Food102

"Grapefruit"

2012-01-22T18:05:00.000-08:00

Floating truffle box

2012-01-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

Sparkopolis 2

2012-01-22T17:59:00.000-08:00

"Crab"

2012-01-22T17:57:00.000-08:00

Arnold Palmer

2012-01-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

Dippin dot machine

2012-01-04T16:39:00.001-08:00

My new hobby

"Coffee"

2012-01-02T17:24:00.000-08:00

Honey

2012-01-01T18:48:00.001-08:00

Liquid nitrogen truffles

2011-12-29T09:30:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-26T11:16:00.000-08:00

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

2011-05-29T23:15:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-17T09:18:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-14T10:03:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-06T19:01:00.001-07:00

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

2011-05-02T21:17:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

Hush Menu

2011-04-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-05T17:55:00.000-07:00

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

2011-01-03T13:21:00.000-08:00

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.

The commissary smells like weed

2010-11-30T17:52:00.000-08:00

We work out of a commissary were we rent dry storage space, walk-in space and pay $20 an hour to use the facility. Slowly the caterers and street food companies have been phased out by hard candy makers and THC soda suppliers. The kitchens are separated by walls and locks but the unmistakable odor finds it's way around the whole complex. I guess it is a sign of the times here in Colorado but I miss the smell of stewed beef tongue.

Fancy pants party

2010-11-27T11:56:00.000-08:00

I am excited to cook this molecular menu tonight for Adam's birthday. We took his favorite food and drinks and turned into this all star menu. As you can see by the invitation, it should be a blast. Here is the menu for tonight

Passed apps

Mini tandori chicken skewers with sweet pea pesto and yogurt caviar

Smoked trout and apple stuffed mushroom with warm walnut mayo

Drinks

“Mai Tai”

Rum and triple sec mixed with toasted almond syrup and fresh squeezed lime juice

Served over cherry ice cubes, glass rimed with lime pop rocks

Strawberry-Banana daiquiri frozen with liquid nitrogen

with sweetened condensed milk

Small plate 1

Berebere encrusted tiger shrimp

Color changing bubbles, garlic and blue crab fried rice, pickled mango and pineapple

Small plate 2

Sous- vide pork tenderloin and bacon in beau monde and herbs

Grilled applesauce, spatzel carbonara, Worcestershire jel

Tasting of fun textures

Nitrogen frozen smore

Cheesecake ice cream with frozen caramel powder

Twizzlers space foam

Banana foster creme brulee

Justice League

2010-11-04T11:39:00.001-07:00

Here is Ali in his penguin costume for our halloween Justice League of street food bash

New projects

2010-11-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

I started the cart at the Colorado Convention center a few weeks ago. Our sales were good at the Gorillaz and Drake concert and not so good for the private conferences. I am interested to see how our business will grow. Our next convention will be the Holiday and Gift show from the 19th to the 21st. I am also working with the Breckenridge brewery to come up with a line of liquid nitrogen ice creams that use there great brews. They will make it to order at their Kalamath location. I will also be in Florida 3 times this month presenting the miracle fruit to elementary kids. The goal is to implement the fruit and the recipes into the lunch program at 85 schools in southern Florida

Color changing food

2010-10-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

I was contacted by a bio chem engineer about 3 months ago asking if we would be interested in some free help. I am a sucker for free labor. Ali has helped us in many different ways in a our young company. When he first contacted me he told me of a idea he had to change the color of a soup by simply blowing on it. "It has to do with the acidy and the ph of the liquid" We finally had some time this week to experiment and I am very excited with the results. By simply adding lemon juice we can go from this purple color to this red color

What about a foam on a sashimi plate that would change colors when the lemon is squeezed over the fish. I have had at least 40 different ideas with this new application. We are going to experiment with the soup this week. I love working with new ideas, thanks Ali

Slow foods dinner at Six 89

2010-10-07T19:12:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from kitchen along with the chicken coupe and herb garden that are located 20 feet from the restaurant door.I had fun meeting and plating with all of the chefs. The pictures have been loaded in reverse starting with the dessert course. The only picture I lack is my course. I was too busy running around making sure it went out perfect. Thanks to Mark Fischer and his amazing staff for treating us so well each and every time we see them

Cart Menu 5, Justice League of street food and beyond

2010-09-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

We will be at Civic Center Eats tomorrow for the last time this season.

Slushie

Chai Tea $3

Small plate

Grilled marinated potrebella with

haystack mountain Feta $4

Creme brulee

Traditional creme brulee with banana foster $4

Liquid Nitrogen Popcorn

Peanut butter $2

Ice cream sammie

#1 Espresso fudge cookie, whipped marshmallow

summer strawberry ice cream $4

“Kool-aid”

Mango rimmed with chili sugar $1

Sorbet

Coconut with brown sugar pineapple $4

Ice cream

“berry sundae” Sweet strawberry ice cream

with blueberry bubbles and blackberry pop rocks $4

Space Foam

Popcorn

Friday we have a entire menu planned around the secret theme for the Justice League of Street Foods event. Can you guess the theme?

MIAMI VICE “Kool-aid”

Mango rimmed with chili sugar $1

A CHRISTMAS STORY Special drink

Hot Chocolate with frozen whipped cream $3

BACK TO THE FUTURE Ice cream Sammie

Strawberry ice cream, whipped marshmallow

fudge espresso cookie $4

COCKTAIL Sorbet

Coconut sorbet with grilled pineapple and

brown sugar bubbles $4

SMURF Space Foam

Smurf berry $3

PRETTY IN PINK Ice cream

Summer strawberry with white chocolate pop rocks $4

SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE Creme brulee

Traditional with banana foster $4

As the seasons are changing, our plan for the cart will continue into the winter at the Colorado Convention Center. We will be setting up for our first convention on October 18, 19, and 20th.

Sparkopolis

2010-09-22T13:04:00.001-07:00

After 6 months of preparation and many sleepless nights we executed Sparkoplis. It took a lot of planning and help from my sisters Rachael and Kaylie and team of professional friends to pull it off. Here is a link to the article in the Denver Post about charity events this summer.

