A Vast Sea of Gravy

One of the greatest things about our culinary point of view is that I get to travel the country via tastes and flavors of any region at my choosing; experiencing cultural classics along with my customers.

I really enjoy exploring the local treats of any city that I visit, whether its hot dogs in Chicago, sourdough bread in San Francisco or alligator in Florida, and some of my greatest influences drawn from living in New York City aren't from fine dining restaurants but from the little gems that define the food culture there, like egg creams, "street meat", and greasy diner food. But since I live my life in the kitchen I can't always get out to explore the country so I do it through my research to find new dishes to offer as specials at the restaurant.

One common dish that I have never been exposed to despite its popularity as far north as Manhattan is chicken and waffles. This is one of those ambiguous dishes where it seems that there is no definitive way to serve it; it all depends on where you had it (and loved it) for the first time. Even though its ingredients sound straightforward, the combinations are endless. Usually there is butter and maple syrup on the waffle with fried chicken, sometimes there is gravy, and sometimes the chicken meat is pulled, etc.... and that's not even getting into the different ways to make fried chicken!!

I've already made my own version long before I started this blog with a more refined preparation with Cornish game hen two different ways, but I decided to reinvent the dish once again with a more accessible style that people can wrap their hands around.

For the chicken I split large breasts in half and squared them off, leaving me with a 4"X4" portion that I dredged first in a well seasoned flour with Lawry's seasoning, black pepper, coriander, oregano and paprika before dipping them into a combination of buttermilk and eggs before returning to the flour mixture and resting, awaiting the fryer.

I made waffles by whisking eggs, extra virgin olive oil and buttermilk into sifted flour, sugar, salt and baking soda, to which I folded in freshly chopped parsley, chives, oregano, thyme and rosemary that helped give the waffles a unique, autumn flavor. I poured the batter into a square waffle iron, yielding thin, crisp panels that I topped with Taleggio cheese after realizing what a great gooey cheese it was for sandwiches after making myself a snack with it the last time I used it for a special. Once the chicken is fried crispy and delicious I pressed it between a layer of each, doubling up on the cheese for good measure.

Since chicken 'n' waffles has southern roots I felt it necessary to pair it with a typical side of braised greens, in this case an organic medley grown locally and cooked in bacon, of course. And though the sandwich is juicy and moist even without the Taleggio I felt the dish was incomplete unless it had a sauce to dip it into so I whipped up a gravy by simmering dried porcini pieces in a rich chicken stock that I then thickened with a roux made from flour and the leftover chicken fat (some cultures call it ghee, some call it schmaltz; I call it LOVE) and finished it with sauteed chanterelle mushrooms.

A lot of people get a kick out of how long some of these cocktails take to come to fruition, especially the ones made by the slow process of infusing flavors into a spirit instead of just blending it in.

I have to say that I even surprise myself sometimes, since a chef is conditioned to deal with the here-and-now, concentrating only on the day or maybe the week; sure, it may sound like we have a short attention span, but considering that every dish that goes out has to be our focus, it's easy to see how next month can seem like a long time away. But I use this to my advantage, because once I combine ingredients and put them away to infuse, the next thing I know they are ready to be used!

For example, sometime in the end of September I had about eight or ten red plums leftover from brunch that were the last of the season and I couldn't let them go to waste, so I chopped them up and sprinkled a little sugar on them to leech out more flavor but then I wasn't sure what spirit to use. Sure, vodka was an easy choice, but it didn't have any character, and then I thought of gin; once my friend, then turned nemesis and now back in my good graces. Gin had the complexity that I needed to create an interesting infusion with my sacred plum, so there it sat on my shelf until, before I knew it, it was a perfect marriage.

Like with most liquor, if it's good you shouldn't mask it with too many flavors, so I chose a classic gin cocktail preparation that will allow my plum gin to shine: a Plum Gin Fizz!!

A gin fizz is simply gin, a little sugar, lemon or lime juice to accentuate the citrus notes in the gin and club soda. I used lemon juice as a neutral flavor and shook it with egg white powder, a nod to the old school style but without the health concerns, giving it a frothy head and beautiful body.

With Love,

Cheffrey

Eat My Words

Last week I said that I wasn't even going to consider a pumpkin cocktail because everyone would just imagine drinking pumpkin pie filling. The moment I wrote that I started thinking of a way to disprove myself but left the sentence in there anyway. Now here I am, eating my own words, about to describe my contradictory drink special.

