Culinary Adventures of MadZak

I find it kind of funny when i think about there being whole committees and associations around cheeses alone! I guess this is true for all things food, but the dedication to one was certainly apparent at the Seattle Cheese Fest this year. Judy and I took a nice stroll through Pikes Place Market on this lovely day, amazing weather, and checked out the wares.

They had everything from cheedar to gouda. Supposedly we tasted the “best gouda in the world” which tasted pretty good. The amount of people at the festival made it hard to grab some cheeses but after wrestling through the crowds we managed to snag a few. It was not until then I realized that cheese tasting is almost as developed as wine tasting. Sure you pair the too up very well but even on it’s own, telling the differences between good cheeses is near impossible. In my mind, if it wasn’t some store bought brand, it was good

I must confess that I am no where near a cheese guy, and being a veggie boy means it is no where near my diet. It’s nice to step out of ones tastes to explore what wonderful things other folks are doing though. At the festival there were a few cooking demonstration, one about gnocchi and another about making your own cheese. They were very well put together and I was very pleased to see the amount of people watching. My hope is at least half of that will make their own cheese or gnocchi one day rather than buying.

So the Cheese Fest was a success by terms of people, the way the cheese impacted, and the robustness of not just providing cheeses to try but also things to do with them. I will see you again next year Seattle Cheese Fest!

Judy and I received a last minute invite to a local wine club event called the “Tom Douglas Press Club”  which was having a salmon and Pinot Noir pairing tasting. Once I heard what the pairings would be I was immediately interested. Prior to this night, I have not once hadPinot Noir and salmon paired together, not once I tell you! Turns out that I wouldn’t just explore but I also learned quite a bit about wines and salmon.

I will state this up front, I don’t like pinot noir with salmon. I’m not 100% sure why, but the pairing combinations just did nothing for me. This could come from the fact that I am no where near a good wine person and end up sticking with whites and reds general pairings (seafood vs meats). From what I can tell, this combination isn’t something that occurs very often and I applaud the club for stepping out of the box and trying something new. Although i wasn’t fond of the pairing, I was very fond of the information I learned about salmon and pinot noir.

The event gave me the ability to try steamed salmon from six different species. Chinook, Coho, Chum, Pink, Sockeye, and Steelhead. Out of those six the following are place in order of my liking: Chinook, Steelhead, and Sockeye. So let’s talk about the ones I didn’t like, Pink, Chum, and Coho for a brief second. They were  all too dry (not overcooked, but taste wise) and had very strong fish flavors. Sure when you eat fish, you will have that flavor but those three seemed to really stand out as fish and might stand out very loudly as fish in dishes. The Chinook, Steelhead, and Sockeye had a very fluffy light texture and had hints of their natural flavor and not too much of it. These three would probably provide a very awesome base for any sauce due to their textures and not masking fish flavor.

So what about the Pinot Noir? Well we had eight different selections coming with 2 from: New Zealand, Oregon, France, and California. It was nice to be able to compare and contrast the different regions. Obviously France was superb and I expected no less at all, however Oregon played a very close second. I found it strange that I like Oregon over California but really their wines were not only priced well but delivered well also. Also interesting about Oregon, in 2007 they had a bit of a weather problem which caused some deviations in their quality. Nothing horrible but nothing amazing, then going up to 2009 they grew up into amazing! The nice tidbit I learned was if you find a 2007 buy it (cause it’s cheap) and store it for a few years, 2008 is a bit more but still not awesome, and 2009 is awesome (although the price is higher for such awesomeness).

So I realize that I have been gone for a long time. It wasn’t my plan to disappear like that at all! As some of you may know, my family and I decided the west coast was where we belonged so I managed to find a job in Seattle and packed up shop. It finally feels like home again and I am ready and more prepared then ever to bring Madzak back into the interwebs.

Since moving here I have been visiting different restaurants and festivals, which appear to be plentiful out here. I have collected pictures and information from these things and will be posting my thoughts on them in the up coming days. I also have a bit of a secret which I believe is ripe enough now to be shared…

I am a vegetarian, yup for the last year I have slowly converted to the wonderful world of vegetables. Some would classify me as a vegan but really I am just eat plants. I will also share my reasons in depth in an upcoming post. Rest assured that the same fun and adventures will continue, but will involve veggies instead. Don’t worry meat lovers, a little veggie love will help broaden your cooking skills and I will have some guest chefs to help you guys and gals get your meat fix.

Once again I am sorry to leave you hanging like I did. The good news now is my passion for food is even more alive out here in Seattle then it ever was. I cannot wait to share that passion with all of you as well!

Talk to you soon,
MadZak

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What better way to enjoy a nice sunny and warm day in Seattle than to fire up the grill right? Luckily my friends and I were all on the same page and that’s exactly what we did! Coming from the Ohio suburbs, we never had rooftop grills and although the grill is no different, the experience was just freaking awesome. You get a very calming experience sitting high above the skyline and with the wonderful views that Seattle provides ( as the pictures above show ), you can not go wrong.

