Tommy's Blog

tarragon chicken salad

2012-01-23T18:14:00.000-08:00

Saturday 1/21/12: women's living expo. 5:00 pm. I'm waiting to start my cooking demo. The guy before might is supposed to be done and he is still handing out samples. He has been grilling meat and I can see grease everywhere.
5:05: He's still talking and hasn't started to clean up.I go up by the stage with my cooler full of my ingredients and start staring. It doesn't even phase him and he keeps talking and passing out samples and not cleaning up. About five minutes later he does a brief wipe down of the counter and stove top, gives me a glance and leaves the stage. I hop up and start setting up my ingredients. It is getting late and I decide to only make one of the two items that I had intended to prepare. I glance out and notice that most of the crowd has left with only about a half dozen seated. There are about a dozen vendors watching, so I plow ahead. Amy comes up to help wipe down the countertop as I try and figure out how to adjust the mike. The woman who facilitates the chefs has disappeared and I figure it out by myself. I start talking and making the tarragon chicken salad. It has been about 20 years since I gave a cooking demonstration, but it comes back pretty readily. I end up giving a few pointers on knife technique, which herbs I prefer, and how to poach chicken. This is the recipe:

1 cup cooked chicken, diced (poach in stock with celery, onion, carrot, thyme, bay leaf and salt and pepper)
2 ribs celery, diced
1/2 cup grapes, sliced
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 green onion, chopped
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1-2 T fresh tarragon, chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 T Mayo, light or regular
1 & 1/2 T Sour Cream

Toss the vegetables with the chicken. add the seasonings and mayo and sour cream and toss. Taste and adjust seasonings. It may need more tarragon. I am used to dried tarragon and usually use a lot to get that flavor.

5:30. I am done with the chicken salad. I show it a couple of ways. First is a bruchetta with fresh arugula on a baguette and the second in a croissant as a sandwich. I make several samples of each and look up. Everyone left looks hungry, so I signal Amy and she passes out the samples. No questions from the audience, but they love it. I clean up and am done for the night.

Isaac's Bar Mitzvah

2011-07-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

May 13, 2011:
I am over at my friend Dale's eating pizza, drinking beer and planning the menu for his son's Bar Mitzvah. He is doing the catering himself using my kitchen and with me helping. Dale has all sorts of idea's about the menu, but is settling on a "Jewish deli" theme. We are going to have corned beef, pastrami, salami sandwiches, egg salad, smoked salmon, kugel and an assortments of desserts made by his wife Amy. He wants to know how much meat he needs to buy, and we are figuring out the pounds based on how many people will be there. He wants to corn his own beef and cure his pastrami. He is also going to brew the beer for his guests. After a lot of arguing, we settle on the menu, amounts of food and I leave.

June 20, 2011:
Today is the day that we need to start corning the beef and Dale has a million things going on and has not shown up. He has printed out the recipe and has brought in the corned beef and the spices but doesn't have the corning salt. His recipe calls for Salt Peter which is now impossible to buy because you can use it in making explosives. Great-we could be arrested for being terrorists just because he doesn't want to buy someone's corned beef. He is checking with a local meat curer to see what he can use.

June 21, 2011:
The meat curer sold Dale some pickling salt and gave him a better method for curing the beef. He comes by the shop and shows me the method and mixes the salt brine and immerses the briskets. Later that night he calls me to ask me to check on the beef. We need to turn it each day and he is afraid it is not covered enough by the brine. I check it and it looks fine.

June 24, 2011:
Amy walks into the kitchen with a long look on her face. Dale has been making his home brew for the party and has just bottled up about 6 gallons. I say that is great and she gives me this look. Dale had put the bottles in the dishwasher to sterilize and Amy had put some rinse aid in the dishwasher a week or so before. Apparently the rinse aid causes the beer not to foam once it is bottled and Dale is sure the beer is ruined and he has no time to make another batch. Grim...

July 4, 2011:
Dale comes in during the day to drain the meat and rub the seasonings over the briskets. He tightly wraps it in film and refrigerates it. I need to turn it every day. I look at it the next morning and tell him it looks ruined. He almost has a stroke. No sense in letting him relax!

July 5. 2011:
Amy is starting to go into overdrive on the desserts and Dale comes in late in the day with a pile of groceries. I am getting constant updates via text on the different problems with his suppliers. We take time to marinate the pastrami.

July 5, 2011:
Both Dale and Amy are in the kitchen today and every day until Friday night. We have two menu's to prepare. One is for Saturday after the service, and the second is for the party Saturday night. The walk-in is packed with his food as well as mine for what I am working on during the week for my orders. I am starting to go crazy with all of the extra commotion. Amy is doing Black and White cookies, rugala, a Rice Krispie cake, brownie bites, my French cinnamon puffs and beach bars, and lemon bars. Oh, and the beer is OK.

