Surprises Can Be Good

As a financial advisor, I visit networking groups now and then. On occaision, to illustrate the difference between me and advisors who are not me, I provide this analogy:

"You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a financial advisor in this town. But like a great cook, a great advisor is a rare and precious find. So what separates a good cook from a great cook? The ingredients available to one are there for the other. I think it's patience and creativity. A great cook knows that some ingredients need to be added at different times to develop the flavors. It can't be rushed. And finding new ways of combining the same old ingredients may yield plesantly shocking surprises."

And I am a great cook.

That's a fun (and dare I say accurate!) analogy, but it reminds me of the problem with many restaurants. Specifically, this is why I don't eat at any of the large chain restaurants. It's not that these places are bad. Many have found great ways of giving back to the communities in which they are a part. It's not that the food is bad. Each chain I'm picking on today uses high quality ingredients and increasingly often, fresh rather than frozen or canned. No, the reason for my distain begins with the corporate training for their cooks. (Yes. I said "cooks" not "chefs.") The masses who frequent these chain restaurants have lauded the two elements which are the enemy to any artist: low cost and consistency. (Think Rembrandt vs Bob Ross.)




The food prepared at one point of sale in a chain is expected to be identical to any other point in that chain. An order of eggs over easy, a slice of ham, hashbrowns and 2 pancakes will not only have the same flavor from store to store, but will even be arranged on the plate to look identical. And to keep the prices as consistent and competitive as possible, they order the same ingredients for every location knowing exactly how much of each ingredient goes into each serving. Henry Ford's principles applied to the kitchen.

It's easy to get up on my soapbox. We demand that there be no accidents that could spoil an otherwise consistent dinner. We are willing to sacrifice surprise. But let me phrase this another way: "It's easy for ME to get up on MY soapbox." I don't have kids. No growing teenagers who need an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet. When one has the luxury of time, then one has the ability to hunt for locally owned establishments. I get to know the waitstaff and chef. I can stay late and talk during the off-peak hours. I try to tip well and say thank you and tell the manager how much we enjoyed ourselves. I don't mind paying $10 more for a tab at a Mom-and-Pop restaurant if it's high quality and they are working to offer something unique.

Instead of The Olive Garden, I go to Stellas. Instead of Applebees, I go to the OLI.

Go to the chains if you have to, but I encourage you, when you have the time, take it. Follow the road less traveled. Make friends with people who take care of you. Search out people and restaurants who have a a passion for food. In short, reward yourself with a few of the finer things in life. You deserve it.

For some pleasantly shocking surprises try:

Homemade Pizza

for the Dough:
4 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour + more for kneading
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 tablespoons dry Yeast
2 tablespoons Agave Nectar (or honey)
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 cup of warm Water (+ more if needed)

In a stand mixer (preferably) or a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Stir to combine. In another bowl combine the nectar, oil and water. At a low mixing speed with a dough hook, add the wet into the dry ingredients. Continue to mix until the dough comes together in a rough shaggy mass. turn out onto a floured counter. and knead, adding flour as necessary until the dough is smooth.

Return to the bowl and cover with a warm damp towel. Let rise for 45 minutes. Punch down, turn and let rise for another 45 minutes.

Make your sauces:

Tomato
1 clove of Garlic sliced very thin (think of the scene in Goodfellas) or pressed
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (yes, the good stuff--it matters here)
1 can Tomato Sauce
2 tablespoons Sugar
1 can Tomato Paste
1 tablespoon each of dried Basil, Oregano

Heat the oil in the pan on medium high heat. Add the garilc until it nearly dissolves. Reduce the heat and stir in the sauce, sugar and paste. Stir until smooth. Add the herbs. Add a pinch of salt if needed.

Preheat the oven to 45 degrees for a thin crust pizza or 425 for a thick crust. After the dough has risen a 2nd time, divide into 3 equal parts for thin crust or 2 parts for thick crust. I like rolling the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper. It makes transferring and clean-up MUCH easier. Prick it all over with a fork to keep it from getting bubbles. Coat with a thin layer of olive oil, then sauce. Add toppings. Bake it in the oven until the edges are golden brown and the cheese in the center is bubbly but not crusty (about 10 minutes thin crust, 15 min thick crust).

Some of the toppings to try:

Pepperoni
Ham
Ground Beef
Chicken
Anchovies
Sausages
Shrimp
Pork
Bacon

Mushrooms
Asparagus
Artichoke
Bell Pepper
Chili Peppers
Onions
Rosted Garlic
Pineapple
Mandarin Oranges
Apples
Tomato Slices

Spinach
Basil
Rosemary


Pesto
Alfredo
Sweet and Sour
Tomato
Olive Oil (with a little Balsamic Vinegar)



Anything else you want to try--it's yours to experiment




Banana Chicken Tacos


1 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
Salt
2 tablespoons Chimayo Chili Powder
1/4 teaspoon Cardamom Powder
1/8 teaspoon Cumin Powder
1 Banana sliced
6-8 Corn or Flour Tortillas


Slice the chicken into 1/4 slices and saute in hot olive oil. When it starts getting brown on all sides, reduce the heat to medium or medium low. Add the spices and continue to stir until evenly coated. Add the banana. If the banana is ripe enough, it'll become a sticky sugary sauce.


