Holy crap, chef tables are impossible to get reservations at!!!

Well, it's 5 more days until my birthday and no chef table reservations. I tried Jose Andres's Mini Bar in Cafe Atlantico several times. It's impossible to get a Friday or Saturday reservation. I almost feel like I'm calling into DC101 trying to win tickets or something. Maybe I could call up Anthony Bourdain and ask for a favor for my birthday. Better yet, I could make a fake Anthony Bourdain Facebook acoount and friend a fake Jose Andres for a fake Mini Bar reservation. That sounds like a more appatizing plan.

Anyways, I've already made dinner plans for the day after St. Pat's and regardless of the fact that I'm going to be smash bag hungerover, I'm fixing food. Well, helping Chef Butts anyways. We're fixing some variation of Tom Kha and a steak curry. I'm looking forward to getting some photos of that.

I'll be in Baltimore for a Brunswick Photographer's Guild meet at the aquarium and walkabout through the inner harbor. I'm probably going to end up in Towson and if I do, I'll be at Kyodai. Maybe I'll buy myself a Canon G11 for my birthday and I'll take some photos of the sushi. Kyodai has one of the rotating conveyer belts that travels around the sushi bar. I always like stopping there when I'm in Towson.

Seared tuna, for a photo

I bought some tuna steaks from a local seafood place, Season's Best Seafood, in Martinsburg, WV. They have a pretty good selection of Seafood and they're always friendly and offer good service.

And by the way, I did this entirely for the photo...

Holy mutha licka Volt!

Well not much to report here. I called Volt about Table 21 figuring that I could at least get a reservation for some where close to my birthday. On their answering machine it stated that table 21 was booked until February (Hells yeah! Table 21 here I come!) of 2011 (...maybe for my birthday next year...).

What a let down. There's a restaurant in DC that does something similar that I've know about for quite a while. Maybe I'll contact them...

Hot saws...

So I started making hot sauce for Maria's Taqueria in Shepherdstown, WV. They're just samples now as we (I have a not so silent partner) are working perfecting recipes that we could have bottled and sold. Right now the Dr. Kronk & Mr. Butts brand hot sauce has three recipes certified as tasty by Maria's staff and patrons.


The Chipotle Bacon & Brown Sugar Hot Sauce
The Habamatoe
The Serranamo!


Maria is going to start supplying us with peppers, so you'll have to keep your eyes open for any new concoctions. A word of warning; if you find a sauce with the name of "DO NOT PUSH", taste at your own risk.

Volt!

www.voltrestaurant.com

Planning on visiting this place in February or March some time. Sounds like it'll be a very expensive, fun time.

I have not forgot you dear blog!

So I just haven't fixed anything lately. I'm thinking about making something this week containing some gnocchi and some seafood.

And note to self. Glasses (most often high ball variety) stuck together usually break. When breaking they like to cut deep, long, and hard. Kind of like my ex wife.

P.S. I was never married.

P.P.S. I would kick have a prenup so it wouldn't hurt so bad.

P.P.P.S. I don't own anything so a prenup wouldn't do any good.

Racks O' Ribs™

This was my first try at making ribs. All in all, they turned out fairly well and I couldn't complain too much. OK, so on to the important part.


What you need:
Pork ribs. Sam's club has three rack for about $20.
Mustard
Seasonings/rubs of whatever type you desire.
BBQ sauce
Pans
Aluminum foil
Oven, grill, charcoal, and wood for smoke if you so choose.

First things first, trim them bad boys up. Start by removing the membrane on the underside of the ribs, then cut the excess meet from what I was told is the "diaphragm", the cartilage line, and the flap on the other side.

When you're finished you should end up with a pretty large pile of pork. I stuck it in a container to marinate. It's going in the crock pot to make pulled pork for sandwiches.

Next it's time for the rub. I used a very thin coat of spicy mustard on the ribs and then used three separate rubs on the racks. One was McCormick's steak rub, one was Uncle Yammie's, and one was something I threw together with spices at the house.

Then you're going to want to line the pans with aluminum. After that, fill them with about 1/4" water and place the ribs in the pans. Put the pans into an oven preheated to about 200-225 degrees and let the ribs cook.

I cooked mine for about 3 1/2 hours. You want to take them out when they hit about 150 on the meat thermometer. After that, you're almost done.

Fire up your grill. I got mine going at about 400 or so. If you want some smoke, put the wood on there. Lather up the ribs with BBQ sauce if you like wet ribs or leave them without if you like dry. I did half and half. Put them on the grill for about another 10-15 minutes until they're darkened up on the outside and then take them off and enjoy.