The first day of terrarium building in Haverford.

First specimen tray:gravel in bottom, large rock/cement slabs, bark, and oak leaf compost.


Second specimen tray: wet oak leaves in bottom, scattered dirt piles, old dead moss and roots, a few textured rocks, and twigs.


Moss patches pulled from a shingled garage roof, an old rock wall, and an old bench (which I think if formed concrete or something...very old, you can see under the trays) and layered in a random fashion.


Click on picture to see larger.

I love moss! The inspiration for these came from my friend who made these for a company he work with. I've got Oak Moss in there, I need to get some Spanish Moss (from down south right?) and Reindeer Moss, then I'll have a good set of the edible types to grow and maybe use in a dish.... we'll see. A nod to the "Dude Ranchers".

   

Impromptu cooking at a Korean friends house.

I now live in Haverford.  After a nice walk in the snow, I found myself in Brynmawr and inside FoodSource.  Lots and lots of fun products in here.  Some of the prices seemed high but the fish looked real good.  I bought a small piece of yellow fin tuna and a small piece of Scottish salmon.  I crave sushi often and always prefer making it when I have the time.  

After a tough day I crave more rich foods. Hamburger is a winner for the meal after a Pedal Co-op day after a snow storm.

I had a few brioche slider buns left after a Blanchet event (it was O3worlds holiday party...pictures soon to come!) and some ground beef. Roasted zucchini over rough-chopped hazelnuts(this keeps them up and allows moisture to escape through bottom. It's what you'd not call a nut rack.

Made one long patty, and split it in two for the sake of "more toasted brioche please" . Spread with olive oil mayo and had pickled red onions on the side.

Most who know what there talking about would say a burger should drip down your hands and elbows. I agree, that is part of a delicious experience... however, this burger was a med-rare with a strong sear... it was formed wider/flatter than the soft balls you see at pubs, and it was sooo good but it wasn't a sloppy mess. The lesson here is how much good bread is important to a good sandwich. A big thanks to Modi! (Georges' in Wayne) The toasted brioche was not overwhelmed with beefy runoff, it was still toasty and structurally sound. If you have mediocre bread, then yes, enjoy the improved and resulting burger pudding with which your fingers will sink into. But... with really good bread... don't. As you can see, my burger was juicy enough to drip just a bit. Just right.

I was making myself dinner the other night and had plenty of time to play around. I had some pork braising in the oven already, so it was a simple question of what to have with it. Keeping different grains on hand in the pantry is something I try to maintain, and on this day I saw amaranth. Instantly, in my head, I heard a quote about amaranth that came from a chef somewhere in my past. "That stuff taste like bird seed!"

Now while some may agree with this, I know that amaranth can be delicious and I wanted to try a new way of preparing it that might change the opinion of those quick to dismiss the grain. I went through a thought process that included alternate ways of coking grains and polenta came to mind. Probably because amaranth can be popped like dry corn...so corn just "popped" up in my head.

I decided to go for a result that was like creamy polenta. I used my rice cooker first, with just water and a pinch of salt, I wanted the amaranth expanded and tender before I started playing around with it. Cooked amaranth is not delicate like cooked rice, so over-cooking or beating it to mush is not an issue. With the braised pork now out of the oven, I spooned in some of the cooking liquid oven the amaranth, added a touch of butter and simmered while stirring. The dense nature of the amaranth softened in the broth and butter and became smooth and creamy just like I hoped. I finished it with a good amount of Paresanno Regianno grated with a micro plane, it melted right in and highlighted the creaminess with more dynamic flavor. Had that chef tasted this, I'm sure he'd concede that amaranth doesn't always taste like birdseed.


Hey.... how's he know what birdseed taste like anyway?

It was a private event at the attractive little byob in queen village named Sautee. A special menu was designed by chef Nick Cassidy featuring truffles in each course. The dinning room was set for just one seating of one large party of guest, who were friends and regulars of Sautee. The manager, Zachary Firestien, who also works with me for Blanchet Private Chef, asked if I'd like to come and partake in the special occasion night of cooking. Being very familiar with truffles, I was happy to contribute and work along side Chef Nick Cassidy.

Beautiful dishes of food and fantastic wines were enjoyed by the guests and by us as well, once the work was complete. What a fun night, I helped with some knife work and some sauces while Nick cut some amazing grass fed veal which would become a tartar for the second course. Fresh pasta was rolled with truffle slices in the dough! It's a technique that can be done with herbs too and yields beautiful presentation. I may include this technique in my workshop at the Wallingford Community Arts Center later this winter.

I was able to get a few photos with my little cannon which are what you're looking at, but we also had a professional photographer there and he took many more pictures through the night. I'll see if I can get some of them for the photo album of this website.

