Interactive Tasting Experiment

Bonjour! Konmen to yê?





Ummm, yeah since I just start getting into my newly found Creole roots (and if you know me you’ve probably heard me mention this 500 times already and want me to shut up about it) I figured I would start utilizing the dying Creole language and ask you how you were doing, but I just couldn’t push myself to say “Bonjou” (Hello) in Creole. Sounds too much like slang, and you guys would probably think I had a typo so I used the traditional French “Bonjour”

The Creole Language is one of the very few Latin / French Romantic, West African Languages spoken World wide.

Spoken in Louisiana’s Martin Parish, Jefferson Parish, Natchitoches Parish, St. Landry Parish and Lafayette Parish, Illinois and a small community in East Texas, and Northern California

You also have other Creole languages spoken in Haiti, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Lucia, Trinidad and various islands

Ok, with that said, I just had to place this beautiful photo of the Crawfish. Let me just put it this way. His life wasn’t taken in vain


Too bad all we got out of one crawfish was a tiny piece of meat. So small, yet so good.




All photography on this site was taken by the very talented Kymberly Janisch. You can see more of her work at:

http://www.flickr.com/people/kymberlyanne/

http://kymberlyjanisch.blogspot.com/

If you need photos for an event. She's the person to talk to. I was amazed at how professional and affordable she was. And keep in mind that she's shot for Newspapers and her work has been featured on NPR. Now where can you get all of that?


Ok, so here’s the deal. I decided to have an interactive experimental tasting based off of the ingredients that I picked up from the market. I pretty much decided to cook and build around a specific theme of ingredients
The ingredients were

Grass Fed Beef
Smoked Free Range Turkey
Wild Tuna Fillets
Wild Shrimp
Crawfish
Organic Russet Potatoes
Organic Yams
So my project was in the spirit of Iron Chef. Except my version wasn't timed, didn't have a million dollar budget, and there wasn’t a battle in the end (well, a few people argued that we needed more beer ;-) )

Melissa and I came up with some tasty solutions based off of our ingredients. The goal was to make the tasting as interactive as possible by having our guest taste, sauces, cheeses, ect. While educating them about the ingredients and cooking new concepts on the fly. What started out as a tasting turned into a full fledge party I just felt like I wasn’t invited, because I was too busy cooking




Dill and Chive Aoli Spread




Grass Fed Burger, with Sharp Cheddar, Dill Aoli, Organic Tomatoes and Lettuce on a Brioche bun




Spicy Chipotle Spread









Another Favorite




Prawns (our secret ingredient)




"Pandora Poboy"(Crispy Fried Shrimp and Battered Crawfish with lettuce on Brioche bun and Spicy Chipolte Spread)




Everyones favorite!! Double Fried French Fries (Pommess Frites) served with the following sauces: Spicy Wasabi Aoli, Organic Spicy Garlic Jalapeño Ketchup and Horseradish Mayo




A few people getting ready to dig in













Preparing Fresh Dill




Johari chilling out




The Delicious "Ignorant Burger" This Burger is so wrong. But yet right.
One half Pound of Grass Fed Beef, Sharp Cheddar with Dill and Chive Aoli, Organic Tomatoes and Lettuce on a Pretzel bun!




Preparing fresh wild Tuna for a new sandwich creation.




"Sorry Charlie" (My spin on a tuna fish sandwich)
Wild Grilled Tuna with Lemon and Dill, topped with melted Harvari Cheese, a spicy Wasabi Aoli spread, and crispy Red cabbage.




It may not look like much but I bought a lot of beef. Beautiful. A bit pricey but worth it.




In the kitchen enjoying the moment



This is pretty much what it boils down to. If your guest actually like the food. I was relieved that they enjoyed it, but the best thing about it was that everyone was pretty honest in their opinion, which is crucial when preparing a dish for your guest at home or in a professional establishment.



He was very cool.





"....and why is the food taking so long". I'm sure Erin was Happy once she got a chance to eat.

