As you folks read this, I’m probably already on a plane. Southwest Flight something-something. Which puts me on the ground in Orlando by mid-morning. And then … Well, it’ll be five crazy days at MouseFest 2005. Where I’ll get to hang out with some of my favorite Disney webmasters and authors as well as get to chat with some of JHM’s readers. Speaking of which, Scott Liljenquest of Mouseketrips.com wants me to remind you about the meet-n-greet that we’ll be hosting this Friday at the Flame Tree Barbeque restaurant in Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park. So — if you’d like to drop by and say “Hello” — we’ll be there starting at 11:30 a.m. Likewise, if you’d like to see me as well as dozens of other Disney webmasters and authors, be sure and come by WDW’s Dolphin Resort on Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of Disneyana fans are expected to be descending on the Northern Hemisphere Ballroom (Salon E) that afternoon. So — if you want to avoid the crowds — I suggest that you be there as the doors open at 1 p.m. But then — of course — the really big event is being reserved for Saturday night. When JHM hosts its first ever Christmas Party at the Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel near WDW’s Downtown Disney. There’ll be lots of great desserts (including itty bitty cheesecakes & petit fores) plus door prizes and entertainment provided by yours truly and noted Disney historian Jim Korkis. So — if you’re in the Orlando area this coming weekend — this is one seasonal shindig that you really don’t want to miss. Just so you know: Space is limited at the JHM Christmas Party. So if you want to score an invite to this event, then I suggest that you drop Mr. Liljenquist a line at Scott@Mouseketrips.com ASAP. So that Scott can be sure to get your name on the guest list.
Also … Seeing as we don’t want JHM’s west coast readers to miss out on all the fun, the site’s also staging a get-together at Disneyland this coming Saturday. Sooo … If you’re planning on being at the “Happiest Place on Earth” to catch Saturday’s candlelight processional and would like to meet with Roger Colton and Jeff Lange … Be sure and be in Frontierland around noon. For these JHM writers will be hanging around by that old cigar store indian that you find in front of the Frontierland shooting gallery. And Roger & Jeff will be happy to shoot the breeze with any JHM readers that come on by. Beyond that … So far, over 300 people have already taken part in JHM’s first-ever reader’s poll. We’re getting some excellent feedback from the site’s readers, which will help us identify the various areas at this website that we really need to tweak. Just so you know, though: This poll close as of midnight EST December 4th. So if you want your voice to be heard, be sure and take part in the poll before then.
Anyway … That’s the update on everything that’s going on with JHM over the next four or five days. Now — if you’ll excuse me — I really have to finish packing for tomorrow’s flight. Hope to see some of you folks Friday & Saturday at various Mousefest 2005 events. Til then, you take care, okay?
Jim Hill is an entertainment writer who has specialized in covering The Walt Disney Company for nearly 40 years now. Over that time, he has interviewed hundreds of animators, actors, and Imagineers -- many of whom have shared behind-the-scenes stories with Mr. Hill about how the Mouse House really works. In addition to the 4000+ articles Jim has written for the Web, he also co-hosts a trio of popular podcasts: “Disney Dish with Len Testa,” “Fine Tooning with Drew Taylor” and “Marvel US Disney with Aaron Adams.” Mr. Hill makes his home in Southern New Hampshire with his lovely wife Nancy and two obnoxious cats, Ginger & Betty.
Sure, for some folks, the Fourth of July is all about
fireworks. But for the 75% of all Americans who own a grill or a smoker, the
Fourth is our Nation’s No. 1 holiday when it comes to grilling. Which is why 3
out of 4 of those folks will spend some time outside today working over a fire.
But here’s the thing: Though 14 million Americans can cook a
steak with confidence because they actually grill something every week, the
rest of us – because we use our grill or smoker so infrequently … Well, let’s
just say that we have no chops when it comes to dealing with chops (pork, veal
or otherwise).
So what’s a backyard chef supposed to in a situation like
this when there’s so much at steak … er … stake? Turn to someone who really
knows their way around a grill for advice. People like Jens Dahlmann, the Vice
President and Corporate Executive Chef for Darden Restaurant’s LongHorn
Steakhouse brand.
