Tuesday, July 17, 2012

A Glimpse into my Culinary Week and a Convo with Alton Brown

Blue pts, Wellfleet, Duxbury #Oyster100

Blue pts, Wellfleet, Duxbury #Oyster100

Last week Dr. Food and I went to go hunt down some oysters. I have jumped on the Oyster Century Club bandwagon. What is that you ask? Look here. A little Oyster and Manhattan mid week never hurt anyone.

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I got out of work early (um, I left work early as I do most days during the summer) and decided to sit by the pool think about a great dinner to make Dr. Food. I stopped by the Springbrook Farm to pick up some stuff. I got my favorite Plymouth potatoes, and some Kolrobi. Everyone needs Kolrobi ... NOT. I also couldn't resist the sunflowers OR the antique juicer.

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My intentions were really good. Some Tilapia with ginger and cilantro goo that goes on top (not all recipes from Pintrest are created equal). I also found a recipe for Kolrobi fries! This was going to be great. We could eat healthy fries without getting fat. It would cure us of all our ills. I was excited. Ew ew ew. The most disgusting dish I have made to date. I could tell HOW bad it was when Dr. Food took a "fry" and popped it into his mouth and made a face I have never seen him make before. It was worse than the face that he makes when he has to taste something sour. Dr. Food does not make this face often. I was in trouble. Oh there were also Brussel Sprouts that cooked too long and turned to mush. We couldn't eat it. We dumped it and called our local crappy take-out place.

Lets move on...

Dr. Food and I went to Chef Louie Nights We signed up for the "Kitchen Experience" which means we came at 2:00 and got to watch the cooking being done.

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That is Chef Brandon Arms from Garden at the Cellar What a great guy. We got to sit around and "help" hence the stressed out look of Chef Brandon (I AM KIDDING)


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We also got to hang out with Clio chef de cuisine Douglas Rodrigues. I loved these guys. Doug taught me to listen to Rap music while cooking and then I wouldn't have "accidents" like Kolrabi fries. I would become a culinary genius. I also learned that you can't grab your crotch and wiggle around to rap with a knife in your hand. No, I did NOT do that.


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Can you believe that they took these ingredients and made stuff like ...

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Cucumber with Frogs legs on top. *I* helped pull the meat off of the bone of those Frog legs I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW.

and

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Foie Gras with Pop Rocks folded into it. A common theme throughout these dishes was Absthine. Amazing. These dishes were fantastic.

These guys are my new BFF's.

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Ohhh there were also big meat. Thanks Chef Brandon for teaching me how to tell if temp was right. I now will walk around with a cake tester in my pocket and look cool. Of course I work for an accountant and it might look a little funny but no problem. I am used to getting stares.

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Fantastic meal. Fantastic Night. Bravo Chef Louie for putting this all together.

I also want to tell Chef Louie that I really love his mom. Let her sit in the cool room next time. I mean it. Us moms have to stick together.

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There was also another kitchen cooking and the food coming from there was almost as good as my boys food. JUST JOSHIN...it was fantastic too. I especially loved the fried chicken with pickled watermelon.

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See this Dude? He was sitting across from me taking pictures of everything on what I assumed was Instagram. So, I took this picture of him and tagged it with @ChefLouie but he didn't see it. I cracked myself up. "Hey Dude in picture... I am just goofing around"

Ok, now for my conversation with Alton Brown. He was answering tweets with post-it notes.

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Ok, I am off now. Alton... I am kissing the bald duck because I heard that it is a Tibetan Good Luck Ritual. Try it.




8 comments :

  1. I love this! Not sure I'd sully my foie with poprocks but hey, to each his own. Hubs would probably like it since he loves bad candy, but then I wouldn't get the whole foie to myself...no, not sharing. Not foie. Kohlrabi is not my fave either. I've tried it raw shaved into thin matchsticks in salad. I know that Chinese eat it - lemme know if you want to try it again and I'll shoot you a diff recipe. Thanks for joining our oyster adventure! Reliable little guys aren't they? ;-)

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  2. I would love a kohlrabi recipe! I will try again.

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  3. I'm not sure where to start. The good thing is that you didn't meet Alton in person. I'd have so much envy oozing out of me if you did that that I don't know I could ever visit here again. Alton, Mario, Morimoto; any of those guys.

    I guess I'll focus on that meat. I want. I want. I want. 

    A cake tester? Do tell.

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  4. Deanchristopher90210July 17, 2012 at 12:46 PM

    As always, delightful reading. I am not, however, likely to try any of those delicate colorful tiny dishes. At least not yet; I'll have to work my way into the attitude. For the moment, I must still try to master the use of moderate to huge hunks of meat, fish or poultry.

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  5. I am laughing so hard that my stomach hurts. Great post, and it looks like a fabulous experience. I have never cooked or to my knowledge eaten kohlrabi. Have to check it out.

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  6. Maybe the pop rocks will get me to finally try Foie Gras ... well maybe not but it sounds interesting!

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  7. Janis, you are the human equivalent of pop rocks for me!

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  8. ;--) Nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.

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