The Wild Guava and The Nutty Chef

One of the most exciting things to do in the kitchen is to experiment.  I know there are a lot of you who only follow recipes which is not a bad thing;  it is however a bit boring.  Throw out those recipes for one night and grab some ingredients that you might think go well together.  Be sure to try all the ingredients raw, except for proteins like chicken.  You can eat such things raw, but you may end up in the hospital.  Anyways, back to point, try everything, even the spices you are using.  Then begin to combine your ingredients.  The worst thing that could happen is that you have food that is unpalatable.  You can still eat it or you can simple throw out in the garden or in the bushes.  Have we done this spontaneous craziness before?  Sure we have.  Most recently, we took some ingredients we procured from our friend over at The Wild Guava Nursery, and here is what we came up with.

Experiment

Will banana flower, fresh galangal root, and some other on hand items go together for an delicious meal or will we be force feeding ourselves? 

These are the results of the experiment

Observations:  Yummy!

Extraordinary Food Memories #1

One of my fondest extraordinary food memories stems from spending time with my Nanny fishing, singing, and pan frying.  Every weekend my nanny had the energy, she would wake me up at the crack of dawn, urge me sternly to get dressed, and ask for my help gathering the rods and tackle.   As far as my memory serves me correctly, I do not remember engaging in any meaningful conversation on the way to the sweet spot where all the fish would bite our hooks.  However, once we arrived at the spot she used every time, she began to sing.  With spry youngster curiosity I asked why she sang and she told me that the fish love to hear people sing.  The more you sing, the better your tune, the more likely they were to bite our hooks.  So we spent a good portion of the morning singing to the fish, sipping on hot chocolate at times when the wind was brisk and lively.  I will never forget helping her dig for the worms and watching them wriggle as we attempted to skewer them on the barbed hook.  When the mood was set, the worms were wiggling, my nanny pulled out beautiful, fat, blue gills every few minutes.  She always told me that once you caught the fish, you needed to take extra care not to make them upset.  Nanny had me on water bucket change out constantly because she wanted the fish to have the freshest water before their ultimate demise.  After we caught our fill, we rushed back to her house where we began to set up for one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had.  We placed old newspaper over the pick nick table, retrieved the fillet knife, prepare our batter, and heated the oil.  At first I was horrified that my Nanny would fish these beautiful fish, however, she made sure I paid attention to every word and action she did.  She explained that because we were blessed with these beautiful fish, that we needed to do things quickly as to make sure they felt no pain.  Within 60 seconds the head, the fins, the guts, and the scales were gone.  In another 30 seconds the fish was battered and placed directly into the hot oil we heated a little earlier.  She did this over and over until somehow all of the fish were in the frying pan, being cooked to a beautiful golden crisp.  Once the fish were done cooking, we sat, laughed, and enjoyed our catch.  However, before we could start eating we prayed to give thanks for our catch.  After the fish were consumed, we bowed our heads, and thanked the fish for such a great meal.  I was 4 years old at the time, and still to this day these memories ring hard and true.  It is because of my Nanny’s amazing lessons on showing respect to the food we caught that has inspired me to respect every ingredient I use in my cooking.   

Shake It Baby!

I hope everyone is having an amazing start to the holiday season.  This time we have brought you a twist on a classic semi-homemade recipe that is totally homemade and even more delicious.  Do you remember when you were a kid and your mom would make Shake n Bake chicken?  I know when I was younger this product was a life saver for my mom who did not have much time to cook for us.  I remember the crispy, crunchy coating and the tender juicy chicken on the inside. Just the aromas emanating from the oven caused our mouths to water.  We have come up with a new and improved Shake n Bake recipe that is just as easy, yet healthier and far superior in taste.  Also, instead of serving this with rice and vegetables as my mom use to do, we opted to roast some acorn squash to go along with the delectable chicken.  We hope this recipe will help inspire easy, time saving, extraordinary food memories at the dinner table.

