2012:A Fat Boys Year In Review

    So 2012 is winding down and I got to thinking about where I have had the chance to eat, read and watched. So I decided that I would try my best to touch on some interesting things to the last year...Enjoy

    Last Christmas I received a copy of Brian and Michael Voltaggio book called Volt.INK and in the spring of 2012 the wife and I went down to Los Angeles to get away for a few days. It was on this trip that we not only had the chance to have lunch at INK.Sack but Mr. Voltaggio took a few minutes out of his schedule to sign my book.

    If you get the chance to have lunch at INK.Sack you have to order a bag of Crab Chips with whatever sandwich you get...Trust me this is one of the best things you will ever snack on!

    COCHON 555 is 5 chefs, 5 winemakes and 5 heritage breed pigs. This is a multiple city competition. In four years the COCHON Tour has served over 35,000 guests, harvested more than 1 Billion Media impressions for “heritage breed pigs & family farms” and featured over 1500 food pioneers supporting a better food system. When the tour landed in Boston the winner of the Cochon competition was Jamie Bissonnette owner of TORO and COPPA.

     July 1st and the state of Claifornia officially banned the sale of Fois Gras courtesy of animal rights organizations like PETA. If you do not know what Fois Gras (fatty duck liver). Foie gras is made from livers that have been plumped up to several times their normal size through force feeding, a process called gavage. There are California restaurants that finding loopholes to be able to serve it by bringing it in from out of state. What sucks is that restaurants could face up to a $1,000 fine per day.

     David Chang (Momofuku) gets his own show on PBS this year called "The Mind Of A Chef". I love this show because is the pages of the magazine "Lucky Peach" were to come to life this is what you would get. Daisy (my youngest daughter) and I will sit and watch this show as often as possible.

   For all those who are fans of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" he calls it quits with the Travel Channel but do not fret he has joined CNN for a new show and do not forget the cooking reality show he is doing on ABC.

   Here is a couple of stories from the 2012 Eater archives: Gordon Ramsay applied for the UK trademark for "The Spotted Pig," which is, uh, not his restaurant. It's April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman's restaurant in New York. Rumor has it Ramsey will be returning the trademark to it's rightful home. Zagat printed its 2012 guides to Bay Area restaurants with the name of the city misspelled "San Francsico." A restaurant in Moscow held a caviar eating competition in which twelve "lucky" souls had to eat a half kilogram of black caviar worth $70,000 as fast as humanly possible. The prize for winning? More caviar. And last but not least from the EATER universe Ghostwritingate: New York Times writer Julia Moskin claimed a whole bunch of celebrity chefs used ghostwriters; a whole bunch of cookbook authors (including Gwyneth Paltrow, Bobby Flay, and Rachael Ray) had a problem with it.

    Oh yeah I forgot to tell you I got a free pair of kitchen shoes and Chris Cosentino;s book "Beginnings" because not only do I watch to much Top Chef but follow cool people on twitter!!

   Well that is it for now....I hope everyone there has a great new years and remember no one eaters better then a fat boy!!

   Cheers!
 

Chef Fight Club....Some of the best feuds in the food world!

So with all the business with Anthony Bourdain and the Travel Channel I got to thinking about how many feuds exist between other chef. So I started with EATER and The Braiser and here are my top 5 favorite chef feuds!! Please not I am not trying to make mountains out of mole hills I just think some of this stuff is funny. Enjoy


5) Jose Andres v. Gordon Ramsey: I am the first to admit that I enjoy the trainwreck known as "Hells Kitchen". Every season seems to get worse. When Chef Jose Andres had taken to Twitter to voice his opinion of FOX "Hells Kitchen", ""Hells Kitchen is not making my profession look good. watching with daughters for first time, and I feel so ashamed! Don't treat people badly."

4) Alton Brown v. Adam Richman: Alton Brown slammed Man vs Food star Adam Richman for his "disgusting" show, in which he takes on local pig-out spots and their insane food challenges. "That show is about gluttony, and gluttony is wrong. It's wasteful. Think about people that are starving to death and think about that show. I think it's an embarrassment." My favorite thing was when The Food Network had Adam Richman as a judge on IRON CHEF.

