The Corwin Peddler

I made the venture up to the town of Corwin, OH to try my friends restaurant, it is a family owned restaurant and it's located right off the loveland bike trail. It was about a half hour drive from the house.

I decided to order the burger, I placed my order at the counter and then sat down in the dining room, the dining room I sat down in was the cow room. The wallpaper had cows and on the mantle there was even a train.

The burger as described on www.thecorwinpeddler.com is Melted aged cheddar, caramelized onions, mayo, and black pepper. As you can see from the first and second picture it was huge. It was also delicious.

The corwin peddler also rents and sells bikes as seen in the third picture, they especially rent a lot of bikes on the weekends.

They were also voted as the best trail food in the Cincinnati Magazine. I can see why. Everybody should drive up to corwin and try this family owned restaurant or even ride the loveland bike trail to it, you won't be disappointed.

Amuse from a party last week

The first picture is of house smoked salmon with a grapefruit sauce, and segments.

In the second picture the cook who made it called it a goat cheese toast point with thin slices of pear on top.

The next picture is of hearts of palm with pineapple chip with grains of paradise.

The last picture is of a savory cracker with pork belly, fermented black garlic and brunoise apple with micro celery.

Kitchen Table Menu last week

Octopus with Ginger, Daikon,&Chocolate Mint

Kumamoto Oyster with Amazake&Borage

Zucchini with Ricotta & Fennel Pollen

Haricots Verts with Red Bell Peppers& Brioche

Terrine of Skate Wing with Heirloom Tomato & Cucumber Sorbet

Kamasu with Chantrelle Mushrooms& Preserved Fennel

Spot Prawns with Chrysanthemum& Cockscomb

Diver Sea Scallop with Fingerling Potatoes& Parsley

Arkansas Rabbin Loin with Morel Mushrooms&Red Wine Cabbage Kimchi

Honey Glazed Duck Breast with Black Sesame&Annatto

Suckling Pig with Oaxacan Mole & Roasted Cashews

Braised Lamb Shoulder with Crispy Buckwheat, Parsley root & Sprouts

Broken Arrow Ranch Venison Loin with Currants&Fermented Black Garlic

Epoisses de Bourgogne with Brioche& Cherries

Edonis Melon with Lemon Verbena& Chamomile Granite

Michigan Raspberries with Young Coconut& Green Peppercorn

Plantains with Milk Chocolate& Hemp Seed Ice Cream

Grand Menu Wine Accompaniment

Champagne Paul Goerg "Blanc de Blancs" Brut NV

Brander "au Naturel" Sauvignon, Santa Ynez Valley 2009

C. von Schubert "Maximin Grunhauser Herrenberg" Riesling Kabinett, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer 2007

Etna Rosso "Guardiola" Tenuta delle Terre Nere 2005

Priorat "Misere" Costers del Siurana, Priorat 2004

Mount Horrocks"Cordon Cut" Riesling, Clare Valley 2008

Bodegas Toro Albala "Gran Reserva" Pedro Ximenez, Montilla-Moriles 2007

Grains of Paradise

So since starting at Charlie Trotter's recently I have noticed that instead of using pepper in pepper mills we use grains of paradise. I was researching this and found out why in this Charlie Trotter interview.

"Grains of paradise is in the cardamom family and has a very pronounced floral quality. This is a wonderful spice to add at the last second to a preparation that has a warm or hot temperature. The aroma is stunning with nuances of orchid, green cardamom, grapefruit zest and a hint of white pepper.
"Many preparations lend themselves to the addition of Grains of Paradise. Especially steamed fish or light proteins such as poularde, suckling pig and other delicate items.
"Do add freshly crushed grains of paradise at the very last minute of the preparation before you serve.
"Never add grains of paradise at the beginning of the cooking process. Prolonged exposure to heat dissipates the subtle aromas and becomes very 'muddy' on the nose."



When I ate at Gordon Ramsay at the London NewYork I recall him using that on the scallop dish. Next time your down at Findlay Market stop by Herbs and Spice and get some Grains of Paradise.

Pig Tail Ravioli

We did a special event dinner at Charlie Trotters Friday night for about 70 people. One of the dishes was pig tail ravioli with a lamb jus. I was in charge of the pig tail. I seasoned it with salt and instead of pepper at Charlie Trotters we use Grains of paradise. Next step was to put in cyrovac bags and seal them, and then after sealed put in our c-vac oven. The c-vac oven is just like a steamer that we cook a lot of things in. The pigs tail came out later and then I cleaned it by taking the fat off and then saving the meat and shredding it. It was seasoned once again and then we made the raviolis, they turned out great.

How to Clean an Artichoke

The other day at work, one of the line cooks asked me to clean an entire case of Artichokes. I had cleaned artichokes once before, but it had been awhile. So here are some helpful tips on how to clean an artichoke.
1. Cut off the bottom of the stem, leaving about 1/2 inch.
2. Pull off any small fibrous dark leaves around the base.
3. Cut off the top 1/2 inch of the artichoke.
4. Using scissors, trim off the sharp, pointed tips of the remaining leaves.
Now it is time for the artichoke bottom to be cleaned. Have water with parsley stems and lemon juice as this provides acid and thus the artichokes do not brown.
1. Snap off the dark-green outer leaves of the artichoke until only the pale, tender inner leaves remain.
2. Cut the leaves off at the base.
3. Next cut off the bottom till it's round.
4. Scoop out the hairy choke with a small spoon.
5. Remember to put cleaned artichokes in the water with parsley stems and lemon juice.
Enjoy!

