Selfish, Selfless, and a Recipe

The food service industry is perhaps the most personal of all artistic outlets. Yes, one can feel connected to actors at a theater performance, go crazy at a rock concert, or even simply be moved by an incredible painting. Yet food is the only medium necessary for survival from a biological view. The "art" a chef creates nourishes on many different levels.
Before a dish is ever ordered, hours of prep work go into it. From sauce making, butchering, chopping, blanching, and even purchasing, good food requires dedication.
Sure, this is all great and the food service industry now sounds like a collective bunch of altruistic artists. But here's the catch, a reasonable cook can make good food, but a successful one can make food others enjoy and come back for. You might be the one in front of the stove, but you're not the one about to eat. You could create the best dish you've ever experienced, but if you're the only one who thinks so, you just made the equivalent of blob of Play Doh in a sculpture gallery. Who cares what you think if it doesn't resonate with anyone else?
There is also the flip side to this. How can you create a dish with integrity if you wouldn't even order it?
The answer is simple: seek out people who would order it and have them taste it. I recently faced this issue with banana sorbet. There are many foods I choose not to eat for personal reasons, but bananas are one of the few foods I flat out refuse to taste. I have never liked them and I am sure I never will, so having me taste a dish with them won't give me an accurate evaluation of the finished dish. So the following is my recipe for banana sorbet. I've been told it's good.

3 C granulated sugar
3.5 C hot water
2 Tbsp creme de banane liqueur
3 C banana puree (about 5 bananas)

Make a simple syrup by heating the water and sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat. All of the sugar should dissolve. Allow this to cool to room temperature. Measure 3 cups of simple syrup and combine with the liqueur and puree. Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer's instructions. Place sorbet in a plastic container and cover the surface of the sorbet with plastic wrap. Allow sorbet to chill in the freezer for at least one hour.

Edo My Sushi!

Restaurant Review: Edo Sushi, New Brunswick, NJ

New Brunswick is a living oxymoron. It's a restaurant city, a college town, and yet driving and parking for the myriad of services offered by these two labels never ceases to be a nightmare. I think that's because road construction never ceases, but that's a whole other post.

A dear friend and I were able to make last minute lunch plans when, lo and behold, our work schedules meshed. The joys of maintaining a social life in this industry... After the holidays, both of us needed a little indulgence, but nothing extravagant. Edo Sushi was the perfect fit.

Edo is a quaint restaurant with enough options to please both sushi lovers and land lubbers. Like all good sushi places, Edo was spotlessly clean. If you ever enter a restaurant, especially one that focuses on serving highly perishable raw product that even hints at being unsanitary, leave immediately.

The menu at Edo is extensive and my friend and I needed some time to decide. Our green tea arrived moments after we ordered it, yet our friendly waitress gladly gave us extra time make our sushi choices. Sadly, the day for our lunch was a cold, rainy day, hardly raw fish weather. Luckily for us, Edo offers traditional udon and ramen noodle bowls. Hot broth and slurp-worthy noodles were made for rainy days!

In fitting with Edo's business lunch crowd focus, diners can choose from a variety of combo specials. A huge bowl of ramen in homemade broth with a spicy tuna roll for $12.95? I'm there!

Unlike other spicy tuna rolls I've had in the past, Edo keeps the tuna in solid pieces rather than mincing it fine before mixing it into the spicy sauce. Not only does this make for a nicer presentation, but the integrity of the fish is maintained. Mincing the fish means that the sushi chef can use scraps from cleaning the tuna, including the less savory bloodline, before mixing into chili mayo. Edo's way demonstrated their commitment to quality sushi.

Both of our soups were served piping hot. The broths were incredibly savory, rich with soy, scallions, and vegetable flavors, yet light.

Glancing around the dining room, my friend and I noticed we were the only people there. Yet Edo does a brisk take out and delivery lunch business. Considering the weather, I can't blame people for not wanting to leave their offices or dorms!

