The Ultimate Burger

Memphis Best Burger Fest 2015.

Burger Fest is a big deal in Memphis and is always a lot of fun.
The Burger Fest changed locations from Minglewood plaza to Tiger Lane at the Liberty Bowl, Tiger Lane is a much bigger venue and gives the teams a lot more space to make delicious burgers.
The Festival has grown a lot since I did my first blog post on it.
Unfortunately the weather was not on our side it was very cold and gray but that did not stop the fun and the burgers!
I got to judge the veggie burgers and the regular burgers.
Dad also judged the veggie burgers.
The judging process is very secretive but the veggie burgers were very interesting and definitely gave me some ideas about how to make my veggie burger better.
The beef burgers were tasty and interesting two, the  competition burgers are a lot different than classic burgers just like BBQ.
There were also lots of cool food trucks and fun things to do.
I cant wait for next Best Burger Fest hopefully the weather will be better.
Love the cabbage
Logan  

You can also Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Vine.

The corner of Cooper and Young, Strano! Sicilian Kitchen & Bar

Strano! Sicilian Kitchen & Bar

I first heard of Strano from a FB post back when I was on TV. I got an invite to visit and to play with some of the cool culinary tools Chef Josh uses daily. He wanted to help me with Foam. So, this isn't an ordinary blog post.

Chef Josh is the youngest restaurant owner, he has a lot of molecular tools to help fuel his ideas.
He is naturally the kind of guy I like to be around.

Chef Josh also helped me host my final episode party, thanks Josh!


Chef Josh's restaurant Strano! is located at that cursed spot at Cooper and Young. The restaurant is decorated with cool art, and a nice flow. The restaurant has sound baffles which make a large space fell quiet and cozy.

When I went and played around with Josh, I made a pesto pizza and Dad really liked it....

You may know what happens when dad really likes something...   He gets a craving!


We ordered on the first visit ( It was that good!) the fried calamari, pesto pizza, and toasted ravioli. The calamari was nicely breaded and sliced nice and thin the dipping sauce was a simple marinara, a well balanced dish.

The fried ravioli were nice and crispy and very good.

Chef Josh let me go in the kitchen and make the pesto pizza , so I can't really critique the pizza but, I could have made it rounder.

On the second visit I ordered the calamari again.
Dad ordered The Sous Vide pork tenderloin, he thought that the Sous Vide was a very interesting way to cook, Dad liked it.

Mama ordered Chef Josh's Signature spinach pie, the recipe is Josh's grandma's so you know it has to be good!
Mama really enjoyed the pie.


Chef Josh did one of the hardest things to do, he un-cursed
a location.

Love the Cabbage, 
Logan 

You can also Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Vine.

Strano! Sicilian Kitchen & Bar

St John's Soup Kitchen

Some of you have asked for this story, so I will share it.

This is very personal and it forever keeps me humble!

I went to the Soup Kitchen to cook. It is close to my home so I walked with my Mom. It was the Christmas meal and my good friend John was working. I headed to the kitchen but John stopped me and asked me to fill gift bags and pass out gifts. Now, this is a nice job a fine job but, not really what I love to do.

Of course, I did it that is what was needed. 

John noticed that I was not overly happy like I normally am and he asked me what I was missing. He is a super nice guy and knows that good Volunteers have to be doing what they love to do too. 

I told him I really just wanted to be cooking, but the meal was over and no cooking was left.

Now, no one gets turned away at St Johns, if it is at all possible - so when an elderly African American man came in no one could say, no food left.

John grabbed me and said he needed me to whip up something for this man. We got frozen bread, left over pasta sauce and some pepperoni. I mean the pantry was pretty bare. They had just fed 150 folks.

I made some sandwiches and nuked them, really this was not the best meal... not even a meal... not even a school lunch.. but it was all there was. 

We found some other items like a yogurt cup and some granola bars and then rushed out to bring the gentleman his dinner. 

John told him I had met President Obama and that I had made this food. His eyes welled up with tears, he clasped my hand and told me he was GRATEFUL and HONORED to shake my hand. The hand that shook President Obama's. His eyes glowed with gratitude and love. He said he was blessed I came out to cook for him. He told me he was proud of me and thanked me. 

My eyes filled with tears - this was not a steak dinner, not a soup kitchen dinner, and yet it was much better than being hungry.

As I walked back to my warm home with my frig filled with food - I cried, my Mom cried. 

I need to cook him Steak or something.....

I am GRATEFUL for all I have,

Always!

Love the cabbage Leaf,
Logan

Bounty on Broad

I really like Broad Ave. It has a true Memphis feel and is really trying hard to revitalize itself. I have taken some classes at the 5 in 1 social club and really enjoyed them. Now when my Dad said he wanted to try Bounty I was all for it so off we went.

Bounty is cool looking very Hipster chic and the view of the water tower is killer! It feels clean and fresh. I liked it.

We ordered three plates of food - it is family style tasting plates and she recommended 4-5 for three of us. She meant it. We tried the quinoa stuffed peppers, the fried oysters and the hanger steak. 

The peppers were good- the quinoa stuffing was dense and had a nice flavor. It had chorizo and onions maybe. There was a roasted red pepper sauce that was pretty nice. I like the dish. It was good, but felt vegan. For me it was missing just a hint of something, I have not figured out what. But it was good.

