Tag: cooking

Personalize Diet Plan, Named

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Real food diet, ground to mouth, that’s my plan.  Simple foods, minimally processed and whole singular ingredients only.  Although the ingredient list many be long, that is not because of what is on the label of the can or plastic packaging, it is because I strive to eat a very diverse amount of meat, vegetables, fruits, roots, seeds, nuts, spices, vinegar, fats.

Bread, you say, has but 4 ingredients: flour, water, yeast, and salt, so why then are you of the skip-the-bread clan?  How can this easy list go wrong?   The problem with bread is that the flour highly processed. It offers no nutritional value per se and now I am sure that all flour has come from a GMO crop, and almost all of it has been bleached, stripped completely of any traces of minerals and vitamins.

I also try very very hard to limit my cheese consumption which I difficult given my Dutch blood.  Although cheese has but two ingredients: milk and culture, the problem with dairy is how the cows are treated, what they are fed, the medicines they receive to produce a lot, and what milk has gone through to get to the table: homogenization, pasteurization, and overall low quality.  Nothing about the dairy farm is natural.

So when people ask me how I eat, I don’t want to say Paleo- that sounds limiting and also the worst diet name ever.  I eat real food, whole foods, minimally processed, like you cook it some and it’s ready to go. Real food doesn’t have any ingredient list, that’s my diet.  Real food doesn’t specific what’s not in it (growth hormones or preservatives) and definite does not come in plastic.

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Eggrageous

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Eggs.  I use and eat and consume and demand a lot of eggs.  All of which are chicken eggs, not just mainly, I am talking about exclusively.  What other kinds of eggs are out there?  I feel like I am missing out on a golden egg opportunity.  The only kind of eggs available widely is quail.  Have you ever seen a quail egg? It is so tiny!  I cannot even imagine the absurdity of separating the whites and yolks!  That is hilarious.  There are duck eggs, which are much larger than chicken eggs.  The taste profile is very similar.

What about a turkey egg?  What about eggs other than poultry?  I heard ostrich eggs are delicious, and huge.

 

Basic Inspirations in Detail

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Vanilla and chocolate, both ubiquitous in desserts the world over, are native to Mexico.   These two ingredients are fascinating that they considered common given how labor intensive and rare they are.  They were originally cultivated by the Mayans, brought to outside world after the Columbus incident, developed into tasty treats by the French, made widely available by the industrial revolution.  The infamous Hernan Cortés is credited with bring both of these ingredients to the outside world.  The legacy of these flavors lives on, surpassing the fame of this conquistador, being a lasting link to a long dead civilization.

The history of these ingredients are long and bloody. It begins with the Aztecs equating the shelling of the cacao seeds with the scarifying of the human heart, and escalating into civilizations of slavery, plantations of forced labor, generations of exploration, and now with child labor violations.  Delicious.

We take these flavors for granted when in reality they have been consumed for thousands of years, have traveled the globe, and have extreme and laborious growing and production processes. Over the next two posts, Marigold is going to dive into detail about these amazing ingredients.

The Beautiful Beet

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The enigmatic tendency of nature, the goal is beauty

Sexy curves confuse with a hypnotic dance

Uniform and unique the multitude of spiral slices

Are sweet and crisp

Delicate and divinely lush

A late summer gift, to remind you of the surprises

Still waiting to be unearthed.

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Is This the One?

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I don’t want to curse myself, but I love my new job. For so many reasons.  I know what you are thinking, you always say that when you always start a new job. You seek the full bounty of establishing your queendom in the kitchen, but it never turns out to be the fairy tale you have devised.  As one of my favorite people said, bore-O.  You are going to get bore-O and the luster will loose its polish.  More than I hope not, I need to remain clear headed about why I go to work everyday: it is my art, and it is for my sake mostly. I do it because eating is as close to divinity that we can get on a routinely daily bases.  Give us this day 3 times hopefully, our daily sustenance.  Since we eat so often, it’s nice to be given a surprise still, to indulge and whole heartedly enjoy food.

