Back Into the Groove

I have had to put this project on hold as other opportunities have placed themselves in my path.  Despite my recent departure from capturing my creations, I have still been active at creating great cuisine in the kitchen.  This dish was an idea that developed into a scrumptious weekend lunch.  With the ingredients gathered and ready for manipulation, I began to compose flavorful, aromatic art.  Roasting and pureeing poblano, cubanelle, hungarian wax, and serrano chiles yielded an amazingly spicy, slightly sweet, sauce.  Once the chile puree was balanced with a little salt, cilantro, and black pepper, I took it to another level.  The addition of roasted pecans added a nutty, creamy flavor and texture that blended well.  The next step for this effervescent sauce was incorporation into a mixture of quinoa and ground wild caught shrimp.  After all the flavor profiles had time to marry, we formed the mixture into patties, pan seared them to golden perfection, and garnished with a fresh, tangy, pico de gallo and silky avocado slices.  To finish this delicious treat, we drizzled the robust lime juice that formed from making the pico de gallo all over the top.  Needless to say it was all gone in a matter of minutes.

 

  

I porked the plate!

These days my posts are more sporadic as I have been busy reinventing myself.  I am still on the path of discovery on the culinary, however I have been focused on some other projects.  I thought it was time to make a post on the blog about some of my adventures and show you a dish that made a few weeks ago that was a great success.  Back in February, Mandi and I bought a food processor and it has been a great tool to have.  Not only have I been making all kinds of hummus but I decided to make my own hot sauce.  I wanted something that was similar to the Sambal Olek sauce I was buying at the asian market but with better flavor, less salt, and no preservatives.  I decided to experiment and after only a few tries I perfected my formula.  I have not sold it to anyone yet but I plan on marketing it to a small group to start.  It is a simple but flavorful sauce that works with almost anything I have added it to.  Besides the exciting development of my hot sauce formula, I have accomplished something I feared would never happen, I ate at Chef Gabriel Hamilton's restaurant Prune.  It was an amazing, flavorful experience.  I was able to truly make a connection with my style of cooking, simple, fresh, and delicious.  Chef Hamilton does all three perfectly!  I hope everyone is doing well and experiencing life to its fullest.  I truly believe that one of the greatest ways to see what life has to offer is by exploring food.  Even if you do not have the time to travel to a big city, culinary adventures are all around us.  You can experience other cultures and travel the world by experiencing the local gems likely found in your town.  Step outside your comfort zone and experience something new in your town.  I will now get to the main point of this post, the plate I porked.  This dish is simple, yet full of sophisticated flavor profiles.  I took a petite pork loin chop, seared it with some simple spices and added rum caramelized pears on top.  I wanted something creamy in this dish so I roasted some yukon gold potatoes and melted double cream havarti on top.  The potatoes created a perfect resting place for the pork chop, juices and all.  Unfortunately at this time I can not find the recipe.  When I find it I will post it for everyone to try.   

Food Is Life!

Shane  

      

Some New Grub

The older you get the more time seems to slip away.  Before you know it months have passed by without any new ideas floating around. Waiting to be plunked from the universe and transposed to the plate, some of these random ideas either never make it past a notion or they simply do not bode well for the palette.  Recently the randomness has resulted in two new amazing dishes.  The first inspiration draws from simple roots found in a wonderful culinary epicenter, New Orleans.  I took a little bit of Cajun flair and formed seafood cakes, pan seared them in extra virgin olive oil, and threw some jalapeno/tomato preserves on top.  The creative spark did not end there and by the time it was all finished some beautifully sauteed mushrooms and cajun spiced butter finished it off.

  

The next inspiration was something that came to me as I was thinking about the late consummate epicurean, David Perry, who continues to inspire my creativity to go outside the box.  I wanted to make something that would please his refined tastes, and satisfy my wife's yearning for a great Valentine's day meal, and this is what I came up with.  

Marinated flat iron steak with caper lime butter sauce, goat cheese, and thyme roasted sweet potatoes.

I almost forgot to mention that Mandi and I conjured some home made cream puffs, stuffed with creme chantilly, and dipped in 60 percent dark chocolate.

Carnivores Tonight!

It was about time that I did something creative in the kitchen.  It has been awhile since I have taken the time to do this.  I miss the experience and the thought process into each of my creations.  I do not do this to be famous, to make money, or to show off.  I do it for show my love for good cuisine.  To share my passion, food is life.  I have been absent for a bit do to school and work.  Someone recently told me to make time for the things that balance my life.  I challenge each of you who read these posts to do the same.  For the past 7 months I have been drained of my passion.  Working in place where everyone around you lacks the drive and love for what they do takes a toll even after a short time.  I have removed that distraction from my life and am now moving on to better things.  To experience cuisine and life like I have never done so before, is my new goal for this next year.

Tonight we felt like carnivores and we made some killer sliders with simple yet robust flavors.  Check out what we made.  There is no recipe for this as you can experiment with this on your own.  I suggest a good buttermilk biscuit recipe and please do not use Bisquick.  Beef, extra sharp white cheddar, sauteed baby portabella  mushrooms and onions, prosciutto, and some buttermilk biscuits pair great together.