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Grilling Is Essential

Most parties get a grilled item or two. The only time I don’t grill something is when I don’t have a working grill. We all have a little caveman in us, so fire charred items on any menu are a must. It allows for a smokey counterpoint that tickles the parietal lobe in the most wonderfully familiar way. It’s also a way for me to Maillard the hell out of things without sending your smoke alarm into a tizzy.

Bringing The Dish Together

Below is a classic dish and photo for Chef Joshua Alkire, (me).The dish is classic and still original, balanced in texture and flavor, and familiar yet peculiar. The dish is part of the menu from my last post. Tikka masala swordfish with banana roasted mashed potatoes and a za’atar grilled carrot. As with all of my food, everything is always from scratch. I start with spices that are toasted and ground; then add in yogurt, lemon, olive oil, garlic and ginger Use this to marinate the sword fish, then grill to perfection.

Grilling swordfish can yield a dry piece of meat if your not careful. Luckily…I’m careful. Fresh fish is pricey so I can’t screw it up. Before you get to grilling the fish, the sauce needs to come together. That starts with caramelized onion, garlic, ginger, spices and tomato paste, added in their appropriate succession. Water to cook for awhile, then hit with some cream and mount it all with a pat of butter before service.

Next are the banana roasted potatoes: Potatoes, garlic, shallots and herbs are roasted until they are perfectly browned and ready for dinner. But then I top it with sliced bananas and broil until caramelized. While still hot, everything gets transferred to a bowl and mashed with butter and cream. Not mashing totally, as we need to leave some roasted potato texture. I like the combination of banana and potato over the use of plantains. It gives us a layered effect of savory and sweet that is more dynamic than the flavor plantains provide.

Photos Are Hard

The photo is classic because, as per usual it looks unassuming. Often times I am missing a garnish that really makes photography pop. Photos for me are truly difficult. The dish I just walked you through is just another course, and all courses have multiple steps. Then I’m getting these to the table while still hot and doing dishes in between. So leaving time to take pictures is often impossible. Especially good pictures with dynamic angles and perfect lighting.

Before first bite, nervous doubt can hover in the kitchen. It can feel a little uneasy not choosing your menu, or not knowing what you’re getting for dinner that evening. Especially from a guy you’ve never met. I understand the trepidation, but the method exists for a reason. Creating something new, is the norm for this chef.

Not having a pre-planned menu isn’t based on ego or laziness. It’s about freedom, expression, spontaneity and duty. Freedom to choose foods that are exciting or beautiful. Expression because food is art. Spontaneity to choose new ingredients or switch directions and trust my instincts. Then duty; the duty I have to you, the client. The duty to reward your trust and make sure you’re presented with an amazing product. I guess ego is in there to a point because I don’t want to let you down. Or allow you to feel regretful of not going with a chef that manages things a little more traditionally. Just rest assured: Wherever the party, I’m looking to impress.

Although I reside in La Mesa, the menu listed below was for a La Jolla based client. Because I want people to experience something different. I try to stay playful, for all our benefit.

Gorgonzola wrapped red grapes coated with toasted walnuts and vinaigrette
Seared green tomato and seared mozzarella with balsamic/honey arugula
Swordfish tikka masala with banana roasted mashed potatoes and za’atar grilled carrot
Garlic kale and zucchini salad with roasted tomato, fresh herbs and fried oregano
French onion soup over rib-eye “sashimi” with mushroom flauta and a side of grilled rib-eye
Toasted almond and coconut macaroon with fresh lemon curd, strawberries and rhubarb

2022 has been a whirlwind. My small covid era parties of 2-4 guests have returned to the normal 6-12 count. With the larger groups of vacationers back on the coast, renting rad houses for supreme parties. Combining that with my kids in little league, I look back and can’t believe summer is upon us. Not much has changed over the years, I still love cooking for private parties and bringing the highlights of each season to the table. Always smilin’, focused on inspiration and bringing unexpected creativity to every dinner.

For instance: The orange sauce in the metal bowl pictured to the left is a roasted honey nut squash vinaigrette that went underneath a celery root, apple and kohlrabi salad with fresh pickled beets. Shown below is Fresh yellow fin sashimi with almond/Fresno chile chimichurri with aligot potatoes. With this kind of vibrancy in food, I can assure you I am not the only one that’s always smilin’.

