More Walker House Stuff

This picture is of my first night in Mineral Point, I made dinner for Mr and Mrs Dickinson, their friend and resident roofer, Henry and the Cheffy Boy out of stuff I pulled out of their fridge...

Broiled Flounder with Parmesean Crust, served with Tequila-Lime Butter Sauce, Confetti Rice Pilaf and Early Peas with Smoked Salmon deglazed with Tequila

Picture before the plate was sauced and cleaned.

Roasted Garlic and Cheddar Riced Potatoes surrounded by a succotash of vegetables deglazed in Raspberry Beer and topped with a Soy Infused Pork Loin Steak

This is a picture of the plate that I did for the twenty guests the Dickinson's invited to dinner on Cheffy's second night in Mineral Point...

Dinner Night at The Walker House

Dinner Night was kind of fun...

For me, you know you can put me in any kitchen with any obstacles and I am cool with that...I am in my element...this is who I am and food is what I do...

The Dickinson's on the other hand were witnessing the beginning of their dream coming true, by having some long haired Chef guy from Tennessee pumping out an impromptu dinner for twenty out of their kitchen...the visual reality of the life that is to come...

Joe washing dishes and hanging out with Chef in the kitchen, while I am italking to a local farmer about products her family farm offers while flinging saute pans and broiling pork loin...

Susan and their kids finishing up in the dining room, Susan helping me plate salads and entrees...everyone running food, setting salads, opening wine, running a complete food service out of a kitchen that hasn't been cranked up in twenty years...

Fun stuff...

I don't think we have any pictures of Susan helping Cheffy plate up, but that was really cute...she just wanted to be such a part of this (and she definitely was), we all had a really good time...

Although I babble a bit about the food, Susan and their son Paul were the true heroes of the event. The dining room that we chose was a construction zone and it took them the better part of the day with all of the equipment and tools that had to me moved along with all of the other stuff that has long since accumulated in the dining room, all the sweeping, dusting, wiping, vaccuuming etc., not to mention setting the tables and chairs to resemble a finished product of a dining room set for twenty...

Susan bless her heart was non-stop...all the way up to Chef and her bussing the dining room after all was said and done...(we had to make sure Joe had plenty of dishes to do...ha ha)

Anyway...fun stuff...

Chef

Cheffy Does The Walker House Cornish Inn, Mineral Point, Wisconsin

Cheffy Does The Walker House Cornish Inn,

Mineral Point, Wisconsin

I have always been a history buff and have lived in some of the most historical cities and small towns in the States, from Charleston, SC to San Francisco, to Appomattox Court House and Pamplin, Virginia to the cobblestone streets of Calumet, Michigan. I love the history of everywhere I ever go…

This week I had the honor to have my travels land me in a little town outside of Madison, Wisconsin called Mineral Point. The history and the passion in Mineral Point’s restoration projects are absolutely overwhelming.

On one of my food message boards on the internet someone had posted a question:

“What would you do with a recently restored 150 year old hotel?”

Jokingly I replied,
“…I’d ask Chef Mike to send me his resume…”

So we took that one step further and Mr. Joe Dickinson and his lovely bride, Susan had sent the totally unpredictable CheffyBoy up to my newest favorite town, Mineral Point, Wisconsin.

The Dickinson’s had bought the Old Walker House Hotel in historic Mineral Point and have been working day and night as of late to get the doors open of this old railroad hotel, circa 1836, that has not been open in over twenty years...

The Walker House Needs A Chef

So they investigated Cheffy…man, this guy sounds like fun...

Joe and I had communicated both via email and telephone for a couple days and he got me pretty excited about his family project…the goal is to open up the doors of this critically acclaimed haunted house; the Walker House, and serve unbelievable food that is going to be an imagination destination both culinarily and historically in their recently restored Cornish Inn.

So I wound up taking a couple days off of work and the Dickinson’s flew me up to Mineral Point to see their passionate dream.

Words couldn’t express the feeling of stepping into yesteryear that I felt.