Passed appetizers

Colorado lamb meatball wrapped in angel hair and rosemary

Roasted sweet Colorado corn and apple shooters

Smoked Rainbow trout Bruschetta

Chef’s garden grown vegetable kabobs with sweet pea pesto

Long family pork belly sliders with asian slaw and hoison aioli

Rocky ford melon pipettes with serrano peppers and proisutto

Food Entertainment Stations

Cheese

Baked rolls and sesame crackers from City Bakery

Artisan cheese from Haystack Mountain Dairy

Goat cheese baked in olive oil and rosemary

Pickled watermelon and mint with feta

Creamy buttercup with Colorado peach chutney

Snowdrop with jalapeno caramel

Tamale

Hand rolled mini tamales with red chili or green chili and pork

Featuring Colorado cheeses,farm to table vegetables and unique sauces

Cotijo cheese, Asadero, western slope corn, hatch chili, chef grown tomatoes

yuzu avocado and black olive chipotle

Colorado poured bar

Featuring

Cottonwood cellars, Debuque canyon winery

Great divide and Breckenridge brewery

Stanahan’s whiskey, Colorado vodka and Montanya rum

Creation Stations

Bar

Stanahan’s whiskey caviar and cream

Montanya rum carbonated over vanilla ice cubes

Colorado vodka peach martini with strawberry pop rocks

Ice cream station

Strawberry mint ice cream, hot fudge ice cream and Madagascar vanilla sorbet made with liquid nitrogen. Topping bar includes:

Exploding banana whipped cream, chocolate bubbles, pineapple bubbles, frozen caramel rocks, coconut marshmallows, mint paper and carbonated cherries

Cart Menu 4

2010-09-20T09:10:00.000-07:00

This past week was exhausting, I am still wondering how we made it . Here was our schedule:

Saturday-Sparkopolis, Sunday- Nick and Petra's wedding, Monday- Slow foods dinner, Tuesday- Civic center, Wednesday- Tiri's garden, Thursday- Justice league, Friday- Wedding tasting. We took the weekend off to decompress and now we are getting ready for this week. We will be at Civic center on Tuesday and Westword's Dish event on Wednesday night. Here is our cart menu for this week:

Slushie

Chai tea $3

Soup

Chilled red pepper with haystack mountain feta $4

Creme brulee

whole raspberries with raspberry sugar $4

Liquid Nitrogen Popcorn

Black truffle $2

Ice cream sammie

#1 Espresso fudge cookie, whipped marshmallow

caramel ice cream $4

“Kool-aid”

Coconut pineapple with mojito sugar $1

Sorbet

Blueberry pomegranate $4

Ice cream

Melissa’s caramel with sea salt and peanut

butter pop rocks $4

Space Foam

Popcorn $3

Yogurt meringue sticks $2

Cart Menu 3

2010-09-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

We will not be doing the street cart next week. We will be shopping and prepping for our Sparkoplis event. We will return to the streets on September 21 at civic center eats and September 22 and 23 at Tiri's garden at 15th and California. Here is the menu for that week

Slushie

Chai tea $3

Soup

Pineapple consommé with frozen pineapple foam $4

Creme brulee

Burned with cappuccino sugar $4

Ice cream sammie

#1 Espresso fudge cookie, whipped marshmallow

caramel ice cream $4

#2 Coconut macaroon, lemon curd, raspberry sorbet $4

“Kool-aid”

Fruit punch with strawberry fizzy pop rocks $1

Sorbet

Raspberry sorbet with Ian’s carbonated lemonade $4

Ice cream

Melissa’s caramel with sea salt crust $4

Space Foam

Chocolate and mint from our garden $3

Popcorn

Hatch chili $3

Yogurt meringue sticks $2

Cart Locations

2010-08-29T15:38:00.000-07:00

We have signed up to cook at Civic center eats on Tuesdays along with Tiri's garden at 15th and California on Wednesday's. We would love to see all of our friends come by and support our new concept. Here is our menu this week:

Popcorn

Ginger caramel corn with asian

spiced nuts $3

Sorbet

Mango peach with blackberry pop rocks $4

Ice cream

“Smores” Hot fudge ice cream with burnt

marshmallow and graham cracker $4

“Kool-Aid”

Apple pie $1

Creme brulee

Banana foster $4

Ice cream sammie

Espresso hot fudge cookie with whipped

marshmallow and hot fudge ice cream $4

Space foam

Root Beer $3

Soup

Coconut with frozen pineapple cream $4

Yogurt meringue bites $2

Slow Foods Dinner at six89

2010-08-29T15:17:00.000-07:00

Mark Fischer from Six89 is putting together a amazing dinner on September 13 and has asked the Inventing room to cook a course. He had all the chef's send in a few choices and he made the final menu from that. I am very excited to go up and cook with a few chefs I have been following for years. Here is the menu and the chefs

Sarah beckwith helsey- restaurant montagna at the little nell

anti pasta er marinated vegetable "salad" with home made goat feta

Bryan nelson- pacifica

hiramasa tartare, preserved palisade peaches, rooftop thai basil and chilies

Kelly liken- restaurant kelly liken

chilled sweet corn soup, roasted red pepper-tarragon relish

Bryce orblom- six89

braised north fork fork goat, foraged wild mushroom, house made chevre agnolotti

Ian kleinman- the inventing room

long family pork belly, isreali cous cous carbonara, poached egg, grilled spinach

Frank bananno- mizuna, luca d "italia, bones, osteria marco

roasted beet salad, home made burrata, aged sherry vinaigrette

rob zack-8k at the viceroy snowmass

cheesecake, avalanche chevre, blueberry fritter, salted pistachio brittle

Please check out six89 for details

What a Wednesday

2010-08-29T14:53:00.000-07:00

We are still trying to catch up from Wednesday of last week. We debuted the Inventing room cart in the morning and had a catered event at the Governors mansion that night. We began the morning loading my car full of tables, water bottles, tents and whatever else I could fit into it. I drove to commissary and loaded all of my prepped purees, bases and creme brulee into my coolers. Chad, the chef from the Porker cart helped me get my product to the site along with towing our cart. We unpacked and waited to see what would walk up, not a lot but I was OK with that. It was our first time and I had to figure out what went where and if I put this over here it might make it easier. We packed up our cart and the Honda around 3:00 and drove the cart back to the garage. Exhausted, I now had to think about the buffet we needed to have set by 6:00. We made it to the mansion at 4:30 and began to set when we realized our bread had not been delivered. There was a mix up with our order and our menu featured a bread station. Jeff ran to Whole Foods, the bread company sent a emergency delivery and we did what we could until we got slammed around 6:30. It all ended up working out and it was a really fun event.