Given that Jens’ father & grandfather were chefs, this
is a guy who literally grew up in a kitchen. In his teens & twenties,
Dahlmann worked in hotels & restaurants all over Switzerland & Germany.
Once he was classically trained in the culinary arts, Jens then jumped ship. Well, started working on cruise
ships, I mean.
Anyway … While working on Cunard’s Sea Goddess, Dahlmann met
Sirio Maccioni, the founder of Le Cirque 2000. Sirio was so impressed with
Jens’ skills in the kitchen that he offered him the opportunity to become
sous-chef at this New York landmark. After four years of working in Manhattan,
Dahlmann then headed south to become executive chef at Palm Beach’s prestigious
Café L’Europe.
And once Jens began wowing foodies in Florida, it wasn’t all
that long ’til the Mouse came a-calling. Mickey wanted Dahlmann to shake things
up in the kitchen over at WDW’s Flying Fish Café. And he did such a good job
with that Disney’s Boardwalk eatery the next thing Jens knew, he was then being
asked to work his magic with the menu at the Contemporary Resort’s California
Grill.
From there, Dahlmann had a relatively meteoric rise at the
Mouse House. Once he became Epcot’s Food & Beverage general manager, it was
only a matter of time before he wound up as the executive chef in charge of
this theme park’s annual International Food & Wine Festival. Which – under
Jens’ guidance – experienced some truly explosive growth.
“When I took on Food & Wine, that festival was only 35
days long and had gross revenues of just $5.5 million. When I left Disney in 2016,
Food & Wine was now over 50 days long and that festival had gross revenues
of $22 million,” Dahlmann admitted during a recent sit-down. “I honestly loved
those 13 years I spent at Disney. When I was working there, I learned so much
because I was really cooking for America.”
And it was exactly that sort of experience & expertise
that Darden wanted to tap into when they lured Jens away from Mickey last year
to become LongHorn Steakhouse’s new Vice President and Corporate Executive
Chef. But today … Well, Dahlmann is offering tips to those of us who are
thinking about cooking steak tips for the Fourth.
Photo by Jim Hill
“When you’re planning on grilling this holiday, if you’re
looking for a successful result, the obvious place to start is with the quality
of the meat you plan on cooking for your friends & family. If you want the
best results here, don’t be cheap when you go shopping. Spend the money
necessary for a fresh filet or a New York strip. Better yet a Ribeye, a nice
thick one with good marbling. Because when you look at the marbling on a steak,
that’s where all the flavor happens,” Jens explained. “That said, you always
have to remember that — the higher you go with the quality of your meat — the
less time you’re going to want that piece of meat to spend on the grill.”
And speaking of cooking … Before you even get started here,
Jens suggests that you first take the time to check over all of your grilling
equipment. Making sure that the grill itself is first scraped clean & then
properly oiled before you then turn up the heat.
“If you’re working with a dirty grill, when you go to turn
your meat, it may wind up sticking to the grill. Or maybe those spices that
you’ve just so carefully coated your steak with will wind up sticking to the
grill, rather than your meat,” Dahlmann continued. “Which is why it’s always worth
it to spend a few minutes prior to firing up your grill properly cleaning &
oiling it.”
Photo by Jim Hill
And speaking of heat … Again, before you officially get
started grilling here, Jens says that it’s crucial to check your temperature
gauges. Make sure that your char grill is set at 550 (so that it can then
properly handle the thicker cuts of meat) and your flattop is set at 425 (so it
can properly sear thinner pieces of meat).
Okay. Once you’ve bought the right cuts of quality meat,
properly cleaned & oiled your grill, and then made sure that everything’s
set at the right temperature (“If you can only stand to hold your hand directly
over the grill for two or three seconds, that’s the right amount of heat,”
Dahlmann said), it’s now time to season your steaks.
