PINGISLANDSTRIKE


Chuckeats
July 20, 2008, 4:12 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

We really enjoy cooking for people who are serious eaters

check out chuck’s recent experience with us

http://www.chuckeats.com/2008/07/15/mccradys-charleston-sc-ingredient-fetish/

if you haven’t read chuck’s blog you will be hooked instantly, chuck has quite the dining resume



Whipporwill Field Peas
July 20, 2008, 4:05 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

this is one of my favorites

it’s an old pea introduced in the late 1800’s

the flavor when they are fresh is very earthy, almost like eating dirt, in a good way of course

 

these will be great with a truffle puree and some jean marc apple vinegar….with pork of course

we are going to grow a whole field of these this fall….lots of shelling to be done in the meantime, we just bought 4 and a half bushels from our friend Todd Blair, thanks to Randolph for helping us find Todd, whom we also got our piggies from



Five Months
July 20, 2008, 3:57 pm
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we finally harvested our jimmy red…

anybody want to grow some next year??

 

we now have a ton of seeds



Cooking Class
July 14, 2008, 4:46 am
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I am doing a participation cooking demo at Charleston Cooks on July 31st.  Charleston cooks is right across the street from McCrady’s.  It’s only 60 bucks.  I will be focusing on vegetable cookery but will also touch base on some other things.  Seats are limited since it is a participation class.  This facility is amazing.  I look forward to seeing you in class….don’t be late!!

Discussions:

vegetable and fruit compression using the vac machine

vegetable and fruit infusion using a vaccuum

vegetable aeration using a vaccum

cryoblanching using liquid nitrogen and vaccum

cooking vegetables under vaccum in a pressure cooker

other ways to utuilize the pressure cooker to cook vegetables

creating a vegetable driven dish using lots of different ideas and theories

fish sous vide

vegetable cakes

using hydrocolloids to reshape vegaetables

using versa whip

frozen ice cream pearls using liquid nitrogen

 

should be a hoot

 

here is the link:

http://www.mavericksouthernkitchens.com/cooks/classes.html



A Change of Plans
July 13, 2008, 8:32 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

We have decided to take a different approach to gardening.  I have pulled inspiration from Thomas Jefferson’s garden at Monticello.  We are trying to eliminate plastic mulching and tractors without killing ourselves.  Stay tuned to see how things develop.  We are very excited.



Checklists
July 13, 2008, 8:20 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

Since attempting to raise vegetables and pigs my daily checklists have changed a bit.

Fish Carcasses (tomatoes)

Egg Shells (tomatoes)

aspirin (tomatoes)

Bone Meal (tomatoes)

Lime (tomatoes)

organic fertilizer (tomatoes)

4 gallons sour milk (pigs)

2 gallons sour heavy cream (pigs)

2 large lexans of kitchen scrap (pigs)

water (me)

slim jims (me)

 

if you are curious about all the strange things for the tomatoes check out this site

 

www.growbetterveggies.com

Cynthia is one of the most talented tomato growers in the united states, if not the most talented, she is also the person responsible for all the crazy delicious vegetables for my favorite restaurant Manresa.

if Cynthia said to put toenails into the soil to get a better tomato I wouldn’t have any toenails



Peaches and Cream
July 13, 2008, 8:15 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

The peach is compressed and then bruleed.  We serve it with a brown butter crumble and honey-mascorpone cream….



Jimmy Red
July 13, 2008, 8:12 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

This has been an incredible project on many different levels.  This corn is from James Island, here in Charleston.  Jimmy Red Corn is nearly extinct.  Thanks to Ted Chewning for keeping this strain alive, he was nice enough to share some seeds with us this year. We ended up growing 1600 feet of Jimmy Red for seed.  The scraps will be used to make grits for the restaurant.  We use liquid nitrogen to ensure that the corn stays nice and cold when it is ground.  Next year, John Haulk corn.



Milk-Fed
July 13, 2008, 8:06 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

my piggies love milk.



