Getting Burgz with my Bro(z)

Went on an impromptu futon moving adventure. Ended up in Issaquah at XXX Root Beer. 

Frosty mugs and old school burgers. Home to some monstrosity called the XXX Burger. Completely loaded with memorabilia and old car parts and license plates. They have car shows there in the parking lot all the time. Kind of cool. Kind of random.

Spring Pasta

Went to some Goodwills today getting gear for the wedding. I found yet ANOTHER pasta machine. An Atlas by Marcato. I have another that got wet so the gears are clunky and doesn't work smoothly. So this one will keep me making pasta so I can mess around with the other and tamper with the guts.

Also got a pasta wheel for a dollar. And more spoons for some reason.

Also got a vacuum sealer but I tried to re seal some bags of leftover food from work and it doesn't seem to work yet. I'll try with new bags.

Spoons in service. Nice weighted slotted spoon with a nice bowl. A 9" plating spoon a la Kunz or other sauce spoon. New tasting spoon. All 3 are useful during cooking and plating. The slotted will be my egg spoon also.

Making Agnolotti shapes.

Ravioli with Chevre cream sauce. Oregano, Purple Cheril (apparently it changes color when it goes to seed) and Sage Blossom. Parmesan.

Dinnerz

Some chicken roulades I did a few weeks ago. Stuffed with potato and herbs.

 Served with rot kohl and some crispy potato. Also some lamb crepinette. Mustard Jus.

This is a freestyle I did tonight with a near empty fridge.

Steelhead in a sour tomato broth and a leek and carrot salad on top.

I started making a quick broth with leek tops then threw in a little carrot.

Pureed some tomato lying around, strained the water and added it to the broth with garlic.

Hit it with a little mirin, sugar, vinegar, fennel and sriracha.

Poached the steelhead up.(It had a one side sear previously)

Made the salad by cooking the carrot and leek julienne in water then straining.

Cooled and added pickled mustard seed, chive blossom vinegar, fish sauce and sugar.

On top of rice noodles.

A little cilantro would have been nice.

Kinda like sinigang. Didnt know I wanted it until it was done.

Chive Mayam Byalik

Cauliflower and Roast Garlic Soup

Torched Emmanthaler, Sauteed Broccolo Heart and Halibut

Chiptotle Powder

 

Messing Around with gels. Tried xantham and guar gum to make gel out of vinegar and oil.

Chive Blossom Gel (From Chive Blossom Vinegar) Worked well. Colored it a little more with water from red cabbage.

Dork Dayz

Went to the Seattle International Knife Expo. Saw some amazing knives. Looking forward to a larger group of makers next year. Definitely keeping my appetite moist for things cutlery. 

Also stopped in to Epicurean Edge and walked with a few things I have been fixated on. Namely a Kitayama 8000 grit whetstone and a stone base.

Also grabbed a instructional video from Murray Carter to further round of my understanding of sharpening and honing.

Finished with an Afghan buffet down the street. Pretty okay day.

Always need a little Dr Katz to mellow the mind.

Returning knives to 1000/6000 grits before polish.

New Kitayama ready to polish my Masakage.

My gear. Oihishi 600 grit. Naniwa 220 grit. Shun 1000/6000 grit. Wusthof super slicer. Chinese Cleaver. Wasabi Deba. Victorinox boner. Kitayama 8000 grit with Nagura. Sabatier slicer. Usuba. Shun Petty. Shun Paring. Shun 10 inch chef. Masakage 270mm gyuto. Ceramic honing rod.

Sis is enjoying the Miyabi Santoku which was replaced with the Usuba.

Ive had the stainless handle Shun for 10 years. I re profiled the edge and its taking a good polish now. The Kitayama is getting a nice mirror on all the edges. The Shuns are good workhorses although Im thoroughly enjoying the new Gyuto and the Usuba is taking a wonderful edge. Making intricate veggie work possible and fun.

 Really anxious to get a 10 or 12k stone for the best polish I can get. Also looking to experiment with natural stones if I come into money. Want to control myself. Its started to remind me of my bicycle component and frame purchasing of years past. The polishing is actually reminding me of some work I was doing on bicycle components IE stems and seat posts.

Lastly a little impromtu dinner yesterday. Uli's Chorizo. Rohtkol and Potatoes with Paella Seasoning.

Pretty good sweet and spicy and Savory.

Lastly realized I can make vinegar infused with chive blossoms. And it imparts a cool pink/red color.

Im going to let it go another day or two and make a vinaigrette thats hopefully got some color and flavor.

Cutlery Porn Weekend

Gonna be off Sunday for the love of christ. 

1st Annual Seattle International Knife Show

Freaking pumped.

Bob Kramer is gonna be there and also....

Carter Cutlery

Devin Thomas Damascus

Rader Blade

Maumasi Fire Arts

Should be some amazing stuff. Hopefully get to get hands on some stuff.

Portrait of an Idiot

BTW