Our menu included:

Bread bar with hummus, olive tamponade and spinach artichoke dip

Grilled marinated vegetable kabobs from the chefs garden

Colorado sweet wine sorbet bar

Merlot space foam

Jennifer and Peter's wedding

2010-08-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

We had a amazing time cooking Jennifer and Pete's menu that included beef tongue bruschetta, mint and chicken wrapped in phyllo and pork belly sliders. It was an honor being a part of such a colorful ceremony and meeting such wonderful people. Here was our vodka bar that included nitrogen frozen vodka lemonade, blackberry nitrogen shots and a peanut butter cup martini with a peanut butter pop rock rim

The Inventing room cart debut

2010-08-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

We will be making our debut at Tiri's garden on Wednesday August 25th at 15th and California. The cart will feature 7-8 categories that will change daily according to seasonality. I am really looking forward to bringing our vision of street food to fruition. We can talk until we are blue in the face but the bottom line is people need to try what we are doing, you can't explain space foam no matter how hard you try. Here is our opening menu, no item will be over $4. Please come down and grab some treats, there are some amazing street vendors that will be gathering from 11-3

SOUP $4

Chilled black cherry soup with apple

creme fraiche

POPCORN

Tomato and basil Kettle corn $3

SORBET $4

Peanut butter sorbet with chocolate pop rocks

ICE CEAM $4

Vanilla ice cream with 1 topping

Banana foster, Colorado peach,

Hot fudge exploding whipped cream,

Whipped marshmallow, Melissa’s caramel,

Organic strawberries, Vanilla sugar $1 add on

ICE CREAM SANDWICH $3

Double chocolate cookie, marshmallow

vanilla bean ice cream

TRADITIONAL CREME BRULEE

vanilla bean, cappuccino or lemon raspberry sugar $4

SPACE FOAM $3

Root Beer

YOGURT MERINGUE STICKS $3

SLUSHY $3

Summer strawberry with condensed milk

“KOOL-AID” $2

Mango peach

A kid in a candy factory

2010-08-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to Hammond's in Denver for one last trip before school starts. They have a tour where you can watch the candy being cooked, pulled, folded and flavored into some amazing confections. The best thing they make is called a vanilla caramel. It is a whipped marshmallow encased chewy caramel. You can buy a bag of rejected marshmallow carmel that is block of goodness, we have been cutting off chunks since we got home. Here are some pictures of where I want to be buried

This is where they take different flavors and colors and pull them into the sugar. They make #50 batches that will be pulled into hard candies such as ribbon candy or candy canes. The brown block is wrapped in a layer of white

The white candy was then cut into sections and placed onto the green sheet

The green sugar was rolled around the white blocks

The sugar block is then placed in this machine that rotates the sugar on the canvas while a propane lid keeps the sugar pliable so they can pull it into any shape they want. The tour is free and they give out candy, do I have to twist your arm anymore?

Have you kissed your dishwasher today?

2010-08-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

I miss my dishwasher. The last 4 years I was spoiled at a hotel where there was a team of stewards that did all of the cleaning for us. Now I find myself soaked from head to toe after a good battle with the dishwasher after a catered event. My advice( if your dishwasher is worth keeping) is to grill up a good steak, crack open a nice beer and thank your dishwasher at the end of their shift because you don't want to end up wet and stinky

The cart

2010-08-07T11:49:00.001-07:00

I have been trying to finish up some projects this week so I can concentrate on getting our street cart up and running. We will have 8 or 9 choices everyday ranging from creme brulee to gazpacho. No item will be over 4 dollars. We are still looking for a private land owner that will let us park our cart on their property, preferably someone downtown or in the tech center with lots of foot traffic. Please email us if you know of anyone who is interested. Here is our stripped down cart. I will work on some decals this week along with our inspection so we can be up and running. Please visit our cart menu at www.theinventingroomonline.com. Thanks to the waffle brothers for letting me use their cart.

Six89 Beer

2010-08-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

When we were up in Carbondale doing the Mountain fair we fortunate to get to know John Little the sous chef at Six89. John brewed these beers (pictured with our dog Aspen) in house. They also do some incredible work with local farmers and do a lot of growing themselves including all their herbs and eggs. I can't wait to try them this weekend

Sparkopolis

2010-08-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

We have a amazing event coming up on September 11. Sparkopolis is a fund raiser for front range libraries. The new Wright Farms location at 120th and Holly will be transformed into a interactive light and food show. We will have creation stations where you will be able to build your own dishes. Garnish your Colorado tamale with creative toppings, make whiskey caviar for a shot our build a banana split with pineapple bubbles, exploding whipped cream and carbonated cherries. We are even growing the produce for the event in our garden as we speak. Tickets are $75 a piece and we hope you come out and support this amazing concept

2010-07-20T16:16:00.001-07:00

The Inventing room street cart?

Carbondale Mountain Fair

2010-07-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

We are making ice cream bases like crazy right now for the 38th annual mountain fair. It runs from Friday July 22 through Sunday July 25. Here is our menu, we will be located in the kids section of the park. We can't wait to get out of the city and mix some ice cream in the mountains. Come up, get out of the 100+ degree weather and make sure you stop in and get some of the cold stuff.

Our Slushy made American Libraries Magazine

2010-07-16T09:34:00.000-07:00

This little girl is so cute Library opening

Planning for 2000 liquid nitrogen slushies

2010-07-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

I have always loved math but sometimes the numbers are overwhelming. It starts with a simple recipe: 3 oz of fruit syrup strawberry or mango, 3 oz of apple juice and 4 ounces of water. Add 6 ounces of liquid nitrogen and top with .2 oz sweetened condensed milk. Serve in a corn based recycled cup with a jumbo straw. Now multiply by 2000. That would be roughly 25 gallons each of fruit puree, 50 gallons of apple juice and about 65 gallons of water. Each 220 liter tank of nitrogen has 58 gallons but the nitrogen is always evaporating. If my tanks are delivered today, how much will be left for the event?94 gallons times the evaporation rate in the dewar times the number of hours, to be on the safe side I will order 3 tanks. Straws and cups are easy, just need to think about the environmental impact. 4 gallons of sweetened condensed milk. Now how many people do I need??

Anythink library opening

2010-07-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

Please join us on July 10 for the Grand Opening of Anythink Wright Farms. We will cooking burgers and dogs with gourmet toppings on egg buns from Mike Bortz at City Bakery. Whats a BBQ without liquid nitrogen mango and strawberry slushies with sweetened condensed milk? We will be donating .50 cents of each sale back to the library's educational programs. The opening begins at 1:00 and there are different programs for the family throughout the day.

