Raised Beds

With quite a bit of help yesterday from my father-in-law, we spread a yard of gravel in the yard, then built a 8X12 raised garden bed, filled it with a yard of compost, then two yards of top soil. it should be painted by next week and should have some stuff in it soon. i am a little bit unclear on what i will plant, but have some simple stuff in mind. it was a ton of work and soil isnt very cheap, but it is level, and square should be big enough to get some production out of it. we also planted a few Gerber daisy starts as they are a family favorite. while i try to stay away from posting about things i am doing that arent directly food related, Tolbert was a huge hand, and deserves many thanks, and given some elbow grease, and some sunlight its product should be culinary related soon. enjoy your day.

Updating- veal stock

Since i posted about veal stock it has been working for two days taking only nights off. both of my original pulls are done and have some great gelatin. this morning i will cut and roast my mirepoix, and get them to come together for a few hours, and then begin to reduce it. once reduced (probably all day today as again it has to go slow- it can not boil) i am not sure what i will do with it, so i am thinking that if i put it in canning jars it will freeze well and or hold in my fridge with a lid for more than a month. nice to come home from a long day at work to the smell of roasted veal bones for two days straight. fear not though, new smells are coming soon.

Sumac

Sumac is a mediteranean spice that has a reddish color, and a taste that is hard to describe. to me i get hints of lemon and other citrus from it but it is very calm and mellow. i have had some at home for a while from a company called penzeys. i am huge fan of them as most of the blends they carry dont have any sort of salt in them which is a huge plus for a seasoning freak. anything that you can imagine they have, they are an Amaerican company, and sell really high quality stuff and sell it in a a large variety of sizes as well. you can of course find them online, but if you can swing it they have shops around the country, and you can go in and actually smell and look at each spice they sell. a really nice perk for me. again i have had it for a while but someone on a tv show i watch used it the other day and i love when things like that happen as it tends to bring things out of obscurity a bit. i did a sumac and salted piece of king salmon that was seared to medium rare over a bed of asparagus rissoto. gorgeous dish. i encourage you to think about expanding your horizons when it comes to herbs and spices because when used effectively they can up your cooking ante quite a bit. you dont need to go all out ( i have about 15 spices and herbs i use on a regular basis) as that will help you to keep things moving through inventory. i use fresh herbs when i find it appropriate, but i dont really find it that appropriate all that often.

Gulf Prawn Crisis

As you may well be very aware we have had and are having a oil spill in the gulf of mexico. the issue is on the sea floor an estimated five thousand feet down, and as near as i can tell no one has any idea how to stop it. today i read that it is leaking a presumable 5000 barrels of raw crude oil a day into the gulf. that topped with the fact that lousianna shrimp season was to open in the last few days means disaster for that already struggling part of the country. the way it works is my purveyors bought enough prawns last year to get them through the winter, if they purchased effectively then their stocks should be very much depleted by this point, waiting for this seasons harvest to start coming. i use a 16-20 white mexican wild gulf prawn at work. i would love to use a fresh prawn but their availbilty is very limited. i do get them once or twice a year. 16-20 refers to the count per pound. in the past we have used black tiger prawns that are farmed in places like bangladesh, but after some research we decided that we could buy a better prawn, granted it is more expensive but they are farmed much more sustainably. this issue will create problems for this season and will affect prawn prices across the world thanks to supply and demand. so my choice is to buy an inferior product for more money than its worth. gotta find a solution. i contacted purveyors yesterday and negotiated a bulk buy. so on friday we will take receipt of 15 30# cases of prawns that will go into my freezer. it was an expensive decision, but should save us money in the long run, and allow me to serve the product my customers expect. i was the first to negotiate a deal, get all the right peoples blessing and approval and work a sweet deal. while prawn prices are going to affect me most, the industry is also heavy in oysters, crab, and all sorts of fin fish. my thoughts go out to the people and wildlife affected by this, and i sincerely hope we can solve and repair any damages as soon as possible and hold the proper people accountable.

Veal Stock

Making veal stock at home tonight, another one of those great tasks where a bit of knowledge, and a bunch of time come together in a amazing product. i bought about 3 pounds of veal bones from work today (i cant find these anywhere locally). they are in the oven and will be for 2 hours, i will pull them out and rub them with tomato paste, then put them back in the oven for another half hour or so. on to the stove topped with enough water to cover them on low heat for about 8 hours, then strained and started again with more water for another 8-10 hours. on the second boil i will add a load of caramelized mirepoix (2 parts onion, 1 part each of carrot and celery) but wont let that go for more than 2 hours with the mirepoix. then strained and cooled, skimmed and combined it will all be reduced by 2/3rds into demi-glace. the final product should have great depth, flavor, color, and mouth feel. i like to add a split pork trotter (pigs foot) to the mix for some extra gelatin as well. demi glace is the perfect sauce for any steak dish, and is a great beginning to all sorts of sauce options. the usage of veal bones is necessary instead of just beef bones as they contain more elastin and gelatin, and more flavor. also it is important to note that you need bones that have some marrow exposed (after roasting i usually spread some marrow on a piece of bread as a snack) not just knuckles because they will not allow any extraction of flavor. i do understand that veal along with some other high end proteins can be a political nightmare, but again i assure you that if you treat veal with the respect it deserves (even if it is just bones) then you will still be able to sleep at night.

Red Tail Perch

Locally perch can be seen jumping in the surf when the conditions are perfect. a small fish that looks alot like a toothless piranha. we were able to get about 20 fresh perch today, and getting them scaled and gutted fell on my shoulders before i could go home tonight. they are on the special for tomorrow- buttermilk soaked then dredged in rice flour then fried whole. going to serve them with a white peach puree (one of my favorite fruits of all time) some roasted local potatoes, braised local greens, and asparagus. again, while scaling and gutting fish isn't a fun task, especially late on a Saturday night when i would much rather go home, its still a task that needs to be done. this fish represents a life that was taken for the sole purpose of consumption. i owe it to the fish, the ocean, the men who caught it, my customers, my purveyors, and myself to take tasks like this seriously, and with the up most respect and reverence, and i try to tackle any protein related job as such. i encourage you to think about the proteins you both eat and cook like this. we are fortunate to have these things and we owe it to them to treat them with dignity and approach them in a skilled manner.

Peeled Potatoes

A quick look at one of the most basic of kitchen tasks- peeling potatoes. this is about 150 lbs. of potatoes that were peeled today and i thought i would touch on this fundamental task. busy weekend at work, and this is one of the basic prep tasks that is done in almost every kitchen. i have had more than a few dishwashers that wanted to become cooks and i tell them the same thing every time. you cant be a cook until you have peeled 2000 lbs of potatoes, and 1000 lbs of carrots, and peeled and diced 2000 lbs of onions. it is a simple fundamental task that is important for the kitchen. i still do tasks like this, and while i didn't peel very many of these at all, i have peeled more than my fair share. i try to explain often to people that if you are bothered by a task like peeling potatoes, or washing dished for that matter, then you should rethink your career choice. it doesn't get any easier from those points. take the opportunity to enjoy tasks like this at home. i know they can be a pain, but in the end, its a simple job that allows you to get to know your product better, and teaches you some basic kitchen discipline.