God it's good to be back in the kitchen

OTomorrow chef lucky & I are hosting a luncheon for all of the wonderful volunteers for the puppy up walk east CT.

On the menu:

1. Black bean chile con queso fried dumpling

2. Tex-Mex chicken fajita shooters 

3. Tortita cubanos

4. Whatever sweet thing chef lucky concocts. I'm all about salt spice & grease

Chef Big Dog's Barbaric Birthday Yawp

"I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise,

Regardless of others, ever regardful of others,

Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man,

Stuff’d with the stuff that is coarse and stuff’d with the stuff that is fine" 

As my life's timepiece takes another tick, I cannot help thinking of Walt Whitman's Song of Self.

Today is my birthday and it'll be spent sounding my barbaric yawp tho not over the roofs of the world, but in the sidestreet eateries and backally barrooms of NYC.  

As of now, here's the 24 hour culinary itinerary 

Saturday:  

Lunch at Stanton Social and I'm looking forward to their French onion soup dumplings.  

Afterwards, walking the streets of the city as my holiday season cannot be without it.

 

Then tapas Japanese style and some serious sake at Sakagura 

For digestifs, there's a place that seems all too apropos to the 'Song of Self' and that's Lovers of Today - a speakeasy and, from my understanding, a purveyor of creative, uncommon, and seemingly righteous cocktails.  

And to top off the nite I really wanted to go to Fatty Cue Brooklyn for some sort of 1AM pork, bacon, naughty grease goodness but from what I'm hearing, the servers are self bloviating buttholes so we'll see.  

Sunday:

To sum up my culinary adventures in the city I'll go to La Esquina, a restaurant renown for its simple, beautiful Mexican dishes.  

The memory of taste

It's night 3 of my fast and it's been a curious experience thus far from a chefs perspective.  Last fast of 18 days I was just trying to survive it.

This time is a different experience.  We know that there are five taste sensations, but as I've been fasting I've craved them in different stages.  

First came salt which wasn't a surprise since Im a salted nut anyway but then I lost that craving to sour.  Skittles and warheads were all I could think about.  

Next came umami - I dreamt of soy wasabi sesame oil mash potatoes... And finally today I couldn't shake my desire for this chocolate potato chip bar I recently had.  

Not quite sure what to make of this but I recall reading an article on 'the memory of senses' and if u think about it bet you can guess which lasts the longest.  

You'll never forget the smell of a skunk or a gardenia or rose bush.  But as I'm lying here in my tent salivating I can almost taste everything.. A watermelon, a pinto bean, cream cheese, rosemary roasted chicken...

Research has shown that most people lose 50% of their taste buds by the time their 20 - yet another thing wasted on youth.

What I'm wondering is if this whole fasting business can somehow reawaken taste sensation?  Food for thought.

Now can somebody make me a sammich?  Oy vey four more days....  

My Thanksgiving Fast

While everyone's feasting with family, I'll be out in Shelby Forest forbearing food for a week. As a man of large appetites, it won't be easy but I've done it before. Back in 2011 after I lost my dog, Murphy, to cancer I fasted in Memphis for 18 days during a scorching heatwave with temperatures stuck in triple digits for most of the entirety.

This time the experience will be inverted.  As of this morning, it's 22 in Tennessee and with the wind chill factor feels like 16 degrees.  This represents a unique risk as the primary purpose of sustenance in cold weather is providing heat to your body.  Exercising, too, can't used for warmth since muscle mass is broken down during the fasting process.  

My Pyrenees won't be with me since after a few days I won't have the strength to tend to their needs.  Nope it'll just be me and El Guapo out in the woods, alone in a tent, and, wait a tic, this is starting to sound a little like Brokeback Mountain...  

My communication will be limited as well since I'll only have my phone for emergency use.  No computer, no iPod, Kindle, or any other electronic device which, to be honest, I'm looking forward to.  Sometimes the noise in life can just be deafening and you've gotta unplug.  

But mostly I made the decision to fast this week for physical reasons.  Now that my other dog, Hudson, was recently diagnosed with cancer, I know that the road ahead will be hard and my body and spirit under constant assault from the uncertainty of outcome.  2014 will be a definitive year and I must strengthen myself in preparation and fasting is the first step.  .  

I shall miss breaking bread with family and friends but I fast so that I may feast again with them one day soon.  

Chef Big Dog

Recipe: The Homeless

The breakfast taco... This is what put me on the map!   Literally.

The classic that I made for many o'family on our walk and I made it this morning and I almost forgot how damn tasty it is.  And simple to make.

Fry up four slices of bacon.  Slather one side of tortilla with cream cheese.  Add a layer of refried beans on top seasoned with my own Mexican blend, CBD 17. 

Then diced green chiles and cheese.  I prefer pepper Jack for a little heat or a blend. Stuff it with the bacon, fold over like a taco and fry it in the grease.  Once it's nice and golden on both sides, top it with sour cream, more cheese, and salsa.  

Hell yeah, that's The Homeless.  

Yah?

Yah, you betcha.!

I'm in the land of 10,000 lakes and although the purpose of my presence here is primarily philanthropic for our foundation, I try to take a few tics on our travels to savor the local culture, fare and flavor. 

The first thing that I couldn't help but notice about Minneapolis is the almost absolute absence of fast food franchises.  We've been here since, what, Wednesday, and only seen two, and while I'd normally be a big fan of that - the nearest Dunkin Donuts is five and a half hours away in Wisconsin and that makes me a little cranky and suspicious.  

Indeed it's a strange yet curious place.  (I mean, other than the fact that they had a rassler for governor and stuart smalley as a senator).  

But there's some seriously good food here.  

Bacio, a giant of a restaurant in Minnetonka, has an excellent stater menu.  It's pretty much policy now when I'm at a new and unfamiliar restaurant to just sample the little bites because if they can't do that right, no need to move on to the entree.  

And there's was spot on.  The parmesan crusted shrimp and tuna crisps both delightful but the two other dishes I sampled deserve their own spotlight.  First is their heirloom grain salad, which is just about one of the best damn salads I've ever had - brilliantly constructed, fresh and surprising.   

And finally the crab cakes, pictured nearby, an experience I've never had before and I've eaten them just about everywhere.  The odd motley of ingredients are what drew me to it: avocado drizzled with EVOO, vanilla bean puree, and sweet and sour chili sauce. Individually, they all have singular distinctness but good god, man, mash them together and it becomes a melody.  

Nevermind that the cake isn't even fried.  IT'S BAKED.    I didn't ask if the crab was dungeness or blue but baby, it was lumpy and luscious. 

On Lovers and Sliders

I maintain a profound respect for chefs that make me re-think dishes but this city makes me re-think reality.  The twin cities are replete with five star restaurants but the hottest, most exclusive place to take your lover on a valentine date is..... White Castle.  Wait what?  

Yer Dern Tootin'.  Apparently, the one day out of the year that the fast food joint reverse transmogrifies into a high class restaurant where the waitstaff wears tuxes. And get this, there's a two year wait list.  

God Bless El Guapo

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