fish story

Old German boss of mine said..."the fish always stinks from the head"...interesting a boss would say that but he meant the "real" bosses...if the architect designs a flawed building the masons can't fix it and will get blamed for the trouble...maybe the arch smooth talked his way into the job...maybe he wasn't qualified...maybe he was in over his head...maybe just a lousy architect...us foot soldiers get sent into war on a bad premise...blam...we get wacked...in corporate world lots of people are in the wrong position but by the time anybody figures it out chaos has already happened...peter principle..when people get promoted to the level of their incompetence...because i might start out as clerk and be really good at dealing with people and friendly and helpful and the boss leaves i get promoted in his position...just because i get the title as manager doesnt make me a qualified manager..only the title...dealing with all sorts of different issues and different people each with their own issues...instead of what was my comfort zone im thrust into dealing with way more issues than i can handle....my number one while qualified to do my job would probably lose her mind if everyday she was asked the questions i was and had to deal with the people i do...i had a baker who worked under me who was in charge when i had a day off...every time i came back after two days off he had a list of people he wanted me to fire...i said if i left this up to you we would be alone...patience is not an easy thing to have and really takes a while to develop....but back to my fish story....sometimes it is worthwhile to let the bad fish go.....sometimes not every fish fits in with the rest of the tank...whole tank of fish with some swimming slowly...some pretty but not doing much...some do all of the tank cleaning...some love to swim through those old buildings on the bottom of the tank...then BAM...owner of the tank puts in one of those fish that begins to eat the weaker fish and disrupt the happier fish...sometimes for the total harmony of the tank the wrong fish must find another tank......

day off ...night off

first call came as i was beginning my first night off...some tragedy of a missed order...im on my way...no big deal..quick fast solved...nothing to it but to do it....next comes the emergency early morning call...not that early luckily...little soothing...little calming..."this doesnt work"..." this guys is an ass"..".how come this didnt come in?.".....im 20 minutes away answering...ok attempting to calm and answer but really it is up to the people there to do the best they can...get-r done someone famous once said...chillax another famous person once said....met the Boston blogger last night...interesting how interesting things happen...ok so another blog again has gone all off kilter with no point or even much sense...such is a saturday morning i suppose....short and sweet bloggery today....recipe of the day?....chillax

Habla espanol?

Ok neither do i too much but...if you are in this business or plan to be or just communicate with the world in general better get on the Telemundo wagon....Americans are finding out that we need to interact with many different languages....now when the telemundo women come in we handle it all just fine but in my cheffing life there have been the not so moments also...when im asking the Peruvian dishwasher for a mop...i didn't know the word and i was hinting around at cleaning...limpio...the over by the door..puerto...but he kept looking at me puzzled..both of us just not getting through...then with a few more caricature poses he says...oh!!...necessito mopo?...i said WHAT??!!!...you call the mop mopo?...i didn't want to sound like the ugly American and say i need a mopo to washo the flooro...but there it was...mopo...then he went on to explain its different in one part of his country and different to a puerto Rican...i just wanted to clean up a spill...an El Salvadorian women i worked wanted a raise ...she made a hand gesture to me...what she thought in America we rub two fingers together meaning more money...that wasn't what she did...nope....not at all...blogging police will not allow me to say or explain what she did but means a bit something else in the US...she then felt wild embarrassment as she said she had just gone up to the boss and did it to her...cant imagine what went through her mind seeing that....world expands minds must also....Hasta

Brave new world

Moving is all done...more or less....few hundred boxes hanging around and im not sure what happened to towels and some clothes but if you have seen my clothes really no big loss...sons friend said my living room was...epic....must be good right?...sons room is above mine and i can hear him and friends like im in the room...not so good...for him...or me.....a few new routines i need to change...like ALWAYS having coffee in the house...the cat has seemed to recover from the move...hamster has not escaped once yet....kid is sleeping...nothing out of the ordinary there...food will be a bit of a different adventure...but im ready....told Charles in charge i would blog of him so here you go dude....the world needs more Greek food...and Italian and just different nationalities in general...we Americanize everything and Mexican to the US has become cheese with meat...cheese with beans...cheese with veggies....cheese with cheese...we need to grab our ancestors food and cultures..actually assimilate other parts too....spanikopita should be an appetizer at restaurants...maybe for us Americans we can ease some dipping sauce with it but lets eliminate the fried this and fried that....phylo dough some spinach or spinach and cheese fillings bake til golden brown....braciloe...take some thin steak..bang it thinner...rub it with garlic good parm and quickly saute to sear...drop it spaghetti sauce and cook all day...melts in your mouth and what an app that would be...tell chefs we want some creativity...charlie and the bartenders have known this for a while now...drinks have become wildly creative...food should not be boring...life is all about change...the world never is still so all we know is change...sometimes we are hesitant to break the routines and step out of the box....its time.....