“Don’t be afraid to be bold here. You can’t be shy when it
comes to seasoning your meat. You want to give it a nice coating. Largely
because — if you’re using a char grill — a lot of that seasoning is just
going to fall off anyway,” Jens stated. “It’s up to you to decide what sort of
seasoning you want to use here. Even just some salt & pepper will enhance a
steak’s flavor.”
Then – according to Dahlmann – comes the really tough part.
Which is placing your meat on the grill and then fighting the urge to flip it
too early or too often.
“The biggest mistake that a lot of amateur cooks make is
that they flip the steak too many times. The real key to a well-cooked piece of
meat is just let it be, “Jens insisted. “Of course, if you’re serving different
cuts of meat at your Fourth of July feast, you always want to put your biggest
thickest steak on the grill first. If you’re also cooking a New York Strip, you
want to put that one on a few minutes later. But after that, just let the grill
do its job and flip your meat a total of three or four times, once every three
minutes or so.”
Of course, the last thing you want to do is overcook a
quality piece of meat. Which is why Dahlmann suggests that – when it comes to
grilling steaks – if you’re going to err, err on the side of undercooking.
“You can always put a piece of meat back on the grill if
it’s slightly undercooked. When you over-cook something, all you can do then is
start over with a brand-new piece of meat,” Jens said. “Just be sure that
you’re using the correct cut of meat for the cooking result you’re aiming for.
If someone wants a rare or medium rare steak, you should go with a thicker cut
of steak. If one of your guests wants their steak cooked medium or well, it’s
best to start with a thinner cut of meat.”
Photo by Jim Hill
As you can see, the folks at Longhorn take grilling steaks
seriously. How seriously? Just last week at Darden Corporate Headquarters in
Orlando, seven of these brand’s top grill masters (who – after weeks of
regional competitions – had been culled from the 491 restaurants that make up
this chain) competed for a $10,000 prize in the Company’s second annual Steak
Master Series. And Dahlmann was one of the people who stood in Darden’s test
kitchens, watching like a hawk as each of the contestants struggled to prepare
six different dishes in just 20 minutes according to Longhorn Steakhouse’s
exacting standards.
“I love that Darden does this. Recognizing the best of the
best who work this restaurant,” Jens concluded. “We have a lot of people here
who are incredibly knowledgeable & passionate when it comes to grilling.”
Speaking of which … If today’s story doesn’t include the exact
piece of info that you need to properly grill that T-bone, just whip out your
iPhone & text GRILL to 55702. Or – better yet – visit ExpertGriller.com prior to firing up your
grill or smoker later today.
This article was originally published by the Huffington Post on Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Some people travel halfway ‘around the planet so that they
can then experience the excitement of the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona. If
you’re more of a Slow Living enthusiast (as I am), then perhaps you should amble
to Brattleboro, VT. Where – over the first weekend in June – you can then join
a herd of cow enthusiasts at the annual Strolling of the Heifers.
Now in its 16th year, this three-day long event typically
gets underway on Friday night in June with a combination block party / gallery
walk. But then – come Saturday morning – Main Street in Brattleboro is lined
with thousands of bovine fans.
Photo by Jim Hill
They’ve staked out primo viewing spots and set up camp
chairs hours ahead of time. Just so these folks can then have a front row seat as
this year’s crop of calves (which all come from local farms & 4-H clubs)
are paraded through the streets.
Photo by Jim Hill
Viewed from curbside, Strolling of the Heifers is kind of
this weird melding of a sincere small town celebration and Pasadena’s Doo Dah
Parade. Meaning that – for every entry that actually acknowledged this year’s
theme (i.e. “Dance to the Moosic”) — …
Photo by Jim Hill
… there was something completely random, like this parade’s
synchronized shopping cart unit.
Photo by Jim Hill
And for every piece of authentic Americana (EX: That
collection of antique John Deere tractors that came chugging through the city) …
Photo by Jim Hill
… there was something silly. Like – say – a woman dressed as
a Holstein pushing a baby stroller through the streets. And riding in that
stroller was a pig dressed in a tutu.
