The Salt of the Earth-

So yet again I feel the significance of Salt is being ignored. I used to to unaware of the differences between different varieties and grades and qualities of salt until i started getting hardcore into food. One of the first differences i noticed in good cuisine versus normal or substandard food was the salt used or made available to me.

When i graduated from using disgusting, hard to pinch iodized garbage my first upgrade was good Kosher- it seems simple enough but the difference in quality was impressive. not only was its appearance lovelier, and its taste far superior, but the coarser grain also made it SOOOO much easier to not only throw the salt exactly where i wanted it, but to get exactly how much i wanted on the plate or in the pan. Plus the Morton Salt girl is fucking dope.

for the love of god people this is one of those simple changes like decent oil, and fresh garlic that if you arent already doing it, you should just give a shotgun a blowjob, because you probably wont be able to tell the difference in taste between the buckshot and the Lean Cuisine youre microwaving anyway.

Upgrading your salt, knowing to use light fruity oils to dress finished product versus to prepare the product, mincing your garlic to order versus using some oil soaked racid shite..... its easy shit like this that will massively improve the way you eat.

the balance of two loves.

so i was talking to my chef the other day about relationships, and he mentioned in passing that hes been divorced and cheated on however many girlfriends because his true love has always been the food. His said this mind you, in front of our pastry chef, his wife. He says you have to have a love affair with food. where i dont debate his idea that food is life, i do debate that a love of the food automatically means one cant love anything equally.

As a few of you may know, the typical life of a cook is ruled by extremes, hellish work-followed by excess of reward, be it alchohol, "illicit substances" or multitudes of less than classy, scantily clad women. With that said, i cant say that it isnt justifiable, this life isnt an easy one, in the least. Its long and hard and the fuckers who do it, and voluntarily have some peenchey cahones to do so.

But my point is this, i'm of the believe that there can be a balance between more than on love. I just recently got into a serious relationship with a girl whos never been in one with a guy in foodservice. When we started dating i basically said "im a degenerate son of a bitch, with a limited moral compass and no respect for authority... really, im a horrible person." I prefaced myself with that just because i know how i am, and i know my life. i'll love her till the day that i die but the fact is, as i often tell her..."I'm a cook". I let that qoute explain alot of my rediculous behavior and generally its takin pretty well considering the bullshit i spew. whether im currently in the kitchen or not, i am by nature hostile, tough, insensitve and hellbent. at least to everyone but her. My sense of humor is less than socially acceptable and i get extremely involved in all my interests. cooking and her being the top to of these.

---the real question of this bit is that i did while i did say top two, i believe my passion for each of them can be equal, ive seen to many a grill man end a relationship because he felt he couldnt devote his life to both-

i dont think it has to be that way. at all. i think the love for each can play off of each other and strenthen the love of each other. what do you guys think? HMMM???

35 mm Minolta for sale

I have in my possesion a sexy Minolta x-370 35 millimeter camera for sale. It was my dads, and he gave it to me before moving. He is a professional videographer so the camera has been treated with the utmost care.
Included in the one time only combo pack:

Minolta X-370s body
vivitar mc teleconverter 2x-5
1 minolta 50mm 1:1.7
1 minolta 50mm 1:2
minolta auto X200 flash
minolta auto winder

also a shutter slave will be included.
and for an astoundingly cheap negotiable $250 (electronics/kitchen wares of equal or approximate value will be considered for trade)