July 7, 2011:
Dale is making egg salad, chicken salad and herring salad for the luncheon. He is totally behind, but has a friend, Luis, coming in to help him catch up. Even though Dale has taken the week off, he is constantly on his cell phone dealing with his work issues. Fortunately, Luis has a written schedule and plows through the days work. I have been swamped all week with my own catering and not much help, but did put in the beef to cook early in the morning. I get caught up on my stuff after lunch and dive in to help. Luis has most every thing done for the day. Dale looks at me and says "I can relax now that Luis has everything done". Amy has been out all day on various errands and hasn't done much else on the desserts. This drives Dale crazy and I start to worry that they will get divorced over the stress of this. She comes in late and starts on desserts.

July 8, 2011:
Amy and Steve have gone off to smoke the salmon. She had made an amazing amount of things last night after I left. It seems like she has a handle on the desserts. Dale has finished the menu for the lunch and is working on the menu for the dinner. We argue more about the quantities of food he has ordered. I think he may be cutting it short on a few items, but defer to his judgement. We slice the beef, cheese, make the coleslaw, and finish other details. Steve and Amy finally show up with the salmon mid-afternoon. The salmon smells good, but the whole walk-in smells like smoke. We make the cream cheese spreads for the bagels-plain, vegetable herb, and smoked trout. They taste delicious, but the vegetable is a little orange. We add more parsley and go with it. Amy shows up to do desserts and Dale leaves. They are at each others throats. I help Amy dip some cookies at the end and dip the brownie bites, but need to leave before 5:00 to get to the bank. Amy continues working after I leave with Luis and Eddie. I figure they will be there until 7:00 or 8:00. There are a lot of desserts to finish.

July 9, 2011:
This is it. Dale has come by early to pick up the food for the lunch. I just need to show up a couple of hours early to help plate up things for the buffet. He has a staff there, and I ask Luis what time they finished on Friday night. He surprises me by saying they were done by 6:00. We get the salmon platters out, the salads, cream cheeses and platters of freshly sliced fruits, as well as Amy's desserts and the Torah cake she made. We are done and ready to go by 12:00 and his friends come out of the service and line up at the buffet lines. Everyone is through by 12:30.
My plan is to leave and go play a gig with my band at 1:30 until 3:30 and then meet Amy at 4:00 to load the food for dinner and head for the cave where the party is to set it up. I get there after my gig at 4:00 and Amy is running around the kitchen loading food onto carts. I hear her talking to one of her friends and realize she hasn't made the Rugala, and is planning on starting it now. I put my food down and axe that plan. There isn't time. Besides, we find two pans of cookies that she had missed icing, so we jump on finishing that. After the food is loaded we head to the cave where the party is. After it is unloaded, Dale turns to me and asks where the beer is. I look at him blankly. "I have no idea-where is it"? He tells me it is in my walk-in, so I jump back in the van and head back to the shop to get the beer. Yep, right on the floor in the middle. How did I miss it? It wouldn't have fit anyway. I race back with the beer and extra ice and his crew is busy setting up the buffet line. At this point I am supposed to be a guest, but keep drifting back to the kitchen area to help with sandwiches, etc. It helps to have a beer in my hand. 7:15 arrives and the buffet is set and people start through. It's finally over. Dale and Amy look tired but totally happy. Everyone loves the menu and the food.

Corrie and Mark's Wedding

2011-01-02T19:04:00.000-08:00

January 1, 2010
1:00 PM
My niece Corrie is getting married tomorrow and I am catering the wedding and doing the wedding cake. I am over at the church setting up the tables and cloths for the reception. My sister Nancy just arrived with some of her in-lawsfromher other daughter's wedding to help set up the room. I keep bringing in chaffers and glassware while they are setting centerpieces. I think about the cake we are doing for Corrie. The top two layers are white with a mocha filling, the third layer is a spice cake with a molasses filling and the bottom layer is butterscotch. Butterscotch cake is my favorite cake. Amy and I have baked the cake and both of us have been working on icing and decorating it.

