Ingredients:
2 racks of pork ribs
McCormick Smokehouse Maple Seasoning
McCormick Applewood Smoke Seasoning
Penzeys BBQ 3000 Spice
Applejuice
Sweet Baby Rays Barbeque Sauce

1.  Cut ribs into 2 rib bones per piece.  Season with McCormick Smokehouse Maple, Applewood Smoke, and Penzey's BBQ 3000. 

2.  Heat grill to high.  When grill is hot sear ribs on the grill, just to mark the ribs with grill marks. 

3.  In slowcooker add apple juice, and seasonings, 1/2 cup BBQ sauce, turn to high. 

4.  Cook in slowcooker for 6 hours. 

5.  Remove ribs and pour applejuice out of slowcooker.  Brush ribs with Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce.

TV show Top Chef on Bravo has announced the contestants from the next season of Top Chef filmed in DC.  Of the contestants two are from the Baltimore/DC area.  The first is Timothy Dean the chef owner of Prime Steakhouse in Baltimore.  The other contestant is Tamesha Warren the sous chef of the Oval Room in Washington DC.

Timothy Dean recieved his education from Howard University and trained under chef Jean-Louis Palladin at the Watergate hotel.  He owns Prime Steak House in Baltimore and will be opening another Prime Steak House in DC later this year.

Tamesha Warren is a native from Barbados, who studied at the Art Institute of New York City, and worked at Jean Georges in New York City.  She is said to study molecular gastronomy and cooks a modern American style with French and Asian influences. 

Good luck to both of the local chefs in this years Top Chef.

Two other contestants Lynne Gigliotti and Kelly Liken are also Pennsylvania natives, but have decided to cook in other areas of the country, good luck to both of you ladies too.

On Wednesday, Tiffany and I went to Philadelphia for the day.  While we were at the Liberty Bell we saw a flier for America's Oldest Candy Shop, and it was only about three blocks away.  We decided to stroll down Market Street to get some candy.  Unfortunately when we got there there was a sign in the window dated May 10, 2010 saying sorry they are closed after being open since 1876, and in a year they will reopen after a remodel under a new family ownership.  Two doors down the street was The Franklin Fountain, a nostalgic soda and ice cream shop.

Tiffany decided to get the Hydrox Cookie Ice Cream and the Egyptienne Egg Shake Phosphate, and I decided to try the Jamestown Julep.  Hydrox cookies (1908) are best described as the original Oreo (1912), and is Kosher.  A phosphate is a carbonated drink made by hand, with phosphoric acid added to it to add a sour or tangy taste to the drink.  The ice cream was delicious, and so was the Egyptienne Egg Shake.  I enjoyed the Jamestown Julep, but was really in the mood for something sweeter, and it has a flavor that says I need vodka added to me. 

My favorite thing about The Franklin Fountain though was the ambiance.  The employees wore clothing of old time soda shops, old time cash register that gave you a fortune after purchase, old time candies, Moxie bottles, and cardboard straws in your drink. 

Where have you eaten that the ambiance made the dining experience memorable?

Last night Tiffany and I attended Match 2 of the Mason Dixon Master Chef Competition in Baltimore, MD. One of the chefs created a dish called Crepes Suzette for his dessert course. 

For this dish he made crepes, but I have no official proof on that.  For the sauce, he heated olive oil and sugar, (the chef's mom was talking to people around when saw was being made telling how the olive oil/sugar was a Greek island recipe), then added orange zest and juice from some oranges, and finally straining it.  The sauce was then poured over a folded crepe, and then topped with strawberries and a chocolate drizzle. 

This dish as it is wouldn't have me commenting if it wasn't for one thing though, every time I've ever read about Crepes Suzette it always mentions one more final step that was not done on this dish.  The addition of ALCOHOL and FIRE, which are two of my things.  I know that serving a dish on fire to a customer can be a dangerous thing to do and some people may discourage it, but flambees are a dying art.  I can only think of one restaurant I've been to in the past year that served a flambee dish, Olivia's in Gettysburg.  It was the appetizer dish, saganaki, imported kasseri cheese flambeed with Greek cognac.