yeah, more regular food stuff later

the restaurant is a living thing and its my belief that the kitchen is the heart of it, (no offence to FOH) When everybody is just and a perfect groove and shit is hitting the pass dead on time and dishes are tasting good, and everybody is content and people start anticipating orders and moving in perfct rhythm: life is good. I live for that man, its the equivalent of amys bread smell, where it is something that is problematic to describe but thick enough to cut with a knife.on the flip side when things arent so smooth, and i get weeded or somebody fucks some timing up or gets a refire there is the same amount of energy and passion but i'm pissed. Its when im pissed and weeded that i feel i start to get good, i love that pressure. even during prep and shit. My brunoise gets really fucking tiny and perfect and my chiffonade gets filiment thin and i start thinking about breaking down that whole pig in the walk in noone wants to fuck with. i love pushing myself during those moments which is odd because im a lazy fat bastard in affairs unrelated to food. like you guy were saying it is about how you recover. I recover sitting on the trash can at the bus stop, calming down, trying to stop doing math in my head for tommorow, trying to shut down. I unbutton a few buttons and try and rub off the thick layer of gritty grease and sweat on my forehead and clean the supertiny spray of oil off my glasses and acess wounds and decide whether or not they need futher medical attention. and i sit there in the dark and clear everything out. no matter how shitty or great service went, im saying to myself "Im going to be Black Escoffier! im going to rule my kitchen with an iron whisk and plate monkeys and runners will cower before my mighty clogs! grillmen will tremble at the sight of my meez, agast at the amount of 3 michelin star plates I and my titan like crew will produce every night."Yeah, i wanna be really really good. i want to be at the unatainable level of greatness. i want those fuckers to have to add an extra star to the scale because of my restaurant.i have high hopes and i sit at the bus-stop hellbent on achieving them. however long it takes.wish me luck guys, tommorow im gonna try and get this local bakery to let me apprentice there. I'm used to saying "let me peel your shallots" i guess now ill say, "let me fix your malfuncting Hobbart and feed cultures."whatver you guys were cooking sounded DEE-HEE-HEE-Licious(greatest opening track to date)

i love the smell of capitalism in the late afternoon. well, capitalism and brownies. more brownies than capitalism. Capitalism tends to give me heart-burn which my doc says i should be trying to stray away from. ironically, brownies-- he hasnt mentioned despite the fact that in 300 lbs with elated stress levels and a pentient for bloody steet fights. yeah. Brownies.

The real me is something the mass populace finds unacceptable. I've called myself trying other career pathes than this and all have resulted in social grease fires. Making the switch from ass whomping "i will fuck you up if you take anymore of my towels" linecook to cuddly boyfiend/girlfriend or even upstanding citizen can be a bitch. i find that people in this industry tend to be unable to explain the satisfaction they get from a good service or even picking up a knife and approaching a board. there is a confidence that exudes from me when behind a stove that exists no where else. when i'm rested and my knives are sharpened and ive got a 2 litre of Fresca in my meez and i'm ready and i'm fucking crunk. that is a feeling i only get from cooking. in public i'm just a really big, rude, un-explicably difficult mother-fucker who has problems dealing with authority and those outside of this family of outcasts.i believe Bourdain said it best."this is an industry that tends to draw in the 'fringe elements' of society." And despite the fact that somehow suddenly its "cool" to be a coke head, paint sniffing barely functioning social pariya who just happens to know how to wield a Global or sous vide a duck breast, i still love the life i lead. when it comes down to it for us there are cooks; and then there is everybody else.

this is that new shit

meh,
strawberry clafoutis- didnt hate it, used Jacques Pepins recipe, so, maybe i just dont like egg custard.
pancakes for dinner- good, but like Mitch Hedbeg says. Pancakes are great at first but by the end your fuckin' sick of em'
I really want like a nice big chunk f brisket right now, im seroiusly contimplating asking my butvher to sell me a whole Primal more dinner tommorow.
Bacon fat is the new butter.
shallots should not be 2 for $1.59
if your still using crappy iodized salt at this point, just kill yourself.
i used to hate hearing higher up chefs say shit like, "oh, i dont eat 'junk food', im beyond that." but the other day i bout a whopper from BK and was disgusted, all i could taste was underripe and overripe veggies, smothered with mayo undoubtedly from a bag, a bun of inferior quality that was crumbley despite having been "toasted" and a thin, over-cooked meat pattie that was a think as all the cheaper burgers, just wider. iwas about to cut a bitch.
and then i realized, that kinda food really just isnt good to me anymore, which im both proud of and disgusted with myself for.
i went home and came up wit this.

the "homewrecker"
-one brioche bun-toasted on flat-top.
-barrel vinagered kosher dill pickles. sliced
-1/2 lb 80/20 ground sirlion. Rare to mid-rare, wood, charcoal grilled. baisted with reserved bacon fat
-thick slices aged blue cheese, like a stilton if you can get it. steam melt onto both bun sides
-crisp romaine
-high-grain dry mustard, i like ingle-hoffer's
-heirloom tomatoe slices, razor RAZOR thin,
-thick cut bacon- Excessive fat removed- pan fried-peppered
- avacado slices, thinly for best texture.
-carmelized onions- cooked in bacon fat, deglaze pan with beef stock and port for au jus to serve

assemble, plate in pleasant fashion serve with pomme-frites and jus, with German Beer or Ale