Wasted Continuum

On the Travel Channel, Monday night, March 10th, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, Anthony Bourdain goes back the kitchen of Les Halles. He’s been gone eight years and now he’s coming back to see if he still has what it takes to run his pirate ship. Since leaving Les Halles, the dining area has doubled, the kitchen is still the same size and Tony is not any younger. I’ve been waiting for this episode since he teased it back in November. This is also the season finale of No Reservations. I can’t think of a better scenario to end the season with. I’m so excited to see it. I’ve only seen him cook once on Chef’s Story and a few brief moments throughout No Reservations. It’ll be interesting to see him in a real kitchen doing his thing. This means that I will be completely off the grid tomorrow night while it’s airing. Don’t even bother trying to reach me. You will be ignored.

This past week was filled with big dinners because of the Chinese New Year. My parents did a lot of cooking for us. So last night I decided to cook a nice dinner for them. I made soupe au pistou. It’s a French vegetable soup with pistou. Pistou is similar to pesto. It was nice a hearty and tasty. I also made a leeks vinaigrette salad. The vinaigrette turned out amazingly well. The tangy red wine vinegar was perfectly balanced by the egg. I definitely would make it again. Both the soup and salad are Anthony Boudain recipes. His book, Les Halles, hasn’t failed me yet.

For the main course I made poulet cuisses maison (chicken thighs). It’s basically seared then cooked on medium heat. A vinegar based sauce is made from the chicken fat afterwards. This is the first main course recipe I tried from Jacques Pepin. I have made a couple vegetable dishes from his recipes before with great success. This dish was no different. I got it from his book The Short-Cut Cook. This was a quick and simple recipe with big payoff.

I uploaded photos of the food on my Flickr account.

The day has finally come. In just over 18 hours, I will be heading over to Solera in Minneapolis to see the great Anthony Bourdain. For those who know me too well, knows that he’s one of my personal heroes. Yeah, I know, not the poster boy role model, but, hell, I think he loves food for the same reasons I do and the man knows how to live a life. He’s an established writer of fiction and non-fiction. Les Halles Cookbook is hands down the most well-written cookbook I have ever read or used. I’ve cooked maybe forty percent of the recipes so far and they’ve all been amazing (especially, the Duck a l’Orange). If I’m ever on death-row, I want that duck as my last meal. Kitchen Confidential is hilarious and eye-opening at the same time. He also has his own travel show, No Reservations, on the Travel Channel. He’s also the executive chef of the Brasserie Les Halles.

It will be my first time dining at Solera. I heard differing opinions on it. I’ve mostly been avoiding it because it was over-hyped when it first opened. I should probably get over that since they’ve been open for a few years now. This is what they’re serving according to their website:

Family-Style Tapas

• Grilled Pork Belly & Morcilla with White Beans and Romesco
• Olive Oil Poached Salmon with Fennel, Lemon and Olives
• Fresh Portuguese Goat’s Milk Cheese in Mojo Verde
• Chorizo and Hot Green Peppers with SidraShrimp and Tetilla Croquetas
• Oxtail Terrine with Preserved Lemon Frita Mixta and Horseradish
• Piquillo Peppers Stuffed with Herbed Goat’s Milk Cheese
• Octopus Ceviche with Hot Pepper and Cumin

I’m really anxious to try the oxtail. I’ve only had that Chinese style. I believe we’ll be served Spanish wine too. Always good. I’ll also be getting a copy of No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach. I’m hoping to get it signed. The food is by Tim McKee who has recently become the chef at Solera. Frick, I’m getting hungry just thinking about tomorrow.

They say you should never meet your heroes because you will only be disappointed.  I over-think and over-analyze the hell out of everything. I’m rarely disappointed mainly because I’ve anticipated almost every outcome in my head. It’s going to be good.

Les Halles Cookbook

Originally uploaded by JavaJunky

I just got this yesterday after buying my new knife. I started reading the introduction and it’s already got me hooked. Even if I don’t end up cooking anything from this, I’d still read the whole thing just because Anthony Bourdain is just so good at saying what he wants. Nothing is held back. It’s just the truth and he’s hilarious. If you don’t understand what I mean, go watch No Reservations on the Travel Channel, not the Catherine Zeta-Jones movie that totally ripped the title from it. I warn you, the show is frickin’ addictive.

Les Halles Cookbook is not your ordinary recipe book. It’s contains the recipes that Tony actually serves at Les Halles (only scaled down). However, the manner in which he writes the instructions is in his style of writing. Sarcastic. Mean. Blunt. Humorous. It’s great so far. I can’t say how good the actual recipes are until I try them out. I’m sure they’re great though.