Saturday, September 13, 2014
Client Party
Each year, we host an event for our clients, suiteholders and supporters to showcase new menu items just before the Everett Silvertips season. The party was a resounding success with more than 200 people enjoying the delicious food our team created. Jeremiah and I live demo'd Jamaican Jerk Wings and everyone went home with the recipe and a whisk to whip it up on their own.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Seattle Surf and Turf
Interviews. I happen to enjoy them. Both being the interviewee and the interviewer. Most people cringe when they hear the word. I have always enjoyed the interaction and the exchange between a prospective employer and the fellow team members on the panel, if the interview process reaches that point. So when my current GM asked me to fly up to interview with Centerplate here at Comcast Arena at Everett I was pretty pleased regarding the job opportunity and excited to see new lands. As part of the process of becoming an Executive Chef at a corporate setting you are required to perform what Centerplate refers to as a “Black Box” or a mystery box. Basically a box filled with a wide variety of ingredients that you have to create a fabulous four-course meal from including an amuse bouche (A single, bite-sized hors d’œuvre that is a gift from the Chef to stimulate the palate and get the guest excited about the rest of the meal), a salad, an appetizer and an entrée. Similar to the TV show Chopped.
Some of the challenges involved are not just the ingredients that you find out about immediately before you cook, but also the challenge of being in unfamiliar surroundings as every kitchen has its quirks. I did my face to face interview here in Everett and was asked to do my cooking demonstration at Safeco field in Seattle, which is also a Centerplate account. David Dekker is the Executive Chef there and he was primarily conducting that part of the interview process. I was to be in the Diamond Club kitchen at 8 AM and have my amuse bouche on the table at noon. So I had four hours to nail it. On my own. All by myself.
I reasoned that if I left my hotel here in Everett at 6:30 AM that I could be in the kitchen at Safeco sipping coffee by 7:30 to 7:45 AM. I pulled out at exactly 6:29 AM and hit I-5. On my way down the traffic stopped dead right before the exit for the stadium. A Fed-Ex truck had overturned and burst in to flames, completely closing down I-5 south bound. I called and David told me not to worry. He said that whenever I arrived that he would begin the four hour countdown and that he would call everyone scheduled to join us and let them know. I arrived at 9:55 AM and went directly to my ingredients. After looking them over I decided to just go for it. When David came into the kitchen I told him that I would be ready at noon as promised. He said “You don’t have to do this Chef” and I said “A deal’s a deal” so I was off and running.
I had halibut, scallops, skirt steak, bacon, lentils, red potatoes, bell peppers, onions, garlic, shallots, lemons, heavy cream and all kinds of other ingredients. The wild card was the ground hot Italian sausage so I began by making a sausage patty and cooking it on the char broiler. After it was cooked, I crumbled it and put it in the lentils and cooked them in a Turkish curry spice I made from scratch. This was to be the foundation of my amuse bouche. I put the lentils in a soup spoon, topped them with red and yellow cherry tomato slivers, drizzled it all with a roast garlic olive oil and sprinkled it with thinly sliced fresh basil. As promised, they were on the table just before noon. The crowd went wild. Next I made a scallop casino chowder with bacon and bell peppers. The soup bowls came back clean. Then I made a nice frisee salad with dried fruit and sherry vinaigrette. Another crowd pleaser and all courses were flying out of the kitchen looking good and tasting great. I was pleased, so far.
My grand finale, the piece de resistance, was a Seattle Surf and Turf. I crusted the halibut with Romano cheese and pan seared it, then I made a roast garlic lemon cream sauce to go with it. The skirt steak I marinated in fresh herbs and grilled it to a perfect medium rare, then I made a port barbecue au jus for it. My starch was red potato Tuscany home fries and my vegetable was grilled asparagus with lemon zest. I put the potatoes in the center of the plate, the halibut on one side and the steak on the other. I placed the asparagus over the top of the home fries perpendicular to the steak and the fish, then topped the asparagus with thinly fried onion rings. The sauces went down last and out the plates went. They loved the dish and the presentation and I have been doing a similar dish here in the Arena Grill restaurant ever since. All six guests really enjoyed the meal and guess what? I got the job! I am posting some of these recipes soon and hope that you enjoy them all. See you at the Arena!