To spice up the BBQ, Michelle and Corey (the grill master!) decided to spice up the event with a nice Asian theme. Given the theme and the outdoors eating adventure, I decided that I would be making some delicious cold sesame noodles and a nice asianish coleslaw. They both turned out great and was loved by all. I may just make those noodles again for weekly lunches because it was so easy and I plan to spice it up and bring the recipe on here! Although what I made was delicious, the star of the event was all the marinated meats that were quietly waiting to hop on the grill. We had chicken, beef, shrimp, squid (yes!), asparagus, veggies, and bread. Seriously it was a massive amount of awesome food

The food was great, beyond great really, but the real greatness came in the fun up on the roof with friends and the remarkable view that we had. This was a great way to enjoy a saturday and relax without spending it in a cafe or restaurant. I even got a little sun burnt which for me in the first week of march is the first time ever! Looking forward to next months outdoor BBQ with an italian theme!

Hello foodies,

So this quest is really turning out well as the second attempt has made drastic strides in flavor! I knew the frozen ingredients and dried herbs would affect the quality and flavor but this is tasted like 500% better! Yes no kidding! I’ve been making a nice risotto with the stocks as a kind of measure given those nice little rice grains soak up all that stocky goodness. Although i should probably start a risotto quest as well, my so-so risotto sky rocketed in likability. Here are the ingredients and reflections from this attempt. Oh and I followed the same “tips” as last time.

Ingredients:

• carrots (without skin)
• onions
• 1 bunch celery stalk
• 1 head garlic
• 2 corn cobs
• 1/2 pack white mushrooms
• fresh basil
• fresh thyme
• fresh oregano
• fresh tarragon
• salt

Reflections:

I didn’t realize it but I actually put in less of the items from last time, so I guess I made 2 differences with this batch. Regardless the freshness was the KEY in terms of flavor of the stock. I have also been stressing the limits of the 4 days in the fridge rule for “fresh” I’m finding in my fridge it’ll last about 5 to 6. I don’t recommend this to everyone so in just reheat the stock on the 4th day to get 3 more days out of it and accomplish a nice make 1 day use all week base! Next attempt will be to add the same original ingredients and also see if I can’t strain it in some cheesecloth/coffee filters.

Hello foodies,

Today I am announcing my quest to develop the perfect vegetable stock. I’ve been reading a book lately (book recommendation coming once I finish) that mentioned you aren’t much of a chef if you can’t make a good stock.

I completely agree with this remark and realized that my stocks were just so-so. I’ve begun researching various basics on vegetable stocks and have started focusing on a few factors. My plan/goal is to hone in the stock within a month, so I’m giving myself 4 tries at getting it right. I guess over time I can continue to work on it but I’ll post the great recipe after the 4 attempts. So far these are the items to look out for in creating a great vegetable stock.

• Do not cook for more than an hour.
• “Boil” your vegetables in the stock pot before adding water (this usually means to let your onions get translucent in some oil, I used 1 tablespoon).
• Once you’ve added your water watch for the stock temperature to reach up between 170 and 180, then turn that heat down to maintain it. You should never boil or simmer from what I’ve heard, although I’ve noticed a lot of recipes would like you to go back up to a boil after adding the water.
• Make sure mushrooms are in the stock, they give it more depth.
• Strain after the hour of cooking and let to cool to room temperature before going into the fridge or freezer.

Ingredients in today’s stock are as follows:

• carrots (with skin)
• onions
• celery
• “fresh” rosemary
• garlic
• tomatoes
• corn kernels
• mushrooms
• wood-ear (Asian fungus)
• bay leaves
• dried basil
• dried thyme
• dried oregano
• dried parsley
• peppercorns

Reflections:

First I know it was silly but I actually made all these vegetables up and froze them about a month ago. They don’t do bad in that condition but really to get to a perfect stock, this is unacceptable so next time they will all be fresh. The same thing goes for my herbs as they were all dried and not fresh. So the stock is way better now that I focused on the list of requirements above, however, the real test will come with fresh ingredients. Week 2 should knock my socks off I hope

Like most people out there, I love me some cornbread! I love it so much I took the venture down the road less traveled and decided to make it without a mix. I’ve baked bread and other things before, it can’t be that hard can it? Really it’s not, but apparently i had to learn a few important life and cooking lessons in the process.

I was having a downer of a day this past week and decided it was time to lift my spirits and make something new. While looking for the one ingredient to build off of, I noticed I had a bunch of corn meal for when I make my own pizza. So I figured, it’s cornbread time! I add a bunch of ingredients, look at a few cornbread recipes out there to get my bearings and validate my assumptions, mix it all together, and throw it in the oven. 25 minutes later I return to the sound of the buzzer and pull out my soon to be devoured cornbread. Whoa, what happened? the thing didn’t rise at all! I first blamed the recipes I read for not telling me to put in baking powder. How could they leave that out? I knew it needed it and realized I didn’t put it in right when I saw my now flat loaf of cornbread. None the less, it still tasted good.

