Closing Time

So as I wrote previously about trying to make decision and making gunslinger comparisons to being a restaurateur. Well, I made my decision. I have taken great pride in running my restaurant. I have taken great pride in my people, customers, food and building. I mean, I would beat my head against the wall just to make sure the tables under the lights were angled just right. When one of my line cooks would not use a spatula to spat all the flavors in a saute' pan after deglazing a piece of veal would drive me nuts. I mean how disrespectful to that poor veal cutlet. I mean that calf lived a whole month(maybe), and for them not to scrape all that beautiful flavor out of that pan. I apologize.. I don't mean to get worked up. It's just that in this business you have to be super competitive. You cannot afford to be good. You have to be great. Not only do you have to be great, but many things under that roof have to be great and not only do many things underneath that roof have to be great they have to be great all the time. Your days and nights in this business are about a bunch of wins. Little wins that add up to big wins. Accurate quotes, happy hosts,  great ticket times, phenomenal pre-bussing, beautiful plate presentations, quick food running, clean floors, perfect ambiance, consistent teamwork. It all adds up. Now, do this day in and day out for 363 days a year. No off season. No time to "re-build", hell we rebuild while we perform. The average turnover percentage in a restaurant is almost 80%. Can you imagine the a professional sports team continuing to play with close to 80% of it's team turned over?  To me the NFL has it easy they have 16 games a year. We play 363. Playing while we train, all while not letting our customers be effected. Like I tell my staff, "our food does not get discounted ever so why would we perform any less at any time?"
With that being said.. Back to my decision. I have decided to leave my life that I have known for the past 18 years. I started at that restaurant company as a bus boy. None of what I know would not be possible if it wasn't for the people who I grew so close with and learn to respect so much. Over the past almost 2 decades I have seen and done so much. I have been a part of many amazing moments. I have been a part of history. Through the ups and the downs I have realized that what we do is not easy but if you have what it takes it's the absolute best most satisfying profession out there. I really am so grateful for my career at Carrabbas's. I am so proud to have been a managing partner with them. It's still hard for me to say "them" it was always "we". I guess that will change with time. All things do change with time. We are ruled by it.  There are so many special people that are associated with our company all started by an amazing incredible family that has the most superior recipes and uncompromising standards. My staff is why we were so successful. We endured some turnover at first,  you always do when trying to change and create a culture. We did just that. They are a group of intelligent, hard working, bright, passionate people that are all for the most part trying to pursue their dream in music either writing or singing or trying to earn a degree here in Nashville.  When they would enter in the restaurant to begin their shift it took a special kind of energy and focus to get them all on the same page so that our common goal of delivering an unforgetable experience was reachable. It's funny where things start and where they end up. I started out almost 5 years ago as their leader and after this week I feel like a student.  The community around me, well I think anyone who has came into our restaurant understands what our customers mean to me. I simply never ever wanted to let them down. They are family to me. I wanted our restaurant to be a warm hug to them when they came in from a long day at work or school. I can only hope that's what they felt. People have many choices to go dine. They will always lots of options. We all are provided with options everyday. We have to make decisions everyday.
So,  moving forward and onward to a new chapter.  A new beginning. A fresh start. New names to learn and more memories to make. New food to fall in love with and new passions to chase. I'm very excited about this new venture. I will always honor where I came from and cherish every moment of every shift and  milestone. On my last night I could not help but take pictures of my favorite time of day. Closing time when everyone leaves and myself and my restaurant planning and bonding reflecting and recharging. There was nothing like closing down the restaurant at night and seeing the tables glimmer in the dinning room lights or the shine from the stainless steel walls beaming becoming a part of the dinning room making one united stage and hearing nothing but the white noise of the coolers and ice machines running. That is poetry to me my friends. That is ownership.  I am completely blessed to do what I simply love to do.

Short but Sweet

Ahh I can almost smell football and apple pie n the air... Fall is almost here before this happens knock out this fresh dessert treat.

As American as Key Lime Pie..
At least as Summer time as Key Lime Pie.

Here is a "twist" on a summer time treat with out all the regret.
Healthy good for you Key Lime Pie. Yes, I say again Healthy Key Lime Pie.








Ingredients

One Pie shell "low fat style" either you can buy one (found in the baker's isle at the grocery store) or make your own and really impress your friends. I like to make mine out of either Golden Grahams  or Life cereal. What ever mood shall be your food.

To Make the cereal pie shell.

Place 3 cups of desired cereal into a food processor. As the cereal is grinding down slowly add about 1 tbl spoon of  honey and a 2 table spoons of water, process until  it looks a little thicker then beach sand. If you feel more liquid feel free to add some. Slightly spray down pie pan and press crust mixture firmly into pan until it forms completely. Bake on 350 for 10-12 minutes. Let it sit aside and cool before adding our Key Lime Mixture.

