NYC Photos!!!

NYC and No Eat n Greet!!

Hey Blog world here's the NY breakdown I have been trying to complete for the last few weeks, sorry if you all have been anticipating more posts. It has still been extremely difficult to get much free time with my 14 hour days running so long. The time out here takes it's toll on you. So any time I could even think about writing, I have been either completely exhausted, or I can't connect to the internet faster than dial up speed. It has been mostly all work and no play until we arrived in NY. I have been waiting for this day for about 13 years. Ever since I started taking serious interests in cooking I have been dying to go to NY city. With its fast paced atmosphere and endless places to try every kind of food you can think of. I have a few simple things to do in the AM then it's off to a day of appetizers at as many places we can go or until we are too full to eat another bite. So we start with Chinatown going to a six table closet of a restaurant called Little Asian Cuisine. We immediately notice the dumplings and an interesting white wine chicken dish. We finish it off with some schezuan dumplings with some unbelievable spice. Well thats enough Asian off to Angelo's Italian Restaurant that Rusty was dying to have me try this absurd fresh mozzarella dish in this fantastic light tomato sauce. With a couple of delectable Stuffed mushrooms and a good but not extraordinary fried calamari. Time for some sweets not very far away we decided to do a hit n run at Farrara's (IS NOW MY DESSERT HEAVEN) We sampled about 8 different pastries including... Chocolate Mignon=Food Orgasm... Napoleons=Sugar Magic.... and a variety of Mini Canoli's and Biscotti's=You wish Starbucks made something this good. And if that weren't enough lets try get some Caraca's (A Zac Brown favorite!) for a retardedly good made to order (no rushing here!!) Arepas, which are pulled pork and plantain sandwich with fresh perfectly cooked bread and a sauce that I still want to try to recreate but I just can't figure out a few things that are in there. And of course it wouldn't be a complete day in NY without a vended Dog, and a NY slice (or two..) pizza. I still wouldn't dare declare a winner between a NY and a Chicago Deep. They should be in categories all to themselves. Look for some summaries of different cities and I have been working on a Gonzo journalism tribute to the late Hunter Thompson about my weird trip to Talladega. As always all comments are greatly appreciated as well as my thanks for your valuable time spent reading my blog.

LOOK FOR NEW POSTS THIS WEEK!!!!!

Hello Everyone!!!

Sorry about not posting anything for a while it's been a crazy few weeks, between being busy, sick, and some computer issues I am still working on. I've had no peace of mind to write how I enjoy doing so. Things are still going great though. NY was awesome, for one cause I was off, and two Rusty and I started the day doing appetizers at as many places we could before having to get back to the venue. I'll dedicate my next post specifically to my experience there (with some pics!!!). The Fox was an operation, being the headliners and coordinators for a charity event of that scale with that many performers is a daunting task, but it pulled together as always for a great show and for a great cause. Atlanta loves the Fox. Of course I'll have to throw in some tidbits about Halloween at Talladega Speedway. People watching paradise!!

As always thank you to all who have taken the time to follow this blog. I am looking forward to spending more time sharing the day to day trials of a traveling chef and philosopher.

JP

Week 3 Days 2, 3, and 4 Writing takes time! Cooking takes more.

I am starting to realize why I enjoy blogging about this is because I feel it's original and unique. The difficulty in writing about this is that there is a great deal of repetition in what goes on from the day to day on the road and I don't want to just tell you same things over and over. That's where I feel the road is sometimes over glorified in stories (the off the wall legendary tales of mischief and debauchery are on the 20,000 plus seating tours due to more time to get in trouble then non-stop working), but this is not that kind of tour. Everyone on this tour is a family working closely together from sun up to sun down with even tighter sleeping quarters when we are not working. Sure we throw down a good drink or two to celebrate the days hard work and the accomplishment of another job well done. In the end we are all busting are humps making everything the best we can. All of us wake up everyday and put our best foot forward, and if we didn't this tour wouldn't mean as much to me as it has grown to. Sure the hardest thing about the job is being away from the ones you love and what you call home, but if we weren't doing what we wanted to do then we wouldn't be doing this.

Rusty and I are in full groove with the eat and greets and have continued to cook the after show meals ranging from chicken and dumplings to Turkey Chili. All take three to four hours of cooking and spicing while cleaning up and putting everything away from the eat and greets, so when we finish up the last meal we are done around 10:30. From that point we get a quick shower lock everything down have a couple drinks then pass out and do it all over again in the next city. That's why I am not going to obsess over the day to day details of each show from my perspective. I welcome and encourage all comments any one would like to offer, or if you have any questions about a particular day or venue and ill be more then happy to reply.

