68'd

No one will listen to anything that you do not ever say.

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Cooking with one pan or pot will always be my jam, and it can be yours too if you do it right.

First, I seasoned my salmon with salt, and pepper.  Got my pan really hot (practically smoking), and did the skin side down.  When my salmon is seared, it releases itself from the pan and reveals a beautiful golden brown color. When you take your seared protein off the pan, there will be browned bits in it.  It is called “fond”, or a foundation for flavor.  Do not go to the sink and rinse this off.  This is the flavor that comes from the protein and whatever you have seasoned it with.  

I take it off the pan and immediately put red cabbage in with some onions and garlic and stock.  Added some miso paste and mustard, because salty and tangy are good flavor combinations!

Then made it pretty.

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This salad was inspired from Top Chef.  I believe Chef Melissa King said that it was a sad salad.  It might have been in a competition setting like that but if you are feeding people and trying to manage their diet it’s a pretty solid idea.

Since we are on the topic, let’s talk about   real quick.

Vinaigrettes are a kind of dressing.  Usually it’s an emulsion of acid and oil.

Sources of acid can be citrus or tart fruit, or vinegars (a whole lot of them out there.)

In culinary school, I was thought that the ratio to use was 1 part of acid to 3 parts of oil.  I always thought that it was way too fatty and it needed some kind of punch.  I stuck with it anyway because if I debated it during the test... well I don’t make up the rules in that educational arena.

But later on, especially watching Iron Chef,  Michael Symon mentioned that vinaigrettes are supposed to be 1 part of acid to 2 parts oil and that, I can agree with.

What I used to dress this salad was graperfruit juice, caramelized onions which are cooked in fat, butter, and some oil.  The butter was used to saute the onions so I just added what I felt would thought was suffice.  It wasn’t a 1/2 exactly like I previously mentioned but it tasted good!

Quick vinaigrette recipe: 4 ounces  butter 1 cup onion  sliced 1 cup grapefruit juice 2 cups oil to taste  salt and pepper

Turn burner on high to melt butter and add onions in.  Once they start to become fragrant, turn the heat down.   Add graprefruit juice an oil.  Quickly whisk to emulsify. Season with salt and pepper to finish. The problem with caramelized onions, is that they tend to be clumpy.  So if you want to blend that mixture, I would recommend it.  That in liquid form will distribute the flavors better versus having random onion chunks in your salad dressing..

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Fundamentals are necessary when trying to replicate something.  I tried to replicate The Catch roll from Catch NYC.  A chef friend gave me the recipes and nearly got there.  I can look at this picture and notice a multitude of flaws.  The salmon’s not evenly cut, wasabi isn’t nicely shaped, the serranos aren’t cut evenly, my lines are not even when I plated, so on and so forth and it definitely needed more sauce.  Sidenote, thank goodness they asked for a second round and I was able to rectify those mistakes.

Ultimately, the clients enjoyed the dinner as a whole.   I still wonder what would have happened if I didn’t take up sushi.

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Matcha Gelato, Cointreau Soaked Sponge Cake, Chocolate Chip Granola Crumble, Honey Originally it was without the cointreau or the crumble.  There was cointreau on the table since cocktails were being made and we were trying to find some sort of nuts to add texture to the cake and ice cream but all we can find were granola bars.  

I honestly thought that the suggestions made sense so I pitched them to Daniele who invited me to help out with this dinner.  He took me up on it, and the last minute additions totally made sense.   Tea with honey and citrus?  It works. Chocolate, oats and gelato on a warm cake?  It definitely works. Having an understanding on the principles of simple flavors and texture can get anybody far in cooking.

If anything, I would just burn off the cointreau so that the citrus flavor is more forward... and definitely would have used more of it with orange zest and actual oranges!

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The beautiful thing about having friends in the industry is that they are always one message away.

In this case, I called up Rene who’s a sous chef at Suerte and asked for some tortillas.  This idea came about as Tavo (my client) and I were having a conversation about how some ingredients are revered throughout history.  Some examples of these are the Japanese with sushi rice and Mexicans with corn.