As I am finishing bringing in all the glassware, I hear Nancy mention that Marc told her last night that a bunch of the couple's friends are coming to the wedding even though they didn't respond with an RSVP. She is thinking there could be 140 people instead of 100. This is an offhand comment by her, but my heart stops when I hear her say it. I call her over. "Nancy-140 people is a lot more than 100." I think about what thestaff is preparing. We have a good and varied menu planned: sliced tenderloin with small buns and a horse-radish sauce, grilled salmon, grilled pineapple and shrimp skewers, stuffed new potatoes Romanoff, stuffed mushrooms, Gougere cheese puffs, chicken tarragon salad in filo cups, Rumaki, stuffed dates with goat cheese and wrapped with Prosciutto, imported cheeses and seasonal fruits and grilled vegetables. It is a nice menu that should make a good light meal at 4:30 for everyone, but I am planning on 100. I think about my brother David. I remember that he just hovered over the shrimp and caviar at my wedding and I begin to get panicky that we will run out of food. Nancy seems to think that we will just make do, but I worry about those last 40 people going from station to station not finding anything to eat. I decide that I need to get more food. I usher them out of the church and head to my wholesale market to get more provisions. They are closed.

January 2, 2010
9:30 AM
Two of my daughters, Ashley and Shelley and her baby Eleanor arrived last night and are here for the wedding. We are having breakfast together and I am still worrying about getting the rest of the food together for Corrie's wedding. I finish up making breakfast, get a second cup of coffee and head out the door for the wholesaler. I get more tenderloin, more shrimp, more Prosciutto, more filo cups and head back to the shop to grill the tenderloin and shrimp. I know I have more cheese, plenty of vegetables and enough potatoes. I decide to fill more mushrooms while I am grilling the tenderloin. All of a sudden I remember about the salmon. I have 6 sides and would have bought two more if I had remembered. Now it is too late. I can't go back. I cut the salmon into pieces and pipe some cream cheese on each piece. I have about 180 pieces and decide that is plenty. I try to relax.

2:00 PM

I call Brian. I don't think I can get everything loaded in time to get to the church and I need him to come and help. He shows up about 30 minutes later and we get the food and the cake loaded and head over. Amy and I unload the cake and finish setting it up and decorating it. Dudley helps add flowers and I move on to directing the staff to get the buffet ready. Rich and Shirley and Ann all look at me like I am some sort of nervous Nelly. We get the buffet ready and it is time for the wedding. I run upstairs and sit next to Lisa behind Nancy and Bill. Corrie looks beautiful, but I am wondering how the staff is doing downstairs. I take a quick count of the guests. It looks closer to 100 than 140. I know we will be fine on the food and as the wedding ends I sprint downstairs. Everything is set and the room looks great. The guests are right behind me and we open the buffet. Everyone has plenty to eat.

Swedish Rye

2010-12-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

December 1, 2010
10:30 AM

This week is crazy busy with catering. Tomorrow night we are doing a banquet for 120 with stuffed pork loin and lingonberries, our stuffed chicken Thomas, twice baked potatoes Romanoff, salads, grilled vegetables, and a chocolate almond torte for dessert. I look across the kitchen and see Amy working on stuffing the chicken breasts and she still has to decorate the almond tortes. I have just butterflied out the pork loin, stuffed it and put it in the oven to bake. I want to bake it at a lower temperature to give it time to tenderize. Now I am busy filling the twice-baked potatoes. But that is not what I am worried about. The Scandinavian Association is having their annual Christmas smorgasbord on Saturday and I haven't even put together the shopping list, much less started on their very extensive menu. I have been buying ingredients as the week has gone on, but it has been on the fly as I think about something we need. Slim has made the meatball filling and we will be rolling meatballs tomorrow. As I finish the potatoes, I grab my checkbook and a complete shopping list and head out the door to get more groceries for Saturday.Slim asks about the pork loin, but I tell him not to worry, it won't be done until after I get back.

1:30PM

I'm back from shopping and go into a frenzy to get some of the Smorgasbord dishes ready. First, I check the pork loin. I have butterflied 4 loins and rolled and stuffed them into 8 pieces. I am baking them at 325 degrees in the same oven in two pans. I pull out the top pan and open the foil covering. The roasts aren't done enough. They are cooked, but not yet tender. I re-cover them and drop the temperature and put on the convection. While the pork is finishing, I make the red cabbage, the cucumber salad, and the rice pudding for the Smorgasbord. Now it is time to make the sponge for the rye bread.My grandmother always made Limpa Swedish Rye, which has orange zest, anise, and molasses. However, there is a second Swedish Rye called sweet rye that is more popular that eliminates the orange zest and the anise. This is the recipe that I am going to use. I start thinking about her bread. It had a big molasses flavor. I have been experimenting with different molasses for the past several years. The kind you can find in the stores is pretty generic with either regular flavor or full flavor. Neither seems to do the job. Occasionally I have found blackstrap molasses, which is better, but I have been to two stores today and neither had blackstrap. I remember my grandfather used to eat the molasses on his pancakes or biscuits and it was sorghum molasses. I start to think that that is the molasses grandma used since I can't imagine they would buy two types of molasses. I find that at the store and take a chance on it. After I make the sponge (the sponge is essential for a fuller flavor and a good rising once you have made the bread), I taste it and it has a good flavor-not as big as grandma's, but close. I cover it and check on the pork. The top pan is done just right but as I pull out the bottom pan, it seems slightly over-done. The bottom of the oven had been cooking faster than the top!! I put the roasts in the cooler to cool down quickly and head home concerned that I have overcooked the pork loin.

