Welcome to Chef Geno Knows ... this is going to be for everyone who would like to know the knows I have or don't have. As I sit here thinking of what to share with all of you, when LCD Soundsystem comes on playing "Daft Punk is Playing at my House". Now the idea of having a rock band play in your house, no matter the size of the house or band, just sounds so very dream like that this could be any ones dream. Well, I know that if I had the chance to have this experience I would have to request, also would be willing to beg and plead, for Ween to play at my house. Nothing against Daft Punk, a personal enjoyment is to listen them with your eyes closed, but Ween would and should be my house band. Those of you that have been here to my house know that, that would be a challenge just to fit a drum set into the Main room. I say Main room because everything that would be in a traditional Family and Living room are all together as one small, big party. Here is one of the best reasons to have Ween as your house band is that they play everything and anything. Those who don't know what Ween sounds like, think of it as if Frank Zappa had produced the Beatles. If you are still trying to wrap your head around that idea. Put it like this Harmonies, Genius and pure mad scientists with a mixer and a microphone.
So, here is another know I have and that is that being unemployed is not all that it is cracked out to be by those on reality TV. I mean on the TV, people are unemployed and they make it out to be such fun time doing whatever. Well I call some serious BULLSHIT on that notion. Yes, having some time away from some situations has been nice. And I think I did need some time away from the fucking dumb asses that were calling themselves, either cooks, chefs or team leaders and mentors. When I use the term mentor I use it in the way as if a ghost would be guiding your path. I know this, it is real fucking hard to see ghosts if the ghosts don't want to be seen. No I am not saying that there are or are not ghosts, but if there were ghosts they seem to chose who they appear to and when they appear. It may seem that I am still a bit bitter about where I am in my career and I assure you that is not the case. Completely the opposite. I am very excited about what I can do as a chef and the amazing things that I think about everyday. I think about the perfect food. I interrupt this thought to ask a question, for all of you, What is the perfect food? Here are a few hints to the results of the question. First off it does contain all five of the food groups, you could include the sixth food group if you would like. Now you ask what is the sixth food group? Is this like when scientists said that Pluto would no longer be acknowledged as a planet. Not quite but close. The sixth food group is Junk Food AKA the American diet. The next hint is you don't even need utensils to eat it. I m going to guess that you all figured out the answer and that is that the perfect food is the great SANDWICH. Yes, I think about sandwiches almost everyday. How do I make the most perfect sandwich that there could be. Do I start by thinking of the weirdest foods to put on it or do I start in a particular cuisine or do I start with the most simplest yet most flavorful foods. You know like a gourmet P.B & J. You could make some home-made peanut butter and of course your own jam or jelly. You know like when I as a kid and we would drive someplace in Auburn or Black Diamond (aka B.F.E, WA.) and pick a lot of strawberries. Then we would take these 8 - 10 flats of strawberries and start the process. This was Saturday. Sunday was another full day of washing, cleaning and cooking of the berries. Oh but the jarring has just began and this will continue until the end of the day. Going to sleep with the scent o strawberries all throughout our house was very rest full. Now back to the sandwiches, my wife just texted me that she wants Turkey-day turkey for sandwiches for dinner tonight. So I know what to do I need to get turkey breast and, oh I don't know maybe wrap it in bacon. Yeah, bacon wrapped turkey breast roasted in the oven. (I will write a recipe at the end for the turkey wrapped in gods gift to us bacon and all that we eat from the pig, aaaaahhhhhh, pig what a delicious thing to get to eat.) Sorry about that I get lost dreaming of all the tasty treats you can make from a pig. Now instead of a cold sandwich it's going to be hot and fresh, sliced only after it rested for five minutes or so or until my beer is finished. The time it takes for some of us to drink a beer is a good mechanism to use for timing the resting of a roasted piece of meat.