Photo by Jim Hill
And given that this event was being staged in the Green
Mountain State & all … Well, does it really surprise you to learn that — among
the groups that marched in this year’s Strolling of the Heifers – was a group of
eco-friendly folks who, with their
chants of “We’re Number One !,” tried to persuade people along the
parade route not to flush the toilet after they pee. Because – as it turns out –
urine can be turned into fertilizer.
Photo by Jim Hill
And speaking of fertilizer … At the tail end of the parade,
there was a group of dedicated volunteers who were dealing with what came out
of the tail end of all those cows.
Photo by Jim Hill
This year’s Strolling of the Heifers concluded at the
Brattleboro town common. Where event attendees could then get a closer look at
some of the featured units in this year’s parade…
Photo by Jim Hill
… or perhaps even pet a few of the participants.
Photo by Jim Hill
But as for the 90+ calves who took part in the 2017 edition
of Strolling of the Heifers, once they reached the town common, it was now time
for a nosh or a nap.
Photo by Jim Hill
Elsewhere on the common, keeping with this year’s “Dance to
the Moosic” theme, various musical groups performed in & around the gazebo
throughout the afternoon.
All in all, attending Strolling of the Heifers is a somewhat
surreal but still very pleasant way to spend a summer’s day in Vermont. And
that’s no bull.
Photo by Jim Hill
Well, that could be a bull. To be honest, what
with the wig & all, it’s kind of hard to tell.
This article was originally published by the Huffington Post on Sunday, June 4, 2017
Let’s at least start on a positive note: Celebrated chef,
author & TV personality Kevin Dundon – the man that Tourism Ireland has
repeatedly chosen as the Face of Irish Food – loves a lot of what happens in
the United States on March 17th.
“I mean, look at what they do in Chicago on Saint Patrick’s
Day. They toss all of this vegetable-based dye into the Chicago River and then paint
it green for a day. That’s terrific,” Kevin said.
But then when it comes to what many Americans eat &
drink on St. Paddy’s Day (i.e., a big plate of corned beef and cabbage. Which
is then washed down with a mug of green beer) … Well, that’s where Dundon has
to draw the line.
Irish celebrity chef Kevin
Dundon displays a traditional Irish loin of bacon with Colcannon potatoes and
a Dunbrody Kiss chocolate dessert. Photo by Tom Burton. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
“Green beer? No real Irishman would be caught dead drinking
that stuff,” Kevin insists. “And as for eating corned beef & cabbage …
That’s not actually authentic Irish fare either. Bacon and cabbage? Sure. But
corned beef & cabbage was something that the Irish only began eating after
they’d come to the States to escape the Famine. And even then these
Irish-Americans only began serving corned beef & cabbage to their friends
& family because they had to make do with the ingredients that were
available to them at that time.”
And thus begins the strange tale of how corned beef &
cabbage came to be associated with the North American celebration of Saint
Patrick’s Day celebration. Because – according to Dundon – beef just wasn’t all
that big a part of the Irish diet back in the 19th century.
To explain: Back in the Old Country, cattle – while they
were obviously highly prized for the milk & cheese that they produced –
were also beasts of burden. Meaning that they were often used for ploughing the
fields or for hauling heavy loads. Which is why – back then — these animals
were rarely slaughtered when they were still young & healthy. If anything,
land owners liked to put a herd of cattle on display out in one of their
pastures because that was then a sign to their neighbors that this farm was
prosperous.
“Whereas pork … Well, everybody raised pigs back then. Which
is why pork was a staple of the Irish diet rather than beef,” Dundon continued.
So if that’s what people actually ate back in the Old
Country, how then did corned beef & cabbage come to be so strongly
associated with Saint Patrick’s Day in the States.? That largely had to do with
where the Irish wound up living after they arrived in the New World.
“When the Irish first arrived in America following the Great
Famine, a lot of them wound up living in the inner city right alongside the
Germans & the Jews, who were also recent immigrants to the States. And
while that farm-fresh pork that the Irish loved wasn’t readily available, there
was brisket. Which the Irish could then cure by first covering this piece of
meat with corn kernel-sized pieces of rock salt – that’s how it came to be
called corned beef. Because of the sizes of the pieces of rock salt that were
used in the curing process – and then placing all that in a pot of water with
other spices to soak for a few days.”