Our meal ended with green tea and red bean ice creams. Yes, it was cold outside. Yes, we started our lunch clutching the cups of green tea, but ice cream is always appropriate. Green tea ice cream is one of my favorite flavors, but the smooth, creamy red bean might be my new flavor of choice. Reminiscent of watermelon freshness and vanilla complexness, the ice cream was a perfect way to end a warming lunch.

After paying our ridiculously economical check, we realized that lunch for two had cost less than half of dinner for one at the nearby The Frog and the Peach. Amazingly, our experience at Edo was just as refreshing as an extravagant dinner.

Happy 2009!

Congrats to anyone else in the restaurant industry - you have survived the first two of the "Big Three" as I refer to them. Christmas, New Year's Eve, and Valentine's Day are all high profit/ high pressure days for anyone who cooks or serves as a way to put bread, beer, or organic quinoa on their own table. If you know someone in this business, please be extra kind to them during this time of the year. Tempers may be short, time is not on our side, but you can return to your regularly scheduled cook or server on February 15th.

As January gets off to a hopeful albeit cold start, it's hard not to reflect on the past year. I've never been a fan of regrets and second guesses usually only lead to mistakes. The more I think about it, the more obvious it becomes that January is the worst time to start anything. Let's face the facts. If you're living in a place with highly defined seasons in the Northern Hemisphere, most likely, you haven't seen sunlight past 5PM and enjoy rocking the layered look. Do you seriously want to go for a walk after work to burn off that eggnog you drank a month ago? If you have a gym membership, how likely are you to drag yourself out of your cocoon of a bed early to go?

But it's the food this time of the year that really provides downfall. Braised short ribs, thick cut French toast on Christmas morning, cream-based cocktails, hearty soups, the list goes on. And yes, Christmas cookie calories do count even after the new year. There's snow on the ground; I really don't want a salad. Do you have some nice risotto with a side of larger pants, please?

Food this time of the year is hearty, comforting, and most likely traditional. The only problem is, these traditions come from a long ago era. A majority of us are not farmers who go out into their fields 7 days a week and physically need the calories a large meal provides. A majority of us sit at desks in climate controlled offices, yet the primal craving for stew lives on.

So this is where we are. Socially expected to make drastic personality changes overnight, to atone for holiday overeating sins, and to find the time to balance the checkbook, volunteer as an EMT, and write The Great American Novel. I'm not saying it can't be done. Quite the contrary. I just need to start my New Year in May.

The Primal Call of the Golden Arches

I might be a CIA grad. I might work in one of my home state's best restaurants. I might limit my meat intake and drive a hybrid.
...I might also be human.
Every so often, the craving for fast food hits me. Not a quaint little tap on the shoulder, but a full throttle wallop. As my mind fills gleefully with images of gooey nacho cheese, the crisp snap of a McNugget, and the cool sensation of a chocolate Frostee, I take a step back. Sure, how easy it would be to stop at the Mickey-D's drive through on my way home, but is an Extra Value Meal really worth it?
On an emotional level, the idea of fast food is on the same plane as comfort food for many. There's something soul satisfying about fried food: salty, greasy, fat-loaded fried food. Virtually every culture has some sort of fried item, from pot stickers, to knishes, to crullers, fried food is universal. Thanks to this, many of us find some familiarity in the fried aspect of fast food.
Fast food is also easy. The drive through experience has increased in quality over the past few years, making pulling off the highway and driving away with your guilty pleasure even simpler. Bark your order into a menu with a microphone and part with a few bucks. Yes, some Americans have even mastered the art of car cuisine. No thanks - I don't feel like cleaning sweet and sour sauce off of my seats any time soon.
What truly stops me from feeding into these spastic cravings is the connotation that comes with being a fast food consumer.
I'm not fast, cheap, and easy.