Some of the challenges involved are not just the ingredients that you find out about immediately before you cook, but also the challenge of being in unfamiliar surroundings as every kitchen has its quirks. I did my face to face interview here in Everett and was asked to do my cooking demonstration at Safeco field in Seattle, which is also a Centerplate account. David Dekker is the Executive Chef there and he was primarily conducting that part of the interview process. I was to be in the Diamond Club kitchen at 8 AM and have my amuse bouche on the table at noon. So I had four hours to nail it. On my own. All by myself.
I reasoned that if I left my hotel here in Everett at 6:30 AM that I could be in the kitchen at Safeco sipping coffee by 7:30 to 7:45 AM. I pulled out at exactly 6:29 AM and hit I-5. On my way down the traffic stopped dead right before the exit for the stadium. A Fed-Ex truck had overturned and burst in to flames, completely closing down I-5 south bound. I called and David told me not to worry. He said that whenever I arrived that he would begin the four hour countdown and that he would call everyone scheduled to join us and let them know. I arrived at 9:55 AM and went directly to my ingredients. After looking them over I decided to just go for it. When David came into the kitchen I told him that I would be ready at noon as promised. He said “You don’t have to do this Chef” and I said “A deal’s a deal” so I was off and running.
I had halibut, scallops, skirt steak, bacon, lentils, red potatoes, bell peppers, onions, garlic, shallots, lemons, heavy cream and all kinds of other ingredients. The wild card was the ground hot Italian sausage so I began by making a sausage patty and cooking it on the char broiler. After it was cooked, I crumbled it and put it in the lentils and cooked them in a Turkish curry spice I made from scratch. This was to be the foundation of my amuse bouche. I put the lentils in a soup spoon, topped them with red and yellow cherry tomato slivers, drizzled it all with a roast garlic olive oil and sprinkled it with thinly sliced fresh basil. As promised, they were on the table just before noon. The crowd went wild. Next I made a scallop casino chowder with bacon and bell peppers. The soup bowls came back clean. Then I made a nice frisee salad with dried fruit and sherry vinaigrette. Another crowd pleaser and all courses were flying out of the kitchen looking good and tasting great. I was pleased, so far.
My grand finale, the piece de resistance, was a Seattle Surf and Turf. I crusted the halibut with Romano cheese and pan seared it, then I made a roast garlic lemon cream sauce to go with it. The skirt steak I marinated in fresh herbs and grilled it to a perfect medium rare, then I made a port barbecue au jus for it. My starch was red potato Tuscany home fries and my vegetable was grilled asparagus with lemon zest. I put the potatoes in the center of the plate, the halibut on one side and the steak on the other. I placed the asparagus over the top of the home fries perpendicular to the steak and the fish, then topped the asparagus with thinly fried onion rings. The sauces went down last and out the plates went. They loved the dish and the presentation and I have been doing a similar dish here in the Arena Grill restaurant ever since. All six guests really enjoyed the meal and guess what? I got the job! I am posting some of these recipes soon and hope that you enjoy them all. See you at the Arena!
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Halibut - A Fish Tale
I love halibut. Its beautiful white color, great neutral flavor, and wonderful firm texture make it an extremely versatile fish. That’s why I jumped at the chance to go halibut fishing out of Westport on Tuesday, May 20. The weather gods had frowned upon us for an earlier trip so it was rescheduled for the Tuesday. Then, over the weekend prior to our trip date, the halibut gods frowned upon us as the halibut quota was reached. The halibut season was shut down. So no halibut trip. I was really upset- I love halibut!
Captain Justin of the Samarai is such a great guy, he offered to take me and my co worker out for ling cod and black bass at a cheaper rate and it was going to be just the two of us on board. What a guy! How could we refuse! Less money and less people on board…we pounced on the offer! The weather forecast was perfect, so off to Westport we went, arriving early and eager to set sail at six thirty that morning. I also love ling cod and black bass and they have been nailing them in Westport recently, so we were extremely confident that we would limit out and be back at the dock for lunch by noon.
Well, the wind gods decided to frown upon us and it was blowing twenty five knots. The tide was ebbing and the wind was against the tide so we had a massive chop and some really gnarly conditions going out over the bar. We took several waves over the bow but on we went. When we finally got into the ocean the waves were still pretty big, a few fifteen footers, but for the most part it was just fine. And Captain Justin is a great helmsman so he kept us on our lines. Because of the wind we drifted really fast which meant we had to keep pulling up our lines and head back up the hill to the rock patches we were angling. But catch fish we did. All of us. Even the Captain’s friend who was invited at the last minute. Three guys reeling them in, in big wind and big waves- too much fun!