Are there any times that you received and dish from a chef that disappointed you because it was different then the way you know the recipe?

Tonight in the Mason Dixon Master Chef Competition one of the dishes to be judged will be Chicken Neptune, a seared chicken breast with scallops, shrimp, jumbo lump crab meat, and a sherry cream sauce.  This dish is not in any of my cookbooks and will be a chance for the chefs to have a little of their own creative touches. 

To cook this recipe I would first begin making the sherry cream sauce.  To begin with I would put a quart of cream, with a quarter cup seafood stock, cup of sherry, and bouqet garni and reduce.  I would add the seafood stock to help impart more seafood flavor into the dish since the theme of it is chicken with the seafood. 

I would then slice the chicken so it could be stuffed.  I would stuff it with the crab meat and bay scallops (bay scallops for their smaller size and stuff them whole).  I would then sear the chicken in olive oil and season it with salt, pepper, parsley, and chives.  And finish cooking in the oven.  While the chicken is in the oven I would dice up the shrimp, sear them and add them to the sherry cream sauce.

To plate I would sauce the dish, slice the chicken on the bias (at an angle) one time in half.  I would lean the to pieces together showing the seafood stuffing to the diner. 

If the menu was not so specific there are other ideas I have for this dish. 

One idea instead of serving it as a seared chicken breast would be to braise the chicken, shred it with a fork.  Then shred the scallops into small pieces.  I would then make a crabcake base for it, a combination of mayo, egg, old bay, splash of Tabasco, chives, parsley, dry mustard.  Slowly mix the base with the seafood and chicken, add bread crumbs as needed.  Now you have a Chicken Neptune 'Crabcake'.

For sauce I would also change it to a Mornay sauce, a basic cream sauce with Parmesan and gruyere cheese added to it, and then finished with butter.  I would still consider adding the shrimp to the sauce with the Chicken Neptune Crabcakes due to the change in texture.  Adding a bit of sherry to the sauce would still go well too.

Another way I would consider cooking the dish would be to slice the chicken in half so there are 2 long, THIN pieces.  I would then pound it out with a meat tenderizer.  After it is pounded out I would season both sides, salt, pepper, chives, parsley, and then place all the seafood onto the chicken (yes this time even the shrimp).  I would then roll the chicken up and wrap it in plastic wrap.  Put the chicken on parchment paper and bake at 350 until it reaches an internal temp of 165.  Estimate about 35 minutes.  And then top it with classic Mornay sauce.

For wine I would pair it with an unoaked Chardonnay, maybe from California.  Chardonnay has a enough flavor to hold it's own with all of these flavors, and I think the oakyness may conflict with some of the flavors especially the crab.  A New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc might pair very well with the Neptune cakes.  I would avoid red wine with this dish.

One of the dishes that will be judged tonight in the Mason Dixon Master Chef Competition will be Grilled Portabella mushroom with zesty Garden Ratatouille with a Three Cheese Fondue. 

To make ratatouille first get your mise en place ready (all your ingredients ready).  To do this cut the following vegetables to a medium dice- 1 medium sized eggplant, 1 pound of zucchini, 1 onion, 2 bell peppers, (some books suggest adding mushrooms, add a few chefs I know add squash into the mix but it's note traditionally added).  Mince or finely chop 3 cloves of garlic.  Then peel, seed, and slice 4 plum tomatoes at a medium dice.  Have a olive oil, vegetable stock (optional), chopped herbs like parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, savory, chervil (note you do not need to add all these herbs, these are just some suggestions on herbs to use).  Some recipes also suggest adding 2 Tbsp of tomato paste. 

