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I have access to a true Napoletana Pizzaiola

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
He is teaching us how to cook using fire and operating a coal oven. Tonight we cooked a whole chickens in the oven. He made almond, goat cheese, in a berry balsamic glaze chicken thighs. He eats roasted Garlic as a snack. He seems to like me because I can talk football and bikes and Il Pirata. I really enjoy making Pizzas. Tomorrow I am going to cook pizzas in a Iron pan. We make dough called "craco" which is like "scrato" except you put an eggs in your 40 kilo mix. He bought 10 baskets of clams. I guess we are making New Haven style Pizza's tomorrow.
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
Chopped almonds, sautéed spinach, and clams, lots of garlic again, butter, and breadcrumbs too. I smell like burnt animal. It was very educational.
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
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Chard! It grows like a weed.. Chard and leek salad. White asparagus and chopped Garlic shoots. Grape leaves the size of Tortillas! Oh my the bounty!
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
Red Bell Peppers out of the garden, Cali Almonds, and San Marizano Tomato's from NJ roasted in a pan in the wood oven. Chicken Thighs and Wings roasted in the oven and then added to the Tomato pan. Served on top of Seven bunches of Spinach. At some point someone threw Fresh Garlic and Capers in the mix.... I burned the risotto.
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
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Lamb Sausage and Zucchini Deep dish stuffed pies from Calabria. Ricotta and Eggs, Onions and sautéed Rabe. I made the sauce out of San Mari's from Jersey. Just Oregano and some Garlic Powder. Just enough to matter... Quanto basta per argomento or Basta...
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
Meatballs made with ground round and ground pork shoulder. I put some sausage in too as I didn't want to waste it. Tons of Garlic and fresh Parsley. Baseball sized balls. I dusted them with Romano cheese before I cooked them in a pan smeared with lard. 600 deg for 11 minutes (med rare). I tip the pans and let them stand for 2 hours before they get sauced.... 1 pan = 60 balls = $80, $12 cost, $20 labor, Pans $3, buckets $1. Aramark buys 600 balls a week. About to sign a deal with Sodexo for the same.
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
Got offered a job in Maryland tonight.... I was honest with the guy and told him I can cook/bake but not manage. He offered me more money. I know nothing about Bethesda... I made him Garlic Ginger wings in the oven and a Margarita pie. Ginger and Basil polluted the oven for an hour afterwards... After 3 glasses of wine I got him a cab and sent him to the Hotel.... I got a fresh Pineapple to play with tomorrow. Serrano Ham and Ontario Pork Belly's, not sure what to do with that. The Onions and Potatoes I get at the PM are just amazing. Great mators and corn too.

Turns out the guy is a crook....
 
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jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
I make Kick ass Risotto. Just Butter and Parmesan. Soft cooked an egg in mine. I am going to learn to cook fresh corn tomorrow..
 
Got offered a job in Maryland tonight.... I was honest with the guy and told him I can cook/bake but not manage. He offered me more money. I know nothing about Bethesda... I made him Garlic Ginger wings in the oven and a Margarita pie. Ginger and Basil polluted the oven for an hour afterwards... After 3 glasses of wine I got him a cab and sent him to the Hotel.... I got a fresh Pineapple to play with tomorrow. Serrano Ham and Ontario Pork Belly's, not sure what to do with that. The Onions and Potatoes I get at the PM are just amazing. Great mators and corn too.

Turns out the guy is a crook....
Go for it.
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
Go for it.
Dude ordered an oven and they delivered it. A local contractor built it at his location. He was responsible for paying them and hasn't. He made some shortcuts concerning local fire laws and building code and got caught and blamed it on the masons and wants them to pay for the additional work needed to get the oven up to code. Now he has a $26000 coal fired oven built into a leased building. He has nobody on staff who knows how to operate it. I suspect as soon as I go there and teach the slimy bastard how to use it I will be stuck in DC. The dude has no recipes. He wants my recipes to be his by virtue of hiring me. I have no interest in running a retail bakery/restaurant for him. Mr Seilig is slimy and I don't trust him. He's a coke head too.....
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
Tonight we had a guest chef. He is from Tunisia. He made an onion dish from Elba Whites, along with some kind of clear liquor, Honey, Balsamic vinegar, and cracked pepper. As far as I can tell, he gets the pan hot in the oven. He then puts the liquor and Onions shredded super thin in the hot pan. Pulls it out quick, then adds the honey and pepper after they are translucent. He then put it back until you smell the Honey. He dribbles the Vinegar on the finished onions and served it in a flat bread with Goat cheese and roasted lamb loins shredded like pork. But clearly the onions were the star of the show.... I honestly know nothing about Southern Mediterranean food. The pans he used are Iron, hammered out like a Cymbal. Very cool. I always thought Couscous was Lebanese.
 
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jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
The new chef wants to make her own cured meats. Our Primary purpose is to cook dishes in a Coal Fired oven for potential customers of those ovens. And to train organizations how to utilize the ovens into their kitchens. Every night we are there is to facilitate the sale of the ovens we import at great cost. Most of the food we prepare we eat ourselves or give away. Many of our customers are just friends of my boss. Most cured meats are not prepared in a oven. Our ovens operate at 800/900 deg. I can cook a pizza in 3 minutes. Flat breads cook almost immediately. As a experiment I took a Smith Brothers Virginia ham. and sliced it thin and added it to a Garlic Tomato Pizza. The Ham gets crispy and all the flavor is lost at those temps. I tried slicing the ham thicker, same result. Our Sausage is just Gianellis sweet enhanced with hunks of salt pork so it doesn't turn to little charred turds. I let on that I have experience smoking meats but not curing them. My Boss has now elected me to find a indoor smoking curing option. My thought is that most folks who eat Chatucerie go out to eat it. I have been overruled.
 
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jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
isn't curing meat a long process, similar to aging beef / steak, and done without heat???
Yes my point exactly.... It's a gentle heat, quite the opposite of baking/pan roasting. My Grandpa had a smokehouse built from Oak logs pulled from a creek. He built the foundation out of cobbles. and made the racks from a Iron fence segment. He would brine his hams in maple Sugar, Salt, and Silo Mash from Corn. Aging beef is essentially draining the blood out after slaughter. I like to adhere to Kosher rules concerning beef. Dry curing is not a safe method of preparation IMO...
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
I was wrong. Fresh cheese, fresh Vegetables, Old meat and, Eggs. Baked into Sour Dough... Thin crust sour dough Foccacia. Fresh Rosemary and Thyme.... Greek Olive oil, Finger Lakes Goat cheese. Lamb fennel sausage aldos. New chef kicks ass... If you haven't heard of a Aldo, just wait, you will..
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
Curing... Phugging **** up with to much salt. Not a fan... To much work, not enough reward.

Ever wonder why pig and Potato farmers are always skinny? Corn and wheat guys are hippos?

My brine = parts maple syrup to salt, no water. Maybe some stout...
 
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jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
I attempted to make Pastrami tonight. Apparently Hillshire Farms makes better Pastrami. I served it on Kimmelwick with swiss. I failed...