Brown and Green Counter Top

Our friends at Green Bottle Workshop (http://greenbottleworkshop.com/ ) recently commissioned us to fabricate an edge grained countertop for a client of theirs. We met early this morning (in the rain) for java and a quick install and wanted to get some of the install pictures up on our blog. We think it turned out great and we look forward to creating more of these works. We would have loved to have been there when the Owner got home to see this slab of walnut sitting in the middle of her kitchen. The white cabinetry, the natural brick, and the clear coated steel shelving used by the Green Bottle guys creates a perfect setting. We hope this gets years of use.

We were pumped about the opportunity to work with Green Bottle Workshop and to be a part of this exciting project. More photos to come. Thanks Matt and Will!

On the Chopping Block

(Photos by Mikel Wijayasuriya of Finjay Studio)

Recently, Justin and I sat down to discuss the traditional butcher block table. There was a butcher in the Brooklyn neighborhood we lived in, and, in his shop was an enormous, end-grain, butcher block table. It had an intriguing patina of oil, blood and fat, and it always seemed to be the butcher's workhorse. Mario would trim the fat off your meat with a sharp knife on the table, wrap it in butcher paper, pack it into a clear plastic sack, twist it twice and thump it on the stainless counter. Then, they would ask you for money. Always dollars, never $10.35, or $12.74 or $5.99. It was always a solid $9.00, $5.00 or $19.00. His straightforwardness was always appreciated.

After reminiscing, the pencil hit paper, and we gathered 3 objectives. One: it had to be completely functional. Two: it had to look great with food and in a kitchen. Three: it had to be built for your grandchildren so they would hopefully have it in their kitchen with their friends, their food, and their messes.

An early morning trip to a local reclaimed wood distributor and we found a pile of heart pine beams that had been removed from an old Confederate fort in southern Alabama. There is no doubt in our minds after examining the grain structure that our beam was probably a sappling when Columbus found the New World. This was inspiring and motivating. The piece's character is enhanced by holes leftover from civil war era screws and flitch plates.

This was such a pleasure to build.

Check out the other photos of the piece at Mikel's website: www.finjay.com

Going Spiritual- Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Recently on a trip to the lake we packed up the cooler with all kinds of good food as we would be miles from nowhere and needed to eat something. We didnt have room for the entire kitchen and we wanted pack-for-punch so we settled on the pork shoulder. It packed the cooler and took room from cold beer and eggs but sometimes you have to make tough decisions.

Ingredients:

Pork shoulder (you have to size this for your Dutch oven/ crock pot so be mindful of this as you purchase your meat. Trying to fit an oversized shoulder will blunt your cleaver. Take my word for it)

Vadalia onion (freshest you can find)

garlic

salt

pepper

2 oranges

thyme and paprika and cumin (if you have a mortar and pestle, heat the cumin seed in a pan and crush into a powder)

White bread sandwich buns

barbecue sauce (we could get into homemade bbq sauces but will address in a subsequent post- easy though, google it)

Pickles (A MUST HAVE)

In a Dutch oven or crock pot place the shoulder fat side up. Roughly dice onions and add to the pot. Mince 3 cloves of garlic. We definitely want garlic at this party. Halve your oranges. and squeeze over the meat. Throw the spent peels in with it. Add 1/2 tbl of each spice or adjust according to taste.Cook at 300 for about 4 hours in the Dutch oven or on high setting if you are kicking off in a crock pot.

When meat is done remove the shoulder, shred with forks, remove the fat and place into a bowl. Pour about half the liquid in the pot into the bowl and mix to give some liquid back to the bowl of heaven you are now staring at. If you have access to a grill we recommend brushing the bread with oil and browning the buns. These are terrific if you have the resources for this. Pile the meat on the bread, top with 5 or 6 pickles and some barbecue sauce. Enjoy.