It was my lucky day as I caught the most black bass, six, and I limited out on ling cod catching my quota of two. But the best surprise of the day was the massive wrenching tug on my line that bent my rod and started my reel singing as the line played out and whatever it was that ate my bait began to run. And run. And run. I finally came to my senses and tightened the drag on my reel and began the arduous but fun process of reeling whatever it was on the end of my line in. I reeled. And reeled. And reeled as my fellow fisherman made some really funny jokes like “What did you hook, Moby Dick?” and “It must be a halibut!” It turns out that catching a halibut where we were drifting is pretty rare so I figured I had a monster ling cod. Visions of winning the derby danced in my head……
Then suddenly we could see color beneath the waves and guess what I caught? That’s right, a halibut! Woo hoo!!!!!! The Triple Crown! The trifecta of fishing! It was a really nice sized fish, just right, about twenty five pounds. Perfect for me to enjoy for quite some time. We landed the beauty in the boat and I was ecstatic. So was everyone on board. We all high fived and everyone congratulated me. It was awesome. I asked the deck hand to save me the carcass as I wanted to make a fish stock. I also asked him to save me the liver as they are really tasty. The filets are the perfect size and Brian, the deck hand, did a great job of filleting all of my fish.
I will add the recipe for my fish stock to the blog soon. I am also putting on the recipe of the halibut dish I prepared when I did my Chef interview for my current Executive Chef position here at Comcast Arena and Event Center. Ah yes, my Executive Chef interview. What a day THAT was. That will be one of my next blogs, so please stay tuned!
Captain Justin of the Samarai is such a great guy, he offered to take me and my co worker out for ling cod and black bass at a cheaper rate and it was going to be just the two of us on board. What a guy! How could we refuse! Less money and less people on board…we pounced on the offer! The weather forecast was perfect, so off to Westport we went, arriving early and eager to set sail at six thirty that morning. I also love ling cod and black bass and they have been nailing them in Westport recently, so we were extremely confident that we would limit out and be back at the dock for lunch by noon.
Well, the wind gods decided to frown upon us and it was blowing twenty five knots. The tide was ebbing and the wind was against the tide so we had a massive chop and some really gnarly conditions going out over the bar. We took several waves over the bow but on we went. When we finally got into the ocean the waves were still pretty big, a few fifteen footers, but for the most part it was just fine. And Captain Justin is a great helmsman so he kept us on our lines. Because of the wind we drifted really fast which meant we had to keep pulling up our lines and head back up the hill to the rock patches we were angling. But catch fish we did. All of us. Even the Captain’s friend who was invited at the last minute. Three guys reeling them in, in big wind and big waves- too much fun!
It was my lucky day as I caught the most black bass, six, and I limited out on ling cod catching my quota of two. But the best surprise of the day was the massive wrenching tug on my line that bent my rod and started my reel singing as the line played out and whatever it was that ate my bait began to run. And run. And run. I finally came to my senses and tightened the drag on my reel and began the arduous but fun process of reeling whatever it was on the end of my line in. I reeled. And reeled. And reeled as my fellow fisherman made some really funny jokes like “What did you hook, Moby Dick?” and “It must be a halibut!” It turns out that catching a halibut where we were drifting is pretty rare so I figured I had a monster ling cod. Visions of winning the derby danced in my head……
Then suddenly we could see color beneath the waves and guess what I caught? That’s right, a halibut! Woo hoo!!!!!! The Triple Crown! The trifecta of fishing! It was a really nice sized fish, just right, about twenty five pounds. Perfect for me to enjoy for quite some time. We landed the beauty in the boat and I was ecstatic. So was everyone on board. We all high fived and everyone congratulated me. It was awesome. I asked the deck hand to save me the carcass as I wanted to make a fish stock. I also asked him to save me the liver as they are really tasty. The filets are the perfect size and Brian, the deck hand, did a great job of filleting all of my fish.
 |
| Steve, Deck Hand Brian, Chef Stu and Bruiser |
I will add the recipe for my fish stock to the blog soon. I am also putting on the recipe of the halibut dish I prepared when I did my Chef interview for my current Executive Chef position here at Comcast Arena and Event Center. Ah yes, my Executive Chef interview. What a day THAT was. That will be one of my next blogs, so please stay tuned!