It's nothing new for me. I like to say that I suffer from "Foot-In-Mouth Disease"; I always seem to say something to the contrary of what I ultimately mean. First of all, I realized that not everyone thinks like me and maybe there are people out there that would actually appreciate a pumpkin cocktail - after all, there's a certain nostalgia associated with autumn and pumpkins.

Secondly, I realised after an outing at Sambar that I could actually juice a sugar pie pumpkin, the one variety that is actually meant to be eaten and not just decorated, yielding a fresh and light liquid that's not too sweet and all pumpkin in flavor. This realization gave me a use for the "Autumn Spiced Vodka" that I started about five weeks ago, just to see what would become of it, by steeping Smirnoff vodka with cinnamon sticks, crushed nutmeg, orange peel, allspice berries and star anise. I added a simple syrup made with brown sugar (instead of the typical white, granualted variety) to the pumpkin juice with equal parts of the spiced vodka into a shaker full of ice, shaking and and straining it before I garnished it with freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon to create a cocktail that is rife with the flavors of fall.

Since I've been creating my own cocktail specials the single most comment that I hear is "why don't you create a cocktail that pairs with your special the way that wine does?". The truth is that even the world's greatest mixologist have difficulty doing so for two reasons: 1 - wine has been around for about 6,500 years while the earliest cocktail was documented around 1806; a lot more time to experiment with the combinations, and 2 - the harshness from spirits in even a diluted concoction tends to dull the palate.

Just because it isn't easy doesn't mean it can't be done, you just have to start with the basics. The simplest way to match wine with food is to "bridge" them by using the same wine in the main preparation of the dish, thus automatically pairing them together, so if I'm using pumpkin in the drink then I should use it in the dish.

Another way to pair a drink with food is by intensity; like a big, bold Syrah and a fatty steak, so I came up with an intense dish by cooking an Italian-style risotto with the flavors of a red Thai coconut curry by simmering the rice in a mixture of onions, garlic, coconut milk and red curry paste until it is "al dente" and then adding chopped tomatoes, chicken smoked with jasmine tea and freshly chopped Thai basil, all served in a ring of roasted sugar pie pumpkin that you scoop in while you eat the risotto to complete the flavor profile, and all the better if you have a Spiced Pumpkin Martini to balance the heat and compliment the spice!!


If my words are this tasty, just imagine how good the food is!!

With Love,

Cheffrey

Bringing it Home

I love going out to the other local restaurants to see what they're up to and enjoying a few bites for myself. Whenever I'm asked which is my favorite I have to stop and think, choosing my words very carefully.

With many notable restaurants like, Lark, How to Cook a Wolf and my trip this past weekend to Spur (I can honestly say that my pork belly dish is one of the best that I've ever had, but their Pork Belly Sliders blew it away!!), but the one that still sticks out is Tilth, and like most restaurants that you've loved everything you've had, there is always that one memorable dish. Mine was what they called "Trotter Cakes", a patty of braised pigs feet and meat set in the rich cooking liquid, pressed into a sheet, cut, breaded and fried.

The chef, Maria Hines, is a James Beard award winner, has been on Iron Chef America (and won) and Top Chef Masters (yes, I watch them all...), and, as they say "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery", so I made my own version of the dish, but with my own personal touches...

I made a rich stock from pork bones used to slowly braise pork cushions, a cut from the shoulder that is more uniform in size that I chose for even cooking. The meat was chopped and shredded while the braising liquid was strained and cooked further with thyme, rosemary and allspice until it was uber rich and succulent. I packed the cooked meat into cleaned cans leftover from beans, black truffles, etc. to act as molds, covering it with the rich broth while still warm before chilling them to set the shape. Then I heated the cans slightly to loosen them and shake out just like the cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving dinner. Once sliced they were breaded and pan-fried in a combination of olive oil and lard for that over-the-top flavor enhancement.

I wanted to balance the rich pork medallions by stewing some locally grown Asian pears into a wonderfully spiced chutney that is both sweet and sour with a subtle heat and intricate flavor composition. I started by dicing peeled Asian pears that were reduced with freshly minced ginger, chopped red bell peppers and dried currants in a combination of apple cider vinegar and sugar seasoned with chili flakes, cinnamon sticks and clove. Once cooled I stirred in freshly chopped scallions to give the chutney more texture as well as a sweet onion flavor without overpowering the fruit. To counter to warm spice flavors I separated the mounds of the compote with fresh leaves of shiso, an bright herb in the mint family that also has a slight fennel or anise flavor.

