Back at It!

It has been a little while now,  and I'm about to get back to bloggin'.  Everything is good and great in my world. 
Moving forward, you might notice a few changes . . . such as.   I expect to talk a little more about my private life, something I avoided a lot before. 
My entries will shift a little towards the food I cook professionally. 
And finally, I won't be posting nearly as much as I have in the past.  I will have to get to it when I can. 
Thank you everyone for your continued support. 
Keep the cooking questions coming.
advice@grillachef.com

Instant Read Thermometer

If you don't own one, you should.
I'm often asked how to tell when a steak is done, as if there is a spell or incantation I might recite. 
The truest, albeit smart-ass, answer is to take its temperature. It's the secret to knowing when your steak, or anything your cooking, is ready.
What you need to know is that they aren't always calibrated.  To calibrate it, fill a cup with ice water and stir it well with your thermometer.  It should read 32˚F. If it doesn't, there is a nut/bolt behind the face. Rotate it the appropriate direction until the needle points to 32˚F.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Think You're getting the real thing?

THIS is a very interesting NPR piece about the state of olive oil in the world today.  Definitely worth a listen.  And this book is now on my must read list.

How I pick my songs for my newsletter . . . .

For everyone out there that reads my newsletter I hope you listen to the song I put there with it.  (if you don't read the newsletter you can sign up for it on the right over there, It's coming out tomorrow!-->)
I spend almost as much time searching for what I consider to be the right song as I do writing the newsletter.
And it always stems, directly and indirectly, from searching for the topic of the newsletter followed by the word "song".   I always strive to find a song that is actually nice to listen to (for the majority anyways) and is hopefully something that few of us have yet discovered. 

This is this months newsletter song, and I think it's beautiful.



Cibelle - Green Grass - Official Video from Orquestra Galante on Vimeo.