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Underdog Ingredient

Some food gets a bad rep. Some get no rep at all. Zucchini tends to fall in the latter category and on the categorical ladder, it's usually at the bottom (not to mention alphabetically as well). There's no underdog like zucchini. I bought some this weekend in hopes to let zucchini shine and have a leading role for once. It's won for supporting roles in ratatouille, pupusas and mücver. It almost won for tempura, but has often been defeated by carrot and sweet potato.

Here, I've fried slices of said squash in bacon fat that was rendered from the finely ground bacon trailing the back of the dish. Sandwiched between slices of extra sharp white cheddar, it sits atop a sauce made from brown butter, lemon, burnt onion stock, rosemary and cocoa. I love the way the zucchini crisps up, soaks in the fat and has a Maillard crust.

What other unsung produce is out there? Cuts of meat, fruits, vegetables, herbs. Maybe the future of cuisine lies in bringing forth the ingredients behind the scenes.

Veal . Cocoa . Zucchini . Cippolini . Fennel . Corn . Parmesan
Crispy Veal Leg . Pickled Fennel + Fronds . Parmesan
Cocoa-Braised Cippolini's
Zucchini & Corn with Black Pepper & Rosemary

soaking tripe for dessert

The Deception Exception

I love to play with the eye. It can most often be our biggest deceiver in expectations. We have also trained ourselves to rely on it way too much. The dining experience would be a lot different if the diner were blindfolded, or even had their dinner presented to them with no menu and no description as to what they are eating. Being comfortable with familiarity only makes sense, but why not trust a chef? Omakase in Japanese restaurants translates to "it's up to you" (the "you" referring to the chef). Most likely, we wouldn't be able to understand the chef composing on the spot, so we just accept and hopefully enjoy.

The dish above is a very simple setting of watermelon radish with arugula tossed in olive oil and fig white balsamic. I love how the radish, thinly sliced, resembles a well-marbled piece of high quality beef. It'd be great to make a carpaccio of said radish with kobe or wagyu looking identical and never being sure of which you're going to bite in to. Surprise is an element of progression in contemporary cuisine. Let us never be prepared.

Chorizo Stock

This should bode well in cooking mollusks, poaching fish and adding to a basic pomodoro (which is currently simmering). I love extracting those spicy, smoky, meaty flavors to enhance seafood and vegetables that can handle it. Just thinking about the way clams pair greatly with bacon and how lovely this would bring familiar flavors in toying with paella. I hope to use it a lot very soon!

Surf on Turf

Kingfish.Chickpeas.Radish.Carrot.Mustard.Pumpkin Seed
Sauteed Kingfish

Chickpea Puree

Braised Carrots

Truffled Watermelon Radish

Braised Mustard Seed

Pumpkin-Seed Coffee Powder

Fallbruary aka Warming Global

Squash.Shiitake.Pumpkin Seed.Hazelnut.Bacon
Butternut Squash Soup

Braised Shiitake Mushrooms

Cilantro-Bacon Vinaigrette

Pumpkin Seed Powder

Micro Oregano Leaves

Toasted Hazelnuts

Has anyone noticed the seasons are happening later and later every year? Maybe Al Gore has a point, everyone. Global warming might cause the seasons to completely swap in the far future. Not saying that Al Gore said that, I'm just piecing together some observation. With this theory in mind, my culinary receptors are longing for fall. It could also be that in Miami, fall does not exist. No one is raking up fallen palm tree leaves for suburban children to dive into. Rather, they sweep water off of porches and their children are forced to play with quivering mulatto canines. It's more Rottweilerian than Rockwellian.

Alas, one of the most beautiful things about food is that it can transcend your home's stubborn climate and give you access to flavors in seasonal and cultural representation. Global warming is exactly what food does. It warms our bodies while giving us a global tour of agriculture and resources.

The shiitakes were braised with fig marmalade, chipotle, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, soy sauce, fig vinegar and a couple throws of chicken stock.

The soup was made with roasted butternut squash (simply, with olive oil and thyme) then skinned and roughly cubed added to some sauteing ginger (lots of ginger!) and onion. Covered with chicken stock and water, brought to a simmer and thrown in the blender with couple pats of butter and salt to taste.

Toasted pumpkin seeds & hazelnuts. Grounded the pumpkin seeds to fine powder and chopped the hazelnut interiors.

Vinaigrette: bacon, cilantro, garlic: all diced with fig vinegar and olive oil.

Topped with picked oregano leaves.

Really a quite simple dish, it just takes a little care. You can make the mushrooms and squash soup at the same time, essentially. The point was basically to make a very simple squash soup and put all of the bold, intense flavors into the mushrooms, so it sort of pops in the middle. The pumpkin and hazelnut are for texture and familiar flavor. The acidity of vinaigrette with smokiness of bacon and freshness of oregano and cilantro round out the whole dish to achieve a "well-balanced fall"

Salmon,Watermelon Radish.Hass Avocado Puree.Peach.Braised Mustard Seed.Cranberry.Jalapeno

Mass A Peel aka TGI Freaky Friday's

before
after

I was peeling potatoes to make silky pommes puree (apple & potato). Reserved the skins and baked them @ 275F for about 10-15 minutes. They curled up and made these wonderfully crispy potato skin....chips...crackers....leper batons? I actually planned on frying them and was just simply baking them at low heat to dry them out for premium frying. However, I lost track and this is the result. It's healthier too. This would be great to throw in a coffee grinder and make potato skin powder. Give TGI Fridays a run for it's...creativity?

Or just to fuck with such a franchise, make a dish of fried pork skins with potato skin powder, whipped roasted scallion puree and candied jalapeno or a jalapeno sambal. Something like that.

I might be able to market these in a vacuum-sealed bag and flavor them accordingly. A healthier potato chip would be exactly designed for those who drink Diet Coke, Sprite Zero and are fooled into thinking that Lipton Green Tea actually contains antioxidants.

I love potato skins. Dried and crispy versions should not go unnoticed. I've been also craving to dehydrate and grind random items into powder.

And I will...