Next the chef must decide how they want to cook the ratatouille as there are many ways suggested on how to cook it.  Some recipes suggest cooking all the ingredients in a pot together, some suggest cooking different ingredients at different times and combining them in the end, and other cookbooks suggest roasting all the vegetables together in the oven.

Cooking in a pot
Begin by adding 1/2 c olive oil to large pot and heat at medium heat.  When the oil is warm add onions and saute until translucent.  (If adding tomato paste add during this step)  Next add garlic, then peppers, then eggplant, then zucchini, (mushrooms), then tomatoes (cook each vegetable until it begins to soften before adding the next.)  Turn stove to low heat and add 1/4 c vegetable stock (the goal is to moisten the veggies, not make them soupy).  Stew the vegetables, season with salt, pepper, and herbs.  And serve.  You may wish to cook each individual ingredient separately so each ingredient retains its individual flavor, but this will make for a lot of dishes.

Cooking in the Oven
Toss onions, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and zucchini in about 1/2 c olive oil, season with fresh herbs and bake on a sheet pan at 350 degrees for about 90 minutes (or until water in tomatoes has evaporated out)  and stir it about every 30 minutes for even cooking.  Next in blender combine basil, garlic, and 1/2 c olive oil in blender, and then stir it in with the ratatouille mixture. 

Options to add some people also like adding pitted olives and/or capers.

Ratatouille comes from the Provencal region of France.  And was also the featured dish in the movie Ratatouille by Disney/Pixar in 2007.  In the movie Chef Thomas Keller designed the ratatouille for the Grand Finale dish, in which instead of dicing the ingredients they were thinly shaved on a mandolin and baked in olive oil (think of it looking a bit like au gratin potatoes with vegetable instead). 

One book suggests using Chinese eggplants or Japanese eggplants if you feel that the eggplant is leaving a 'prickly' taste in your mouth. 

If I was in this competition and had choices of cheeses for the three cheese fondue to serve with this dish I would probably base the cheeses on the region of the dish.  I'm thinking I would try it making the fondue with goat, Boursin (yeah I know it's from Normandy), and Brie.  I would grill the portabellas, and cook the ratatouille similar to the au gratin style in Ratatouille the movie.  To serve I would lay the portabella on the center of the plate, use a round cutter and cut the ratatouille to fit evenly over top the mushroom, top with a dab of fondue, and a brush stroke of fondue across the bottom of the plate and a sprig of rosemary going through the center of the ratatouille holding it to the mushroom.  It my also need a dab of fondue under the mushroom to help hold it into place.

For the wine I would consider a strong, bold wine like a cabernet sauvignon, merlot, or zinfandel.  On a warmer day I would opt out and go with a dry rose (Rose from Francis Ford Coppola Presents was good, Sofia Rose made of Pinot Noir grapes), drink something lighter for a sunnier day.

Next week begins the Mason Dixon Master Chef Competition.  Starting on Monday, May 10th and going on until Monday, September 23rd.  In the competition will be 32 Executive Chefs in the Baltimore area, and their sous chefs.  Competition will be held on most Mondays and Tuesdays between this time at the Belvedere. 

This week will have a menu of Spring Salad (poached pair, red and green oak lettuce, assorted berries, red peppers, pinenut dust and raspberry vinaigrette), sorbet, choice of chicken, beef, or vegetarian, and dessert of mini creme brule, chocolate truffle, and fruit dessert soup.  The chicken dish is chicken Neptune (chicken with scallops, shrimp, jumbo lump crabmeat, and sherry cream sauce.  The beef dish will be beef filet with blueberry merlot demi glace.  And the vegetable dish will include grilled portabella mushroom with ratatouille and three cheese fondue.

Proceeds from this event will go to support Moveable Feast, a nonprofit organization that brings food to the houses of people in Baltimore area that are home bound with HIV/Aids and Breast Cancer. 
Tickets to the event are $55 for a four course meal, and $75 to be added as a mystery judge.

