Murder Most Fowl

Bless me, Chef Thomas Keller, for I have sinned.

Heeding your story of slaughtering rabbits in The French Laundry Cookbook, I set out to be more deliberate about my ingredients. Your tale of squealing bunnies spurred me to savor the connections among animals, vegetables, the environment and my own nutrition. I joined a CSA, and things went well. I ate dirt-flavored beets and started growing sweet corn in my back yard. I ordered a grass-fed pasture-raised chicken from Au Naturel Farm in Kentucky (pictured above), which took two weeks to arrive.

With great intentions, I put the long-awaited bird in the refrigerator to thaw, envisioning a meal of locally grown veggies and fresher-than-fresh chemical-free meat. But the next day it was still a bird-cicle, so I begrudgingly drove through Wendy's for nuggets. The next night, it was still icy, so I went to Five Guys. A busy week of swim lessons, birthday parties and babysitters led my family through a nutritional spanking machine of frozen pizza, mac-and-cheese and SpaghettiOs, and every day the bird got pushed farther back on the shelf, behind crumpled Capri Suns and half-eaten Happy Meals.

When I finally got around to the chicken again, it had thawed, but it had also been out of the freezer for a good 12 days. I googled “chicken storage.” The Rachael Ray-loving basement-dwellers who blog about poultry protocol all seem to agree that chicken should not be out of the freezer for more than a day or two.

Grasping at straws, I checked the sell-by date on the package, to see if maybe coddled fowl could linger longer than factory-farm graduates. Jesus! This bird cost $20! Knowing that, I would cook it anyway—possibly test it out on the children.

My husband vetoed.

Surrendering to my sin, I unsheathed the carcass from its clear-plastic body bag and held it over the kitchen sink. As rose-colored chicken juice dripped into the garbage disposal, I gazed at the pimply plucked skin that would have been so delectable broiled and basted in its own juices. Just then, the muscle-bound neck slid out of the body cavity and plonked onto the floor of the sink. I think I heard a rabbit squeal.

I dropped the pale, headless bird and its now-free-range neck into the trash and reached for a can of SpaghettiOs, which I prepared in shame.

I did not recycle the can.

For these and all the sins of my kitchen I am sorry.

OutFoxed

Our inimitable Scene food scribe, Carrington Fox, has outdone most of her culinary critic cohorts, taking home the second-place prize for food criticism in our division of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Awards. These winners represent the best of the best in our industry, so don't be takin' your girl for granted.

We'll probably celebrate with some combination of Mentos, Diet Coke and hood-fried egg.

Great work, Fox. We're lucky to have you.

Conversation Bites: Chef Sean Begin, The Daily Dish

This week’s review of The Daily Dish features chef Sean Begin’s deliciously bipolar menu of meat-and-three staples and specialty salads. For the traditionalist, there’s a predictable and comfortable list of Southern standards—meatloaf, fried okra and candied sweet potatoes, to name a few. But while most meat-and-three buffets consider coleslaw to be the only fresh vegetable you could ever need, The Daily Dish offers a bountiful selection of big, fluffy green salads piled with fresh fruits, vegetables and creative toppings such as fried mozzarella and sweet potato cakes.

Many thanks to Chef Begin for sharing his recipe for almond-encrusted goat cheese salad (after the jump). If you have questions for the chef, he’ll be popping in to answer them. Welcome to Conversation Bites, Chef Sean.

Conversation Bites: Chef John David Crow at 360

This week’s review of 360 features chef John David Crow’s menu peppered with unusual and eclectic items such as pea vine, boar and fresh Asian noodles. Crow trained at Seattle’s famous Ray's Boathouse and at the four-star Fountain Court in Bellevue, Wa., before graduating top of his class from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. In Seattle, he was part of the opening team at Brooklyn Seafood, Steak & Oyster House, pioneering in the genre of Pacific Rim
 cuisine.
 After serving as executive chef at The Space Needle, he opened Fire & Ice Lounge, which focused on seasonal fare from the Cascadia region.

Expect that résumé, along with the current culinary trends in the Pacific Northwest (think organic products, braising in butter and olive oil, and use of offal), to influence Crow’s work at 360 in the coming weeks. Crow predicts a menu flavored with Columbia River sturgeon, razor clams, octopus, sea urchin, sweetbreads
 and foie gras.

For a look at trends in the Pacific Northwest that might start to make their way toward Nashville, Crow recommends the following links:

seattlefarmersmarkets.org

seasonalcornucopia.com

pugetsoundfresh.com


If you have questions for Chef Crow, he’ll be stopping in throughout the day. Welcome to Conversation Bites, Chef Crow.

