http://mrjeffmccarthy.com Sun, 15 Jan 2012 01:01:00 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en My skepticism about modernist cuisine, so named after 'molecular gastronomy' fell out of favor; is not a thing I hide. As it is with so many things, the doubts stem from ignorance, intimidation, and unabashed pig-headed stubbornness. When Chef Anthony Cafiero (AKA Tony Two Fingers) approached me about doing a ... http://mrjeffmccarthy.com/2012/01/14/tentop-presents-the-modernist-with-chef-cafiero/ Chef's and faithful readers the world over have had a long standing obsession with ramen, and not just the instant ramen that has fed countless generations of college students the world over. This Japanese comfort food calls more and more food lovers into it's ranks yearly, but relatively few have ... http://mrjeffmccarthy.com/2011/12/17/mcramen/ Anyone who has visited me at Kitchen Cru more than likely now struggles with a deep seeded jealously. At the very least; they leave puzzled by my insistent smile, and my inability to explain what it is exactly that I do. The actual physical work includes such glorious and noble ... http://mrjeffmccarthy.com/2011/12/07/best-job-in-portland/ It should come as no surprise that tentop's recent Pastafarian dinner was a resounding success.  Pasta is universally loved around the world and our guests were happy to eat five courses of it. The highly exalted Flying Spaghetti Monster was pleased and we felt his benevolent smile shining upon us ... http://mrjeffmccarthy.com/2011/11/18/milk-braised-rabbit-casonsei-with-mike-perez/ At tentop's recent Offal Good dinner we served many of Chef Dunleavy's creations; and one of the stand outs was this little goddammit here. A riff on the classic dish of Algeria; one seen throughout the Maghreb. An age-old sweet and savory combination, Pastilla combines a salty meat filling and ... http://mrjeffmccarthy.com/2011/11/12/sweetbread-pastilla-from-mark-dunleavy-dick/ My original idea for tentop was not to create a thematic supper club. I knew when I took the kitchen manager job at KitchenCru that i would need a creative outlet, a venue where I could experiment with food and write about it.  I also thought I might be able ... http://mrjeffmccarthy.com/2011/10/15/tentop-takes-the-next-step/ What's more comforting to faithful readers like yourselves than a hamburger and hotdog? For me, I always want to eat one or the other of these invented elsewhere but perfected by America delicacies. I eat hot dogs or hamburgers more than anything else, Shorty can verify, and there are few ... http://mrjeffmccarthy.com/2011/08/10/hamburger-hot-dog/ The latest tentop dinner at KitchenCru was a smash, or at the very least; we all got smashed. We opened both evenings with a big bowl of espillette almond caramel corn, and an even bigger bowl of iced down coldies. I mean what better way to kick off a Junk ... http://mrjeffmccarthy.com/2011/08/02/nachos-and-wings/ Because you know, it's like you're dying; turning forty. At least that's the joke. Anyway, I had fun making this one. I hadn't made a sheet cake in awhile, maybe not since Didier's 39th birthday cake a year ago. The cake itself was a lemon sponge, the filling vanilla butt ... http://mrjeffmccarthy.com/2011/07/02/a-fortieth-birthday-cake/ Sadly, in my excitement; I only got this one crappy picture of this truly delicious awesomeness before it was descended upon like so much carrion by vultures. In truth, half the pie made it over to Clyde, where it was traded to glassy-eyed bar tenders for artisan cocktails. Anyway, I'm ... http://mrjeffmccarthy.com/2011/06/22/chicken-skin-crusted-pot-pie/