Caramel corn ice cream with granny smith apples

2010-06-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

Smores Shot

2010-06-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

Marshmallow vodka, chocolate caviar, graham cracker foam

Asian Stroganoff Pipette

2010-06-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

May ploy and crispy onion meatball, egg noodle, crimini mushroom,

red wine, beef and hoison reduction

Tres Leches spoons with cinnamon pop rocks

2010-06-23T17:24:00.000-07:00

Marshmallow Vodka

2010-06-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

We added grilled de-hydrated marshmallows to vanilla infused vodka. The alcohol broke down the marshmallow into clouds of smoke that swirled into the liquor. We will let it sit over night until the solids settle and gently remove the infused vodka

Ice cream drinks

2010-06-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

We have a birthday coming up this weekend where a client has asked us to take some classic ice cream flavors and make drinks out of them. The menu includes:

Banana Split- banana liquor, compressed pineapple, chocolate exploding whip cream, glass rimmed with strawberry pop rocks

Smores- Marshmallow infused vodka, dark chocolate caviar and graham cracker bubbles

Peach melba- Carbonated peach schnapps with raspberry sorbet frozen with liquid nitrogen

Shopping for a bullet proof vest this Father's day

2010-06-20T12:44:00.000-07:00

Here is the story, I was asked to develop some recipes for a local hamburger restaurant. I was not asked to design a menu rather help with recipes from a list of items the owners wanted on the menu. One reason they came to me is because they new I had been using nitrogen in my cooking for over 3 years. If you want to be technical about it I have stole a lot of techniques from people. The first time I saw Ben from Moto make a hallow sphere I ran to my nitrogen like a little boy and rolled balloons till my hands froze. When I saw Sean Brock make coffee bubbles I tried for weeks to replicate the same structure. I should sign over the deed to my house to Ideas in Food for all ideas I have stole from them. Not to mention the first time ice cream was made with liquid nitrogen was in 1903. Did I steal Richard's nitrogen milkshake, yes, he inspired me to try to make a shake with nitrogen. As the consulting chef I presented a list of ideas I had for shake flavors but in the end it was not my decision what the final menu looked like, it was the owners and the opening chef. Richard's Nutella Marshmallow was never on my list and he does deserve all the credit for it. I have put a lot of ideas out on this blog, I don't think I would ever "load up my gun and do a drive by" if I saw someone making a liquid nitrogen ice cream flavor I made up some where. ( you can read the X-rated version here) Westword Blog.

Taste of Elegance Beer Competition, the results

2010-06-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came and supported us at the event. It was great to see some old friends including David Harker, the executive chef at the Omni in Broomfield. I worked with Dave when I first came out of high school at the Westin tabor center. We also opened Babaloo burritos in the Fox theatre in Boulder a long time ago. Mike Long from Opus took Best Chef, Jean Luc from the Westin Tabor and the Inventing room tied for most creative and chef Harker won peoples choice.

Our ice cream turned out amazing. It was Honey vanilla roasted peanut ice cream with molasses popped liquid nitrogen popcorn and pretzel bubbles.

The Culinary code??

2010-06-13T07:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Westin Westminster,

I know I am not suppose to be writing this letter to you. You told me not to contact any employees or even do a blog post about you after I had left. Do you think this is really how a grown up should act? The real reason I am writing you is to talk about how you continue to steal my ideas even though I do not work for you. It seems the entertainment company we work for booked an event at the hotel. They asked The Inventing room to write a menu and cook for the event. To my surprise instead of booking our company the Westin stole our menu word for word and is using it for the event. It is nice to see that you and your staff have not changed. Here is the menu, just wanted to make it available here in case you lose your copy:

Drinks

Mai Tai

Rum and triple sec mixed with toasted almond syrup and fresh squeezed lime juice

Served over cherry ice cubes, glass rimed with lime pop rocks

Blue Hawaii

Rum, pineapple juice and blue curacao hand carbonated. Served over coconut snow with pineapple and cherry caviar

Chi Chi

Vodka and pineapple juice “slushie” with coconut bubbles. Served with a brown sugar grilled pineapple cherry kabob

Dessert

Toasted coconut ice cream with macadamia nut crunch, grilled pineapple and toasted Hawaiian vanilla marshmallow

Luau ice cream ( taro, brown sugar, coconut milk) served with honey grilled wontons

and candy ginger

Mango guava sorbet with diced kiwi and mint and frozen honey crystals

Chef Ian Kleinman

P.S Please let the chef know that he can call me with any questions about how to make the menu, I am sure he will have a few

The Miracle fruit cookbook

2010-06-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

I have been working with the miraclefruitman for the past couple years developing recipes and even helping him present at the New York Academy of Science with Harold Mcgee. We recently started working on a cookbook of recipes to use with the fruit. It has been very interesting learning how you can manipulate a recipe to taste exactly like the original while on the influence of this fruit. The challenge is to make recipes with no sugar, sugar substitutes, low in fat, healthy, no salt and have a 14 day shelf life. The miracle fruit currently is used primarily for entertainment. The goal is to open it up to different markets that can benefit from the fruit. Examples include giving kids meals that have no sugar but taste sweet, diabetics that can experience a sweet sensation with out any sugar or giving chemo patients a appetite that is lost during the radiation process. Here are a few recipes we are working on: pineapple kumquat salsa, bloody marry, citrus frog loly, rice cake cookies and lemon lime push pops

Genes and Cuisines that Reign Supreme Lecture

2010-06-06T18:09:00.000-07:00

I will be participating in a lecture at the Museum of Nature and Science on Wednesday. I will be presenting with Dr. Tom Finger from the Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center and Nicole Garneau the curator of Human Health at the Museum. Nicole is going to talk about the genetics about taste. Tom's lab has genetically altered mice to have their receptors removed for bitter, sweet and unami. I always enjoy talking with different researchers about taste. It has helped me discover how different textures and presentations effect taste.

Taste of Elegance Beer Competition

2010-06-06T17:44:00.002-07:00

I have done the wine side of this competition in the past and I am very excited to participate in the beer competition this year. The chefs are given 2 beers that are that they pair two dishes with.

