Passion for Food

As with all art, there has to be a certain amount of passion when you are a chef. Certainly nobody goes into cooking for money or fame, and if they do, they will find themselves in another industry really quick. Everyone wants to create dishes and be "THE" chef, but it takes quite a few years before you even get a shot at that, and in the meantime, you will prepare someone else's dishes over and over again. I had to work a fryer first. Then they gave me the grill. Then I ran sauté. Eventually, my chef would let me cook the family meal (meal for workers during the service break). It wasn't until I worked on my first line for a year before my chef finally let me write a recipe for the nightly special, and that was probably a fast track to get to do your first real chef work, especially for someone that hasn't gone to school.

So it seems if you are really willing to go through all that; and you have a love, knack, and a little luck, you can get to a point where you are doing real chef work. However, there has to be a driving force, a true reason behind the passion. For me it is very simple. I grew up with food; I helped my father cater events from a young age. In fact, my first catering gig was when I was about 12 or 13 and my dad had got called offshore with his normal job, and asked the client if they minded his son do it. I don't know if he told them my age, but probably not. My father, by no means a chef, is an excellent cook on a pit, or fryer, or a boil pot, and he is an awesome organizer. Still to this day, if there is BBQ-ing to be done, my family usually asks him first, then me if he can't do it.

However, I took that solid base of food and event planning to another level. My passion for food increased as I traveled and ate more and more foods. Twenty years ago in Katy, TX there were not a whole lot of options. Cucos, Jill's, Midway BBQ, and that was about it. So it wasn't until later that I started getting diverse food in my diet. As I traveled, ate, experienced culture, I realized that we are all basically the same, and one of the main things that binds us is food. Every culture has food that is stapled into their society, and if you observe the food, you can observe the culture.

Almost every culture has traditions of large slow roasted meats that bring everyone together to do one thing. EAT! In Texas we do BBQ. Nowadays you can expand that (in SE TX at least) to frying turkeys, or boiling crawfish, thanks to our Cajun neighbors. In Hawaii, they roast whole pigs. Coastal places have great seafood dishes, like Norway and sturgeon, or New England and clam chowder, or Baltimore and crabs. Italians have lots of dishes like that depending on what region you're from.

Wherever the culture is from, these traditions remain the same. Not to mention the everyday family meals, that believe it or not, some cultures still have. It is not just the food though. It is the spirit of it all. It's the everyone being together, eating and drinking, laughing, arguing, celebrating, mourning. We eat when there is a special occasion like a birth or wedding. We eat when there is a funeral or when someone is ill we bring them soup. Food always helps to ease the transition no matter what the situation.

This weekend my sister is getting married. We are eating, wait for it, BBQ. We are drinking, wait for it, beer, and lots of it. I am looking forward to this a lot. I won't have seen this much of my family together since my last sister's wedding. I will feed off of this event, not on the food, but on the life surrounding me. We will all forget about the recession, the tsunamis, the fighting in the Mid-East and SE Asia. We will only focus on one thing, having a good time, eating good food, and being with great people. Congrats Mikey!!! This one is for you.

 

EZ Roasted Potatoes

Here is a potato recipe that requires no smashing, and absolutely no box of ingredients.

1 ½ lbs. Red Potatoes- quartered or wedged

Salt and Pepper to taste

3-4 Cloves fresh garlic- chopped

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2-3 Sprigs fresh rosemary or 1 ½ tbsp dry rosemary

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
   
2. In a large mixing bowl toss together potatoes, garlic, oil, herbs, and s&p.
   
3. Spread mixture over a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil down.
   
4. Bake in oven for approx. 40 min. or until potatoes are fork tender and golden brown.
   

   
    

   Garnish with fresh parmesan for a nice touch!

Raw Food

As a chef, the questions I am constantly being asked is," What culinary school I went to, or what restaurants have you worked at?" I oblige such questions with cheesy answers like, "I studied at KU, Kitchen University." I know the people asking, without knowing the full meaning behind the real answers, are doing so to give them an idea as to how good a chef I really am. The reason I say that they never know the full meanings behind the real answers because most average people have only heard of a few culinary schools, and have no real idea of their prestige, or are only impressed if you tell them that you worked at Spago or The French Laundry. I have met a handful of people in the industry who have either attended really good cooking schools or have worked in the high end famous restaurants (or claimed they have at least) and have learned that if this is the measuring stick in which chefs are judged, the marks are being missed most of the time.

