Days and days untill NFNS

Hello all!!!!! So the Next Food Network Star Season 5 Starts in 6 days!!!! OMG six frikin day until we get to see the results of all hard work it takes to make a reality show. I walk away from this with so many things.... ummmmm can i say that?? what can i say?? ummmmm... ok, because i don't remember what i can talk about and what i can not... i'll say nothing!!! just watch and enjoy, its going to be a hell of a ride!!! (can i say that?)

I would like to talk about what's going on in my culinary life. First of all, i am working on a new menu at the hotel for the summer. I would like to make the menu a little more... ME. I did write this last menu but now i have a little more creative freedom to show off my stuff (funney how being on a tv show can help) The menu now is ok, but its way toned down for me (we do need to make hotel guests happy) (i could write a book on how hard it is to be creative in a hotel restaurant). You know i like it BIG, BAD and LOUD. I am going to keep some of the old favorites and put on some new cool items. Smoked gouda grilled cheese with bacon and onion marmalade, how good does that sound!! or maybe Sweet BBQ jumbo shrimp over bacon scallion grits (yea im looking at you, Jam) how about Double cut panko breaded pork chops with lime mojo and yucca fries. Looking at the list of items i just noted maybe its time to cut down on the pork!!!

So here i go back to the drawing board, maybe not back but i do need to make some changes. Anyone who has written a menu knows you need to live with it before you expose it to the world. I spend lots of time cooking these items before i ever put them on paper. It stars out as a idea then a recipe, then a special until i have made it ten times and feel it has all the things it need to be a recipe... it may never make it to the menu. People don't always understand this, they want there menus yesterday. Writing a menu is not like writing a note, or a quick email... ohhhh no. Its more like writing a song, and not just any song. A song that need to be researched and experimented with. Each Entree needs to complement at the sam time be different then the others on the page. Apps should be friends with entrees but never be the same item but smaller. I always think about cross utilization, its kind of my job as a chef.

Well i guess you get the idea of what i'm doing these days. So to all the people who ask me "how do you not go crazy waiting for the show to come out" i say.... 1 - I am already crazy and 2 - try writing a new menu, you have no time to be crazy

MVP XO XO XO