My first dish this year will be based on 3 P's of beer- peanuts, pretzels and popcorn and my other dish involves a flipped street taco. Hope to see you there. It is at the Omni in Broomfield on Wednesday June 9 at 6:00 pm. You can get tickets at www.denverbeercomp.com and they have a 2-1 coupon if you use the code: rack

Project Pave at the Governors Mansion 2.0

2010-06-03T14:47:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to be invited back this year to cook at the Mansion. We were joined this year by Lance from Strings restaurant. I have to say it was nice sitting back this year and watch Greg and Lance do their magic. I took the sorbet and dessert corse and helped plate the rest. Here is the menu and some photos of the evening

Passed apps

Smoked sea scallop ceviche with lemongrass syrup and upland cress

Duck rilette with cardamon tulle, baby bok choy and duck praline

Country pork pate with pickled chippolini/ olive tapanade and curry apple remoulade

Salad

Swordfish Tataki with watercress, pickled shallot, cucumber and watermelon radish

Seafood

Roasted sea bass with artichoke tortelinni, tomato coulis and parsley puree

Soup

Heirloom tomato soup with babylus vinegar, natural tomato

salad and textures of olive oil

Sorbet

White peach and apple sorbet with Stanahan whiskey paper

Meat

Local micro ranch Berkshire pork 3 ways with carrot hazelnut puree,

braised greens and ancho glaze

Dessert

45 second chocolate cake with white chocolate exploding whipped cream, molasses powder, dark coco bubbles, hot fudge ice cream, mint jel and berry salad

This has not been easy

2010-06-02T10:22:00.000-07:00

It has been a challenging road for me in the last 6 months. I have tried to understand my place not only in my professional life but more importantly in my home life. I have worked 80 hour weeks since I can remember. All of a sudden I was home every hour of every day and it was quite a change for me and my family. Chefs put a lot of stock( pun intended) in their work. We put it out there every day and night hoping to connect with someone through our food. It took me a few months of therapy and some hard love from my family to make me realize what is really important to me. Thank you to everyone who has supported us in our new company, we have some exciting events coming up.

I have been really bad at posting some great experiences I have had in the past few months. I will do my best to catch up.

Chef and tell

2010-04-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

Here is the interview Lori Midson did with me for Westword. It takes a long time for me to answer questions, I am not the best interviewer. Some questions I had no idea how to answer like my favorite local ingredient.I could not think of anything and said hatch chili on the fly. I now this is Colorado and not New Mexico. I belong in the kitchen, not behind a microphone. Chef and Tell

Rialto Underground

2010-04-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

I will be cooking a dinner at the Rialto cafe tomorrow night with the Chef Mike Schock . I opened the Rialto over 12 years ago as the opening daytime sous chef. It will be fun to see some old friends and to get back to cooking my food. My courses include:

Passed

New Zealand lamb wrap lamb rack wrapped in a mozzarella sheet with mint pesto

(we already have a good amount mint coming up in the garden)

Salad

Sous vide organic chicken in tasmanian pepper and black lava salt with crispy bibb, housed cured bacon and blue cheese jelly

Fish

Hiramasa kingfish new style sashimi with pickled mango, white soy paper, strawberry caviar, smoked air bubbles and "fried rice"

Sorbet

House carbonated Shiraz and clover honey served over haystack mountain goat cheese sorbet made with liquid nitrogen

Limb Preservation Foundation Charity Event

2010-03-08T10:07:00.000-08:00

We had a great time on Saturday night at the Crowne City Plaza at DIA to support the Limb Preservation Foundation. Thank you for inviting us to be part of such a great event.

Steele elementary demo

2010-03-02T14:02:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from our demo last Friday. Thank you Lori Midson for the pictures and to her son Elliott for helping us out

Hush Reviews

2010-02-28T18:25:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Denver on a spit and Westword for their reviews of our dinner at Hush this past week.

Mckinley thatcher demo

2010-02-28T09:38:00.000-08:00

We had a blast on Thursday making sorbet for all 240 kids. Thanks for all the great questions and we will be back soon

School demo this week

2010-02-23T19:48:00.000-08:00

We have been getting some good press in the halls of Mckinley Thatcher elementary this week

Consulting for H Burger

2010-02-23T16:22:00.001-08:00

About five months ago the owners of Dining Out Magazine approached me about consulting on a burger concept in the sugar cube building in downtown Denver. The project has been a blast trying to find the best technique for the perfect fry or coming up with a killer fry sauce (candy garlic, fresh thyme, mayo and lime juice) One thing about consulting is you can only give your advice on how you think a situation should go. It's up to the managers of the day to day to take it and run with it. It has been a challenge to get systems going but now that it is cranking, it's only going to get better and better. H burger is located at 16th and Blake in lower downtown. Thanks to Dan Daru from Fox 31 for coming in a making milkshakes with me the other morning

Lego mold 2.0

2010-02-23T16:14:00.001-08:00

Hush Dinner, a family affair

2010-02-23T13:59:00.000-08:00

We cooked our underground dinner at Hush this past Saturday. The best part of the dinner was having so many members of my family there. My beautiful talented wife (yes she is standing behind me) helped me prep 3 days out and cooked and served at the dinner. My dad, with whom I have cooked three James Beard house dinners, manned the makeshift fryer station we set up in the garage. He also coordinated firing the next course when we were doing our table-side work. He brought my talented half sister Kalie along. She is only 13 but I already see that crazy work ethic in her needed to survive in this industry. My sister Rachael and boyfriend Jonah helped with serving and plating We also had the opportunity to make a new friend named Justin Barbour who stopped by just to help out. It was fun cooking some of my old favorites for some new friends and seeing some old friends from my hotel days. Each time I finish a event I think about the lessons I have learned so I won't have to work as hard the next time. I learned some pretty hard lessons with this dinner. Thanks to Phil for having us and Kevin from Colt and Grey for pairing some killer cocktails with our courses

Passed

Shrimp and almonds wrapped in phyllo

Whiskey caviar and cream

Buttermilk fried chicken

Corn ﬂan, sous-vide ranch potatoes, coconut gravy

Kettle-corn space foam

Hibiscus-smoked Colorado trout

Compressed apple, yogurt meringue sticks, apple lego

Strawberry yuzu sorbet with olive oil dust

Sous-vide Blank Farms pork belly

148 degree egg, pastrami hash, mustard paper

Chocolate bread pudding

Banana foster ice cream, frozen caramel powder

Miracle fruit party

Flavored Icicles

2010-01-22T15:44:00.000-08:00

I grew up in Breckenridge, Colorado. I have many memories of grabbing large icicles off of the roofs as I walked to school. The ice was so clear and clean. I have always thought about how I can use nature in my cooking. I have made pine needle caramel and buried potatoes in the earth to cook them. What about a flavored icicle. My kids eat flavor pops, a kind of man made icicle. How could I make one in nature. My own Cloudy with a Chance of Meat Balls?

An icicle forms when snow or ice melts and continuously drips off something sloped, such as a roof or a bridge. The thin layer of water draws heat away from the ice inside, through diffusion, and transfers it to the air next to the icicle. This thin blanket of slightly warmer air, called the boundary layer, rises and is replaced with colder air. The cold air further cools the icicle and turns some of the liquid water into a layer of ice, and the icicle becomes thicker and longer.

If I take a flavored liquid and put in a large 20 gallon bucket with a small hole in the bottom, I can mimic a natural thaw. I will have to make a heat source towards where the liquid comes out so the hole does not freeze shut. What if you could walk out of the Inventing Room and pick your favorite flavor off our candy roof for the ride home.

