Back To The Basics

So I currently am working part time on the line and doing prep work. The rest of the week I am working front of the house at a pizza joint (both restaurants are owned by the same people).

One of the things I have been working on is learning some basics and one of those basics is learning how to cook the proper omelette.

I Got home from work and had some dinner and a couple hours later I realized I was still hungry so I grabbed a pan, 2 eggs, some butter and made sure I had some salt & pepper.

Oh yeah did I tell ya my wife decided  she wanted one as well.

In food simplicity has to be on point.Something as simple as an omelette can be easily screwed up: to much salt, not enough salt, overcooked and even undercooked.

Are you like me and you never went to culinary school do not use that as an excuse. Work on the basics at work and at hime.

FOODxCORE.....Sweet Chili Pulled Pork

Sweet Chili Pulled Pork is a working title.So when getting ready to prepare this unless your neighborhood market has a real meat counter find a real meat market who actually know something about meat. I personally visit Glick;s in Visalia,,CA or The Meat Market in Fresno,CA. There is something about going to a meat market that has a staff that knows about what cuts of meat are what but more importantly selling meat that has been cut there in house....Enjoy!!

After cooking for almost 12 hours...There were no leftovers!

 
Ingredients:
1 T oil
2 chopped onions
6 minced garlic cloves
1 T chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
12 oz chili sauce (1 small bottle)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 T Worcestershire
3 lb. pork shoulder






Supplies:
Crockpot
Small Sauce Pan

Saute the onions in the oil until soft. Add garlic, chili powder, and pepper and cook another minute or so. Add chili sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Heat till boiling stirring constantly.

Put the pork shoulder in the crockpot and pour the sauce over it. Cover and cook on low 12 hours or on high 6 hours, until pork is basically falling apart.(Leave it in a little longer, it will not hurt anything). Shred the meat with a pair of forks and return to the pot and keep warm in the sauce. Serve over buns on a pile of steamed rice.

This makes a LOT of pork but I have found that if I am making it for a show there is not going to be anything left. In the off chance you have leftover you can freeze it for later!

6 lbs. of pork shoulder at 7 am!!

Pizza Night At The House

Today was one of those days that all of a sudden we looked at the clock and it was 4:30 so we are trying to figure out what to do for dinner (this is a common occurrence on Sundays). I suggest I run over to Pappa Murphys or I can run to the market and get stuff for us to make out own pizza.What do we do? Head to the store!!

Our store of choice is Fresh and Easy in Reedley because we have found that compared to buying groceries in Dinuba,CA (where we live) we get better quality products. Before leaving the house first thing I did was throw a pizza stone into the over and turn it on to 450 degrees (yeah I own a pizza stone).

Some meat, chees and veggies

So here is what we picked up from the store...basil, heirloom tomatoes, uncured pepperoni and Daisy picked out a Sopressata salami. The cheese we used was a whole fresh mozzarella

We were trying to decide if we were going to make our own pizza dough and when I looked at the clock I knew there was not going to be enough time so the store has a pre-made pizza dough that turned out to be really good. Please know that I would always at least try to make your own dough. It is worth it!!

So I get the dough rolled out and the first pie get olive oil, fresh basil, mozzarella and both the pepperoni and salami.I also put slices of green heirloom tomato slices. Got it on the pizza stone and let it cook for about 20-25 minutes. Pulled it out and the crust was down and the cheese was nice and melted all over and you can smell the basil. Totally happy with the way it came out!! 

The second pie we did had a tomato and garlic topping instead of pizza sauce (imagine something you would put on a crustini). The wife put the peperoni, salami cheese and tomatoes on it. this was a little heavier of a pizza but I think I ate 3 slices of it.

This is the kind of dinner that can get the whole family involved where it is in prepping and rolling out the dough or just putting the ingredients together. Yay pizza!!!

Food and your kids

So  am a dad of two daughters and today I got to thinking about the importance of not only getting your kids active in the kitchen but showing real interest in food.

The first kid to spend time in the kitchen was Daisy as she started to show interest in baking. We bought her an Ace of Cakes book a couple of off beat cookbooks and my mom had purchased her a cupcake cookbook. For my birthday one year I got a copy of Momofuku and Daisy fell in love with that book because she loves ramen. Daisy and I have now made our own dashi broth and ramen broth.

Lindsee is our oldest and I think the day I took her Ye Olde Kings head in Santa Monica I think something clicked. She crashes at my mom and dad's house during the week since she is going to City College and has started to show interest in cooking for herself. I bought her the Bitchin' Kitchen Cookbook for Christmas and today her and I made a trip to the fish market where she got stuff to make Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) and has asked me to buy her a rice cooker.

Both of the kids want me to take em to LA for a food truck meet up, which I am more then happy to do with them!!

My point is this....food is an awesome way to spend time with your kids. Teach em to cook. Teach em where there food comes from and more importantly teach them to be open and adventurous about what is out there.