Recipe: Serving Size 4
4 Chicken legs, thighs, or quarters
About 1/2 lb pita chips, make sure you have enough to coat your chicken
Adjust the spices depending on how much crumbs you end up with and to taste. 
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp cayenne
2 tsp ancho chile powder
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
3 tsp ground himalayan pink salt
 1 tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup spicy brown mustard

1.  Remove skin on the chicken, very lightly salt and pepper the chicken and allow to sit in the refrigerator covered for 15 minutes.
2.  While the chicken is resting, mix all the spices and seasonings together.  In a food processor or by hand crush the pita chips into crumbs.
3.  In a hot pan melt butter and place crumbs making sure to mix well.  Lightly toast the crumbs until golden.
4.  Mix in spices and seasonings evenly.  Make sure that when you use the crumbs that you place them in a separate container only using enough for the amount of chicken you have.  If you have left over crumbs that have not been used for breading the chicken they can be placed in an air tight container and used another time.  Make sure the crumbs are cooled down all the way before storing.  
5.  Pull chicken out and coat with a thin layer of spicy brown mustard
6.  Rinse and but an acorn squash in half.  Lightly cover in olive oil, salt and pepper, place on sheet pan cut side down.  
6.  Bread your chicken evenly and place on sheet pan with squash, make sure that they do not touch each other and have enough space to breath.
7.  Bake on 375F for 30 minutes or until the chicken and squash are cooked thoroughly.

The Fiery Hell, The Wonderfill Bliss

The fiery hell that you see before you is the wonderful bliss that my taste buds crave.  Some of you may not be able to eat spicy foods, for this I will not call you weak.  Just like some of us can sing like a nightingale and others can make numbers tap dance, some of us can handle the heat.  We not only tolerate the pain that ensues from an oily substance that spreads like wild fire in the presence of water, we crave it.  There are cuisines that harness the chile within.  They take such a beautiful, painful entity and make it part of my own little infinity.  These are bird's eye chiles that will make most of your mouths foam and scream in agony.  Yet, they are simply, beautiful, bright, burning, vibrant red with a hint of green to contrast the blinding coloration.  Why post a picture of these fruit?  Simply to show the beauty of nature in the raw.  From these angels of agony, spawns a delicious Thai basil, chile, and garlic paste that I lovingly toil with in the kitchen.  What can you do with these beauties?  Add just a pinch to grandma's spaghetti sauce, a sprinkle into babushka's borscht, a smidgen to your egg white omelets, and a heaping spoonful to your award winning chili cook off recipe.  The tingle, the depth, the ever so slight floral notes, will delightfully elevate your cuisine.  I never commanded you to be a masochist like me.  Give it a try.

While I Was Out

I decided to go on an adventure to Tennessee with some friends of mine.  We came across some awesome food while we were out and about.  I love to go to new places and try new foods.  The experience lights me like a kid in candy shop.  The 1 inch thick, dinner plate smothering, buttermilk panclock at Aretha Frankenstein's was awesome as always.  Well that was not a new find, Mandi and I found these gems on our last road trip. This whole in the wall cafe, in a residential area of Chattanooga, never displeases me with their fluffy pecan cakes of divine greatness.  We stopped by a place called Merchant's in downtown Nashville and I was pleasantly surprised by the country fried chicken dish I ordered.  The chicken was tender, the breading crispy and light, the potatoes creamy and buttery, and the spinach wilted perfectly.  With a splash of gravy on top, I was in artery clogging heaven.  The other morsels I had here were delicious as well.  The fried green tomatoes were tangy sweet with light breading and cooked until tender.  If you know me well, you know that duck fat fried tater tots is something I had to try out.  Sweet and simple, they were heaven in my mouth.  I can only eat out so much before I body starts to scream at me to stop.  When I crossed the line, I suggested we make a dish from scratch.  My friends Jared and Allison have this awesome kielbasa and fennel soup they shared with us.  It was hearty, healthy, and refreshing.  The next dish was a creation of my own doing.  Right before bed one night the idea popped into my head for a seared pork loin chop with apple, bacon, jalapeno jam served with roasted golden beets and sweet potatoes.  Unfortunately, none of us thought to take pictures of the dishes we made as we all started to dig in without hesitation.