3) Jamie Bissonnette v. Anthony Bourdain: Most people do not know Jamie Bissonnette. I wish I could live in Boston and work under him.  Bissonnette finds Bourdain to be highly entertaining but skewed in his perspective on Boston: "That fuckin' prick comes to Boston and he doesn't go to any restaurants, and he goes to fucking dive bars in Southie and then he goes on to say that Boston doesn't have any good fucking restaurants?

2) Eddie Huang v Marcus Samuelsson: Huang's main point seems to be that Red Rooster isn't true to Harlem in any sense. By presenting "upscale" soul food at a premium, Huang argues that the restaurant is both misguided and condescending. "By catering to diners outside Harlem and talking down to the ones who live there -- promising things like "elevated" soul food -- he treats the place like a museum exhibit," Huang writes. "He speaks in stereotypes, desperately trying to capture snapshots of villagers dancing, praying and bespoke-suiting to display in this playhouse of a restaurant."

And last but not least and my favorite feud is....
1) David Chang v. San Francisco Chefs: During a Q & A with Anthony Bourdain at the 2009 NYC Wine and Food Fest, Bourdain asked Chang about food trends that he hates. His response:"F***in' every restaurant in San Francisco is just serving figs on a plate. Do something with your food." After the SF Asia society cancelled a book tour event due to the comment, Chang stood his ground saying, "Why would people get upset? I'm not gonna retract what I said. I think everybody needs to chill out. People need to smoke more marijuana in San Francisco."
 

Sometimes You have To Ignore The Letter In The Window!

Daisy Diggin' Into MOMOFUKU

    I like food, I like to go out to eat with the wife and kids. I like everything from fine dining to food trucks. I also think that sometimes when looking for somewhere to eat you have to look past the letter in the window (LA County establishments have a letter given to them by the health board). What makes for somewhere to eat better then just reputation and where all the hipster kids are calling "cool"?

    On Monday my daughter Daisy and I went to Central Fish Market in Downtown Fresno,Ca. so we could get groceries for dinner, but first we needed ramen! We ordered a couple of bowls of ramen, she had a Japanese soda and I had a can of Sapporo. As we sit eating we are digging through my MOMOFUKU book so we can figure out what we need to buy.

    Central Fish gets busy, I mean super busy. It took us almost 35 minutes to get out food and like always it was worth it. Downtown Fresno has a bunch of places to eat but there is something about Central Fish. If you sit long enough everyone is going to walk through the door. When I say everyone  I mean white guys, black guys, business people, old people, constructions guys...I mean everyone!! This is one of those times where the local know best.

   Just because there are a bunch of fixed gear biks, dudes in jean cut offs and they sell Pabst does not mean it is the cool place to go. Sometimes I do not mind a table that is a little beat up and grimy with the smell of fresh seafood next door in a neighborhood most people won't hang out in after dark.

   Do you know what the locals know?  More importantly are you a local and you do not know where the gems are in your town? If not I think it is time to see what is in your own backyard.

   
  

4 Chefs I follow on Instagram

   Alright, so here is the deal I love Twitter and Instagram and so I have decided to share with you guys my list of favorite chefs I am following on Instagram. This list is in no particular order.

Chopsticks for nose picking..DOPE

1)Jamie Bissonnette (jamiebiss): I found out about Jamie becuase of a book called Primal Cuts (a must own). Jamie is the chef/owner of Coppa Boston and is an old hardcore kid, so this automatically made me a fan.

Cosentino and Denis Leary

2)Chris Cosentino (offalchris): I consider Chris Cosentino one of the most important "nose-to-tail" chefs in California. If you have not check out his book "Beginnings" you should especially if you are into cooking seasonally

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3)Michael Voltaggio (mvoltaggio): Owner of LA's INK and INK.SACK and oh yeah he won Top Chef season 6. There is just something cool about the guy. If you can slurge for INK do it. If you can not then you need to go to INK.SACK and have the Crab Cake Chips!

