Tunisian quail, grilled figs with a spiced balsamic reduction, arugula, home-grown heirloom tomatoes, mung beans, and basmati… heaven.

FYI, toss your figs in a mix of honey and kalamata olive oil before grilling. Don’t ask questions, just do it.

Another FYI, Jenny Jones will always bring good wine to dinner.

AKA Cowboy Hats, Egg in a Basket, Alabama Eggs, Rocky Mountain Toast

It’s important to toast the bread on both sides before inserting the egg.   I didn’t think of this for the first batch.  Meh.  Still tasted amazing, especially as the top layer of my cheddar, asiago and blackberry grilled cheeses.

I talk a lot of shit about being healthy, but damn they were tasty.

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We just got back from our trip to Los Alamos for Wine Weekend.  It was amazing.

Shoestring Winery, SB County

Here’s the list of the vineyards we visited:

1. Brander
2. Shoestring my favorite of the four.  The owner came out and talked to us about her wines.
3. Melville
4. Dierberg had one sexy pourer.  All the girls, and us three gay dudes, were drooling like idiots.

We stopped in Los Olivos on the way home for another round of tastings.  Yes the bus ride was amazeballs but it was at this pit stop where I discovered my new favorite vineyard: Saarloos & Sons We bought the Pinot Noir dubbed Extended Family.  Super funky on the nose, earthy and rich to taste.  It threw me on my ass it was so delicious.

Oh wine, my friend and foe.

I was floored when the director quoted me in his final pep email before the first day of shooting:

No matter what you’re doing, please remember that I consider every one of you an artist.  Jared Paul, our caterer, wrote me this recently:

“I love food as an art and as fuel. What I serve becomes part of the person I’m feeding, literally.  I will give you my very best. I will cook and serve minding your mantra.”

You see?  Your caterer is an ARTIST.

And then… everything fell apart.  My ego was absolutely destroyed after Day 1.  What killed me the most was that I had done shoots before, and in those instances my product was equally outside the norm for set catering.   What was different?  Oh yeah, I didn’t have a full-time day job then.

I learned at Richard’s mom’s party the importance of hiring help.  I learned from this experience that any Joe just won’t do.  I need properly vetted, dependable, amazing staffers if I’m ever going to take on a project this size again.  That, or just do this full time and declare “TO HELL with job security!”

I’m not ready for that.  Shit, I just accepted a job offer at Team In Training.  Even though they celebrate a well-rounded teammate I know I’ve got to completely overhaul what I think I can pull off, and compare it to how much another gig like this will cost me in mind and spirit… as a person employed full-time elsewhere.

BTW I’ve booked a dinner, a lunch, a fund raising party AND I have a wedding in the pipeline.  Thank the Universe, life goes on with or without my battered ego.

When I made a pitch and presented my tasting I brought boxed lunches.  It was very luncheon, office luncheon.  It ruled and I landed the gig.

Immediately after day 1 (when my goddamned sous chef left me knee-deep in trouble) the cast and crew were pretty darn mutinous and NOT having my boxed-lunch technique.

I was advised by the producers: “more meat and potatoes,” and so that is what I began delivering.

Then I was advised “Simple. Simple meat and potatoes.  And pasta.” And so that is what I began to delivered.

Finally I was advised “bigger portions, and even MORE simple.” Again, I adjusted and delivered.

It took two weeks, but I finally figured it out.  Butter and salt.  Just bring butter and salt.  But that isn’t the whole lesson.  The real moral of this story is to always be listening and just make it work.

At the end of the day it pays off to be proud of a job well done and lessons learned, rather than being too proud to budge.

I’m getting lots of compliments during this last week.  To butter and salt, I thank you.

People love casseroles. And things wrapped in flour. They will tell you they want healthy, appropriately portioned meals but when presented with dense, cheesy, carbohydrates… they will take it and they will love you for it.

Fuck. I love it too.

My waist-line is scared.

So after my first sous chef royally fucked me, and after sous chef #2 left me for school (which I agreed to from the get-go with him), I’m now working with T2 Teammate Camille Napolitano for the rest of my set catering gig. She is saving my life!

