wow its been 34 days since I last posted: no recipe or a giveaway

Hey there remember me? Yup I am the guy that used to write this blog oh so diligently since 2005. I am the guy that once wrote a blog post every single day for a year. I am they guy that now wonders why I dont take the time anymore when it is something I enjoy and love so much. Being busy is no excuse, I love to be busy and in fact it is this blog that got me to the busy I am today. I have so much to be happy for and I am happy for it. Truth of the matter is I have not been cooking so much for myself and it is this cooking for myself and for contests that I would typically blog about so since that isnt happening I am now going to try to start a once a week blog post; if the once a week thing works out then I will increase it to twice a week, lets go easy here.

Since September of 2010 or so I have been the Executive Chef of two prestigious catering companies in New York City,  this has been something I have worked towards for years and every single day I count my blessings that I am living my dream. Its true that if you keep your eye on the prize it will become yours. Now in this position I need to come up with new and tasty treats to serve our hungry clients and one of these treats is my twist on a classic - roasted butternut squash soup. I cant tell you what I put in it since it is so simple you could easily run away with my secret but I will tell you it has butter and to finish it off I use a little creme fraiche and a huckleberry puree - it is vegetarian but definitely not vegan.

Another part of my job is a weekly lunch that I make for a 60 member womens association and I have to say that this is one of the most rewarding and challenging aspects of what I have to do - I love making these women happy since for most of them this is the highlight of their week and not that it matters but the median age is about 75. One week I served them glazed carrots and Moroccan meatballs, I can safely and confidently tell you that this is a step up from their normal meatloaf.

The ladies also a get a nice dessert. The reason I like this part of my job so much is that each week I need to make a salad, an entree and a dessert and I treat this with all the creative energy that I can muster.

Then I get home and make myself some braised octopus - gotta feed the big sugar machine!

New Years Eve and some ancient traditions

What do you do when the new year rolls around? There are a lot of traditions out there so we try and do a different one every year, sometimes we blend a couple of them together and sometimes we loosely interpret what we think is one. This is one of those years where a loose interpretation was the game plan.

 

Lentils with cabbage - if you dont know what these two represent then you should get to googling because I am not going to tell you.

Dont go in for all of this good luck mumbo jumbo?

Have some pork belly! This is the last day of 2011 and it has been a great year. I fully expect and hope that 2012 will be even better. Thank you to all of you and I wish you all the very best there is to wish.

Baci d' amore are love kisses - pork loin with a white chocolate hazelnut sauce

You wont need to roll up the kitchen rugs for this one but it might not be a bad idea. Pork loin stuffed with pears, peppers, mint, scallions and chevre served over couscous with a white chocolate hazelnut sauce is enough to make you shudder.

Butterfly a pork loin and spread the delicious mixture inside and roll it up.

Brown it on all sides and pop it in the oven until it is just right.

Let it rest then slice it up.

Serve it with couscous and drizzle the luscious chocolate hazelnut sauce over everything - baci d' amore - love kisses, love bites and love struck.

Here is the recipe and here is where you can find the Baci d' Amore.

How to: Pate au Choux with rum infused sweet potato puree

Want to make an appetizer that is easy, eye catching, and delicious? 

Then make choux pastry pipped with sweet potato or if you want other ideas try a spinach choux filled with cheese or a carrot choux filled with spinach or a chocolate choux filled with vanilla cream or a vanilla choux filled with chocolate cream or a chocolate/chocolate or a vanilla/vanilla or what ever combination you can think of but remember you heard it here first.

Bake them till golden and pipe in your favorite sweet or savory filling.

You can believe me when I tell you that it is easier than you think. (look at my poor wounded fingers - I had a "knife incident" LOL). Make some pate au choux and impress your guests.

Recipe: purple poached pears plated pleasantly perfect

Definitely poached pears are one top drawer dessert, and without a doubt it is one of the easiest desserts you could ever make. Poached pears with a red wine caramel and creme anglaise only takes time to make it nice. You will read a lot of recipes that will tell you to poach the pears for about 15 minutes or so but to really get them tender and tasty I suggest no less than 45 minutes at a nice steady simmer.

So how do you make these? Easy. Get some bosc pears and peel them and cut the bottom so they standup. Fill up a nice flat bottomed pot with red wine and about a 1/4 ratio of water to wine to cover the pears - so for example: one bottle of wine and a 1/4 bottle of water. Season the liquid with orange peel, lemon peel, cinnamon, star anise, clove, a bay leaf and some sugar - you need to taste the liquid to make sure it is tasty but dont go crazy tasting this delicious elixer or you wont have anything to poach the pears in. Simmer pears in this liquid for 45 minutes then let them cool in the poaching liquid over night. Update: Ciao Chow Linda asked if the poaching liquid travels up the pear and I now realize my photo might suggest that the pears remained upright but they do fall over and I did gently move them about during the simmering process

The next day gently remove the pears and reduce the liquid until it is a nice thick caramel and let the pears come up to room temperature.

This is a pear in the unreduced liquid.

Make a creme anglaise, which is a nice vanilla sauce made with milk, cream, egg yolks and vanilla bean.   Put some of the wine caramel on a plate, put some creme anglaise on a plate and put a pear on top of the sauces and garnish with a mint leaf and you are good to go.

Invite 35 of your best friends over to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Poached pears will be on your menus - I guarantee it! Oh and dont forget to check out my latest post at Char-Broil.