Ravenous Pig, Part Deux

First off we have been extremely busy at the restaurant the past week and a half. 510on Saturday, 485 Sunday, 450 Monday and then 380 Tuesday. The Executive Chef, myself and the other Sous Chef have to come up with 5 seasonal menus for VIP functions at the restaurant within the next week. In between all of that I still managed to get to the Ravenous Pig for lunch again. We started off with two apps this time which were the House made pretzels with Talaggio Fondue and whole grain mustard.
We also tried the Lobster Tacos, avocado creme, pickled jalapenos. The tempura batter on the lobster was very light and flavorful.
This time I was faced with the same problem that plagued me the first time; The dish I wanted was 86'ed!!!! Instead I tried what I felt would be the next best thing which was the Grilled Steak Torta. Medium Rare steak, a white cheddar omelet, avocado relish, garlic aioli on a toasted baguette and washing it down with a pint of Highland Gaelic Ale from Ashville, NC.

Lately..........

First and for most I would like to thank all those who have help me get this blog off and running. I now have reached over 1,000 page views in just a short amount of time, I look forward to continuously cataloguing my work and the work of others in and around my area. With that being said I will catalogue the next dish of mine which we recently put on the menu. We got some Wreckfish in and also alot of Hammock Hollow Farms produce like organic baby spinach, romanesco, purple cauliflower. The final product was Wreckfish...purple cauliflower puree, beet reduction, roasted romanesco, farro salad (tomato, cucumber, roasted red peppers), and spinach pudding.
I had some samples from Anjimoto of Activa RM, GS and Ti. I did a demo , teaching the cooks and even the executive chef on how to use it and some ideas we can play around with. I made a roulade out of some Wreckfish belly and scraps we had and used some Activa GS, came out nice and tight. Its always a nice feeling teaching others about food and food techniques and challenging them to be more creative.

Wreckfish "Scallops"

People always ask chefs, since you make all this fancy food at work do you make that kind of stuff at home too? The answer is sometimes, there have been plenty of times I have gone out of my way to make a really awesome dinner and then there are times when just a burger would suffice. The Superbowl I went in the middle of "fine dinning" and "casual", and made sliders. I got some ground beef, pork and chicken and did three different types of sliders for the big game.

The final products were:
Beef.. jalapeno, smoked bacon, aged cheddar, caramelized onions, guldens mustard
Pork.. Escevhiche(Spanish pickled onions), plantain, spiced ketchup, baby red oak
Chicken.. grilled tomato, arugula, remoulade, Myer lemon
The next time I had off we decided to make tacos which is one of my wife's favorite things since I put some much effort into making them minus making fresh corn tortillas. I decided to get some beef, braised it, and made some Avocado creme, black bean/roasted corn salsa, queso fresco and some pico di gallo to dip the chips in..
On a final note, I was informed that my housewife recipe was the best one out of 14 other recipes and that I will be going up on the website first. You can take a look, and get the recipe by visiting this site within the next few weeks: