Steve Ramsey
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Posts posted by Steve Ramsey
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Iv'e been making and selling BB at my restaurant for a few months now. It's really my own I suppose, but I think it falls somewhere Between Tony's and Julia's in technique, but I must claim it because of the less expensive...um......no ...CHEAP ingredients that I have to use to make food cost.
For one, I use chuck roll.
I use the cheapest possible Carlo Rossi Jug Burgundy.
And a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste. (batch serves 25)
It's absolutely better if chilled for 24 hrs and re-heated, and starts to peak after two or three days. Some kind of magic happens in that time.
But the result is somewhat credible, and It's my second best selling menu item.
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Ditto on southern Kitchen.
And down the street, 6th and pine, Primo Grill, and across the street, Riccardo's.
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Pound out a chicken breast fillet.
Sear it and set it aside.
Make a nice cream sauce with white wine, shalots and cream.
Or a straigt up Burre Blanc if you wish.
Add toasted almonds and sauted leeks.
Cover the chx with the sauce and toss it in the oven for 10 min or so.
A little parsely on top and your set.
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So...am I just the lone fat assed glutton here??? (Sorry...I'm loopy as hell, its been a long day at the pizzeria...
) Nope, I think small portions suck, unless it's a very pricy ingerdient, or proper plate presentation absolutly calls for it.
Every restaurant worth it's salt has take out boxes on request for those that can't handlethe portion.
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My experience is that culinary school just isn't much of an icebreaker. It wasn't for me. What got me my first job was establishing immediate rapport with the chef.
I had many interviews, mostly with HR types, and was screened out as unqualified in every case.
To soon to graduate culinary school types:
Your goal should be to get to see the chef or the sous or whoever in white needs the labor. HR types suck.
Take anything offerd to you. It's MUCH easier getting the second job than the first.
Work hard, take your lumps, and be ready when opportunity knocks, say when MR totally unreliable line cook pisses the chef off for the last time. Be ready to step in.
Don't be arrogant, but be SUPER CONFIDENT in yourself.
Believe that you can overcome any obstacle, any challange. Dive in. Attack the problem with every bit of energy and know how you have, and odds are, you will come out on top. A little luck doesn't hurt.
It's working for me, and I got into cooking at age 44, after a blown out career in aerospace.
I am on the line now, doing grill, roast, and saute, 60 to 100 covers a night.
Independant fine/casual dining establishment I have a good shot at becoming the chef shortly. It's hard work, but It's everything I wanted it to be.
Time from first day of culinary training to the present? 16 months.
Mind you, I never set foot in a commercial kitchen before that.
I just worked my ass off. I treated school like it was work. My school chef let me graduate early due to demonstrated competance.
Mind you, I never was a good student before then, but I applied myself this time.
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But you basic basil pesto in the food processor, and add some soaked, sun dried tomatos.
It's a pretty good combo.
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Food cost is a big problem right now.
Beef? UP.
Poultry? UP
Dairy? WAY UP.
Atkins is driving the beef demand, with ripples into the pork market.
Bird flu has poultry and egg prices up. (large numbers of chickens being exported to asia)
Atkins again as dairy farmers get out of milk and into beef, the purveyors tell us this should slacken in the fall as dairy farmers get back into the suddenly profitable dairy market.
This leaves us with a choice to raise prices in a sagging economy, or cut portions. It's a mix of both, but business for us if off 30+% from last year, and we surmise it's a combination of lower traffic and our highr prices to compensate for higher food costs. We're struggling to find the sweet spot right now.
But generally, our experience it that casual diners feel cheated by too small portions.
High end diners don't seem bugged at all.
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I can feel the overly pretentious vibe already.
The question is, what will T.E. do to home plate?
Probably a dot of coffee infused lobster custard on one corner, and a steamed fava bean on the opposite corner, with a smear of chanterelle demi glace in between.
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If I can't get handmade locally, make mine hebrew nationals.
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Probably Prosper Montagne.
Started at the bottom like me, had a bit of a contrarian bent like me.
Eventually wrote the book on the matter.
You know...the book.
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I'm a cook, and the word chef is getting somewhat overused, and has different meanings in every kitchen you walk into; a chef in one kitchen migh be a suitable prep cook in another.
There are chefs, and the there are chefs.
Same for cooks I suppose, but I'm doing fairly well and by that I mean I don't get complaints, or comped meals, and the chef lets me do my own specials.
I'm not sure why I got into this at age 44.
Certainly not the money.
I just feel in my element in a kitchen, like nothing is beyond me. I'm comfortable there.
Something about it appeals to me as intrinsically important, down in my bones.
In the kitchen, I have powers.
I can make you smile with pleasure, I can make you barf (I could but never will).
