Different Venues

Recently I have been thinking about the different venues that a chef can take on throughout his or her career. Many people stick to the kitchen and maybe an on site kitchen, but few wander out into the world. Last week I was cooking on a team for a BBQ festival and that was "okay". Don't get me wrong, the food was amazing, and the reviews were even better. Sleeping on concrete in a parking lot or in a hot trailer is not exactly roughing it. No my friends, the even of a lifetime is coming up for adventurous chefs! Next month I will be participating in a Bayou Beast Feast! Located right here in Houston, Texas, we are cooking a whole feral hog, nutria, squirrel, rabbit, duck, pigeon, etc. Basically we are cooking any kind of meat that can be found around the Bayou! Of course the director of the event Travis and I will be taking creative culinary liberties on every dish to make it more appealing to the general public. Opening people's minds to new types of food is a huge part of what I do and what better to do that with than what a lot of people don't consider meat.

So past the food we need an area for this event so started yesterday building the Hobo Ampitheatre. Yes, that is right, an outdoor movie theatre/venue underneath a bridge on the Bayou! It is still a work in progress but we have built stairs down the entire hill with tiki torches to light the way at night...

A series of tires dug into the ground and a tire swing...

Not shown behind it are a series of 5 wooden swings staggered in between the columns. Also there is the pride of the theatre, the 30 foot tall screen. This thing took 5 tries to get up and my hands are still rope burned from working on this bad boy.

Hoisting this thing up 30 feet with the wind was no easy feat!



I will let you guys know what goes on with it next, it will be epic! I will be doing a play by play on this event so get ready for the excitement! FOLLOW THE FLAVOR!

Day After Wine Night Jokes

So I enjoyed myself a bit too much last night and at Goody Goody's Liquor Store in Dallas I had a little too much fun again! So here is a picture blog with my comments because I'm still a little "not right" in the head!

Let's just say there were a lot of jokes to choose from... 1 of 12 aisles

So we all know about the 7 deadly sins and of course, the wine, 7 Deadly Zins...

But now we have two of the sins as well!

AND CAN I GET A "________ _________ " The answer would be...

Actually sir, to get to Woop Woop you need a boarding pass!

Christmas time comes around at the office; need a gift for the brownnoser? How about a nice bottle of Chardonnay!

Or how about for the loose woman of the office?!

Or for the Japanese businessmen in town?

Yeah... I know... I know, too soon! Sorry, like I said, not right in the head today!

My friends wife and I were joking since he can't have red wine we should get this next bottle so we could have a drunken three way (the good kind, not devil's)

The bottle got purchased, though nothing past sharing a bottle will happen haha.

Umm let's see, what else? Oh yes, the wine for the lazy orderer or the snarky restaurateur

Some wine bottles have names like 70s movies...

And others are like movie stars...

They also had a bottle of her nude, but it was 200 bucks for the bottle and 5 dollars per photo!

Yeah, wine labels are fun haha. I'll be back with a street food blog real soon! I PROMISE! Thinking of adding instructional videos still, trying to get someone to come film... Continue to follow me on twitter as @ChefGrantKeaton or on Facebook and feel free to send me any suggestions of cuisines you want to adventure next with me. We shall see, until next time, FOLLOW THE FLAVOR!!

National Pig Day!!

So, it's the greatest day of the year; no, I am not speaking of Christmas, Halloween or even St. Patrick's Day (a close second). My friends I am speaking of National Pig Day, a tradition that has been going on for the last 39 years! Today is the day we look at our portly friends with eyes not only filled with hunger but also admiration. So brothers and sisters with our universal bacon bond, let us reflect on the perfection that is the pig!

I personally am no stranger to the pig and I show my obvious obsession broadly across my hands!

Our un-kosher friend is frowned upon in some cultures and there is only one thing I can say to them; MORE FOR ME! I have sat down with several chefs throughout the years and a common conversation that almost always comes up is the glorification of the pig. So what makes the pig so perfect of a vessel for the culinary universe? I am going to hit three major areas; versatility, flavor, and cost.

To begin with, the pig, like most animals has the major primal cut areas that produce the best products know to the universe, in my mind anyways. Take a look at this diagram:

Yes I drew it myself but that just adds to the fun!

We have:
1)Chine/Neck, 2)Shoulder, 3)Foreleg, 4)Cutlet/Loin, 5)Forerib/Lean Meat, 6)Belly, 7)Ham/Hind Quarter, 8)Hindleg

There are a few more areas such as the jowl, cheek, feet, ears, etc, all with edible areas but mainly I just wanted to show the many different cuts that can be taken from a pig. Some of the choicest areas have to be the shoulder, loin, and belly! The shoulder is traditionally slow smoked, braised, roasted, pretty much the works to create beautiful pulled or chopped pork found in BBQ, no matter what kind your preference (This chef lives for Carolina BBQ). The belly can be cured and turned into beautiful home fresh bacon as well as used in stews, pretty much anything that can render its beautiful amount of fat content. And of course the loin, which everyone considers the king of cuts, can be cooked in almost any way and unless you are just inexperienced, will come out juicy and delicious. These different cuts have such a variety of flavors that the pig is a universal tool in the kitchen, especially in good southern food the way my Granny used to make it. There is a world of difference in taste from a pork chop to a ham slice, as bacon is to pig's cheek. With different textures, tastes, and fat contents, the pig can pretty much be paired with anything else to enhance a dish! PLUS pork products generally cost less than most cuts of meat, such as beef, venison, and veal.

The pig is truly the king of meats in my mind, hell I butchered a pig today just in honor of the day. So think about your other white meat friend today and partake in some of its offerings! Continue to follow me on Twitter @ChefGrantKeaton and on Facebook, and stay tuned for more blogs. Until then readers, FOLLOW THE FLAVOR!