Bonfires, beers, and bratwurst.

Friday morning I woke up to the sound of barking puppies. At 4 am. Not exactly the most gentle way to start your day.

The cuteness makes up for it though, and my endlessly patient brother walked me down to the local coffee shop so that I could achieve optimal caffeination, then we strolled along the pier at Venice beach, drinking our java and watching tenacious surfers ride the intermittent waves.

After our walk, we took the puppies to the dog park, then visited Cook's market in El Segundo to grab groceries for dinner. Kristine (my brother's wife) prefers simple fare, so we stuck with steak, potatoes, and carrots. My brother popped a couple of wines and helped me prep dinner, then afterwards we grabbed some firewood and another bottle of wine and headed back down to the beach.

There were surprisingly few people out on a Friday night, which worked out well. We staked out a good fire pit, sat in the sand, and drank Syrah from plastic cups while conversing about politics and philosophy, the lull of the waves and occasional jet leaving LAX our only interruptions. It was a perfect evening.

The pups decided that 4 am was indeed the optimal time to practice their vocalizations, so Saturday morning was also a little "ruff". (Oooh, sorry about the pun!) I tried jamming a pillow over my head to no avail. Oh well, sleep is for the weak.

Alex was excited to take me to Wurstkuche, a sausage restaurant in downtown LA, and I happily obliged. I never refuse complimentary beer and sausage...

They had a case with an impressive array of house-made sausages, some more exotic than others.

We ended up with some German Oktoberfest brews, and (clockwise from top left) buffalo-beef-pork, rabbit-rattlesnake, Belgian fries with blue cheese walnut and Thai peanut sauce, and a duck and bacon sausage, my personal favorite.

The sausages were cooked over a super-hot grill, so the outside was crisp, the inside was bursting with flavor and juicy, and the fries were on-point. Topping were caramelized onions and tangy sauerkraut. The selection of house-made mustards didn't hurt either.

I will definitely be visiting this Wurstkuche again next time I'm in LA, the food was really good, and the service was welcoming. I also have a special affinity for German beer, and they were happy to indulge me with about 20 or so different brews on tap. My kind of place!

After another beer, some coffee, and plenty of relaxing puppy-cuddling time, I had to head back to Las Vegas.

The drive coming home is really spectacular; on a clear night, you can see the glow of Las Vegas from hundreds of miles away. When you break over the crest of the mountains surrounding the valley, light spills out in front of you, as though the stars had been ripped from the sky and tossed to the ground in a technicolor fury. Vegas is a spectacle like no other, and I'll always love her for that.

Tonight is all about homework and whatever sleep I can slip in edgewise, as we begin filming for "Secrets of a Chef" tomorrow. This coming week is going to be very busy, but I'll try to keep up with blogging as best as I can.

Adios!

Puppies, Los Angeles, and more big news.

I woke up this morning, packed my bag, and hopped in the car to head off on the 15 towards Los Angeles.

Save for my unrequited love of singing in the car, the drive was uneventful. I used my solo time to contemplate the coming weeks; then upon arrival spent hours cuddling with puppies.

We went to C & O Trattoria for dinner, near Venice Beach, where we had been several times before.

That's my brother in the picture, happily posing with the house Chianti. It's a self-serve wine ordeal, you simply use a crayon to mark how many glasses you've had. Gotta love the honor system!

They have gigantic portions, so we split a dish. Tonight's special was pasta with a pesto cream sauce, and very fresh shrimp, scallops, and swordfish. The pasta was al dente, and the seafood was flavorful and perfectly cooked. Very simple, but often the simple things are the best.

Dinner was followed by more puppies, and my last bottle of 03' Donatella "Prima Donna" Brunello di Montalcino, a truly great wine.

I've also been asked to assist some very amazing chefs at the Food and Wine magazine's grand tasting event next Saturday, the 6th. I'll be working with a Food and Wine best new chef winner, as well as Gail Simmons, and quite a few former Top Chef contestants including Fabio Vivani, who loved my food last time we met. It's a real honor, and I'm constantly humbled by being offered all of these incredible opportunities.