The Key Lime Pie Filling

1 Packet of sugar-free instant pudding, Vanilla flavor made with 1% milk (yields 2 cups)
1 Tsp of Vanilla extract
1/4 cup of vanilla greek yogurt
1/4 cup of fresh key lime juice
2 Tbl spoon of Truvia
(Optional) 1 scoop of whey vanilla protein

Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Pour filling into the shell and place in your fridge and let it sit up about 1 hour. Top with whipped cream and key lime slices.

Taking Chances

I have learned a lot about taking chances lately. I'm not talking about in life necessarily, but in cooking, career and ok,  life.  We take chances everyday. We take a chance just getting up in the morning and going to work.  Life is a game of chance. There is a chance it may rain today. There is a chance I may win the lotto. We hold on to that word chance. Chance to me is as good as the word hope. There is hope and chance in everything we do, in every day we live. I'm also a little apprehensive of taking a chance yet if you know me you know that I'm super ambitious and driven. Some decisions need to exercise caution. In other situations you do not have that luxury. You see in the restaurant business  we get paid to make quick precise decisions on the spot right there and then. We are gun slingers. We more then often shoot from the hip. We make decisions on the fly and think about them later. If we remember them later that is.  The formula for a restaurant shift is preparation meeting opportunities that help you make decisions that will avoid you from taking a chance on something you wouldn't want to be faced with. These days I am faced with a pretty big decision. No, I do not mean making a decision between a grape tomato or a Roma tomato, but  a decision that not only effects me, but will effect several people and a community. This is one decision that I cannot shoot from my hip. It has been 6 months of contemplating, stressing, praying and planning and soon I will make this decision and with this decision I can never look back and ask "what if?' It's kind of like making a soup and adding spices, you can always add more but once the flavors are in there you can never take them out.

I had a close friend take a chance. He always made decisions and never looked back. All though they we not always the best decisions, he made them and lived with no regrets. He was such a free spirit.

I'm not sure yet what I will do.  That still remains to be seen. In this business you don't always get a chance to enjoy the more fun things that are out there.  We literally work while everyone else plays. I'm not complaining. This is what I signed up for 18 years ago. There has to be sacrifices that are made in running a restaurant. That's just how it goes.  I do know one thing  however.

 I'm ready to give life a chance.

Country Panko Pan Seared Steak

with Heart of Romaine Grape tomatoes and Parmesan Cheese

Not your mom's country fried steak

INGREDIENTS
SERVES 4
COOK TIME 45 MINUTES
 

4   Boneless pork cutlets

         1   cup of panko bread crumbs

                        4  egg whites or 1/2 cup of egg beaters

              a  pinch of salt and black pepper

                                                            1  can of healthy (98% fat-free) cream of mushroom sauce 

1/4 cup of skim milk

       1  cup of shitake mushrooms

                                         1  medium yellow onion sliced thin and halved

Romaine Salad Side

1 Romaine Heart cored and sliced length wise in half
1/2  cup of Grape tomatoes, halved
2  Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
2    table spoons of red wine vinegar
2       table spoons of rice vinegar
1 small glove of garlic minced
a pinch of salt and black pepper
Thinly sliced Parmesan cheese pieces (6-8)

Method

Cooking with pork is fantastic. Especially this particular cut of the pig. It's lean and very versatile. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Start by placing a couple of the cutlets in a ziplock baggie that is easily bigger then them leaving room for them to grow a bit. Pound them lightly with a mallet, if you do not have one, that's ok, you can use the bottom of your saute pan. Pound until they are about a 1/4 of an inch  thick.  Set up your breading station. Place egg whites and Panko bread crumbs in  separate bowls. While this is going on get your Teflon pan going on medium high heat. Back to your pork,  season both sides with salt and pepper place the cutlet in the egg, drip off excess then dip right into the bread crumbs and into the pan. Since we are not using any oil or butter you will have to slowly earn your nice golden brown texture. Cook on both sides for about 2-3 minutes or until you achieve that nice color. This step you MUST babysit. After they are nice and toasty looking. Place them into a Pyrex or ceramic casserole dish. Place Cream of mushroom sauce mixed with 1/4 cup of skim milk, shitake mushrooms and yellow onions right on top of the cutlets. Cover with foil and place in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes.

Even in low fat cooking this color and texture is possible. 

Bath Time!!

While that is cooking let's make our salad. Place the halved grape tomatoes in the vinegar dressing to marinate. When you are ready to plate the main dish go ahead and place the romaine heart on the plate and add the tomatoes and parm cheese slices on top.


This dish a flip on an old classic and easy to make. Play your favorite country song now and enjoy. 

