Back from New Orleans! What a truly amazing city.

I cooked for our Employees Only Event..
at times it felt like I was on a Top Chef challenge.

We hosted the party at OneEyedJacks which is normally a live venue place.
I created a kitchen in a hallway with household items like toaster ovens, pancake griddles, and buffet burners.

Somehow it all worked out!

Check out the article on Food Republic.. NYC to NewOrleans

NOLA

Off to New Orleans for our Employees Only event.
If you're in the Big Easy this week stop by One Eyed Jack's in the quarter.
Thursday night starting at 10:30. I'll be cooking!

Tatanka

Last year in South Dakota I had the pleasure of seeing buffalo in the wild.

Such stunning animals.

Now being reintroduced to the plains as wild animals; a landscape in which bison have co-evolved with other indigenous plants and animals to thrive on the grasslands without damaging them.

I would urge anyone who has never tasted this meat to do so..

it has a similar taste to beef but is a little sweeter and way less fatty.

Here's a great company that sells Buffalo meat: FossilFarms

PastaBasta

A photo I took of Mr. Faella outside of his Pastificio

Gragnano, Italy

Mr. Beard

I'm excited to be part of The West Village Social happening at the James Beard House this Tuesday, the 17th of July.
A bunch of great chefs from the neighborhood.

I'm even more excited to have Igor making Manhattans next to me!

If you're around please join!
Here's a link to all the info.. JamesBeardEvent

Salt Pork

While at the Nashville Farmers Market I stumbled upon this!!
Another reason to love the South..

Salt Pork is super easy to make.. I wonder why people don't do it more often.
Go to your butcher and ask for a piece of pork belly, take it home and rub kosher salt all over it...
I'd suggest adding sugar and spices as well.

Cover it and put it in the refrigerator for two days or until it feels firm.
Rinse and dry the pork, then wrap it in cheese cloth..
You can store this in the refrigerator for a long time.

As far as using it... the options are endless.
Cut it into small strips or cubes and add it while you're sauteing an onion for a soup or stew.
It's also great when cooking greens.. or any other vegetable for that matter.
Amazing in beans.. grind it and add it to hamburger or meatballs.. it goes on and on...

Chicken Picnique

One of my first dishes on the menu at Smith and Mills.
Cold Roasted Chicken, Potato salad with Caper vinaigrette, Haricot verts. Cornichons, grainy Mustard and Baguette.

This dish came to be when I visited a farm in Georgia.
We worked on the land all day, then drove a red pick up truck out to the middle of a field.

Our host had roasted a chicken the night before. We had baguette, some green beans, mustard, mayonnaise and a really cold bottle of Rose.

We ate in the back of the pick up truck with our hands.
The chicken coops were only 100 feet behind us....