To complete the flavor profile I added fuyu persimmons, the most common of the 50 or so known varieties because it is the sweetest that can be eaten raw while still being firm. This fruit is close to my heart because as a child I used to go out and gather a smaller sister genus for puddings and custards for my mother to bake. I say gather because you have to wait until the fruit is so ripe that it has already fallen from the tree but be quick enough to get it before it starts to rot. I have spent the last 12 years trying to replicate those dishes; I've even had my recipe for Persimmon Pudding featured in the New York Post using a ripe hachiya persimmon, but neither compares in flavor to that Midwestern mushy treat that remains nameless to me; but I digress...

Since the fuyu persimmons have an almost pumpkin-like flavor I felt that they would make a perfect complement to the spices in the chutney. I am currently using it as a fresh puree, but I feel like the remaining fruits will enhance the plate by being served sliced once they mature more.

I spent a lot of time last weekend researching what is in season that I could use for a cocktail that didn't include apples or pears, and despite Halloween being this weekend, I wasn't even going to consider pumpkin; no matter what I did with it people would only envision drinking pumpkin pie batter...

Almonds are in season, though they're readily available year round, which made me think of making my own almond milk, and then my mind wandered and I thought of all of the spices that I could flavor it with, but then what kinds of cocktails can I substitute almond milk for? There's only one that I can think of: a White Russian. But instead of making a White Russian with spiced almond milk, I thought "Why don't I play off of the coffee flavor of Kahlua and make a sort of chai coffee cocktail?!"

Chai coffee and tea are Indian beverages made by adding a combination of "warm" spices like ginger, clove, cardamom, cinnamon and black pepper, etc. The recipe varies greatly, but I made mine with the addition of a little nutmeg and fennel that I steeped into milk and half 'n' half and let cool to allow the flavors to absorb.  To be honest, the taste reminded me of my egg nog recipe, with less egg and more nog, but when combined with equal parts of Kahlua and vodka over ice, it created a familiar drink that had a whole new depth of flavor!


The Chef abides!! ;)

With Love,

Cheffrey

Old Friends, New Friends

I recently received the disappointing news that my favorite getaway Kurtwood Farms is ending their five and a half years of Sunday Dinner, where practically everything you eat in the seven family-style courses is grown and raised within eyeshot of where you sit. Sure, I'm sad to hear it, if not just for selfish reasons then for the many who never got a chance to dine there, but alas Kurt Timmermeister is on a new journey, promoting his new book: Growing a Farmer: How I Learned to Live Off the Land. Good luck, my friend.

To commemorate this departure I wanted to do something to pass along to those new people who have found us through our latest Groupon promotion, in spirit at least, so I thought back to my favorite dishes that I had there, and the most predominant was from the pasta course, thanks largely to Tyler Palagi from Spring Hill in West Seattle who has cooked each Sunday dinner at Kurtwood Farms since its inception. The guy knows his pasta, and he would routinely serve a wide, handmade noodle with either a braised pork or beef (the two types of meat raised there, unless you count the AWESOME eggs from chickens in the yard) and topped with a shaving of hard cheese that's made there as well.

Though I don't have my own farm, I decided on a similar style of pasta dish - the most humble form of appreciation there is. Every chef has their own way of doing things, and I prefer my pasta to be made with whole eggs, half semolina flour and half bread flour to make it rich and vibrant with that al dente bite that marks a great pasta. I machine-rolled the dough into thin sheets that I hand-cut wide strips, known as Pappardelle, by cutting them with (of all things) a pizza cutter. While they dried I had time to assemble the other ingredients.

One of the greatest things about the Pacific Northwest this time of year is all of the great wild mushrooms, especially true with delicious chanterelles. These bountiful jewels represent the hallmark of foraged goodness that beg to be eaten, so I started the dish by slowly simmering them in butter until soft, awaiting the addition of a sauce.