Going Underground

2010-01-13T12:06:00.000-08:00

The Inventing room will be cooking a 6 course meal at Hush on February 20th. The menu is going to feature some old classics and some new tricks we have been working on. You must vist the Hush Website and enter your email address. There are 50 seats and 30 are already sold so please get your spot today

Dinner at Hush

2010-01-11T10:31:00.000-08:00

Hush, a new underground super club opened for its first dinner on Saturday night. The first dinner was performed by a team from right outside of Chicago. Geoff Rhyne was our chef and the restaurant is called Sugartoad. The dinner was held in a contemporary warehouse which is home to Studio Como, a modern European design store that has some very cool furniture and kitchen sets. We showed up around 7:00 not knowing what we were going to eat or who we would be eating with that night. I think that was the exciting part of the evening, not knowing what was coming next.

Chef Geoff is know for getting a whole animal in, breaking it down and using all of it through out his menu. This was the first event at this venue so he had some obstacles to overcome. It is hard enough to walk into a foreign kitchen and cook but to be the first chef to cook at this concept was a added challenge. Geoff also arrived in Denver a day late because of the blizzard that hit Chicago. That is the mark of a great chef. No matter what is thrown your way, you always find a way to get the food out the best way you know how. You have to just do it so you can learn from the experience so it will be a little easier the next time. They did a amazing job. I think the shaved lamb heart was my favorite course.

The brainchild behind Hush is Phil Armstrong, not the cyclist but a man that is very dedicated about bringing a different food experience to people here in Denver. You got to have some balls to pull this off. Ever thrown a dinner party for 10 friends? Multiply that by 10, fly in the chef team and entertain them, find the food, wine, plates, glasses, etc... Phil and his team did a great job with this event and I look forward to attending other dinners at Hush.

The Menu, or what I can remember

Lamb tar tar with potato crisps

Sweet breads with curry and cauliflower puree

"Not pictured"

Soft boiled fried egg with shaved lamb heart and baby bibb

Lamb roulade with house made lamb sausage wrapped in caul fat with bean ragout

Lamb bacon doughnuts with goat eggnog

Goodbye Jason

2010-01-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

We are loosing a great food writer this week. Jason Sheehan, a longtime friend and food critic from Westword will be moving to work in Seattle. Jason has been the person that has really pushed me through the last couple of years. It was a article he wrote about the fact that we don't have a food pill yet that made me think about some food fantasies that I had. The "Floating Plate" was set into motion after reading his article. The thought of Jason walking into your restaurant and giving you a bad review elevated chefs cooking in the area. I think Denver has made a giant leap since Jason became our James Beard winning author. He has pushed us to be better, no matter if you agree with him or not, the guy can tell a story and I will miss reading it every week.

Good luck Jason

New year

2010-01-02T14:12:00.000-08:00

I would be lying if I said that my head is not perfectly screwed on right now. It has been a little difficult pointing myself in any direction. I new I was not going to be at the Westin anymore, it was a completely different hotel from when I started there. Knowing this I started working on a concept a few years back. How do I take the new techniques that I have learned in a fine dinning restaurant and apply them to a concept that is approachable to everyone? After many days of playing and many nights of thinking the Inventing Room was created. That tuns out was the easy part. I have never been a owner, only a chef. There is so much more that I am teaching myself everyday to finally get to the point where I can call myself a owner. I have always used this blog to document my molecular experiments. Now I will use it to show the steps that I will take to reach my goals. It is time for my dream, so I ask everyone to root for this little guy because I have big, big dreams. Please visit our website at www.theinventingroomonline.com

Thanks

Chef Ian

Doctor Pepper Frog lolly

2009-12-12T08:20:00.000-08:00

Miracle fruit popsicle

2009-12-12T08:17:00.001-08:00

Miracle fruit suspended in apple juice, grapefruit, lemon, lime, yuzu

Cooking breakfast with the waffle brothers

2009-12-09T16:05:00.000-08:00

I met the waffle brothers at my daughters martial arts class. John and Ron run a waffle shop at 16th and Arapahoe. If you have not tried a waffle you must make the trip. They use a classic belgium recipe with pulugra butter and these large sugar crystals that give them a great crunch They asked me to cook some scrambled eggs for them for a party of 600 people this morning. The only problem is that it was -12 when I left my house this morning. The waffle brothers share their commissary with Biker Jim a local street cart legend who cooks a wide array of game sausages. Jim got to hang out with Anthony Bourdain last week when they were taping No Reservations. It has been a blast being able to help out friends here and there while I get my ideas in order. As you can see by the picture I am not in a hotel anymore, we cooked our eggs for 600 off a hot dog grill.

Introducing The Inventing Room Catering

2009-12-05T09:34:00.001-08:00

As most of you know, I parted ways with O’s a few weeks back and it’s all good. After a nice break with my family, I’m back to playing with liquid nitrogen and dreaming of new flavor combinations and textures . I’ve formed a new Denver catering company: The Inventing Room. It’s named after the place where Willy Wonka thought up his sweetest concoctions.

The Inventing Room team will provide one-of-a-kind food experiences for holiday parties, corporate gatherings and celebrations with family, friends and foodies. We can do ice cream parties for up to 1000 attendees with incredibly creamy scoops made-to-order with liquid nitrogen

If you sampled the molecular dinners I did at O’s, you know we can do dozens of flavors, everything from Caramel with Sea Salt, and Roasted Pineapple ice cream and our famous Peanut Butter sorbet. We bring along the best toppings, treats like fresh fruit, tres leches cake, and “shattered” whip cream. We can even do vegan, gluten-free ice cream made with coconut milk.

For even more entertainment, The Inventing Room also offers “miracle fruit” taste experiences. The miracle fruit is a unique berry that can alter your taste buds for about 45 minutes during which sour foods taste sweet.

For informal corporate meetings, we can provide kettles of our critically acclaimed soups from Loaded Baked Potato to Sweet English Pea and Rosemary with great breads.

Now you can also enjoy molecular catering in your home. I can customize a

four-course menu from the wide range of cool dishes I served at the restaurant.

Anybody up for a Blue crab benedict, Sous-vide caramel carrots, Compressed heirloom tomatoes , Guinness gelee, or a s'more spring roll with smoked sea salt ice cream?

Thanks to everyone for all their support of my cooking at O’s and in the past.I look forward to feeding you again. If you’re interested in The Inventing Room,

give me a call at 303-319-2592 or e-mail me at catering@theinventingroomonline.com.

Website coming soon

“You see, all of my most secret inventions are cooking and simmering in (The Inventing Room).”