And as for the cabbage portion of corned beef & cabbage
… Well, according to Kevin, in addition to buying their meat from the kosher
delis in their neighborhood, the Irish would also frequent the stores that the
German community shopped in. Where – thanks to their love of sauerkraut (i.e.,
pickled cabbage) – there was always a ready supply of cabbage to be had.
“So when you get right down to it, it was the American
melting pot that led to corned beef & cabbage being found in the
Irish-American cooking pot,” Dundon continued. “Since they couldn’t find or
didn’t have easy access to the exact same ingredients that they had back in
Ireland, Irish-Americans made do with what they could find in the immediate
vicinity. And what they made was admittedly tasty. But it’s not actually
authentic Irish fare.”
Mind you, what Kevin serves at Raglan Road Irish Pub and
Restaurant at Disney Springs (which – FYI – Orlando Magazine voted as the
area’s best restaurant back in 2014) is nothing if not authentic. Dundon and
his team at this acclaimed gastropub pride themselves on making traditional
Irish fare and then contemporized it.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
“Take – for example – what we serve here instead of corned
beef & cabbage. Again, because it was pork – rather than beef – that was
the true staple of the Irish diet back then, what we offer instead is a loin of
bacon that has been glazed with Irish Mist. That then comes with colcannon
potatoes. Which is this traditional Irish dish that’s made up of mashed potato
that have had some cabbage & bacon mixed through it,” Kevin enthused. “This
heavenly ham – that’s what we actually call this traditional Irish dish at
Raglan Road, Kevin’s Heavenly Ham – also includes some savory cabbage with a
parsley cream sauce as well as a raisin cider jus. It’s simple food. But
because of the basic ingredients – and that’s the real secret of Irish cuisine.
That our ingredients are so strong – the flavors just pop off the plate.”
Which brings us to the real challenge that Dundon and the
Raglan Road team face every day. Making sure that they actually have all of the
ingredients necessary to make this traditional-yet-contemporized Irish fare to
those folks who frequent this Walt Disney World favorite.
“Take – for example – the fish we serve here. We only used
cold water fish. Salmon, mussels and haddock that have been hauled out of the
Atlantic, the ocean that America and Ireland share,” Kevin stated. “Not that
there’s anything wrong with warm water fish. It’s just that … Well, it doesn’t
have the same structure. It’s a softer fish, which doesn’t really fit the
parameters of Irish cuisine. And if you’re going to serve authentic food, you
have to be this dedicated when it comes to sourcing your ingredients.
Copyright Mitchell Beazley. All rights reserved
And if you’re thinking of perhaps trying to serve an
authentic Irish meal this year, rather than once again serving corned beef
& cabbage at your Saint Patrick’s Day Feast … Well, back in September of
last year, Mitchell Beazley published “The Raglan Road Cookbook: Inside
America’s Favorite Irish Pub.” This 296-page hardcover not only includes the
recipe for Kevin’s Heavenly Ham but also it tells the tale of how this
now-world-renown restaurant wound up being built in Orlando.
On the other hand, if you happen to have to the luck of the
Irish and are actually down at The Walt Disney World Resort right now, it’s
worth noting that Raglan Road is right in the middle of its Mighty St.
Patrick’s Day Festival. This four day-long event – which includes Irish bands
and professional dancers – stretches through Sunday night. And in addition to
all that authentic Irish fare that Dundon and his team are cooking up, you also
sample the fine selection of beers & cocktails that this establishment’s
four distinct antique bars (each of which are more than 130 years old and were
imported directly from Ireland) will be serving. Just – As ucht Dé (That’s “For
God’s Sake” in Gaelic) – don’t make the mistake of asking the bartender there
for a mug of green beer.
“Why would anyone willingly drink something like that?,”
Dundon laughed. “I mean, just imagine what their washroom will look like the
morning after.”
This article was originally published by the Huffington Post on Friday, March 17, 2017