A pasta is nothing without a sauce, no matter how simple or complex. I made mine with a combination of my own marinara and the braising liquid made from slowly cooked and shredded beef that I finished with a healthy dose of sherry wine, resulting in a sauce that is robust and complex with a slightly acidic bite. I countered that bite by topping the dish with breaded and fried Taleggio cheese that, when cut into, acts like a luscious egg yolk that oozes its richness into the rest of the components, creating a swirl of delight!

If autumn had a flavor, it would taste like this:

I have been waiting months to showcase this cocktail; biding my time until the air is crisp and the leaves begin to turn into a kaleidoscope of colors. With apples and pears abound people expect to see cobblers and crisps turning up on menus, but I have a better idea.

I instead chose to create a cocktail with all of the flavors of a pear cobbler but without the heft; a drink that could be enjoyed either as a cocktail or as a dessert because it isn't cloyingly sweet.

I started with a base made by simmering fresh, ripe Red Anjou pears in water with a cinnamon stick, fresh ginger slices, allspice berries, lemon juice and just a touch of brown sugar to keep it all balanced. Once cooled and strained I combined the fresh nectar with an equal part of Absolut Pear, a splash of Frangelico hazelnut liqueur and Creme de Cacoa over ice, shook it and strained it into a martini glass rimmed with an oatmeal crumble made by cooking a batter made of oat flour, eggs, brown sugar, milk and baking powder that was then ground to give it that final touch of authentic texture and flavor.

On a final note, one day last week a couple wandered in an asked our server, Nikolia, if we will be offering any kind of pumpkin dessert in the near future. My response? Sure! Believe it or not I do take requests...

The first thing that came to mind was the first pastry recipe that I developed myself six or seven years ago. By using a recipe for cheesecake that I was already familiar with I added pumpkin puree and gradually added ground cinnamon, clove, allspice, nutmeg and ginger, substituted brown sugar for more depth of flavor and adjusted the consistency until it yielded a rich and creamy texture that had a flavor that screamed autumn. I topped it with an egg nog cream, which is actually handmade egg nog in a whipped cream maker, that is now in its third year of use to top our brunch coffee cocktails during the fall.


I hope to see you soon!!

With Love,

Cheffrey

The Things to Come

Barring any of the unforeseen circumstances that usually cause things to go wrong in a restaurant we plan on introducing a somewhat significant menu change at the start of next week. For the most part our menu has remained the same since the birth of the restaurant two and a half years ago - an intentional tactic to ease the transition for the former El Greco patrons and draw in new fans. Now it's time to turn to a new page.

Specials are generally used as a way to test a dish to see if it has the mettle to make it onto the menu, the best example of which is the Tuna Tartar Tacos that I added on the last menu change and has outsold even the previous best sellers. This is important to note, because though I never put an item on the menu that I didn't think was great, sometimes they just don't sell that well, so when it's time to print up new menus we go over the number of sales for each plate, starting at the bottom.

So what's going to go? The first to get the axe are the ribs; though they sell well, they are ordered more in the summertime and therefore will be a seasonal addition. To replace them will be a heartier version of my Pork Loin Rockefeller that I have been wanting to add since its inception last year. Other castaways include the Roasted Garlic Sandwich, Banana Foster and the coup de grace: the Crispy Penne. To replace them is my former signature dish Scallop Wellington with a Spinach Cream Sauce, a Polenta Lasagna with Marinated Eggplant and Basil Pesto, and an Angel Food Cake with Nutella Glaze and Whipped Cream.

The final change is the fish, which is the one area of the menu that actually did change often as an homage to the Fish du Jour offering at El Greco. Like the Tuna Tacos, I knew that this dish would be a hit so I once again jumped the gate to bring our customers an early taste of what's to come.

In our price range I have to be crafty in order to be able to offer a fish entree. Even though farm raised fish is a major sustainable option (excluding "Atlantic" or farm-raised salmon from consideration), most customers prefer the real thing, not that there's anything wrong with that. So I chose the versatile Pacific cod as a good middle ground since price tends to reflect demand and demand reflects the availability or stock of a species, fitting both of my needs.

To prepare the cod I simply baked a fillet on parchment paper instead of oil to help keep the bottom from drying out. While the fish is cooking I sauteed great northern beans (aka Navy beans) that had be cooked in a combination of clam juice and fish stock along with onions and garlic, fresh thyme, butter and wonderful mustard greens that were grown locally but owe their popularity to the south.

