‘Tis the season to be a locavore by Chef Kiley Fields July 1, 2022 by Jill Foucre Leave a Comment Locavore, by definition, is the practice of consuming food that is grown or produced in your local area. Not only is it a delicious way to consume, but also eco-friendly. Less distance traveled means a smaller carbon footprint. And fresher food, with no preservatives, and more dense nutrients is just the icing on the cake. Summer is here and the perfect season to add some locavore living to your life. Grab your reusable bag and head to your Farmers’ Market, or venture to one in a neighboring town. It is a one-stop-shop for a locavore driven dinner, brunch, or cocktail hour. Farmers’ Market managers work hard to ensure they are offering patrons a wide selection of purveyors who grow or produce within a few hundred miles. Produce, meat, fish, eggs, cheese, bread, as well as small-batched pickles, coffee, honey, and jams…the selections are awesome and always evolving. Beyond Farmers’ Markets, many small grocers and retailers, like Marcel’s and Marché, put an emphasis on supporting locally grown and produced foods. Flip the package over to read where a product is manufactured and keep your eyes open for signs that indicate “local.” Enjoy the bounties of locavore living and begin turning your typical grocery list into a locavore shopping one. An antipasto platter is a blank canvas for a locavore. Go to your local Farmers’ Market or neighborhood food store and be inspired. Farmers Market Antipasto Platter serves 8 ingredients 1 1/2 lb assorted cured meats 1 lb assorted hard cheese, sliced or cubed 8 oz fresh mozzarella 1 cup assorted olives 2 cups assorted pickled or roasted vegetables (peppers, zucchini, radishes, etc) 1 cup raw vegetables, (tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, etc) Spreads, sauces or dips (jam, honey, olive tapenade, pesto, etc) Bread and/or breadsticks method Arrange ingredients artfully on a large platter. Intersperse small bowls of pickled vegetables, spreads and olives throughout. Serve, passing bread tableside.
Me Oh My, I Love Hand Pies by Kelly Sears February 23, 2022 by Jenny Chang Leave a Comment A slice of pie is nice but a hand pie, be still my heart! Double crust, warm filling, a single serving pastry that can be eaten out of hand, a grown-up pop tart, only better! When you bake a whole pie, there’s commitment; commitment to eight big pieces, ten thin slices or twelve slivers. That feels like a relationship when all I really want is a date. Maybe tonight I would like blueberry pie, tomorrow may feel like a peach kind of day, Thursday goes better with strawberry rhubarb. If I make a whole pie, I better have eight big, ten thin or twelve slivers of friends to help me or by the end of the week, I’ll have a half-eaten pie that I can’t bear to finish or throw away. Sweet or savory, hand pies satisfy for dessert of course, but can stand in as a make-ahead breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Hand pies make use of leftovers, highlight seasonal stars, and please a crowd. Tupperware haters can easily tuck leftovers within a crust and it feels like a fresh new dish. Berries & fruits bubble with delight hidden inside a crisp hand pie crust, and those that don’t like to share or can’t compromise can have their way with a different variety. World peace by way of the hand pie! There are a few tricks of the trade that will help make a good hand pie a better hand pie but don’t put too much pressure on yourself the first time. Get the feel of the dough, practice rolling rectangle instead of round, adjust for moisture levels in food; too much and you’ll be eating a soggy mess with a fork off a plate, not enough and you’ll feel like you’re eating a cardboard box. What’s the worst thing that can happen, you must practice more? That’s just more pie and what the heck can be wrong with that? Sweet or Savory, Here’s some help: Filling ingredients should be small, so they cook quickly; big hunks and chunks won’t cook fast enough to keep up with the crust Fillings should be room temperature or else they will heat up the crust and the result will be soggy Don’t overfill hand pies, or they’ll burst at the seams. Some oozing is good, bursting not so much For best results, freeze the unbaked hand pies for 20 minutes before baking. This firms the fat in the crust back up and the result will be flakier If you have more willpower than most, freeze the unbaked pies for up to three months and then bake them straight out of the freezer (do not pass go, do not collect $200) but add an extra five or ten minutes to the cooking time And most importantly, those little beauties just came out of a steaming hot oven. Let hand pies cool for at least 10 minutes before eating. It’s hot in there! If you planned for the dark days of winter and stashed fresh summer berries in your freezer, perfecting your hand-pie skills will be a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth. Enjoy! Summer Captured in a Hand Pie, Blueberry Hand Pie 2022-02-23 14:25:15 Yields 6 Print For the dough 6 ounces flour 4 ounces butter/fat 1-2 ounces ice water 1/4 teaspoon salt