Courses like these come from taking what the season, market and weather tell me. Menus are not pre-planned so I am never bound to just my thoughts in front of a screen. I can smell, see and touch what I choose before I commit. More to come soon, stay tuned!

This year is off to a smashing start, and the starters are smashing. New in 2022 is a theme throughout the year…and hopefully next year…and the next.

Fulfilling menu requests continues to fire me up. The need to deliver on someone’s request is my favorite pressure. Food memories are strong, and I want to be a part of that. Producing a perfect version of something is (and has always been) part of a chefs journey. Especially classics, recipes that (for whatever reason) don’t get much play as time ticks by. But…those recipes are classics for a reason, and it’s always fun to be revisit them. Like that crab cake in the picture above. A lovely starter made in the traditional manner, updated with some bright pickles and complimented with a familiar but intriguing little sauce.

Next with new in 2022 and the star of this years starters, were these rolled tacos…

Not to be confused with taquitos. These were stuffed with fresh Yellowfin tuna, pickled cucumber brunoise, chives, and black caraway; and then stuffed tenderly into a perfectly fried corn tortilla shell and served with ginger/sesame/chile/soy dipping sauce. The combination of sushi/Mexican/crunchy/soft/familiar/new, was a bit of a homerun.

*Furthermore; apologies for the heavy solidus use. Some menus have an extraordinary amount of flavor layering going on.

We spent the summer getting sun kissed, eating watermelon and grilling. Now the air is crisp, blankets are back strewn over the family room and a warm bowl of soup is a welcome familiar hug. As the calm before the winter holiday season, Autumn is relaxing and relaxing is Autumn-atic.

I’m not gonna wax on but gosh darn…I love me some chill in the air. As a chef that fly’s by the seat of the seasons, there is a big exhale at the end of each one. As the new seasons emerge, new ingredients come into play. Away with the cucumbers and zucchini while welcoming large squashes and sweet root veggies. Stone fruits are now only in jams and fresh pears are sparkling with personality.

And of course we can’t forget chili. An October staple in many an American household, ours is no different. I make chili every year for Halloween (just as my mom did), and I have never not made it. It’s never the same and always an unusually obscene amount. If it doesn’t get torched that first week using it for breakfast lunch and dinners, then we’re always happy putting it in the freezer and revisiting a bowl in January.

Halloween through Super Bowl is usually a whirlwind; there are parties to work and parties to attend. When not consumed with holiday obligations and fun, I’m snuggling down with a righteous bowl of soup and a fire. I hope everyone has a safe, fulfilling and memorable holiday season.

Maybe not for me…but the Fresh Prince had it right for you. San Diego is a great city for fun and relaxation. Double down on that with a personal chef preparing a summer dinner. Then you’ll bring everyone to another level of contentedness. I find time for myself in the summer as well; but I always strive to cook a memorable dinner with no hassle for you, from introduction to dessert.

About a month ago I cooked for a couple celebrating their anniversary. While 99% of my parties are fun, every now and then there are people who stand out with just a little more sparkle. The vibrancy of two people in love after 10 plus years is always fulfilling to witness. I am luckily in that category, but it’s still always fun to be around.

The pictures show courses 2 and 5 of 8. The first is brassica and spring onions: Butter roasted brussels sprouts and spring onion with poached kohlrabi and kohlrabi leaf nage. Using all components of a vegetable like the kohlrabi is a lot like using the whole chicken instead of just the breast. The course pictured below is righteously grilled prime ribeye with grilled maitake mushroom, fresh parmesan heavy gnocchi and porcini and white wine broth lifted with a little butter. Some courses tend to want another component to bring it all together. Or something added as a garnish for optimal photography. But not having redundancy in flavor from course to course is crucial. So, while this steak dish could have been garnished with herb fried, julienned carrots. Those flavors were already purposed in the salad course. It’s all a fun balancing act.

April in San Diego tends to produce spectacular weather. This year is no different; with people consciously getting back to life out of the house, April is shining even brighter than normal and making our ability to love easier than ever.

Although some kids have been in classrooms for awhile, mine are just getting back. Which is a gigantic breath of fresh air. Just like it’s nice to get away from home, it’s nice for the daily separation of kids and parents to resume. It frees our minds to concentrate on other things. So when we come back together, our love and attention is free flowing.

Recently my family ordered in sushi for dinner, (Narumi). It was on point as usual, but it also led me to a fun and unexpected inspiration. For my dinner party the next evening, I landed on a sushi-esque preparation for salad.