December 2, 2010
8:00 AM

I take the sponge and add my flour and sugar and a little more yeast and mix the rye dough. I am using what my friend Dale and I refer to as a "wet" bread dough. After it rises and I shape it into loaves, I check the pork loins. My overnight fears are not justified. The pork seems perfectly cooked. After the bread rises a second time, I bake it for about an hour at 325 degrees convected. When it comes out of the oven, I slice off a couple of slices for Amy and Daphne and myself. Perfect.

Swedish Limpa Rye

Hulda Anderson

1 cup molasses
2 & 1/2 cups water
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 T anise seed
2 t. salt
2 T grated orange peel
1/4 cup vegetable shortening

Combine the above ingredients in a sauce pan and heat to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool til lukewarm

3 T yeast
4 cups rye flour
7 cups white flour.

Blend the flours and the yeast in a mixer. Add the cooled liquid and mix thoroughly. Cover and let rise until doubled. Divide and form into loaves each weighing about 22 ounces. Cover and let rise again until almost doubled. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour.

Searching for the perfect Tapas; part 6

2010-11-27T18:59:00.000-08:00

Madrid Spain
Thursday
November 11, 2010

This is my last full day in Spain. Ashley is staying two more days to present her speech at the conference she is attending. We decide to go back into Madrid to do a little more sightseeing.
Our first stop is the Prado Museum, one of the largest museums in the world. It is a short walk from the train station and we get there about mid-morning. The museum is stunning, but we do a Rick Steves "get all the basics in two hours" tour. Ashley reads about the paintings as we sprint from room to room. Afterwards, we are hungry and head down to the Museum cafeteria, recommended by Rick Steves. There are lots of selections, but I immediately spot what I have been wanting for the whole trip-a Spanish Tortilla. I get that with a small salad and cup of espresso. The Tortilla is delicious, as good as those Elena taught me to make. The espresso is self service out of a commercial Nespresso machine and is as good as any I have had in Spain. I had looked at the machines the day before in a Nespresso boutique. Now I plan to go back to see if they are avaliable in the US.
After lunch we head toward our other objective, the Royal Palace. This is also the second or third largest palace in Europe and is well worth the hike across Madrid. This takes up the balance of the afternoon with me reading the guided tour this time to Ashley. Coming out of the palace we head toward the center of Madrid for more shopping and eating. We come to a large famous square, the Plaza Mayor. Even though it is brisk out, there are tables in the square so we stop for a bite. I order a beer and Ashley orders some hummus. The hummus is excellent. Of course we have lots of hummus here in Kansas City. There is a local guy who makes hummus that comes in a small container for about $5.00 that has too much olive oil. Or you can buy about twice that much at Costco for about the same price and it has no flavor. The hummus there was perfect with just the right blend of lemon, tahini, garlic, olive oil and garbanzos. This was a perfect tapas.
Next we decide to look for a restaurant recommended by Ashley in her Lonely Planet application on her cell phone. On our way we look down an alley and spot a chocolateria that she had been to before and had fond memories of. By now it is dark, but we head down the alley and park on a table under a heater and order hot chocolate and churros. This is also delicious with the churros fresh from the fryer and the chocolate hot, rich, not too sweet and thick. This is another excellent tapas.
We move on, still in search of the restaurant. Not finding what we want exactly we head back toward the center of Madrid. I spot what I think is a gourmet marketplace called Mercado de San Miguel that I think may have some gift items I still need to buy. We go in and find ourselves in the middle of a tapas food court with dozens of individual vendors each selling something different. This is a modern open aired indoor marketplace with high ceilings and lots of glass. We stop at the olive booth first and get a selection of different stuffed olives with either Calamari, cheese or clams. We move over to the sherry bar next to the booth and order two sherries to go with the olives. The bartender is friendly and can speak a little English. She puts out another small dish filled with olives for us to snack on with the sherry. I take a short walk through the market looking for the next dish and settle on the cheese booth. I am about to pick out several when the shopkeeper asks what I like in cheeses and guides me to try several that I might not have picked. His selections are all delicious. I get back to the bar and order another sherry and she puts out another dish of olives. I love these olives! Next Ashley jumps up and heads to get something else. She comes back with
ceviche and another fish tapas. The ceviche is fantastic.
All of a sudden I realize that I have found the perfect tapas!! It isn't so much how the dish is presented, it isn't exactly how the dish tastes, it isn't what bar you are eating them at, it isn't how the bartender or waiter treats you, but a combination of all of those factors. I looked around to see hundreds of happy people eating, drinking, talking and sharing their tapas. Hours had gone by in an instant. Now I can leave Spain happy and satisfied!

