Rosemary Red Eye Gravy

Red eye gravy wasn't something I remember growing up with-I don't think my mom ever made it. I first encountered it here in St Louis when I was cooking at the Richard Perry Restaurant. So that is how I learned it. It is traditionally a quick pan sauce made with strong coffee, usually served with ham steak. After some reading I discovered some cooks make red eye gravy with beef steaks. It seemed worth trying. I also added some Rosemary to the mix which seems untraditional but adds an interesting twist.

I first made a dry rub of finely ground coffee-I had some Starbucks dark roast in the freezer so I used that-and added some brown sugar, salt, and pepper.

for four 14 ounce steaks-rib eye, strip, or 8 ounce tenderloins

1/4 cup finely ground coffee

1/4 cup brown sugar

Freshly ground pepper

2 Tablespoons sea salt

I rubbed the mixture into the steaks and let them sit for 1/2 hour

I got out my favorite Griswold iron skillet and got it pretty hot and seared the steaks-lots of smoke. I removed the steaks to finish cooking in the oven.

While the steaks finished in the oven, I made the red eye gravy. Add brown sugar to the hot skillet and let it melt and caramelize slightly-this takes place almost instantly as the pan is so hot. Deglaze the pan with a bit of red wine, I then added a couple sprigs of fresh Rosemary-then add strongly brewed coffee. Scrape up all the drippings and let the mixture bubble a couple minutes. It makes a very thin but flavorful sauce similar to a jus.

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup red wine

1 1/2 cup strongly brewed black coffee

2 sprigs of fresh Rosemary

Pour the gravy over the steaks and serve with spoon bread on the side.

Back to Barramundi

I ordered in more Barramundi. It is such a delicious fish, similar to sea bass but a little denser. Very mild sweet flavor and it is a sustainable fish unlike the sea bass. I was going to prepare Florence Fabricant's recipe printed in the New York Times this past week. She brushed the fillet (she used Halibut, but I figured it would work well with Barramundi as well) with molasses and seared it and served it with mushrooms. She created the recipe to pair with some Pinot Noirs they were reviewing. The dish did not work for me, so I reverted to my old stand by of grilling served with ginger vinaigrette plus some wasabi and pickled ginger. The asertive vinaigrette is mellowed with sesame oil and really brings out the sweetness of the fish.

Second Platinum Chef Competition

Last year a group of eight Monroe County high schools formed a conference for culinary competition. This year, the group grew to 10 schools. Some of the schools don't even have a culinary program, but only an after school club, where they cook with and learn from an advisor.

I was asked to be one of the judges again this year

It is so much fun to observe these kids. Teams consist of 5 members and two dish washers. They are judged on several levels, including sanitary and safety, knife skills, creative use of ingredients, presentation, teamwork, and taste. Outstanding individuals are recognised as well.

Ten schools was a bit daunting to get through. In the end the judges (there were five of us) were all pressed for time in analysizing all the different categories. I also had less time to take photos.

The competition took place on the gym floor, where 10 individual staging kitchens were set up. So the equipment wasn't the best, but the kids really made the best of what they had. The bleachers were full of students and family members observing and taking pictures.

One of the smaller schools without the formal culinary program won. Their passion for what they were doing showed and won them the trophy.

Bulgogi-Korean Barbequed Rib Eye Steaks

When I was in second or third grade, we had a Korean minister come to the little Methodist church that my family attended. Reverend Sun was his name-Han Yung Sun I think was his full name. He and my father became good friends and my family found itself in church alot during his tenure. A couple of times Reverend Sun would make Korean food after church on Sunday. Our tiny little church basement got smokey with exotic aromas and what was unusual flavors for small town Mid-America in the 1960's. The noodles and thin strips of beef that emerged from the kitchen were a revelation to say the least.

I don't recall Reverend Sun's noodles enough to even try to recreate them, but the beef must have been Bulgogi-and it surely must be one of the signature dishes of Korea. I decided to revisit my Korean food memories and create a Sunday lunch for some friends. Instead of thin strips of beef, I used whole rib eye steaks grilled outside over real charcoal.

I accompanied the steaks with three flavorful and unusual Asian salads. Sesame-corn salad, Eggplant, and Carrot. For dessert Dan and I made a chocolate lamb cake-since it is close to Easter-we shared the steps in creating a "black sheep" .

Oysters

During my recent vacation, I did cook one evening in the kitchen of my parents condo. Before I left St Louis, I froze some Rib Eye steaks and shipped them with dry ice to the island (you just can't buy decent beef in most places without alot of research), fresh shrimp and oysters are another story. They are abundant and delicious. We picked some up from my mom's favorite shop along the gulf in Port Isabel. Next we picked up some cauliflour from a farm stand. So we started dinner with oysters while I grilled steaks out by the pool and made a cauliflour gratin (from Barefoot In Paris cookbook bu Ina Garten).

We also had a salad with succulent avocados and tomatoes-also purchased at the farm stand. The cauliflour, avocados, and tomatoes were brightly flavored with that unmistakable vine or tree ripened and just picked freshness.

I topped the oysters with a crumb and crab mixture and ran them under the broiler briefly.