Autumn is the season for earthy flavors, the best of which can be found in luxurious black truffles, which go hand-in-hand with the creamy beans and spicy greens, but are subtle enough to not overpower the delicate cod. Since fresh truffles are out of our price range I was able to find real canned versions from a great company that even my idols use, of which I whipped into a butter seasoned with black truffle sea salt to finish a broth made from the leftover truffle juice and vegetable stock.

In the end the dish is a wonderful marriage of American culture and ingredients elevated by the European influence of black truffles; a taste of luxury with a moderate price.

Lately I have been enamored with Pimm's Number 1, a gin based liqueur that has been around since 1823. Though they used to produce five more varieties (up to No. 6) based on other spirits, the No. 1 is the one that stood the test of time, and while I would love to use it in some new way that would break it free from the Pimm's Cup mold, it just has too much of unique of a flavor, always leading you back to that classic cocktail. So instead of trying to find new flavors to mix Pimm's with, I decided to add to those ingredients that already go with it.

The best Pimm's cup is made by combining equal parts of Pimm's and a lemon-lime soda, like Sprite, with a slice of cucumber over rocks in a tall glass. I figured that since the cucumber is a natural pairing to the gin-based liqueur, and ginger is a natural pairing to cucumber, I could muddle fresh ginger slices as a base for a Pimm's Cup, and instead of the Sprite I could use ginger ale to top the sunken slice of cucumber that gives it a suprise burst of flavor with each draw of the straw.

With Love,

Cheffrey

Willkommen

Being of German heritage and since it's the end of Oktoberfest I felt a deep urge to represent, but being me, I just couldn't serve a straightforward dish, now could I? Instead I wanted to create something that not only reflects me but some traditions of my family as well.

When I was growing up we didn't have too many classic German dishes served; dinner was more of a typical southern style with some Cajun influence here and there, but what we did do, we did well. One of my favorites was Bratwurst, a white pork sausage that we poached in a mixture of beer and sliced onions before tossing on the grill. There was only one way to serve it: stuffed into a long bun and topped with mustard and the leftover onions cooked in beer. Period.

Breaking from tradition I went with a burger variation of my childhood favorite for this special. I used a recipe from an amazing book called Charcuterie that I picked up a couple of years ago to make my own fresh bratwurst by hand-grinding pork and mixing it with ginger, nutmeg, egg and heavy cream that I formed into patties (instead of links) and allowed to rest while I prepared the rest of the dish.

I love pretzels. Even though I didn't really grow up eating them it kind of makes me wonder if there's a hidden cultural force behind it. To me, the only way that I could make a bratwurst burger was to forgo the roll and make my own pretzel bun. After a bit of research and trial and error I finally ended up with a great likeness by adding celery seed to a standard bread dough. I formed and proofed the rolls and then dunked them in a mixture of boiling water with sugar and baking soda to help give them the expected chewy crust that pretzels have. Before baking I brushed them with egg white and sprinkled on Maldon sea salt for a classic look.

I had to have a few things to accompany the burger. The onions were a must, so I cooked down sliced yellow onions with Alaskan Amber (the same beer that I use to make my cheese sauce for happy hour) until all of the liquid is reduced. Another must is mustard, so I again used the Alaskan Amber (hey, it's Oktoberfest...) to make a fresh mustard with crushed caraway seeds, ground mustard powder, vinegar, honey and egg yolks that I cooked over a double boiler until thick. The result was a rich, malty condiment that was a little sweet and a little spicy - a perfect balance.

Then there's the wild card. A couple of years ago on the 4th of July I was at a party who's host I told that I was bringing bratwurst to cook and when I showed up he gave me some cream cheese to serve with it, saying that he had it once down by Safeco Field. My first though: BLASPHEMY!!! But being a guy who likes to try new things I gave it a chance, and all I could say was WOW!! I've never had a brat without it since.

Instead of the usual mundane "burger 'n' fries" combo I wanted add something a little closer to my heart. Once I made the decision to go to culinary school thirteen years ago my father decided it was time that I learn the family recipe for German potato salad, and while I won't give you the recipe I will tell you that it is vinegar based as opposed to the more common mayo based version, with bacon and raw onions. My menu already has may references to what I consider comfort food, like the Henry Baine sauce on the ribs, the Parker House rolls for the 219 Sloppy Joe Sliders and even twists on my personal favorites of corndogs and donuts, but there is one hidden gem that isn't so apparent - the dressing on the BLT Salad, which is a professional take on what my father taught me that day. So to mimic my family's potato salad recipe I simmered large diced potatoes in water until just cooked and air-cooled them before marinading in the same bacon vinaigrette that I use for the salad.