Searching for the perfect Tapas; part 5

2010-11-23T16:14:00.000-08:00

11/10/10
Wednesday
Seville & Madrid Spain

Ashley and I awake early and head to the hotel restaurant for a quick breakfast. It is amazing how much more food there is at 7:30 as opposed to 10:30. We check out of our hotel and take the bus to the Seville train station. We get on the bullet train about 9:30 and start off for Madrid. Ashley needs to take some time to work on her speech for the conference she will attend and hunches over her computer to finish it. I get up and head for the diner car to get a cup of coffee. There are several people in the car eating various pastries and having drinks or coffee. I order a cafe con leche. As I sip my cup I reflect on how good the coffee has been in Spain. Their standard cup of coffee is an espresso. The con leche is espresso with milk. If you want a cafe American, it seems to be a double shot of espresso to fill a larger cup. After I have a couple of those, I am ready to GO!
We arrive in Madrid, stow our bags, and head for the Museo Reina Sofía, one of the museums close to the Atocha train station. This has a large collection of modern Spanish artists and is one of the two museums we want to see in Madrid. We are hungry and I am thinking, "Anything but tapas." Rick Steves mentions in his guide book how good the food is at the museums, so we decide to eat at the Sofía. The dining area is clean, modern and stylish. We sit at the bar and order from the menu. The obvious choice is the special with a small salad, entree and drink for about 9 euros. The bartender recommends the steak, which I have, while Ashley gets the salmon. Both are delicious and I think that maybe I have just had my best meal in Spain.
After lunch and a couple of hours in the museum, we walk the streets for a while and then walk back to the train station. We take a short local train ride to our hotel in Leganés, about 30 minutes outside of Madrid. After checking in, we decide to go look for something to eat. Most of the bars don't look very inviting-too much smoke and too crowded. We settle on one close to the hotel but they don't have tapas. Instead they have raciones, which is basically a double or triple order of tapas. We get two orders-one of which was mini red peppers stuffed with a white fish. The other was cheese croquetas. Both were OK, but the sauce seemed like a tomato sauce out of a can. On my way home I think that I may never find the perfect tapas in Spain.

Searching for the perfect Tapas; part 4

2010-11-21T16:43:00.000-08:00

Seville, Spain
Tuesday,
November 9, 2010

I awake the next morning at 10:30 again. Jet lag seems to have taken more out of me than I thought. Ashley and I had considered taking a day bus trip to see some of the hill towns around Seville but getting started this late in the day nixes that idea. Instead, we decide to take a short bus trip to visit the Roman ruins at Italica about 6 miles northwest of Seville. The ruins are magnificent with a fairly large amphitheater and beautiful mosaic tile floors in the foundations of the Roman homes. By the time we have finished touring the ruins, we are hungry, but decide to return to Seville for a late lunch.
We choose a fish restaurant-Marisqueria Arenal Sevilla-that operates in the middle of the Arenal Market. Almost all of the stalls in the market are closed, but the restaurant is still open and we split a good meal with a salad and the fried fish platter. The salad has a slab of tuna on it and the fish platter has small sardines, a small red fish, calamari and pieces of white fish.
After our late lunch we decide to walk toward the cathedral and window shop. I decide I have to have a pair of boots of Spanish leather (thank you, Bob Dylan), but after going in about a hundred shoe stores, I come to accept that Spanish boots don't come in my European size 46. As we are walking through the shopping district, we find a bakery with lots of great looking pastries and some glaceed fruits that are beautiful. However, it starts me thinking about the trend of over-handling foods to make them look decorative. I can think of many times that I have looked at beautiful presentations but discover that the food looks better than it tastes! I pass on going in and ordering anything. Several hours and many stores later we decide to find some more Tapas. We find a clean bar-coffee shop which has tapas, more decorative pastries, and is busy. They offer menus in English as well as Spanish, but our first choice is not memorable. We call the waiter over to suggest something else and he brings over the manager who recommends the mini-lasagna and some fried rice balls with squid ink and calamari. Both are beautifully presented and very tasty. I feel that we have had the best Tapas in all of the places we have tried in Seville. We head back to the hotel to prepare for the train ride back to Madrid the next morning.

