Josh’s Culinary Endeavors

Trout filets
Corn Flakes, crushed
Crushed red pepper
Chile powder
Cumin
Salt

Wash and season trout with salt. Dredge in beaten egg bath. Dredge in breading mixture. Fry in hot oil.

Habenero Tartar

Mayonnaise
Sweet pickle relish
1/2 habenero chile, finely diced
Red poblano pepper, finely diced
Garlic, diced

Sauteed Late-Summer Salad

Green squash, julienned
Yellow zuchinni, cut on bias
Fennel, sliced (use leaves for color and extra flavor)
Cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise
Asparagus
Lemon to taste
Salt to taste
Fresh basil

Sautee in XVO

I’ve worked in the restaurant biz, off and on, for approximately five years. I’ve asked three people: a general manager, a clubhouse manager and an executive chef what the origin of the term “86′d” was. I know in practice it means that your out of an item, nix, no more.

Chefs would yell, “86 the t-bone”. That meant the kitchen cooked the last t-bone and the waitstaff needed to know this should a customer try and order it from the menu.

But where did “86″ come from? Here are some interesting answers from Restaurant Report

The term 86′d goes back to the first restaurant Delmonicos. It refers to the ribeye steak that was sold there. It was item 86 on their menu and was sold out one night, hence the term 86′d.

The reason is because of the old specs used to bury the average person—-the hole is “6″ feet deep, and is “8″ feet long. Hence, being called “86d” was not a good thing…but a “gone” thing…

[I]t was borrowed from the policy of “86ing” someone when that person has had too much to drink. He/she is no longer being served. 86 refers to article 86 of the New York State Liquor laws that define when someone should not, legally, be served in places that sell alcoholic beverages.

In the old days of soup kitchens they prepared enough soup for 85 people. Obviously if you were # 86 there was none left. Since the use of 86 to denote a menu item that is not available.

This one was e-mailed to me from mom (I added a few ingredients and changed the preparation) By the way, I love Central Market’s Caesar dressing:

This is a good recipe. Try it!! It may be just as good as Central Market’s.

1/4 cup kalamata olives
5 cloves garlic
4 anchovy fillets
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 large egg yolk
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 heads romaine lettuce
Croutons
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese or
2 1/2 ounces shaved with a vegetable peeler plus more for garnish

1. Place garlic, anchovy fillets, olives and salt in a blender; add pepper, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and egg yolk. Slowly drizzle in olive oil while mixing.

2. Cut or tear the romaine leaves into bite size pieces. Add the croutons, romaine, and cheese to the bowl and toss well. Garnish with extra grated cheese if desired. Serve immediately.

I rubbed a porkloin with a HEB Hill Country blend coffee, San Antonio chile powder and chipotles and slow smoked it on the grill with apple wood chips.

Side: sauteed onions, green bell peppers and eggplant with a rosemary infusion. Chile & roasted garlic mashed potatoes.

Lasagna is one of the quickest easiest dishes that always warrants compliments.

Last night I didn’t want to eat leftovers. I saw an eggplant on the counter and decided to make lasagna

1 small eggplant
Pasta sauce
Packaged lasagna
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Provolone cheese, thinly sliced
Ricotta cheese
Parmesan cheese
1 large egg
Fresh basil, chopped
Garlic powder
Crushed red pepper
Salt & cracked pepper to taste

Season both sides of eggplant slices with salt and pepper (removes bitterness)

Combine cheeses, egg, basil, garlic powder, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper in a large bowl. Thoroughly mix.

Pour a small layer of pasta sauce and spread to cover the bottom of baking dish. Add single layer of lasagna. Add a single layer of egg plant. Evenly spread a cheese mixture layer. Repeat layering as many times as desired.

Bake covered in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Allow 15 minutes to cool before serving.

1 lb three cheese tortellini
4 ribs celery rough chopped
3 leeks thin sliced
12-15 medium shiitake mushrooms rough sliced
2 large onions chopped
1 bulb garlic, separated, peeled & diced
1 large red bell pepper
2 carrots julienned
2 quarts vegetable stock (non vegetarian use chicken or veal)
thyme
rosemary
basil
bay leaves
black & green peppercorns to desired taste and heat
crushed red pepper to desired heat
crushed tomoto/store bought pasta sauce
1.5 C white wine

Cook tortellini al dente, rinse in cold water and set aside.

In a large pot, saute onions and garlic until tender. Add celery, leeks and mushrooms and saute until almost tender.