Before I got there I told Mr. Dickinson to have his wife go out shopping and find Cheffy something to cook, don’t care what it is, you just aren’t allowed to tell me what it is…

This “…don’t tell me what it is…” turned into Cheffy cooking a nice dinner for me ,the Dickinson’s, Henry, (the Dickinson’s good friend and roofer), the first night, just stuff I found in the freezer and reach-in…Flounder with roasted garlic-tequila butter sauce, Confetti Rice and some kind of veggie, I don’t remember…

Up to feeding a bunch of my new friends in Mineral Point, most of them on the Historical Society and involved with the restoration of Mineral Point that welcomed me with open arms, and I haven’t even talked about accepting a job yet…heck, I was just cooking supper...

Anyway, Joe tells me he bought a pork loin,

assuming that I saw it…
I didn’t…

Anyway, you know how the Cheffy mouth never sleeps…
“…a whole loin or tenderloin?...
Reealllly, why don’t you just invite some people to dinner?”

Anyway, I cut the loin into steaks and wound up with twenty and told him to invite twenty people to dinner…Now he’s excited…his wife on the other hand (I think) was a little more apprehensive then Joe and I were…This means that we need to turn the construction zone of one of the dining rooms into a dining room…I must admit that I was not much help, the Dickinson’s along with their son Paul and other members of the family turned the work zone into a dining zone, it took them most of the day, but they succeeded and was pretty awesome…

They set up a twenty top down the center of the dining room so that everyone was at the same table with Cheffy at the head of one end with Joe and Susan’s youngest grandbaby at the other...

The Menu:

I only did two courses since we were so pressed for time, I didn’t get into the kitchen until the afternoon, Joe and I were running around most of the day checking out produce markets, organic farmers (both vegetable and protein), local meat markets and butchers…that was fun…

For breakfast that morning, reminiscent of my Bed and Breakfast days, I cooked an Italian Herbed Frittata with smoked salmon and Hook’s Two Year White Cheddar. Flanked with Crisped Cinnamon Bacon. Yum.

Dinner was fun, even if I didn’t have time to do the dessert…

The fresh herbs I used throughout the day came from a Walker House flower pot…

Mesclun Salad with fresh basil, tarragon, oregano, dried fruit with marinated grape tomatoes and cucumbers finished with Hook’s award winning twelve-year Cheddar Cheese. Served with a Creamy Pesto Salad Dressing.

Italian Grilled Flatbread (home made)
Chef’s favorite- whole grain bread infused with roasted garlic, basil, thyme, oregano & honey, grilled and sliced into triangles.

Soy and Roasted Garlic infused Pork Loin Steaks
with herb scented brown sauce
Riced Potatoes with Garlic and Cheddar Cheese
Succotash Vegetables sautéed in Basil Infused Olive Oil then deglazed with Raspberry Beer…

I originally planned on serving dinner at 7:00 which would have given me time to throw together a dessert, but Joe threw a wrench…one of the things that I love about this business…sometimes…

There was the council meeting, a historical meeting, travel writer in town and the list was endless…no one could make it for dinner at 7 but they could be here at 5:30…hmmmm…

And the question is what…?

Heck its only 3:30 if I can’t pump out two courses in two hours for twenty people by myself I guess I just failed my job interview…ha ha…

But you know me…failure is never an option…

“But they ain’t gettin’ no dessert and I need a dishwasher…”

Mr. Dickinson found a oneness with the dish tank while hanging out with the dude who was pumping out a function for twenty of the town folk in a kitchen that has not pumped out food in twenty years…many of whom have not even set foot in the historic Walker House in twenty years…

Anyway…
I think I passed my job interview.

The hotel is just awesome, my first day Joe thought I was going to run away because I was pretty much speechless and overwhelmed with the experience. He thought something was wrong…I was just speechless and overwhelmed; trying to soak it all in…I was in love…

So, now that both of us pretty much decided that we found what we wanted we started on menu ideas, listening and interpreting the dreams of the Dickinson family, Willie Caffee (resident spirit), the Walker House Cornish Inn and the historic hideaway, Mineral Point, Wisconsin…

The Walker House found a Chef…

So if you live in Mineral Point and are reading this let me put the rumors to rest…

Yes, the Walker House is re-opening as a Cornish Inn with lodging and full food service. They have hired Chef Michael Hayes of Knoxville, Tennessee to be their Executive Chef.