The Dinner with Aki and Alex
July 13, 2008, 7:55 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

 

http://www.ideasinfood.com/ideas_in_food/2008/07/photos-of-mccradys.html

here is a link to some pics from the dinner with the guys from ideasinfood..

what a great night, thanks to all that made it possible



McCrady’s Guest Chef Series
June 24, 2008, 10:16 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

August 31st, 2008

 

Richard Blais

 

100 per person

50 wine pairing

reservations can only be made through me..

 

chefbrock@mccradysrestaurant.com



Our Pigs
June 22, 2008, 4:03 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

this should be interesting….

Our newest project is raising pigs for the restaurant.  These pigs are our responsibility and will be eating the scraps from our vegetable garden.  They will also enjoy lots of heavy cream and peanuts.  Stay tuned……



Tomatoes from our Garden
June 22, 2008, 3:54 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

the great thing about growing produce for the restaurant is the learning curve involved.  Today I realized that 700 tomato plants might have been a few hundred too many.  lots to learn



The Ideas in Food Dinner
June 22, 2008, 4:14 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

some seats have opened up…..who wants them??

june 29th…….75 bucks for 12 courses is a pretty darn good deal

reservations can only be made through this blog, email me quick

chefbrock@mccradysrestaurant.com

 



Messin Around with foie Gras
June 16, 2008, 4:57 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

 

discovered a new foie terrine technique…rather easy..

 

temper the foie and clean it….cure it for 24 hours…push it through a tammis and place it in a vac bag…seal the bag…and roll it out…chill overnight, then it’s super easy to portion…by the time this gets to the guest the texture is like soft, spreadable butter, when eaten it is really creamy and decadent…awesome

 

we played around with lots of summer flavors but the winner was nutella, peaches and black truffles….

goes on the menu tommorrow



Can Anyone Guess what this is??
June 16, 2008, 4:48 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

 

one hint……it’s totally natural



Keepin A Head of the Game
June 13, 2008, 5:08 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

The heads are salt cured for 24 hours, then braised in pork stock in the cvap for 24 hours. We then allow them to cool in the braising liquid overnight.  The stock gets clarified and used to bind the terrine.



Tuna
June 13, 2008, 5:02 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized



50 Degrees C
June 13, 2008, 5:00 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

the scallops are cooked sous vide in olive oil until they reach 50 c…then they are chilled and sliced…we then dress them with mango vinegar and olive oil ….garnished with fresh coriander berries



Ice Cream and Fish Eggs
June 13, 2008, 4:45 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

Coconut, Curry, Nasturtium and Artic Char Roe

 

 



Charcuterie
June 13, 2008, 4:43 pm
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Travis Grimes loves to cure meat, Thank God, he is damn good at it too



Fresh Coriander Berries
June 13, 2008, 4:41 pm
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The 2008 James Beard Awards
June 10, 2008, 3:18 pm
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What an incredible thing to be a part of.  Congrats to all the nominees and winners.



Good Times in NYC
June 10, 2008, 3:10 pm
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this city really never sleeps…which works out good for me!!



The Big Apple BBQ Block Party
June 10, 2008, 2:59 pm
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This event is so much fun….pretty funny seeing newyorkers going crazy over BBQ….my favorites were the ribs by my friend kenny of blusesmoke and of course the whole hog BBQ from the legendary ed mitchell.   You could smell southern BBQ for blocks….I felt right at home!!!



Headin to the Big Apple
June 4, 2008, 3:52 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

reservations at:

Tailor

Yankees Stadium

Eleven Madison Park

Wd-50

Bar Boulud

Back Forty

can’t wait, I’ll take lots of pictures!!



The end of May
June 4, 2008, 3:50 pm
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The First Tomato
June 4, 2008, 3:46 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

 

Our tomatoes are struggling a bit right now……hope that they can pull thru, we shall see.  They sure are tasty, my dinner tonight was a huge plate of cherokee purples with salt, pepper and olive oil, I must have eaten 4 tomatoes myself.  Just like that it’s tomato season.