Searching for the perfect Tapas; part 3

2010-11-17T18:06:00.000-08:00

Seville Spain
November 8, 2010

Ashley and I sleep in after our first day in Seville, waking about 10:30. I haven't slept this late since college! We go down to get breakfast in the hotel. The coffee is delicious and there is a full spread of pastries, cereals, sliced meats and cheeses, eggs (salty) and fresh and canned fruits. Afterwords we decide to walk to a tobacco shop to get a bus pass. We continue on after we get the pass, walking through the city on our way to the Cathedral and Alcazar, our two tourist stops of the day. The cathedral is magnificent, showcasing all of the gold and silver looted from the Aztecs and Incas, and the Alcazar is even more stunning. Afterwords we are hungry and seek out a tapas bar recommended by Rick Steves' guidebook near the bullring. We find that it is no longer there, so we reverse course and come upon an inviting coffee bar with pastries and food. We stop for a pick-me up. Once again, we are trying to eat when everything is shut down, but Ashley is able to get a Merangue while I get my customary beer. The Merangue is delicious. I had seen something similar in France, but never tried one. We move on trying to decide what to do before our Flamenco show. We again consult the guidebook for more Tapas and find Cerverceria Giralda recommended , a place I had noticed the day before, not far from the show. We go in and sit down to order. The place reminds me of a bar in San Francisco and we get an order of fried baby Calamari and then some Paella. The Calamari is delicious and the Paella is good-maybe just OK. Both are quite filling though and we head to the show. After the show on our way to find the bus we pass a bar that has hams hanging and curing from the ceiling of the bar with small cups to catch the fat so it doesn't drip on the customers. I think to myself: "I'm not in Kansas anymore."

Searching for the perfect Tapa-Part 2

2010-11-15T20:37:00.000-08:00

Seville Spain
November 7
8:00 PM

Later on Sunday we head to the center of town near the Cathedral by taking the bus. Everyone is out and the Plaza is bustling. We walk past several bars on our way to buy tickets for a Flamenco show. All are serving Tapas. Some are crowded; some are empty. I don't see anything that interests me until after we have bought the tickets. We find a small bar with many Tapas listed on the sign outside and lots of people at the tables. We sit down and look at the menu. I want to get something vegetarian or fish for Ashley and she picks fried artichokes. I spot another dish of potatoes with a green sauce of parsley, garlic and olive oil. I'm thinking this will be the same dish that Elena, an Argentine who worked for me for years, used to make.
When the two dishes arrive, the artichokes are good, but the potatoes are boiled, not roasted and are loaded with salt. In fact, the more dishes I eat in Spain, I sense they have a thing going on with salt. So we are batting 50% after our second meal.

2010-11-15T13:19:00.000-08:00

Searching for the perfect Tapas
Part 1
Seville, Spain
November 7, 2010
2:00 PM

I’m walking with my daughter Ashley down a narrow street in Seville around 2:00 in the afternoon. We have just arrived in Spain for a week long trip. Having flown overnight into Madrid and then catching the AVI bullet train down to Seville, I am ready to get out and explore and exercise my legs even though I feel pretty jet-lagged. Our hotel San Gil is beautiful and taking the guidebook with me, I am confident I will find a good place for a quick bite to eat.
Seville is the largest European city I have been in. The streets around our hotel are narrow—only about the width of a car with two narrow sidewalks on either side. The buildings arise on each side in a solid 3-story wall, which remind me of the canyons Luke Skywalker flew down on the Death Star in the first Star Wars movie. Within a block I start to feel lost, not able to see more than a block ahead or behind me because of the turns in the road. There are people walking on the street, but no shops are open because it is siesta time. We go a couple of blocks and turn a corner and there is an intersection ahead with a wide part in the sidewalk that has a few tables outside. We walk up to a bar that is behind the tables and peer in. Even though there are people at the tables, they mostly seem to be drinking. I don’t really see a menu and the bartender is ignoring us, so we decide to move on. Another couple of blocks we find another intersection with another bar and more tables. This time the bartender seems friendly and I order a beer for me and a glass of wine for Ashley. I ask if they have Tapas and they reply that no, they only have Bocadillos. This is a French baguette sliced in half with meat and cheese. Because we are getting hungry, I order one with Chorizo and cheese. I go out to the table to wait and after several minutes decide to go back in to check on the order and get another beer. I am wondering if they have forgotten about us, but the sandwich is about ready and I take it outside. Now, I am feeling guilty because I know Ashley is vegetarian, but she peels off the meat and eats the bread and cheese. The sandwich is OK, not nearly as good as the baguette sandwiches in France which are loaded with vegetables, and come with all sorts of meat or non-meat choices. So at the end of my first Spanish meal, I feel slightly let down. We move on.