I could go into detail about my opinions on why this is not a good measuring stick, but that is not my point. My point is to provide the public with my ideas about food and how it should be prepared, and let that at least be a theoretical guide as to what kind of chef I am. The only thing left is to taste my food, but hopefully this will be an introduction as to why it is imperative that you do so.

First of all, food should be as fresh as possible, with few exceptions. Canned foods are a no-no most of the time, there are much better ways of preserving our food this day in age. Fresh-frozen vegetables are much better for you, and usually just as easy if not easier to cook than canned. Plus, it always tastes better. If you are going to go through the trouble of cooking, why not get the best return on investment? There are times when canned is unavoidable. I am rarely stewing my own tomatoes and it is hard to just whip out a bean dish, so those are a few of my exceptions, but I even soak beans or stew tomatoes if I have enough planning time to do so. Obviously, I use fresh vegetables whenever possible, but fresh-frozen when need be. People always think that cooking is harder when you use fresh items, but to me it is easier than cooking out of a box because I don't have to follow directions and figure out what the hell this little packet of orange powder is that came in that box.

That actually brings me to point number two. Never cook boxed food. Mashed potatoes must be one of the first dishes every kid learns growing up, usually via some older sibling or cousin's Tom Sawyer style trickery out of spite for mashing potatoes. It only takes roughly four steps to make them. Cut, boil, add ingredients, and mash. That is it. So, why in the hell are we making something called instant potatoes out of a box??? I have been accused of being a food snob when people hear me say things like, "Eww, boxed potatoes, gross." That is only because in about 15 more minute's time we could be eating real potatoes that taste so much better. So if that makes me a food snob, than I think we all need to be a little more food-snobby.

It is actually very apparent when we see more and more fast food and counter service places popping up. We don't care what we are eating, so as long as it is edible and available to go from purchase to mouth shoveling as fast as possible. The evidence is in our hands every time we receive our foods delivered in the same device we are using as a plate, a paper wrapper. Someone once told me, if you are going to do something, do it right. That is the underlying theme. There is a right way, and a wrong way to do everything, preparing food is no different. Sure McDonalds is quick and easy, and gets the kids quiet, and is on the way home, and you don't even have to get out of the car, and etc. However, how long does it take to throw a couple of patties in a skillet, flip, and serve? How hard is it to cut and boil the potatoes instead of pouring the powder into boiling water? Can we not really spare the 15 minutes?

In the military we have lots of stupid sayings. They are all usually pretty useful, because they are meant to guide mass quantities of men through stressful situations. The one I find myself using the most in my life is the 6 P's. Prior planning prevents piss-poor performance. This holds true in almost everything in life. While I am not exactly the most organized person on the day-to-day, I don't have to be. I am nobody's life-coach over here. I am a chef and budding writer. My responsibility to my readers, customers, and guests is food and all things food related. With that being said, this is my philosophy in the kitchen whether at work or at my own home. I run my house kitchen the exact same way I do a commercial kitchen. Start with an inventory. If you keep an inventory of items at home you are more likely to stick to a structured diet. You will be less likely to buy things you don't need at the grocery store, and it will be easy to make lists before you go. Also, you can plan out your meals like a restaurant menu. Make your ingredient lists, and then you will set yourself up for success. This is how I treat each and every meal I eat or cook.

My approach to my food is simple. I use foods we are used to eating and try and push the envelope on flavors and textures. I do not usually cook with foods that are uber-expensive, and I do not usually use ingredients that are next to impossible to find. I have read books on theories about why chefs make small bite sized plates with lots of flavors. They are trying to confuse your pallet, and while it is whimsical and most of the time delicious, that is not how we usually eat. So my philosophy is to make the food so good, you don't want anything else. I want you coming back for seconds, and thirds. I have cooked mixed cuisines, and so I try not to keyhole myself that way. Whatever style or cuisine I am using, however, I am dedicated to getting it right or as close to right as possible with my own Chef Andy flare.

As my chef told me, "Don't forget to breathe." He would tell me that when the kitchen got popping and the tickets were not only across the window, but dragging the floor, hanging 6 feet from the printer. When a kitchen is that busy, mistakes are costly, and remakes are next to impossible so food has to be perfect. I worked broil, so all things grilled. Good thing Texans aren't picky about their steak, ha. However, mis-steaks do happen (realized I needed a food pun). Med-rare accidently goes to medium. A piece of salmon sticks to the grill and falls apart. So remember, it is just food guys, don't be afraid. My point is, let cooking be fun. If you make a mistake, eat it, and try it again.