Zingerman's Delicatessen

Make no mistake that what I speak is the truth. Zingerman's Delicatessen is one of the best Deli’s I’ve ever been to in my life. This is coming from someone who lives in Chicago, owned a café/deli, ate at multiple Deli's in New York and San Francisco. Sure Chicago, New York and San Fran have excellent deli’s in their own right but Zingerman has mastered the art of making a sandwich. All in the friendly town of Ann Arbor Michigan



I’m not sure why, but it could be because of the delicious meat they use, or the fresh baked bread that’s made on site, or the flawless service, or the specialty items they sell. Or it could be due to the large array of vegetarian sandwiches they have, or the fresh cheese that they make (Yes they actually make some of the cheese they use in their sandwiches). You get the point




They also have a great coffee shop.



What's left of my sandwich.




Melissa loved the sandwich so much she tried to eat the basket.


While we were there we got a chance to try a $238 bottle of vinegar. Acetaia Del Cristo Balsamic Vinegar from Italy which tastes phenomenal. A rich, thick smoky drop of goodness that I will not be purchasing anytime soon unless I strike it rich. $238! Wow!

Michigan Beer

Umm, Michigan has great deals on beer. So we took advantage of this little known fact. Also that mark on my wrist is not the mark of the beast. They stamped me upon arrival. Cheers!!

Who visits a farm at night?

Here’s the deal. We needed free range turkeys and chickens so that we could use them in our new sandwiches, so we took off and five hours later we arrived on a farm in Hartland Michigan.
While my friend Melissa was pretty calm once we arrived at the farm, I was acting like a kid in a candy shop. It was so cool. I’m such a city boy.


The farmers were nice and hospitable. After touring the farm we got some great deals on Free Range turkeys and chickens and also purchased some ham. I tried their pork roast as well which was good. I don’t eat a lot of ham but I have to say it was very moist and flavorful. We got a chance to view the chickens walking around freely (not stuck in a cage where they hardly can turn around.) and they looked very healthy. When this farm says it's free range, they mean it. We were greeted by a few chickens that walked up to us. The chicken ate grass and seed. No corn. This comes through in the taste


We woke the pigs up to see how they looked. Seemed like they were a mixed breed which I’ve heard is easier for the farmer to raise.




The lambs looked like they were in good shape too.


It was cool because we were able to get some nice radishes and mixed greens

Our Tasting Event

What's up Chicago?!

As you all know the Red Pandora tasting event went well we got a nice response. I’m still looking forward to hearing from more people who are interested in my venture since we all put a lot of work into it. Sunday Dinner catering was great and I’m still amazed that they were able to pull off working in such a tiny kitchen.


My goal was to give investors and friends a taste of what was to come in the new Red Pandora Restaurant and also to educate people on free range/organic foods. Everyone put so much hard work into it, and the final product came out good.



I thought the design concepts were a nice touch

Special thanks to Richard, the David Boykin Expanse, Melissa, Tessa, and everyone in Richards class at the art institute that helped

Cocktail Prep

Ok, so we spent a lot of time creating cocktails for the upcoming Red Pandora Tasting event. And we were all running around like mad the day before the event.

I have to say that although it was fun, it was a lot of work. Ok, I’ll be honest, we had a blast making the drinks, but getting the ingredients wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Our first drink the “SSWS” Consisted of:

Blood Orange Juice,
St. Germain (a liqueur made from Elderflower) Champaign


By the way people loved this drink!! And by the end of the day it showed

Always remember that if your using Champagne in a cocktail it does not have to be premium. But it shouldn’t be cheap. (No Andre’s people) Use something in the middle that’s crisp.

Getting the Liquor was easy, but try finding blood orange juice in the city, and you’ll find yourself running from specialty shop to specialty shop. Whole foods didn’t even have it. I finally found a fresh squeezed version of it from a little specialty grocery store called Piatto Pronto.


The owner was cool and had everything. If you haven’t tried Blood Orange Juice it pretty much taste like a super hi-bred version of regular orange juice but richer, more flavorful and complex with a great tartness and sweetness to it. It’s less acidic than regular orange or grapefruit juice. It's also very flavorful, and it should be at about $6 to $7 bucks a liter.


St. Germain is a beautiful aromatic, flavorful liqueur. That’s all I can really say about it. Trust me on this one. If someone is serving it in a bar have them use it in a cocktail for you

The next drink we created was a Pilsen Sour. The ingredients:

Fresh Squeeze Organic lemons
Aged Cognac
Organic Egg whites (this creates foam on the top of your drink)
Agave Nectar
Served shaken with ice until frothy

We got a rich cognac from our friends at Lush liquor store