My Journey to a Healthy Life!

Hey guys, I am going to get back to blogging about food. This time I want to write to you all about my weight loss journey and the food I cook along the way. I have lost a little under 50lbs in the past 3 months and I dont plan on stopping anytime soon! I feel great, tons of energy, and can fit into clothes that have been depressingly hanging in my closet for a decade now! With my love(and addiction) to food, this has been far from easy, but I quickly realized that I know entirely too much about food to settle on the average boring diet. I like eating DELICIOUS food whether I am dieting or not. I want to help make you all aware of what we are putting in our bodies, and how it effects it as well. I have attached a couple of pictures that are testimony to my hard work, join me on this journey and lets get healthy together while still enjoying our meals as much as before!

Donuts!!!!!!!

I just cant get them off of my mind! I have been eating healthy now for several months, but there are certain things that I just cant give up regardless of how often it is that I get the chance to eat them. Donuts are delicious, plain and simple! They have been a favorite sweet of mine forever, but now even more with the "gourmet" movement to almost all food! Here is a picture of my absolute favorite place to get "not your average donut" here in Dallas, but I also want to touch base on the AMAZING places I visited while in Chicago.

This place is called Hypnotic Donuts and is right by the Arboretum and White Rock Lake. Definitely worth the trip, even if you don't live in the area. My personal favorite things to get here are the Chocolate Yeast that is glazed traditionally, and also the "Canadian Healthcare" which is a Maple Glazed donut with a slice of bacon and pancake syrup on it's top. For an awesome savory treat they also have these "pigs in a blanket" there that are...first of all much better sausage than the little smokies that are traditionally used to make these. But the KICKER is that it is wrapped with biscuit dough. These are only $1 and I honestly wish they cost more so I don't feel like I can eat as many at a time! Now here is what I consider the best donuts I have ever experienced, a place called Glazed and Infused. This gem is in downtown Chicago and they definitely know what they are doing! In fact, they have my favorite donut there, and actually make it SOOO much better! The bacon is thicker, the maple glaze is better, and the consistency of the donut itself is even better! I highly recommend these treats to anyone in the Chicago area! Here I also tried their Old Fashioned cake donut and their Creme Brulee donut. Old fashioned is the absolute best accompaniment to and type of coffee drink, and the Creme Brulee donut is glazed with burnt sugar just like a traditional creme brulee and it was stuffed with their version of the custard.

Last but certainly not least is my first experience with a Cronut. Cronuts are a craze that just began this past year with conflicting stories of where it actually started. But thats neither here nor there, and frankly I dont care as long as they become more readily available because they honestly changed my life. That is a powerful statement to make about something that I built up so much anticipation for and still rocked my socks off! My first cronuts, or I should say "doughssants" as they call them at West Town Bakery Acme Hotel in downtown Chicago. They were delicious and everything I wanted them to be and MORE!! they were light and flakey, rolled in cinnamon and sugar and stuffed with such amazing flavors and creams. I have included pictures of 2, S'mores flavor and Cookies and Cream flavor. They were both amazing and I wish I had tried more, although my arteries personally thanked me for not! One word of advice if you go cronut hunting in any cold city, get them in doors and let them thaw to room temperature to get the most out of your cronut experience. The fillings are so fatty, they harden when cold and completely takes away from how awesome each bite can be!