I then started talking about how Suerte starts their masa from scratch and would love to bring some over so Tavo can try it.  He then proceeded to say that I can make a lot of friends out of this, and it was very similar to eating at Frontera which is Rick Bayless’ restaurant in Chicago. It just shows that collaboration is a beautiful thing, and always check on your friends.

New York Strip, Coriander Roasted Carrots, Carrot Top Ranch, Hazelnuts

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A Mindful Food Shopping List.

Kyle, the head coach at Crossfit City Limits (the gym that I go to) suggested that I should put out a shopping list for those who are in his MOMENTUM program..  I didn’t know where to start just because there is so much information that I had to go back to and gather data from.  

Luckily, the universe listens and are willing to share.  I woke up to a message from Lauren (not including her last name for privacy purposes)  saying that she made this spreadsheet of items that have been in her rotation while keeping a healthy lifestyle and asked if I was interested.  Of course I said yes, and I was interested.  She gave me her blessing to share this information with you and hopefully it can go to good use for a better future. I stuck some notes on the bottom, whether they are short stories or fun facts about ingredients.  I’ll be posting some more recipes and recommendations soon!

Protein Sources:  Where to find them in the grocery store:  Meat Aisle, Dry Goods, Canned Goods Chicken Breasts Pork Ribeye Ground Beef Ground Turkey Cheaper Beef Cuts (Skirt, Round, Shoulder) Salmon Canned Tuna Lentils Beans Chickpeas Edamame Cottage Cheese Greek Yogurt Plant Based Protein Powder Eggs  Turkey Breast Vegetables: Where:  Produce Section Rainbow Chard Spinach Kale Collard Greens Arugula Asparagus Broccoli Cauliflower Brussels Sprouts Red Cabbage Bokchoy Celery Avocadoes Carrot Bell Pepper Beets Green Peas (a quick note on peas, frozen is better since they are frozen once they are frozen right after they are shucked out of the shell, preserving their flavor better.) Mushrooms

Fruits Where:  Produce Section Blueberries Strawberries Raspberries Banana Apples Mango Pineapple Cherries Watermelon Nuts and Seeds: Where:  Healthy food section, or Baking and Pastry (because people like nuts in their pastries.  Logic, right?) Flaxseeds Chia Seeds Pumpkin Seeds Sunflower Seeds Cashews Walnuts Hazelnuts Almonds Macadamia Nuts

Carbohydrate Sources (NOT GRAINS!) Potatoes Butternut Squash Spaghetti Squash Zucchini Lentils Beans (Lentils and Beans are used as protein sources by vegetarians or vegans, but sometimes can be seen in a meal accompanied by protein - think pork and beans - which would either make it a supplemental protein or a carbohydrate.  Honestly asking if lentils or beans is a protein or a carbohydrate it’s almost like asking if a hotdog is a sandwich... I just love setting the world on fire sometimes.) Flavor Makers: Lemons Limes Oranges Graperfruit (For the citrus mentioned above, you can always use the zest!  Either grab a microplane or a peeler and take the colored part off without getting too much of the pith, which is the white part of the citrus and use it in your cooking/flavoring.)

Avocado Oil Sesame Oil Balsamic Vinegar Apple Cider Vinegar Almond Milk (I stopped drinking real milk at some point during my life.  Not that I’m lactose intolerant because I love cheese and the occasional ice cream pint.  But when I was cooking for Adam, I saw Almond Milk in his fridge and looked at the nutritional facts - it has a third of the calories that regular milk has, and when I tried to make pastry cream with it with the recipe that I got from my apprenticeship, it was totally fine.)

Coconut Milk Coconut Cream Tahini (Sesame Seed Paste)

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During my apprenticeship, a chef told me that Pico De Gallo (beak of rooster) is named as such because it should be sized appropriately for a rooster to eat.