Serve it up in the tortillas with grated cheese, chopped tomato, shredded lettuce, salsa, sour cream, etc.

What a Little Knowlege Will Do or A Day of Decadence and Good Business Sense

Make no mistake. I love my chosen career. I love the people I work with and work for. I love the thought process I have in seeing the relationships between people and their money. And I love that I can make my own hours.

After a good day of dedicated effort and rewarding results, I left the office for my favorite establishment to meet a good friend and client. We weren't talking shop other than to expound on the joys of life, and we had a few beers and a dozen wings. (Smithwicks at OLI. It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.) More friends joined us. What little bit of decorum we had flew out the window. Laughter. Raucous behavior. Looks from other tables. In short, our kind of fun.

But OLI, beer and wings was not our true plan. My friend and I soon journeyed to a little cigar establishment in Lafayette, Barlow's Premium Cigars and Pipe. For years, I have enjoyed the occasional cigar as any red-blooded American man will. But never before has it been an experience. I've been missing out on the joys of what a truly good cigar can bring to the party and what kind of parties can be found at true gentleman's retreat. (Not to be confused with a gentleman's club, in which may be found cigars, but the attraction is really anything but gentlmanly.) More importantly, however, I was transported to a time and place of Men. Like my imagined hunting lodges of old Europe, we didn't care about the work-a-day rabble trudging on in their self-imposed chains, nor did we worry about our own trials and tribulations that we'll face tomorrow. No. We told stories of larger-than life exploits. Of hunting and fishing and golf and sports. Of kids and family. Of stupid things that men and boys do when women aren't around to provide good counsel. The men here are leaders in their respective industries and many of them celebrate their success with the one thing more precious than all the money they could make: leisure time. Yes, they also all seemed to be rather happy men in their families, their businesses, and their accomplishments in whatever their personal endeavors may be. We all reveled in the stories we could tell. And we smoked cigars.

My friend is an educated connoisseur of cigars, well able to distinguish between regions and wraps and seeds and flavors. He knows how each will smoke, its ash, and the length of time one should savor its rich aroma. When you first enter Barlow's the musky, smokey, leathery smell embraces you and invites you in further. And the humidor is where the magic is ensconced. Dozens of brands, each with muliples of shapes, lengths and girths and styles. He asked what flavors I liked and what type of cigar I'm most familiar and made a few recomendations. I chose an Illusion Epernay. Similar to a robusto in size, its flavor was earthy and nutty, not unlike good forest mushrooms, with a little bit of leather and oak. And then it hit me. This is very much like drinking wine or scotch. You don't have to know every little detail to enjoy it, but if you're aware--truly present to the experience--you'll recognize tastes you already know and love. You need to release yourself from the pretensions of what you're doing and just enjoy it for what it is. When you start to taste the flavors you'll know if it's right for you. Like something sweeter with a bit of chocolate? Or something a bit more bitter like coffee and chicory? Or perhaps a little more floral? I look forward to each of these and to discover new combinations I haven't yet imagined.

I expect you'll hear more from Barlow's.


Tonight's Dinner:

Pan Seared Chicken in a Citrus Sauce with Garlic and Rosemary

4 boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Juice of 1 Lemon
1/2 cup Orange Juice
2 tablespoons fresh Rosemary Leaves, minced
3 large cloves of Garlic, minced
Zest of 1 Lemon
Corn Starch slurry in Orange Juice

In a heavy skillet, on high heat pour in 2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil. Heat it up until it moves like water in the bottom of the pan when you swirl it around. Using tongs, lay the breasts into the oil--be careful, it WILL spatter. Sprinkle with salt. Brown the bottom then flip. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. (Don't put the pepper on until the side browns. Pepper burns and looses its flavor, or at worst could turn bitter.)

Reduce the heat to medium low, flip the breasts and pepper that side, too. Remove the breasts from the skillet and set aside for a moment. Add another tablespoon of olive oil and quickly sautee the rosemary, garlic and lemon zest. Add the lemon and orange juices and deglaze the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken back in and simmer at a low heat for 20 minutes.

Remove the chicken to a serving platter and add the corn starch slurry to the sauce in the pan. Turn the heat up to medium and whisk until smooth. Let come to a boil and thicken the sauce. If it's too thick, you can thin it out with more orange juice or even some chicken broth.

Serve over bowtie pasta with a sprinkle of shredded parmasian cheese.

The sauce would also be good on salmon.