Homemade Granola

2010-09-02T12:29:00.000-07:00

OK-why bother. Well, most packaged granola has raisins that are rock hard, too much sugar and fat and taste kind of fake. This is a simple recipe that only takes moments to throw together and lasts for weeks in an airtight container. I used to make lots of granola in the 1970's (we did lots of cool things back then) but used honey which I always thought was a little sticky. I like this version with Maple syrup much better. Treat yourself and make some granola!
3 C Oats
3/4 C Sliced or slivered almonds
1/2 c Sunflower seeds
1/2 Pumpkin seeds
1/2 T Wheat Germ or ground Flax seed
1/2 T Cinnamon
1/4 t Salt
2 T Oil
1/2 C Maple syrup
1 C Dried Fruit (Craisins, Raisins, etc.)
Combine the oil and syrup and add to all of the dry ingredients except the dried fruit. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes stirring at least once during the baking. Remove and cool. The granola will become crisper as it cools.

Cookbook

2010-02-09T15:47:00.000-08:00

I started working on my cookbook early in January. One step at a time, but after thinking about it for 10-15 years, it's nice to get started. Today I made apple coffee cakes for a breakfast on Thursday. Tomorrow I'll make the blueberry and the cinnamon puffs. All of these are going into the cookbook. At least two of those recipes came from my mom. Last weekend I made chicken strudels for a Valentines party. That's one of my favorite recipes that was created by Elena Lopez and myself years ago at the Plaza store. It's in the cookbook.

Cold Soups

2009-06-30T15:26:00.000-07:00

Hot summer days always remind me that there is nothing better than a cold soup to refresh and reinvigorate. Truthfully, I have found that I love these soups more than my buying public does, but I can hardly wait for the fresh tomatoes & vegetables that I will use to blend up a nice batch of Gazpacho. I look for good beets to cook into a wonderful batch of Borscht, or I'll pick some crisp cucumbers to puree with Yogurt into a white Gazpacho. Those three soups are enough to satisfy my longings for cold soups throughout the summer. Each mouthful from any of those soups just shouts our "FRESH GARDEN GOODNESS".

Actually, I love to mix the red Gazpacho with a spoonful of white Gazpacho floating on the top. The white makes the red just a little richer & cuts the acidity slightly. Of course, a good slice of crusty French bread is a perfect accompaniment to go along with this summer meal.

Hermits

2009-03-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

A Hermit is a soft cookie that I first had in the 1960's here in Kansas City. The first place I knew of that sold them was an old upscale family grocery store called Wolferman's-now long gone. This store was one of those institutions that people my folks age moon over. I remember the cookie better from another long gone local bakery called the Cake Box. One of their stores was on the Country Club Plaza (that location now contains an Apple store-times change). I can remember going into the store with my cousin Howard, who loved those cookies when he was younger & wanted some each time he visited here from Montgomery, Alabama. On that particular day we walked down from my Grandmothers-it was probably a summer Friday afternoon & when we asked for some Hermits, the clerk informed us that they only made them on Thursday & were now sold out & would not have any more until next Thursday. Well, if any of you know my cousin Howard, you would know this information was not well received! In fact, I can remember our indignant response well with statements like "What kind of a way was this to run a business. If you think we will ever shop in this store again, you are sadly mistaken"!! Now after having run a gourmet shop for years, I can understand how some days you fill the case with foods & wonder if anyone is coming in to buy what you have labored over.

So what is a Hermit? Cookies fall into several basic types. A Hermit is a cake cookie-that is, something closer to a muffin or a small round cake, than a crisp cookie such as a chocolate chip.

Mine have nuts & raisins in the cookie & are flavored with cinnamon, cloves & nutmeg. I am currently making one for lunches that is non-fat, replacing the oil with applesauce.

Here is Wolferman's original recipe:
Wolferman's Hermit Cookies

1 cup butter or butter flavored shortening
2 cups brown sugar
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup cold coffee (the stronger the better)
1 tsp baking soda
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 cup raisins (more if you like)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine shortening and sugar, then beat until creamy. Beat in eggs until light and frothy (the mixture, not you.) Mix all that together with the coffee and baking soda, then add in remaining ingredients and mix well.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake approximately 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Quiche

2009-03-15T18:03:00.000-07:00

"What is your favorite food?" What kind of question is that? How can you pick one? You mean today, right now? Or, "If you had one last meal-what would you eat?" Hey, I am not interested in that 'one last meal idea'. I have too many things left to do-I still don't have my new Anapeg pedal steel guitar! Or, "If you had one thing to eat on a desert island-what would it be?"

