Food
I was once pursuing a girl and she really liked fettucine alfredo. When she was studying, I would often order food for her and pick it up and take it to her. I was uber eats a decade before it existed.
One night, I looked at my broke college student bank account and in assumption that my future depended on alfredo delivery, I wondered how much money I would save if I made fettucine instead of ordering fettucine.
So, I went to the store and explored until I found the right ingredients, 3 of them to be exact.
Alfredo sauce in a jar, a box of fettucine noodles, and chicken. Oh I almost forgot, a 4th ingredient, frozen breadsticks. The dinner was cooked, money was saved, and my relationship with her was undoubtedly locked in, forever.
She dumped me pretty soon after.
However, even though the impetus for my pursuit of making delicious food was delusional, my journey of cooking was born. I like to think that maybe, back then, if I made a bowl of fettucine for her the way I make it now (handmade pasta, alfredo from scratch) then maybe I would have had a chance.
kolaches
My friend Joe, from Nacogdoches, Texas, asked me to be in his wedding. While there, I was introduced to manna from heaven, kolaches. Light fluffy dinner-esque rolls filled with goodies like boudin, conecuh sausage, and brisket. This began my pursuit of developing my take on them and eventually bringing them to the Charlotte / Asheville markets in a small food truck.
ego food truck
Pre-pandemic I launched a very small experimental food truck in Charlotte & Asheville, NC. We focused on brunch-y items and ended up finding a really nice community of support at the dowtown farmers market in Asheville, NC. The menu had staples of kolaches, acai bowls, avocado toast, breakfast burritos, chilled tea, & rosemary lemonade.
pizza
I turned 40, yikes! A couple years ago, yikes x 2! But, for the milestone, my brother in law Braden and his wife Amber sent me an incredibly kind gift of a 12” ooni pizza oven. Maybe they did or maybe they did not know how locked in I would get on focusing on the perfect dough proving, ingredients, & technique.
It has been quite an enjoyable (and weight gaining) journey to make pizzas that increasingly taste better but are still often irregularly shaped and share them with friends.
Thank you Braden and Amber!
fried chicken
On Friday nights, my childhood consisted of going out to eat with my family, hunting through the Eckerd’s toy section for sales on X-Men action figures, & going to local college basketball games.
I would often order a fried chicken sandwich, even though the restaurant was bbq, and habitually it became a visceral cornerstone of my nostalgia.
These days, I’ve landed on a sandwich that is built with a technique I’ve repetitiously improved. The chicken often shares room on a toasted Arnold potato bun with homemade quick pickles, shredded lettuce, and a few sauces that i’ve been mixing up a bit.
Disclaimer: my fried chicken will never be as delicious as when my mom makes it!
smash burger
There’s not really a story here except that the nickname Fatty Matty was earned by eating too many of these babies. During the pandemic there was a lot of time to watch videos on perfecting the smash burger, and so I definitely filled my evenings doing just that. This introduced me to the maillard effect and the importance of high heat, caramelized surface area, and the right tools. Plus, as usual, they are just really cost effective instead of buying them and always a blast to make for friends in real time.
french omelette
It is said that the french omelette is a true test of a chef. Minimal ingredients, major technique.
For two years I made myself a french omelette almost every morning. It made me realize that I’m not a chef but I learned, in a very practical way, that repetition paired with reiteration is a powerful tool.
gyoza
Living in San Francisco placed me within walking distance of some exceptional dumplings at any given moment.
Asheville hits way above it’s size in the realm of the culinary but there is a major void in asian food, and both Hayley and I miss it…drastically.
Back in SF, a Cambodian friend V had taken the time to show me how to roll dumplings. It was a bit tedious and life slowing to learn and roll them, but that is what I loved about it.
Gyoza has been a regular comfort food to make on days when I miss the Bay Area.