Jared and Allison in front of Aretha's

Tiny hole in the wall right?

Yes I am handsome I know!

The pecan panclock of greatness

The Old Hotel

Flavored popped corn to wet the pallette

Fried Green Tomaters

The tots that got fried by the duck.  Get your own tots.

The chicken that clogged my left ventricle.

I forgot what this was.  Pork chop with a bourbon sauce I think.  It was good too but my chicken had my brain tied up. 

Three Chile Seared Chicken Tacos with Jicama Slaw

I just wanted to post the recipe for this delicious, clean, and easy to execute dish.  Serve with some queso fresco and hot tortillas.

The Protein:

1 lb medium sized chicken breast, or butterflied if bigger. 
1 lb Tile Fish or Grouper
2 tsp ancho chile powder
2 tsp arbol chile powder
2 tsp new mexico chile powder
1 tsp roasted ground coriander
1 tsp black pepper
3 tsp kosher salt
 2 tsp olive oil

Season both the chicken and fish well.  These are rough estimates on measurements so adjust as you see fit.   Sear the chicken on medium high heat for 3 minutes each side, reduce heat to medium, cover and continue to cook until internal temperature reaches 165F, about 8-10 minutes depending on the size of the breast.  Seperately, sear the fish on medium high heat for 2-3 minutes per side depending on the thickness of the fillet.  Cover and cook until an internal temp of 135 is reached.  Remove and let cool slightly, slice up and place on a hot plate for serving.

The Slaw: Double the recipe for a group of 8

3 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
6 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups peeled, julienned jicama
1 cup, peeled, julienned carrots
1 cup shredded napa cabbage
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 cup julienned English cucumber
1/2 cup julienned red bell pepper
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped

In a small mixing bowl add lime juice, chili flakes, rice wine vinegar, sugar, and extra-virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Combine the jicama, carrots, cabbage and onion, cucumber, red pepper and cilantro in large bowl and toss. Add dressing to vegetables and let sit for 15 minutes, stirring 2 or 3 times. Serve.

The Fish House That Tried

Being a kitchen mongrel, I know how hard it can be to prepare, execute, and time every dish coming from the kitchen perfectly.  What is equally difficult is conceiving and designing a menu that will delight the taste buds.  You must start off with high quality, flavorful ingredients.  After procurement, the kitchen then needs to have the ability to transform the delectable ingredients into something spectacular;  An experience that every customer who spends their hard earned dollars at your concept will be fired up to share with others.  Unfortunately, Mitchell's Fish House at WestShore Plaza falls short of these tasks.  While the atmosphere and decor are inviting, the concept has some growing up to do before it will be able to wow the taste buds of foodies in the area.   Guests can look into the area where they prepare the fish and store them daily, an open fresh oyster bar for those who want to slide down some hand shucked oysters, and an open kitchen that also poses as a very small seafood market.  The fresh seafood display case is only adorned with selective fillets of very few fish.  I would recommend going to Cox's Seafood off the corner of Dale Mabry and Sligh if you want fresh, seasonal, varied selections of raw seafood.  I also strive to give a place the chance to show me their chops, however, there were some very major issues with the food we received.  The roasted oysters, while decently tasty, were swimming in butter and grease.  The lobster tail and beef tips combo was plated haphazardly with both items being overcooked and somewhat chewy.  The other dishes were on par with this observation, except for the calamari.  The lightly breaded and fried squid was the most tender I have had in a long time.  The presentation was decent, with a light, accommodating sauce, lemon slices, and asparagus that was a little overcooked.  Overall, the experience was what you would expect from a casual, corporate, seafood restaurant.  The only other drawback was the price points for each dish.  While not expensive for a fish house,  I expect some more sophistication from the kitchen, and the concept as a whole.