Bi-polar dinner disorder and cooking in the unconscious February 25, 2010
Posted by Eli in : Uncategorized , 1 comment so farUnlike Max who is always at The Breslin working a 12 hour shift, I work at a “9-5″ job in a standard-ish office. Yes, the deep dark secret about us is that I do not have a full time cooking job… unless you count twitter as a full time job (which unfortunately for our society, some people now can). Max and I often talk about the vast differences between the mindset it take to be in a kitchen, in your zone – tickets flying, hot pans, yelling, consistency, timing -often total unbridled chaos…and the more composed order of an office routine still with large stresses and fires to be put out, but lightyears different in their form and solutions. But while I sit for hours “doing advertising” the thoughts that dominate my subconscious are what I’m eating for lunch or what I’m going to be cooking for dinner. The busier I am at work, the more I look forward to rushing home, cracking open some wine and cooking with a record playing in the background. So yeah, when my brain is free to roam, I daydream about driving 20 min home from a full work day in order to spend an hour plus standing in a small kitchen at home cooking.
Tonight it was raining in LA and while I am the most staunch advocate of it being sunny and 74 every day, tonight the rain seemed extremely relaxing and for some reason, weirdly appropriate. I opened the sliding side door off of my kitchen to listen to the rain and get a breeze going and then put on a record. It’s only slightly coincidental that I find myself reaching a lot for the Phil Collins album “No Jacket Required” when I cook. I say only slightly coincidental because well, it’s awesome (Don’t Lose My Number, Sussudio and Doesn’t anybody stay together anymore – Instant classics) and secondly, I only own like 25 albums on vinyl so my choices are somewhat limited. And…here’s where we get down to the actual cooking part of the post.
Unlike my limited vinyl selection options, on sunday I went on a black out shopping binge at (industrial grocery store) Smart+Final where I came to, lying on the floor in my living room, drowning in plastic bags and opened items having sampled 1 of everything I had just bought (as I always do when I come home from the grocery store).”EVERYTHING IS SO DELICIOUS” I cried in between mouthfuls of beef jerky chased with salsa chased with pickles chased with peanut butter chased with Soy Sauce chased with tortilla shells chased with batter blaster (what can I say, I’m reckless).”I JUST…. WANT ….TO TRY… ONE OF EVERYTHING!” (you know you do this too).
So when I came home today after work, I was greeted by a still overflowing fridge offering me a bounty of industrial sized riches. The dinner possibilities were endless. But this, this my friends is where it gets tricky. If you have bread and PB+J…there is only one true direction. But me, I looked at my full fridge and I got bi-polar dinner disorder. My mind began to race. I’m high and low. I’m thinking italian. Then mexican. Then middle eastern. Then american…
“I want chicken nuggets and french fries.” No problem! I began to defrost the chicken, got out the bread crumbs and pulled some potatoes to make the fries.
“Wait wait wait…I think I want an artichoke, sundered tomato and grilled chicken sandwich. Yea….that’s def gonna be delicious.”
But when I reached for the artichokes, I noticed the white mushrooms and the yellow and green peppers.
“Hmmm…those are going to be no good soon, so I should probably cook those up… I guess now it’s looking like a spicy chicken hoagie with grilled peppers and mushrooms. Maybe put some bbq sauce on top…So i began to reach for the BBQ sauce only to spot the heirloom tomatoes. I took a step back.
Don’t they make some sort of pill for this type of food-born anxiety illness?
So with all these flavors and choices and options…literally a wealth of food…and with my mind all over the map…in what direction would I go? It was then I realized that while I had been pulling item after item deciding what to make, I had chopped garlic which was now sautéing lightly in oil and had began breading the chicken. (Is it possible you cook and think with different parts of your brain or do I just black out around food a lot?) I sliced the peppers and the mushrooms and added them to the garlic. I still had no direction but I was going with it. Water was boiling. Penne entered the water, for what – you’re guess at that point was good as mine. The heat against my legs reminded me the oven was on, set to 425. The chicken went in and began baking.