So I'll live it up for the next couple of days, then return to Las Vegas to work with Hubert Keller and several other highly regarded chefs.

It's going to be a good week.

Adios!

The Basque country, and putting it all on the line.

It's coming down to the wire...

As some of you know, I applied for a chance to win a stage in the Basque region of Spain, under the chef Martin Berasategui, in his 3 Michelin star restaurant in Lasarte. I was told about the competition by my school's career advisor before the registration was open, and applied as soon as it was possible. Since then, I've checked the site every day, watching as other contestants signed up. Every time I think about it, my heart races a little.

I've always wanted to go to Spain, and it seemed like the contest was created just for me.

I bared my soul through my blog, put up pictures of my food, and kept working towards my ultimate goals by staging in 1 and 3 Michelin starred restaurants here in Las Vegas. I sent in my resume, and wrote an essay explaining why I wanted this opportunity. I told them about my experiences on the line in fine restaurants here in Las Vegas, about my love of cooking and food. I pulled together resources, and had a friend help me make a video since I didn't own the equipment myself. There wasn't much time to make the video, so I chose simple dishes that required little prep time.

The deadline for entries is the 31st of this month, then they will announce the winners on November 22nd. At this point, all I can do is wait, fingers crossed, to hear the results.

My only hope is that the people judging the contest will be able to see my intense passion for food and cooking. My goal in life is to someday open a restaurant, to someday have a Michelin star myself. Being able to do something as incredible as this would be a huge step in that direction, and I'm humbled by the chance to even apply for such an extraordinary opportunity. I'm not going to pretend that I have it in the bag, or that I'm better than anyone else, but in my heart I don't think that anyone out there could possibly want to win this more than I do.

If I don't win, I will be disappointed, but it won't be the end. I will apply again, I will keep knocking on doors, keep putting in 100% effort into everything I do, because this is so important to me, this is what I want to do, and nothing will stop me from trying to get there.

That's what passion is all about.

For now, I'm going to try to focus on everything I have going on here, and keep hoping for the best. Tomorrow morning I'm heading to L.A. to see my brother, so I'll be sure to blog and tweet about the fun I'm sure to have over the weekend. On Monday afternoon, we start filming, and we're doing 11 hour days in the kitchen for the next two weeks.

So to my friends, thanks for letting me put this out there, and for being as supportive as anyone could possibly be. For the people at Sammic and Martin Berasategui, thank you for the opportunity, and I really, really hope to meet you soon.

Deseame suerte.

Adios.

Building up to something great

We finally got our schedule for the PBS filming of Hubert Keller's show, "Secrets of a Chef", and I'm looking forward to working with Chef Keller again, he's a really great guy.

We're doing intensive sessions, 11+ hour days starting on next Tuesday, lasting for two weeks. I'll be getting the set ready and prepping ingredients, and this time I'll probably get to be on the show itself. Cool stuff!

My sommelier classes are going quite well, I really enjoy tasting all the wines, and learning about all the little intricacies that go into making them. After the last class on Sunday, I talked to my father about Sherry for about 45 minutes... he told me of his time in Spain, and knew the best places/situations in which to drink each of the four types, hopefully sometime soon I can follow his advice. We have our first test this Sunday, I'm not really sweating it. I've been doing damn well in the blind tastings thus far.

After the test, we start level two, delving deeper into the regions that the wines are produced, a lot of interesting geography. I'm especially looking forward to learning about the Spanish wines (surprise, surprise), since I have a bit more experience with the French and Italian varietals.

School's going well also, inching ever closer to my Bachelor's degree. My instructor loves my capstone project, a huge relief because a lot of other people had to re-think their entire concept, I don't envy them.

Other than that, I'm leaving Thursday morning to visit my brother and his wife in L.A., they just got two adorable Great Dane puppies that I want to cuddle with. They're food and wine lovers as well, so I should have interesting blog fodder in the next few days.