Kostlich!! (Delicious!!)

In my opinion the best alcoholic drinks that come from Germany are beer (duh) and white wine, in particular Riesling and Gerwurztraminer (my favs), but cocktails made from beer and wine haven't caught on yet, so I went in a completely different direction instead.

Stacey, one of the owners, requested that for our next menu change we use St. Germain for one of our cocktails, and I couldn't agree more. It has one of those floral flavors that you can't put your finger on; it just tastes... magical.

I'm not saying that this is the one, but it's a solid start. It's a simple cocktail, similar to a Cosmo but more elegant. It says "I enjoy a drink that is smooth and with a kick, but I also prefer something that sets me apart - something that shows my individuality." (Have I been watching too much Mad Men??)

Anyways, I came up with an interesting mix of Absolut vodka shaken with cranberry juice, a splash of St. Germain elderflower liqueur and garnished with an orange twist to accent both the cranberry and the elderflower.

Mit Liebe,

Cheffrey



Undying Passion

Well, I didn't advance in my food blog competition, but I won't offer any theories or make any excuses; it was a great learning experience that made me realize how much I enjoy writing about food and want to continue doing so, with this blog as well as new ventures in the future. Even after rejection we must press on with the things that we believe in and are passionate about. After all, Colonel Sanders spent a year and half on the road, sleeping in his car, before he struck a deal to open the first KFC.

At risk of brushing off the failure like I never really cared, I have to say that I am a bit relieved that I don't have have to stress out while jumping through hoops to form my writing or my food into a mold as dictated by someone else. I fret tirelessly over my specials as it is, and though we all need to work out of our comfort zone to improve, I don't want the focus to stray away from what's the true point of this blog: the food.

That relief payed off in spades, because once I sat down on Sunday night to work out this week's special the lack of constraints opened the flood gate of ideas, and along with the concepts in my notebook, I laid out three quarters of the specials from now until Thanksgiving! And for that, I am thankful.

I had written this idea off for this year since summer in Seattle was just a fizzle and salads don't make great statements for food blog competitions, but I guess the stars aligned just so to allow it to happen, and I'm all the happier for it. I had the thought written down to pair a stuffed calamari with a hearty salad for quite some time now but it was overshadowed by too many other seafood dishes that played better with the summer season, but now with the warm temperatures predicted for this week this one seemed fitting.

I've been wanting to make a chorizo vinaigrette, probably because I like the notion of taking something that is seemingly healthy like a salad and desecrating it with something like sausage. So instead of simply adding sausage to the salad I brewed a rich stock by simmering fresh chorizo sausage from the local Cascioppo Brothers meat company. Once cooled I blended it with champagne vinegar, shallots, garlic and extra virgin olive oil as well as the ingredients that flavor the sausage like smoked paprika, black pepper, fresh oregano and a touch of ground arbol chile.

To balance such a rich dressing I went with contrasting flavors by using baby arugula and radicchio for bitterness and crunch, which I then countered with freshly julienned green apple and ripe tomatoes. To give it more depth I roasted radishes, which changes their texture and softens their bite.

I initially thought of stuffing calamari tubes with the chorizo, like a play on sausage itself, but I chose to use the filling to bridge the flavors instead; kind of like working from the inside out. I knew from one of our brunch items (and past specials) how well the classic combination of chorizo and manchego cheese go together, so I made a base by sauteing onions, garlic and celery that I then cooled before incorporating finely grated manchego cheese and the cooked, chopped calamari tentacles.

Not to leave anything to waste (and taking every opportunity to add flavor) I used the leaves from the radishes that I roasted to make a delicious pesto by chopping them with whole almonds, fresh garlic and olive oil that is not only very functional by holding the calamari in place, but also gives a suprising hidden burst of flavor.

If there's a last chance of selling a summery style cocktail I think that this week is it; besides, last week's Tropical Iced Tea sold so well I think that our customers are about as ready to give up the thought of summer as I am ready to give up pork!!

This one has a classic southwestern flavor with sweet prickly pear puree (which is actually a type of catus) combined with the tart juice of passion fruit in place of the lime juice that typically balances the sweetness of the common mojito, an since these flavor combinations work so well together I bypassed the mint and just added a splash of club soda to lighten it up enough to drink more than just one!