Hudson Valley Foie Gras
June 4, 2008, 3:43 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

This was one of the components of a dish that Micheal Ginor cooked at the Share our Strength dinner in Nashville.  He cured it for 5 days with Nori, Salt and Sugar.  The Foie Gras was then frozen and grated with a microplane over tuna tartare.  The flavor of the foie gras was insane.  Just when you think you have seen it all with Foie Gras.



Palmex Carrots
June 4, 2008, 3:40 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized



A trip To Music City USA
June 4, 2008, 3:38 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

just got back from a great trip to my old stomping grounds.  I did an event with the Southern Foodways Alliance and a dinner with Share our Strength at the Hermitage Hotel.  Got to catch up with some old friends and also make some new ones.  There’s always a good time to be had in NashVegas..



Forono Beets
May 27, 2008, 5:52 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

 

these grow cylindrical instead of spherical…tonight we served them poached in strawberry consomme with whipped blue cheese, cocoa nibs and nasturtiums….we finished the dish with some hazelnut oil from jean marc and some Oregon hazelnuts…i was really happy with the simplicity of this dish….I



The Biodynamic Planting Calender
May 27, 2008, 5:47 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

this is proof that if you follow Maria Thun’s planting calender you will get straight, consistent carrots….when I pulled them out of the ground today that’s all I could think about…these were some kick ass carrots…thanks to matt and starla for planting them 



Stone Crab Claws
May 27, 2008, 1:24 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

 

These came straight from the boat and were still moving, one scared the crap out of me when it tried to pinch me.  Man did these taste good…hard to describe how delicious these were, you’ll have to come to the restaurant and try some.  These are straight from Charleston’s waters.



Micro Ice Plant
May 27, 2008, 1:22 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

these edible succulents are really neat.  What a cool texture



The Garden in May
May 27, 2008, 1:21 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

the may garden is great because you are still harvesting some things from the late winter garden but you also have fields full of peas, tomatoes, corn, beans, zucchini, melons, onions, okra and the begining of butternut squash (which are great in the baby stage btw)



Baby Shallots from our Garden
May 27, 2008, 1:10 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

 

Sometimes it pays to be impatient.  Most of the time it doesn’t.  One of the best things about our vegetable project is that we can see the plants at different stages.  Where as before we were limited to what was for sale, now we can watch a plant grow in all of it’s stages and taste it along the way.  These shallots have been in the ground forever and I pulled some up just to see what was happening below the ground.  Wow, I will always harvest them this size.  The flavor is so balanced, which makes them extremely versatile.  Next year I plant 10 times as many I I did this year.



Farro Verde
May 27, 2008, 1:01 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

We finally harvested our farro.  What a cool experience.  You certainly cook it with more care after you see the work it takes to get it into a pot…  Thanks again to Glenn Roberts of anson mills for helping us with this project.



Jowl Bacon
May 27, 2008, 12:57 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

 

we are fortunate enough to make jowl bacon out of emile’s pigs from caw caw creek.  The quality of this pork in just incredible.  I can’t wait to fry up some of this bacon



Local Shrimp
May 27, 2008, 12:55 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

Insipred by the local shrimp arriving with it’s roe

local shrimp, avocado, white soy, red miso powder, perilla



Isar Beans
May 27, 2008, 12:53 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized



More Thickened Olive Oil
May 24, 2008, 10:14 am
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This technique allows us to get the olive oil on the plate exactly where we want it and the guest experiences olive oil in a new way.  We thickened this with a little glucose and a slow cooked egg yolk



Summer Truffles from Tyler
May 24, 2008, 10:04 am
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Early Thanksgiving
May 24, 2008, 10:03 am
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this is so good….really well balanced. 



