Chef Big Dog is Back in Biz!

Well actually...

The title is twice incorrect.  CBD has never been out of business - I've been cooking for some of the fine folks at the Puppy Up Foundation across the fruited plains this past year.  I've also been supremely busy evaluating other opportunities for CBD some of which I've turned down; others I'm still considering.  

It's also technically not my 'biz'.  Back in September our good friend and person I inspired, Chef V, bought a food truck and I've been helping translate her idea into reality.  And that's been no small task.  Originally outfitted for baking, I've had to gut part of it, install a new prep table, re-plump a shoddy water system (the pic doesn't do it justice), and come up with a mouth watering menu which I'm finalizing today.  

And that's important since we're going LIVE - next week at the Clinton Crossing outlet.  If you're in the area, the Peace Love & V truck will be there Friday thru Sunday and during the weekends throughout the holidays. 

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CBD's PS 1:  Most of my postings and writings on Social Media for the next couple of months will be to my Facebook page and here at my blog.  

CBD's PS 2:  As some of you know I auditioned for Master Chef and they said if I didn't hear from them by November probably didn't make it to LA. I made it to the top of the Austin auditions but from what I learned a lot of failed actors now use shows like this to get into the reality biz.  Oh, the humanity of it all!!! 

Admittedly it was a neat experience and I learned a few things but I'm kinda glad since I can focus on building the CBD brand rather than lose the first half of next year.  Sadly, though, El Guapo, my Tex-Mex Muse, you will NOT be the next Master Chef. 

Chef Big Dog in Madison WI

Ay Caramba El Guapo

It's been over a year since we've posted here.  Granted I was walking the entire length of the west coast, from Canada to Mexico with the fuzzybutts most of last year.  I've missed you, Mano, and it's time to get back to the kitchen and to talk about our travels.

The most recent of which was Madison Wisconsin. My Tex-Mex Muse, El Guapo, & I were recently there to cook up some creative cuisine for the VIPs of the Puppy Up Walk.

This being only my third trip to the Cheesehead state I had to get a better sense of the local flavors and fares and visited a few restaurants first; Pig in a Fur Coat, The Tipsy Cow & The Old Fashioned.

When El Guapo & I were asked whether we wanted our cheese curds 'fried or squeaky', well there just isn't an exact Spanish translation for squeaky as chillona means screaming.  Not surprisingly El Guapo pulled out his pistola.

Ultimately we came up with a menu for Team Madison that fused midwestern meats and cheeses with what we do best.  Here are a few highlights:

Fried Soup.  Immediately upon my research that Beer Cheese Soup is a solid staple up here, my instinct was...  El Guapo - let's deep fry it.  Served in a shot glass and topped with a roasted garlic green chili sour cream sauce it was absolutely successful.

Also served were a Spotted Cow Beer braised Brat with a chipotle mustard pickle slaw and a Chef Big Dog version of Tex Mex Poutine.

The final course was a traditional butter burger but infused with CBD 17, my own blend of 17 spices and herbs.

It was a tremendous honor to cook for Team Madison WI and I hope El Guapo and I did a inspirational job of translating Tex Mex to Wisconsin.  Until Next time...

Puppy Up and Chow Down.

God Bless El Guapo

He's a puppet, he's been on a promotional tour for six months.  Who can blame him?

Noah's

"When I ain't cookin.  I'm a eatin." 

As a cook and eater of extraordinary extent, it seems incumbent on me to celebrate the culinary creations of other chefs. And I'll chronicle those exploits here.  

In route to NYC to fund a cancer study, the fuzzybutts and I pitched tent at a North Fork campsite in Greenport Long Island.  Late in the day, long in our travels, and after wine sampling at a few of the vineyards, I just wanted a tasting menu and for the first time, Yelp took us to that place.  

Chef Noah gets that little bites are the trend, perhaps the future of the dining experience.  The tired old equation of appetizer + entree + dessert just doesn't add up anymore.  

Noah's is a destination place and not only for foodies.  Deviled eggs are a new inspiration for me.  Thanks, Chef.

Clinton 350

No, that's NOT how many interns Bill has...  nevermind.

It's the sesquarcentennial (Jeez - even I had to look that one up) in Clinton Connecticut this weekend and si, si, Senor, El Guapo and his Tex Mex Tatties will be there!  

This Saturday from noon-ish to ten-ish, Chef Big Dog and Chef Lucky will be at the Clinton 350 Festival, celebrating the anniversary of their township from 1663 - 2013.  

FYI - that's 50 in dog years.  Since I was born in the Year of the Dog and at 42, I should have my own sasquatchial...sexquintupligus...siestadelfuego.... Yep, I'm an idiot.  

