Liquid nitrogen truffles

Most of the techniques I come up with usually involves time and the lack there of. I needed to make 300 truffles for a party and did not have time to let the ganache set. I added liquid nitrogen to my base and got it to the point were I could shape it into balls

The balls are then dropped into a second bowl of nitrogen to get them really cold before they go into the tempered chocolate. This creates a super crispy chocolate layer before they are dipped in the crumbs. The violent temperature difference yields a crunchy creamy truffle

Time to pull my head out of my ass

Well, it's been a while since I have sat down and put some thoughts down. This blog was always intended to organize my culinary world, now I need to organize me, a monumental task. So forgive me if this seems like a therapy session. I promise I will get pointed back in the right direction.

In an ideal world I would be able to do a culinary experiment eveyday but this little thing called life has gotten in the way. This year has hit me at my core, testing me as a human

I spent the first part of the year trying to figure out my marriage. It seems like I could never quite find the balance needed. It seemed like my cooking was going really well or my home life was great, the two never seemed to be able to coexist. I tried counseling, electro therapy, mood stabilizers and breathing exercises but I could never balance myself. I blamed my ex and still do in some ways but I now understand that I am as much to blame as she was. If I could I would sit down and tell her I'm sorry, I really tried my best.....

The next 6 months were filled with child like lessons for me. How do I live alone? Bills are due on the 1st, right?? Waking up on my Dad's floor sobbing each morning wanting to go home, but I could never go back.  I got my shit together for a few months. I concentrated on my business and got a place to live. It seems like I was focusing on whats important but if you don't deal with the problems they just come back in a different form

I guess I am writing this to remind myself were I am in my life. I am not a kid anymore, I feel each event I cook in my back, legs and hands. I have stopped learning and have relied on the lessons I have learned in the past. I have died and now it's time to pull my head out of my ass and start living again

Eat street filming

We have been asked to be on Eat St., a amazing show on the cooking channel about street food. We will be taping the episode here in Denver on Tuesday, May 31st . Please stop by at 940 Logan Street at the Realeyes building from 11-2 to have a chance to be on national TV and to support our cart

Balistreri wine dinner

I have a crazy weekend coming up with a wine dinner and private party on Saturday. I had the honor of going to the winery this week and had an amazing tasting with Jessica and her farther who make and bottle all of their wines. The dinner is SOLD OUT, here is the menu for the event:

Spicy lump crab

Compressed spring vegetables in smoked olive oil, 

Avocado gnocchi, Yuzu cubes

Chicken confit

Smoked grapes, Fried sour cream, crispy lavosh

Pinot noir Sorbet

Marinated berries, frozen thyme

Berbere encrusted pork belly

148 degree egg, grilled spinach, Israeli cous cous corbonara

Liquid nitrogen whipped coconut sorbet

Brown sugar braised pineapple and raspberry paper

Patty Loveless

I had the pleasure of cooking for Patty and her band before a charity concert this past week. I was only there for the bands warm up but those boys from Tennessee can play. Here was their menu:

Crisp spinach with strawberries, goat cheese, curry vinaigrette

Shaved vegetable salad with smoked olive oil, toasted pecans

Jasmine rice with scallions, ginger,sesame oil

Pan seared chicken breast roasted with fresh herbs, garlic, mushrooms

Liquid nitrogen whipped coconut milk sorbet, brown sugar braised pineapple

Aria dinner photos

Had a great time at Aria doing a duel menu with Mike Long. They actually put score cards on the table to see what people liked more, Art or Science. Mike took the first corse with his Scallop clock, he seemed over confident. Fortunately I took the vote on the next 3 plates. I have to admit Mike pulled out all the stops and his food was amazing. Here are the Scallop, Tuna and Tenderloin plates, I did not get a shot of the dessert

The great American food truck race

As I pulled into the commissary yesterday I noticed that the parking lot was full of food trucks. After a little inquiring I found out that the Great American Food Truck Race was taping an episode in town and they were using the lot to get there trucks prepped and ready to go. Speaking of trucks/carts, we will be starting our cart at 17th and California on Monday. Please follow us on Twitter or Facebook to see when we will be out. Here is our menu:

Slushie

Strawberry with sweet milk $4

Soup

Chilled watermelon with Feta and Pecans $4

Creme brulee

Burned with banana foster $5

Ice cream sammie

Chocolate Chip cookie, whipped marshmallow

and Hot fudge ice cream $4

“Kool-aid”