Add stock, wine, tomato, herbs and spices. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add carrots and bell peppers and cook for 5 minutes.

Add cooked tortellini and cook until heated through.

I was up late one night last week and got one of those wild hairs. I started poking around the Texas Culinary Academy’s website and decided to write in.

I don’t remember exactly what I wrote but I said that I am almost 30, I have a full-time job, wife, mortgage and don’t want to find myself on my death bed thinking: “I wish I’d pursued my dream of being a chef.”

I received this response via e-mail a few days later:

Josh Janicek,

We do not have enough information to determine your acceptance to this school. One of our admissions representatives will contact you soon to discuss your application to our school.

Thank You,
Texas Culinary Academy
(888) 553-2433

Four years ago Vidbook.com closed its doors for good. I was unemployed. I drove my motorcycle to the Texas Culinary Academy and spoke with a student advisor as I thought it might be a good time to pursue a new life in the F&B industry. He was a great guy and we had a nice talk. He showed me around the school and briefly explained the programs that are offered at the school. He also showed me the bottom line. Culinary schooling is expensive. I may be off a little, but I think the chef program cost was to the tune of $30,000 for an 18-month associates program.

At the time, the TCA offered full-time schooling only. That meant I’d have to get a loan for $30k, attend class for six to nine hours a day and somehow find a job that paid somewhere around $500 a week so we could barely survive on our two incomes.

I put pen to paper and couldn’t justify going back to school. I had just graduated from college, married and consolidated both of our student loans. Combined we already owed $30k to the U.S. Department of Education.

Being a chef could be painstaking and financially unrewarding. I could just continue to cook for friends and family. I could try my hand at being a personal chef…

I love to cook for Elise and myself. I love to cook for friends. If I was paid for my knifetime, that would be top drawer peachy.

I took leftover ciabatta, cut on a bias and made sandwiches with pastrami, Swiss & provolone cheese, thinly sliced pepperoncinis and a garlic and olive tapenade for dinner tonight.

Guess what garlic and Kalamata olive tapenade smells like? Central Market’s Caesar salad dressing. Blend in egg and little more olive oil and I’ll bet I finally have my recipe.

After a little inspiration from last week’s cooking class, I decided to cook duck. I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel, so came up with a new pizza recipe.

I made a smoked duck breast, mango and jalapeno pizza on ciabatta with a homemade garden fresh pizza sauce, Kalamata tapenade, smoked provolone and topped with feta.

I have to admit… that was the best pizza I’ve ever had. For dessert I made a silky coffee creme brulée.

I volunteered Elise and myself to babysit Jack over the Memorial Day weekend while John and Christine travel to Mexico to smuggle black market DVD copies of Kevin Costner’s “Waterworld” and small children who sell Chicklets.

We thought nothing of it when we offered to babysit over the long weekend. Much to our surprise, John and Christine gave both of us a gift certificate to the April 17th Hudson’s on the Bend cooking class.

The class was fun and informative. Elise took notes and I retained new information in the cabeza.

An interesting bit of information that I picked up was that cilantro is excellent in reducing heavy metal (lead, mercury, aluminum, cadmium and arsenic) toxicity. Heavy metals are often found in our drinking water, fruits, vegetables, fish and shellfish. Luckily cilantro is one my favorite herbs and I can eat it by the handful.

Elise was able to see a mandolin in action and wrote that down on what I would guess was a “need to purchase” list.

Watching Jeff and Robert prepare the meal was amazing, as always. For this class we all sat outside in Jeff’s backyard. I was sitting there thinking: “Wow - in the past few months, I’ve been cooking a lot like this”. I had never eaten any of the days’ menu items, but all of the ingredients are now mainstays in my kitchen - big, pungent, local and spicy flavors.

There was one change in the original menu. Instead of smoked buffalo quail, they made Duck Diablos - a medallion of smoked duck breast wrapped in smoked bacon with a thick slice of jicama, jalepeno and a mission fig soaked in balsamic vinegar. The appetizers were served with a fantastic red chile glaze.

Lunch at the restaurant was fantastic. We sat across from a family who had treated their dad to a Hudson’s cooking class for his 70th birthday. We had a great conversation with them.

The salad, main course and dessert were all great, but we still couldn’t get over those Duck Diablos - those things are so awesome (yes, I’m going to Central Market this weekend and picking up some duck breasts if anyone wants to come over for some gourmet southwestern cuisine!)

We came home completely stuffed with knowledge and food. It was a great time that has left us both very inspired.

Here are some photos from the afternoon.