyes, and my palette, to food in a different way, both in my own cooking, and when I go out to restaurants.  If you ever find yourself in Las Vegas, there are many fantastic places to eat (and I know that there will be more chronicled in this blog), but the Mesa Grill is one place that is absolutely worth visiting.  The food is superb, and is very reasonably priced ($25-$40/entree).  My only regret from that first trip is that I didn't eat there every single night.

A newfound passion...

About five and a half years ago, I met this girl.  Like any guy, I wanted to find any way to talk to her, and any way to impress her.  So, for one of our first dates I decided to cook her dinner.  It was a mess.  We ended up eating slightly undercooked steaks and potatoes in the dark.  But that date spawned something.  Maybe it was my desire to keep trying to impress her with my cooking prowess.  Maybe it was my understanding that she was never going to be the cook in this relationship.  Whatever it was, I kept trying new things, and slowly improving what I was doing.  I'm not sure what the tipping point was exactly (though I'm pretty sure it was right around the time I ate my first meal at a Bobby Flay restaurant), but in the past year, a new passion has taken hold.  So, like any 20 something in this high-tech, inter-connected world, I'm not just exploring it, I'm blogging about it.

Now, I'm not about to embark on something like the Julie and Julia (or whatever the title was) movie where I work my way through a cookbook.  And I'm not about to drop everything to go to culinary school and open a restaurant.  It's not about me becoming a great chef.  It's simply about me enjoying food; whether it be cooking it myself, enjoying the labors of others, or learning about new things in general.

So, that brings me to my point.  I've developed a new appreciation for food.  I've gone from the type of guy that prided himself on being able to purchase a month's worth of groceries for $100 to a guy that will spend twenty minutes just staring into the meat section at Whole Foods before selecting just what I want.  I went from having two pots and one pan to watching Iron Chef and adding things to my wedding registry because I was so intrigued by what they were doing (though I had to draw the line at vacuum sealer and imersion circulator).  I watch shows like Top Chef and Iron Chef America to get some ideas as much as for pure entertainment.  I went from Mac and Cheese to Roasted Red Pepper Risotto with Applewood Smoked Bacon and Orange Glazed Prawns.

But, it's not just about the cooking.  It's about the eating too.  I am already anticipating blog posts about restaurants that I've been too (guaranteed that CraftSteak and Mesa Grill are coming up).  I've actually created a spreadsheet of different restaurants in different cities that I want to try, given the opportunity of making it to the city through travel.  

I know I'm no different than many amateur chefs out there.  In fact, there are many that have far more talent that I do.  But, it is something that I absolutely enjoy, and I'm hoping that a few of you that read this will enjoy it as well.  And who knows, maybe as my skills continue to develop, one of these days I'll be able to share some of my creations with you.

As the French would say, Bon Appetit!