Pan-Seared Chicken with Pasta Fresco

Pan-Seared Chicken with Pasta Fresco

Cooking Time: 20-30 Minutes

Serves: 4-6

 

4-6 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breasts

¼ cup green bell pepper diced

¼ cup white onion diced

2 tbsp black olives diced

1 tsp fresh garlic minced

¼ cup white wine

2 cups ripe tomatoes-medium dice

4-5 leaves fresh basil diced or chiffonade

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp grapeseed oil

1 bag pasta of choice- I like whole wheat cappelini!!!

 

1. Start the water for pasta first- should be salted and at a rolling boil with plenty of water! In a pre-heated (med-high) stainless or non-stick pan add 1 tsp of oil.
   
2. Pan sear seasoned chicken in hot oil 4-5 minutes on each side- finish for ten minutes in a 400 degree oven.
   
3. Do not clean pan and begin the vegetable sauté adding remaining oil and vegetables in order as listed on the ingredient list, making sure not to burn garlic, only slightly toast.
   
4. Increase heat and add wine to deglaze pan- add tomatoes and let juices reduce for a couple of minutes. This is not a thick sauce, so no need to add thickener.
   
5. Drain pasta and toss in sauce with basil in the heated pan for a minute. Plate and serve with chicken breasts on top. Enjoy!
   

Warrior Stew

Warrior Stew

Serves: 4-6

Cooking time: approx. 4 hours

 

 

4-6 beef Shanks

1 tbsp grape seed oil

 

Trinity blend-

1 cup white onion diced

1 cup celery diced

1 cup bell pepper diced

 

2-3 cloves fresh peeled garlic

2 cups ale stout or dark- Not Light Beer!!!

2 cups water

2 cups potatoes peeled and large diced

2 cups carrots peeled and large diced

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

    
 

Season flour recipe-

2 cups flour

1 tbsp sea salt

1 tsp cracked black pepper

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp paprika

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp dried sage

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp ancho chili powder

 

 

 

 

This is a Dutch oven recipe, but if you wanted to use a crock pot or roaster in oven you can. However, the bone-in beef, and the open fire cooking techniques are encouraged to fully embrace the warrior aspect of the recipe! A true warrior will waste nothing and even eat the marrow out of the bone. Also, this is a perfect recipe for wild game shanks or roasts as well, making it a perfect recipe for deer camp or a fishing trip. Enjoy!

 

1. Pre-heat Dutch oven over open fire, coals, or stove.
   
2. Combine season flour ingredients and coat beef shanks liberally.
   
3. Pour oil in Dutch oven and brown shanks on both sides.
   
4. Remove shanks and add trinity blend + salt and pepper to taste
   
5. Once veggies are opaque add garlic, beef shanks, and beer back into pot.
   
6. Cover and place on low side of fire or coals for 1 ½ hours.
   
7. Remove lid and add remainder of vegetables, rosemary, and water.
   
8. Cover and slow cook an additional 1 ½ hours or until vegetables are soft and meat is falling off the bone.
   

   
    

 

The Trip to Rome

So the New Year is bringing on many new changes for me in my life. At least I hope that it is. One of those many changes is the start of my new blog. Not even sure if I wanted to do this whole introduction part of my first blog, I decided to do it, but I'm going to keep it short and sweet. I envision this blog as not only being a food and travel blog, but also a one of experiences. Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a story teller. Also, I love to learn new things and relay them on to others, so with that being said, the experiences I want to share are from the past and present. Since food is an integral part of everyday life, there will definitely be a lot of food talk going on as well. I very well may throw in a restaurant review from time to time, and would love to hear some of my reader's favorite restaurants as well, so feel free to dish it out! Ha, I love food puns!

So I decided that I would write about an experience that at least one of the fans of my FB page can confirm, only given that he subscribes to and reads my blog. I will leave him unknown, but I will give a hint that I am listening to my finest punk rock collection while I write this to draw from past inspiration from one of my true bar room heroes.

On my first deployment with the Marines, I was on a forward deployment to Rota, Spain. Yeah, I know, it was a pretty shitty deployment right? Nah, roughly seven months of living and traveling in Europe in my early twenties was ideal I must say, but the Marine Corps has a way of screwing things up most of the time. This is one of those times.

One of the weeks of deployment we were sent to Naples, Italy for a bull shit mission called a RAM, or Random Anti-terrorist Measure. Basically we showed up to one of the bases with lots of over-armed, over-qualified Marines so that if a terrorist is watching, they will change their game plan. I, being the corpsman, very rarely had any real responsibility other than checking on and ensuring the Marines stayed healthy. However, in sympathy for the Marines, they had to stand out in the elements for hours out of the day for basically zero reason, but they are used to that.