This is one: My friends went to dine there.  I was not working, but knew at least they would get dessert on the house.   They sent me a picture of my friend eating the last bite of a chocolate cake with a huge smile on his face.  All I could think of was, they gave them the best table in the house.  Thanks guys, for making my friends, whom you don’t know, so welcome.  I love that.

Sugar’s Dilemma

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I am a Pastry Chef who doesn’t eat sugar.  It’s more than confusing, it’s a paradox.  My career revolves around a singular subject, one type of ingredient that takes on multiple forms.  Glucose, fructose, maltose, sucrose, lactose, whatever the crystallization, the commonality is the sweet sensation.  Honey, turbinado, jaggery, molasses, confectioners, maple, sugar beet, sugar cane, whatever the source, the building blocks of taste are the same.

My nickname is Sugar, that’s how ingrained this ingredient is in my life. I personally, however, avoid consuming sugar.  I try not to eat it.  Ever.  I do this for health reasons.  As you may have heard, sugar is linked to all kinds of weight and mental issues.  All I know is that I feel better when I avoid it.  I try to eat a very high fat and vegetable diet.  The problem with the Paleo lifestyle is that it is literally impossible to be a Pastry Chef who doesn’t eat sugar.  It makes no sense, it is not logical, professionally unacceptable, a contradiction.

Sugar is a dilemma.  It gets a bad rap, but has a place on the dinner table.  I have carved a career about of the very thing that I try so hard to avoid.  The problem is in the excess.  Sugar is everywhere and in everything.  It is not left to the special birthday cake, a once in a blue moon sweet.  It has gotten so out of control that sugar is even in water.   The singular essential ingredient to human life, and that too has been enhanced with the manufactured syrup of modern eating.

I put it in everything, but that is because I put it in the proper role.  I am a Sugar Fairy that knows what percentage of sweetness is perfect for taste and digestion, how to construct a plate that is balanced with a touch of salt, a sprinkle of acid, and good amount of crunch, a lot of creamy texture, a silky mouthful.  Sugar is important.  Sugar is fun.  Sugar is a life enhancement but it must be used cautiously.  You leave that part up to me.

For now,  I will keep on trying to avoid eating peanut butter bacon cookie dough, mint chocolate chip ice cream, lemon curd, or chocolate mousse for breakfast.  I need to remember to take a hint from myself and save it for the right time.

just another day

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I am blessed with very sensitive skin.  Combined with the attribute of wearing my emotions on my sleeve, I battle with acne.  Its the worst.  Its on your face, and its so noticeable.  Thank the good goddess for make-up.  Its so good.  But my problem is that I cannot kept up with the upkeep.  I work in a 100 degree kitchen.  That is not an overstatement.  Its hotter then balls hot.  My makeup runs, I look like joker town fool by the end of my shift.

So I have this zombie dead zit that is the worst.  Its been holding steady on my fore head for honestly months.  It won’t budge, just chillen, making a home.  But now its full blow sickness, it a colony plotting to take over my whole face.  Really, my face it going to turn into a big zit.  Its happened before, and its. Terrifying.  Downright awful.  Its going to chew my pretty face, consume my self, and I will be left right where I am now.  I have had three people comment on my face.  The first asked if I got cut, the second if I had a bruise, and the third if I got into bike accident what’s wrong with your face?  Honest to goddess, this happened.  A bike accident?? A bike accident.  No. Nope.  Just a zit.  I mean this happens to me.  I get a fuck face zit for like half a year.  The worst? Terrifying??

No.

Not even close.