South Padre Island

I've been on vacation recently. My folks stay on Padre Island during the winter (for over 15 years now), so I use it as a mid winter get away myself. It was cold and snowing in St Louis as I left. It was 80 degrees and partly sunny on the island when I arrived. Of course we went to Mexico a couple of times. We ate a a rather fun restaurant called Angel's. Located on the third floor of an atrium building. Many of the restaurants are similar. Sort of fancy in that the waiters are in tuxedos, and there is usually live music-in this case an organist. They have the usual touristy food, but also more fish dishes and goat-which you don't see on the US Menus. They serve Margarits with olive garnish and were also selling many Bananas Foster with great showmanship. It was lots of fun.

Veal Chop

I've been running veal chops as a week end special. It isn't part of the regular menu. I usually run one or two off menu specials because we have so many customers who dine with us several night out of a month, so eventhough I change the menu seasonally, they are always asking for something new. I grilled this and topped it with sun-dried tomato, fresh basil, and buerre blanc.

Chinese New year's Eve

I was invited to a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner at a friends house last night. Nu (my friend) and her mother prepared a chinese feast. We started with shark's fin soup-delicious. There were spring rolls and egg rolls as well, with at least three homemade dippping sauces. There was a whole roasted suckling pig, roast chicken, spicy crabs, two rices, and several salads. One of the standouts was an abalone and mushroom salad that I really liked-it was the first time I had eaten this salad. There was a delicious chicken, cabbage, and mint salad dressed with a light sauce, similar to spring roll sauce. I should mention that this Chinese family also lived in Viet Nam for a time, so their food has many Viet Namese influences.

We finished the evening drinking champagne and eating dragon fruit and Asian pears. At the end Nu and her mother passed out beautiful chinese envelopes with cash inside-which is a Chinese tradition.

Mardi Gras

We had a big crawfish boil at the restaurant for Mardi Gras. Also made Gumbo, jambalaya, bread pudding, Hurricanes etc. I made the Paul Prudhome recipe for Cajun Shepherd's pie for the first time. It was from his first cookbook backin the 1980's. It consists of a deliciously spiced meat loaf, topped with sauteed vegetable (with another set of spices, frosted with mashed potatoes, and a spicy brown sauce on the side. It was delicious and reminded me of how much I loved that book when it was first published.

It is always a treat to eat in his restaurant in New Orleans named the same as his book "K Paul's Lousiana Kitchen". There is always a line to get in, and they have a community seating policy, so a couple of times, I have shared dinner with absolute strangers. It seems a bit strange, but it was not unpleasant or uncomfortable at all, I remember meeting some lovely people and engaging interesting conversation.

Lemon Souffle

I woke up craving lemon souffle for some reason. Unfortunately there weren't enough eggs in the house, so after a quick trip to the market, inbetween my Sunday political shows, I whipped this up for breakfast. I added a couple rashers of bacon and toast. It might seem like a silly breakfast, but it definitely hit the spot for me.

Lobster Ravioli

My employer Susie Gallagher was telling me about this ravioli dish she had once eaten, and she asked me to come up with something similar for a special. This is a combination I would never have put together because it had a Gorgonzola sauce-fish and cheese just don't go together in my book. But I have to say it was quite delicious. The salty pungent blue cheese only enhanced the briny sweetness of the lobster and cream-when I suspected the cheese would completely take over the dish-it did not. I added some sauteed spinach, which was a beautiful color contrast with the coral colors of the lobster sauce and was also marvelous when it mixed into the sauce.

Early St Patty's Day

General Manager James Gallagher is getting his St Patty's Day "look" a headstart.

Farewell Lunch

It's official-we are not serving lunch starting February 1st. It has been a long and labored decision, but with no lunch we are extending the Sunday hours until 8 PM in the evening. There have been many times when we've turned away lots of diners because they arrived late, not realizing we close at 5 PM. We are also opening at 4 Pm on Saturday evenings. Again there is always a waiting line at the front door when we open at 5. This should ease openings, so that the servers aren't hit with several tables all at one time-each wanting their water, their bread, their drink all at the same time-sometimes the first 20 minutes are the most frantic for the servers until everyone hits their stride. This will also allow my kitchen to be more focused and organised. Darrell Logan who headed up the lunch since opening will be joining the evening crew. Here is one of Darrell's last lunch special, a lovely shrimp taco salad.

Last Holiday Party

Since I work in the restaurant industry, I seldom have time between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve to cook for my family and friends at home. Consequently most of my things are post holiday at best. We had one last dinner yesterday and now the holiday decor can be packed away until next year.

Yesterday I made an extravagant Spanish lunch. We started with Chilled shrimp and bacon wrapped dates. On my buffet I had my favorite salad of oranges, red onion, radish, fresh fennel, nicoise olives, dressed with a cilantro-orange vinagrette. I had another salad of fingerling potatoes, grape tomatoes, asparagus, and green beans dress with whole grain mustard vinaigrette. I made Potatas Brava again. This time with more chili-they were better than my last attempt, but they weren't very popular-I think I'll give up on this dish if I can't get it right in two attempts.

The centerpiece was an extravagant Paella Valencia. The photo doesn't do the dish justice, because I placed it on top of my stove and too much sunlight floods in and washes out all the color. I used arborio rice and Mexican Chorizo (which is markedly different from Spanish Chorizo), but the flavors were excellent if not quite authentic. I cooked it in my large copper roasting pan which is deeper than a paella pan, but everyone really enjoyed it and went back for extras. It was filled with lobster tails, shrimp, clams, mussels, chicken, and of course the chorizo. I used a tomato-lobster stock flavored with Saffron to cook the rice.