eat Local or Die

TEXAS FISH SUSTAINABILITY

eatLOCALorDIE — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:45:33 +0000

Wow! Just watched the movie “The Cove” last night and boy was I moved! Watching the Japanese Government stand by defending the slaughter of thousands of dolphins (which are self-aware and intelligent like humans) was gut wrenching! WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!

That brings my focus back to our waters and what we are doing. Some recent murmurs tell me that Red Snapper may be declard sustainable this year. If this is actual FACT nad not just LABELING, than congrats!!! I hope its true. I will be doing more research on this topic and get back to you as soon as I find something conrete…oh yeah, Texas Redfish may become legal for commercial fishing again soon as well in FEDERAL waters. PEACE to our PIECE!

Gearing Up for the NEW YEAR 2010!!!

eatLOCALorDIE — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:42:39 +0000

All of you who know where I work should know that this New Years Day Hangover Brunch Party will be Slammin!!!

11 am-3 pm this Friday…

Four different kinds of Bloody Mary’s, Michelada’s, $2 Lone Stars & PBRs, $4 Real Ale Pints, $6 Happy Hour Cocktails

Riazul Tequila Tribe http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&gid=63649351784

will be out hangin with us along with music stylings of

DJ Kung Fu Pimp http://www.facebook.com/kungfupimp?ref=search&sid=1581060905.137196387..1

Don’t be SCARED!

eatLOCALorDIE on TWITTER!

eatLOCALorDIE — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:44:15 +0000

it has been over a year since i posted anything on this site. fixing the place i took over has become a massive undertaking and has left little time for blogging. however this is the first step to getting back to talking about the importance of local sourced foods, the community and their development. so here we go:

I watched a movie called FoodInc the other day and was shocked to find out how horribly we treat what we put in our bodies, how poorly we treat our neighbors and how easy it is to find out better alternatives to a healthier living.

1. Buy Organics

2. Read the Labels of your food products

3. Buy local from people you know & whose farms you may visit.

4. Plant a garden

5. Go to the Farmers Markets

6. Stay away from genetically altered foods

Some Scary Names:

Cargil, Swift, National Beef, IBP, Monsanto, TYSON.

Some Not So Scary Names:

Old World Farms, Georgia’s Grass Fed Beef, Jolie Vue Farm, Gunderman Farm, Mid Town Farmers Market, Rice University Farmers Market, Heights Farmers Market, Airline Farmers Market, 3000 Richmond Farmers Market. Stoney Field Farm Organics Line (Carried by Walmart of all places. Walmart just started buying 100% Growth Hormone free dairy!)

I will be back sooner than later.

Cheers and Eat Better in the New Year, or you might DIE!

Jj’s back in the saddle

eatLOCALorDIE — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:38 +0000

Good days people! i have recently joined a great team at beaver’s ice house in houston…back on the washington strip feels like coming home to me. so many of the regular customers from that other place on washington have been in to welcome me back and i thank you all!

one customer commented to me:

“what are you doing here? you are too talented to be at an ice house making barbecue!”

my answer to that is this person does’nt truly get me or what i am about. i work at a restaurant with an ice house perception where the foods are creative, organic, wholesome, often sustainable and more often local. being under monica popes umbrella does’nt exactly suck for me either…hell i have been riding her coat tails of the farm to fork movement for years…she started this shit in h-town anyway! yay for me.

with all due respect to my friend who made the comment…i have traveled and cooked with some of the best culinary talent in the world and all i want to do is salt of the earth, great texas food from our own back yards!!!

I will be at Jolie Vue farms this weekend at the Outstanding in the Feild event assisting monica with her dinner. I am cooking whole Duroc hog ala caja china, slow grilled bellies, smoked pulled shoulder and smoked sausage. I also made brawn ala fergus henderson!!! trotter gear baby!!! it is delicious.

be back at ya soon!

come eat at the beaver!!!

WOW!!! Wine Week in The Woodlands!!!

eatLOCALorDIE — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:26:50 +0000

guys i am back and ready to blog. my first wine dinner was a smash. it was with concha y torro winery of chile and it was hot…to all wine snobs out there, i tasted some really great juice from these guys so dont be judgemental!!! remember…even box wine on the table is still wine on the table! if you don’t “get it” go search yourself!!!

here are some near quality photos while we were on the move that night:

Amuse is mushroom ceviche in a classic peruvian key lime leche de tigre. morel, hon-shimeji, blue foot, baby shitake, aji amarillo, micro basil

i am missing the first course photo. goats and sheeps cheese of spanish unpastuerized garotxa aged goat, manchego riserva sheep, valdeon blue aged goat and cow, texas “del ciello” goat camabert, “la cuesta” chevre

course two: hazelnut puree, poached lobster and texas gulf shrimp, tahitian vanila & key lime vinaigrette, aji amarillo & papaya granita, micro lemon minimint

intermezzo was chicha morada-cava spritzer…Chicha morada is a beverage made from certain forms of fermented corn and spices, in this case it was purple corn.

third course: raz al hanout braised six point berkshire pulled pork (compressed into a square…thanks randy rucker of tenacity), organic blue corn sopes, texas “oaxaquena” cheese, blackberry-pasilla salsa, blackberry foam, micro comino sprouts, finished with extra virgin avocado oil

fourth course: cherrywood smoked colorado lamb “sous vide”, poached peruvian giant lima beans and lima bean puree, “carrots on carrots”…baby carrots poached with carrot juice than some were pureéd with carrot juice, cabernet-chicha morada gastrite

fifth course: three chile spiced texas akaushi short rib sous vide, wild mushrooms, ramps, baby potatoes ala huancaina (huancaina is a room temperature cheese sauce made with milk,crackers, queso fresco and aji amarillo….i made a play on potatoes au gratin by topping the huancaina sauce with parmesan and torching it than placing the baby potatoes on top…), maca demi-glace (maca is a south american root which is ground into a powder much like gensing…it is considered natural viagra, giving you energy. it has an earthy yet sweet-bitter flavor.)

well its nice to be back!!

special shout out to: carlos testino, alvaro raffo, valerie schroth, daniel of “osaka”, augusto, senor rey del camera, jose durante and randy “mf” rucker of tenacity

just a few food pics…

eatLOCALorDIE — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:26:51 +0000

some of the plates are still a little clumsy…i will work that shit out later.

JJ’s smoking move…triad fisheries coho salmon.

eatLOCALorDIE — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 05:54:03 +0000

This is dedicated to my good friend chef randy rucker!!!

Smoke that shit!!!

Sustainable wild caught and farmed fish…check it out Texas Redfish!!!

eatLOCALorDIE — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:16:26 +0000

This picture is from Lone Star Aquafarm…My favorite fish, better than red snapper…Texas Redfish!!!

The link to cleanfish is another supplier for Texas Refish if you are out of state. Cleanfish is a great company as well as Lonestar.

ttp://www.cleanfish.com/product.htm#lochd

www.lonestaraquafarms.com

Local 100% Japanese Red Beef (Akaushi Wagyu)

eatLOCALorDIE — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:39:17 +0000

Yokum Texas…who would have thunk it?

http://www.texasmonthly.com/2007-12-01/multimedia2.php

check out the video at lamberts…Tyson Cole is one of the judges.

Sustainable Fish http://www.snapperfarm.com/

eatLOCALorDIE — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:32:21 +0000

This is a cobia farm off the coast of Puerto Rico. Rumor has it that they are making more plans to raise red snapper, the most overfished indigenous reef fish in our Gulf of Mexico.

I have eaten this cobia and its quality is only rivaled by the aquafarmed Kona Kampachi.