Blueberry mint “kool-aid” with lemon sugar $1

Sorbet

Coconut sorbet with braised brown

sugar pineapple $4

Ice cream

Hot fudge with exploding whipped cream and

peanut butter pop rocks $4

Space Foam

Popcorn $4

Aria dinner

I will be cooking a duel dinner with Mike Long from Aria on Wednesday, May 11. We were lucky enough to have Thrillist Denver do a pre-article about the dinner that you can read about. Mike is talking a lot of smack so come down and see a old fashion whippin

Volcano

I get contacted by some pretty interested people and companies through this blog, last month Storz and Bickel, the manufactures of the Volcano emailed me. They asked me if I was interested in receiving a free unit, I answered yes of corse. I have read about how Grant uses this unit to extract the lavender smoke he uses in his pillow presentation. I have already tried vanilla with some mixed results, cant wait to go to the spice shop and play around with some different combinations.

2 coats-1 new, 1 old

Its funny how we end up with all of the random coats we have hanging in our closet. I have managed to keep at least 1 coat around from the last 10 restaurants I have worked in since I was 14. This week I was truly honored to be named a chef of distinction at Johnson and Whales University. On Wednesday I gave a demo on molecular cooking and made a few dishes including a shrimp sheet with ricotta, lemon and charcoal oil. Thanks to the President, instructors and chef Jorge for making me feel so welcome. The other coat came to me after a hectic day of running around prepping for hush. I ended up down at the Westin tabor center needing to compress some celery, the chef lets me use his machine in a pinch. All I had on was a dirty t-shirt and I could not walk the halls with everyone else in uniform. I asked a manager for a coat to use and out popped Scott Burnham coat. Apparently not many people liked him, I had some interesting conversations in the elevator. As I was driving home I noticed I had walked out with the coat so if you know Scott tell him I have something for his closet.

Stuart middle school demo

I was out in Commerce City this morning giving a demo to the chemistry students who excelled this year in their studies. Were quickly approaching summer and the schools have been calling like crazy. We had lots of great questions about the states of matter- liquid, gas and solids. I have noticed that the girls tend to ask questions about science and the boys ask how they can blow stuff up and shatter things. I am so glad I have daughters. Thank you to the students for making me this great banner.

JW Demo, public is welcome Tuesday at 10 am

Hush Menu

First corse

Grilled shrimp carpaccio, dried chilies, carbonated citrus cells, charcoal oil, peeled cherry tomatoes and cilantro

Second

Fried chicken consomme, buttermilk dippin dots, peeled and compressed celery, cornbread foam

Third

Coconut milk sorbet with braised pineapple, strawberry champagne jelly and

vanilla bubbles made table side

Fourth

Sous vide Tasmanian pepper encrusted sirloin in butter and tarragon, smoked milk pudding, siracha cubes, candy cane carrots and demi glace caviar

Fifth

Flexible white chocolate with nutella powder, liquid nitrogen malted ice cream, exploding whipped cream and peanut butter pop rocks

Miracle fruit tasting

Hush Dinner 2.0

I am doing another dinner with HUSH on April 22,23 and 24 that will include 5 courses and a miracle fruit tasting at the end of the meal. There are limited seats, 40 on Friday, 80 Saturday in two settings and 40 on Sunday. We will publish the menu in the next week. The menu will feature some fun new techniques like color changing lemon bubbles. We have not done a dinner in a while and it would be nice to see everyone again!!Click here for details

HUSH TICKETS

A true miracle: getting kids to eat their fruits and vegetables

I have been working with the miracle fruit for over 3 1/2 years. I have never seen a natural ingredient that can alter the way you taste. Early on I used it for purely entertainment purposes. Now I see the potential with kids, diabetics, chemo patients and helping with weight loss. Recently I have been developing recipes that can work with the fruit.

If you have not tried the berry it works something like this. A frozen berry is placed in your mouth. You begin to suck on it until the skin comes off. The skin is actually very good for you packing as much antioxidants as wild blueberries. You then place the white pulp on you tongue and try to remove as much pulp as you can. The begging and end picture should look like this:

The fruit will make sour or bitter foods taste sweet. It does a number on lemons and limes but does nothing to broccoli or cauliflower. So the question is, How do we get kids to eat raw veggies? Our answer was to make a sauce that is made of carrots, lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil. It taste terrible, there is no sugar or salt and is barley palatable but after the miracle fruit it taste like candy.

Recently the miracle fruit man(the company I work with)was approached by the St. Lucia school district in Florida about using the fruit at lunch. I developed some recipes including the carrot dip and traveled to central Florida to show the kids and school staff how to use it.

After our 3rd trip to Florida we realized we have something very special here. I could expose kids to new fruits and vegetables and make them taste amazing. I am very excited to see where this project will take us in the next few years, perhaps we could change the way people eat.