First of all, the people on set love her. I knew that would be the case. She’s amazing.

But more importantly she get’s it. You know? The difference between an employee, or even a passionate student, vs. a peer, a teammate, a competitor. Someone who owns his or her own small business. They get it. Camille caters. She rocks baked deliciousness at Farmers Markets. She’s even traveled with affluent families as their personal chef. She get’s it.

I will get through this thanks to her.

This summer is heatin’ up quick.  Figuratively and literally, it’s freakin’ BEAUTIFUL outside!

I owe myself a swim and some seafood.  I might settle for a run and canned herring.  I love canned herring.  Seriously.

Sophia Jean hired me to rock her birthday party Red, White and Booze on July 2.  I am incredibly grateful for her faith in me considering that I was running so dang behind for the tasting.  The food came out fantastic, but I tried cramming way too much into my morning.  Maybe I’ll just start booking my Sundays from 1:00PM until 5:00PM… to serve a tasting at 6:00PM… every Sunday with a new prospect.

DONE!  I just booked another tasting for this next Sunday at 6:00PM… I’m on a roll already!  The prospect is a friend, Will, who is considering my personal chef services.  I got lucky yesterday; I’ve learned and I’m looking forward to rocking Will’s expectations FULLY prepared… so long as this 80+ mile Gran Fondo ride doesn’t kill me that morning.

AND… I’m negotiating a dinner-party for a family of political big-whigs (thanks to my friend Ginger!)

AND… I just got my hot-boxes for the movie set catering gig that begins soon.

FUCK ME I am excited and terrified.  I still have my day job (which I love) recruiting volunteers to raise money for APLA (which I love).  With enough sleep… and wine… the weeks ahead should be a crazy but rewarding period.

p.s.  Learn as much as you can about Chente or El rey de la canción ranchera… his music and legacy will become a constant theme in my kitchen between now and the last day of filming.

I’m meeting with a friend this afternoon for a tasting for her birthday party.  The party is called: Red, White and Booze.

Healthy.  Grilled.  Those are the words she used.  I assume she meant to include “irreverent” on her list.

I’m thinking of a giant Nicoise platter arranged to look like Old Glory, spring rolls (er, “freedom” rolls) with grilled chicken and bacon crumbles, and open-faced juicy lucies topped with arugula in balsamic dressing.  Beer and/or wine will go fine with any of those items.

I’ll take pictures and report back to you later today, or perhaps tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

AIDS LifeCycle was rather incredible.

They have these crazy PBJ graham crackers that are individually wrapped.  My first reaction was “OMG THIS IS AMAZING.”

Then I wondered why I’ve never seen them before.

THEN I started to nit-pick about the peanut butter… and I remembered my new crop of runners and Triathletes at TEAM TO END AIDS (my day job… aka “T2″).  I’m really excited to rock some fancy PBJ’s at their training site on Saturday mornings.  Now that AIDS LifeCycle has completely reinvigorated my passion about the fight against HIV/AIDS I am more excited than ever to rock some fancy eats for my AIDS-fighting T2 Athletes.

I’m thinking: REAL Peanut Butter (gotta love Laura Sutter), with homemade strawberry preserves, mache or baby spinach, and fresh sliced kiwi… open faced on a graham cracker. Helltotheyeah!  I can’t wait to see n’ feed my T2 Atheletes this weekend!

I’m pretty lucky to be able to marry my love of food, adventure and philanthropy at my day job and in my personal life alike.

I’ll post more details about my AIDS LifeCycle experience on my personal Facebook page soon.

I’m determined to make duck, goose, pheasant, and quail a regular part of my diet this June.

The pheasant stew from Memorial Day was epic.  The duck jus for my shredded pork has been incredible.  And the prices at Woori Market (Little Tokyo) and A Grocery (Echo Park) are just too damn good to pass up.  I’m on a poultry kick and I love it.

Oh, and… I LANDED THE GIG!  Servicing 50 hungry film-makers lunch for 20 days straight.

Tomorrow I leave for the AIDS LifeCycle… hearing the producer’s decision to hire me makes for an incredible send-off!