Ingenuity.  In the dictionary, it means "the quality of being clever, original, inventive."  Every job requires some form of ingenuity.  It helps solve a problem that is preventing us from getting something completed.  I am a person who cannot fix much.  If I need to hang a light or fix my child's bike I am a fish out of water.  Don't even get me started on furniture in a box....that almost caused a divorce.  What I am good at is figuring out how to look outside the box to create a cleaver solution.  Case in point....I don't have a brick pizza oven.  As a chef, I want it all.  My checking account says, well, I can't have it all.  So, what to do.  I wanted a brick oven style pizza tonight.  Crisp bottom crust, chewy top crust with some smokey flavor.  I sat down, then, like a children's book, I thought and thought and thought and thought and thought THEN BAM!  It hit me.  I could use by chest smoker and crank the heat to high.  It had to work.  High temperature from below should help me get what I need.  Well, I am pleased to say...it worked.  I had wonderful raves from my taste testers too.  Some good ole ingenuity to the rescue.

I LOVE Soup!  It is no secret in my house.  I am the crazy one who will make a soup in the summer.  I will make no bones about it.  (I'm also the person who is grilling in a snow storm with negative wind chills.)  What makes soup so awesome is that it tastes great and is generally very filling.  Some of the best soups I have ever made were created while cleaning out the fridge.  My wife will come home while it is simmering on the stove and she will ask;  "What are we having?"  I will reply with the usual "Well....you know, some of this and some of that and..."  She quickly lights up with "Oooh!  Stuff in a pot!"  No better way to describe it.  Stuff slowly simmering in a pot..  What follows is NOT a recipe but an ingredient list.  Things can be omitted or switched out as desired.  Keep in mind, when I do a Vegetable soup, it needs at least 7 vegetables to make it great!

Vegetable Beef Soup
Onions
Garlic
Celery
Carrots
Beets
Hamburg
Peas
Potatoes
Corn
Mushrooms
Vegetable Stock
Beef Stock
Tomatoes
Soy Sauce
Salt
Pepper
Basil
Rosemary
Sage
Parsley
Dintali Pasta

Enjoy the possibilities!

Did you know that a simple dish can be complex at the same time?  Can we all say "Oxymoron?"  The steak to the left was extremely simple to prepare.  8 ingredients is all it took.  You might be saying:  "Really?  That's it for ingredients?  Must mean it is really hard to prepare..."  Do not fret my Kitchen Ninjas.  What makes this dish so complex is the flavor! 

Two things are very important to this dish.  They are needed to push the boundaries of flavor.  The first is the steak.  Whatever steak you use it must be from a great butcher shop.  None of this 1/2 price chain store garbage.  Believe me, you will taste the difference.  The second thing needed is the incredible Porcini Sage Butter from Epicurean Butter.  It is strung with the beauty of what the Japanese call Umami.

Ingredients:
1 Steak of your choice
Salt and Pepper
1 Medium onion sliced
1 TB Olive Oil
1 clove garlic chopped
1/4 cup medium body low IBU beer
1 TB Porcini Sage Butter

Directions:  Liberally salt and pepper both sides of steak.  I used high flame to char the steak but cook as you prefer.  In a saute pan, heat olive oil on medium high, add onions and begin cooking.  Stir often and allow to brown.  Once the onions have a deep browning, add garlic, stir for 1 minute.  Add beer and butter.  Mix until a sauce forms. Serve over steak.

2 four oz Salmon Filets

Peeled Asparagus skins

Fried Asparagus Skins

Silky light Crepe

Fill crepe in center with Asparagus, Salmon and Green Onions

Place crepes in a casserole Pan, cover   with Orange Beurre Blanc and broil for 4 minutes

Place sauce on plate, place crepe on top, finish with a touch of sauce on top of crepe with fried asparagus and scallions

What the crepe is going on here?  One that will blow you away!  The finished product was so tasty, my neighbor said she licked the plate clean.  Literally!  Now that is a sauce I can be proud of.  This recipe that I will be sharing is a bit more complex and time consuming.  But......I have faith in everyone's abilities in cooking.  Besides, if you love pancakes, you make pancakes etc....then you WILL be able to make a crepe.  Now, what tasty morsel did I concoct?  A Salmon Asparagus Crepe with Orange Beurre Blanc.  What follows is one heck of a recipe with the full on WOW factor.

Salmon
2 4oz Salmon Filets, skin removed
Salt and Pepper
Vegetable oil in saute pan

Directions:  Heat oil on high heat in pan. Salt and Pepper filets.  Once hot, pan fry top side of salmon for 3 minutes, flip, cook for 2 minutes, remove from pan and set aside.

Asparagus
20 stalks of Asparagus.  Peel the woody spots
Vegetable Oil

Directions:  Heat a pan of water, bring to a boil.  Add Asparagus stalks and cook for 1 minute.  Empty into a colander and run cold water over the stalks.

Meanwhile, heat a small saute pan filled with 1/8 inch of oil on medium high.  Once hot, add asparagus skins and cook till crisp.  Take out with tongs and place on a paper towel.  Set aside

Crepe
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 TB butter melted
6oz whole milk

Directions:  Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  Mixture will be smoother than pancakes.  Heat non stick pan on medium.  Add 1/3 cup of batter into pan.   Move pan to ensure batter is even.  Cook for 2 minutes, using a rubber spatula, pick up edge of crepe, flip and cook for 1 minute, remove from pan and set aside.  Continue until 4 crepes are made.

Orange Buerre Blanc
1/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/3 cup white wine
1 shallot sliced
1 clove garlic cut into 4 pieces
1 TB butter
Zest of 1 large orange
1/3 cup heavy cream
3.5 oz Orange Honey Butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:  Heat TB of butter in a small sauce pan, add garlic and shallots.  Cook for 3 minutes.  Add wine and orange juice and cook until 2 TB remain.  Add zest and cream and reduce until 1/4 cup remains.  Add Salt and Pepper.  Slowly add Orange Honey Butter. and whisk into liquid.  Once all incorporated, use immediately.  Taste, add more salt if necessary

Assembly:  Turn on boiler.  Take each crepe, place half the salmon in each one in the center.  Add 5 asparagus spears.  Add 1 TB of sliced green onion.  Roll up crepe and place in a casserole.  Once all 4 are made, pour sauce over crepes lightly so the tops are covered.  Place under boiler and cook for 4 minutes.  Once it is browned, remove from oven. 

On each plate, pour some sauce in the center.  Place crepe in middle of plate and sauce.  Pour remaining sauce over each crepe.  Top with fried asparagus skins and a few scallions.  Serve immediately. 

I often get asked what type of beer pairs well with different types of food.  I usually tell people to pick what they love to drink.  If the food is heavy, I do urge a crisper beer but it all depends on each palate and what that palate likes.  What I never get asked but feel is in need of discussion is:  What do I drink if I'm smoking meats all day?

Now there is a question I can get my brain wrapped around.  All Day IPA from Founders Brewing.  Why do I love this one?  Because it lives by its name.  I sip slowly, enjoying each moment of smoke coming out of the smoker and a beer with huge flavor yet yields a power that entices me to sip it.  If someone handed me a nasty macro lite beer, it would be gone in no time and the meat I was watching would be over cooked and dried out from the inebriated mess I created.  If you took the time to put some thought and time into a great dish, being too drunk to enjoy it defeats the purpose. 

So....take your time, as my wife says "its a marathon, not a sprint." All great things take time.  Smoked meats, an elaborate meal, fine wine, great beer....doesn't make sense to just guzzle it down and lose the essence of life!