Attempt two came two days later. Still sore and beat down from my failed attempt, I decided to right the wrong and make it the proper way. I gathered the ingredients, whipped up some batter, poured it in the pan with parchment paper (trying to avoid cleaning), set it for 25 minutes and walked away. Buzzer goes off, I open the lid and ta da… the corn bread was like risen cornbread now! I knew I was right about the baking powder. Turns out the recipes were too, I just completely skipped that ingredient… Feeling great at my success and righting my wrong from a few days ago, I put it on the stove to cool. Unfortunately this would be my fatal flaw.

See I was also cooking dinner for my wife who was working late and I needed to rehydrate some noodles. To do this, I have to use somewhat boiling water. I turn on the stove and move over to the sink where i realize i can just use the facet as it gets really hot. I begin the fill the bowl with water when a familiar smell enters my nose, a familiar burning smell. I turn around and my cornbread parchment paper is burnt to ash almost but luckily no fires just a nasty smoke. My success just turned into a failure…

So today, right this instant I’m on attempt three and I made sure to concentrate on the cornbread. This was my problem with the earlier attempts, I didn’t focus on what I was doing. I didn’t give respect to the cornbread! Instead I used it for personal gain and to try to be right and so I was punished by the cornbread. In the end I suggest just  by focusing on what you are doing and giving respect to the ingredients and process, you won’t run into so many troubles. Unfortunately I had to learn that the hard way with at least one pan of corn bread in the trash and a smell in the house that reminds me of it

P.S. try three turned out great as you can see by the picture!

Here at MadZak my goal is to deliver you a preview of what you could make with no spins or fancy card tricks, it’s just straight up cooking. With this goal in mind, I find myself giving recipes a new outlook on life. A lot of my ideas for items come from you and from something that looked good some place I visited. I’ve seen that in my off-show cooking, I tend to just combine things and adjust with taste. This mindset is not as hard as one would think, and this view could easily be shifted by just looking a little deeper into our cooking sources.

We surround ourselves with cookbooks and recipes constantly. You find them in newspapers, magazines, this site, and every other place you could think of. Over the years, I think recipes have shifted slightly out of their original focus and have become the defacto cooking standard. Don’t get me wrong here, I love recipes and I feel they are very important to cooking, I just don’t think they should be the standard. Recipes are nothing more than an idea and a journal of success.

My biggest gripe of recipes is that when you follow them, the result is not always positive. If it doesn’t turn out as well as you would have liked you are upset and will probably not try it again. This is where they have shifted. Looking at this situation from an idea mindset versus a instructional one, failure isn’t as well defined. You can also get another positive feeling out of it which maybe the sense of solving a problem, challenging yourself, or being creative.

I feel most of the authors of recipes are folks who took the later approach. They have most probably finely tuned and tweaked the recipe over and over again until they found a forumla that works. This forumla is a great baseline, but it’s only a measure of success for that person. You have different equipment, atmosphere, and quality ingredients than the original author which greatly destroys that sound forumla.

Cooking is an art, but it’s a very tangible, tasty, and simple art to play with. My challenge to you is next time you view a recipe, take the idea and the combination of things and play with it. Chances are you, and your loved ones, will find that eating just got much better!

Wednesday we had some friends over for a nice homemade dinner. Regardless of the wonderful time we all had eating and chatting with each other, we came on to a topic that really hit home. We were commenting on how our lasagna and apple pie didn’t look like the kind you would buy in the grocery store and I’m sure we’ve all had that same realization. Naturally we keep tweaking and moving measurements to try to get the perfect copy of the store or restaurant bought version.

I watched a documentary once on Netflix about a chef at a buddhist colony in California, and he said something that rings true for this topic. He described how he was learning how to bake, and wanted to make biscuits. He tried it once and they didn’t look right, so he kept trying time after time until he realized that maybe what he was making actually was the right look. He understood that he did not have access to all the chemical discoveries and perfect formulas that the big companies do, but that’s okay… You don’t need to! The jist is, there is no singular perfect look, there are many looks.

Not sure what other folks agree with, but I certainly consider cooking to be an art given it’s appeal to all of the senses. So why have we all fallen into the trap of “perfect looks”? Let me know what you think below, but I think it’s just the product of society and it’s unfortunate to see people getting upset because they cannot replicate the look of what they were trying to make. I can’t tell you how many times I saw something that looked interesting, tried it, and was I glad I tried it. Looks just don’t give food justice and that’s the same for art. It won’t always be pretty but it still speaks to you… and it speaks to everyone in a different way.