RoobiFood

As some of you might remember, a few years ago my husband and I started a Gourmet Group with three other couples who love to cook as much as he does. And I say “he” – because I’m a decent cook, but don’t love doing it. I do love to eat, though. For these dinners we alternate houses. The host couple chooses the “theme,” makes the entree and assigns the remaining courses with the caveat that we bring the appropriate beverage (translation: wine or cocktail) for our course. “Themes” have been as diverse as “white, spice food from below the Equator” to “Provencal” and “Tuscan” to “dishes made from Trader Joe ingredients only.” However, our very first Gourmet Group theme was “Julia Child with a California Twist.”

To toast our maiden dinner voyage, the hosts handed each of us a glass of vintage champagne as we arrived, while the appetizer couple got their course ready. Soon creamy, cheese-y individual quiches made with Julia’s favorite ingredient – ‘butter’ – were in our hands. But they didn’t stay there long as we teased our taste buds with every bite, accompanied by the chosen wine – a very chilled pinot gris. Not a traditional choice to complement quiche, but the perfect California cuisine twist of cold, fruity liquid for the warm, velvety, cheesy solid.

The candles lighted, we went into the dining room for a first course of rich, ‘buttery’ vichyssoise. The soup’s twist? Scallops. If I could sing, I would have. The taste and texture mix was heavenly. The wine chosen was a gewurtztraminer. Again, an untraditional choice, but one that worked wonderfully with the soup.

Julia’s classic Caesar salad which got its American ‘premiere’ in California was next. To quote Julia:

“I am probably one of the few people around who saw the real Caesar
Cardini making his salad. I was about 9 when my parents took me to his restau-
rant in Tijuana, just the other side of the border from San Diego. They were so
excited when big jolly Caesar himself came to the table to make the salad, which
had already been written up and talked about everywhere. And it was dramatic:
I remember most clearly the eggs going in, and how he tossed the leaves so that
it looked like a wave turning over.”

Cardini lived in San Diego, but cooked in Tijuana to avoid the prohibition laws back then. It wasn’t long, however, before California chefs were copying it. Julia’s version is quite close to the original (see her “The Way To Cook” cookbook) and the fresh lemon and garlic flavors went beautifully with the Cuvaison chardonnay that accompanied it. The California twist? The romaine and lemon were from California!

The entrée was an amazing array of Copper River salmon and Alaskan salmon cooked three ways. A whole fillet of Copper River salmon was braised with herbs in a river of ‘butter’ and white French vermouth and served with local aromatic diced carrots, onions and celery slowly cooked in butter. The Alaskan salmon was poached in California white wine and butter and served with roasted potatoes and vegetables. Again, all local California produce. The third preparation was baked salmon coated with crushed California walnuts. The wine – David Bruce pinot noir. I’m with Julia… everything’s better with butter!

My husband and I were up next. Dessert! And since we’re all suckers for chocolate, we made Julia’s favorite – Queen of Sheba chocolate cake (recipe can be found on-line). I now understand why it’s her favorite. Chocolate and ‘butter’! Our California twist. Well, we made it in our very own California kitchen. You shouldn’t fool with perfection. To sip between bites of this chocolate perfection we broke open a bottle of Taylor Fladgate port.

Remembering that meal and seeing “Julie & Julia” recently – I’ve decided I have to spend more nights interpreting Julia. Well, watching my husband interpreting Julia. I can almost smell the melting butter.

ilona
“My Dinners With Richard & Other Musings”
www.myspace.com/othermusings

As I just returned from Monterey Bay Aquarium, here in Northern Ca., I wanted to give some insight into the seafood world.

There are many fish that are great to eat and sustainable. These fish are abundant and caught and farmed in ways that are good for our environment. Farmed striped bass, talapia (US farmed) to name a few.

There is also a list that we should avoid. As these fish for now, are farmed in ways that harm other marine life and/or the environment. These fish can also carry mercury in unsafe levels and/or other contaminants. Atlantic cod, monkfish and orange roughy to name a few.

As consumers we have a lot of power where and how we spend our money. I am awakening to more and more ideas where I need to take action now. A way to keep our planet and bodies more healthy and of course treat the animals around us with more respect. In this case, fish are giving their lives so that we can share a nice dinner with friends and/or family. I am for ever grateful to have choices in what I eat and with those choices I learn all that I can to make well informed wise decisions that in the long term really do effect us all.

To learn more about my brief overview go to www.seafoodwatch.org.

This site will give more info. on what to eat and watch out for so that you too can start making more informed choices.

Once we have the information we need to be more responsible.

I am a statistic. I’m one of those people. I’m an unemployed, single mom and trying to snag a job is more than challenging. It’s not for a lack of trying or lack of ability, just the state of the economy – I shake my fist in the air at it. So what does one do to when handed this basket of lemons? Make lemonade! Capitalize on your interests, your passions. Let’s see…I’m good at spreadsheets, details, organizing, coordinating projects. I love music, indie films, food and really enjoy cooking. Hmm, what to do, what to do… the spreadsheet/details/coordinating thing hasn’t quite panned out yet. Being a roadie or being on a film crew is not practical at this point. I know! I’m going the food/cooking route! Now, I am by no means professionally trained (would love to be though), just have a desire and love for food and cooking. Along the way I have picked up tips, tricks and tidbits of knowledge along the way – and watch lots of cooking shows!

So, I had this idea to prepare recipes from a different country every week and chronicle my experiences – the good, the bad, the ugly. Who am I kidding?! It wasn’t my idea; it was my wonderful friend, Becky. We had gone to the movies over the weekend and saw the trailer for “Julie/Julia”. I told her that, coincidentally, I had been thinking about blogging on something cooking-related, but couldn’t come up with the right angle and, voila!, she comes up with this! It just effortlessly rolled off of her tongue as if it had always been there and I had been racking my brain for weeks! What’s up with that? All I can say is thank goodness she was there, she saved the day!