Wow...it's been a while

So who else is excited that Bravo's hit Top Chef is back on? After watching the first few episodes of this season, I'm really starting to question the integrity of the TC producers.
First off, how unfair is it to have an elimination as soon as the chef-testants get in front of the cameras? Yes, I understand that someone needs to be the first to leave, but seriously, can't we show some hospitality? Lauren and Patrick should have known, though, that salads are usually not good choices. In season 3, Sam Talbot opted to serve cold dishes for a challenge. The only sound bite from Head Judge Chef Tom regarding Sam's food was,"But he didn't cook anything!" and Sam was asked to pack his knives. Maybe it's best to actually cook something in a cooking competition...
As much issue as I have with CIA student Patrick being eliminated after the first main challenge, my true problem with the situation is how he was even cast above chefs with years more experience. As a CIA grad, I understand the passion, determination, and sense of false bravado that culinary school students possess. But for producers to even think that a young student could hack it in an arena like the Top Chef Kitchen is disturbing. For all the hemming and hawing that went on at Judges' Table about Patrick, it became obvious that he was out of his league. Not only has Patrick been publicly humiliated, but now he's going to be known as a young cook who tried to get too big too fast. Best of luck, Pat! Make sure you finish your degree before you start your career.

Food Network Star or Has Been that Never Was?

Congrats to my fellow Jersey culinarian Aaron McCargo Jr, winner of this season of Next Food Network Star!
After a tough few weeks of culinary competitions, Aaron is ready to start work on his new show "Big Daddy's Kitchen" premiering this weekend at 1:30 Saturday afternoon.

NFNS started this season off with a lackluster bang. Even after the first few episodes aired, none of the contestants emerged as a front runner. I could say with complete honesty that none of them had the charisma needed and the food knowledge needed to pull a decent viewership.
After some tough love training, Aaron became a more polished presenter with the food chops to match. Once he gained some camera confidience, it was easy to cheer him on. As a raw food talent coming from the poorest area in the nation, Aaron's win was certainly a deserved one.

Looking back on the first few seasons of NFNS, the odds are stacked against him, though. Regardless of his win, Aaron still stands a 2 in 3 shot of seeing "Big Daddy's Kitchen" get the big axe from the network. Consider the following: I can't even remember the names of the couple who won the first season. Amy Finley is MIA less than 1 year later. Guy Frieri is the only one out of all the winners to still have a presence on Food Network. "Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives" is going strong after a few seasons. Guy is also the new spokesperson for TGI Friday's, an assuredly lucrative position.

The only question at this point is,"why?" Why have a majority of these "new stars" failed so quickly? After all, they were handpicked by the top executives of the network and given the chance to learn from some already established food personalities. They even get voted on by Food Network viewers! You picked this person, audience, why aren't you watching? What went wrong?

It comes down to a matter of timing, prime timing that is! NFNS is shown on Sunday nights, not exactly the strongest time slot for family television, but certainly better than weekday early afternoons in terms of viewership potential. But instead of giving the winner of NFNS the chance to wow a prime time audience, their new show is put into a weekend afternoon slot. The potential viewers the new star had built up over the course of the competition now need to associate a new time with a familiar personality. Can you teach an old viewer new tricks?

I am starting to think that the only fair way to work with a winner is to give him or her a solid month of prime time show exposure, 8PM one night a week. Check the numbers. If people are actually tuning in for the new show, consider keeping the show in that slot. If not, consider a move to make room for a more popular program and take it from there. You need to give your new stars a fighting chance, Food Network!

Could the new star be fighting a losing battle even before the show begins? As people watch NFNS, they develop a liking or an aversion for certain contestants. When their favorite gets the grand prize, they might tune in to the new show. If their least favorite wins, the likelihood of them watching the new star's show is minimal at best. Considering that the show starts with 10 contestants, there is a 9 in 10 chance (on a strict statistics basis!) that the passionate NFNS viewer will not tune in for the resulting program. I can assure you that from episode 1, if Lisa or Kelsey had won, I knew I would not watch the new show.

Aaron's show is another story. "Big Daddy's Kitchen" seems to embody the energy and fun that Aaron brought to NFNS. Tune in and hopefully save this new star from a premature burn-out!