4)Nate Appleman (nappleman):  Best New Chef of 2009, James Beard winner and walked away from Pulino's in New York to go work for Chipotle. Yeah you heard me right, Chipotle (which I love by the way)! He left for his son. Anyone willing to give it all up for family is tops in my book.

Election is over....Now we eat!!!

    So the election is over and in the state of California one of the most talked about propositions on the ballot was prop 37 "Genetically Engineered Foods Labeling".

   I got up this morning kicked on the news to see that it actually was voted down on. I was quite suprised. For the supporters of this bill it was very straight forward, let us know what is in our food. That was it. It was supported by a union (UFW) and some other organizations.

   People that were against it had a huge list of reason (price hikes for food, effects on farmers, lawsuits...etc). They were concerned about exemptions for some foods and not others. The people that were for "NO" for this bill were Coca-Cola, Nestle and some other major chemical companies (BASF to name one).

   Now that labels are not going to be put on our food by the state what is next...It is really simple. It is our responsibility as consumers to pay attention to what we are buying and eating. Spend the extra money at your farmers market, ask questions of your butcher (find a real butcher). It is not hard to find out what you are putting in your body...Just start paying attention.

    I understand why people wanted to see 37 pass and I thought it was going to, but now it is up to us to take care of ourselves and our families without interuption from the government or big business!!

    Now go eat!
   

My View On Veganism...The Can Is Open!

   So I am going to write this and try to do it without sounding like an ass and being disrespectful to my friends who are vegan.

   I do not support veganism especially as a for of protest. As a healthy lifestyle option if done right I will accept, my boy Burrito has already lost one pant size in less then a month (way to go!!)

   This whole conversation stated when i posted the following quote..."Be a vegan, be vegetarian, but know that you're not actually changing any industry. You're just opting out, not actually supporting small farmers who treat their animals well." -The Ethical Butcher. This is a statement that I actually agree with.

   There are some great farms that are family run that raise there animals in good conscious and when it comes time for slaughter it is done humanely. There are meat markets that are totally sustainable and only sell organic meats and restaurants that support these markets,butcher and farmers.

   Listen I am not talking about shit with Paula Deans overly tanned face on them, I am talking about people that actually care about what they are raising and selling to the public. So then all these vegan "activist" are so against animal cruelty why do they not even give a nod to those who are working hard to things right for those of us who are not vegan.

   Listen I am willing to post vegan recipes here if they are good but this will be the only time I post anything about my view of  being a vegan when it comes to animal rights....Thank you and good night!!

   Bring on the hate!!!

FOODxCORE...Official Fat Boy Meatloaf

   We all grew up eating meatloaf. Good or bad it is a staple of dinner time. This is what I like to call "The Official Fat Boy Meatloaf". The recipe is two parts: the actual meat loaf and the sauce for the meatloaf. It sounds like a lot of work but trust me....well worth it! Like always I hit up my local meat market to get my meat. Nothing is better then meat from a local butcher and meat market!!


Ingredients:
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
1 1/2 lbs. fresh ground beef
1 1/2 lbs fresh chorizo
3 Bacon Slices cut into quarter inch pieces
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp Tapatio
1/2 Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tbsp of creamy style horseradish

Glaze:
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tsp Tapatio
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp of creamy style horseradish

   Preheat your oven 325 dgrees. Beat the eggs and add them to the bread crumbs. Put the ground beef in a large mixing bowl add salt and pepper. Add the chorizo and bacon. Mix lightly. Add the egg and bread crumbs mixture, ketchup, tapatio, Worcestershire sauce and horseradish. Knead the mixture by hand until it all begins to hold together.

   Grab a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, shape the meatloaf by hand. Smoothing the edges and cracks. Place in the middle of the oven.

   Making the glaze is super easy, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.

   Put a thermometer in the center of the meatloaf for the first 30 minutes or until it reaches 100 degrees. When it hits 100 degrees baste the meatloaf  every 10 minutes until it reaches 145 degrees. When it hits between 145-150 degrees pull out of the over and let it rest for 10 minutes. Whenever I make it I usually make a batch of mashed potatoes. If there is anything left it makes good sandwiches!!