Food

Matt Cunningham

Nothing super interesting today, day off, great day out, so im lounging around in the sun with some beer and some ginger scallion ramen (sauce is homemade, it's not the instant cheapo stuff). Makes for a real good lunch. 2 days, 10 hours ago

2 Comments

Matt Cunningham

Stuck working the night shift alone tomorrow night, and since the hotel is downtown, and the kitchen is open and the windows are all along the dining room, i get to look out to all of the people having fun tomorrow night.

But to get into the spirit i figured i would make something irish. And don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good boiled dinner, but the hotel is literally right across the street from an irish pub, so bad idea. So today i made a nice Dublin Coddle, which, like everything else irish, is actually pretty easy, and cheap to make. It's basically a kind of hearty soup or stew, sometimes with guiness, and consists usually of bacon (rashers - but im calling it bacon here damnit), sausage, onions, parsley, and potatoes, and it's cooked down in apple cider - any recipe that says it's just water you cook it down is wrong, I worked for a straight-from-ireland irishman and this was how they do it. It's actually pretty good.

5 days, 1 hour ago

3 Comments

C.L.

First time cooking Porkchops. I think I did a good job :D they were juicy and delicious. cooked in a little bit of oil and seasoned with salt and pepper after cooking. 5 days, 3 hours ago

1 Comment

Matt Cunningham

In the middle of making some pork buns right now. It's quite a bit of an undertaking, so i set aside my evening (wow, im such a dork, no wonder I dont have a girlfriend, right?).

Anyway, these things are amazingly badass, and in my opinion worth the trouble - although trouble isn't right the right word, they are easy to do, just time consuming depending on what size steamer you have.

Basically the dough is a very soft, tender, sweet dough - has powdered milk in it, which helps a lot of breads with tenderness, a good amount of sugar - and of course, a heaping 1/3 cup of rendered pork fat (which actually isn't even all of it, you use more when forming them - not a good recipe for vegetarians).

For some reason tonight I decided to make a batch of 50. Now, they aren't too big, but it was slightly more work than I thought lol

Well worth the trouble though, ive been eating a few after every few batches, i can't stop eating them. The only downside is that the place smells like bacon now - it's driving me nuts haha. 1 week, 1 day ago

Matt Cunningham

Just got the Momofuku book today, wondering why I didn't get it before now? All I can think about now is ramen and steamed pork buns. (Hopefully) tomorrow when I get out of work, I can find the time to make some steamed pork buns - I have a ton of rendered bacon fat I can use. I can't wait. 1 week, 2 days ago

1 Comment

Matt Cunningham

So i'm at work right now, the only one here in the kitchen. I just made rice krispie treats with fruit loops in them. This is the most productive thing i've done all night. I love slow shifts. 1 week, 3 days ago

3 Comments

Matt Cunningham

Potato salad. I made a ton last night at work to go along with the burgers and club sandwiches on the room service menu. I don't like a whole lot of shit in mine - I actually work with a guy who puts broccoli in his? Mine was..... ok, I was about to say "Pretty standard", but well know I have a hard time doing standard things. I made with with bacon mayo, dijon mustard, ginger, hardboiled eggs, diced red onion, and smoked the whole thing with rosemary, since mayo takes on smoke really well. So a nice rosemary smoked potato salad.

Anyone else like potato salad? What do you put in yours? 1 week, 5 days ago

4 Comments

Matt Cunningham

Lunch. Pizza and beer. Can it get much better?


Homemade pizza dough, garlic roasted corn, red peppers, fresh basil, aged asiago. And of course some hoppy Noble pils to wash it down. 1 week, 6 days ago

5 Comments

Glen Starchman

Eggs+ Taco meat +Sharp cheddar + mozzarella + sour cream = HEAVEN 2 weeks ago

Matt Cunningham

Went out to dinner with a friend and her dad, had an amazing time (and meal). The restaurant is one of the best in the state, and it's always awesome (usually can't afford it though lol).

For an app got a real nice charcuterie plate, and I picked out chicken liver pate, pheasant mortadella, lamb terrine, pickled red onion, kumquat marmalade, and a real strong mustard made with alagash white, one of my fav beers. Real great food, everything made in house. The three of us split some local mussels, pretty standard garlic/butter/white wine/parlsey, but really done well.

Entree was a turnspit roasted local rabbit, with roasted hen of the woods mushrooms and gnocchi. Im a big gnocchi fan, and these were perfect. Rabbit was fantastic, i love having it on a turnspit over an open fire to cook. In addition to the sides, i got some extra cider braised fingerling potatoes, and roasted garlic rapini.

Dessert was a warm caramel toffee bread pudding, with banana bread croutons, and a coffee sorbet.

Toss in some gin and tonics, and i was one happy boy. Really great meal. 2 weeks, 2 days ago

Matt Cunningham

Some days I do feel like [Food] is being used as my own personal culinary diary. Oh well.

