Bloggin' Like Sunday Morning...

A little Commodores reference for you =) Well, my departure from the hollowed lands of San Francisco are fastly approaching. Its quite weird to think that this is my last Sunday in the city for awhile at least. Next Sunday if all travel plans go smoothly, I will be in my new digs in Niwot, CO just outside the People' Republic. Exciting and sad all at once. Last night I had a get together of friends to celebrate my new adventure. We had 12 people here at the crib. I had promised culinary nirvana on my evite, and I don't think I let anyone down. "Culinary Nirvana" is kind of my phrase for all of my cooking for people experiences. Maybe it a little over the top but we all need a some sort of marketing play on words that people will say and remember. I first started it with my sister's wedding post-reception bash. The crowds were quite delighted by the flavors I brought to their pallets after what I think was an average, vanilla food display at the reception. Sorry to offend anyone but the flavors and creativity didn't wow me. I will address this more shortly. Then came Christmas Eve dinner with the fam. You know all about this because I wrote extensively about it. The flavors were more refined and more attentive largely due to being able to cook up till serving time and the number was far less 8 v 60? people. But enough with excuses, the vast majority was due to my own heightened appreciation and skillset over the 3 months. Now, here we are 4 months later, and I have set the bar higher for myself. In the evite, I told everyone to just bring wine, preferably a Rhone style red or Pinot Noir. Now they are the best matching for the dishes but I love both of these varietals and I am secretly infiltrating all persons to adopt the French Rhones. So delicious and so afforadable. I didn't have a menu until maybe 3days prior. Just lots of tinkering and wheel rolling in my head. I wanted to concentrate on two flavors that have dominated my cooking for the last year: Northern Indian and Southern Thai. Both packed with bomb flavors and just on the edge of being super complicated but also highly appreciated in technique and flavor. I basically worked all day yesterday preparing the food b/c like all of my other exposes, everthing has to be done from scratch. I was telling someone the other day, for me cooking is about artistry. Dropping coin on overly priced prepared foods for your party is vanilla and the food doesn't expose the personality of the artist(chef). Plus its incredibly satisfying for me to just see people taste and enjoy the food i make. Now I can certainly improve upon my display skills but at the end flavor is king.

Concentrating on these two culinary regions, i decided to go with Thai red curry and Pad Sie Eiw; and Chicken Tikka Masala and Palak Paneer with fresh garlic-coriander Naan. With all of my culinary nirvana's that I have created, I always give history on each dish and talk about the ingredients before everyone dives in. Its kind of my thing. Last night everyone was quite surprised at what they had learned. Its important for me to understand the history of the food so i can understand the technique and flavoring that go into the food. Now you will say, Chicken Tikka Masala is not an authentic indian dish. Well you are right, its a british dish with indian influence. What is funny is that its the most popular indian dish worldwide and the #1 dish in the UK across the board. Basically, a former UK ruler wanted gravy to go with his tikka chicken. so his indian chefs made a tomato-cream sauce(masala) for it. And there is born Chicken Tikka Masala. 99% of people don't know that but you do so count yourself as one of the enlightened ones. I completed the tour of India with Palak Paneer(spinach with cheese) and homemade naan. Yes, you just read that, HOMEMADE NAAN. I was quite anal asking everyone last night about the naan and pimping it out like it was the crown jewel achievement. It was pretty much the bomb though. For the palak paneer, I had never done this so I swapped a recipe from an indian cook and added my own touches to it. And yes, I made my own paneer too. It wasn't enough so I had to buy some queso blanco but i guess you can say that you have reached a new level when you are making your own cheese at home for a dinner party =) Of everything, I was most impressed with my Naan skills. No tandori but not too worry(rhyme) I Martha Stewarted my way to naan goodness. and of course I had basmati rice for the indian and jasmine for the thai which i explicited made aware to everyone. I can't hack it and serve just one style, that would not be culinary nirvana. Creating a delicious meal takes a lot of work but the extra steps you go for everyone will remember forever ::::hopefully:::: That takes me back to what I said earlier. When you are going to entertain people or cook up a meal for someone, putting artistry into the food leaves impressions with people that you would not otherwsie seize. My biggest complaint about going too restaurants is the lack of artistry in the food. If I am going to sell something to you, I want you to know that its unique, delicious, and personal, not some out-of-the-box dish that everyone has. Yeah, I am kind of a uber foodie now. I basically have become a uber critic(accent on the last i) since I have have gained my new found confidence in the kitchen over the last year. I eat stuff out and I think it tastes good but then I say to myself, " well it was tasty but I could make that better and cheaper." Its a sick disease I guess. But regarless of my Simon Cowell'ng of food, anytime anyone puts work into creating a meal from fresh ingredients is fine by me.

Now, I have plugged your hear with too much detail into the thoughts that dominate my head everyday, just be happy you don't have to experience these conflicts I go through everyday =)

chow,
Matthew