These are some images from Nicole and Rob's Dinner party celebrating Rob's Birthday.

Thanks to all who attended the Demo at Foster!

Here is a review of the class and some recipes for you to work with.

Utilizing local food is good on many levels. I find myself getting
more out of locally grown fruits and vegetables than just the
personal health benefits(which abound). Better quality yields tastier
food for sure, but it also keeps you interested in cooking and food in general. It's so
great to cook and eat something that was grown from a farmer you just
talked to. Try something new the grower/farmer recommends and see what
happens! Fruits and vegetables from our local providers here in
greater Philadelphia area are in abundance this time of year, so it's
easier to leave the market with some delicious options.

Recipes:
Pan Roasted Summer Squash
yields enough for a side for 4 people

2 large or 3 medium sized green and/or yellow Zucchini
(most any squash can be used in this recipe)
extra virgin olive oil
salt
about 1 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed (standard or black)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme (leaves picked from stem)
small handful of chopped scallion (green part)

Method:
Wash then cut the Zucchini into 4 length wise pieces. Carefully cut
out a bit of the seedy center. Then cut strips on a slight bias into
small bites size pieces.
Begin Heating a very large saute pan on high. (If you only have a
smaller sized pan, no problem, you'll just cook in smaller batches;
about a handful of cut zucchini [other ingredients too] at a time for a 8 or 9 inch pan. This
insures the moisture in the veg doesn't over-power the heat of the
pan.)
Add a good coating of the olive oil and carefully add the Zucchini.
season lightly with salt.
DON"T stir too much! You want to develop some browning on the sides
so a lot of stirring only slows this down.
Once browning is going (after about 2 minutes depending on heat level)
add the mustard seed and cook for another 2 minutes or so. Near the
end(once tender), add the thyme and scallion. Season further with salt and pepper
to taste and serve.
This dish holds well in the fridge for a couple of days, just try to
cool the leftovers quickly by spreading it out on a plate or tray.
Then contain, cover and store in fridge.

At our Fosters Demo, I served this over Quinoa topped with a poached egg
and garnished with sungold cherry tomatoes and purslane. As seen in
Picture above.

Peaches in Brown Butter and Honey
yields enough for 4 desserts

4 to 6 peaches peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
1 Tb unsalted butter (if you have salted, that's fine, just adjust
your seasoning in the end)
1 Tb honey
a splash (a couple teaspoons) Brandy or Whiskey for deglazing (optional)

Method:
Get a large, wide pan (heavy bottom) good and hot then add butter to brown.
Add peaches as soon as dark brown color develop, then cook without
stirring to much.
Add honey once peaches start to soften and (hopefully) get a bit brown
themselves.
*You can then add a splash of brandy or whiskey, but watch out for the
"flambe" since alcohol is flammable! Don't worry, a little flare up is
good and should burn off very quickly. Just pour the "splash" from the
bottle into a safe pouring vessel before going to the heat.

Serve warm with crushed up short bread cookies or (cooked) cobbler topping and
some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!

Cobbler Topping
5 oz. butter
5 oz. sugar
8 oz. cake flour
pinch salt
dash cinnamon

Method:
Cream butter and sugar. Add flour, salt, cinnamon and just bring together.
crumble apart evenly onto lined tray and bake at 350 till golden brown.

Restaurants seem to be heading in a good direction as far as food quality and food sustainability. I recently dined at Noble, a new restaurant on Samson St., and was pleased to see local food being a primary focus in Chef Steve Cameron's menu. A roof top garden above Noble is also in the works! The more green on roofs the better, obviously. At Fork Restaurant in Old City, where I once worked, the vast majority of produce comes from the local farms of the greater Philadelphia area. For years, Fork has been a standard setter for food quality. And now with Chef Terence Feury, it's going to a new level. The best stuff I've ever seen has been rolling in to both Fork and Fair Foods Farm Stand(where I volunteer on Saturdays) thanks to LFF, Green Meadow Farm, and many others. I hope that we'll see more and more improvement in the restaurant industry on issues of sustainability, cause we have a long way to go. Our (Michele and I) meal at Noble was spectacular by the way.

In my garden we have a golden raspberry bush. These are a high anticipated item with big time sensuality. If I had to pick a favorite food...one stand-out edible thing above all else....it would be berries. Memories of climbing Mulberry trees and stuffing myself while hanging, sneaking into a neighbors raspberry patch and sampling, and going to orchards for blueberries and gorging certainly influence my opinion and enhance my love of them.

So raspberries have a signature flavor that comes from ethyl formate. As it turns out or Galaxy has a large surrounding cloud of this same chemical. It is therefore safe to say that our galaxy, the Milky Way, tastes like Raspberries.