Adios por ahora!

School days...

I'm still buried under homework, and I will be for the rest of this quarter, hopefully I will get some relaxation time for the holidays.

Classes are going well, though, despite the enormous amount of work I'm having to do for them. I'm also almost done developing a new recipe for the San Pellegrino competition, I will post pics of it when I get the recipe where I want it.

I'm enjoying my advanced restaurant desserts class, I like the precision of pastry work, but the early morning hours aren't my thing. I did make this really nice (tasty) plating of roasted pear, chamomile jus, brown butter-hazelnut financiers, and pear sorbet. I love pears, so this was satisfying.

So much for my brief blogging respite. I will try to do something interesting to blog about soon, but you ,may have to wait until next week for a post of significant substance.

Ciao!

Video for Basque Stage

I just got my video back from editing for my Basque Stage application....

He did a really good job editing it, the music's kind of dramatic, though!

PAPRIKA!!!

Don't laugh at me, you can tell I'm nervous and over-enunciating. The quality is better on the vimeo website, too, so if you want to see a better version follow this link.

Ciao!

I made you some lunch!

My schedule's been pretty hectic lately. I have 5 classes going on right now, including Capstone, in which I basically have to design a restaurant and put together all the financials, standardize recipes, menus... a lot of typing stuff into Excel and triple checking calculations. Not too difficult, but I made myself a little extra work by choosing recipes that are written in French and Italian, so I have to translate them to English (I'm okay with that) and from metric to U.S. measurements. (Ugh, tedious!)

But so far my instructor loves the concept ("I want opening night reservations"- written in the comments on the description and menus I turned in) so the work's worth it.

Before class today, I really wanted to cook something to get away from the computer for a moment. I also missed blogging (writing is soothing) so I decided to combine the two.

While I was in Lyon, France, I tasted a dish of poached egg in a red wine and shallot sauce, so I decided to make that for lunch. It took me less than 30 minutes to make, even with taking pictures and re-arranging stuff to make it look pretty, so I think anyone could throw this together pretty quickly. It's a simple dish, very classic, but very satisfying.

Start with some shallots.

And a choice sprig of fresh thyme, which I happen to have growing on my porch.

You COULD use butter, but I find duck fat to be... well, insanely delicious.

Manna from heaven, re; bacon. You only need one piece. Try to get the good stuff, applewood smoked, thickly sliced.

Everything you need. (For one serving; just double it for more, it's a simple recipe so amounts should be unnecessary). A spot of red wine, whatever you're drinking will work, one nice, free-range egg, (farm fresh if you can, the market isn't until Thursday so I had to settle) a mushroom cap if you like, some arugula for fun. Just slice the shallots, bacon, and 'shrooms into evenly-sized pieces.

I start my mushrooms in a dry pan over medium-low heat. They tend to have a lot of water, which will bead up on the surface and evaporate.

You don't want too much color on them right now, because you'll cook them a little more later, just get most of the liquid out.

Set your sliced mushrooms off to the side, and toss your bacon in the same pan. No need for oil, the batons will release a lot of fat. I poured some of the excess off part way through crisping so they didn't get soggy.

Almost crisped at this point. I use chopsticks a lot for small amounts like this, because they afford me more control over small pieces. Once they're evenly browned all over, pull the bacon out and set it on a paper towel to absorb the excess fat, and wipe the fat out of the pan with a towel. You could also leave the bacon fat in, but I needed to make room for...

About a tablespoon of otherworldly-scented, creamy duck fat. Or butter. Or bacon fat, do what you please, food's about fun. Try not to get it on the camera buttons like I did, it makes things a bit trickier.

Toss those sliced shallots in there, and a pinch of salt. Be careful, though; the bacon will add some salt when you eventually add it back in. Keep them moving around in the pan, you want them to cook evenly.

Take those shallots to a happy place. Shallots caramelizing in duck fat has to be one of the greatest smells on Earth. Low and slow, baby!

