Tag Archives | cooking demo

When things go OOPS in the kitchen.

There are glorious moments in the kitchen when things go exquisitely well and we picture our face,
in all its sweaty glory, on the cover of Bon Appétit and then, there is that slow motion, non returnable instant, when all goes terribly wrong. Every chef, every cook knows disaster can strike
in a split second.

We get distracted, we make mistakes, we make a mess, we don’t follow directions, or simply there is mechanical failure.  Even Julia Child was no stranger to dropping the occasional raw chicken or letting her flambé’ turn in to serious flames.

I’m no stranger to those “OOPS Moment” myself. I have for sure had my share of flat cakes, bland soups, raw chickens, dry breads, explosive blenders, and bloody fingers. I could go on for days. Luckily, no one has to know. That’s when I’m in the privacy of my own little kitchen.
And that’s when I always leave my self some extra time to either cook something new or run out for rotisserie kitchen.

However there are those times when I have to cook live and I only have 30 minutes to do it right.   I’m talking about this past weekend at the Audubon Greenwich, where I had the pleasure and the honor to be invited to do 3 cooking demonstrations during the Sustainable Farm Expo.
I was excited to work with fresh farm eggs, marinate and grill a yummy bavette steak, show how to home cure a salmon and use some great organic, local produce form the Westport Farmers Market.

poached

Poached egg. 3 minutes.

While the eggs and home cured salmon where smooth sailing, my mise for steak was not in place and when I went to cook the beautiful grass fed steak, the burners were not working and the grill pan was cold.

steakdemo

Bavette steak demo.

There is a nothing fun about 50 piercing eyes, including the ones of the butcher, staring at you and the hungry silence that descends during a cooking demo going south. But there is always a way to come back north. Luckily I had an electric pan in the back. The steak was saved and so was lunch.

Following are a few tips for when Murphy’s Law “If anything can go wrong, it will” rears it’s ugly head and my recipe for home cured citrus salmon.

  • Never try something new and don’t improvise or substitute ingredients when cooking for guests.
  • Prep everything ahead. I mean everything.
  • Make lists of what you will need. Don’t forget your list.
  • Even ovens with the best intentions may be off, but an oven thermometer will solve the mystery of the real temperature.
  • Hot liquids will explode in a blender. Cool everything off before pushing the start button.
  • Keep your knives sharp.
  • Try everything before serving and before cooking.
  • Salt is your friend.
  • Don’t panic. Think.
  • Make ahead some pizzas, a meat stew, meatballs, soups, a pasta-bake and freeze all for emergencies.
  • Never apologize. If you are cooking for someone you are doing him or her a favor. Whatever the out come is they should kiss the ground you walk on or at least do your dishes.
salmoncured

Home Cured Salmon.

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The Art of Picnics

Location:

The park, the beach, a shady spot, your favorite secret corner. Like in real estate, location is everything when scouting for a picnic site. Keep it simple, easy to reach and close to a storm shelter.

 

Henri Cartier-Bresson's Sunday on the Banks of the Marne, 1938

Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Sunday on the Banks of the Marne, 1938

Semantic:

Picnic, or pique-nique, is of French origin, formed from piquer, the French for “to pick at food”, and nique meaning something small of no value.

The word picnic has existed in English for a long time, with different meanings including a kind of hat and a morally suspect club started by lord Chesterfied in 1748 that was associated with card-playing and drinking. No matter. 

Picnicking is what you make of it. I call mine alfresco dining and I pack  it as tasty and as fun as I can.

 

Thomas Cole's A Pic-Nic Party, 1846

Thomas Cole’s A Pic-Nic Party, 1846

Style:

The art of the picnic should require resolute rejection of plastic when it comes to food packing. Plastic makes everything smell funky and it’s, in my opinion, unbecoming. 
Paper, glass, cloth, cardboard, wax paper, are all beautiful alternatives.

 

Alcohol:

Don’t forget the bottle opener for the booze. Or better forget it and stick to champagne.

 

Packing:

At the beginning of times a picnic was a way to take a whole meal outside. Originally servants and coaches used to come at 4am to pick up a picnic hamper. Well I have news for you. Times have changed. Keep you packing light and organized. Select fresh ingredients and recipes that are easily sharable with your tribe. On the other hand, if you have kids in the group, by all mean, load them up.

 

Food:

In the end, packing good food is what a picnic it’s all about. It doesn’t have to be fine dining or complicated but it has to be memorable and refreshing. Jars salads are a great idea. Dressing goes on the bottom, veggies and other goodies get piled on top. Everything stays separate and dressing-free until you toss the salad together, you’ll never eat another soggy salad.

jarsalad_

A pressed sandwich is another fabulous idea. You can prepare it in advance, by cutting a good loaf of crusty bread, loading it with layers of greens, creamy cheese, salty cured meats, a good drizzle of strong olive oil and wrap it in lots of cellophane. Put it at the bottom of the picnic basket and weight it down with all the other goodies. Once you a get to your spot, ask the kids to sit on it. It will help you flatten the sandwich, and making sure all the flavors are properly combined while giving you the time you need to unpack in peace. Don’t forget scotched eggs and an aioli for dipping, I’m partial to my tarragon infused recipe, some pickled veggies for tanginess, and of course strawberries because it’s not a proper picnic with out sweet strawberries to stain your clothes.