No, the Pub is not gone…it has been refinished to meet building specs and is destined to be one of the coolest pubs in Mineral Point. The pub is going to host a variety of beers and wines until such time as a liquor license can be obtained. The pub food will focus on Cornish, Italian and Americana pub foods including gourmet pizzas.

There are three additional dining rooms available at the Walker House for dinner service. The two upstairs dining rooms will be open every evening at 5:00, only opening the third dining room when necessary for overflow.

The current estimation is that the Walker House can seat 160 people.

Although the Pub menu is available throughout the restaurant, Chef Mike and his team will design special menus to change periodically based on supply and demand from the farmers local to Southern Wisconsin.

Although we have filled out credit applications with local food service providers, I don’t favor seeing a truck in the Walker House driveway with availability that the local farmers, meat markets and butchers have to offer. As of November 15th, the can opener at the Walker House no longer exists and aside of paper products, things like salt, sugar, yeast, and boxes of printer paper for our Point of Sales system I really don’t want to see a box…

The evening dining focus is going to cover a variety of cuisines that includes Cornish, Italian, Mediterranean, and Chef Mike’s fun versions of fusion. All of the protein will be purchased locally from local farmers, as will majority of the herbs, vegetables and fruits.

We are projecting opening on New Year’s Eve 2007.
Understanding the diversity of the world of permits, inspections, fire marshals etc. this may or may not be the truth, this is only a projection.

My heart feels comfortable making a life’s decision with a community that has willingly embraced my spirit.

I think Cheffy is going to do Mineral Point for a long time...

Pics of Cheffy and Harry

Hanging Out With The CheffyBoy and Harry

Here are some pics of me and Harry hanging out in the kitchen and of dinner

When Harry Met Cheffy

Thus the Men and the Myth

I really don't know where to begin with these CheffyBabbles...might be a long story...

(tongue-tied???? ha ha...you should be so freaking lucky...)

Like I said in a previous entry, I took over this kitchen in March and renamed it Chef Mike's Cravings Cafe, developed a new menu and a different concept, put a little "About Chef Mike" section on the menu, all in an attempt to draw more food revenue.

From March to May I was working an inhumane amount of hours as a chef at an extremely busy catering facility, hired a couple people to run the Cafe and I would go to the cafe after work and stay there until after close.

For those couple months I was kind of in and out, just a face on a menu I guess you can say, met a couple people but did not really get close to any of our regulars, hell, not until recently am I learning some of their names, they know me by name and I only know them by face.

And then there's Harry...

I guess me and Harry first met each other because he was Harry and I was Mike, the new kid on the block. I always found time to hang out with Harry and talk about food, color, taste, texture and the relationship was on. Harry is a big, personable blue collar construction guy that has a passion for cooking, so we hit it off pretty well.



Harry had told me about these eggrolls that he does that he is pretty proud of and I never really gave them that much thought, of course, I listened to Harry tell his stories about his eggrolls with interest about the passion he was sharing, although I have been known to roll tens of thousands of them in this thing I call a life...

In April, Harry was going to make his eggrolls for a little birthday party the bar was putting on for one of our regulars and Harry had asked if I could just heat them up and put them out for everyone to eat on. On the day of the birthday party, my sister had taken deathly ill and I had to leave immediately. I instructed my cooks on how I wanted them cooked and presented, had them cook me up a couple of them to take on the road with me and then headed to Virginia.

I started getting the munchies along the way and remembered that I had some of Harry's EggRolls. Oh, my goodness...I stopped on the side of the road and looked at my next bite and just thought that "these Eggrolls really rock...' Holy Crap Harry, remind me to tell you this story...

(At this point Harry was a name and a face, a friendly hello and an exchange of food stories...)

So starts the story with Harry, our relationship and his "Redneck Egg Rolls" as I refer to them affectionately...

This blog entry is going to be continued, I have to go give a cooking class, perhaps will finish it tonight...