Fish Tacos and Arroz Verde

Last Saturday night we got a group of friends together to celebrate another summer Saturday night. Fish tacos are the perfect fit. Everyone can get in on the action. Their taste is reminiscent of the ocean and other summer flavors and memories. Other summer dishes are hard to stack up to these beauties and the preparation is worth every minute. Keep your guest busy and catch up on the week as your party prepares to play clean-plate.

Maybe it was the bite left over from the night below, maybe it was the humidity. whatever it was this totally hit the spot.

Here's how:

Ingredients for tacos:

White, flaky fish, a few filets

olive oil

salt

pepper

corn tortillas

cilantro

limes

crushed red pepper

Greek yogurt (FAGE)- need a food processor

Can of Chipotlet peppers in Adobo sauce- need a food processor

Salsa/ chutney for tacos:

ripe, ripe, ripe avacodo

green pepper (other peppers will work, but the green pepper here works great)

small can of crushed pineapple

one large mango

Drag the fish through olive oil, season with salt, crushed red pepper and pepper (season for heat per your or your gueste tatses) and place on a plate in preparation for grilling at 350 degrees. Keep this cool, you dont want to get you or your guests sick!) Set aside. Halve the avacodo and scoop out with a spoon into a small dish. Squeeze lime juice over the top to prevent oxidization and cover and refrigerate while preparing the remainder.

Arroz Verde

Long grain white rice

Olive Oile

vadalia onion

garlic

2 pablano peppers

vegie, chicken stock or white wine with water added to it (2 cups)

Prepare the salsa/ chutney. Empty the contents of the pineapple into a large bowl. Dice the green pepper into 1/4" by 1/4" pieces and mix with the pineapple. dice the mango into like-sized pieces and mix with the pepper and pineapple. I've always wanted to add walnuts to this. Next time we will. The earthy-ness would be remarkable with the fruit. You will chill this and set aside. Keep this as your secret weapon if you like. Bring it out at the buzzer if you know what I mean. Nice detail to an otherwise already perfect dinner.

Halve the limes, then take each half and cut into three perpendicular to the axis of the brown ends of the fruit. Do this to a few and set into a bowl for squeezing over the tacos.

Wash and pull the leaves off the cilantro. Set aside into a bowl for serving with the tacos (our crew runs heavy on the cilantro, tacos look more like salad then tacos...)

In a food processor combine 1 cup of yogurt and one or two chipotles and a little sauce to go with. Add a dash of olive oil and mix. Scrape the walls with a spatula and mix again. Transfer to a bowl and chill. This is a really great addition because of how the yogurt holds a chill next to the hot fish fillets.

Make the rice

On a gas stove you will want to lay the 2 pablanos on their respective burners. At high temp flame roast these turning them with tongs to evenly burn them. When they are consistently charred, send them to the freezer in a bowl to chill out. While the pablanos are chilling out, dice your onion and your garlic, turn the heat on a broad pan to med high heat. Add olive oil, get hot and add the onions and garlic. Sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the 1 and 1 half cups of rice and coat with the onion and garlic. Add the Stock, reduce heat and cover for about 10 minutes. Check it. If it needs more liquid add stock/ water as necessary.

Start to preheat the grill at 350 degrees.

Remove the chilled pablanos and peel them. We let ours get totally frozen which bought us some time to have a beer and play with the dogs for a minute. Once thawed you need to remove the skin from the peppers (DO NOT WASH THESE AFTER PEELED). Use a paper towel and wipe the charred skin off. Dice and add to the rice. Continue cooking for 5 minutes and turn heat off. rice should be done.

When grill is hot, transfer fish and cook about 5 minutes per side or until flaky, you know.

Heat the tortillas in a buttered cast iron pan on low heat or in the micro so they are soft and pliable.

Once all is cooked, lay out the following:

Plate of delicately grilled fish fillets

Chipotle sauce

cilantro

limes

Salsa/ Chutney

Bowl of rice

At this point hopefully everyone is pumped, having a good time and ready to eat. We always encourage friends to run heavy on the cilantro and lime juice, it just makes it better. Beer is great with this and so is Sauvigon Blanc. We had both. Cheers.