Playing with Food

This has been a labor of love. I’ve sat staring at the beginnings of this blog over and over again pondering how (and sometimes Why?)to begin. There has always been a little voice in the back of my mind saying, “Why in the hell would anyone care about anything you have to say?” Well, little by little I've given form to my many minor musings creating the guts of this, this magnum opus, this tall tale...


…but, I felt that to really get things started I needed to answer questions for you, dear reader, “Who is this guy and why should I waste my precious time by taking a glimpse into some random schlemiel’s pantry and sordid past rife with mediocrity?”


THAT was the first obstacle, figuring out how to tell you why you should even give Playing with Food a chance, but I realized the answer is simple: because you shouldn't, because in a world with thousands of tomes of culinary mysticism, websites, and blogs galore crafted by the elder wizards of my profession I am but a (sometimes not so) humble journeyman with a snarky attitude and a penchant for challenging authority just to see if it qualifies.


Now, this may be a bit different from most cooking sites you've ever stumbled across, because not only is it a collection of recipes that I've crafted during my 25 years in the food & beverage industry it is also a semi-autobiographical accounting of the misdeeds, miscreants, & misplaced morals that I've often been a party to, formed a party with, or partied my ass off in spite of. It may even be a chance for me to educate you in my philosophy of food (of the people, by the people, and for the people) while attempting to entertain you… to entice you… to energize and galvanize you.


You see, I've had a life-long love affair with a) taking things apart to see how they work, b) hopefully functionally putting them back together, & c) gaining enough understanding to fix things that aren't quite working as intended. I adore not just understanding a thing for myself, but being able to capably explain and instruct others in it's use or function. Now, when you combine those characteristics with a covert curiosity, an unexpected talent for cooking, and a penchant for standing firm, arms akimbo, amid the flowing torrents of the River of Chaos you end up with a pretty decent Food & Beverage soldier.


Still, I don’t consider myself a Chef, more of a glorified line-cook really, but along the way somewhere enough men fell on the battlefield that one day I was presented with a Chef’s coat, a funny little hat, and a cadre of unsavory rapscallions looking to me for leadership, and you know what? We nailed it. Hell, we didn't just nail it, we crushed it. We knocked it out of the park, over and over again, but that isn't to say this was my first time in the driver's seat.


At 15 I took my first restaurant position at a little steak house in Tupelo, Mississippi as a busboy. I quickly transitioned into a member of the wait staff, but very shortly thereafter I volunteered to take a turn on the broiler when our grill-man was MIA due to alcohol related complications. Within a year I had moved on to a local “up-scale” deli franchise that made me a manager for both the front & back of the house as well as being used as a trainer to open their fourth, fifth, & sixth shops in Northeast Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee. That franchise now has a little over 300 stores in the Southern US. A year later I moved to Atlanta, Georgia where my real education began.


Once I hit the streets of Hot-lanta I did everything I could to expose myself to as many facets of the business as possible. I had an insatiable desire to understand it ALL. I've worked everywhere: meat & threes, taquerias, pizza joints, sushi bars, night clubs & even with a major league sports team or two. I've been a caterer, a bar back, a server, a DJ, a bouncer, and any position in a kitchen you could come up with. I've worked for good ole boys, Puerto Rican wannabe mafiosi, Creole soul brothers, corporate CEOs, & foreign independent video game developers. I've loved every minute of it even when it was nudging me over the edge into a fractured state sanity seasoned liberally with self-destructive over-consumption in a rainbow of flavors.


So, if you've made it this far you might be thinking, “Wow, this guy really saw what he wanted and went for it!”, and while Food & Beverage is a prestigious line of work, with a long and glorious tradition my simmering culinary entanglements took many years to blossom into the passion for ingredients and techniques that I possesses today. In the beginning it was a means to an end. That end being cash. It was VERY liberating to be earning as much as I was at 16 or 17 living in small town America circa 1992. It helped keep questions about robust financial transactions to a minimum. A talent for uniting my peers, the “troubled youth” of our “All American City”, with certain individuals who might or might not be able to provide social lubricants of a nature somewhat more illicit than would be available to the general populace probably didn'thelp at all. Apologies, I digress. That my friends is a tale for another time.


Enticed? Perhaps, not yet,eh?


“Okay, so this nutter might have a story or two, but what about the food???” you say.


Alright, how about The Thai Chicken Meatloaf Bahn Mi or The Club of Monte Cristo? Ancho Espresso Rack of Lamb with Onion & Poblano Rajas & Roasted Sweet Corn Pudding? Pan Seared Rainbow Trout with Brown Butter & Fresh Herbs over Toasted Almond & Wild Rice Pilaf with Lemon Parmesan Roasted Broccoli? Don't worry we'll get there, but those are destinations.


First, you'll need some building blocks to play with on the journey. Things like how to make a perfectly excellent quiche (even if it's the All American Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger Quiche with Caramelized Crimini Mushrooms & Texas Sweet Onions), and why that's important knowledge when trying to make crème brulee' or French toast for instance. You'll hopefully gain a bit of far-reaching insight that will help to demystify the shrouded secrets of really awesome food with recipes for some excellent basic sauces, salsas, vinaigrettes and rubs. Once we've spent a bit of time together you'll even have complete meals that you can put together easily and with confidence that will render your guests, friends, and/or family speechless due to overactive salivary glands. That is my heartfelt desire at any rate.


Amuse cerveau?Amuse bouche? Have I piqued your interest? Tickled your taste buds, perhaps? I hope so! Let's go play with some food just 'cause mama told us not to!