Pennington's Foodstory

You Never Know... All of us have stories about cool people we have met during our years in the ‘Hospitality Industry’. From actors and athletes to politicians and rock stars, we've all met our fair share of people that make us sometimes step back to catch our breath. Moreover, even with all the manufactured coolness "celebrity" brings, I have to admit some of the biggest bad-asses I've ever met are some of the people I've worked with in the restaurant business. Here is the story of one of those unbelievable people I had the pleasure to know years ago. This is the story of a guy named “Andrew” (All real names have been changed to character names in John Hughes movies not only to protect the guilty but because it’s funny.) who I met at a restaurant in Raleigh, North Carolina. Andrew moved to NC from a small country in Africa with his sister and a good friend named “Brian” in order to attend college. Andrew and Brian both were hired for the kitchen s...

My metal steamer basket always gets a workout in my kitchen. Broccoli and asparagus frequently fall victim to its wrath. With just an inch of water, seasoned or not, in a heavy-bottomed (hee,hee) sauce pan, veggies are perfectly cooked in about 3-4 minutes. Lately I’ve been looking at other foods to throw in it. We have been eating a lot less meat these days, holding out for organic, locally sourced, free-range, grass fed, (insert any foodie buzzword of your choice) proteins to really focus on a plant based diet. However, the other day Kelly was craving a roast chicken and I felt the need to oblige ‘cuz I wanted one too. By not making a protein the focus of the meal, we can get close to three meals out of one bird. I will say that even though I haven’t been cooking my usual “Sunday chicken” as I have for years, that chicken I cooked the other day was spot on! Well, time came to reheat this beautiful bird and the last thing I wanted to do was to dry it out so I looked for anoth...

I’m seriously late to the party on this one, but I have just jumped whole hog onto the kimchi bandwagon. I seriously wonder where I would be if I had discovered this stuff sooner? Kimchi is spicy, fermented Napa cabbage that is a staple in Korea and one of the most unique flavors I have ever come across. It’s kind of like a super spicy cole slaw, without all the mayo type crap. In reality, cole slaw is a lame comparison, more closely related to Chow Chow, but less pickle-like. Not growing up around many Koreans, I hadn’t really heard much about it until recent years. I think I first read an article about it in a food magazine stating all of the healthful benefit that have been associated with kimchi and the typically long lifespan of Koreans. I wanted to try some, but couldn’t easily find any. I started doing a little research and found that I could buy it on the web or in an Asian market, neither sounded like something I wanted to do. I’ve been somewhat skeptical about Asian mar...

My buddy Craig gave me one of the greatest gifts of all time, an authentic Moroccan tagine, made out of clay and everything! I was super psyched! This is one of those traditional cooking vessels that I have been drooling over for years. Basically, it’s the original slow cooker. The unique domed lid helps to circulate heat and revert the steam back to water keeping everything moist (sorry to those who hate that word, Kelly being one). What's also cool is that it can go from the stove to the table as a serving dish. Sure, I’ve got a Crock Pot, but this thing is beyond old school. Back in the day in Northern Africa, herdsmen would put a tagine on the coals to simmer all day while they were out in the desert doing whatever herdsmen do. Ready for the unveiling! I’ve been lusting over a tagine made by Le Creuset for a couple years, but the Moroccan one   totally fits my vibe, plus it’s not $179.99. Craig, being the ever so detail-oriented chap that he is, gave me the full low...

In my world, there is no place for a TV in a restaurant.   I’m not talking sports bar, I’m talking about an actual restaurant (tables, chairs, silverware, etc.) where one goes for food, ambiance, and to enjoy the company of others.   I think a TV takes away from the restaurant experience and distracts the diner from all of the fore mentioned items by switching their attention to some rectangle on the wall. I go to restaurants mainly for the food. I cook nearly every night and there are times I welcome the break. When I go to a restaurant I really want to relax and enjoy the conversation and not get sucked in to whatever the place wants to air, be it sports, the news, game shows, or reality television. I want to hang out and talk with the people I came in with. I’ve seen it so many times where a whole table will be silent with all of their heads pointed in the direction of the TV. Now if a restaurant really sucks, they may want to distract people away from the shitty food...

“Fat is flavor” is one of the key terms a cook learns at the beginning of their career, regardless of what we know about cutting certain types of fat out of our diets to remain healthy.   In a cook’s world today there are many trendy fats that are getting all the press.   No, I’m not talking about trans-fats, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and the like; I’m talking about butter, lard, bacon fat, duck fat, olive oil, beef tallow to name a few. When I first started cooking, I used lots of butter and olive oil in my food mainly because I was reading classic cookbooks that had those fats as the cornerstone for most of their recipes. As I noticed a shitload of weight gain and higher than normal cholesterol, I began to back off a bit and get a little smarter about how I used various type of fat.   Nowadays I use butter and oil sparingly and add them mostly at the end of a dish to add a little shot of flavor.   Of course there’s that lubing the pan issue to keep th...

I got stuck with a bunch of fizzy, yellow, piss beer after New Year’s Eve that I’m trying to get creative in its depletion from my refrigerator through the use of crafty beer cocktails.   I mean this beer has been through NYE, the Super Bowl, a random party, and God knows what else and it still won’t disappear. The only reason I got it in the first place was for some friends who were supposed to come to town, but cancelled at the last minute. I’ve gone as far as sneaking some of it into a friend’s refrigerator during a visit. Usually it’s the other way around; beer disappears never to be seen again. I had the bright idea of concocting some beer cocktails to help get rid of this crap with a great deal of success. Nothing helps a shitty beer like the addition of liquor.   Now I’m talking actual cocktails as opposed to a Boilermaker or a shot dropped into a beer. I had my first beer cocktail in France called a Monaco: Beer, 7-Up, and grenadine.   Not bad, very r...