Nothing special with this one.  Tomatoes, onions, cilantro, limes, salt and lime zest!  Sometimes, simple is best.

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Cooking with scraps is fun.  I always got assigned to do Sunday family meals for a minute and in the restaurant world, NOTHING gets in on a Sunday.  Which means that whatever the prep team has not used for the week or anything that goes bad, I get to use.

The worse part about cooking on Sundays is that that it’s practically a clopen.  You close the restaurant, get home at around 1 am... I would shower and fiddle around on my phone until I fall asleep which is usually around 3 and wake up at around 10 or 11 depending on my mood that day and get ready to work another 11 hour day.

So the first thing in my mind if my order doesn’t come in is basically go on a scavenger hunt.  What’s going bad soon?  What can I use?  Usually the chefs would throw something in my direction and tell me to use it.  

The way I’ve played that game was to make something practical.  A stew, a hash, something that I can cook in one pot in a huge open flame.

Going back to this post.

I took the good parts of the plant (broccoli, broccolini and asparagus) and used them in the most simple manner - tossed in oil and spices, or in the asparagus’ case, a warm salad of sorts.

The rest, aka the stems... the first thing that I thought of was hash.  Small diced and a quick saute.  Because of the bacon.  It just made sense at the time!

Always consider the stems of any vegetable or herb you are using.  For example, cilantro, parsley, watercress, to name a few have a lot of flavor too!  You can use them for a vinaigrette, sauce, or finishing a warm dish with them by mixing it in.

I did put that part in bold because if you are skimming this blog and you had one paragraph to read... that would be it.

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10/365 Flavors inspired by South Africa. Amadumbe is a sweet potato puree with peanuts and honey and Boerwors is a sausage normally made with beef, pork, coriander and curry spices.

I actually think that saying something is inspired by flavors of a country or culture is attempting the authentic thing is a better way rather than saying I was trying for something authentic, failed, and then people telling me left and right that it isn’t.  I’ve felt that way about some dishes that I’ve cooked (Brazilian week for example, when I tried Feijoada and missed miserably by my own standards.)

MASHED POTATO TECHNIQUE.

Let’s talk about technique rather quickly.  To make a potato puree, cut the potatoes medium diced and start them with a little bit of cold, salted water to season them while they are cooking.

When the potatoes are done (aka fork tender). Strain and then put them back in the pot to remove excess moisture.  Mash it with a ricer, a hand held potato masher or just a wooden spoon if you don’t have one.  You can tell that you have removed the moisture off the potatoes when you see some product sticking to the bottom of the pan, but not burnt.

At that point, this is when you would want to fold your butter and toasted, crushed peanuts in. (both of which I totally forgot to do today!)  The butter will give you that extra glisten and flavor that you are looking for.  Finish with honey, and serve!

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Spice Mixes

There is an episode of Friends where Phoebe made the best cookies but she kept saying that it was a secret recipe.   When she finally got ahold of the recipe to reveal the “secret”, it turns out it was from “Neselle Toulhouse” - And they proceeded to say, NESTLE TOLLHOUSE? Yeah, the best cookie that they had that episode was a Nestle Tollhouse cookie.  Factory made.  Made by many households in the world.  It’s a proven recipe that works.

Which brings me to my next subject - spice mixes.

Katie, who goes to my gym kept asking me for the recipe I used for the pork and I kept putting it off for so long because I debated whether not to make the recipe from scratch, when the reality is I used a spice mix that I found from Walmart.

This Chinese spice mix in particular contains star anise, cloves, fennel, black pepper and cinnamon.  

You can also call it pumpkin spice.  May I hear a quick collective “YAAAAS” in the room?  

There are pros and cons to using a premade product.  

PROS: 1. The ratio is basically premade for you.  You can use it whenever you want. 2. You know what’s in it. 3. You don’t have to make it from scratch.  Gathering a bunch of spices to make one spice mix that you will rarely use unless you run a food service production or having a cookout the next day is not really the most ideal situation. 4.  Spices last practically forever as long as it does not come in contact with moisture. and forms bad mold.