Culinarily speaking, I have a couple of ongoing challenges. For the most part, I cook on the cheap, being a single mom and all, but especially now! I’m pretty good at stretching a buck, try not to get crap and be a little bit creative. I like different foods as well as foods from different cultures, pretty adventurous. Which brings me to my second challenge, my teen-aged son is not an adventurous eater. He’s a meat-and-potatoes, fast-food lovin’ kind of guy. I am constantly preparing new, different dishes or am trying to sneak in different ingredients to dishes he already likes – sometimes it works, sometimes not…OK, most of the time it doesn’t work, but I still try.

In a nutshell, I am going to prepare foods from different countries that will not be expensive or difficult to prepare and use relatively mainstream ingredients and flavors that are not too crazy or wild – just a little bit. This will accommodate my pocketbook and my son’s palate. So, join me in my virtual global culinary adventure taking place within the confines of my own kitchen. I hope you will check in weekly to see how it’s going….

Follow me on Twitter – @globaleats
Email – myglobaleats@gmail.com

My fellow food enthusiasts, I’m dropping a short note to introduce myself to the food-site scene. My name is Crystal and I’m from Houston, TX. (Barbecue anyone?) I’m a mother of a three year old, and avid reader, freelance writer and lover of many things that life has to offer, but mostly a lover of cooking, experimenting with and experiencing food. I’m not the best of cooks, I’m no chef, but I do consider myself to know a thing or two about it. Self taught, from years of curiosity, wonderful accidents and unsavory mishaps….and okay, a little research.

The best advice I could give to any aspiring know-it-all cook is to be creative, sure, but to try things that you are afraid of in your food imagination. You will make mistakes and things your dog wont eat but you will surprise yourself too. That’s how we learn what works and what doesn’t. That’s how I learned. That’s how I learned to make a killer brisket that involves cherry pie filling, for instance. I know it sounds weird but who now makes every one’s favorite fork tender brisket? And this is Texas, y’all.

Over the coming series of articles, I hope to share with you my adventures and mis-adventures in food and bring you recipes, theories, tips, tricks and reviews that will inspire your inner chef. Even if that inner chef currently cooks for “Le House of Frozen Dinners.” Hey, I’ve been there too.

The clients have hired me. I know I’ll be cooking for 4 people. The price has been established and the date and time are set. The important business is now done. The fun now begins as I, The Personable Chef set to work on creating a delicious menu.

Hiring a personal chef allows you to really customize your dinner party experience. How much you want to spend is a deciding factor from what will be served to how the service will happen. Hiring a personal chef is a fantastic way to get to be a guest at your own event!

In this case I’ve been asked for an Italian inspired dinner.( My speciality for those of you that are not aware.) A simple casual , some-what predictable menu is what these clients are looking for. I aim to please. My first thoughts are about the local restaurants around these clients and what they might choose there. But then I decide on how I create my own family meals and that feels much more appropriate for these particular clients.

Putting together a menu for me is an exciting challenge. I take all aspects very seriously and leave no stones unturned. I think about the over-all presentation. The textures, flavors, colors and that a variety of delicious fresh ingredients are used. This particular meal will include…an appetizer,salad, main entree and dessert. They requested chicken as the main course, so that narrows the field a bit but the rest is up to me. After a conversation to find out a few more pieces to the puzzle, I learn that the hostess really loves “chicken piccata”. I’m thinking that will be a nice surprise to add to the menu.

Menu as follows: APPETIZER: cannellini bean dip on top of crostini. The beans are mostly pureed to leave a bit of texture. Olive oil, lemon, garlic, scallions, salt and pepper bring it all together. On the platter I add some grape tomatoes sprinkled with course sea salt to add a splash of color and to round out the flavors.

SALAD: Insalate caprese. My absolute favorite and how I measure an Italian restaurants quality. This salad, when done right is transcending in flavors but only if the olive oil has been treated kindly. Such a simple salad with tomatoes,basil and fresh mozzarella. I choose heirloom tomatoes that are yellow and orange . Fresh mozzarella is much easier to find in the market these days. A top quality fruity extra virgin olive oil is a given and some very course sea salt with fresh cracked pepper to add more flavor. To make the recipe my own, I add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a splash of white balsamic vinegar. Yummy. Letting the cheese sit in the oil for a few minutes also gives it some wonderful flavor. Tonight I also add some klamata olives to add some new flavor, color and texture. A few non-traditional ingredients that make my caprese salad different and requested often.

MAIN ENTREE: The chicken piccata will be the star. Lemons and the dry white wine give this simple delicious dish some extra sparkle but the capers are what make it sing! I’ve been told by many that my chicken piccata is the best. As I de-glaze the pan with the wine , that fresh lemon- garlic and tangy caper smell tickles my nose. I know they’ll be happy with this main entree choice.  Fresh  herbs are used to play up the flavor of the side dish of baby red potatoes. The herbs not only add color but a beautiful fresh flavor that dances on your tongue. This is  a great accompaniment to the chicken.

DESSERT: The best way to end such a wonderful meal is with some decadent dark chocolate. I serve a creamy ,rich but light dark chocolate mousse (with a hint of orange) that is to die for. When I make this at home everyone fights over who gets to lick the bowl. I top it with fresh raspberries for color and texture but also because they go so very well with the dark chocolate.

The evening is underway and my clients are enjoying a beautiful evening outside. The table is set and course by course I bring them out to be enjoyed.

With the dessert in the fridge and the ooh’s and ah’s of delight outside I clean up the kitchen like I’d never been there and slip out the back door. Another successful dinner party.

What’s next?…..