A New Addiction

So, I've officially become obsessed with the cooking aspects of Top Chef. I still don't care for the reality show aspect of it, but I do like hearing critique and learning about how things work (or don't work) together. That said, I think that it's pretty clear that there's a large gap between the best and the next tier of chefs. For example, I would've placed even money on either Tre or Hung to win this season, after the first episode. But, I love the notion that even for something that's as simple as cooking, that there are superior levels to be reached. And I'd love to be able to reach those levels. I think that I can fire up a stove pretty well, and I consistently manage to put out solid food for myself and my friends. But I don't know if I ever could, or would ever want, to be a chef in a restaurant. I could see myself making it through culinary school, without a whole lot of trouble. But I'd never want to put in the crazy hours. I think that if I ever open up a place (and I would love to at some point), I'd hire on good people to run the day-to-day operations, and I'd just go around, shaking hands on the floor and wander into the kitchen to bother my cooks and come up with an "owner's special" every once in a while. So, I think that my culinary ceiling is pretty limited, but still reasonable enough so that I can make myself some good food at home.

Currently in my kitchen, I've been playing around with a couple things. One is paella. I think that I've gotten a decent grasp on how to flavor rice with the spices that help give paella that nice flavor. And obviously, I know how cooking meat and seafood in the rice adds flavor, as well. I'm trying to get down how to get the nice crunchy edges on the paella, without drying everything out. The other thing is ceviche. I really enjoy using the citrus to cook fish, but figuring out what to use in there has been interesting. I'm trying to work out a nice salmon version with some Pacific Northwest flavors, but it's hard to make it distinct from the traditional Latin American-style recipes. Maybe there's no need to, though... we'll see. And finally, I've decided that I need to develop my knife skills. So, I've bought some extra veggies and chickens so that I can work on my chopping and boning skills. Heh-heh. I said "boning skills."

Anyway, there's not been a whole lot new in the food scene here in Champaign. There's a new sandwich joint that opened up next to Crane Alley, but that's lunch only. I'll try to make it in to give it a look over. I know that I promised a few reviews, which will be coming soon. Really, I've been just rocking it out in my kitchen more the last few weeks, with occasional trips out to KO Fusion for sushi (trying to stay healthy) and Harold's for fried chicken (failing to stay healthy). But, I've still got some good thoughts on the brunch scene, the tapas scene, and the adventures of the Escobar's/Milo's folks which I need to get out to you guys (preferably after I go out for brunch, tapas, and to Escobar's and Milo's again to refresh my palate :-)

We'll catch you soon!
-foodgeek