2010


Happy New Year to everyone, wishing a safe and prosperous 2010

Pomodoro's


Shameless TV promo

croc en bouche

Dark Roux


So rich and nutty tasting, it really made my gumbo. It does resemble chocolate don't you think??

Chocolate and Water

I can remember in school taking pastry class and making big bowls of ganache (with absolutely no purpose at all) and the instructor telling us to make sure that no water what so ever hits the inside of the stainless bowl or all will be loss and once again Herve This has shown us a that is simply not true Watch and enjoy as a considerably younger version of Heston Blumenthal illustrates this point via video

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We heed more Cow Bell

Years ago local restaurateur Peter Ryan and Master chef Detlev Kreiner (aka Chef Ted) had a thriving restaurant named Nicole's in Vermont circa 1986 that seemed to have the beat of the nation down as far as foodies were concerned and anybody who has had the pleasure to work with chef Ted would see how that is possible as he is very charismatic as well as talented not to mention Peter's unprecedented ability to give inspiration as well as motivational speeches.

(can you find them in this photograph?)
I often wonder why we can't have a Nicole's and are we that biologically attached to the infamous fried seafood platter that we can't attract a better class of restaurant to the Myrtle Beach area or at least think outside of a monkey dish.

How to become a Chef

Here's how you do it.
1) Go to any cooking school
2) Work for a month here and a month there for really GOOD chef's who've paid their dues
3) Don't learn how to cook. Forget learning how to make mashed potatoes correctly, make wasabi mashed potatoes.
4) Don't read anything about food or cooking except glossy magazines
5) Carry around evey little kitchen gadget and 20 dull knives in a big briefcase
6) Land a executive chef's job and freak out when you have to think on the fly. Then yell at everybody for your own inabilities.

Isn't it enough we have to have the public insult our intelligence on a daily basis without having to deal with these young , little twerps that see a chef on t.v and discover their true calling? I discovered mine when I was about 7 or 8. For some reason I always liked arranging cheese and crackers for the family. I then made strudel dough from a book and stretched it across our kitchen table. I didn't do anything with it as my friends came over and we had to go blow some shit up, but nonetheless it was so thin you could see through it. In hindsight, I guess I was destined for this profession. Years of sacrifice, verbal abuse, ungodly hours and reading...reading...reading..working...working...working...and Voila! Here I am! Broke because I have principles. Anyway, my point is I don't ever recall saying" I wanna be a chef!" I just took jobs because restaurant jobs were easy to get. Washing dishes, then doing a little veg. prep AND washing dishes. Helping the cooks and washing THEIR fucking dishes. Eventually making some salads...helping the busboys break the rungs out of the chairs so they would collapse under the customer. Slowly...verrrrry slowly working my way up. I don't ever recall thinking I was too good for whatever job I was doing. I was learning tons but didn't realize it. It was just work to me. I remembered every single thing I had to do.
Nowadays try teaching some snot how to cook. They don't want to learn how to cook. They want to learn how to make money and have people tell them how great they are. Then you're assigned a couple of student helpers who follow you around, keeping you from smoking cigarettes and scouting for potential chef groupies. One kid who was particularly annoying just came right out and asked...."What's the fastest way to get to where you are?"
I wanted to shove his head in the toilet. "There's no fast way to get anywhere good" I told him.
He kept on.."Does it take a long time to become a chef?"..."I was thinking..like..when I get out of school, I could like.. get a job in a restaurant." It made me think. You just got a lecture from a bunch of chefs on how we got where we are and you didn't even listen. And this is the future of cooking. It the same as writing, painting, designing clothes ...ANYTHING . You have to want to do it more than anything else in your life. If it doesn't consume you ..GET OUT QUICK! If you think making fresh pasta and cleaning 30 lbs of fish is boring and gross. Quit. Please.We don't want you. Don't insult us and don't ruin your own lives. Most of all don't insult us, or we'll ruin your lives worse than you could ever hope to. If you have no passion about anything ...if someone asks you what really gets you fired up and you can't answer, you're a worthless human being to me.
What's wrong with this generation of "artists" who don't believe in the most important part of the learning process. The sacrifice. Wanna train to be a chef AND have a life ? Go screw yourself.
I hate and am actually kind of scared where cooking is headed. I feel like a dinosaur most days. Mostly though I get worried that I'm gonna stroke out from some asshole that's too important to learn to cook properly. If you roll your eyes when I show you how to make gnochi guess what, next you'll be taking out the trash because my dishwasher is a lot more valuable than you. I'm not really a screamer anymore but I'm not so sure this is a good thing.