Day 2 - In short Knoxville went well but there was a bit of an echo during the show due to the fact it was in an indoor ice rink. My day would have been easy except for stocking the bus because none of them were next to each other altogether spread out over half a mile walk. The help was great and fast, but the traffic of the Tennesee/Georgia game left Rusty arriving at 3:30 when service starts at 5 but we managed to get everything done right on time with 0 seconds to spare.

Day 3 - Charleston, SC waking up to yet again another venue that didn't know we needed two helpers for the day and our trailer was a quarter mile from the buses and venue, so i ran a good few miles that day. The staff pulled through and actually got three people for us so it all ran smooth as could be after that. Ate Sticky Fingers for catering that night cause Charleston is the home of that fine BBQ establishment.

Day 4 - Portsmouth VA Easiest day ever!!! Got there tents and buffet area was fully setup and the help worked fast and had good knife skills. And I have to give mad props to the area super-intendent, she was 4'10" if an inch, but this old gal spit fire. We ask for something she'd holler on the radio and five dudes would pull up in a cart out of nowhere within two minutes. Plus she was just an absolute trip.

Week 3 Day 1 Feeling the Groove

Week 3 Day 1 Salem, VA

(Notice: Dates should be aligned by this Sunday, I'm still staggering them out due to internet difficulties on the bus in some cities)

Hello everyone. So getting into my third week as a traveling chef on our way to Salem,VA which I can't say I've ever heard of before going here for the tour. I've gotten my rest in, spent some time with my girl, and now i'm ready to kick some butt this week.

Arriving in Salem I manage to get out of bed right on time today, so good start. I take a walk around every venue as part of my morning ritual, I find my catering area, where the local catering is set up, meet my helpers for the day (2 assistants and 1 runner), then I check in and manage stocking the buses with the rider list. After this is done I realize today I am going to have to set up both tents today for the eat n greet. Which after the first time doing it I had been trying to avoid. For no other reason but they aren't the easiest things to unload, transport, or set up. But I manage to get my stage hands in time to make it less daunting, and the help I have been given today both appear to be really hard workers. The eat and greet runs smooth as can be and we both notice that we are really getting in our groove. Rusty finds some great local farmers markets and bakery's . He returns with some amazing produce and breads. Veggies so fresh they look like they were picked early that morning. His trip to the mountains does however put us closer than we have been before to the three hour til service mark. But we rock it out pulling it off at the last minute. There are talks of making the eat n greet bigger. Zac Brown is so happy with the results and turnout of the event and he even tells the crowd about it during the show saying soon enough he hopes to feed everyone at the shows. This is a really good thing for us, especially if we keep fine tuning our routine. Tomorrow is Knoxville TN. The venue has been moved to the Knoxville Bears ice rink due to flooding of the original venue. Until the next post I thank you again as always, and look for more recipes or tips in the posts to come. Sorry there have not been more as of yet, I am new to this whole blogging thing and with the intensity of this job it's been harder than I had planned to get them up quickly. I assure you more are on the way.

Week 2 Day 3 (Recipe #1) The wrong side of the bed (if I had more than one side to get out of)

Hello everyone! So Austin was awesome, but I wish I could say the same for my day in Oklahoma City. I wake up a little hungover to another day of pouring rain, and no help (yes the rain continues). Just a nightmare day, I wake up thirty minutes late. My tents were set up in a mud marsh. The venue decides to not get anything but lunch meat on our 150 item rider list. As if that wasn't bad enough, the stuff they did give was left in a container of spoiled crab juice. My gosh I want to strangle someone in this city if they dont get something right, but after some good thoughts and pushing forward we manage to pull off another. Zac Brown Band's eat and greet keeps going smoothly, all the attendees and the staff pulled through for us after the rocky start and everyone keeps loving what we are putting out there. Enough to be creating quite the buzz. Unfortunately I don't have much else to report about this stop, I figure now would be the perfect time to give you all a recipe. Please try and enjoy and I'm sorry i do not give exact measurements. I learned how I will try and teach you, through tasting and care, i think anyone can find a passion in cooking.

KICK ASS MASHED POTATOES

• First cut and boil your potatoes (any kind will do), and don't be afraid to leave the skin on
• When potatoes are done strain and put them back in the pot they were boiled in
• Using a HAND MASHER ADD...

1. Heavy Whipping Cream (1% lightest milk for healthier version)
2. Cream Cheese
3. granulated garlic
4. Unsalted Butter
5. Pepper (white or black)
6. Salt (any kind)

• Pour the Whipping Cream in first, so you can mash the potatoes to the consistency you prefer (Tip: Add little by little of the the cream then the easier it gets the closer you are to a smooth consistency)
• I dont give amounts of ingredients cause I encourage everyone to use this first recipes as a means to test your palat, Add each ingredient in small doses, and if you think it's missing something add more. You'll feel better about yourself that you can add ingredients and rely on taste.

Photos From Austin City Limits and Merriweather