- from the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Bacon dinner at Opus

2009-11-23T13:28:00.000-08:00

Mike Long, owner of opus invited my wife and I to a bacon dinner. Mike asked me about a week ago to do a bacon ice cream for him. I agreed knowing that I could fill my small tank at a local welding store. On Friday I went down and filled my four liter tank. Joe the manager asked what I was driving. I pointed to my Honda in the parking lot. He informed me that I had to have a pickup truck for him to release the nitrogen. It turns out that some guy had a small dewar in his car that spilled all over him and caused third degree burns a few years back. With no pick-up and no one to help at 4 p.m. on a Friday, I parked my car 6 blocks away and told Joe I was going to walk it home. I had to do it, I promised Mike I would make it happen. I made the ice cream base and went to the dinner. We had a great dinner that included

Bacon wrapped scallop with pancetta risotto

Roasted ribeye stuffed with sous-vide pork belly

Peanut butter nougat and bacon chocolate bar with bacon ice cream

It was good to be back in the kitchen for a night. As far as the bacon ice cream, it turned out pretty good but I probably will never make it again

Goodbye and Thank you

2009-11-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me at O's steak and seafood for the past 3 and 1/2 years. It is time for me to move on to bigger and better things. I walk away happy and excited to work on a project that I have been planning for the last 2 years.

Top 5 Things I will not miss

1. Getting sick 45 minutes after eating in the cafeteria

2. The ridiculous circa 1960's chefs hat they made me wear

3. Being open 365-24-7

4. Cooking a "pop-up" for 150

5. No music

Top 5 Things I will miss

1. The Strabucks machine in the lobby

2. The limitless supply of liquid nitrogen

3. Some of the people

4. Being able to order 20 lobsters, a piece of foie and some kobe

5. The engineering department

Taste of Elegance Competition

2009-11-07T12:41:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite events is coming up next Thursday. It will be held at Mile High Station this year instead of D.U. I was given my wines yesterday to pair with my dishes. I received a Proseco and a Petite Sirah. I am going to make the graham cracker soft shell crab with tropical fruit, coconut mousse and soy dipping dots to go with the Proseco. I will match the Sirah with a blueberry allspice sorbet with frozen honey crystals. There are tickets still available for $100 a pop. There will be 18 chefs competing this year from all over the United States. http://www.denverwinefest.com/order.html#toe

Tasting menu 103

2009-11-05T10:53:00.000-08:00

We had a huge snowstorm come through Colorado this week. It dropped 2 and 1/2 feet of snow at our house ( this is our air conditioner in the back yard) It reminded me of mountain snow, very light and fluffy. I will spend a little time on making some snow textures with liquid nitrogen this week.

Graham cracker encrusted soft shell crab
Coconut mousse, tropical fruit, soy dippin dots

Grilled goat cheese
House made caper bread, goji berry carpaccio, tomato caviar

Berbere sous-vide pork loin
Grilled banana puree, brown sugar gelee, compressed apple salad

Lavender honey baklava
Roasted pumpkin ice cream made table side with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 102

2009-10-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

Not a lot to talk about this week, things are pretty quit around here. I am just sitting back and watching the homemade kid driven space balloons fly over the hotel. The world is definitely coming to a end.

Garlic grilled New Zealand mussels
Fried dynamite, pickled vegetables, lemon grass air

Smoked Buffalo sausage
Guinness gelee, porcini, red wine glass

Sous-vide ½ lobster
Yuzu, caramel carrots, fried avocado

Smore spring roll with smoked sea salt ice cream
Served table side with liquid nitrogen

What I have learned about liquid nitrogen

2009-10-14T19:19:00.001-07:00

1. This stuff can really burn you. I have had 3 serious burns with this -320 liquid. The worst one happen about 3 months ago when I did a demo at whole foods with my wife. I filled my sorbet bowl with strawberry puree to accommodate all the people watching. I had to much product and not enough spoon. The nitrogen will freeze your nerve endings so quickly that you don't react to the pain like you would a heat burn. My thumb was in the liquid for over 10 seconds. My thumb blistered to about 3 times it's normal size and it was pretty jacked up for about 6 weeks. Nitrogen burns take twice as long to heal as a heat burn would. I would compare the pain to frostbite if you have ever had the pleasure of experiencing it

2. When filling your dewar you need to make sure that the container is cold. Liquid nitrogen is expensive and you loose a lot of it when you are filling a warm container. I will leave our 25 L dewar in the freezer overnight before I fill it the next day. We do this so it takes less nitrogen to bring the dewar to a temperature that will hold the nitrogen.

3. Don't trust anyone to handle it. Especially look out for drunk people and small children. It is the chefs responsibility to make the demonstration safe and lets face it kids don't know and drunk people don't care.

4.Make sure the liquid nitrogen is completely evaporated before giving it to someone. The space foam is a favorite technique here. The structure of the foam will allow small pockets of nitrogen to form. I have burned my tongue pretty bad because I did not wait long enough for the nitrogen to burn off. We also like to do marshmallows in LN for the kids. Kids have very sensitive tongues so it is important to make sure that it is safe

5. Where protective glasses, not protective gloves. My first thought was to wear latex but that was a very bad idea. I have also tried to wear welding gloves but I actually had some spill inside and they are not very sanitary. My advice is to get a very long spoon. The nitrogen will splash out of the bowl so it is important to wear glasses and make sure you are far enough away from the guest so you don't splash them

6. It is a great show. Remember table side when it was fun. Ceaser salad, banana foster, you just do not see it anymore. This gives us the opportunity to say hello to the guest and make them a unforgettable course at the same time. Again I will point out that it sucks making sorbet for drunk people, everything is a joke

7. This is not science fiction. This is the best way to make ice cream and sorbet. As a chef I am always looking for the best technique to make the best product. If I could throw a steak in the microwave and it would be the best steak I ever had I would repeat it again and again. Yea its a fucking microwave but it made the perfect steak. Yea it's nitrogen, a very cold mysterious liquid, but it makes the best product. I will take a tank of the cold stuff against your hand crank any day.

8. By a new dewar and not a used one. Even a small crack in the tank or the plastic top will allow the nitrogen to escape. A 4 liter dewar will loose it's contents in less then 2 hours.

9. Have fun, this is the most amazing medium that I have ever played around with. Next I am on to liquid helium and super flows

Tailgating with liquid nitrogen

2009-10-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

I do a lot of charity work for http://www.projectpave.org/, a local organization that helps at risk youth. Joe Hubbard (pictured here on the right) asked Greg from the Broadmore(pictured on the left) and myself to cook a tailgating party to help raise some money. I can honestly say we had one of the best spreads ever in that parking lot. Roasted tenderloin, seared scallops, lamb chops, smoked sausages and liquid nitrogen ice cream were just a few of the items we put out.