horses0630.jpg (JPEG Image, 768x516 pixels)

horses0630.jpg (JPEG Image, 768x516 pixels)

the boys and the horses

Talked to my horse woman friend today...she doesnt look like a horse..actually really beautiful...i see her i think of horses..she rides and or owns them...she also owns a 10 year old boy so we chat of growing boys and parenthood...told her i went to Saratoga raceway last week and we chatted of the absolutely gorgeous powerful animals and our boys...somehow they match....both animals...both powerful and both control our hearts....both make giant messes right where they stand...both eat like they will never eat again....both solid and strong....both need to be led back top their homes...both make us want to bet on their future...Now Saratoga is a jewel just hours away...like being back in time to the early 1900's....we know its past...just as our boys but its the futures we worry over...will they run a good race?...will they get out of the gate clean?...will it be fair?....when the race is over will they appreciate the hard work we put in getting them ready to race..ok so now i better give you all my horse meat recipes...kidding....again no recipe...what the heck kind of baking blog is this you ask....next time....now we ponder...our future our kids and our horses...long may they run

mise in place....(and tons of boxes)

La di da French term roughly meaning...putting in place......its what every cook begins his day setting up...any great chef has it down to an art....when chefs begin the day they get their garnishes ready, the knives, and towels and prepped food for whatever it is they are cooking that evening...something out of place??...party of twenty comes in and no prep for it?...the downward snowball can turn a good evening into near hell...chaos...crisis...when a properly prepped and organized kitchen gets busy the back of the house looks like a ballet...an orchestra with every musician hitting the perfect note...the sound of a plate tapping a table or steak being seared turns to silence...like the headphones that eliminate all unnecessary sound...when a baseball player hits the perfect pitch perfectly to the batter it makes no sound..he doesnt feel the moment of impact...time seems to stand still...ball leaps off the bat and a second later crowd noise or other players voices jump into the batters head and he begins to run...call it the zone....kitchens can have it too...when the smoothness of a service runs from an owner having the tools and ingredients for the chefs to use.... the waitstaff having the desire..... and the dish and bus staff understanding there importance the kitchen will buzz....no drama... no egos....no b.s....and even in the greatest of organizations this RARELY EVER HAPPENS!!!....something of us humans disallows that every night greatness...knowing where we have to be and when...we begin to take shortcuts...the easy way out....as tough as it is we should all try to go that one more step...sometimes it comes with maturity...sometimes it never comes...we get by...think that might be the best we can do...ah..thats good enough...fun to watch great chefs work...it appears effortless...no frantic action...no screaming and yelling...no wasted movement..work smart not hard...love your work and work never comes....however this sidetracking was really about my upcoming move ....the mise in place of my move will determine the outcome of my weekend...little organization goes a long way...or at least to Manchester....my big test will be mise-ing my 17 year old whose line i stole earlier about a paper he was doing is his attitude...ah thats good enough...we will survive im hoping and his laissez faire and my holy crap how will we ever get this done will meld into some sort of odd moving mixture....wonder what the French la di da word for nothing in its place is?

moving day

almost upon me...another moving day...not far away but still among the all time most stressful days...got rid of a few thousand odd cooking things i thought at one weak moment in life i would need....didn't.....my son the gourmand is begging for a toaster...think i might be able to afford one of those...microwave was on his list but....doesn't look good for that...i have survived for the last few years without one so i think we will continue to manage...makes popcorn a little tougher but much more rewarding doing it the old fashioned way...wonder how many people still do that...or even know how...little oil...hot..kernels....pop...salt butter....of course the moving day really is about beer and pizza but i doubt either made by me...paid for by me but that's the standard moving wage except the teenagers get something else besides the beer....but with moving comes a lot of out with the old and in with the new...new places to discover...we found the Cosmic Omelet...great hippy-ish breakfast joint...cooking and baking by me will be put off for a while .....my son found... Catsup and Musturd...he said a restaurant to die for...7 napkin burger...might be our dinner until we ease into our new palatial estate...think might be some great baking classes soon though...anybody ready?

