Friday, February 25, 2011

Pasta #2 & #3

Lots and lots of projects and gigs in the last few weeks.  Of note, is a project I will be blogging about very soon! (note: Can't post just yet... waiting on legal to approve...yes, legal.)

BUT, in the mean time, the pasta roller was in full effect last week.  With lots and lots of cooking going on, fresh pasta was a necessary side dish.  My lovely sous & baker Amanda accompanied me on the latest pasta adventure. I found the perfect dough recipe, but it took me 2 trys to get the dough together... 8 eggs, and 8 cups of flour later, I had my good lookin dough! 


After letting the dough hangout for a few hours, it was time to roll out some pasta! Amanda was over, and the fun began. Fettuccine was the cut, a tomato alfredo was the sauce. And a roast chicken the meat!  Thanks for hanging out, pants!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Valentines Lamb Chops & Local Press!!

Ski towns are awesome for a number of reasons. Like riding chairlifts with friends. A few weeks ago, I was fortunate to meet Ms. Julie Brown while sharing a lift up Headwall. Julie writes for Moonshine Ink (http://www.moonshineink.com/) a local and independent periodical. Wrapping about food, she was kind enough to slide a small piece into the the next issue about a simple, romantic dinner recipe.  After a bit of brainstorming, I used my Lavender-Rosemary Rack of Lamb recipe with some slight modifications.

Then we cooked! Julie and our mutual friend Hiedi came over with a camera, interview tools, and some wine.  The interview and dinner went great. Read the article here! 

http://www.moonshineink.com/articles.php/84/2233


Thanks again Julie!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Celebrity Chef

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of cooking for a client I've cooked for a number of times.  As I walked into the kitchen to unload my gear, I looked at the kitchen table and recognized the man sitting there. This night, I was cooking for Michael Chiarello.  For those who don't know, he owns a pretty famed restaurant in Napa, authored a handful of cookbooks, and was on Top Chef Masters.  Needless to say, I was suddenly nervous.  The menu was simple, something I've done a bunch. 


Dinner went well, I hope. The cool takeaways were not only did I get to cook for a big time celebrity chef, but that he got to taste a big piece of me and my family.  I made my grandma's Lemon Steak. A simple marinade that I enjoy so much I call it my "Last Meal."  I kept peeking in to see how everything was going, and as I cleared plates, I noticed his was clean... I'll take it!


Thanks again to my clients and Michael for letting me cook on Saturday! Hope to do it again real soon.

Pasta #1 - Fettuccine & Tomato Sausage sauce

Recently I've been getting some awesome cooking toys from close friends and family encouraging to try new stuff, and in turn invite them over for dinner.  My dear friend Nikki bought me a traditional hand-crank pasta maker for my birthday.  Being the Italian that she is, I know this gift comes with the caveat "I'll be over for some pasta!" Any time, Nik!

First things first was a dough recipe I can call my own. Lots of research and ideas were flowing. I first sought out some Semolina flour and the guidance of some fellow chefs. For my first go around, I used 1/2 semolina, 1/2 all purpose flour and 2 eggs for my dough. I wasn't aiming to make a ton, just enough to get an idea. Taking all the traditional steps, mixing, kneading, and letting the pasta rest, it was time to start cranking. I also had started a very simple pasta sauce using roma tomatoes and simple seasonings.  I wanted to go very traditional and simple.  


The dough was decent, a tad dry and I found very quickly I need to work on my kneading and rolling out techniques.  But, the pasta started to look pretty good. Sauce bubbling away, I cranked out some Fettuccine and my appetite increased. 


Heavily salting the pasta water, I dropped in my fresh pasta and hovered over it diligently.  In about 3 min, the pasta was ready.  Drained then sauced I was ready for my feast. 


The pasta was good, not great, but I still wolfed it down like someone who hasn't eaten in a week. Notes taken, I learned from my first batch and can only improve from here! Thanks again Nikki!