The last day of the RAM, one of our Sergeants went to recon a train schedule so that we could take one into Rome the next day. The next morning, all excited with the anticipation of actually getting to do something cool while in Italy, we all got up and headed to the train station via bus that morning. Only, this is the part that starts blowing the whole deal, we missed the train to Rome by about ten minutes. Our sergeant's recon was wrong and we missed it, and the price was off too. We thought it was going to be relatively cheap, but it ended up costing around 70 Euros a piece, but we were able to get another train leaving a couple of hours later.

We managed to take a train to Rome, but I have to say, it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. A train window is like seeing life in a real HD flat screen TV. Everything passes by fast, like in television or movies where days can be condensed to a matter of hours. Only on the train the story is the terrain, the houses, the people, the cars, or lack of them. It is a small glimpse into the lives of the people who reside in the region, and if you are perceptive and imaginative enough you can create the stories of the residents of the small farms and towns you pass through on into Rome which is one of the greatest cultural convergences in the entire Universe. The stratification is always intensified on a train ride as each passing mile strips away another layer revealing the lives of those within it.

As the train managed to make it to the Rome train station, our Staff Sergeant decided to give us a grumbled pep talk full of curse words and something about how we should be fine in Italy because several Marines in the platoon spoke Spanish. Although, then he informed us that we would be seeing Rome in platoon style, meaning we were to all to stick together. Imagine a herd of 55 bulls coming down the streets of a china shop likeness of a city, which is a living, breathing work of art. Awesome. We were also informed that the Sistine Chapel was closing in thirty minutes and if we wanted to see it we better hump it. Oh yeah, I almost forgot the best part, and remember this, he informed us that we were on a strict 3 drink limit for the day.

We stampeded off the train and went barreling down the narrow Rome streets following our SSGT's lead only to arrive at the Sistine Chapel ten minutes after closing. Ok, the cathedral, it was still open, enter a b-line to Vatican City. That was my favorite part of my day. We at least made it into St. Peters Cathedral and I saw some of the most incredible artwork I have ever seen. Many Catholic Marines had their St. Christopher pendants blessed by visiting priests, and I confessed my sins (well some of them) to a mummified pope.

After that, it was a walk turned run over to The Coliseum to try and catch it before it closed, but that was a bust too. However, we did spend a good amount of time walking around it, and checked out the ancient part of Rome. This was the point in time where the pace slowed down allowing us to get our 3 drink maximum in, so most of the Marines (and me), did what any Marine would do. We drank all three drinks at once. We piddled around that area for a while until it was dinner time.

Dinner was spent at the most amazing Italian restaurant across the street from The Coliseum. The perfect warrior dinner, was set to the back drop of the ultimate warrior stadium. 54 Marines and 1 Sailor (me) were sitting at one table as the Italian waiters showed us awesome Italian hospitality. The red wine was flowing, despite our supposed drink limit. Marines are dumb, but very perceptive. So once we noticed that the Staff Sergeant and the Captain were drunk, it was on. I had an Italian steak, a strip I believe, sautéed veggies, and a side of pasta.

I remember the steak being good, but the wine being better, because next thing you know my Captain looks at me and says, "Doc, your lips and teeth are purple, how many have you had?"

"Just three, sir," I replied, followed by a look of doubt in his eyes.

"Bottles sir, three bottles sir," as I laughed it off.

Apparently I wasn't the only one taking advantage of our leadership's light, wine-inspired mood, because we were all trashed. We eventually squared up the tab and started piling out of the restaurant. About that time my Captain looks at his watch and informs us that we have 15 minutes to make the last train back to Naples, so we all start running to the train station. It was like a scene in the old cheesy OJ commercials with us running to catch a train. We were all jumping over obstacles, yelling, running out in front of cars that were screeching to a halt and everything. I am surprised we didn't have the cliché guys walking a pane of glass out of a store only to be broken by a platoon of drunken Marines rumbling by. What a scene it must have been for any observing Italians.

To top it off I literally sat down on the train as the doors shut closed, we barely made it. The train ride home was relatively uneventful, looking like a mass casualty catastrophe as the Marines passed out all over the train sleeping off their buzzes. When we arrived in Naples it was very late and the busses had stopped running hours before. So we ended our trip in much the fashion we spent it, with an eight mile hike back to base. Luckily for us, one Marine had done a deployment to Naples and was able to get us back to base, because as well prepared for combat as my Marines were; nobody brought a map of Naples.