Anyway, tonight I had a lot of fun, I brought one of my more favorite kitchen gadgets with me, which is my trusty iSi whipper ( www.isinorthamerica.com ). It's a great thing to have around for making flavored foams,mousses, etc - basically anything you want light and airy. Another neat thing to do with this is make instant bread.

I know it sounds a little strange, but it makes a lot of sense. When you make bread, basically all the yeast is really around for is to create carbon dioxide, your leavening agent. Well, why not just use another means for creating gas to leaven instead?

Not only is this way faster and easier - you don't have to go through all of the time and trouble to have dough rise, etc - but it's texture is very light and airy, much lighter than a normal 'bread'. Speed wise, you dispense your charged bread 'batter' into a paper cup that has a few holes poked into it, and microwave it for about 45 seconds, and out pops light airy bread. Does this replace normal bread? No, not at all. Like everything, it has it's use and place, but for fluffy, light, fresh bread that can literally be made to order, this is a very fun and interesting technique.

So tonight I felt motivated once again, so I brought in my iSi whipper, and did an appetizer special using fresh brioche (which is my favorite of all breads, ever). I made a cinnamon brioche batter to make bread with, and wanted to use up some nice camembert we have in the kitchen, so I did cinnamon brioche with camembert, and to add to that, I made a strawberry whiskey drizzle to go underneath everything on the plate. It was a fun little dish, and people seemed to like it a lot, although how can you not like a dish that has cheese in it?! 3 weeks, 1 day ago

4 Comments

Matt Cunningham

So continuing on with my odd uses of iSi canisters, I felt like I should do something i haven't done in a while - post a picture! I had some pineapple carbonating overnight, to make sure all of the water was carbonated.


This is what they look like straight out of the canister. Yes, the pineapple is fizzing.
I still remember when my mom told me never to play with my food.
lol. 2 weeks, 5 days ago

5 Comments

Matt Cunningham

Today I had a great idea for a dessert to run tonight, to use co2 in my iSi canister to carbonate some orange slices, and make a mock "orange creamsicle" dessert. The co2 will carbonate the water present in the fruit, giving a nice surprise. Probably pairing that with some kind of creamy vanilla pudding....it needs something else as well, but i have time to think lol 3 weeks ago

1 Comment

Matt Cunningham

Sitting on my ass, listening to Dj Shadow, munching on parmesan basil wheat things, dipping into chipotle hummus, and drinking Sam adams noble pils. Hells yeah. 3 weeks ago

1 Comment

Bobby

Hooray for banquets today. Had two fun banquets tonight; brighton high swim awards (170) and a small wedding for 50. Menus were simple, italian buffet for Brighton and chicken piccata and a prime rib carving station for the wedding. It was a fun night, but we really need to get some more banquet help. Not fun when it's only me and a dishwasher tending to both parties. 3 weeks, 1 day ago

Matt Cunningham

Had a good night, one of those nights that show me why I do what I do. Really nice couple I chatted up at the bar, wanted me to cook something 'off menu' for them, and they were great, so i was more than happy to.

Anyway, the husband wanted something like a surf and turf,and the wife wanted something pasta, but those were they only hints.

So working with what little fun stuff i had in the kitchen, i came up with a morrocan 'raz el hanout' rubbed beef tenderloin, merlot and brown sugar demi, cinnamon scented wild rice, roasted tomato and spinach. For the wife i did seared shrimp and scallops in angel hair(cooked in veg stock), with an apple cider herbed buerre blanc.

They were super happy with everything, and they wanted me to chat with them afterwards. Seeing such happy people is the reason i keep doing what i do. 3 weeks, 2 days ago

4 Comments

C.L.

we got two loafs of bread from cosco, one taste alright, but my loaf taste like somebody poured old lady perfume in it. what should I do! 3 weeks, 2 days ago

Matt Cunningham

6 Minute egg, sauteed spinach, toasted english muffin, candied bacon jam. Salty, sweet, creamy... everything tasty. Sorta like a benedict, but the egg isn't poached the same way, and no hollandaise ( I figured the yolk was good enough).

To me, a 6 minute egg is the perfect egg. The white is perfectly set, and the yolk is 'creamy'. It's not set at all, but it's not a running mess like a yolk straight from a raw egg would be. Think consistency of a cadbury egg yolk. Put an egg into boiling water just like you would to completely hard boil it, but after a timer set for 6 minutes goes off, immediately take it out and plunge it into ice water and keep it there until it's cooled off, probably 2 min. Just as good if not better than a regular poached egg for breakfast, but consistency wise everything is better, and you can make a few ahead of time if you want. Perfect marriage of time and temperature.

For the candied bacon and apple jam, I don't really have amounts worked out yet (going to work on that soon), but in it is applewood smoked bacon, diced onion, cider vinegar, white wine, brown sugar, apple slices (and straight up apple pectin, but if you don't have any, using a bit more apple in it seems to work out fine), sea salt. Pretty much reducing all of that down to a certain point and chilling it. 3 weeks, 4 days ago

3 Comments

Bobby

Deconstructed Eggroll Stirfry 3 weeks, 5 days ago

1 Comment

Bobby

Who feels like decomposing some food? 3 weeks, 6 days ago

2 Comments

Matt Cunningham

On a roll today - made like 10 quarts of veg stock, made some mushroom bisque with a hint of cognac and fresh thyme, some wild rice with clove and cardamom, blackberry ginger muffins, more candied bacon apple jam (large amount this time), and another batch of homemade bagels.