CONS: 1. Allergies.  If you’re allergic to one of the above but didn’t know it and you ingested the ingredient anyway... 

2. In reverse of buying multiple spices to make one giant spice mix... just because you have these spices doesn’t mean that you have to use all of it in one batch to make one!  In fact, you can actually diversify your spice cabinet better by having five different spices and combining them differently as you please depending on each application. 3. One flavor might be too strong for you.  Let’s say that you don’t like pepper, or cinnamon.  Then you either deal with it forever and never get to fix it or dump it down the trash which is a waste of your money. With that in mind, go to the grocery store and explore some flavor combinations.  You might already know some at the top of your head.  A good example?  Garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and salt... definitely my personal favorite.  Equal amounts on everything except the salt.  Add that as you go. 9/365

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The Pitch.

Here’s a quick fun fact about me:  I’m a huge Top Chef fan.  It’s the reason why I I cook.

Restaurant Wars is usually a Top Chef tradition where two restaurant concepts compete, who was better in a concept and overall execution of service?  

There have been a couple of twists in the past seasons such as doing two services in the same day but today might be the challenge that speaks to me the most. 

The pitch.

The pitch is selling your idea to an investor.  What the chefs had to do in this episode was to pitch their idea to the judges and present a couple of dishes that represent those ideas.

That challenge spoke to me, because putting myself out to the world is hard as it is, but to put what you are passionate about on the line, it’s pretty much putting all the chips in the table saying “this is me, and I fully believe in myself enough to present to you an idea that I truly believe in.”

While there is a lot of emotion attached to it, business is usually the first priority and to be a good chef not only means that you have to be a good cook, but have some sense of how business works - check averages, clientele, styles of service, just to name a few.

Going back to my point, I would not be personal cheffing or meal prepping for people today had I not made my pitch.  Mine was a little more unorthodox as I had some help along the way.

Keoni (who was one of the former trainers at City Limits) found out that I cooked for a living through his questions of the day, as his way of getting to know people.  When I joined his body transformation challenge, we started off a couple of food events here and there at Adam’s house - breaking down chicken, cooking eggs, making salsa... accessible recipes for the home cook who are trying to live healthier lifestyles.

Weeks go by, and after a workout Adam asks me if I would like to cook for him.  Anybody would jump at the chance, but I was hesitant at first.  I knew how to cook, but I didn’t know how to cook “healthy”.  At the same time, Kyle, the head coach, approached me to do the same for him.  At that point... if someone literally gave me the opportunity on a silver platter, I had to take it and do some research.

Eversoul was born.

In my mind, EverSoul was going to be this below 20 seat countertop restaurant somewhere in the middle of downtown Los Angeles.  I would have had a resume where I worked in top Michelin restaurants (Le Bernardin, Volt, Momofuku - some of my dream places to have had worked in at the time) to back that resume up.  But, here we are.

It’s ironic because the concept of EverSoul comes from making people better with food.  Food as medicine, a functional tool that makes them function better as athletes or people who want to have good food even with dietary restrictions.  

But the dream that I had was to feed people with something lavish, things that I can’t even understand the technique behind because I never worked in those back then revered (back then, at least) restaurants.

And now, I’m in the game.  

If I were to reopen this as a restaurant, which I might at some point even as a food truck... my pitch would be this -

A guilt free cheat meal.

Because that’s what it is.  Healthier versions of foods that are considered a cheat meal.   Anything can be made healthier.  A meatloaf?  A hamburger?  Pasta?  

Yep.  Everything can be healthier and just as good because if there’s a will, there’s always a way.

8/365 - Here’s a picture of the very first dish I cooked for Adam... Meatloaf.

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Sound Off!

Is a potato a starch or a vegetable?  No wrong answers.