There is something primal and basic about it.
I am much more unnerved and intimidated by the world outside the kitchen I.E. paying my bills is much more a bitch than knocking out a twelve top.
Sure it's hot. Very Hot.
Noisy.
Chaotic.
Some say stressful, but not for me, though I can believe that is the case for many.
But I go home feeling like iv'e done something good.
Iv'e done a lot of hard jobs, worked in ditches, on assembly lines, and without a doubt, professional cooking is the hardest work Iv'e ever done save for my stint in the army, where I was an infantryman.
It takes it's toll but right now I can handle it pretty well. I intend to keep doing it until I can't anymore.
Maybe someday I will be a chef, maybe not. I know I'm behind on the normal timeline, but I don't care.
Being a cook is one job where over-identifying yourself with your job is not a problem.
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I'll be the first to say I like Ranch dressing....in it's place.
But it's become the new white trash all purpose sauce.
Many a careful preparation has been spoiled by the addition of the white goo.
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All of those articles list it as a 'potential' cause, but there is still no hard research cited for any of them related to the Atkins bit, just heresay and a (surely not scientific) survey run by a steakhouse of its customers.
Not to mention that the one article which does mention hard numbers for the increase in demand states it at approximately 10%, which would in no way lead to a doubling of price. The factors which do come up again and again as _fact_ appear to be that the cattle crop is at a near all-time low, and this BSE nonsense. There may be increased demand for a variety of reasons, and low-carb may be one factor, but an all time low in supply likely has a lot to do with it as well.
I really don't unserstand your requirement for "scientific" proof.
Every analysis of the industry, every study of the state of the cattle futures market, every farm report, and every tretise on the subject from cattalmen's and dairymen's organizations all implicate aTkins.
If what you want is a white paper after a year long study from a group of white coated ivy leage professors and chemists to convince you, well, then you have no mastery of the obvious whatsoever.
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First of all, it is Atkins, not Adkins.
Second, there has been absolutely no study done to show a link between low-carb dieting and increased beef prices. The idea can make tidy sense in one's head just musing about it, but there are tons of other factors in play. Until at least one single solitary piece of hard data can be drudged up that shows low-carb eating was the driving factor in farmers reducing dairy cattle production, you have nothing but unfounded theories, which are fine, but far from fact.
Ok, ATKINS.
My spelling may not be so good, at least when it comes to names, but my FACTS are pretty good.
Extra! Consumers chew on soaring beef prices
"With supply low and demand high, the cost of a steak or a burger has never been higher. And high prices will be around for a while. One big reason: the Atkins diet."
Atkins diet fuels surging demand for U.S. beef
"With diet gurus urging Americans to eat their meat but drop the potatoes, beef prices are surging.
According to a report on Friday, wholesale beef and veal prices rose 18.3 percent last month, the biggest one-month increase since 1974, when the United States was struggling to "Whip Inflation Now."
"If this keeps up, I'll be able to get my wife a new car," said Chuck Kiker, a rancher in Beaumont, Texas."
"The whole market trend right now or the psychology is let?s rush them to market," said Dr. Ernie Davis, Texas Cooperative Extension livestock marketing economist.
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The stupid frikken adkins diet is mainly responsable for all of this.
Actually it has nothing to do with Atkins. Milk is not even a valid beverage on the Atkins program (contains a lot of simple sugars). Cream and cheese are both acceptable, but in limited quantities, sorry, but you're going to have to find another scapegoat.
Milk/dairy prices in Delaware are up as well, butter is around $4 a lb for the basic stuff, $4 for half a pound of plugra.
It does, but you failed to make the connection.
With the advent of adkins, along with restrictions on canadian beef due to bse, beef prices skyrocketed.
Dairy prices were always somewhat marginal for farmers, and with the onset of high beef prices, many quit dairy to raise beef cattle, and blammo, dairy shortfalls and higher prices.
The market for dairy is expected to recover some in the fall and winter, and ex dairy farmers get back into the business.
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I don't care for chains and don't patronize them, but in defense of BG, i'll reject the idea that Northwesterners prefer their fish unadorned.
I sell a lot of plates of fish, salmon, halibut et-al with sauces, particularly light fruit based sauces and salsas, and folks love them.
As long as you arent killing the flavor and texture of the fish, bring on the sauce.
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"Copper River Salmon" is basically marketing hype foisted upon the unknowing.
I could put a well handled fillet of chinook down in front of nearly any one of you and you wouldn't know the difference.
You can see the difference before cooking, and I might be inclined to use it for salmon tartare, but other than that?
I suggest that the buyer beware.
Mu guess is that there is more than one guy selling you something else at 20+ bucks a pound.