Tatsing menu 101

2009-10-08T11:01:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who came in to help us celebrate number 100, the support for our tasting menu has been incredible over the past couple of years. The unbelievable part to me is not how many tasting menus we have done but more so where we are. If I can pull this off in Westminster Colorado, it can be done anywhere, it is all in the approach. My advice, make people comfortable with the food, they will be more open to trying news things. Simple is the best- not to many ingredients or flavors. Use the best tool to come up with the best product. Don't make it about a label, let the food speak for itself

House made pancetta
Green beans, compressed heirloom tomato, honey-dijon jel

Dashi broth
Chinese mushrooms, lump crab, sriracha caviar

Sous-vide duck breast in hoison and orange
Celery root puree, tempura grapes, foie wonton

Sweet potato and maple ice cream with streusel
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting Menu 100

2009-09-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well here it is number 100. I pulled from a lot of different menus to come up with this all star menu. I am doing a extra course for the special occasion this week. I truly believe that we are going to move into some pretty exiting things in the near future. It takes a lot of work to be creative and if you are not in the right situation or frame of mind, creativity is a very hard thing to come by. I have learned a lot in 100 tasting menus, the thing I will take with me the most are the smiles I get when I can introduce a new food memory to someone.

Vanilla poached lobster
Apple lego, apple meringue, compressed apple salad

Blackened sweet breads
Chipotle battered onion ring, fried mayo, grits

Foie Benedict
148 degree egg, avocado, lump crab hollandaise

Floating truffle
Ice wine sorbet with blackberries

Sous-vide tenderloin
Loaded baked potato gnocchi, smoked air, black truffle blanket

Mexican fried ice cream
Frozen caramel powder
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 99

2009-09-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

It is nice that the kids are back in school because my wife and I have some free time during the days to try some places out. We had a great lunch at Encore the other day and ran into some old friends. It feels like I have lost my creative fire for the time being. I used to have time to experiment and see if my crazy ideas work. Now it seems like I am just filling a notebook for sometime in the future when I will have time again. I am starting to plan for the next menu, number 100. I never thought that I would reach it.

Brown sugar grilled peaches
Smoked brie, compressed apples, butternut squash wonton

Duck confit relleno
Avocado paper, honey, red pepper

Butter, thyme and saffron sous vide Alaskan king crab
Corn shitake succotash, cauliflower chip

Pineapple bread pudding with coconut ice cream
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting Menu 98

2009-09-02T15:56:00.000-07:00

Luck has it that I was selected to sit on a jury last week. It gave me an appreciation for our justice system. The gentleman was found guilty of 3rd and 1st degree assault on a person of risk. Sometimes I wonder if I could have had the patients to be a lawyer or a judge. Instead I chose a profession where I am constantly judged.

Lobster popcorn fritter
Tempura seaweed, yuzu jel, bok choy

Buttermilk fried tarragon chicken
Corn flan, sous-vide ranch potatoes, coconut gravy

Berbere grille New York
Smoked plum puree, compressed portabella, cheddar bacon risotto

Blackberry ice cream with hazelnut cream
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 97

2009-08-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

I have jury duty tomorrow, something I am not looking forward to at all. Don't they know that a crazy chef should not make any decisions pertaining to anyone else. I can barley keep my shit together as it is. Here is the menu for the next 2 weeks

Pear, apricot, plum gastrique
Poached shrimp, goat cheese marble, vanilla

Smoked trout Bruschetta
Salt water caviar, frozen tomatoes, chili threads

Sous-vide lamb chops
Peppers from the garden, Colorado corn, chayote chips

Crème brulee ice cream with burnt palm sugar
Made table side with liquid nitrogen

Real Photos 2

2009-08-14T15:45:00.000-07:00

Marc Piscotty from http://www.marcpiscotty.com/ shot these photos for the Denver magazine issue. He was nice enouph to send me some pictures to put on the blog. Thanks Marc

Edible chalk line

2009-08-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

I was building a shed out back yesterday when my father in law pulled out his chalk line. I asked him," What about putting edible powders inside and snapping perfectly straight flavored lines." He looked at me like everyone else does and just laughed and shook his head. Back to the hardwood store!!!

Musuem of Contemperary Art Mixed Taste Lexture

2009-08-11T14:37:00.000-07:00

This past Friday I fortunate enough to be invited to mixed taste which is a 30 minute presentation given by 2 people on unrelated topics. At the end of the presentation the audience ask questions that try to connect the 2 subjects. The other presenter did Machiavelli, a 15 century political philosopher. We arrived around 5:00 and set up a station where people could grab some strawberry sorbet before sitting down. My presentation went fairly smooth. I started off with Herve talking about how the term molecular gastronomy is wrong. I moved on to talk about the presentation I went to in New York where Harold and Linda talked about taste. People were fascinated by the supertaster theory. I then talked about molecular products that people use everyday with out knowing it. We then moved onto to the additives where I included a lot of pictures from the blog. The zebra steak got the biggest roar. The question and answer session was fun fun. One of the questions was what would the menu look like at the Machiavelli cafe.

I ended off the night freezing a pickle and shattering it on the ground and sucking down some space foam. Mixed taste happen every Friday night at the MCA. It was a blast and I can't wait to be invited back

Rasberry pistachio nougat

2009-08-03T10:17:00.000-07:00

Denver Magazine

2009-08-02T15:58:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Denver Magazine for including us in their performance and visual arts issue
http://www.denvermagazine.com/savor/2009/07/plating-style

Tasting menu 96

2009-08-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

I am getting pretty nervous about my presentation at the museum of art for mixed taste next week. I have to build a keynote presentation which I have never done before. It will be hard to sum up molecular gastronomy in 20 minutes. I will rely on the two speeches I heard from Herve This and Harold McGee to explain the base premise of the movement. I will throw in some of my crazy experiences and highlight some dishes from other chefs. We will end up the evening like always, next to the nitrogen take whipping out batches of creamy sorbet. This tasting menu will run from Wednesday 8/2 through Saturday 8/12

White anchovies
Heirloom cherry tomatoes, basil paper, mozzarella sheets

Chorizo
Dirty rice puree, old bay shrimp, cashew clams

Buffalo short ribs
Pumpkin powder, pineapple gnocchi, hearts of palm

White chocolate mousse ice cream
Chocolate dipped raspberry nougat
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Warning

2009-07-31T15:20:00.001-07:00

We just got a new slicer that has a automatic setting

This was the label attached to the new death machine

Notice the fingers have been cut clear off