Artichokes , tomatoes, spinach, black olives and some left over cooked sausage hit the frying pan and sizzled, juices and flavors creating a thick aromatic sauce. I was making ‘the kitchen sink’ jealous with this display. With the chicken cooked and the perfect ratio of the italian breading KFC crisp and slightly burnt, I diced it and added it to the frying pan along with the penne. I added parmesan cheese and folded it in gently. A little drizzle of BBQ sauce for some bite. Then over the top I sprinkled bread crumbs creating a solid crust. A light drizzle of olive oil and then I put the frying pan in the oven to bake.
What emerged was not where my brain started. It was some sort of bastardization of a baked pasta. A frankenstein dish borrowing from lasagna,utilizing homemade chicken tenders, sausage, olives, artichokes,peppers,mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes. A ripoff based on pasta al forgo? A pizza-esque pasta? Whatever it was, It was insanely delicious and will be tomorrow’s lunch and dinner too.
So I started off in one place and ended up somewhere else completely different. The brain is funny like that. I was either thinking too much or wasn’t really thinking at all.Trying out things without a real dish in mind, hoping for the best by mixing flavors and just going for it.
Mostly, I guess I was just cooking.
And that’s just the way I like it.
Vegas Baby! National Association of TV Program Executives January 30, 2010
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Say what you want about Vegas and the type of people that go there and what it represents and how the terrorists hate us because of it and that people that go there should probably not be blowing next month’s rent on slots and horse racing. You COULD say all that. But what you cannot say about Vegas is that it’s not the very best place in the world to people watch and make amazingly bad financial decisions. I don’t think the pure excess of Vegas really is what we are about, but it is pretty damn fun to go there and get, as the Black Eyed Peas sing “retarded in here.” Max’s face when he realized that drinks are free if you are gambling was like when I realized that my best friend in 7th grade had endless supplies of Tostino’s Pizza rolls in his freezer. PURE. GLEE.
We were there presenting at the National Association of TV Program Executives at Mandalay Bay. Overall it was a really awesome experience. How often does one get to go mingle with some amazing chefs, do a demo for TV executives and get to judge a celebrity chef cookoff? We got to judge an Iron Chef style cookoff between Chef Jet Tila of Wazuzu at the Wynn and Chef Neal Fraser owner of BLD and Grace in Los Angeles. It ended in a tie and both dishes were delicious.
Here is a pic of them competing:
And a few of us at our demo:
Max and I did our thing and demo’ed 2 dishes. First up was a japanese stacked appetizer.
Daikon and Tuna Small Bite
INGREDIENTS
1 Diakon, cut to rectangle pieces appx. 1/8 inch,2 inches long by 1 inch wide
1/4 lb. sushi grade tuna
1 bunch radish, cleaned, sliced paper thin
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirren
Wasabi paste
1 teaspoon chili paste
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
½ carrot, very finely diced
1 package buckwheat or sunflower sprouts
1. In a small dish cover diced carrots with liquid.mix in 1 tsp chili paste.1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar to make make a marinade.(You can use leftover marinade for salad dressing or stir fry)
2. Slice the tuna into 1/4 inch thick by 1 inch long pieces (so that it can sit atop the daikon without draping over the edge).
3. Place 1 piece of tuna on a piece of daikon. Using a slotted spoon (or allowing the liquid to drain of first) top with a 1/2 teaspoon of the carrots.
4. Arrange several of the paper-thin radish slices over the carrots.
5. Place 1 small dot of wasabi paste on top of the radish.
6. Garnish with sprouts to achieve desired look.
Chinese style Panko encrusted Orange Chicken
4 chicken breasts
3 cups Panko bread crumbs, divided
Salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs
1/2 cup half and half
1 cup flour (more if needed)
For the chicken
1. Mix the half and half with eggs.
2. In three separate shallow containers, place the egg mix, flour, and
Panko. Season each with a pinch of salt.
3. Prepare the chicken by butterflying, then slicing each in half to make
two thinner pieces.
4. Season each piece of chicken on both sides with salt.
5. Bread the chicken by dredging in flour, shaking off excess, then
dipping in the egg wash, then in the Panko. Get a nice even coating on each piece.