As a matter of fact, I have been thinking about my favorite food & today, it is definitely quiche-Quiche Lorraine, the traditional, is probably my absolute favorite, but I have others. This is a dish that can be eaten at breakfast, lunch or dinner. A quiche of course is a pre-baked savory pie crust that is filled with a blend of Emmenthal & Gruyere cheeses, topped with bacon bits & diced green onions, & filled with a mix of eggs, half & half, salt, pepper & grated nutmeg. You use enough swiss cheese to fill the pie crust-not enough & the mix is too eggy- too much & the mix is too rubbery from the cheese.

This morning I was eating at Tre Kroner, a Swedish restaurant in Chicago & after looking at their menu, I noticed they had a smoked salmon quiche. It sounds good but decide not to order it because, after all, we are in a Swedish restaurant, not French. However, my daughter Ashley feels no such qualms & happily orders it. As it arrives I notice that the pie slice is fairly deep dish. This salmon quiche was good, but too much egg & not enough seasoning. I would have added dill maybe chosen a danish cheese for the filling.

Now, my quiche pans are not deep dish. I have the traditional tin pans with a fluted edge & a removable bottom. They probably hold one or two handfuls of cheese & 3 eggs & one cup of half & half. They might be about 3/4 of an inch high.

The pan they used at Tre Kronor must be an inch or inch & 1/2 tall. I saw a quiche pan like that last summer when I was in Vallerus, France. That is a potter's town north of Antibes on the French Rivera. My other daughter, Nikki was studying pottery there during the summer & on a visit to her, I found a shop with these wonderful ceramic quiche pans-red, blue, green, orange, yellow and I looked but didn't buy one. They were something like 25 Euros-about $50.00 each at the time & I figured I could get one here somewhere for less.

The reason I noticed them that day is because we had just taken an inland drive through Grasse; Gourdon & had stopped for lunch at Greolieres, a very small village with two restaurants that I could see, one of which was a Pizzeria. None of us got pizza though. What caught my eye was a tomato cheese tart. When it arrived, I noticed it was also baked in one of these deep dish pans. The mixture of cheese, egg custard & tomatoes was perfect-not too much egg & not rubbery with the cheese. In fact, they might not have used swiss in the pie-maybe some type of goat cheese. I never asked.

Quiches can be filled with anything within reason. I use spinach; grilled vegetables; the afore-mentioned salmon; bacon or tomatoes. I love them all.

I think I'll go look for a deep dish pan tomorrow.

Beets

2009-03-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I ate with Ashley, my daughter, at Lula Cafe on Logan Square in Chicago. What I had was OK, but she had a Beet Bruschetta that was elegant in its simplicity & yet delicious. It reminded me of how much I love beets. Lula served marinated sliced beets on a lightly toasted multi-grain baguette that had a spread of Chevre, topped with arugula tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette.

Here's how I prepare beets for a salad or would for this bruschetta:

Take some beets, wash them & roast them in the oven just like a baked potato. Stick them with a fork to determine when they are done, remove them & peel & slice them when cool enough to handle & then drizzle them with a mixture of 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 or 3 Tablespoons of red wine vinegar, salt, pepper & Herbs de Provence. Spoon a little unsweetened yogurt on the top & you have a delicious salad.

Another favorite dish of mine using beets is Borscht. In the winter I love it as a hot soup in a rich beef stock with carrots, onions, garlic & a bit of thyme. During the summer I julienne the beets & serve the soup cold topped with sour cream or yogurt.

Two images of a Valentine Wedding Cake

2009-02-15T17:41:00.000-08:00

The decorations on this cake use special cutters from Steven Bennison that I ordered from England. She chose Red Velvet, White with Raspberry Cream & Chocolate with a Chocolate Mocha Cream for the cakes.

Wedding Cake

2009-01-29T19:56:00.000-08:00

This is a carrot cake with Cream Cheese Icing.

Two Wedding Cakes

2009-01-04T09:54:00.000-08:00

These two cakes are from different weddings.

Both have Buttercream icing.

Flavors of the cake are varied.

Drape is Fondant icing.

Chocolate Mousse Torte

2009-01-04T09:47:00.000-08:00

This is a cake for a shower.

The dice are made from Fondant icing.

Heart cake

2009-01-04T09:43:00.001-08:00

Italian Cream Cake for Valentine's Day

Welcome to my blog

2009-01-04T09:06:00.000-08:00

Hi;

From time to time I will add catering idea's, photographs; recipes & other food ideas of interest.

Check out my website for menu's at http://thegourmet-grocer.com