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For the last two weeks, one of my clients has dropped hints on wanting a bean burger.  Instead of making one, I decided to deconstruct the ingredients instead and then serve it with an actual beef patty on the side, because I knew that he just wanted a good beef burger every now and then so I just cooked both and hopefully killed two birds with one stone.

Recipe:

1 lb corn kernels 14 oz black beans (you can either buy them canned, but rinse them first after straining the liquid off it, because sodium or you can soak them overnight and simmer them for 40 minutes or so.  either way. 3 ea  bell peppers diced 1 ea. onions diced to taste  cumin/dried chipotles/chili powder 1. Sweat your onions and pepper in a hot and wide pan until translucent. 2. Add the corn and mix together until incorporated and warm. 3. Add the beans to finish and mix together until warm. 4.  Season with cumin, chipotles and chili powder. Note:  Season with salt as you go.  Bit by bit.  You can always add but never take away. The best part about this recipe is that if you really wanted to make a bean burger, it’s a base to start off of.  If you wanted to, get a can of refried beans and mix a cup of this mixture together.  You can sear it like you would a burger in a pan.   But if you were to do it in a grill, make sure your grill is seasoned well so that the beans do not stick.  This is super important, because if you’ve grilled before... cleaning up stuck bits is never fun!

7/365

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6/365 I was cooking at someone’s house one day because I felt like a dish was missing something.  They thought I was being judgmental at their fridge.  

Honestly, when I do look at people’s fridges if I do cook at other people’s places, I have a one track mind and it’s usually attacking a need - do I need an ingredient?  Something to drink?  And more importantly, space to put the food in once I’m done cooking.

So I found something to season their food, put it back and went on with my day.

Fast foward to today,  something felt off when I was cooking.  The chicken looked a little bland and I wanted to bring something to it  so I looked at my fridge.

Pepperoncinis, cilantro and onions.  If you think about those ingredients, it makes a basic relish.  A pico de gallo is a relish (I think, someone please correct me if I’m wrong.).  So I thought about doing that immediately.  A quick relish will always bring something sweet and acidic to anything that you want it to.  A hotdog?  Put some relish on it and it will give it that sweetness/saltiness from the pickles that the relish is made out of.  

Here’s the quick recipe.

1 c             pepperoncinis or banana peppers 1/2 ea        white onion, rinsed (just to remove that excess sulfur.) 1/2 bunch  cilantro 1/4 cup      pineapples to taste      salt and pepper Mix everything in a bowl and use in whatever protein or vegetable you can find it on.  It’s a sure burst of flavor!

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5/365

Kare-Kare

Kare means curry in English.  This stew consists of beef, squash, green beans, and tomatoes, and a peanut-coconut sauce that is colored with annato.

The first picture up top is when I did it ten years ago.  I thought I was hot shit knowing how to cook shortrib.  I don’t even think it fell off the bone when I cooked it the first time which meant that my understanding of the fundamentals were there in theory, but the execution on it was just bad.  The sauce did not have any and it still seemed disjointed.  

Not to say that I’m going to be less harsh in the 2020 version of it during the first pop-up dinner that I did.  This time, we used a ribeye, sauteed the beans and tomatoes together, and managed to make a good sauce!

Traditional Kare-Kare

1 lb   beef stew meat as needed  cooking oil 1 ea  onion 7 ea   garlic cloves as needed  water 1 ea  can coconut milk 4 tbsp  peanut butter 1 ea   goya annato cubes (you can find these in the international food section.) 3 oz  green beans 3 oz  tomatoes 3 oz  squash

1. Brown the meat on all sides on a wide pot using oil. 2. Add cubed onion and chopped garlic.  Sweat until translucent. 3. Add enough water just to cover the meat.  Cover the pot to continue the braising process, about an hour or so. 4. Add the can of coconut milk.  If you think it’s too thin or you won’t have enough broth... add another one. 5. Add peanut butter and mix in.  If the mixture still looks thin, let it reduce halfway through and assess.  If it’s still looks thin, add another spoonful. 6. Add the annato and let it dissolve. 7.  Add the squash and let it cook halfway through. 8. Finish with green beans and tomatoes until all vegetables are tender. 9.  Serve with rice and shrimp paste. Now if you have a ribeye, season and sear it well. Follow everything for the sauce, but blend it (or don’t, not all sauces need blending.) Roast or saute the vegetables in a separate pan. Serve as a more composed dish.