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Prices should come back down some and then stabalize.
A lot of farmers got out of dairy because of depressed prices and started raising Beef cattle.
They will jump back into dairy again with prices a bit higher than when they got out.
The stupid frikken adkins diet is mainly responsable for all of this.
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Regarding salmon and my feeling that is does speak to the northwest.
Sure other cultures have done it for centuries, but the fact is it's been done here for at least as long, as long as man has inhabited the region as far as we know, so it cannot be ignored.
As to Ray's, I think about two thirds of the menu speaks to the northwest, not just the salmon.
I don't mean to sound so dismissive of certain suggestion, it's all just part seeking answers to the original question.
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Steve, when you do figure it out, would you please post? You've shot down just about every idea/resource posted here, so it would be interesting to see how you redefine Pacific NW cooking.
I think I pretty much shot down cedar plank salmon and asian-fusion.
Not much else, Iv'e left an open question.
To me, salmon IS distinctly northwest, but let's face it, the plank business is just a done to death novelty.
If you want salmon, Great salmon, without the hype go here:
Take away about a third of the menu, and it's getting very close to what I am looking for, particularly on the seafood side of things.
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er, what makes something NW? lots of suggestions here, from pre-european (plank cooked fish, local berries, dried fish, etc) to modern (a whopping 200 years later, NW fusion). since you dismiss both, what is the magic point half way between?
maybe read louis & clark?
bison doesn't really count--i belive they are all recent transplants from other parts of the country (great plains)
as for presentation, a potlatch? kind of hard to do on a commerical or daily basis. unless you want to go down the route of Tillicum Village.
I would submit that Bison do count.
Idaho is part of the pnw and unless I'm mistaken, a few existed in the wild in the panhandle.
Lokking backward for answers doen't necessarily mean going prehistoric or going native either.
I'm not ready to start a campfire and call it a kitchen.
I'm just looking for honest reflections of the region without being overly pretentious, hip, or cool.
I COULD do tournedos of caribou with oregon truffles, or fir needle sorbet, but I doubt I would.
That kind of stuff is just shock value for the uninitiated.
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Douglas Fir Sorbet
Please tell me about this one.
Was it an actual fir needle infusion or something?
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Regards my dismissal of certain dishes and cuisines:
I have nothing against cedar plank salmon.
Lots of places do it, and do it very well, just like clam chowder.
But I'm sorry, a trip to Ivar's doesn't define Northwest cuisine.
I'm not interested in doing thing that others have been doing forever, and will continue to do forever, and probably better.
As to asian.
I am more than willing to leave it to those who do it best.
In the immediate area where I live, fine dining has failed in several location.
But chinese and thai is all over the place. So much so that I find it hackneyd, dumbed down, and boring.
Just like gringoized Mexican food. It's losing it's genuineness as it is. It doesn't need me or anyone else trying to infuse it into french method cooking.
I am however, going to have to do more reseach into the native american end of things.
I'm going to have to find out what folks were eating around here before fast food and the chain restaurants took over.
As to cooking methods.
Ok, They do braises in portland. Good. I like braises.
And I did mention exceptions.
I was thinking Buffalo would be a good candidate.
But because somebody is doing something sucessfully, does that make it a definable cuisine?
I could just sell pizza, and probably do pretty well.
I'm still thinking grill/saute/steam/smoke.
Local and wild greens and fungi.
Native seafood, poultry and meats, or knockoffs of same.
Light sauces.
Berries/fruits/nuts.
Salmon will be there is some manner, but not the same done to death form.
Trout.
Starches seem to be the sticking point.
Maybe risotto with morels.
Yukon gold potatos.
Bulgar wheat and barley.
Pasta with...........................................
EDIT.
I see this debate has been had here before:in this thread about cascadia
In addition to ingredient, style, attitude and presentation must be considered,
It would seem to me that part of the problem is that across the northwest, styles change from the utterly crude yet wonderful, to the elegant and pretentious.
You can take all the local ingredients you want, overdress them, put them in high heels and produce something utterly un-northwest.
It's very possible that we DO have a cuisine, it just may have been lost fifty years ago.
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Lutefisk
You need lutefisk on the menu. No doubt about it.
I hear their's a diner near DC/Baltimore that has it on the menu, and can't keep it in stock.
I'll send them to ballard if they want it, or any other Ya sure ya betcha nostalgia.
COOKING UNDER FIRE from PBS: April 27 premiere
in Food Media & Arts
Posted
It's simple. If Todd English is a judge, all you have to do is prepare tiny amounts uber pretentious consumables, put them on very large plates with acres of empty space between them, and play connect the dots with the sauce of your choice.
You have completed an T.E. masterpiece.