6. Set aside on plate.
For the sauce
½ cup orange marmalade
2 tbsp rice vinegar
4 tablespoons soy sauce
Juice of 1 orange
1. Mix marmalade, vinegar, and soy sauce together
simmer in a small saucepan. Mix until marmalade is melted, shut off
heat and cover. Set aside.
To cook the chicken:
1. In a large skillet, heat a 1/2 inch of vegetable oil until medium hot.
2. Place the chicken gently down, being careful to not overcrowd the pan.
3. Flip when golden brown (appx 2-4 min), and brown the other side for appx 2 min. (Cut open a piece to check if it cooked throughout)
4. Remove each cooked piece to a sheet tray.
5. Add more oil to the pan if necessary to cook remaining chicken.
For the vegetables:
1 cup snow peas
1 red pepper, rough chop
1/2 onion, rough chop
1 head garlic, minced
1 tsp minced ginger
1. Heat a wok or large skillet with 4 tablespoons oil. When very hot, add snow peas, red pepper, and onion. Season with a pinch of salt.
2. Toss or stir until just cooked, about 3-4 minutes.
3. Add garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.
4. Pour in 1 tbsp of soy sauce and remove from heat.
Plate and serve veggies with Chicken. Cover with sauce to your liking.
WITH CHEF RICHARD BLAISE OF TOP CHEF (http://www.flipburgerboutique.com/) AND CHEF ERIC GREENSPAN OF THE FOUNDRY IN LA (http://www.thefoundryonmelrose.com/). You can check out Chef Greenspan on this season’s Iron Chef competing against…gotcha watch to find out
Black Friday-Get all your shopping down in one stop with Freshman in the Kitchen Cookbook November 27, 2009
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Take a moment to marvel at how incredible this photo truly is. In the pitch dark, at 3am, in the freezing cold, these people are waiting outside to buy things for loved ones. It’s a true holiday miracle that people do this for other people. See Glen Beck, there is still good in the world!
And you, you web browsing, slipper wearing black Friday aficionado, you are a savvy savvy shopper because you provide holiday cheer by buying gifts from the comfort of your own home. You’ve stumbled upon the Freshman in the Kitchen cookbook website where you can satisfy all your holiday gift giving needs in one simple way -by buying our cookbook for EVERYONE on your list. Just think about it…in only a few quick moments from now you could be done with all your holiday shopping!
All you need to do is click the “buy the book” link in the upper right hand corner of the screen.Now you may be saying to yourself, this cookbook is the Perfect cute gift idea for those on my list who are in school (very correct indeed) but I don’t really know for who else Freshman in the Kitchen would be an appropriate gift.
So to avoid any confusion at all we’ve got all the outliers (who you aren’t sure to buy our cookbook for) from your shopping listed below. And not surprisingly, everyone seems to have made the cut. So go ahead and buy 10 copies! It’s really perfect for everyone.
Husband/Wife – Either you do all the cooking and want them to shoulder the load or you want them to add some new jams to their repertoire. Either you’re teaching an old dog new tricks or you’re teaching an old dog newer tricks (so you dont have to settle for tuna casserole every 4th dinner).
Out of School Married, Divorced or Relocating Adults – So your 2nd cousin and his girlfriend just moved to the big city. They are on a tight budget! They are young and have busy jobs! Endless possibility and excitement are at every turn! And…they know how to make Ramen. Our cookbook is a perfect way for the young “newly minted” real life adult, the newly moved in together couple or the newly married/divorced person to start helping them really nailing down that whole independent lifestyle routine.
Some older person who you don’t think our cookbook is appropriate for because the title says Freshman in it – Believe it or not, some people of the older age categories cannot cook. These people are still perfectly mobile, independent and fully capable and for them, they may be moving into a new phase of their life where they need to learn how to cook. The average lifespan in the U.S. is going up and Bill Knapps can only satisfy so many days out of the week.This is a perfect cookbook for grandma or grandpa because they too may be a “freshman in the kitchen”.Just because they may have been an actual freshman 55+ years ago, doesn’t mean that in this economy, everyone can’t be diversifying their talents by learning new things.