For the filling 2 cups blueberries (about 10 oz.) 1 zest of one lemon 1 tablespoon lemon juice ¼ cup sugar ½ teaspoon salt 1 large egg, whisked with 1 teaspoon milk 1 tablespoon raw sugar 1 batch sweet pie crust For the dough Combine the flour, salt, and butter in a mixing bowl (I like to freeze the butter and use a box grater or wide Microplane to grate the butter into the flour- it’s almost already perfect size and there’s less opportunity to warm up the butter with your hands) – you can use a mixer or a food processor for this step too but more dishes to clean! Add just enough water so the dough comes together; start with one ounce only add more if you need too. If you work the dough too hard it will develop too much gluten and become tough. Shape the dough into two rectangles of equal size (best to weigh the full piece of dough and divide) and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes before rolling to full size needed for recipe. Assemble and Bake Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough on a floured surface to a 15x12 inch rectangle. Cut into 12 rectangles. Toss blueberries, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Brush edges of rectangles with water; mound some blueberries in the center section of six of the rectangles. Top the unfilled rectangle on top of the filled rectangle and press the edges to seal. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with raw sugar. Cut slits in tops. Bake hand pies, rotating sheet halfway through the baking time until juices are bubbling, and pastry is golden brown, about 20-25 minutes (juices will run onto the parchment paper – this is a good thing!). Serve warm or at room temperature. Marcel's Culinary Experience https://www.marcelsculinaryexperience.com/
One Recipe, Four Ways by Brandy Fernow December 9, 2021 by Jenny Chang Leave a Comment For those who have been in class with me, I often share how baking is not really my thing. I am a savory chef through and through. I will trade formulas and pastry bags for a hot stove and raw ingredients any day. So here we are in the season of baking and I have to admit…I don’t love making holiday cookies and treats. I certainly love to enjoy them all though! What I have leaned on in baking is mastering a few techniques and classic desserts and then change them up in different ways. My absolute go-to is a Flourless Dark Chocolate Souffle. It’s a handful of ingredients that I always have on hand, everyone loves chocolate, and it can be altered in so many ways. If I’m making a Mexican-inspired meal, I’ll add a tomatillo blueberry sauce, or candied pepita garnish. Making Italian, I’ll add some Frangelico liqueur and top with hazelnuts. In the summer, I’ll pair it with a fresh berry sauce. Fall, add a salted caramel or warm spiced whipped cream with cardamom or cinnamon. In Winter, I love adding candied citrus zest or pomegranate. I have made this souffle over 100 times with all kinds of variations. My holiday version swaps in peppermint extract and is topped with whipped cream and crumbled peppermint. My base chocolate souffle recipe is below – I hope you find inspiration with it all year long as well. Flourless Dark Chocolate Soufflé 2021-12-09 13:21:12 Yields 8 Print Ingredients Cooking spray ¼ cup sugar for dusting ramekins 8 ceramic ramekins 6 ounces high-quality dark chocolate chips 6 ounces salted butter, cut into cubes 4 eggs ½ cup sugar 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract Instructions Preheat the oven to 350º F. Lightly spray the bottom and sides of ramekins with cooking spray. Dust the insides and bottom of the ramekins with sugar and tap out any excess. Set up a double boiler by putting 1-inch of water in a medium saucepan and bringing the water to a boil. Place the chocolate chips and butter in a heat-proof bowl and place over the water. Reduce heat to low and stir, melting the butter and chocolate. Once melted, remove from heat and let cool slightly. Separate eggs and place yolks in a large bowl and whites in a medium bowl. Add the sugar and vanilla to the egg yolks. Using a hand mixer, mix for about 2 minutes or until the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Gently whisk cooled chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture. With clean beaters, whip egg whites to soft peaks. Fold them into chocolate mixture, about 1/3 at a time, until the batter is free from streaks. Using a spring-release scoop, divide the batter among the prepared ramekins. Bake until raised and just set, about 20-25 minutes. Remove and let cool. Unmold by running a butter knife around the edge to release and invert onto a plate. Top with garnishes like caramel, whipped cream, etc. Note: Peppermint version: replace vanilla extract with peppermint extract. Add whipped cream and crushed peppermint for garnish. Notes *I often use small baking molds (as seen in picture) in place of ramekins when making for a gathering. Marcel's Culinary Experience https://www.marcelsculinaryexperience.com/