Friendly (not fried) Chicken

I had a crazy craving for good old fried chicken. However the whole point of this blog and my cooking
point of view is to have all the flavor with out all the calories and unwanted fats. I tried this out and we (my wife and I) think it came out with the right texture and flavor.

Ingredients:

6 skinless chicken drummets
Kosher salt
Black Pepper
2 cups Panko Bread crumbs
1/8 cup of skim milk
3 egg whites beaten

Method:
Place oven oven on 350 degrees
Heat non stick saute pan with a little olive oil spray on medium high heat

Season drummets with salt and black pepper all around
Dip them next into the egg and milk mixture
Roll the drums next around in the Panko bread crumbs until fully covered
Once Pan is heated place drums into the pan and cook until bread crumbs turn a nice golden brown color on each side and around the drum.


Place golden brown drums into a Pyrex or casserole dish and bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes

Serve with your favorite side dish. For extra flavor drizzle a little rice vinegar or hot sauce on them.
Don't worry Colonel Sanders won't be mad!!

Soul Food

Hello food world!! I want to apologize for not being very active as of late to all 4 of you. As most of you know I run a restaurant in my spare time...... Spare time meaning I would love to spare some time to have more of a devotion to this blog.  You see running a restaurant takes time.. It takes effort. It takes passion, patience, dedication, energy, love, tears, blood, thick skin, tolerance, urgency, seeing the big picture while being focused on the most technical details, picking your battles while raging a war, fighting a war while maintaing your peace and being at peace when well.... You basically crawl into bed and start all over again.  The restaurant industry is for crazies. You cannot be a sane person in this business. It can be a total contradiction from one moment to the next. I mean it's like naming your dog stay, and telling to come here. You have to be head strong to make it. You have to have the perfect balance between hard work, performer, situation awareness, multi-tasker, bull-shitter, baby sitter and care giver. You must be confident while humble, because this business will humble you. It will curse the day you were born and crush you. It will bring you to your knees...... and while you are on your knees you will thank God for this amazing job. Because moments later there is a smile that gets lit up by a slightly dim dome light as you see heat rising from a ceramic bowl filled with pasta. You catch a conversation about a great report card that was brought home. You see a table celebrating a return visit to a Dr.s office that broke the great news of another year cancer free. Birthdays, engagements, anniversaries, babies, promotions, graduations......LIFE. Life happens inside restaurants. It's a huge responsibility to run a restaurant. I mean besides the food and service aspect of it. It's a huge responsibility because our neighborhood and community depends on us to make thier special day.......well special.  I mean not just a birthday or a wedding day. I mean just an old fashioned Monday special.  Personally I cannot tell how many amazing people I have had the honor of meeting just from running a restaurant. I'm not talking about (enter name dropping here). Yeah, there are lot's of country stars and athletes, song writers and producers that I've met. But I'm talking about Ruth, who is 86 years old and eats angel hair with garlic and oil with a glass of merlot and has stories that will have your stomach aching from laughing so hard. How about Joe who was the conductor for Elvis and the Rat Pack. There isn't any one cooler then Joe. I met Matt who is a world war II vet that has been to 40 countries and  loves Sausage and meatballs. I actually got the chance to tell a World war II vet thank you for thier service and sacrifice.. Or how about Anita and Dan married for over 45 years. They came in every Sunday at 4 pm on the dot like clock work. They would sit at Table 44 which is right in front of our pizza oven . I would tease and flirt with Anita about her hats. I loved her hats. You see Anita was fighting cancer for a long time. She had beaten it before and was doing great. Anita loved red sangria. She loved when I would bring her little samples of new things we were working on. She had the best spirit and just wanted to hear about my family and how my day was. How amazing is that. Anita is going through chemo and she wants to hear about my day. She had the best laugh and spirit. If I was having a rough Sunday lunch shift I could always count on them to come in and kind of get me going again.  What an amazing woman Anita was. This went on for years and then one Sunday afternoon Dan came in alone. I had hesitated when I asked Dan, where is Anita? Dan put his arms around me and sobbed Anita is gone.. My heart was broken. We both stood there in the lobby crying as I was holding up this 84 year old man who had just lost his world he had said softly to me that coming here on Sundays was what Anita always looked forward to every week. It was her special place.  There are so many people, families that running a restaurant has enabled me to meet. Life happens everyday in between those four walls. What I always knew finally came to light.  This is more then just a job or a career. We make memories. We are a distraction and time out from everyone's day and we owe it to them to create an amazing experience. That's what these people have done for me. They have created amazing memories that I will never forget. Life in this business moves extremely fast. I have been inside of a restaurant for more then half of mine.
So, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I decided to return to blogging on here again. This part of the blog is really for other experiences and healthy dishes that are offered at other restaurants. I'll get to that. This one was about soul food. Bon Appetite.