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It started out as a joke.

I wanted Red Lobster one day, so I just went out and got it.

There was a spinach and artichoke dip, as other chain restaurants do. For some reason, I wanted to sneak it into a menu for that week… I did it on a whim and this was the result of it.

1 each chicken breast 1 tsp dried thyme dash salt

2 bags spinach 14 oz can of artichokes 1 onion 6 cloves garlic (I used 6 because I was doing six chicken breasts.)

Sear your chicken smooth side down. Wait until brown and then flip. Cook for about 2–3 minutes. Remove and put in a baking tray.

Add onions and garlic in the same pan you just took the chicken out of. There are good bits of flavor in there from the chicken and the herbs that it was seasoned with, we want to put that to good use.

Add the artichokes and the liquid. Reduce the liquid to half.

Add coconut milk and reduce again to half

Add the spinach a handful at a time until they all wilt and fit in the same pan. You can serve it at this point. Or…

Extra touches you can do to this — if you see that the sauce is runny, which it will be… you can add a mixture of cornstarch and water (a slurry) until the coconut milk gets thick. Add a little at a time though, a little goes a long way.

Transfer this mixture with the chicken diced with it into an oven safe baking pan and put some cheese and breadcrumbs in it. Broil it until all the cheese is melted and the breadcrumbs are golden brown. It’s just as good.

3/365

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Bokchoy, Tomatoes, Sesame There is a board where we write down ingredients that we would like to highlight in a dish.   We don’t put any descriptors to it like Grilled Bokchoy, Roasted Tomatoes and Sesame Oil.  By putting those parameters, we as cooks put ourselves in a box when there are a lot of possibilities and approach with ingredients.  So when I started writing menus for EverSoul, I realized that doing it that way is so much better because it’s partially a mystery for my client and even for myself.  

Generally I do have an idea of where I’m going with something but I tend to change direction when I’m in the kitchen.  I’ll stick to my plan about 70 percent of the time, but then there’s that 30 percent where I see something and go with it because it tastes well.

A perfect example for this bokchoy dish.  A friend made a recipe once using an herb chimichurri, tomatoes and cashew butter.  But a lot of things goes into those components that don’t qualify it to be functional for the person who’s eating it.  So, in my mind, I broke down the essence of the ingredient and used it in its form.  Kind of.

2 heads  bokchoy cut in small pieces 1/4 cup   cooking oil 1 bu        cilantro stems 1 bu        green onion stems 1 bu        parsley stems 2 ounces  cherry tomatoes 2 ounces  sundried tomatoes 1 ounce    sesame 5 ounces  almonds to taste     sesame oil, salt, pepper (I definitely recommend adding onions or garlic to this recipe.) 1.  Heat up cooking oil.  Once ripples form at the bottom of the pan indicating that it’s hot, add your cherry tomatoes and blister them. 2. Add sundried tomatoes and blend in with cherry tomatoes. 3.  There will be a little paste forming on the bottom.  It will turn dark for a bit.  As long as you keep scraping, that’s where umami (or extra savoriness) comes from 4.Deglaze with any kind of liquid.  Chinese wine, white wine, water, stock... Just impart flavor into it. 5. Finish with herb stems 6.  Save the mixture for later.

7.  Heat up a separate pan for the bokchoy.  Some cooking oil to start in a wide pot, make sure it’s ripping.  Add the white parts first until they are translucent.  Finish with the greens until halfway wilted.   8.  Add sesame oil and season as necessary to finish. 9. Fold as much tomato mixture as wanted with the bokchoy.  You can use that same tomato relish with any kind of starch by blending it or using it as a spread. 2/365