Idiot or savant, every great celebration deserves to be honored and I'm thinking about what should be the chef special for this historic, beautiful, Norman Rockwellesque, New England fishing town that the fuzzybutts and I walked through.  

At our last one, the crazy punk kilt fest, everyone loved, loved the Chef Specials: my Tex Mex interpretations on Bangers and Mash, Shepherd's Pie, and my Irish Whisky Habanero sauce.  

This is me tooting my horn.  

Toots to the left.  Ideas for a Chef Special to the right....

Celtic Rock Fest

Thanks to the Newport Yachting Center for this very very awesome event and for having us out there at the last minute. 

We've done a few festivals this our inaugural year and the Celtic Rock Fest is one of my favorite thus far and to sum it up, listen to this youtube video of Celtica.  

Just like our Tex Mex Tatties are a fusion of cultures, they blend rock & roll with bags, men in skirts, and, well, a fine looking lass on the pipes.   

Debatable whether Dropkick Murphys stole the show or my Murphy tatties - chorizo braised in Guinness and bacon with my Irish Whisky habanero sauce -but great food, music, friendship is the harmony of life.

And even though El Guapo ain't Irish, well, he's got the luck of one.  

DUMBO

I think we found our home.  In an old abandoned skeletal tobacco warehouse situated in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Sunday location of Smorgasburg.

El Guapo, Chef Lucky, and I spent the weekend doing due diligence on this curious culinary community and it was a phenomenal experience.  Seemed like the foot traffic on Saturday was as substantial as Sunday but the latter is preferable to us.  

It's dog friendly, family orientated with a park and Ferris wheel nearby, and well, the name of the neighborhood may seem fitting to some of our friends and followers.  

We're submitting our application today to be a vendor so keep your pistolas crossed because it seems they're very exclusive.  

As many of you know, I walked across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and most of Long Island and one of the singular things I observed was the paucity of big dogs in the city. They're all micro, toy, min min, so it's time for a big dog there.  Chef Big Dog, that is.  

The Infamous El Guapo

Meet the Infamous El Guapo, the official mascot of Tex-Mex Tatties.  

He's kinda creepy, he's a puppet, and he enjoys long walks on the beach brandishing a pistola.

We don't know much about his past but we can assume that his white shirt, black sequined pants, and sombrero, he may have been a mariachi at some point.  

Because hell yeah, El Guapo can party (shown in nearby photo with Chef Big Dog).  

But he loves puppies, too.  Look, there's El Guapo with Oliver in Clinton CT.  With his pistola pointed at him.  

But the greatest thing about the Infamous El Guapo, is his palate for authentic Mexican food and that he eats, drinks, and loves the ladies more in one day than Tony Bourdain does in an entire season, that makes him more interesting than that Dos Equis guy.  

"Eat tatties, my friend".  

Next stop. Smorgasburg which will be a curious experience since El Guapo has never been to the city and the mayor, Uncle Mike doesn't like pistolas.  

Smorgasburg

We met a ton of foodies at the Wine Fest who want to help us take our culinary concept to a whole new level and one of the recommendations was the SMORG in Brooklyn, a self-styled Flea and Food Market.  

So this weekend, Chef Lucky and I are heading to the city to explore this seemingly cutting edge culinary community.  

We had to make the tough decision that Tex-Mex Tatties will no longer sell at the Aquidneck Grower's Market.  Much to our surprise, our demographic just wasn't really represented there.  We had a steady stream of loyal customers but not enough to justify the opportunity costs.  Most of the nice folks there are older and in search of bran and oatmeal and not really into fried foods which seems strange since the area is known for some of the best fried seafood in the world.  

Going forward, we're going to allocate our time and energy to New England festivals and perhaps a foodie market like SMORG but they're very selective in their vendors and it's expensive so we're headed there this weekend to check it out to see if it makes sense.  

Tex-Mex Tatties Coming to Connecticut Wine Fest

We're taking our new tapas concept to the Connecticut Wine Festival in Goshen this weekend to a crowd of several thousand and this is our biggest stage yet. 

 

We've even come up with a Chef's special just for the event - Max's Mushroom Quesadilla, a tattie that consists of wine, cheese, and locally sourced golden oyster mushrooms, topped with a spicy pear salsa. 

 

We hope you can join us for this festive occasion! 

10 Pounds of Mushrooms

Enough to satiate Timothy Leary and Hunter S Thompson at least for a weekend.  Even tho both have passed on to that great trip in the sky.  

But I'm not talking about those type of shrooms.  I'm talking about the Yellow Oyster variety.  

This week I'm making Mushroom Quesadilla Tatties and I just placed an order with the Rhode Island Mushroom Co  Bob & Mike are great and I've toured their mushroom farm and it's nothing short of beautiful and fascinating in a fungal sort of way.  

