Posted by Jamie Stahl
Truthful Tuesdays Volume Twenty
This Week’s Truthful Tuesday: Coffee Causes Problems
Today, September 29, 2015 is National Coffee Day. I think that for most people, like my dad, every day is National Coffee Day so there isn’t very much of a difference. Some places are giving away cups of coffee for free or doing some kind of BOGO offer, again this has no effect on my dad’s daily coffee consumption. My guess is that for the most part, those of us who drink coffee once in a blue moon decide, “oh it’s National Coffee Day! I should celebrate and get coffee.”
I’d like to be a coffee drinker if my brain and mouth was in control of my body. Unfortunately, it appears my stomach is the ruler of this kingdom and the law of the land is coffee = death. At my first job out of college, I was a regular coffee drinker. I needed it desperately to stay awake through the 12+ hour days I would put in. I had stopped drinking it for a while and then picked the habit back up in graduate school because of my early morning classes. Once I began my new career, I always felt so rushed in the morning due to the 45 minute subway commute, that I didn’t have time to have coffee. And so it seems, being away from it for so many months has caused a visceral reaction within my intestines.
On occasion, I forget about the impact coffee can have on my ability to maintain human functioning and I will order one at brunch or stop somewhere for a cup in the afternoon. Currently, I’d say there is an 85% chance that I will be in extreme stomach pain within 3 hours of drinking coffee. If I were an optimistic person, I’d rephrase that statement to: “Currently, I’d say there is a 15% chance that I will feel fine and be without any pain after drinking coffee.” Regardless, more likely than not, if you are my mom or dad, you are getting a phone call from me complaining of a stomach ache.
The fact that today is National Coffee Day puts me in a strange predicament. I like to celebrate (and post to Instagram) the various national holiday foods. There are obviously tons of food holidays that I don’t celebrate because of my “dietary restrictions,” but I like to do what I can. So do I sacrifice myself for the art? I guess I could have something “coffee flavored” if I really wanted to participate, but that’s really not the same thing. I will do that on National Coffee Flavored Thing Day. Stuck in a quandary, I make the only reasonable decision: I decide to go to a coffee shop and get a decaffeinated coffee drink! AH HA! Brilliant!
Normally the thought of a decaf coffee seems a bit pointless to me. It’s like, if you want coffee, drink regular coffee because 3/4 of the point of it is the wake you up (the other 1/4 of the point is the make your breath smell). But, if you feel like you “must” drink coffee and really don’t want the additional caffeine, especially if that added caffeine makes you feel like you have appendicitis, go for the decaf!
Right now, I am in Birch Coffee in the Flatiron District. I have a decaf latte and obviously I bought a pastry. I am enjoying my latte very much. I am also enjoying my “magpie.” It’s blueberry. I have to tell you, I’d like the a/c power to be bumped up a bit, but I imagine the hot drink I have over here isn’t helping my situation. Perhaps I will get it iced next time.
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An A.P.E. And A Chef: Thomas Gosney
Countless times I have followed a recipe only to realize that the finished product was less than desirable. The oven is heated to the correct temperature, the stove is turned up to the accurate heat setting, and the ingredients are measured precisely. So, what went wrong? I don’t doubt that I am the only person who has experienced these cooking catastrophes, but with the help of Chef Thomas Gosney’s cookbook, “Method of Procedure,” hopefully I will be one of the last.
Chef Thomas Gosney began his career in the culinary world while working at a small country inn in Pennsylvania. He attended college at Johnson & Wales University and eventually became Chef Tournant at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress. For fifteen years, Thomas worked as a private chef for Shaquille O’Neal in addition to several other high-end clients with a variety of food related issues. He navigated the kitchen by focusing on nutritional recipes that supported creativity for whatever dietary restrictions his clients were dealing with.
“Cucumber Apple and Tomato Salad”
Throughout culinary school, Thomas recalled a common question asked of him and his peers. “What is the method of procedure?” With this idea ingrained in him, Thomas applied this concept to his experiences as a chef. When asked by friends and family members about what they had done wrong when attempting to duplicate a recipe, Thomas always looked at the method of procedure. This is one of the reasons why writing this cookbook was so important to him. He wanted to publish a cookbook that didn’t just highlight recipes. Thomas believed it was just as critical to examine the entire cooking process. He wanted to share the quintessential secrets of the kitchen that he had learned, so that everyone could enjoy a delicious meal.