Later That Day....

Freaking Harry is a blast...I had more fun watching him have fun than I did playing with the food...and we all know how Cheffy loves to play with his freaking food....

(just ask Harry what he thought about me eating my dinner with my hands...heeeee heeeeeeeee....purity baby...just freaking purity...what'd they do with food before someone invented the spoon...man...that ribeye is freaking awesome isn't it...as
Cheffy tears off another piece of one of the most succulent steaks I have ever made/eaten...)


This pic was kind of funny and kind of has a double meaning...

Harry was looking for a whisk in the kitchen to mix up a slurry out of cornstarch and water that we were using to seal the eggrolls...

I think the CheffyQuote wuz:
"Harry, what the hell you need a whisk for????? Use your damned hands!! How are ya gonna know when all the lumps are gone?????? Perfect slurry ain't got no durned lumps..."

P.S. (commonly referred to as 'Yo' Harry?????? What da' hell are you thinkin'?'

What the hell would'ya've done without a whisk??????? Did the fork evolve from the dag goned spoon or not??? Hey!!!!!!!!!ya know what????????They both look like our freaking hand don't they???? Just another CheffyPsychoBabble...

But anyway, the second fold of this story is that I used to work under a German Chef named Chef Fritzen and one time Chef told me that "...'da bes' tools in your kitchen Mr. Bones is the one that is on your wrist...jus' make sure your f***in' hands are clean...when I see you have dirty hands is the day you find another job..."

A lesson the CheffyBoy has never forgotten...



So anyway back to the "Harry Meets Cheffy" Babbles later...

Harry and Cheffy (The Men, The Myth...The Beginning)

First, I guess I need to explain where my world has gone since it has been so long that I have written…

Left the catering facility in May and am at the café full time…not making any money, but am having fun with some of the events… I started doing cooking classes/private instruction at the Café (when we are not open) along with of the special events/cooking classes I am trying to schedule trying to score some more bucks, but as always…playing with food makes the CheffyBoy happy---financially profitable or not…and lately it is a big freaking NOT>…

Took over a Café at a Karaoke Bar last March, kept on working my job and hired a couple people to run the café and then I would go there when my day was done…for a while I was pumping out 100 plus hour weeks-freaking maniacs…am just a magician that dresses funny….

That was from March to Late May…since then I am the only employee and trying everything in my power to drum up more business or finding ways of taking advantage of my kitchen when I am not “providing a service” for the establishment

Then I met Harry...

Bullfeathers Karaoke Bar and Chef Mike's Craving's Cafe

Harry and Cheffy (The Men, The Myth, The Menu)

Harry and Cheffy...what a story this is going to be...




Better get into the menu before I even attempt to get into the Men and Myth thingy….The Harry and Cheffy Boy Story is kind of in depth, but a lot of fun….

I was going to give Harry a private instruction. One-on-one with the Cheffy Boy in my kitchen on a day when the kitchen was closed and do a private invitation-only dinner for 10-15 people

“Find something you want to learn and I will teach it to you…” I even gave Harry my new edition of the “Professional Chef” textbook… “Find something Harry…”

So after talking about it for a couple weeks, Harry came and hung out with the CheffyBoy in his magical world...what a freaking blast…

The Menu-

Mesclun Salad with Vine Vegetables Garnished with Roasted Garlic and Chipotle Infused Caesar Salad Dressing

Redneck Eggrolls in an arabesque of Sweet and Sour and Harry’s Hot Mustard accompanied by Pan Fried Asian Noodles on Napa Cabbage. The Eggrolls were drizzled with a Wasabi Dressing.

The Grand Finale was Asian Infused Ribeyes with Baked Potato and Garlic Infused Sesame Oil Asparagus Tips….

Dessert was Friends, Family and talking about food...

Freaking Life Is Good!!!!

Harry, The Cheffy Boy, Asparagus and Green Onions

This pic was comical...shit like this keeps me humble...