Conversation Bites: Jeremy Barlow, Topic 2

Here are some questions that play off a recent comment on Bites: What signifies a creative chef? Is there a point at which food is no longer food?

Let's set a few guidelines before we answer the question.

First, assume there is no new food and that everything has been done before—a common belief in the food industry.

Second, feel free to incorporate fads and the evolution of dining throughout history.

Third, creativity without execution is just plain bad cooking.

Conversation Bites: Guest Chef Jeremy Barlow

Welcome to Jeremy Barlow, chef-owner of Tayst restaurant, who joins us as our guest chef today. Jeremy will pose a couple of questions this morning and stop in periodically to weigh in.

Topic 1

I am a staunch proponent of local foods and local businesses, and I believe the majority of food bloggers tend to feel the same way. If you want to talk about food when you're not eating it, you're probably a foodie. If you're a foodie, you probably frequent restaurants that serve local product because local food is better. (How's that for paying attention in my logic class?)

Anyway, it's a constant battle to stay true to this belief due to all sorts of challenges, from developing relationships with farmers to sourcing asparagus in the winter to coping with a drought that freezes then dries up again; however, as my whole staff recently discovered while eating baby carrots right out of the ground at Farmer Dave's, every bit of extra work that goes into buying local is worth it.

I see the nation and particularly Nashville at a culinary crossroads. On one hand, you have a portion of the population following independent restaurants that are pushing toward using all local ingredients while continually supporting the local community in numerous ways. On the other hand, you have corporate chains numbing the country's palate with their collective "American menu" and at the same time slowly sending the independent restaurants the way of the neighborhood hardware store and movie theater. As "greening" becomes the hip thing to do in this country, and as the voice of the "locavore" gets louder, by virtue of its role in the greening, my question is this:

Does our community—and the nation as a whole—have the ability to return to the ways of old, i.e. eating seasonal food at local places? Or are we doomed to follow the path of cattle in a feedlot, supplementing our diet with antibiotics and diet drugs while we eat the same menu at every restaurant?

Conversation Bites: Guest Chef Jeremy Barlow

Tayst restaurant chef-owner Jeremy Barlow will join us on Thursday, Nov. 15, for a conversation about food. Barlow, whose kitschy kitchen churns out such creative delicacies as Krispy Kreme bread pudding and an homage to McDonald's Filet-O-Fish cooked in the sous vide method, will introduce a couple of topics and open them up for conversation. He'll chime in throughout the day. Expect Barlow to touch on the subject of green restaurants and, given the season, maybe turkey.

If there are things you'd like Barlow to address, start a list in the comments...

Filmed Before a Loveless Studio Audience

When the Food Network descends on Nashville next week to film the inaugural episode of Singin' in the Kitchen—a show that blends food and music—you can get your mug on TV.

Just line up at the Loveless Cafe at 1:30 p.m. (taping starts at 2:30) on Monday, Nov. 19, to be part of the studio audience when country newcomer Luke Bryan and "Biscuit Lady" Carol Fay talk about biscuits and jam. (They will talk about bread and jelly—not talk about biscuits, then start jammin'.)

The first 100 folks get a free fried-chicken picnic afterward. For more information, call Dixie Owen at Capitol Records at 269-2087.

Conversation Bites: Will Uhlhorn, Question No. 2

For those of you just joining us, Chef Will Uhlhorn of F. Scott's is here today to discuss a few food-related things.

We've been talking about vegan food (see posting below).

Here's a new topic:

When can we expect to start seeing insects in restaurant menus?

Conversation Bites: Chef Will Uhlhorn of F. Scott's

F. Scott's chef Will Uhlhorn drops into Bites this morning as our inaugural guest chef.

Uhlhorn, 41, started his cooking career at City Grocery in Oxford, Miss., when he was a student at Ole Miss. He migrated north to Memphis and ultimately to Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. After graduation, he worked in Boston at Hamersley Bistro and East Coast Grill. In 2002, Uhlhorn moved to Nashville and Belle Meade Brasserie. After a quick stint at Wild Boar, he took over the esteemed kitchen at F. Scott's, where he delivers a menu of French-influenced cuisine focusing on local and seasonal product.

This morning, Chef Will poses the following question and will pop in through the day to join the conversation. He'll introduce a second question around lunchtime.

Can a vegetarian/vegan restaurant be fine dining?

Conversation Bites: Guest Chef Will Uhlhorn

F. Scott's chef Will Uhlhorn will join us Thursday on Bites for a conversation about food. He'll introduce a couple of topics and open them up for conversation. He'll stop in throughout the day to address comments and answer questions. So mark your calendars, study Chef Will's fall menu, and join in Thursday morning.