Avec Eric

They say that inspiration can come from anywhere. You know what? They are right. You can be driving down the street and see something that will inspire you to read a book or write a song. You may see a plastic grocery bag floating in a breeze and think "Wow, that kid from 'American Beauty' must have been really high to zone out on this.". Where was I going with this........oh yeah, INSPIRATIONS!

Some people search far and wide just to get the creative juices flowing. Some simply look out the window or take a walk around the block. For me, I never have to really look that far. I can usually find inspiration within my career, that is to say, the food biz. Drugs or booze were never really needed for this process. Sure, I may have already downed 3 shots of whiskey as I'm writing this, but I don't need to do that to write. I just like to. :)

From time to time I'll head to Barnes & Noble and skim through some of the new cook books out there. I'll laugh for a bit at all the losers and half-wits who got cook books(i.e. cast offs of various reality cooking shows), then I'll grab a book from a chef that I know is at the top of their game. Guys like Rick Bayless and Eric Ripert. When you see chefs like these two cook, you can see the passion that they have for what they do. You can see how much pride they have for even the simplest of dishes that they prepare. I see that and it makes me want to get in the kitchen. So what if it's 2 a.m.! I'm gonna get my ass in that kitchen and try something! 3 a.m.? Yeah, I'll wait until the morning.

What inspired me to make the dish above was an internet video I saw of Eric Ripert. You might have seen him doing a quick demo on a morning show like "Today" or "Good Morning, America". I mostly see him on No Reservation with Anthony Bourdain. He's the calm, cool French guy that Bourdain can never get a rise out of. When Bourdain went back to his old job to work a double, he dragged Ripert on the line with him because he thought he would suffer just as much as he was. Ripert just smiled and did his job. Bourdain got annoyed because Ripert actually enjoyed himself!

Eric Ripert actually has his own cooking show on PBS called Avec Eric. His latest book has the same title as well.

Simply put, I dig this guys style. Simple, fresh, and delicious. He makes it all look so easy. I could say more, but it will be easier to see for yourself.

After watching the video, a couple thoughts really stood out. First, I couldn't believe how easy it was to do chicken like that. Second, he just said "I'm tossing my salad"! When I stopped giggling like a little girl, I knew I had to try this out.

So, after work I stopped by the store and picked up the chicken tenderloin strips. I figured I'd make some pasta to go with it, just to make it a more filling meal.

I Soaked some skewers and ran those right up the keyster of the tenderloins. A few of them I added some cherry tomatoes. I didn't have any herbs de provence, so I just used a little italian seasoning mix.

I chopped up 1small onion and 1 small bell pepper and sauteed those just for a few minutes. I threw in a few chopped garlic cloves to the mix and cooked a few more minutes. I poured in some chianti and reduced that before adding the pasta sauce.

I used a plain jar pasta sauce. I just doctored it up a bunch. When I dropped the pasta in the water, I put the chicken in the broiler. When the pasta was about 2/3 done, I took it out the water and put it right into the sauce.

By the time the pasta was done, the chicken was done.

This meal really took no time at all. It came together so quickly that everyone else in the house was like "Your done already?" You gotta love meals like that. Here's one more pic of the finished product. I know the plate up isn't that great. I'm a pastry chef, ok? Cut a brotha some slack! I'm trying!

After I took that picture, I added some ricotta that I made the day before. The pasta was great. I think I actually got it al dente. Maybe that pole smoker Scott Conant from the show Chopped would approve. Come to think of it, no, he wouldn't approve. Why? Because according to him, he's the only one that knows how to cook pasta right. Fuck you Conant! That's why you were too pussy to compete in Chopped All Stars. Fucking asshole.

Anyway, the pasta was dope. The chicken...was almost dope. Everyone else liked it, but I thought I overcooked it by just a hair. It wasn't dry, but I felt it had slightly crossed that line from perfect to just starting to dry out. It still tasted good though.

I had a few uncooked strips left, so I tried it again the next day and got it right. I also made that honey mustard Ripert made, and that was some really good stuff. Just dijon and honey. It doesn't get any easier.

Well, that's it for this one my friends. I hope you enjoyed my little story of inspiration and what turned out to be a tasty Saturday night dinner. I don't expect this to inspire you to cook something up. If anything, I'd like to think that this might get you to think about what inspires you. Even if it's just for a second.

Take Care

J. Miller