Weekly food adventures
return of fuckin hotdog Friday
The rhythm of working back in a restaurant was a challenging shift to make after the last year and a half of hustling to get a business up and running. Heading out on my own after thirty plus years of being a salaried employee was extremely challenging as well but I’ve gotten used to constantly figuring out where the next check is coming from. I’ve loved the challenge and one thing that stands out is I need that every day. As soon as things become stagnant or routine I start to feel melancholy and a little down. I also have lots of ideas and tend to get a few too many things going at once, not completing any of them. Right now I am working on writing consistently and keeping up with my blog. Writing recipes that are formatted for the general public is actual new to me and require a different kind of focus. I’m trying to navigate what my role in the restaurant will look like moving forward as I begin to ramp things back up for the food truck. Other catering, teaching and business opportunities continue to come my way and I want to take on all of them. I see lots of people having conversations about success and that it just takes small actions every day. You just need to get started wether you know what you are doing or not. I have no problems taking the first steps, I just need to be consistent and follow through. My weekly fucking hotdog Friday videos are coming back on line and I’m anticipating a relaunch of the truck in early April. Oh, I also need to do some final tweaks to the memoir I wrote and publish it this spring as well. All of these things require focus and energy and I’m just not consistent. Drink more water. Eat better. Exercise. Meditate. These are all the things that will keep me on track and help me successfully juggle all of these projects. Did I mention the other most important thing that drives all of these projects? Teenage boys can be a handful and I am grateful for their mom and step dad who take on the brunt of managing their daily lives.
Anyways, I know most of you subscribed to my blog being interested in my culinary adventures and insight into what it looks like to be a working chef, so here’s what I’ve been up to the last week.
An amazing lamb chop dish: Seasoned and pan roasted, lemon yogurt, saffron-olive oil poached fingerling potatoes, baby carrots, grilled figs, pistachio and pomegranate gastrique. It came out amazing and is selling like crazy at the restaurant.
Crawfish “Mudbug” fritters served with a cajun remoulade. I used some leftover cornbread as a base, adding jalapeño, red bell pepper, red onion and moistening the whole thing with some beer batter and deep frying. I’m told they are fantastic but I’m actually allegoric to red shelled shell fish so there’s that. I did’t become allergic until my early twenties and had spent plenty of time learning how to cook shrimp, crab and lobster before the dreaded allergy set in.
I am going to be moving my Sunday Soup Series so that I actually post it on Sundays. If you are interested in trying out some of the recipes, I’ve got quite a few on the blog now so you have a lot to choose from.
This weeks Fucking Hotdog Friday selection is a Jamaican dog with pickled peppers & red cabbage, mango, cilantro, crispy fried plantain and a spicy jerk mustard.
Have a great fucking Friday and look for my soup recipe on Sunday. This week I’m making an artichoke and roasted red pepper bisque. Super simple and immensely satisfying. Cheers!!