Owner: Deglazed URL:http://deglazed.finarelli.com Join Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 09:13:53 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Have you ever dreamed of giving up your job to become a professional chef? That is what I did, and this is my blog that chronicles my misadventures as I follow my lifelong dream. Site statistics:Click here
Another Restaurant Week Gone By 2008-01-22 09:16:57 Since I live near a major metropolis, I‘m able to partake of the grand tradition of restaurant week. It’s a wonderful tradition that allows people like me - who live on a chef’s salary or it’s equivalent - to enjoy three course meals on the cheap. Lunches for $20 and dinners for $30 [...]
Beer Dinner 2008-01-21 17:48:37 “We’re starting up our beer dinners again this month Matt, and I want you to come up with this month’s menu Matt.”
Normally requests like this from Chef inspire me, and I’m always thrilled and honored to receive such a responsibility. But this time his request was accompanied by a touch of trepidation.
Beer [...] Read more:Dinner
The $500 Run-Off Vote 2008-01-07 08:32:31 OK, so the first set of options I gave you all resulted in what I consider to be a 4-way tie. Some options really jumped out, while others have faded away. (I was kind of hoping you’d pick the lottery tickets, but alas, that was a no-go.)
Anyway, here is your all’s run-off vote [...]
Truffle This! 2008-01-01 22:05:44 It seems that this country goes through periods of culinary stagnation wherein one ingredient is seen as the magical cure-all for whatever it is that someone is cooking. It is the epitome of culinary stagnation, like some collective “writer’s block” that all chefs suffer from simultaneously, and they collectively fill that void in their [...]
A Taste of the Forbidden Fruit 2008-03-24 12:22:07 Last Monday, I filled in for a fellow sous chef, which actually was my paying in advance for a day he will be covering for me. (I guess the easy way of saying that is, “We switched days.”) This was the first Monday I have worked at Rustico since my very first week [...] Read more:Forbidden
, Fruit
Bread Pudding Soufflé 2008-03-25 16:44:54 This is a recipe I just transcribed from my recipe file for a friend. It is from somewhere in New Orleans, but I don’t know where (if anyone does, I would love to credit it properly). Anyway, it is about the best soufflé I have ever had, so I wanted to share it [...] Read more:Bread
, Pudding
Tuesday With Maury 2008-04-05 19:48:44 I know that the main reason that most of you read this blog is for the food-related content and how the story of my career into the culinary world is continuing to evolve day by day. And I promise that eventually this post will get to that interesting stuff. In fact, if you [...] Read more:Tuesday
Vinegar Redeux 2008-04-08 09:13:01 As I mentioned a few weeks back when describing my vinegar class to you all, the class was such a success, that we decided to re-run it. Well, time keeps marching on and yesterday was the day when the “re-run” became simply “the run”. And yes, the class went just fine. (Something [...]
My Wife’s Sweet Payoff 2008-04-15 22:00:25 So many of you have been asking, and I’m happy to finally reveal the gift my wife received from me with the “found” $500.
You all voted. I then tallied the votes. And I was too stupid to rig the results.
First of all, my wife would like to thank all of you, the random [...] Read more:Sweet
, Payoff
Don’t Fear the Nettles 2008-04-21 13:44:52 The fun thing about being a professional chef is the ability to work with ingredients that are not only hard to find, but in many cases are ones I have never heard of. It’s the collaboration with those who are more experienced than me that make my career into a daily learning experience. Sure, [...]
Who Knows What Evil Lies in the Heart of Cheesecake?… 2008-04-23 22:48:37 It seems that the consistent need for a “bad guy” in American public has extended itself to the world of food. Just like we need a “Public Enemy #1″ to be scared of when we walk down the streets, we need a “health enemy #1″ to avoid like the plague (pun not intended) to [...] Read more:Heart
, Cheesecake
The Long Road to a Perfect Margarita 2008-05-05 08:15:03 Cold, lime-flavored, salt-rimmed glass… as God intended.
There is nothing that says “Today is Cinco de Mayo,” to me as much as a nice, ice cold margarita. I prefer them on the rocks - to put that debate to bed early - though I will have one frozen too if that is all that is [...] Read more:Perfect
, Margarita
The Real Deadliest Catch 2008-05-13 08:49:57 Sig Hansen is a hero of mine…
The show on the Discovery Channel about crab fishermen in the Bering Sea, The Deadliest Catch
, is a wonderful reality drama, and beings some perspective to what some people have to endure just so we can have whatever food we want whenever we want it. But being a [...]
One Year at Rustico 2008-05-19 10:49:23 Can you believe it my loyal readers? It has been a year since my first day at Rustico. (Actually the anniversary was yesterday, but give me a break, I had to work that day…)
As I mentioned before, when I took this job, it was my third restaurant in one year. I was [...]
12/13 2008-06-03 09:21:59 I guess I knew what I was getting into. There were plenty of warnings that being a chef would be a hard, tiring job. Heck, several people tried to warn me away from becoming a chef if only because it is such an incredible increase in effort. But I ignored those people [...]
New Season, New Chicken 2008-06-09 07:05:30 As the seasons change, we have to change how we rethink the menu. I’ve of course mentioned this before. We like to keep the same mix of items on the menu though, we just like to use them in different ways. For example, our grilled tuna salad has now become a light, cool [...] Read more:Season
, Chicken
Who’s Cheating Who?… 2008-06-10 12:09:13 It seems like a fair deal to me. And it seems like a fair deal to my uncle as well. I think that’s the cornerstone of all good deals. Each side thinks that they’re cheating the other.
I honestly have no idea what these forms are for. Yet I feel [...] Read more:Cheating
How to Make Clam Linguini 2008-06-12 21:07:39 A classic of Italian cooking, Linguini alle Vongole is one of those dishes that is not only sublime in its natural ocean flavors, but is so simple to prepare, you’d almost have to wonder why you don’t make it every day. Perhaps because so many recipes for this are full of flour and gumminess that [...]
It’s a Miracle! 2008-06-17 09:43:49 Walking into Grape & Bean on a night where it seemed as if the sky could unleash a summer evening shower at any moment, I was greeted with trays of the most unusual fare for a party. Lemon and lime wedges, under-ripe rhubarb, salt and vinegar potato chips and unsweetened cranberry juice were lined [...]
Virginia Wine Tour 2008-06-24 07:59:24 Last “weekend” (which is Monday-Tuesday for me) my parents finally cashed in on their Christmas present that my wife and I gave them. A nice day touring through Virginia
to see some of the best wineries my home state has to offer. It’s long been one of my favorite ways to spend a [...]
The Extern 2008-07-01 21:42:20 I would have to admit that I’ve come a long way in my two years of being a chef. I think back to how scared and unsure I was coming out of culinary school and into my first cooking position. Every day was a series of mis-steps, injuries and mistakes that chipped away [...]
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