First Posting

First posting is always the most difficult. It sets the tone with the rest of the blog and it can be challenging to find something creative to say :) Where do I start? The goal of this blog is to document that the different cooking techniques and recipes that I have plagerized researched from other websites/cookbooks and add my personal touch. I never take a recipe and follow it word for word. I prefer to use other recipes as a guidance to something that I want to cook.

My philosophy with cooking is that it is something that I consider creative, similar to an artist creating a painting, with the exception is that I and others do get to consume the creation. Granted that the creation is not always desirable. I hope others will contribute with constructive feedback and can offer suggestions to improve the techniques or flavoring. I've learned so much from other people's experiences and it is time for me to give back to other aspiring chefs in their home kitchens. The pipe dream that I have is to own a small winery with my wife one day and build a restaurant next to it. The restaurant would focus on sustainable organic consumable creations where ingredients would be seasonal and home grown. I would also like to offer afternoon/high tea on certain days of the week.

What do I like to cook? The answer depends on my latest obsession of the month. I am not a professional chef by any means but I'm willing to try anything to replicate a technique or experiment with a new cuisine. I can't afford to quit my day job anytime soon since it pays the bills and pays for my habitual hobby as an enthusiast chef. Okay, back to the original question. Here are a few things that I have been working on over the last few years:

Paella - Ever since my wife and I visited Barcelona we love paellas! One Christmas while were still dating she bought me my first paella pan and cookbook from the Spanish Table in Seattle. Of couse I was ecstatic! Unbeknownst to me she had an alternative motive for these gifts -- she wanted paella :)  I'll be publishing many photos and recipes of variety of paellas that I have created of the last few years. I recently entered in a paella contest sponsored by the Spain Association of the Pacific Northwest and placed third. I have since perfected the "sofrito" and I can't wait to compete again.  

Asian Cooking - Asian cooking can be healthy and flavorful when done right. I'm not talking about the food that is normally served at a Panda Express in the mall, but rather authentic Asian food that is serve in a good Asian restaurant majority filled with Asian people. Typically recipes will vary from home cooked comfort food to fancier items normally served at a wedding banquet. I haven't tried to make many dim sum since it is very time consuming and can take years to perfect. Making good sushi is next on my list, and I still haven't perfected the perfect peking duck yet. Roasted crispy pork and egg gravy over wide rice noodles are common but can be challenging to make.

Sous Vide - I confess this is my latest obsession. What is Sous Vide? Translated it means "under pressure". It is a cooking technique in which you vacuum pack a food item with or without a marinade and cook it at a low temperature water bath for a long time. You can typically spend anywhere from $2-3K for a professional thermal immersion circulator. My paycheck can't cover this expensive hobby so I built a CA (cheap arse) contraption instead with a slow cooker and varying the lid rotation to adjust the temperature (don't laugh since it actually works). I have sous vide duck breasts, short ribs, lamb, and pork tenderloin over the past year. I'll include photos, recipes, and temperature/cooking duration with pros and cons. I'm hoping Santa Claus will be kind this year to bring me a "prosumer" version of a Sous Vide machine. 

This is just a small list of items that I have obsessed focused on recently. Seafood is probably one of my top choices for meat and I highly recommend that you try real high grade Kobe beef from Japan at some point in the future. Massaging these cows with Sake can't be all that bad. Hopefully next year I'll also be focusing on smoking and BBQ techniques. The Big Green Egg is also on my Santa Claus list but I doubt I'll get it this year unless I'm extra nice :)

On occasion my wife will be contributing to this blog as well since her passion is also great food and great wine!