Charlie Trotter's Menu Week1

Vegetable Menu

Hawaiian Heart of Pam with Compressed Pineapple&Grains of Paradise

Red Bell Pepper Meringue with Marcona Almonds, Brioche & Marinated Haricot Verts

Globe Artichoke Gnocchi with Mead, Propolis& Mint Blossoms

Oaxacan Mole with New Zealand Spinach & Roasted Cashews

Grilled Silken Tofu with Matzutake Mushrooms, Pine Nuts& Tsuba Mame Miso

Black Mission Fig Sorbet with Lemon & Smoked Eggplant

Jack Fruit with Peanut Brittle& Thai Curry Ice Cream

Poaced Bartlett Pears Claudio Corallo Chocolate & Black Pepper

Grand Menu

Sockeye Salmon with Grapefruit& Chive Blossom

Terrine of Skate Wing with Roasted Heirloom Tomato, Cucumber Sorbet & Arbequina Olive Oil

Roulade of Four Story Hills Farm Poularde with Curred Prawns, Chrysanthemum & Cockscomb

Grilled kyushu Hamachi with Caramelized Cauliflower, Black Olive, & Grilled Kumamoto Oysters

Elysian Fields Lamb with Crispy Buckwheat, Parsley Root & Sprouts

Lychee Sorbet with Hibiscus& Candied Vanilla

Michigan Raspberries with Young Coconut& Green Peppercorn

Plantains with Milk Chocolate& Hemp Seed Ice Cream

First Week at Charlie Trotters

Wow what a first week! Tuesday was my first day, I arrived at 1230, 30 minutes prior to when I was supposed to start and talked to executive chef Matthias Merges, he pointed me in the direction of James and he set me up with a coat and a apron. I was assigned to garde manger to work with EJew, she is from South Korea and has worked before for a few top chefs in America and has only been at charlie trotters for 1 month. I helped with some prep and then we ate family meal. Service started at 6pm and it was a slow night.

Wednesday was busier. I got to work with Australian finger limes, we used them as a garnish for a fish amuse.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday were all long days. Friday and Saturday I worked from 10:30am till around 230-3 am. Friday and Saturday I worked Amuse Bouche station for the Grand tasting menu the amuse was grapefruit essence with Chinnok Salmon with Grapefruit & Chive Blossom, a reviewer wrote this about the dish "A very good light start to the meal. The grapefruit was a perfect way to refresh the palate for things to come." The vegetable tasting amuse was Hearts of Palm Puree with Pineapple, grains of paradise and pineapple chip. Next it was time for me to move to gard manger the grand had Terrine of Skate Wing with Roasted Heirloom Tomato, Cucumber Sorbet & Arbequina Olive Oil. A reviewer said this "I thought that the terrine was solid, but what really stood out was the Cucumber Sorbet which was combined with jalapenos. With just a little bit of the sorbet on the edge of your spoon, the soothing taste of the cucumber immediately succumbed to a jolt from the jalapeno like a punch in the face...a good punch in the face! That part of this dish was probably my single favorite taste from the evening."

While doing those two stations I also helped with the sorbet station which was Lychee Sorbet with Hibiscus & Candied Vanilla. A reviewer wrote this about the dish "Very nice and refreshing taste and an excellent presentation. The hibiscus came as a thin, round, gelatinous slice--almost like a piece of pepperoni."

The Vegetable tasting menu had a smoked eggplant puree with figs and eggplant chips and a fig puree.

Saturday night I also met Chef Trotter and his Wife Rochelle. Chef Trotter was very nice as was his wife, I talked to her for about 5 minutes about myself and school.

Great first week. Even though I am really tired, it is worth it.

Local 127

On Thursday 9/2 I dined at Local 127 in downtown for the first time. Local 127 is a New American Eatery.

The hostess at the stand was very nice, and was talking to me about my day or lack thereof.

We sat down towards the kitchen, and I noticed that there were only seven other tables in the restaurant taken. The server Jonathan came up and gave us the whole local spiel with the purveyors and everything.

On the left is the Chef's sampling from the cured and pickled.

I liked the Chicken Liver mousse&pears the most. On the right is from the daring, it is pickled hogs tongue with other garnishments.

What a great way to start off the night.

Next was House made Gnocchi with mushrooms, spinach and parmesan cream and a caesar salad.

For the Large I had the Scallops which were with Turnip foam, fried green tomato and brown butter. My dad got the Chicken and rice 3 ways with tomato and almonds.

Next was Dessert and I got the Cheesecake with Sweet Basil and in house preserves

I also got the local cheese plate and it was really good.

Overall this was a great meal and the service was also great. Two of the bussers noticed me from the Taco Truck so were talking almost the entire night.

Check this place out. You will not be disappointed.

http://www.mylocal127.com