The Weirdest Cookbook Ever


OK the is a real cookbook from a Scandinavian Chef, The dirty little bugger. It's kinda like some obsessive part of me that is drawn to trying these recipes. Even better would be trying to convince Kurt or Sheryl that this could in fact be a running bull on the menu or as a special.....

The Autumn wind comes blowing in....

The Autumn wind comes blowing in, just another botched line from an old blue eyes song but ol so fitting. As I sit to ponder another seasons passing I can't help but wonder what will happen when we do turn the corner of fall as I feel almost certain that this Autumn will be a decent one I take a breath in remembering Oct. 3rd will mark a one year bitter sweet anniversary that Divine Dinning has tightened they're belt as I am starting to see progressive changes that are for the best interest of the company I pray that our very own Greater Grand Strand will find its way to morph into whatever shape it is trying to take on,it just makes me a lttle sad because of the inner struggles of grassroots politics and the effects it has on the area Chefs.

Live Cooking

Thursday night mid-rush my first attempt at video action I might rethink the camera being used. What is hard to grasp from the video is how intensely quite it was for how busy we were and I'm not really sure if anyone even noticed me filming



Note just before Delane started freaking out I so hate I missed that one it was classic!!!!!

Fennel Pollen

Fennel Pollen is collected from wild fennel. Flowers are picked at full bloom, and then dried and screened to assure the sweetest and best flavor possible. Often referred to as the Spice of Angels, Fennel Pollen makes any ordinary dish extraordinary.

We have a dish of mussels at the restaurant I am currently at(The Divine Fish House), kind of a take on the classic Billy B, which requires fennel pollen I feel that the addition of the Pollen lifts the dish to a new level and quite possibly lends to the integrity of the plate.

Fresh Crab


Baby Crab, Olive Oil, Balsamic, Hawaiian Sea Salt and Seasonal Greens...Enjoy

Purple Basil

If you ever find yourself down by The Divine Fish House in Murrells Inlet,Please take a second to look at the workhorse garden that has been constructed on the side it's a beauty

Making Cheese

Making Marscarpone Cheese it turns out is very easy, The final result was really good and slightly acidic but overall very pleasant.Take 1 tsp cream of tarter, to 1 qt. of heavy cream heat to 180 degrees stirring to prevent scorching let the tarter do its thing for about five minutes and stick in a coffee filter to drain over night it's almost to simple.


Morel Mushrooms


Fresh Morels are in, a prize by any gourmet cook

The best things

It is always been my experience that the best sayings revolving around life relate to food..Why I am not sure but ponder these if you will. Cream of the crop, A cut above, from the right stock,The gravy train, Salt of the earth....You tell me why is it when someone puts you in higher regard;they use a antidote pertaining to food. This makes me feel good about my profession...............

Making Bread

The one thing every cook should know is at least one bread recipe, after all it is the staff of life....and very tasty as well as impressive



Pushing out the gas, I am not sure why this is always fun?


Enjoy....

Is Food really Art?

Food and Art, the two kind of go together hand in hand I guess that’s truly how I got shuffled into the whole culinary food scene. When I was younger I wanted so bad to be an illustrator it wasn’t until that dream was crushed by my childhood friend Jeff who explained to me that that field was dead due to the invention of the camera; my passions of a professional career were suppressed for many years after that.
Later by the grace of God I started to realize that I did indeed want to be a chef. My passions were in cooking and that the plate was and still is my canvas. My food, my view of what cuisine is to me has changed or rather evolved but I press forward every day I push myself and the day when I stop or start believing critics and cronies alike……I’m afraid will never come.


This is my take on the classic Cosmopolitan still sexy after two years

The lost art of Charcuterie

Today we are making Keilbasa, studded with sweet marjoram and its undertones of pine and citrus once you've tasted our fresh sausage you will understand why it is easy to see that anything less will simply just fall short of grace.






Grinding the meat twice insures a Superior product




The Physiology of Taste

For those who do not know Brillat Savrin he was born in France around 1755, With the outbreak of the french revolution he fled to other parts of Europe and America. His science of food and Gourmand taste were far surpassed his time. he is credited with establishing Umami way before the Japanese along with starting stock with cold water slowly on a slow heat to extract the essence better. Along with these great discovery's came his meditations his most famous appearing at the beginning of Iron Chef. Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are..I would like to share some of his lesser known Aphorisms with you.

-The table is the only place where the first hour is never dull.
-The most indispensable quality in a cook is punctuality;it is also that of a guest.
-Dessert without cheese is like a pretty woman with one eye.
-The fate of the nations depends on the way they eat.