And now a bit of baseball for you. Most of all of you know that I am a huge baseball fan. Some of you might even say that I am a little baseball crazy. And it would be true. So my team the Mariners had a bad year last year and we will leave 2010 in 2010 and we will embrace 2011 as others embrace the hope and joy of kicking some ass this season. Now the optimist in me says we can win the west but the realist in me says a .500 season is possible. You ask what do they need to start winning? Well the obvious is some offense but I think that is a little to simple. I think that it is a lot more complex than that. It is a psychological thing, when the players hit the shit out of the ball and it goes into the defenses gloves. You say nice play and move on. Right? Yes at the beginning of the season because they still have many games to go. But come May & June and you are way off your regular pace for Homers & RBIs. You start thinking this god damn Safeco Field. If I could just play at a different ballpark. I'd be having a better season, right now. So you say that, I am only spouting off at the mouth. That can be true but I don't believe that I am. A great example is Adrian Beltre. He goes to Fenway Park and hit starts hitting like he did in Los Angeles. Now he was the .300/30/100 tpe of ball player that he was before. He leaves L.A. and signs a huge contract with Seattle and his numbers fall bi time. Now with a lot a players they might play for a contract in the last year of a deal and so he should of had an amazing year in 2009. You wold be mistaken if you thought that. He had another sad year that led him to only a one year deal with Boston. And loo what kind of numbers he put up at Fenway. Fantastic numbers and then signs another big contract, this time with Texas. He is one of what I think are many possible examples of Safeco reeking havoc with the Psyche of the team. So if you were to get guys who rack up hits in the tat carts you could start winning in Seattle. In 2001, that team was filled with hitters not sluggers and look what they did. They won 116. Now that is where the greatness ended on that season. I will save that for a whole different day. So what we need as go forward are players that don't look at the field as their enemy but as their friend. The place is huge and wide open. Our offense should be comprised of double hitters and home run hitters because the ball is not going to fly out. When I sit and read about some of the early 1900's team and watch the teams from the 50's - the 70's you see teams made up of hitters not sluggers. Here is a team of hitter for you. The Big Red Machine. That is a team of hitters not sluggers and in a somewhat slugger friendly park. (I know they are called hitter friendly but for this I will refer to it as a slugger friendly park.) Hitters were able to do very well in that park. I mean Pete Rose the all-time hit king played most of his career in that park. And Pete really was not much of a slugger, he as a hitter. Now jump back to 2011 and we have another pure hitter here in Seattle that goes by the name of Ichiro. It is not always about home runs. It's about runs and how many you get for your team and how many more than their team. So if you can fill a team that hits for a good average and gets on base you can score runs without having to count on somebody to hit a five run homer. Just get some god damn hits.
Alright that recipe I promised:
8# Turkey breast (skin-on is best)
10 - 12 strips of Bacon
1 bunch Thyme
1 clove Garlic, chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste
Start off by heating up your oven to 350*F. Next, lets get that thyme picked and garlic chopped up. Keep them separate when you chop them. You now can mix the thyme, garlic and a little S & P together. Set off to the side and get out the Turkey breast. Take the skin ad slightly lift it up. While you have the skin lifted place the thyme-garlic mix on the meat and under the skin. Now get that bacon because it is time to get your wrap on. Seriously though, take the turkey breast and place a strip of bacon around one end. I suggest to start at the larger of the two ends. Once you have the first strip completely around, over lap with the next piece continuing to wrap the bacon around the turkey keeping it firmly to the turkey. On place a small rondue on the burner and get it smoking with a small bit of olive oil. Place the deliciously wrapped turkey breast into the pan searing it off to sear in the juices of the turkey plus giving the bacon the tat of some color. Now thayoiu have color on the bacon place in your nice and hot oven and cook for 15 - 20 minutes or it has reached an internal temp of 165*F. Remove from oven and let it rest for 5 minutes or until your beer is done.
And these are just some of the things that Chef Geno Knows ...
Hi everyone, I just wanted to stop by and place a few pictures of me and some of my favorite things. And yes that black & white cat is a thing. If have ever met Eliot, you know he's an odd cat. You see he is on the top of our shower, stalking the showerhead and waiting for his oppertunity to attack. He is still afraid of water but for some reason he seems to be pissed at the showerhead. I know I haven't seen many of you in awhile but I have chose to grow a beard. It came in pretty damn good. I have never grown a full beard being that you had to have full growth by your next shift. So two days was just not enough time to really come in to it's own. Now I have the time to do things like grow a beard. The photo above me and next the cat is a photo of a photo of one of my favorite paces on Earth, Safeco Field. The picture was taken at the time of the first pitch ever thrown at Safeco for a Mariners game. It was thrown by Jamie Moyer, a change-up for a strike, I know this because I have he picture. Oh this last one is not of a NASA picture but an album cover to one of my most loved albums, Meddle by P
ink Floyd. For those of you who have not listened to it or have forgot about it, the songs on there are some of the best that the group has ever written. You have the 23 minute Echoes which was penned by Richard Wright with supporting credit fom the rest the band. Then there is the opening track One of These Days, which I feel is a percurser to One of My Turns on The Wall. It has that dramatic build up the the finally, which are the only lyrics "One of these days/ I'm going to cut you/ into little pieces." Ahh, happy times. Actually it was happy times full of creativity and good time. The third of the six songs on the album, that are on my iPod is, San Tropez which such a joyful and pleasant listen that even your Mom, who is hooked on Elvis and Perry Como, can enjoy this tune with out wondering what the hell they are listening to. You can tell they that it's Pink Floyd, you like it don't you? Enough with my album review but, I know this, that Meddle and the songs I mentioned are a must to be listened too. It looks like a simple stop and post became a little more than expected.