Put your mushrooms in there to mingle with your shallots. They will become fast friends.

Take a drink of wine, then splash some into the pan, just enough to come to the top of your happy shallot/'shroom conglomeration. Throw your sprig of thyme in there. Drink more wine. Turn the heat on the pan up a scootch, you want to reduce the wine, it should be bubbling furiously.

I always, always break my eggs into a separate bowl. If you've ever gotten the bloody egg, you'll understand why. There's nothing worse than plopping a big, ugly pile of blood egg into a bowl of cake mix or your pristine poaching water. Play it safe.

There are many ways to poach an egg, some better than others. I had to poach them to order for a lamb tongue salad when I worked for Mario Batali, so I kind of stuck with the same method I used to use there. Put a little bit of white vinegar into the water, this will help keep the white from dispersing. Using a very fresh egg helps too, you'll see why in a minute. I like it to be just under a boil, get it going then edge the temp down ever so slightly.

I like to get a little whirl pool going in the water, then drop the egg into the center. The swirling action pulls the white around the yolk and keeps everything even. You could also use a ladle to shape it, but I like the free-form approach.

Plop. See the trails of white? My egg was a bit older than I would like. The older an egg gets, the looser and more spread the white gets. With a fresh egg, the protein keeps it tightly bunched and viscous, but this egg white was runny. Grocery store eggs are referred to as "storage eggs", so may be a month old before they even get to the shelf. Like I mentioned before, if you can get farm fresh, it's very worth the extra price. If not, choose free-range, humane eggs, they're still better than the regular, battery-cage versions.

I kept the water swirling for another few seconds, then pinched off the tendrils with the spoon to give the egg a more even appearance. 3 minutes and you should have a perfectly poached egg, if you hit the water temperature right. Practice makes perfect.

Almost ready, you want the wine to be a bit syrupy. You don't need a lot of sauce for this dish, the egg yolk will bring everything together in a minute.

Note the color of the wine in the background, and how it puddles around the solids in the pan. Throw in some butter, for your health. Next time, I'm also going to put a spoon full of spicy Dijon mustard in there, because I am obsessed with that stuff, but that's optional. Throw your crispy bacon in there now too.

I tossed my arugula in a really nice olive oil, and sprinkled everything with some sel gris. (French grey sea salt) Grind some fresh black pepper over the top, and some pepper flake if you're feeling frisky, I used Piment d'Espilette, but only because I love to be decadent like that. Thick, crusty bread is essential for this.

Your egg white should be completely set, and the yolk should be slightly thickened, but runny. Note how it deflates into ooey, gooey eggy goodness here. Smoosh everything together and sop it onto your bread. Revel in the bitter punch of arugula, the unctuousness of the yolky sauce, and the savory flavor of shallots and bacon. You've done well.

Simple, satisfying. As I mentioned, this took very little time to make, so it's a great fast, home-made lunch.

Now I have to get back to standardizing recipes. I just got asked to help out with Hebert Keller's PBS television show again, doing prep work and helping to set up the kitchen. I'm pretty excited, this time I'll actually get to be in some of the episodes! (As a background extra, I'm sure.) Filming/set-up should start on the 25th, so hopefully I can snag some pics from the set, depending on if they let me take photos or not.

Until next time, ciao!

Under the weather.

I've been really sick for the last three days, with either food poisoning or the flu. Unfortunately, it seems like food poisoning at this point, since my brother ate the same thing I did and also got sick, though to a lesser degree. Hazard of the job, I guess.

So, while running back and forth to the doctor's office and lying in bed sweating, I have most definitely not had time to do anything of interest. For the first two days of this illness, I really couldn't do more than lay in bed and moan. Yeah, it was really bad.

But now I'm highly medicated, and I feel better, but not 100%. I'm still dizzy when I stand up, and being awake for too long makes me nauseous. But I'm able to keep soup in my stomach, which is a big plus. I still have a huge pile of homework to do, but I'm completely caught up on the classes that I had to miss, which makes me feel slightly better.

