Breaking out of a slump

I have considered posting earlier than this, but to be perfectly honest the food I have been eating lately have been pretty boring.  With a pretty hectic work and home life, we have been eating a lot of prepared food and take out.  Also at the station, everyone is eating their diet food and I am always lazy when it comes to cooking for myself.
I finally pulled myself out my slump last Saturday (our Mother's day, because I had to work the next day) and we had a cookout.  We went with hamburgers, hot dogs, and Italian Sausage, all grilled.  The next day at work, I made pirogi's with Sriracha butter and spinach.
Yesterday, I made Tortellini with Chicken Garlic Sauce while working at another station. I had made this dish in the past and was asked to make it again.  This dish meets the requirements for fire house food in that it is cheap to make and tastes great.  I had problems in the past while adding the flour, but that was because I didn't prepare ahead of time.  This time, in my humble opinion, it came out quite well.  We had Parmesan Texas toast as a side and after much debate about which veggie to add I told everyone to fend for them self, because I was tired of hearing the whining.
On a side note, I have discovered another incredible resource for cooking. Cook's Illustrated is an incredible magazine that really goes in depth about recipes.  I found myself saying "Wow" every time I turned the page.  Please check it out.
Until next time, Happy Cooking.

Born Again Foodie

I have been inspired to try this blogging thing again, both with this food blog and my work blog.  There have been many things that have happened recently that have renewed my interest in writing.  Three things have reinvigorated my love of food and cooking: (1) my youngest son has developed an interest in it and watching a 10 year old discover different foods is a joy, (2) I have been reading "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen" by Harold McGee and "Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food" by Jeff Potter and (3) while debating whether I should do this, I was surfing over at the Chive and found not one, but two food postings that piqued my and my sons interest and left us drooling("State Fairs,like insane asylums for food" and "Food Porn".  It also helped that I was off for 3 shifts recovering from a back injury and watched a lot of food shows.
Now I have been called dense in the past, but even I couldn't miss signs like those.  I have also become re interested in cooking at the fire station(my interest at home has never waned) and thought that I should take all this and put it into words.  
The thing about being a fire house chef is that you have to learn what people like and dislike, and make a meal that accommodates all.  While this is also true at home, I have had some input into the like and dislike process.  A couple of shifts ago, I was working some overtime and was working with an old partner and a brand new probie.  My old partner instantly flicked cooking duty onto me and to the store we went.  Both of us like spicy food and the probie said he was willing to try anything (we were feeling nice and gave him a choice).  Tuna steaks were on sale for an incredible price so we picked those up and grabbed some spinach for a veggie.  Most stations have rice as a staple so we decided to add that as well.  I threw together a marinade of Sriracha sauce and olive oil and coated the tuna with that, put them on the frying pan to sear both sides and then into the oven for a little finishing heat.
I heat up another frying pan and sauteed the spinach in olive oil with garlic and red chili flakes.  The rice we just cooked normally (I forgot in the planning phase that it is hard to cook rice when you may have to leave the station at any time so we went for simple).  All components came out great (if i do say so myself) and for $4.50 each you can't beat the price.
I promise that in the future I will add pictures.  I also plan On talking about food in general, what I ate that day (even the boring stuff), food shows and books. Please feel free to write me and maybe we can get some discussions going as well.    

Proud Dad

My daughter came to me yesterday and told me that she wanted to be a foodie and that i should be one with her.  Hearing this told me that my wife and I had done at least one thing right in raising our kids.  The event that lead to this revelation on my daughters part was a trip to Whole Foods Market.  My daughter (and youngest son, who wants to join us on our foodie journey) were impressed with the varieties of foods offered, that aren't offered at the neighborhood supermarkets and even more so by the different food samples.  Guacamole, various fruit samples and chips instantly got there attention.  When we got to the cheeses we got a little more adventurous.  My daughter loved the smoked Gouda, but son found it to crunchy.  He was more interested in the sharp cheddar and they both liked the asiago.  We then looked at all the different cheeses and talked about them.  Watching them explore the store was entertaining for both myself and my wife.
We have always encouraged our children to explore the world of food. From young ages we have let them "help" us prepare food whenever they ask to.  They have all been willing to try something new. (Try everything once, the good stuff twice).  At different ages we have met various degrees of Resistance, but we always encourage, never force.  We have also watch several food network shows with them.  We are fans of Alton Brown, Bizarre Foods, Man vs. Foods and Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  We find the shows were they go out and find interesting foods better than your traditional cooking show.  We also like the competition shows entertaining, because we like seeing what they do with the ingredients.  And now onto being foodies, and seeing what is out there.  I started this blog last month, not taking into account the Christmas season, but now I have no excuse to not post.  I hope to write at least once a week, and look forward to hearing from you.

An introduction

I love food, always have.  A long time ago, when I was younger I remember always wanting to help in the kitchen and being fascinated by the magic that occurred there.  Watching ingredients, many that alone don't taste that good, come together to create a dish that tastes great amazed me.  I felt that I needed to learn.  Growing up in the New York City area, I was also exposed to foods from many regions.  I remember eating in restaurants that served French, Czech, Chinese, Sushi, Brazilian and many, many more.  While in the military, I was further exposed to food, traveling to 40 states and 9 countries I was able to explore and try food from restaurants and street vendors.
On top of of trying many types of food, I also love to cook.  Working in a firehouse for 10 years, as well as being the father of 4, has taught me to cook for people that are not afraid to let you know if you have messed up.  First with cookbooks and cooking shows and later with the internet, I try and find different foods to prepare.  I also have my staples that I prepare, but I always tamper with them in some way. 
In this blog, I plan to discuss recipes, talk about places I have eaten, and review cookbooks and shows I have come across.  I hope to hear from anyone who reads this.  Until the next time.