With Love,

Cheffrey

Welcome to My World

Lately I have been making a real effort to bring my cooking to the next level. As with anything, you can never really grow unless you push yourself outside of your comfort zone while casting aside all fears of failure, rejection or disappointment. For a chef this means a constant struggle to learn new techniques, combine ingredients and the everlasting reinvention of yourself. The task can be a grind, but in the end it's like climbing a mountain and looking back every now and then, amazed to see how far you've come.

I've been spending a lot of time at the funky downtown Seattle Public Library checking out books by famous chefs and obscure authors alike, building a new base to draw inspiration from now that I am a executive chef on my own. I mostly seek out books that I can use to enhance my current style, but I also make a point to check out at least two books each time that will help fill the gaps of my culinary weak points, the most intriguing of which to me right now is the cuisine of India.

In studying books of the more popular cuisines of Asia I obviously came across a lot of Indian references, due to the common geography, though I always ignorantly separated the two. Despite some similar ingredients and shared borders, India is a world apart. Sure, I have toyed around with curry powders, but the true gem of the food is the personal touch of toasting and blending of your own spice mixtures. With that in mind, I decided to tackle a dish that many Americans are now familiar with: Chicken Masala.

My version is similar to what is more commonly known as Chicken Tikka Masala, but tikka refers to "chunks" of meat, typically in the style of a stew, whereas I wanted to use perfect portions of the whole thigh. Since there is no standard recipe for tikka masala I drew from a combination of recipes from some credible sources and even a show on the Cooking Channel (the Spice Goddess herself), along with, of course, some interpretation of my own.

Indian food is all about building flavors. They are simple looking dishes that are comprised of many ingredients; a case in point that the sum is truly greater than its parts. I first softly cooked onions and sliced garlic in a healthy portion of ghee, or clarified butter, before adding my own version of spice mixture with peppercorns, bay leaves, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves known as garam masala or "warm spice mix". I continued with the traditional flavors by adding fenugreek seed, paprika and tomatoes that I simmered in stock before finishing with a little smoky spice from chipotle powder.

To askew the flavors with my own twist I finished the sauce with a good dose of cocoa powder that automatically seemed a natural companion to the warm spices of the garam masala ingredients, giving it even more complexity and depth of flavor than it had before. I strained the blended sauce to refine and smooth its presence on the palate before using it to slowly stew meticulously prepared chicken thighs in the oven until they were perfectly cooked and moist.

Many recipes called for the sauce to be enriched with coconut milk, but I opted instead to pull it aside and combine it with the classic accompaniment of basmati rice by first adding the milk to the cooking liquid, giving it a rich flavor without it becoming mushy, and then tossing in finely grated, unsweetened coconut meat to order.

Traditionally speaking the dish is complete, but I found that it was in need of some added texture and flavor, so I came up with these little fritters made in the style of falafel, but instead of dried chickpeas I used spilt peas pureed with onions and garlic and omitted the usual spices that are already in the sauce and added plenty of fresh mint instead. The mint compliments both the traditional spices and the cocoa that is in the sauce as well as the finely shaved bittersweet chocolate that acts as a final note to the dish.

Many people mistakenly think that a rich and spicy dish requires a very bold red wine to cut through it, like a hearty steak, but actually the best pairing is found at the other end of the spectrum with an off dry or semi-sweet white wine like our half bottle of Kiona Late Harvest Riesling, which happens to be one of my favorite styles of wine. The natural stone fruit flavors compliment the spices of the masala while the sweetness helps tame the heat from the chile, but if you're looking for a truly unique pairing, then I have concocted just the thing for you... 

In the same way that I peruse the farmer's market or specialty stores I was surveying the bar supply for interesting combinations when I came across several bottles that, as I spoke them in my head, reminded me of the popular Long Island Iced Tea drink, and then I knew that I was onto something.

Keeping with the typical tall (or "Long") aspect of the cocktail I filled a pint glass with ice and poured over equal parts of guava rum, vanilla vodka and mango tequila that is then topped off with a Jamaican style ginger beer and a little club soda to cut down on the sweetness.
Please allow me to introduce you to the Tropical Iced Tea!!!

Taste buds - You're welcome!!

With Love,

Cheffrey