 |
| Black Bass on the Barby |
Friday, February 28, 2014
Roasted Winter Pumpkin Soup with Roast Butternut Squash, Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese
 |
| 45 Gallons Pumpkin Soup |
 |
| 600 Bowls of Soup |
Soup Recipe:
2 pounds roasted pumpkin1/2 pound celery- small dice
1/2 pound carrots- small dice
1 pounds onions- small dice
1 1/2 quarts heavy cream
½ quart vegetable stock
1 bunch parsley – finely chopped
1 bunch sage– finely chopped
2 branches Rosemary – finely chopped
½ bunch thyme – finely chopped
1 TBL butter
1 TBL olive oil
Sweat out the vegetables in the butter and olive oil.
Add the heavy cream and bring the heavy cream and vegetables to the boil.
Add the pureed pumpkin and blend well.
Add the finely chopped herbs.
Season with kosher salt and white pepper to taste.
Garnish:
1/2 pound roast butternut squash- dice small1 pound of onions julienne- caramelize in two to three tablespoons of butter
1/2 pound of goat cheese- crumbled
1 bunch chives chopped fine
• In each soup bowl place a small mound of the roast butternut squash.
• Top the squash with some caramelized onions.
• Top the onions with some crumbled goat cheese.
• Ladle in the hot soup being careful not to go directly on the goat cheese until the goat cheese is almost covered.
• Sprinkle on some chives.
ENJOY!!!!!!
 |
| 100 Pounds Roast Pumpkin |
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Components
Components
Who ever would have thought that in the kitchen we deal with components? We do. When planning a plated dinner for, oh say, six hundred guests it is really important to know how many things are being placed on each plate. For example, a salad can have a chicken breast, grilled vegetables, cheese, edible garnish and dressing. That is approximately six components. Why six you ask when the math says five? Because I didn't add the salad greens! Ah ha! Something as simple as this can ruin your entire day if you are one pair of hands short when it comes time to plate six hundred salads!When we do a large event, a lot of pre-planning is involved. We need to know how many guests we are to feed, how much to order, how much to prep a day out, how much to prep the day of the event and how many fellow worker bees it will take to execute the vision of the Executive Chef. My Sous Chef and I have been working together now since my arrival here in June and we are pretty solid when it comes to all of this. It didn't happen overnight but it didn't take very long. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, just refine it. We are doing things now that no one thought possible upon my arrival. Our plates have more components, more flavors, more beauty and what matters the most - more guest satisfaction. Why is this? Because all of the components are just right…
 |
| Components |
What does all of this have to do with recipes? A recipe is a list of components or ingredients that make up a well balanced meal. If one component is too strong or too weak it upsets the balance of the outcome. That is why following a recipe is so important. If you need more salt, add it. If you need more sweetness, add it. If you need more spice, add it! The recipe is the foundation that you can refine. Please feel free to modify any of my recipes to suit your taste. Some people say my chili isn’t hot enough. Some say it is way over the top. Isn’t America great? We have the ability to make it any way we want. I am just providing a solid foundation for all of you to begin with. Enjoy!
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Thai Chicken Stir Fry
1 TBL chopped ginger
1 TBL chopped garlic
1 small white onion julienne
1 ea red green and yellow bell pepper julienne
2 TBL scallions small cut
8 oz cooked chicken breast fine julienne
1 tsp toasted white sesame seed
1 tsp black sesame seed
2 TBL white wine
2 TBL ponzu
4 TBL peanut sauce- see my recipe on this blog
Optional- half a cup of blanched broccoli and half a cup blanched cauliflower
•Get a skillet or wok hot on a medium high heat
•Add the sesame oil and vegetable oil
•Add the ginger and garlic and give it a quick stir
•Add all vegetables and chicken and stir
•Add white wine and stir
•Add peanut sauce
•Add soy sauce
•Stir all ingredients
•Add all sesame seeds and scallions
•Serve piping hot over Jasmine rice
Thai Peanut Sauce
2 cups smooth or chunky peanut butter1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
•Combine all ingredients with a whisk until smooth. •Refrigerate half an hour and serve.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Seared Scallops
Looking for a special recipe to make your special someone for Valentine's Day? Here's how I make my Seared Scallops. Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)