Crimes against Food

I'm a big fan of the show "Top Chef" on the food network - a reality show where they challenge professional chefs to top each other in various food related challenges. In this weeks' episode, the chefs were challenged to make a meal for a culinary legend - specifically, what they're pre-chosen legend would want for their last meal. All of the icons (including Jacques Pepin) chose classic dishes, with fairly simple flavours (eg. Pepin chose roast squab with fresh peas). This made me start thinking about two things:
1. What I would choose for my last meal, and
2. It made me think about all the ways people mess food up.

The answer to the first question is eggs benedict. The crunch of toast, the softness of the poached egg, the richness of the hollandaise...plus I'm lactose intolerant, so eating all that butter would definitely be a way to shake my fist one last time at the dairy gods.

As for the second, here is my list of crimes against food that drive me bananas:

1. Too. Much. Garlic.

2. Dishes that don't taste like their key ingredient. Carrot soup should, basically, taste like carrots.

3. Well done red meat. More specifically, beef tenderloin. Why don't you just take off your shoe, and chew away.

4. Kitchen sink pasta. Really good pasta. A little sauce. One or two really good ingredients. That's all you need.

5. Four words: Frozen, microwaveable grilled cheese. I didn't even know such a thing existed until recently, and I was frightened.

On that note, I'm going to go make myself some poached eggs (no hollandaise :P), and think about food crime #6: Eggs cooked over medium. What the hell IS that??

My First Post

I've been thinking about starting a blog for quite some time - to have a place to write and share my thoughts on food, life, and whatever else develops. I am a 30 year old chef who works in a small town cafe...a career move I made about a year ago after some life events made me realize that life is too short to not jump at every opportunity presented to you. For the first time in about a decade, I have a job that excites and challenges me, gives me time to spend with my friends and family, and to figure out what life outside of work is all about. Oddly enough, it almost always leads back to food, and all the things that drew me to making it my profession - history, travel, art, science, music, making others happy with something I've created, working with my hands; they're all connected.

I like to think that the food I make in the cafe is comforting, healthy, and fresh, with a little twist of the unexpected. Anyone who knows me can tell you when I'm scheming up new dishes, I get pretty excited and start talking with my hands, explaining my plans to anyone who will listen. I'm fairly obsessed with getting people to try new things - to look at new ingredients and pairings with an open mind - and with challenging myself to keep learning and creating.