Dehydrated Goat Cheese
May 24, 2008, 10:00 am
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Something tells me this will be served with zucchini puree



We had a Nice Rain
May 24, 2008, 9:59 am
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Yesterday I picked a few squash and zucchini…nothing to speak of, most of them were small



Fried Pig’s Ears
May 18, 2008, 11:39 pm
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what a great snack…….these were wonderful dipped in Frank’s Red Hot



Tornado
May 18, 2008, 11:37 pm
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the tornado killed our scarecrow



Peas and Carrots
May 18, 2008, 11:36 pm
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liquid center english pea soup encapsulated with crispy carrot puree



Scallops with Wild Char Roe
May 18, 2008, 11:33 pm
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We really like this dish…the scallops are poached until the reach 50c and then chilled..then we slice them and dress them with some great olive oil and mango vinegar…for herbal notes we added some chamomile gelee and then we finish it with some really delicous wild char roe and some togarashi for spice



Strawberries and Beets
May 18, 2008, 11:30 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

Today we cooked beets in the pressure cooker under vaccum in strawberry consomme….really tasty…once this dish is complete it will bridge the last meat course with the first dessert course in our tasting menu



My Apologies
May 12, 2008, 10:52 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

Haven’t posted anything in a while………..been on the road, but I’m back!..promise to post more often



Spring Garden
May 12, 2008, 10:52 pm
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The garden is growing like crazy..lots to look forward to.



Guest Chef Series
May 6, 2008, 4:49 pm
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I am proud to announce Chef Todd Richards as our May guest chef.  Todd is a great guy and one hell of a chef.  You don’t want to miss this dinner, these sell out really fast.  Check out Todd’s blog:

http://cheftoddrichards.blogspot.com/

 

Todd is doing some really neat stuff and we are excited to have him in our kitchen…just call the restaurant to make reservations the date is May 18th and costs 75 dollars

 

p.s.  Todd was robbed on Iron Chef America versus Cat Cora during “Battle Carrot”



Crab Tail
April 24, 2008, 1:57 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

these were on the tv show deadliest catch, they came form the boat “the time bandit”…super cool

 

they taste incredible with a very soft “lobster like” texture…why have we been throwing them away??



Foie Gras
April 10, 2008, 1:22 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized



Fish Rinds
April 10, 2008, 1:20 pm
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Puffed Fish Skin with Vinegar Powder, fish and chips anyone??



Red Ribbon Sorrel
April 8, 2008, 10:47 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

 

I planted this on January the 21st….and all of a sudden it decided to grow the other day…great lemon flavor



Confit of Lamb Neck
April 8, 2008, 10:40 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

Date Puree, farro Verde, Thackeray Cabbage

 

Thanks to Damon Campbell for prepping and cooking the lamb neck.



Thickened Olive Oil
April 8, 2008, 10:37 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

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Langston Progress Peas
April 4, 2008, 12:16 am
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We started picking these a couple of weeks ago. Super Tasty



House made Butter
April 4, 2008, 12:03 am
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It doesn’t get much better.  What a fun thing to make.  We used local milk from grass fed jersey cows



The handy work of Jaques Larson
April 3, 2008, 11:31 pm
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Rice Variations
March 15, 2008, 9:43 am
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I’ve had some new thoughts on rice recently.  I am still quite obsessed with cereal production.  We wanted to create a rice puff that was super light and airy…

We started by cooking the shit out of some nishiki rice and then we put it in the thermomix with some wheat dextrin.  We tried frying the dough right away and got the hollow puffs in the second picture.  We then smeared some on a scallop and seared it.  The scallop was really tasty and super crispy, maybe the crispiest crust I have ever experienced.  Then we dehydrated the mix and fried it.  The result was very similar to a pork rind.  All in all some good results but not exactly what I had in mind, funny how that works.  We will see what happens today.



The Chef’s Office
March 15, 2008, 9:33 am
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Foie Gras
March 5, 2008, 12:20 am
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Uni Ice Cream
March 5, 2008, 12:18 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

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We had some uni left over from our David Chang dinner.  I thought it would be fun to make a savory ice cream to start our tasting menu.  Seems like everytime I make ice cream I want to try a different approach or recipe for the base.  Today I called Alex and he suggested that I use white chocolate, cream cheese and greek yoghurt…..This turned out to be one of the best ice creams I have ever eaten…Alex needs to write an ice cream book



Milk Fed Pigs
February 27, 2008, 12:51 am
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Thanks to Emile for providing us such a great product….this stuff tastes awesome.