All the recipes from my lecture at Olivette are now online.

The-Art-Of-Picnics

The Art Of Picnics at Olivette

Avocado, Lentils, Pistachio and Arugola salad
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Servings Prep Time
4 20
Cook Time
25
Servings Prep Time
4 20
Cook Time
25
Avocado, Lentils, Pistachio and Arugola salad
Yum
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
4 20
Cook Time
25
Servings Prep Time
4 20
Cook Time
25
Ingredients
For the salad
  • 2 bunches arugola salad washed
  • 2 cups puy lentils cooked
  • 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes halved
  • 1 whole avocado rubbed with half a lemon and diced
  • 1/2 cup pistachio nuts unsalted
  • 1/4 cup mint leaves chopped
  • 1/4 cup cilantro leaves chopped
For the dressing
  • 1/2 cup lemon infused olive oil substitute with olive oil and half a juice of a lemon
  • 1/4 cup aged dark balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons pistachio oil
  • salt an pepper
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Combine all the dressing ingredients in a large bowl and whisk well.
  2. Add all the salad components and with a rubber spatula, mix all the ingredients making sure to coat well. Serve room temperature.
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Pressed, layered Sandwich
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Pressed, layered Sandwich
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Ingredients
Vinaigrette
  • 1 small shallot
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar pinot
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
  • salt and pepper
Sandwich
  • 1 loaf round bread focaccia or muffaletta
  • 4/8 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6/10 leaves lettuce
  • 8 onces Brie cheese cut in slices
  • 3/4 cup black olives pitted and roughly chopped
  • 1 large tomato sliced
  • 2 ounces anchovies in olive oil, drained. Optional.
Servings:
Instructions
  1. To make the vinaigrette, mix the shallot and vinegar in a small bowl, and gradually whisk in the oil with a fork. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Cut the bread horizontally into even top and bottom layers. Turn the top over, then drizzle olive oil all over the cut sides of both layers, using 2 or 3 Tbs of oil on each.
  3. Make layers of all the filling ingredients. First, completely cover the sandwich bottom with 5 or 6 lettuce leaves, then arrange the slices of Brie on top. Scatter the chopped olives and cover with the tomato slices in a single layer.
  4. Spoon about half the vinaigrette over the tomatoes, then separate the anchovy fillets and distribute evenly. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette and the oil from the anchovy can all over the filling. Finally, replace the top layer of the bread to close the sandwich.
  5. Wrap the sandwich well with several layers of plastic wrap and place on a cookie sheet or pizza pan or tray. Lay another tray on top of the sandwich and center some heavy items to press and flatten the loaf (a heavy pan and a 5-lb bag of sugar, for example).
  6. Place the weighted sandwich in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours or overnight. Before serving, remove the weight, unwrap the compressed sandwich, and let it come to room temperature. Cut into serving-size wedges or, as an hors d'oeuvre cut in thin parallel slices, and again into short, bite-size lengths. 1 large sandwich makes 8 large wedges or 24-hors-d'oeuvre-size pieces.
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Ark of Taste Honeys: A Lecture and Educational Tasting

Culinary Demonstration and Tasting with Chef Silvia Baldini

Author, beekeeper, and honey sommelier Marina Marchese will present a guided honey tasting of three rare and endangered honeys cataloged in Slow Food USA’s Ark of Taste. She will discuss how honeybees make liquid gold, their importance in our ecosystem, floral nectar sources, and how terroir determines flavor profiles. Marchese is the founder of Red Bee Honey, the author of “The Honey Connoisseur: Selecting, Tasting and Pairing Honey, with a Guide to More than 30 Varietals”, and the founder of The American Honey Tasting Society.

Following a Q&A session with Marchese, Chef Silvia Baldini of Strawberry and Sage will demonstrate how to make an heirloom carrot soup showcasing an Ark of Taste honey while guests enjoy a tasting. Analiese Paik of the Fairfield Green Food Guide will inform guests about rare and delicious heirloom and Ark of Taste foods, and provide insider tips for sourcing them. Immediately following the presentations, guests are invited to socialize while savoring Ark of Taste honey-soaked cakes by Chef Silvia and locally-roasted coffee from Shearwater Organic Coffee Roasters. This event is a co-production of Fairfield Green Food Guide and Strawberry and Sage.

March 26

From 6:30-8:30 pm

$25 per person; RSVP online at CarriageBarn.org

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