Busy busy busy. 3 weeks, 6 days ago

2 Comments

Jessyka Dalton

enmoladas at red iguana es muy buena 3 weeks, 5 days ago

Matt Cunningham

Boring night at work, so I made dessert for people at work. Blueberry and brie turnovers with cinnamon vanilla icing. Was pretty good. 4 weeks, 1 day ago

5 Comments

Matt Cunningham

Made some awesome turkey sandwiches tonight. Roasted turkey, candied bacon apple jam, fresh anadama bread, smoked mayo, tomato. 1 month ago

3 Comments

Glen Starchman

A great writeup on the food in Tokyo... and I couldn't agree more. Quite literally the best French, Italian, Chinese and, of course, Japanese food I have ever tasted was in Tokyo. today.msnbc.msn.com

There are, of course, food items to avoid at all costs in Tokyo: eggs (always undercooked and watery... even in the best of the US-owned hotels), hamburgers (except for McDonald's, which only uses high-grade beef!), and these funny looking hotdog-like things sold in a lot of bakeries that the Japanese rumor to be made of worms.

Some of the biggest surprises for culinary excellence? 7-11 (freshly prepared Japanese ramen and other delights), the aforementioned McDonalds, and yes, KFC! The Japanese LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Colonel. You can't walk 2 blocks in central Tokyo without seeing a KFC.

Man, now I both miss living in Tokyo AND am starving! 1 month ago

5 Comments

Bobby

What to do for lunch? Anyone recommend some good eats in the area? 1 month ago

1 Comment

Carrie

www.etsy.com

I keep looking at these homemade marshmallows and they look amazing. Just wondering if anybody has ever made marshmallows before. I found some recipes online and it seems easy enough. I'm just not sure I'm brave enough to attempt it myself. 1 month ago

6 Comments

Matt Cunningham

It's always interesting to me when I cook with someone who does things differently than I do. Im all over the place, I do a lot of things by hand, but I also like using knowledge to make food turn out better. So when I have a method that's been proven to debunk old methods, don't tell me i'm wrong.

After a slight argument today in the kitchen at work, I made a bet with someone else in the kitchen that my way of satueeing mushrooms would be better than what he did. We gathered a few random people working at the hotel to come down to the kitchen to taste and judge.

Now to 99% of people, the only way to cook mushrooms would be high heat, pretty quick, oil in a pan, dont crowd the pan, and you don't wash mushrooms, since you sure as hell dont want to get them too wet. That's just always how it's been, and it's how people are taught.

Well, to make a better tasting, and looking, sauteed mushroom, ignore all of that. Soak the mushrooms, crowd the pan, do everything that most cooks would cry at, and you will come out with something better. Here's why.

Mushrooms really don't soak up *that* much water. It's been shown that they suck up an extra 2% of their weight worth of water at best, so a washing is completely fine, and soaking them won't harm them either. And not just that, when you sauté over high heat, that water will evaporate out anyway. The water will evaporate out, and the porous cells of the mushrooms will collapse, leaving you without anything inside, causing them to stay firm and not mushy after being cooked, even when soaked in water before hand. And now that the cells have collapsed and the water has evaporated out, the oil that is used in the pan to sautee is still in the pan, not inside the mushroom, so you get a good saute without an oily mushroom.

Doing it the old way is inferior for a few reasons. One, that oil that you used for the pan, is normally sucked up into the mushroom, which means you need more oil than the soaking way, and also, can cause your mushrooms to be oily and limp after they were cooked, due to the fact that the mushrooms were empty when you started cooking, so instead of releasing what they contained then collapsing, they suck up oil *then* collapse.

Also, crowding the pan is in fact better than giving them and perfectly fine if you soaked your shrooms. The mushrooms cant suck up anything else anyway, and the water will evaporate off leaving you with just the oil for a great sautee, so crowding it perfectly fine, and will let you do more at once.

So when we cooked our different ways, and people tried the two methods (blindly), and yes, the ones i did won hands down. They werent oily and were still firm, had a better flavor and texture.

So I encourage anyone to give this a shot. Throw all tradition aside, and try it this way. Seasoned well, this way will beat the pants off the old dry mushroom, quick sautee method. 1 month ago

5 Comments

C.L.

I don't like the way duck taste. 1 month, 1 week ago

6 Comments

Glen Starchman

I woke early this morning, even for me (2:30!) and needed something warm and filling. So, I made one of my most favorite white-trash offerings of all time!

Cook one package of Knorr (formerly Lipton) Chicken & Broccoli Rice Side Dishes
Stir in one can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken Condensed soup
Add in a healthy handful of shredded Tilamook extra sharp cheddar
Salt and pepper to taste.

Pure white trash yummyness. 1 month ago