Duck confit

Not much to say. Just cure them and cook in duck fat until they are fall apart tender.

In England they have a word for the bar in your neighborhood that is closest to you. Its called your "local" and while I was there I had mine. It was down the block and called, "The Grenfell Arms". It was a small pub with a few rooms to let and they served food at dinner time. I knew the bar keep and could always stay around for another after last call. It was more than a bar it was a place to talk, shoot what the British misinterpret as a game of pool, and a place for a lost soul to refuel.

Back home in GR I have the Pickwick. This is my "Cheers" the place where everybody....well at least somebody knows my name and I have been coming to the Pick since before I could legally drink. Its not what you think, I went there to get ice and pick up cooking wine for the chefs at Gaia.

This was the place where we would go to not only watch the World Series but also all major pollitical debates and happenings. I remember having the good fortune to be able to immediatly and completely drown my sorrows when bush won a second term in office back when it was Whitbread on draught.

This is the bar I will bring my son to for his first pint. It is the place you wish you frequented but can't "deal" with the lack of "variety" and for that I am glad.

Staff meal #3 scotch eggs

Well more like a snack. We put these together as an amuse for a guest. Made with 20th centry market kielbasa. The best kielbasa I have found in Grand Rapids to date.

Pig drawing #2

Staff meal #2 taleggio and pork belly mac and cheese.

Not a light meal, but after a crushing week it hit the spot. Many thanks to the banquet crew for the hook-up.

House-cured sardines

One of the biggest culinary disappointments I find is the bad reputation that sardines have. A good lightly smoked sardine is one of the most satisfying pleasures of life and a while back my favorite brand became impossible to find (Bela) I decided to make my own.

Gutted and bones removed they were lightly salted overnight, rinsed, and dried. Last hot olive oil was poured overtop and they were allowed to slowly cool before being stored in the walk-in for a week. They turned out quite well. Next attempt will be to lightly smoke the fish.

Do the math. I count 12 wheels of roaring forties.

Pig drawing #1

At the Winchester when they were redoing the bar

Latke technology 101

I have been searching for a way to make ready to fry latkes for years. Yeah I like the way they run around the room at Barney Greengrass in NY asking not whether or not you want latkes but how many, but I always wanted to make latkes to order in a restaurant setting. I have experienced what happens when potatoes are grated raw after an hour. Liquid weeps out and all turns grey, and they do not fry well at all. I also have seen what happens when they are fried ahead of time and reheated (forgive me Bubbi Wepman I hope you are not reading this).

That is where science comes in. Potatoes cooked at about 149f will act as both raw and cooked. They grate like raw but won't turn grey and weep liquid and when mixed with minced onion, matzoh meal, egg, and salt and pepper will make a mix good all day and not to bad the next. They will also not crumble like a cooked potato.

Early attempts on the griddle were successful. Lots of nooks and crannies.

Attempts to "gussy" up the look proved sub par. Wrapping in plastic and molding for a more uniform appearance looked "high end" but had a less than perfect texture. It is the lack of uniformity that makes a great latke and this proved it.

Latke balls or as I have called them "meshugana kiniblechas" A mixture of Yiddish and Dutch meaning "Crazy little knees". Don't ask where that came from.

These proved to be winners. 149f "ish" for two hours. Chill. Grate. Mince onion very fine by hand. Matzoh. Egg. Salt and pepper. Mix it up and they are good for about two days.

They can also be frozen and fried to order when needed.

Mole negro

24 ingredients and six hours later.

Every time I hear about the technical prowess of french chefs and their amazing sauces I think about the hopelessly elaborate and time consuming mole negro of Oaxaca.

I remember first learning to make it from a chef that worked as cdc for Mark Miller. "No, you need to burn the chili seeds more" What? Burn?This was not a concept a young chef could easily understand but I charred the seeds until they were black.

So many ingredients and different cooking techniques that it becomes nearly impossible to pick out but a few. Char, poach, toast, burn, puree, refry, strain. The flavors meld into a rich sauce unlike anything else. The sauce "is" the dish and the accompanying protein is just the side man. We are pairing this with pieces of short rib braised in the mole but it could have just as easily been a leg of chicken or the more traditional turkey and would still be great.

Mole negro with short rib of beef

Sweet potato puree, pumpkin seed oil, pepita, cilantro, and radish.

Rabbit porchetta

The idea first came from Restaurant Danielle. I saw a cold rabbit porchetta on an old menu and started to imagine what the would look like. Without thinking about the consequences we put a rabbit porchetta on the menu for the Grand Rapids Food and Wine show. Often this is the best approach for new menu items. Don't work every detail out in a mad attempt to emulate Heston or Grant commit to a dish and suss it out. It is too easy to hit a snag and give up on a good idea but when it is in print there is no working it out latter.

We have had rabbit on the menu many times and between me and Varley we had come up with a great way of easily removing each loin with its belly flap attached. This made it easy to stuff and roll. We stuffed ours with sliced sopressata and wrapped it with la quercia speck americano and a bit of caul fat to hold it all together. Last it was wrapped and cooked ghetto sous-vide at about 145f for an hour.

It was served with an anise seed dijon and leek confit and was ABSOLUTELY delicious and ABSOLUTELY lost on the general public.

Ready to poach.

Rabbit porchetta with anise dijon and leek confit

Rabbit porchetta with anise dijon and leek confit version #2

staff meal #1 green coffee bean smoked berkshire pork ribs aka breakfast ribs

Kurt at Rowster's gave us a sample of green coffee beans to experiment with in the kitchen. We went with the first idea we had of using them in the smoker and having four racks of Berkshire left from the bone on loins we have been using it seemed like a good place to start.

They were rubbed with salt and a mole blend from Terra Spice and smoked until tender. Last they were glazed with Michigan maple syrup and finished in the oven on high heat for about 15 minutes until the sugars were caramelized.

The result was a smokey sweet tender rib. The kind of tender that makes you wonder if it may be time to just give it up and hit the barbecue circuit. I am not kidding.

And that is when it hit....caffeine. It never occurred to me that the the caffeine would travel from the beans to the ribs by way of the smoke and after eating about four I was feeling pretty good. That is when they earned the title, "Breakfast ribs".

89 hours this week and still smiling. copious amounts of coffee.