Honestly I don’t give a fuck about my face town fiasco.  What I walked into today at work was terrifying.  It was beyond a blemish turned bruised.  I walked into a pure hell of a greasy mess.  How and what have I done to deserve this level of grossness.  I almost had a heart attack.  No warning, just a ball of hot greasy splattered evenly across every surface.  Dust settling again on top.  New oil waits new grease.  I couldn’t even walk from my cup of coffee to my station.  I had to walk around the entire restaurant just to get from the front line to the back.  Within being there for no less then 5 minutes, I had inexplicable oil on my hand.  One hand sink was being repaired and out of commission.  Since it was being worked on, there were tools everywhere, around the sink and the hallway leading to the office.  Everywhere I looked and walked was not okay.  Not a single sight being up kept or cared for.  Everywhere is neglected.  Fuck, I haven’t been there for one day.  One.  The other hand sink was so dirty it looked like a bus boy had puked it in.  There was no soap at that sink.  Mind you, I had to walk a solid 2 minutes to get to 2/2 no functioning sinks.  No big deal.  NBG. Its only me.

What have I done to deserve this?  If I was in prison, it would be cleaner.  And it might most likely be a more pleasant environment.

Good goddess I wish this was the end.  Only the beginning really of my day.  Remember, this is first 5 minute of the day.  The kitchen was a greasy snot ball of hell for the first hour.  After a fury of soap and anger, I checked the schedule.  Oh, I am working the hot line by myself, after no real training.  Also, was I warned?  Nope.  Last conversation with chef was that I should start learning the station.  So now I am on my own, with no warning, a station I hardly know, apparently in charge what comes out of the kitchen, a fucking messy ass kitchen, plus I have my pastry prep to do, put the order away, oh yeah there is a 100 person party tomorrow at noon.  Did I mention no warning of an extra aside from the party?  That at least I was informed about.  Carrot cake is good and fast, but goodness.  At the end of the shift, the chef was courteous enough to remind me that if I had cut the cake, I wouldn’t have to come in so early in the morning.  God damn, if only I had thought of that.

Its Tuesday.  Tuesdays are slow.  Its a chill day.  We started with a nice embarrassing 14 on the books.  But of course, since I was so ill prepared for the day we got shook.  Mini earth quake.  It was a smooth earthquake, but it could have been less exciting.

Oh, I think I am going to work 12 hours tomorrow.  NBD.

Spring Taste

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Crème Fraiche Coffee Cake with blueberries and lemon glaze
Crème Fraiche Coffee Cake with blueberries and lemon glaze

The spring is not set so tight this year, it’s gotten loose and rusty from years of abuse and over anticipation.  It’s a slow start, still getting cold at a moments notice, bone chilling when the sun hides.  Scarves are still in full effect, slippers are a house standard, the bed is still weighed down with blankets.  Despite the rusty snap that has yet to scar away old man winter, I cannot contain my excitement to throw off my puffy winter jacket, sacrifice it to the fire pit, watch it burn in jubilation of light clothes treading.

Strawberry Shortcake, poppy seeds and whipped coconut cream
Strawberry Shortcake, poppy seeds and whipped coconut cream

Maybe it is too soon to think about berries and juicy fruit, airy mousses and food as light as the clouds, bright tastes and sunshine colors, but frankly that does not bother me.  I don’t want winter foods. Squash time is past time, pomegranates are winter’s whore. Pears are a long way off, let’s forget about the apple for the time being.  Maple is for later, and so it the brussel sprout.  So to begin the new growing season, the season of fun, outdoors, and social interaction, I made these things:

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Pistachio cake, tiramisu semifreddo, fresh raspberries
Coconut panna cotta, rhubarb compote, strawberry-rum granite, candied cocoa nibs
Coconut panna cotta, rhubarb compote, strawberry-rum granite, candied cocoa nibs
Cookie Plate, with honey caramel and peanut butter frosting
Cookie Plate, with honey caramel and peanut butter frosting

The world is not ready for it, yet

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Red Velvet Wine Cake, Winter Rose Semifreddo, Pomegranate Glaze, Rioja Pearls, Toasted Almonds
Red Velvet Wine Cake, Winter Rose Semifreddo, Pomegranate Glaze, Rioja Pearls, Toasted Almonds

I love this dessert.  I think its super cool, hip, and refreshing.  It is described as every girls dream: red wine, dark chocolate, red roses. It is served during valentines, for a sexy and sophisticated way to share a sensual experience.