Of course, writing a cookbook isn’t a small feat and with the vast experience that Thomas had in the culinary world, he had a difficult time narrowing down what recipes would actually make it to print. Thomas indicated he has somewhere between 100-200 additional recipes that he would like to publish in cookbooks sometime in the future. Though he may occasionally doubt his recipe choices and has had thoughts of, “I should have done that,” Thomas is happy with the end result, as this cookbook is a selection of foods he actually eats. He believes these are “tried and true,” “homerun hits,” “traditional recipes and foods for life.”
“Roasted Green Beans with Sherry Vinegar and Thyme”
In order to develop his own recipes, Thomas likes to take risks and experiment with cuisine. He likes to push the envelope when it comes to food chemistry and create meals that have never been done before. By taking a basic core recipe and making personal tweaks, Thomas is able to adjust the food to become his own and this cookbook encourages others to do the same. Thomas explained the importance of his cookbook by stating, “helping somebody is my payback.”
While working in Orlando at the Hyatt Grand Regency Cypress, he was cooking for Def Leppard who had asked for vegan pancakes. At the time (25+ years ago) no one was making vegan food, but he saw it as a challenge and delivered the pancakes by manipulating some recipes.
He believes that chefs should come out of the kitchen and talk to the customers who have food allergies, dietary limitations or are picky eaters. He thinks it’s all about trust and communication between the chef and the customer. According to Thomas, “food should never be unexciting, primadonna chefs got to go!” He is on a mission to call out chefs all over the world because he believes nobody should accept subpar food or “baby food” and finds it UNACCEPTABLE to serve customers less quality meals because of any kind of dietary restriction.
One of the most rewarding experiences Thomas has had throughout his career was working as a private chef for a client with over twenty food allergies/dietary restrictions. Instead of having a negative outlook about the struggles he may face in the kitchen, Thomas saw the challenge of cooking for this client as an opportunity. He explained that mainly, as an executive chef, you are not in the kitchen doing hands on cooking very often whereas being a private chef, you get to cook every day and it is humbling. Thomas likes to receive immediate feedback from the client and will often edit his recipes for the better.
“Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts”
Thomas has helped develop the American private chef industry and often lectures about this at Johnson & Wales University. He believes giving back the knowledge he has is the best gift he could give to others. In the future, he would like to further establish the private chef industry and help people understand it. Thomas wants to have the ability to teach people about the latest cutting edge techniques. Thomas also reported that there are always new developments constantly improving and pioneering this side of the industry. He explained that when he first started his career in his mid twenties, it was unheard of to put warm grilled chicken on top of a cold salad and now that’s a meal that is everywhere. He believes the culinary world is constantly evolving and wants to continue to be a part of the process.
Having received my own copy of “Method of Procedure,” I wanted to re-create some of the recipes Thomas included. With Labor Day approaching, I thought it would be a great way to add to our family BBQ. I sat with my mom to review the cookbook and selected what we wanted to make. Next, my dad and I went to the supermarket to get all of the ingredients, and then some. For example, olive oil happened to be on sale so my dad found it necessary to purchase four bottles, when I believe I only needed a cup. Over the course of one night and one full day, my mom and I cooked up a nice assortment of recipes thanks to Chef Thomas Gosney. Each one was extremely flavorful and looked a lot more complicated than they actually were to complete. It was a fun weekend visiting my family. We got to experiment with some delicious recipes and although not perfect, we attempted to follow the method of procedure.
“Grandma’s Bread Pudding and Rum Raisin Sauce”
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Truthful Tuesdays Volume Nineteen
This Week’s Truthful Tuesday: “You’re Not That Picky”
Often when I tell people about my blog, I get follow up questions related to the foods I actually eat. “What do you eat?” “What don’t you eat?” “What are you picky about?” I also tend to get similar responses such as, “You’re not that picky” or “I thought you were going to say you only ate pizza.” True, my eating behaviors surpass basic pizza. But how much further do they go?