lemon bar not sinister

easy short dough crust....easy eggs lemon sugar and flour filling...bake...done...like from france without the plane ride...ring me up at davem18@sbcglobal.net for easy directions and to the Telemundo women...nope...not for you...you have to come in to get them...

Cooooooooooool

Where is summer? all it does is rain?...ok we got it...90 hazy hot and humid..a few giant thunder and lightening storms thrown in for sound and color...crank up the a.c......finally your almost cool so you turn on the oven and...naaaa.......fresh picked native strawberries...dip in some sour cream and then dark brown sugar...you get sweet followed by sour followed by slightly sweet and juicy strawberry...not much easier than that...refreshing....low cal and low carb just for good measure...feeling crazy...get one of those extra sweet yellow pineapples trim the sides lose the core and poke out the eyes....slice...dip in some great melted over a water bath high quality rich chocolate the in some sweet flaked coconut..cool and tropical..ahhhhh...hear the ocean?

never wrong

"everybody wants to be a baker"....quote i have used a long time....usually when a chef tries their hand at pastry or bread making..maybe i should have changed the quote to be.... a chef....almost everyone has made something or tasted something usually from grandmom or auntie that they will go to any extreme to eat...or attempt to make...the grandma's union had the veterans change some recipe so only as a grandma could duplicate.....my grandma used to make spinach soup..some sort of Italian wedding soup but non veggie eating spinach haters would line up and push line cutters away for this...one day young Dave...the wanna be chef at the time..... asked her for the recipe...she said..."no i dont think so"..".WHAT!!?......why not??!!...after months of me asking...always with the answer.."no i don't think so"...she relented....i have my pencil and paper in hand she says ok...first cook a turkey...i said... WHAT??!!...she said for the stock...i muttered under my breath something about me buying some stock...she heard it with the super special grandma ears and said..."thats it...no more"..took me a few more months and she relented again...i thought being her only grandson she would give me all the correct details...i looked at her hands for how much a pinch was...i made her show me a ...dash...my soup was...ok to good but not the same...damn union

chocolate truffles...EASY!!!!!!!!!

1/2 qt heavy cream-2pounds good chocolate...callebaut,peters.hershey...bring the heavy cream in a sauce pan to scalding...til it just just just begins to boil...pour it over a bowl of the chopped up chocolate and stir....add some booze if you want..gran marnier,chambord khalua..shot maybe...(for the chocolate)..slowly the chocolate, like magic ,will turn smooth and velvetty...cover with saran wrap...refrig til firm...roll a marble size ball...roll it in cocoa or toasted coconut or almond...again its up to you...place these gorgeous truffles of chocolate gold in a fancy schmancy paper cup...or not....let them come to room temp and they will...EXPLODE in your mouth....simple...fast..........................perfect!!!!!

Schools out!!

Culinary schools are doing a pretty bang up job attracting new students these days...not a cheap bargain either...locals are around 30 g's for a two year stint......YOW...im from the old school...work for a lot of different people learn a lot of different techniques and tricks along the way...nothing matches hard work either way...food channels and the celeb chefs have made it look easy and for everyone....it's just not...easy or for everyone...my last blog was about my son not quite loving the 110 degree,never a break,physically demanding....my path was through job after job.... then....went to a specialized school with a tremendous old Austrian chef and something clicked...when the classes were over NO ONE left...we stayed and asked questions and did more things until the tall and thin 70 plus man with more energy than people a quarter his age said he had to go...i have had many interns...some were made for the biz...some....ah....might want to use their education for..... friends parties...a nice hobby...but to really be in this be prepared for tired feet...sore backs...muscles in places you weren't sure you had.....get ready for adrenaline rushes and eating food you never would have imagined...a chef MUST taste their work...eventually you begin to trust your experience and might skip a few batters but damn the brownies taste good everytime......my final judgement is still out about schools......