Dusting off

I remembered I had this blog after listening to Jack Spirko's Survival Podcast on entrepreneurship. A lot has changed in my life since my last and only posts on here and I wanted to take a minute to just get this ball rolling again. Going to update my bio, I now have two wonderful babies; Ava who is almost 3 and Colt who has just about hit 6 months, Jackson the dog is still roaming about happily too. We've moved into a new place in Nashville and I now manage the restaurant that I served in.

Alaina and I have been volunteering/working for a couple of local conventions here in Nashville for the past 2/3 years, namely, the middle Tennessee anime convention (MTAC) and geek media expo (GMX). Just last month we had the priveledge of working Akaicon too. These conventions have given us some great practical experience for cooking in larger quantities, and with limited/restricted resources(hotel rooms are not good places to cook meat). We've met some really cool people along the way (Kazha, Hideki, Ryo, the Marble Hornets team, Chris of Mill Creek Brewing, Amber Nash of Archer, Junko Fujiyama, Vendetta and ScatterDot) and shared some tasty dishes and drinks with our new friends.

All of this started with a love of geeky things and finding a way to bring something that i'm passionate about to another thing that I love (now if I could only incorporate firearms in there somehow). I believe the friendships and network we're creating doing these events will be invaluable in our quest to launch The Frying Dragon.

Life is busy with the kiddos and such, but, I've given it a shove and we'll get this project going again.

Cheers,
Keith

Lethargy

Well Yesterday's dinner was my first go, and let me tell you documenting while cooking is HARD! So today I took it easy and just prepared without documentation, but i'll still fill you in on the good eats. The recipe i've modified, but I did hijack it from a Mister Emeril Lagasse on Food Network. Tonights dinner was ginger pork lettuce wraps with spicy honey sriracha sauce. Simple, quick, and nose running delicous. Signing out for the night, more content to follow tomorrow =) Happy Eating!

Pan Chicken and Roasted Potatoes

So tonight for dinner I'm whipping up one of our house favorites, pan chicken and roasted potatoes. It's a very simple and tasty dish that'll knock off your respective socks. Tonight for the sake of time and my stage fright in anticipation of cooking while trying to photograph, I neglected a great preparation option, but more on that after.

First things first, what you'll need:
A large oven capable saute pan (if you don't have one, you can use a pyrex)**
2 chicken breasts (or parts, either works fine)
5-6 slices of Bacon (pancetta works wonders as well if you're feeling fancy or in the dog house)
1 can of chicken stock
1 stick of butter
4-6 red potatoes
Rosemary
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
1 healthy cup teaspoon minced garlic (or more if you love it like us)
Oil (olive or vegetable)

annnd completely optional:
Truffle oil (again if you're feeling fancy or if the in-laws are coming over and you like them)

The first thing you're gonna want to get going are the potatoes, as they take the longest. Wash thoroughly and cut up into bite size bits. Chuck them into a bowl with a little vegetable oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Mix together to make sure all pieces are coated nicely.

Spread on a cookie sheet covered in foil and tagged with pam. Pop into an oven on 350 for 40min to an hour, turning halfway trough and checking whether they are done or not by poking them with a fork.

While the oven is preheating for the potatoes, get your handy-dandy saute pan out and pop your bacon into it. Usually I like to cut mine into 1" pieces, but I forgot to do so this time. Cook until crispy, and don't mind the burnt deliciousness in the bottom of the pan, we're gonna need that later. Take the pan off heat, remove the bacon from the pan and place on some paper towels to drain fat and retain crispyness.

On to the main protein, we take the chicken, tag it with some lemon zest, olive oil (easy on the oil, this is just to help meld flavors), garlic powder, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. I like to marinade my meats in ziploc bags, its easy cleanup and a wise man once told me "if you don't marinade your meat in a ziploc bag, you think too highly of yourself". I'm a humble guy.

Now the taters are in the oven and the bacon fat is rendered into the pan we're ready for the chicken. Heat pan about medium heat and get the fat nice and hot, place chicken in, making sure to slide into pan away from yourself so the chicken doesn't stick to the pan, and you don't get splashed with molten napalm fat. Sear each side until nice and browned, add onion, mix, and place into oven lidded with potatoes. Let that cruise for about half an hour and check for done-ness.

Take chicken and onions out from the oven (be careful it is ridiculously hot, I found out the hard way once) and remove them from the pan. All of that glorious drippage and rendering is going to be the boss on the dish. Put your pan back onto high heat and take some white wine(approx 1/3 cup) and chicken stock and add to pan once its hot, stirring in immediately to get all that burnt stuff up off of the bottom. Add 1/2 a stick of butter constantly stirring, adding more butter to attain desired richness. I usually go between 3/4 to a whole stick depending on how much sauce I have in the pan to start.

Garnish potatoes with truffle oil, drizzle lightly. I stress lightly, this stuff is potent! Plate your junk and WIN! Pictures to follow tomorrow. Please leave comments or suggestions, or your favorite chicken dish! Happy Eating!

The Dawn of a New Era

Hello, my name is Keith and I am an average guy just like a lot of you out there. I'm happily married, have a dog, and serve at a restaurant for a living. My mother is Chinese and Thai, my father is of German descent, and I had the privilege of eating all sorts of things growing up. I love eating good food, cooking good food, eating that aforementioned cooked food, the science behind cooking, and well, just about everything about food. With this blog I hope to show the world that cooking all sorts of different great tasting dishes is easy and approachable to every single one of us.

Today marks the first day of the realization of my dreams, to one day open an Asian-Americana restaurant and impart delicious whole food, eclectic taste, and Engrish soul to my friends and family.