Leaner, Greener, Cheaper

I'm the coupon clipper in my house, the one who gets up on Sunday mornings and gleefully pours over the newspaper inserts, scissors in one hand, coffee in the other. Some weeks are luckier than others, but the thrill of saving at least 5% off of the grocery bill was a great game.
As our economic conditions worsen, fuel and food prices rise, coupon clipping for many of us is no longer a game, but a necessary means of saving. Browsing through many homepages like MSN, Yahoo!, and AOL also yields a list of articles on getting the most out of the ever shrinking dollar. It becomes apparent that our social mindset is quickly changing from "Too much is never enough" to "Scraping by is the new norm". Yes, the times are a'changing, but some of these changes can actually be good for both your wallet and the environment. Here's my 2 cents, or approximately $1.34 at the current inflation on things you can do right now to make your situation better:

1. Get by with less. Eat less food, drive fewer miles, buy less "stuff" that you probably don't need. By decreasing your general consumption of all resources in general, you'll quickly become a healthier individual. This also has a side benefit: fewer doctor visits, less illness, and a smaller, leaner you. 1 cup of coffee instead of 2. Smaller portions of heavy foods.

2. Try to cut back on your driving and trade in that disgusting (yes, I said it) SUV. I don't care if you bought it when gas was $1.47 a gallon; back then, you were consuming more than your fair share of natural resources, and the same holds true today. 75% of folks who drive those mammoth must-be-compensating-for-something vehicles do not need this type of transportation on a daily basis. Stop pretending to conquer the jungles of suburbia and learn to live within current gas prices.

3. Minimize meat consumption. Look at your current grocery spending. How much is going towards these expensive proteins? Try going vegetarian one night a week. Eggplant parm instead of veal. Tofu in that stirfry instead of beef. Peanut butter instead of deli turkey for sandwiches. Meat production is one of the most environmentally harmful processes used for getting food from farm to plate. Consider this: every hamburger stops a beating heart. Take responsibility for what you eat and what, and whom, was sacrificed in the process.

4. Use your local library for entertainment before you go to a bookstore, a music shop, or a movie rental company. That expensive bestseller that you're only going to read once is a hefty investment. Also, consider the amount of paper wasted if everyone else also bought the same book and only read it once, too. The exception to this rule is, of course, books you plan on using for references for many years to come and favorite movies you will watch over and over again. Donate books, DVDs, etc that you no longer enjoy to a favorite charity and get a record of your donation for tax deduction purposes.

5. Clip coupons, but only for products you already use. I try to avoid processed food, so redeeming a coupon for a product like Lunchables is still a waste of my money. Also, by not clipping every coupon, more paper gets reused when I recycle the Sunday paper. Think of sharing the rest of the paper with a neighbor or friend who is also interested in saving.

6. Recycle. Save trees by using both sides of paper. Use canvas totes for grocery shopping. Many stores will give a discount for bringing your own bag. Get a travel coffee mug and fill it with your own hot beverage instead of buying that $3.50 latte. Please stop buying plastic one use spring water bottles and get your own reuseable bottle. FYI: Municiple water is constantly tested for cleanliness. Bottled spring water is not a regulated product. Think about it. Why should water have to travel thousands of miles over water just so you can drink a product you could have gotten almost free from a local source?

7. Minimize make-up. Ladies, here's the honest truth: you're even more beautiful than you can imagine and even more stunning when your natural beauty shines through. Besides, all of the make-up that gets used to clog your pores every year generates millions of non-recycleable plastic containers. Producing those colored chemicals also generates thousands of pounds of waste. Yes, I know, I too love glamming it up for an evening out. However, investing in some environmentally sound skin care products is an even better use of your cosmetics cash. You'll need less make-up to feel done up, your skin won't be abused as much, and Mother Nature will also look prettier.

8.Use your bank's online bill pay option. You'll save time, paper, and not using stamps will certainly add up to about a $25 savings per year. Invest that in a travel water bottle and you'll save even more.

9. Invest in a clothesline. Dry clothes, sheets, etc for free. Not only will you save on electricity, but also extend the life of your dryer and get rewarded with fresher fabrics. Hang used bath towels to dry and use them again. Think about it: you just used that towel to dry your clean self. It's minimally dirty. By using a towel twice, you'll reduce your laundry loads, thus saving on water, electricity, soap, and time.

10. Relax. Turn off the tv, the radio, the computer, the cell phone, all media stimuli. Take a nap, take a walk, stretch, just breathe.