I want to give a shout out to two of the chefs in the competition who I've worked side by side with in the kitchen, Chef Matt Merkel of The Reserve and Chef Chad Novak of Don't Know Tavern.  Good luck to both of you (OK honestly though I hope Chef Merkel wins.)

Last night was the revealing of a new restaurant concept from the creators of Alinea in Chicago.  The restaurant NEXT will be opening this fall, and form the advertising video I want a ticket.  Yes I want a ticket, not a reservation.  The concept is to take you to a time and place in important culinary history such as Paris 1912, Hong Kong 2036, Edo period Japan, Sicily 1949, to name a few time periods being advertised.  Every period will be open for a season, and I'm guessing once that period is done it will not be repeated for a long time.  The projected plan is to serve 4 star food at 3 star prices, as a prix-fixe price between $40-75, with alcohol supplements starting at $25, for a 5-6 course meal.  The pricing plan is based on the idea of airfare tickets, since their goal is to take you in history or the future through food.  Buying tickets at peak times like holidays, weekend evenings will be more expensive then now peak times like a Wednesday evening.  If you make a unplanned visit to Chicago and want to get a ticket, there will be two walk-in tables available.  And if your a Chicago regular you can get discounted tickets if you purchase tickets for all four seasons at once. 

Also, set to open from the Alinea crew is a concept "bar" without bartenders, called Aviary.  No you do not get to pour your own alcohol or have alcohol vending machines.  The drinks will be prepared by the kitchen staff, along with a bite to eat paired with the drink.  I LOVE THIS CONCEPT.  The bar will not take reservations, and will have a mixture of classic drinks, NEXT themed drinks, and innovative cocktails.

From what I heard talking to a friend Morel mushroom season has arrived in southern Pennsylvania.  According to one of my friends, a coworker of his claims to have picked almost 2 pounds of morels while searching in the woods this past weekend. 
The season is short, so if you want to mushroom hunt for them you should do so soon.  To find morels search in areas of moist ground near dead trees like ash, sycamore, elm, and apple.  Also, they can be found on the ground in areas covered with leaves.  Where you find one there will likely be more nearby.  When picking morels, cut them at the stem instead of removing from the root.  Also, carry the morels in a burlap bag (not plastic) this is so that while the mushrooms are rubbing around with each other they release the spores onto the ground where you searched, so in future years your mushroom location will have more mushrooms. 

Morels are tan to dark colored, cone shaped, with a hollow cap.  They also have a spongey appearance.  In hieght they 2-4 inches tall.  Be careful not to get poisonous false morels, careful examination of the caps can help tell the difference.

Happy mushroom hunting.

On Sunday, I went to the Great American Cake Show.  One section of the Carroll County Agricultural Center was sectioned off for classrooms, with classes like making gelatin bows, fondant babies, and flowers.  Another section was for smaller cakes, children, locals, cupcakes, and peeps.  Yes Peeps the mushroom candy's you get every Easter.  One person created a giant Bigbird using over a 1,000 yellow peeps, not to mention orange peeps for his legs and beak.  In the middle of the center was a wedding cake competition with the theme of states.  Some of the cupcakes from Maryland included the State House in Annapolis, the Maryland flag, Black Eyed Susans, and the O's.  My favorite for Pennsylvania had pheasant feathers and had feathers made of royal icing.  In one area free demonstrations were given.  Here I learned how to fondant a cake, and make fondant roses.  Other classes were available from various vendors.  And of course that means vendors were there.  From a vendor I learned the basics of how to make gelatin flowers and butterflies.  The most interesting thing that a vendor had for sale was the wedding cake safe, supposedly tiered wedding cakes can travel without fear of breaking during transport.  Having had to drive four tiered cakes to wedding events before I find this may be a good investment for cake manufactures.  Normally when driving a cake you must brake and accelerate slowly, take turns very slow, but they say with a cake safe you can drive like you normally do and the cake will be safe.  Also, you can drive with the windows down, or for some people in the industry smoke while driving the cake.