Over the years, there has always been an element of pride I take in veggie preparations and salads. My belief is that a positive food memory contains balance. Overlooking those herbivorous courses will take you right out of flavor town and lost down fail sauce river. Veggie rolls of varying concepts have been created over the years, with good success. Not something I do for large parties because it is time consuming. But this one is just fire. Texturally and gustatorily, it weaves in new interest with every bite. Carrot, celeriac and zucchini make up the wrapper, while the filling is turnip, apple, avocado and mixed herbs. Everything comes together with a rich but restrained almond/ginger dressing.

So cheers to Spring and getting back into life. While you’ll most likely only see this salad on this blog page. There are other culinary creations to be conjured for your pleasure…and conjure them, I will.

It started from a Saveur magazine article that blipped through my news feed. I’m a sucker for an epic sandwich, especially one with a cultural anchor somewhere; so I read on. This French/Caribbean masterpiece that found it’s way to Guadalupe is called Bokit. The bread base is nothing new to our culinary world, yeast leavened fry bread has been done before in various parts of the world. I’ve been making different versions of loukamades for a couple decades, but I guess those are closer to doughnuts. Now that I think about it…most fry breads are soda leavened and most places don’t fry naan. Regardless…I never made it into a sandwich, and I definitely never made this sandwich. Another magical creation stemming from random ingredient leftovers; a *Musgo if you will. Rutabaga, mint, un-ripened strawberries, peppers, lettuce, carrot…

My wife was skeptical about the strawberries, but they were essential to the moan inducing creation; as were all the ingredients. This sandwich is a microcosm of my food. Lot’s of unexpected flavors and textures bludgeoning you with pleasure until you have no choice but to close your eyes, let out a moan of ecstasy and try to comprehend the feeling you have been enlightened to. Wondering if what you just experienced was legal.

*anything in the fridge that “Must Go”

“Hmmmm, what personal chef shall I get? Oh! Here’s one talking about death…perfect.”

Sometimes it’s time to move on and sometimes you should have already moved on. Such was the case in this Chef’s life. I have been cooking with the same set of $200 pans for at least 14 years. They’ve been reliable and tough, but the time has finally come to be out with the old, and in with the new.

Moving on from my old cookware was meaningful because of all the food it’s seen. But that was not the death I was speaking of in the title. We had actual death here on “the homestead.” Not my first time butchering, but it was my first time butchering chickens I raised. We altered our flock of laying hens by turning two chickens and a rooster into meat birds. Two of the chickens were no longer producing and always starting fights. The rooster, although cool, wore out his welcome and usefulness by crowing loudly, and early, every morning. Not a surprise, as that’s what roosters do, but it just wasn’t jiving with our love of sleep. We raised him from an egg, which was special and fun, but messing with mommas sleep has consequences. Plus, that’s not what the neighbors signed up for.

Rooster is delicious, don’t let anyone tell you different. I went mostly classic on this guy with coq au vin, but slightly altered by grilling instead of pan frying. Tasted like something between rabbit and turkey…in a good way. As a Personal Chef, I wont be serving any of this to my clients, but it’s cool and interesting. Moving on from death is easier when it’s necessary, but death always stays a part of you.

Summertime is a season where we crave things bright, cold and crisp, like cold watermelon. It’s also a time people don’t want to heat up their kitchens, so we move out to the grill. A truly iconic smell and flavor of summer is that of the grill. It screams relaxed and ready to party. So produce some char and burn it up!

Grilled flavor is a consistent point of interest in 98% of my dinner parties. On top of that, I also utilize charring on at least one item during a multi-course dinner. Charring is in essence, burning. It’s a calculated burn with the end result being a charred exterior and sweetened interior. Sometimes the interior stays uncooked, and sometimes it’s soft. Both have their respective places in the menu and each can be an unexpected flavor blast. If you don’t have me coming to cook for your gathering, try it yourself. Sugary things like, carrots, onions and beets all work great for charring. Blaze your grill on high until it’s raging hot. Place an un-oiled item on the hottest part of the grill until the outside(s) burn. Remove from the grill to cool, then rub off the loose char. That’s it, but it might take one or two tries to perfect, so start with carrots.

Below is a dish that could have totally stood up to and benefited from some char. Although the beans are grilled, the bittersweet flavors of charred onion would have been lovely with the heavy butter tones of the risotto.