Since I cook for a living, UpCountry customers often ask what I eat at home.
Well, a lot of cooks don’t like to cook at home (one chef whose cooking I really admire eats cereal), and I’m no different. As often as not, I’ll just assemble UpCountry leftovers for a meal.
Here’s a recent assemblage I had at home: pork tenderloin decorated with a sauce of sautéed shiitake, a sticky-rice-and-asparagus spring roll, and blanched baby cauliflower.
That’s fancier fare than usual, though, as meals at home are typically simple affairs. My biggest consideration is the ingredients: I buy organic, free range, local, and natural raw ingredients whenever possible. Just like at the UpCountry, I keep seasonings to a minimum so the true flavors of the ingredients can shine. Probably my favorite seasoning is a good olive oil.
This is more the normal fare at home. While it might look fancy, it’s merely a piece of pan-fried chicken breast, some couscous and leftover vegetable ends plated together.
The nice thing about starting from scratch is that everything is edible! I don’t throw anything away, and never peel vegetables. The skin is the best part. If you’ve got some veggie parts you just don’t want to use, throw them into a pot and make vegetable stock!
And you know, a visit to the Porterhouse for a pint of beer and a basket of their delicious fries and then maybe a schooner of beer to top it off is a great way to get out of the kitchen—about once a week is how I roll!