I had shown Harry how to make the flower/firecracker out of the green onions, then I showed him the importance of snapping asparagus rather than cutting it...in the midst of his cleaning asparagus, I decided to clear his cutting board of the asparagus ends (which I wanted to save for a soup) I put the pile right into all the green onions I just had him cut the ends off of...so the pic is The Not-So-Freaking Infallable Cheffy Boy, and Harry looking through the asparagus to try to separate the green onions... (now what in the hell did you do that for??)

Inspirations and Cooking Classes

Inspirations....

Man, where would life be without them...

Quick story about the pic...

Me and Greg haven't been bouncing around in the same kitchen for about 8 months and we fed off of each others behaviors both in and out of the kitchen, we were truly an inspiration to each other.

In this pic, Greg walked into the kitchen and was like "What'd'ya want me doing?"

I was in the final stages of a cooking instruction for a buddy of mine Harry and we were going to do 4 courses for 12-15 pp---totally freaked Harry out seeing that part of the world...a lot more about Harry later, but Greg, Harry and myself had a freaking blast...

Harry is really proud of these eggrolls that he makes that I call the Redneck Roll (reasons I'll explain in my Harry post), I really like them. Harry was pretty proud to show me how freaking simple his recipe is. So needless to say, me and Harry rolled quite a pile of eggrolls (none of which lasted long).

When Greg and I were contemplating plating design of Harry's Infamous Eggrolls I am explaining to Greg, (after I shot down a couple of his other ideas, and he popped in with the arabesque idea)...BUT I WANT HEIGHT!!!!! Is funny sometimes how much talking my hands do...Greg's arabesque made the plate, awesome idea...



The plate was really awesome looking, Harry was beside himself, I showed him how to make the green onion flowers (firecrackers, whatever you wanna call 'em)

That there's the durned pertyest plate of Redneck EggRolls I ever have seen...

The arabesque for the plate was sweet and sour with Harry's Asian Hot Mustard, then the eggrolls, a Napa Cabbage leaf topped with an Asian Pan Fried Noodles.

Just having a day off and bringing someone into my kitchen, cooking for a couple hours showing them how crazy my world can get, and hell, we were only doing 15 people...hell ya oughta see me doing 1500...ha ha....



This story is far from over, I will post alot more pics in the other posts of all of us. Man, that was a fun night...

Tired, Wired and Inspired

pic-Pretty Place, SC

Tired, Wired and Inspired

Sometimes in life you wind up inspired about things, sometimes these inspirations are stimulating while other times shaking our hearts and stirring our emotions.

There are the eccentric people on this earth that can’t wait to write down the thought process, especially if I found the process beautiful, if nothing else, then for the sake of the memories.

I am one of those people and such was my case today, my first day on the road.

As some know, I have a lot of roots in the southeast so traveling from Knoxville through North Carolina into South Carolina was very reminiscent.

The thousands of flowing creeks and the beauty of the Smoky Mountain and Cherokee National Forests, the awesome feeling of being in Maggie Valley and spinning around in circles just to capture the majesty of the surrounding mountains, the memories I have living in Waynesville, the solitude of the morning fog through Buncombe and Haywood Counties…awww, man, what a great beginning to a crazy week.

One of the many reasons I have not written in a while is that my schedule/life has been so demanding, and as soon as I get a break I head out on the road to feed masses in South Carolina with my buddies at Palmetto Expo Center in Greenville, SC. So anyway, I am here for the week pumping out major volume and dancing the Alley Cat….

Now that I am not home and far away from my real job perhaps I will have some time to write and can catch up on a bunch of stuff. A lot has gone on since the Cooking Classes, so maybe I can squeeze some of that stuff in as well…

Talk at ya soon,
Cheffy

Second Harvest

Fondue Through The Ages

Fondue Through The Ages
Chef Michael Hayes

In a world where you can attain anything from a hamburger or other fast food meal in a matter of minutes, to being able to purchase almost any kind of food in the frozen food section of the local supermarket, it intrigues and captivates me when we are able to go back to the basics of traditional “roots” cooking and dining.

