Jalapenos to Habaneros Santa Fe, New Mexico

I received a call from a close friend and fellow Chef, Stephan Pyles, inquiring if I would like to join him for a cooking and eating trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I tossed the invitation around in my head for a few short minutes or seconds (more like it), and responded with “That sounds excellent, never been to Santa Fe, when do we leave?” I had been to Albuquerque in the past, but like most people (myself included) compared the Siamese cities as the same, but reality is they more like jalapenos to habaneros.

We checked through several suitcase size boxes of perishable food that had been securely packed in dry ice and strapped with enough duct tape that not even Harry Houdini could had escaped. With a little time to kill like all dismal passengers waiting for their departures we headed into Chili’s Too for a quick bite. Unfortunately not much more to report than Buffalo chicken salad and a cheeseburger for us- however we felt it was Tweet worthy. Not sure why…

The New Mexico sky reminded me of the transparent blue water in the Caribbean, speckled with small floating clouds that were reminiscent of the jelly fish from a recent SCUBA diving trip. Boxes and luggage in tow we stepped outside and were hit with the rejuvenating cool breeze coming from the Sandia mountain range to the East. This was a nice relief from the concrete cracking sun and stagnant air of the Lone Star State.

My first impressions of Santa Fe reminded me of the Pueblo photos from my eighth grade history book and playing with clay in Mrs. Shopal’s art class. The beige-boxed architecture is picturesque and spiritually soothes the mind has unfortunately adopted a touristic element that eventually creeps into all majestic places. Thanks to Cyrus Holliday’s vision it put the town of Santa Fe on the “official map” in the mid 1800’s. The downtown buildings were once occupied by old saloons and trading posts are now home to high end eateries and art galleries. Our first stop, Starbucks. How authentic Santa Fe, green chili coffee anyone?

On to more important things, we made it to our accommodation, which was an original 1930’s hand crafted adobe home that even Ol’ Martha Steward would bow down to. Our hosts were gracious and accommodating to our odd requests, between food storage and last minute culinary “innovations” they surely deserve a mention and perhaps a metal! The food was packed away for the following evening’s dinner and we descended down the dusty gravel road to Geronimo Restaurant.

We were joined by the owners of Geronimo for a nice three course meal. Stephan and I swapped plates (back and forth) and tasted nearly everything on the table (including reaching over for a bite of Colorado lamb from the owner’s wife!). The eating frenzy started with the smear of Hudson Valley foie gras terrine on golden brioche, and crunchy bites of Maryland soft shell crab “B.L.T.”, bringing me back to my days at The Inn at Perry Cabin. I ordered the Maple Teriyaki Scottish Salmon for an entree (lightest dish on the menu), but the description sounded like a game of go-fish with missing cards. Let’s say before my mouth could finish saying the word s-a-l-m-o-n to the server, I was interrupted and told to try the sea bass instead. Apparently the food police has not paid a visit to Santa Fe since the global craze of sustainable fishing.

The main courses came out and did not establish that strong presence like the appetizers. The first bite of the sea bass sent a message to my brain that triggered guilt. The sea bass was cooked perfectly with their addition or play on ramen noodles. The chef used soba noodles in a lobster-miso broth garnished with undressed arugula. Perhaps I have always been a purist, but that combination was a far stretch from anything authentic. The free range chicken was hmmm, how do I say this… an unexpected jaw massaging exercise. We concluded dinner with the pastry chef’s interpretation of an American childhood favorite- mandarin orange “creamsicle” cake, and a selection of house made sorbets and ice creams. Both desserts and the others that were shared around the table were very good, I was reluctant to share my frozen treats, especially the toasted coconut sorbet! The owners were very kind and gracious to host us for a wonderful evening in their Canyon Road restaurant.

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World Expo, 2010 World Expo, Shanghai, China Growing Organic

The US Pavilion is 3 stories; the VIP area/kitchen is located on the top floor and separated by the two buildings is the organic chef garden. After a few quick translation sessions with the garden keepers they are now growing everything for our specifications. It has become my own personal organic supermarket! (Something that is so far from reality in China)

This garden is located about 50 steps from my kitchen door, so much like an organic farmer, we pop out to pick what is ready to harvest for the day. The US Pavilion is the only building with its own sustainable garden. additions to this garden have been planted in deep roasting pans and other kitchen wares to showcase that it is truly now a “chef’s garden”.

I dedicate to this post to all chefs that are as passionate as myself to enjoying the “back door” garden and to close friend, organic farmer, and entrepreneur, Marie Tedei, owner of the thriving Edens Garden in Balch Springs, Texas.

Come visit us in China, we would love to see you!

Cooking lunch for Miss USA- Rima Fikah

What a rough first week!  I have met several celebrities but the one that happen to stick out most to me (wonder why…) was the current Miss USA, Rima Fakih.  Rima was great to meet, she had lunch at the Pavilion, then was all about taking a few photos- that is the nice part about being the chef…

I am sure everyone wants to know what she had to eat… she sent a special request in advance for a Cobb salad with sauteed shrimp…

thanks, Donald- I owe you one! Can you send Miss Universe next please?

Raw Foods. Food Raw. Raw Food Diet. The Secret to Raw Food Recipes is Time.

One would think “cooking” Raw would be as simple as slicing and dicing.  Previously mentioned  it takes hours in preparation for each experiment!  I was not sure if  setting up my telephone line in the St. Thomas took a longer amount of time?  Regardless, it was a test of patients in comparison to actually heating up a sauté pan and whipping up dinner!  In order to do some of the experiments we had to sprout dry seeds –which took between 30 min-6 hours…

It was all worth the time and effort that we endured (along with my patients to get the other half fed!)  The  natural energy levels that I had after just 2 days of eating raw was one that I had never experienced.  I felt like I was in a formula 1 car 16 hours a day!

Below is the making of walnut “whipped cream” and fresh fruit dessert.

*The walnut whip cream had a denser texture that had an incredible aroma of vanilla, creamy texture, and full of great nutrients.  How could you go wrong!

Raw Food Recipes. Raw Foods. Dehydrating Mushrooms.

Mushroom, fungi, spores, some woody, some meaty, yet all have a large water content that defines their unique texture.  Another perfect item to explore when playing with raw food.  My only thoughts of raw shrooms is when your crafty waitress brings you a house salad with sliced raw button mushrooms.  Thanks, I will pass!

In order to extract optimal flavor in mushrooms they need to have  heat added to them, this creates a problem in the raw food scenario.  Ah yes, dehydration!  I marinated the generic shrooms in organic soy (just a little), shallots, chili flakes, and sesame oil.  They sat for 4 hours then off they went into the food dehydrator!  12 hours later we had moist flavorful shrooms!  These were used to add flavor packed punches in all kinds of raw dishes and as a tasty snack.

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