Here's a picture of a cute cat for you, as an apology for not being interesting. I want to sleep like that. As soon as I recover and can eat/cook/stand up for 20 minutes again, I will try to entertain you.

Ciao.

Tapas explosion, and my busy life.

This week has been exhausting. Between jetlag from my international flight, school, homework, and staging at various places, I haven't had too many free moments.

But it will all be worth it someday, at least that's the hope. After all, it seems like I've been doing this forever.

I even have photographic evidence, my dad sent me this yesterday. I love the 80's theme of my little kitchen.

Along with all of those other things, I've begun sommelier classes, (tasting all those wines is hard work) and on Friday I filmed a brief video for my entry into Basque Stage, which should be edited and ready to post in just a couple more days. We had one of Michael's co-workers film it for me, and I think he did a pretty good job. I can't wait to see the edited version- he kept making me do more takes, which was weird for me, but that's what happens when you get video guys involved in the process.

For my video, I just made a couple of simple pintxos, but I forgot to put the requisite toothpicks into them. Hopefully, the Basque stage people will forgive me. On the left was pepper crusted, seared Ahi tuna, with avocado cream, heirloom tomato, dehydrated olives, and red onion. On the right, piquillo pepper with anchovy, tarragon, and saffron foam.

For post-video munchies, we tried to go back to Lotus of Siam for more awesome Thai, alas, they were not open during the mid-afternoon. We ended up at Firefly, a place I used to frequent but hadn't been to in a while, and had some really great tapas. Please note that these pictures were taken during two separate visits, I'm not that much of a glutton...

Tortilla, an egg dish with potatoes, and a spicy red pepper sauce.

Firefly fries with cheese and paprika aoli. I would like to eat these for a living.

Manchego mac n' cheese. Also very yum.

Rich, pork filled empanada.

Passion fruit mini cheese cakes.

Ahi tuna tartar with mango, avocado, and taro chips.

Peppadew peppers stuffed with smoked tuna, with celery leaf on taro chips.

Albondigas, little meatballs in an amazing sauce.

Crisp duck eggrolls with cherry hoisin sauce, not very Spanish, but good nonetheless.

Now, it is time for sleep. I have so much homework to do tomorrow, and the rest of the week, so I will write when I can. If you really can't get enough of an Athena fix (or you want to know where I am so you can avoid me) you can follow me on Twitter (yup, I'm on there now) but that's not necessary.

Interesting things are sure to happen soon, I'll keep you updated.

Ciao!

Passion, Paris.

This entry will fall outside of the normal for my recent blogs. The pictures won't be in chronological order, I won't tell you what I did (save for a very special meal), and I won't be cataloging any activities.

I'm going to go out on a limb and wax philosophical for a bit.

When I travel, no matter where to, I'm really searching for the feel of a place. Sometimes, this feeling comes swiftly, leaving no trace of doubt over the personality of the city. But in the case of France, and especially Paris, our timeline didn't allow me to catch of glimpse of her inner self until I was already back home, back in my routine.

She moved me. I feel lovelorn over her, like she were some brief glance in a subway shared with a stranger, one that seemed a little too familiar. When people ask me about my trip, I've started feeling a pang of heartbreak over Paris, a feeling that I wish I could have assuaged by staying longer, if only by a day, just one more brief tryst.

I may try to pretend we have some deeper connection, but I never got the chance to know her, and that hurts.

She made me feel, she made me think. Upon reflection, Paris changed me in a fundamental way.

Now, I'm starting to grasp the implications of Paris, the deeper meaning of my journey and what drove me there in the first place.

Passion.

It's more than a feeling, more than a driving force. It is at the core of what I am, and what I want to do with my life. Without indulging in it, working for it, succumbing to it... everything would be a lie. I need to chase this far fetched and treacherous dream, or I will never be whole.

Too dramatic? I dare say not. Passion produces the most spectacular pieces of our world. It carves marble into sculpture, puts ink to paper (or finger to key), and builds cathedrals and pyramids. Passion gives life meaning, makes it our own, makes it worth living and fighting for.