If I were to list all (or most) of the foods that I like to eat, it would probably be some five hundred plus foods. I am, of course, including varieties of foods like regular pizza, white pizza, salad pizza, etc. Over five hundred things to eat sounds like an awful lot of options. Now, if we put that into perspective, think for a moment about how many types of food there are all over the world and how many ways there are to prepare these various types of foods. It’s probably infinite. So, when you compare infinity to five hundred, it’s like a grain of sand and a bowling ball.
Having brought this up many times, I’d like to remind everyone that I’m not a food try-er. When you think about all of those foods out in the world that I have not eaten and have more or less vowed to never eat, it can make your food world a bit small. But you know what they say,… quality over quantity! Am I Right?! Okay maybe not. I did try something new recently though. I went to Dessert Kitchen NYC and ordered strawberry shaved ice (that isn’t the new food part). When the plate came, it had these shiny little balls that resembled marbles sitting in a small pile in one corner. I swear to you, you could have told me they embryos and I would have believed you.
The waiter, who was beyond friendly in a good way, explained to me that these “balls” were Taiwanese flour balls that are served with the shaved ice for the texture and don’t actually add any flavor. I probably looked confused because he continued explaining the unborn children on my plate as being chewy and soft and sticky with a purpose of complimenting the cold and smooth taste of the shaved ice. Normally, I would smile and just eat around the alien creatures about to hatch, but for some reason, I was intrigued by this whole texture thing and decided to give it a go. I will start by saying that the shaved ice was delicious. It was incredible. It tasted like freshly made strawberry sorbet, but better. The flour balls did not taste very good. But I liked chewing on them. I don’t know why. I just kept eating them. They tasted like flour. As if I stuck my hand in a bag of flour and started to lick it. But the chewiness was so fun! I kept shoveling more shaved ice into my mouth because it melted fasted than I could chew. It was a very strange experience. I enjoyed it very much. So there you have it. the next time someone says to me, “you’re not that picky,” I am going to say to them, “you’re right, I enjoy Taiwanese flour balls, do you?”
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How Do You Eat A Mallomar?
It might still feel like 90+ degrees outside at two in the afternoon, but fall is about to start and the signs are slowly peeking out. Since we are less than a week away from the official first day of fall, September 21st, everyone is gearing up for the change of season. Once again, Pumpkins have begun to take over the world. Everything has “cinnamon spice” as if cinnamon wasn’t a common ingredient used throughout the rest of the year. Apples start to take center stage while the plums and peaches disappear. For some reason you’ve decided to purchase clothes in shades of brown and burgundy. Scarves become appropriate when you were in a bathing suit last week.
So, you are walking down the street in your new maroon wool scarf wearing your new leather boots sipping a pumpkin spiced latte and eating an apple cider doughnut, while a group of kids pass you in tank tops, jean shorts, and flip flops. Because really, It’s 75 degrees outside. We all might be at different stages of our seasonal change, but there is one thing that happens every year at this time that helps to bring the world a little closer together.
Perhaps it’s the tranquility of the leaves changing colors or the feeling of serenity you get when a brisk wind blows or maybe it’s simply the fact that Mallomars have returned. Mallomars, the seasonal cookie that has features like a s’mores, but is not a s’mores, rejoins the world in the fall. I love these cookies. Oh, how I miss them so during the warm months.
I’ve been known (and by “known” I really mean, I’ve just done things and most likely no other people have ever taken notice) to eat my Mallomars in a few different ways. Let me explain.
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The Bite – bite into the Mallomar like you would bite into any other cookie and eat it like a normal person.
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The Twist and Separate – separate the bottom cookie from the marshmallow top by twisting the marshmallow slowly and then eating each side on its own.
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The Shatter – press your finger on the top middle of the marshmallow so that the chocolate shell shatters into pieces and eat each piece of chocolate individually until the marshmallow is no longer covered in chocolate.
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The Half Shatter – start The Shatter and get annoyed because the pieces broke too small so just pop the whole cookie in your mouth and get a new one.