Such is the case of fondue and derivatives of this ancient method of food preparation and consumption. When we think of fondue we often think of the dessert fondues and not of the origins and the different types of fondue that have been around for hundreds of years. To get a better understanding of fondue, the origins and history of fondue and the types both traditional and new fusions of this ancient art of cooking me and the soon to be Mrs. Cheffy went out to a fondue restaurant to get a deeper understanding of this little known art.

Terminology:

Fondue refers to different communal dishes shared at a table in a caquelon (earthenware pot) over a rechaud (small burner) which has French and Swiss roots, most notably the Swiss Alps. It is said that fondue was first documented by Homer’s Iliad with a mixture of wine and goat cheese. The word fondue comes from the French “fondre” which means “to melt”.

Although the origin of fondue is not really known, it is speculated that fondue was an invention of necessity by the French-Swiss as a way of using breads, locally grown produce, preserved meats and cheeses that were prepared in the summer and fall months by mixing the locally produced cheeses with wine, and melting the cheese, then dipping the stale bread in the cheese mixture. This method rehydrated the breads, vegetables and meats to make them palatable. Through the course of centuries there have been many varieties and variations of the original fondue.

Swiss Cheese Fondues:

Fondue Neuchateloise-the mixture of emmantal and gruyere cheeses
Fondue Molite-Molite- equal parts of gruyere and Friborg vacherin
Fondue Vaudoise-Gruyere
Fondue Fribourgeoise-Friborg Vacherin (served with boiled small potatoes instead of bread)
Fondue de Suisse Central-Gruyere, emmantal and sbrinz
Appenzeller Fondue- Appenzeller Cheese
Tomato Fondue- Gruyere, Emmantal and the use of crushed tomatoes instead of wine.
Spicy Fondue- Gruyere, red and green peppers and chiles.
Mushroom Fondue-Gruyere, Fribourg Cacherin and mushrooms
Varietals.

There are different methods of cooking proteins and vegetables in non-cheese fondues.

Fondue Chinoise- Meats and vegetables cooked in a vegetable or meat broth with red wine and a variety of herbs and spices which should always have garlic and shallots among other herbs and spices. Fondue Chinoise as well as Fondue Bourguignonne is served with a variety of dipping sauces.

Fondue Bourguignonne- Meats sliced thinly and cooked in a caquelon with hot oil and occasionally butter.

Fondue Bressane- Chicken pieces dipped in buttermilk or some other form of cream, then rolled in seasoned bread crumbs and fried in the caquelon like fondue bourguinonne. Bressane is also served with a variety of sauces.

Dessert Fondues- The most popular dessert fondue, by far, is chocolate fondue although dessert fondues can be made out of fruits, coconut, caramel, and marshmallows to name a few. Chocolate fondue is usually made with milk chocolate melted with the addition of vanilla extract, liqueurs and other flavorings. Dessert fondues are usually accompanied by an assortment of confections such as marshmallows, cheesecake, cookies, brownies, pound cake and with a variety of fruits like bananas, pineapples, strawberries and other berries to name a few.

Although fondue has been around for centuries it did not begin to gain popularity until the 1950’s and 60’s mainly due to the markets of the Swiss and French Alps cheese industry coming to a standstill. So, as with a lot of other industrial ideas the idea was to introduce the fondues to the American market and the rest, so they say, is history. Today, although the preparation of fondues is quick and simple you can buy fondue kits which include all of the necessities to make a successful fondue to purchasing microwavable fondues in a variety of flavors.

Cheffy Does Fondue Photographs

Vickie and I went out for Fondue to learn more about the methods of preparation for a la carte restaurants and we had a real good time. Was informative and very interesting.

Had to laugh at my honey, she points to her pot of Coq Au Vin and said to me "This is to me what Sushi is to my CheffyBoy", so I guess Momma had a real good time too.

Who Are You?

Who Are You???

And what have you done to my chef???

It was Vickie's birthday last night so after pumping out major volume all day yesterday, I took my honey out for dinner and dancing at a Holiday Inn near our house. She loves getting me dressed up in something other than my chef clothes or torn up blue jeans and rock and roll t-shirts.

Well, it's OK I guess, as long as she doesn't get used to it....ha ha