Passion, emotion, and the need to express drive us to change the world around us, to create. It is at the core of being human. I can see and love the inherent beauty in the natural, a perfect strawberry, a prickly chestnut, but passion drives one to an irresistible need to affect these things, to make them ours. Better? No. Different? Yes.

Passion to me is the core of art, that indefinable thing that causes us to feel.

Is the chestnut art?

Is graffiti art?

A photograph?

Is art within the soul of its maker, or does it appear only to the one who experiences it?

Some are driven to the incredible task of building cathedrals, drawn towards the heavens by the mighty aspirations of their earthly builders, an innate need to create. I often stand in silent awe of these works, whether they be paintings, architecture, sculpture...

Or something far more worldly. Who's to say that striving for perfection in the every day is not art? (Piment d'Espilette peppers) Does it not take passion to create something so... humble? Perhaps not on the level of the great artists who built Notre Dame, but to me it is art, nonetheless.

If art is in the heart of the beholder, what does that make food? Sure, we can eat for mere sustenance, but we can eat and experience food for many other reasons as well, and it's hard to deny the effect on our psyches.

Perhaps to you, they're fresh, wriggling crayfish, and nothing more. But the moment I saw them slowly crawling on their final, icy bed, I was a child again, in knee-high rubber boots, pulling them wriggling from the stream near my childhood home.

Destined for butter and garlic, the escargot to me are tiny reminders of a crisp spring evening on a farm in central Italy, I vividly remember contemplating one of their brethren clinging to the dewy wire of a chain link fence.

Art reminds me of the relative unimportance of the self. Something so beautiful, from the hands of an unknown sculptor... so broken, and yet; perfect and complete. She meant so many things to so many, each with their own unique emotions to her. She means something independent of her creator, she was born of passion, and begets passion in those who have the fortune to gaze upon her wind-swept grandeur.

Sometimes art is fodder for postcards and tiny pewter replicas, but this shouldn't detract from its importance, not in the hearts of those who still feel new things from it, who are joyous to be impressed by something so iconic.

The ability to sate such a mundane thing as hunger with something transcendent, something transitive, something surprising.... that to me, is art. And sometimes, great artists open your eyes to every facet of your own passion, by immersing you in theirs.

L'Atelier de Robuchon, Paris.

Carrot and orange soup, with a fresh punch of cumin, and a sprinkle of Piment d'Espilette.

Caviar, potato, smoked eel, horseradish cream.

Heirloom tomatoes, olive oil from Provence, sumac, edible flowers.

Duck fois gras, coco beans, turnip chips.

Mushroom cappuccino, soft poached egg.

Red mullet, pistachio oil, olives, tomato.

Suckling lamb (only fed mother's milk), thyme, roasted garlic, potato puree.

Paris-brest pastries, orange gelee, praline mousseline.

Valrhona Araguani chocolate. Ganache, flake, cookie.

Perfect espresso, rich, chewy caramel candy.

Part of the genius behind the perfect meals I've experienced at three of Chef Robuchon's restaurants now is the incredible team he has pulled together to create and execute these amazing meals. Every single one of their staff exudes passion, and I can only hope to one day be able to make people who eat my food feel the way I did while eating theirs.

Passion.

Passion is the driving force that compels me to go out on a limb, hop in an airplane, exhaust every option, and yearn for the future. It can make me so frustrated, with myself, or the world. I exalt in my triumphs, and brood in my defeats, and yet, none of the travails have made me less wont to strive for the highest goals I can imagine, even if I am never so fortunate as to reach them.

In the end as well, I have a love for people. The beings who share passion with me, in all its myriad forms. Whether I have known them for all my life, or met them in passing, they're beautiful creatures, even at the times that I may despise individuals of them.

We share, we unite, we hurt, scorn, love, inspire, and every other possible action, and that is what makes us so incredible.

And they're all so amazing.

Until next time, ciao.