My First Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

This past week I was attending the IACP conference in Chicago,IL for 5 full days. Talk about a culinary vacation! I literally stuffed myself the entire time I was there. This is definitely only the beginning of many posts I make about my indulging week in such a rich culinary city. I of course did what I do best and researched the hell out of any and every place that is recommended to visit and eat at while in Chi-town. Deep-dish Pizza, Chicago Hot Dogs, Italian Beef, and Cronuts were on the top of my list to make sure were experienced at all cost. We started with Chicago Pizza! Although I was literally told 5 different places, I personally without even going omitted one of those options and narrowed it down to 4 that I should try and then while there we narrowed it down in half to visit only 2 of the pizzerias over the week we were there. These two places seems to be major competitors and there is a definite divide between who stands behind each of these Chicago empires. The first place is Giordano's and the second place is Lou Malnati's. Both seem to have expanded and somewhat commercialize from where they both began as family ran local businesses. While one cant fault someone from expanding their business, a part of me wishes they maintained the integrity of small owned and operated local businesses and not branded their name to be such a tourist attraction. But that's neither here nor there and frankly, despite my opinion, that damage is done. So lets focus on the important part, the PIZZA!! For the most part I would say that most all Chicagoans said they prefer Lou's, but oddly enough I thought Giordano's wins in taste, concept, and overall experience HANDS DOWN!!! This was EXACTLY what I was hoping for while anticipating for so long for this native Chicago fare. The experience is cool, because it takes much longer to bake these pizzas then what most people are used to. In fact it takes abot 3-4 times longer than most pizza you get anywhere else in the world! So you go in, order your pizza and they get started on it before you even sit down at a table. Thats almost more important than getting your name on the list at the host stand. Now for the pizza, I would say the most common misconception, at least for me coming from Texas, was that deep dish means thicker crust. That is intirely incorrect if the deep dish is done in true Chicago fashion. The dough is rolled out to this consistency, there are just 2 layers of that thin crust in the whole pizza. The pizza is constructed by putting the dough around the inside of a cakepan and up all of its edges. Then the toppings of your choice are put down with a very generous portion of mozzarella cheese. Then the second layer of crust is put down and crimped together on the outside edged with the bottom layer of pizza dough. At this point a thin layer of more mozz is put down and then Pizza sauce over the very top. The simply sprinkle the red sauce with some grated parmesan, bake and indulge!! This should definitely be eaten with a knife and fork! here are a couple pictured of our awesome first REAL deep dish pizza!

Best Boxed Brownies ever!

I am a dessertaholic, and brownies have always been a weekends. Although most of the time for convenience we bake them the box. I has found the best ever, Ghirardelli triple chocolate brownies. Wow! They will change your life!
Talk to ya soon

One Of My TOP 5 Things To Eat

There is nothing more "American" than Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. I consider myself an expert in this category! I have had what I know of as the best cheesesteaks in the country. And I will continue to try and review cheesesteaks until they clog my arteries up in old age! ;-)

My top 5 favorite cheesesteaks so far are in this order:
Belly Busters- Oxford, PA
Pat's- Philadelphia, PA
DeSoto(Fred's) Philly Cheesesteaks-DeSoto, TX
Carl's- New York, NY
Geno's- Philadelphia, PA

But in addition to an awesome hot and cheesy steak sandwich, the house sauce at DeSoto Philly Cheesesteaks completely set it over the top! Tonight I got a cheesesteak at Lenny's sub shop, and besides the bread, it was a very good sandwich! Luckily we had some of Jeff's house sauce in our fridge! I posted a pic below of my dinner!!
Where was your favorite Philly Cheesesteak experience??
Thanks and I'll talk to ya soon!!
Chef Baz

Back in the action...

Hey Guys, I know it has seriously been forever since I have blogged. WOW how life has changed since then. I became the chef of a Restaurant in SOHO and ran that kitchen until this past March. Then Britney and I packed up and moved back to the BIG D!!! after lots of job searching, we both found jobs, and even more exciting news-WE'RE PREGNANT!!! We have a little girl that is due on March 9th and could not be more excited. I worked for the great chef Kent Rathbun for about 3 and a half months, and now I am off to my next adventure. I will be The executive chef of 303 Bar and Grill in the Bishop Arts District. Great casual concept in an amazing up and coming area!! Who would have thought Id go from working in SOHO to Oak Cliff?!?!?! LOL But I am thrilled about the change and excited to see what all this opportunity will bring to my career! We are hoping to be doing a grand opening weekend starting on Thursday December 1st. I will keep you all updated as more info becomes available...
Thanks and I'll talk to ya soon!!!
Chef Baz

Lime and Cilantro FIRE CRACKER Shrimp!

Hey Guys-

Im really sorry, I've been absent for about a month. Im ready to get back to action and Im starting it off with a video of dinner I cooked last night for my wife and friend and I.

Check out the video!!
Sorry for the quality it was taken on my wife's iphone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKyOs2T9fYM

Let me know what you think and I hope some of you attempt to cook this on your own. Its easy, really cheap and YUMMY.