The oysters were good fresh and tasty. They had a nice clean taste and sat on a slaw bed with green onions. The apple cider sauce was really nice.  I like this dish. I got some extra sauce and I really enjoyed it.

The hanger steak was tasty too. It was a little too rare for me but it had a good flavor. The stak sat on a brussel sprout bed with some great oyster mushrooms stir fried in. I mean these really were the stars of the dish. They had a great flavor.

I am glad I went but not sure if it is an I cant wait to go back place. 

Love the Cabbage Leaf

Logan HDM 

The Beginning - From Memphis to Hollywood : MasterChef Junior Season 2

Walking in Memphis on a kid's food journey!

You may know I am on the cast of MCJ (MasterChef Junior Season 2 on FOX) and you may be scratching your head as to how a then 11 year old kid would want to take on the famous Gordon Ramsay and Graham and Joe....

Well lets go back in time to when I was little, I loved playing with fake food, real food and had my own restaurant going when I was like 5 or something. Someone gave me one of those order pads and I was all set. My plastic Kitchen was my favorite toy!

My Mom let me do real stuff too. I started making coffee when I was like 2 and I had a bench pushed up to the counter. I used to have a cook knife that could not cut you, but it could cut real food and I had a metzaluna for chopping veggies when I was 4 or so.

I made my first recipe for the JIF most creative sandwich contest when I was 9 and that won me a trip to NYC. I went on tv a bunch with my recipe and it was really fun. I got so disappointed I did not win the grand prize that my Mom suggested that I enter another contest and I won.

This was the Epicurious Healthy Lunch Challenge. I won a trip to Washington , DC and the chance to eat in the WHITE HOUSE. MRS OBAMA hugged me and the PRESIDENT shook my hand!

THAT is huge, I mean you can buy a trip to NY, but you can't buy a trip into the White House for dinner.

I created my own spice rub between the two trips and started packaging it for sale to raise money for Cub Scouts. It is cool to have my own spice rub and small business. I have a few blends now. I love blending up new flavors.

Then I heard that there was a Judging Class for our famous Memphis In May World Championship BBQ contest. I thought I could do that, and with a little help from the organizers, I got into the class. At the end of the training, I passed the course!

My Mom challenged me to make something for The Spam Cookoff at the Fair and I did pretty good, 2nd place. It was a play on a reuben sandwich and was pretty tasty. I got a fun Spam hat and Apron. I don't usually wear a hat, but, it was for a photo op.




I then got an email asking if I wanted to be in a cookbook called FutureChefs - I mean really- Of course I did, so I went into the kitchen and whipped up a new recipe and made it into the book- Page 168 if you want to check for me.

Of course, you see my Blog, I have had it up for about 3 years. I started it to do writing assignments in school and it just has grown and grown. It is fun to have, but it requires lots of work. I did get my review in the local paper and I have been recognized as a food blogger! Both really cool. It also let me get entrance into the Association of Food Journalist convention in Memphis and that was a blast!

I guess, I always have had chefie goals and dreams- food makes the most exciting journey!!!
So get in the kitchen and mix up some fun!

Love the Cabbage Leaf
Logan Masterchef Junior Contestant

PS. I forgot some of the work I do for people who are hungry- might have to be another post!

Tsunami

My birthday is in July, so you're probably wondering where a food blogger goes for his birthday celebration dinner, I went to Tsunami.

It's an older restaurant, so it has stood the tests of time. The decor is contemporary hip and still trendy. The menu is exciting and cool and changes a lot based on the seafood available.

I ordered an appetizer of wasabi deviled eggs. Tsunami took the humble deviled egg and made it an amazing dish topped with exotic Japanese rice seasoning.
I also ordered some fried calamari, which came with a chipotle dipping sauce which was quite tasty. I liked how Tsunami did not include any tentacles in the calamari. It may be in style to add them but I would rather not eat them.

For my main course I ordered the pan seared tuna with cajun shrimp, with a spicy sauce ,I can't remember what it was called but Chef Ben Smith made sure that it was fabulous!
The tuna was seared perfectly to a medium-rare, the sauce was a little spicy and a bubbly feta cheese and some olives in it. It was a little too spicy for me but the flavors were well worth the kick. It also had some jasmine rice which was nice to temper the heat.
My Grandma ordered the scallop dinner. It came with 4 scallops and a sweeter sauce. She thought maybe they used only one master sauce but nope, hers was different and paired well to make another nice dish. The scallops were cooked just to her specifications. She liked it. 

Mama had a flank steak with mashed potatoes some sauted mushrooms and a horseradish sauce. Mama just plain out Loved it.
Dad ordered a fillet 
with sauteed squash and mashed potatoes. He ate it really fast so he enjoyed it. 



Dessert was Grandma's choice and she chose giner donuts with a coconut ice cream. They were heavenly! Just light and cakey and crispy the ginger went well with the coconut too. All in all it was a great celebration dinner from a fantastic local chef. Chef Poseidon may have the best seafood in Memphis!

Love the cabbage Leaf,
Logan 

P.S Chef Ben Smith has taken the time to teach me how to cook seafood. He is a great mentor and has earned the name Chef Poseidon.

Tsunami