I aim to do something extraordinary with them.

Chef Special for July 20th - Miss Faye's Chicken Fajita Tatties

Last night cancer struck close to home once again.  Ginger Morgan, the Executive Director of the foundation I started, 2 Million Dogs, lost her beloved Miss Faye to a brain tumor.  I got to know her in Memphis when my own son, Murphy, was losing his battle with nasal cancer.  She was sweet like a Southern belle and had a penchant for stealing my pizza crust.  

This week's chef special is in honor of her spirit, Miss Faye's Chicken Fajita Tatties.  

Marinate Me

It's hard, maybe impossible to fuck up a marinade.  Unless you're Brad Pitt in Fight Club and piss in it.  

Just remember the mnemonic.  Sweet, heat, acid and oil. 'SHAO'. 

But perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is that meat must be macerated. Beef doesn't accept marinade unless you make it make it and there are three ways to do so.   Salt rub or brine solution are the first two ways.  

The third is using a natural enzyme and to the best of my knowledge there are only two: papain from the papaya fruit and bromelain from pineapple.  Macerating meat is essential to the marinating process or else whatever you're marinating it in will go down a 1/16th of an inch or less. 

I studied biology in college and they had a mnemonic for the order of taxonomy.  Mine was Kinky Positions Can Only Facilitate Gungus Schmuck.  Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species.  

Shag Happy Ass Often.  Sweet Heat Acid and Oil and you'll make the perfect marinade everytime.  

Chef Special for July 6th: Fish Taco Tatties

Fish Taco Tatties

Abutting our booth at Aquidneck Market is The Local Catch and I've been eyeing their good looking fish for a couple of weeks now.

Fish tacos I love, love and over the years I've refined a recipe that everyone seems to love, too.  The problem is, I've never combined it with a starch into a fried patty.  

First the two pounds of haddock were put into my Asian marinade (photo nearby) for an hour and then I diced up Mexican peppers and onions and roasted corn and for the potato mix, I created a soy, sesame oil, Sriracha sour cream sauce to complement the delicate flavor of the fish.  

Tonight, I'll batter the tatties in Panko and white and black sesame seeds and then once fried, I'll top them with a cabbage salad and my spicy Asian mayo.  Tomorrow marks our fifth market and how you can make it out to see us!

Puppy Up & Chow Down! 

Sweet Heat Acid and Oil

Being a chef for the first time in my, ahem -cough, cough, late 30s is an interesting journey.  

I taught myself Latin late in life because it wasn't offered in the rural school in my home town.  Still a student of language but one of my favorite phrases is 'Res Ipsa Loquitor'.  The thing speaks for itself.  

That's what food is to me.  It needs no explanation.  

And all you need is those four ingredients.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  

How To Make a Tattie

The question we get most often aside from 'what is a Tattie' is 'how do you make them?'  

Let's take The Vegetarian, one of our five savory Tatties.  The first step is making the black bean salsa.  I refined my recipe this week because I wanted not only to have an option for vegetarians but that it was as good if not better than the others.  And it was our best seller this weekend.  

The sweet corn I roasted in the husk and then lightly charred on the grill to caramelize the sugars in the kernels.  The second addition to the veggie tattie this week is my own chef special sauce which is kind of a deconstructed picante that brings out the fresh flavors from the cilantro, onions, beans and other ingredients.  

Once the flavors have developed to my satisfaction, it's time to add the black bean salsa to our potato mix and form them into cakes in our mini-muffin tins (top left photo).  They are then frozen for 24 hours, removed, and battered.  Our breading is a blend of pepitas, or roasted pumpkin seeds, Panko, bread crumbs, Doritos, and Chef Big Dog's seasoning which consists of 17 spices and herbs.  

When they are breaded (photo on the right), they're returned to the freezer until the market and deep fried to order.  The fried Tatties are then topped with a pico de gallo salad and one of our four sauces.  

What I've tried to achieve when I created this new tapas concept, the Tex-Mex Tattie, is multiple layers of flavors and textures in one bite.  

One of the reasons I'm posting part of our process is we've already heard about a few chefs trying to reproduce our recipes for their own menu.  Whenever you do something unique and singularly special, that's bound to happen.  So I thought, let's make it easier for them and in the process, hopefully we will inspire and encourage others who have original ideas.  

Chef Big Dog's Special for July 6th is the Fish Taco Tattie and that'll be my next blog.  

Our Booth at Aquidneck Growers Market

Chef Lucky and I spent a lot of time and care in selecting the decoration for our booth from the chili pepper and shamrock lights to the serape table runners.  

And if you zoom in on the photo, hanging from the top left of the tent is our mascot El Guapo, the Handsome One.