Sausage
February 27, 2008, 12:25 am
Filed under: charcuterie

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The last couple of days Travis, Timmy and I were able to make lots of great sausage.  We were lucky enough to use some milkfed ossabaw and berkshire pork from Emile at Caw Caw Creek…We made chorizo, sauccison sec, hot and sweet italian sausage and bratwurst.  Tasty stuff



Onion Puree
January 7, 2008, 4:39 am
Filed under: execution, gellan, ideas, taste, technology

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We have found that gellan gum helps us produce great vegetable purees.  .45 percent type f….set and puree



Tamworth Pork Belly
November 25, 2007, 7:31 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

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Superbag
November 25, 2007, 7:11 am
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serious clarification….much cheaper than a chinios



Playing with Textures
November 20, 2007, 4:09 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

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Check out the differences in appearance.  The straight iota has an incredible texture, but doesn’t hold up to any heating.  We adding a little gellan to help us along, but we still couldn’t get it very hot. We then tried straight gellan but the texure was to crumbly.  Back to the drawing board.  Thanks to ideasinfood for the guidance.



Mozzerella Sheets
November 20, 2007, 3:52 am
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Calcium Gluconolactate
November 20, 2007, 3:51 am
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Pork-Mulled Cider Jus



Peelzyme
November 20, 2007, 3:49 am
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Nantucket Bay Scallops
November 20, 2007, 3:48 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

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tomatoes pressurized with olive juice, methocel riccotta (a4m), olive soil, arugula pesto



Tamworth Pigs
November 20, 2007, 3:37 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

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South Carolina Tamworth pork belly.  Brined for 24 hours.  Cooked in the cvap at 71C for 36 hours.



Field Trip
November 20, 2007, 2:57 am
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Today we visited Glenn Roberts at Anson Mills.  What an impressive operation.  Great products from a great guy.  We are fortunate to call Glenn Roberts our friend.  He is really doing some great things with seed saving.  Very inspirational.  Check out their website, www.ansonmills.com 



Liquid Center Chocolate Panna Cotta
November 19, 2007, 7:16 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

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Dessert by Winburn Carmack

Photography by www.heatherforsythe.com



A Picture inside of a Picture
November 19, 2007, 7:13 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

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www.heatherforsythe.com



The Vegetable Garden
November 19, 2007, 7:11 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

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photography by Heather Forsythe

www.heatherforsythe.com



Collard Greens
November 15, 2007, 6:14 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

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Our Sous Chef Tim Moody had the brilliant idea of making southern flavored collard greens into a consomme.  Extremely tasty.



AnitGriddle
November 15, 2007, 6:10 am
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thanks to my friends at www.chow.com we now have an antigriddle.  Lots of ideas are in the works.  here we cold seared some tuna with micro white soy pearls and lime-avocado puree.



D’avignon radishes
November 15, 2007, 6:02 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

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These are from our kitchen garden.  They taste wonderful with soft butter and maldon salt.  Radishes are really easy to grow.  These were planted 21 days ago  We will harvest them in 10 days.  I can’t wait. 



Pig Pickin
November 15, 2007, 5:50 am
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BAD NEWS
July 24, 2007, 12:30 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

this news came to us today via www.ideasinfood.com

our hearts and prayers are with Grant for a speedy recovery.  I am sure he is strong enough to prevail.

http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2007/07/alineas-grant-achatz-has-cance.html



Crispy
May 4, 2007, 2:52 am
Filed under: Uncategorized

making the squash blossoms crispy


Rita and Celeste
May 3, 2007, 5:43 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

Very few things in life bring me this much joy……….stay tuned for more pics as the growing season progresses….we are very lucky



Local Farmers
April 27, 2007, 6:40 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

We are able to get these squash blossoms delivered 6 days a week from a local farm…They are picked in the morning and delivered to the restaurant the same day…We are currently working on a

new tuna dish for our current menu using these wonderful products



Olive Oil Snow
April 18, 2007, 3:21 am
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Foie Gras Marshmallows
April 18, 2007, 3:18 am
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Inspired by Asbel


Beet Wrapped in Beet Wrapped in Beet
April 18, 2007, 3:16 am
Filed under: Uncategorized