Babies – Babies might not be able to read,comprehend measurements,hold a spoon or be near open heat sources. BUT, they do love pictures and shiny things. And our cookbook is absolutely filled to the brim with shiny pictures. Sure, “Goodnight Moon” is great until age 5. I even read “Harold and the Purple Crayon” when i was 10 and it still was fantastic. But Freshman in the Kitchen keeps giving. FITK is exactly like Catcher in the Rye, with every year you pick it up, you read it through again and you see the different tips, recipes and anecdotes in a whole new light.
People with those ultra clean kitchens they clearly never have used – these people like to display books in their kitchens giving the illusion that they use the kitchen to cook. Our cookbook, open to any random page, displayed on an easle, is a show stopper. They may not cook out of it, but at under $20, we blow any other cookbook clear outta the water.
Gourmet Chefs – Chefs love cookbooks of all forms, varieties, sizes and our cookbook is no exception. Our book is a teaching cookbook for novices but also a true “cooks” cookbook. We actually believe that even the most classically trained gourmet chefs will find some delicious recipes that they can make on the reg. And most of our cookbook is so easy it may even convince said gourmet chef to cook on his or her day off. And getting a chef to cook on their day off? Now THAT is a true holiday miracle.
Happy Holidays from both of us to all of you out there. This has been a fantastic, truly amazing year that allowed us to travel to Los Angeles, Chicago and New York to share our cookbook with thousands of people. Did we ever in our wildest dreams thing we’d be on TV and be able to touch so many clueless cooks and creative chefs? Well yes, but only in the WILDEST dreams we had. The response has been epic and we are grateful to each and every person who have bought or book or suggested it to friends. To everyone who gave us positive reviews and wrote about it, we thank you too!
Don’t forget about our twitter contest here: http://bit.ly/28eYIt
And to get autographed personalized copies sent to you before the holidays, please feel free to email us at brothers@freshmaninthekitchen.com
AND….IF YOU ORDER 5 from us via the above email, we will throw in one personalized copy for free!
(in newsie voice) Get ya FITK new’s he’re! Fresh Papes He’re! 2 bits! November 19, 2009
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Max and I grew up watching Newsies. In a house with no cable, VHS was king and we had a copy (taped from TV) of newsies that went through some wear and tear. What can we say, Pullman, Duvall, Bale AND the kid from Dougie Howser?? SIGN.US.UP. Everytime we get a new piece of press I actually call Max and read the entire piece of press aloud to him in a newsies voice. Then I sing I am the King of New York doing all the individual voices and he vows never to speak to me again. He’s SO dramatic.
Here are 2 links featuring the cookbook! Thank you t0 b0th sites for featuring our book as a great holiday gift for people of any age! Remember to pick up your copies of FITK for the h0lidays off our website or your local bookstore. Any Barnes and Noble or Borders in the nation can order out book! It’s just that easy!
http://www.mommieswithstyle.com/freshman-in-the-kitchen-a-great-gift-for-cooks-of-all-types/
Check someone off your list! We are giving away 2 signed cookbooks! One for you, one for them! November 10, 2009
Posted by Eli in : Uncategorized , add a commentMoney is definitely tight right now so we want to help alleviate (a small amount) of the holiday shopping burden by giving you 2 signed copies of our cookbook “Freshman in the Kitchen.” Keep one for yourself or give both away, we’ll sign em both to whomever and ship them directly to your door with plenty of time to have them wrapped for the holidays.
To win the “FreshmanKitchen personalized cookbooks Contest” all you need to do is:
1) Go to www.youtube.com/freshmankitchen
2) Watch our reel video AND leave a comment
3)Log into twitter and tweet this message “I just entered to win 2 signed cookbooks from @freshmankitchen! Contest info : www.youtube.com/freshmankitchen” (the remaining 42 characters are yours if you want em!)
We will contact the randomly selected winner via twitter at the end of this month!
GOOD LUCK! And remember that you can also buy our cookbook by clicking on the very not subtle sky blue link to your upper right.