Bringing Family Back to the Table by Katie Wojciechowski November 10, 2021 by Jenny Chang Leave a Comment Growing up, we sat down at the family dinner table together almost every night. A meal with a meat, a vegetable, and a starch was always served along with a salad (which my family ate last, my mother is French). That time at the table was about sharing; Sharing of food, of course, but also sharing about your day. Each one of us had a different day, we interacted with different people or went different places but always came back together at the dinner table. As an adult with kids of my own now, my husband and I have tried to stick true to this tradition. A meal is on the table (or island) every night at the same time. If you aren’t home for “dinner time” your meal is placed on a plate wrapped in foil to be eaten when you get home, but never to be eaten alone. I notice now as a mom that the dinner table is once again a shared space. A space where I find out about the cute boy in class or the math test that didn’t go so well. A space where lots of laughs and giggles happen as a funny story that happened in school is retold and shared. A true shared space. So, yes, I have a culinary degree and know how to make dinner but for me it’s not always about the food, it’s about the shared time. It’s about the comfort of the people around your table that make the dinner experience a special one. One of my family’s favorite comfort foods is pot pie. There is nothing better after a long day of school and activities than coming home to a warm Beef and Butternut Squash Pot Pie. I hope by sharing this recipe your family will enjoy a wonderful warm meal in your shared space. Beef Pot Pie with Butternut Squash 2021-11-05 16:52:15 Print Ingredients 1 pound beef tenderloin, cut into ½ inch cubes 1 onion, diced 3 carrots, peeled, cut into ¼ inch thick rounds 2 cups butternut squash, peeled, cut into ½ inch cubes 4 thyme sprigs 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced 1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained 4 tablespoons butter 4 tablespoons flour 2 tablespoons Worcestershire 4 cups beef stock Salt and pepper, to taste Puff pastry sheets, defrosted 1 egg, beaten Instructions Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a sauté pan, add the butter until melted. Add in the onion, carrots and squash. Cook until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Add flour and stir to coat. Allow flour to cook about 1-2 minutes. Add in worschestshire and beef stock slowly (you may not need all of the beef stock) until thickened. Season with beef with salt and pepper and add to the mixture. Stir to incorporate. Add in the fresh herbs and tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Allow the filling to cook together for about 5-8 minutes. Ladle the filling into an oven proof pie dish or 4 oven proof bowls. Top with a round of puff pastry. Brush the top of the pastry with the beaten egg and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Marcel's Culinary Experience https://www.marcelsculinaryexperience.com/
The Comforts of Being in a Club by Kiley Fields November 3, 2021 by Jenny Chang Leave a Comment Book Clubs, Bunco Groups, Crafting Meetups. Like me, I’m sure many of you are proud card-carrying members of a group like this…or maybe two or three? We gather about once a month with like-minded friends, often around food (always with beverage) – and discuss, share, comfort, and occasionally transform one another. Sometimes you talk about the book… sometimes you don’t. But you often walk away with a good re-charged feeling. My friends and I are quickly approaching 12 years strong for our Cooking Club. There are five of us. We had babies and toddlers back then. When we started a few of us were strangers, but that didn’t last long. What brought us together was the idea of showing up to the table and sharing a meal. The first several years we were very organized and uber enthusiastic not letting a month pass without a Club meeting on the calendar. At one point we even talked about compiling all our recipes into a cookbook (that lasted 5 minutes). In preparation for a meeting the host picks the theme and cooks the main dish while everyone else jumps in with a complimentary side-dish, dessert, or beverage. Some of my favorite and most memorable dinners have been… “All things Pumpkin”, “Wisconsin Supper Club”, “Comfort Food”, and “French.” There have been dishes that were fantastic…and those that were epic fails! But that is the fun of it. We still laugh about the time I brought an Avocado Chocolate Tart to a Latin themed dinner. We never had a chance to try it – the dog got to it before we could. I still wonder if that was an odd coincidence? When I excitedly arrived that evening, announcing my dessert, I recall not being met with equal enthusiasm. Plan B was a Jewel-Osco Bakery cake for dessert. As the years have passed our Club meetings sometimes stretch to every eight to ten weeks. Our kids will soon be off to college. Sometimes we decide to eat together at a restaurant instead of cooking. And if you’re busy and just can’t find the time to pull a dish together…we welcome store bought. We have even taken our Club meetings on the road to Lake Geneva for a different scenery. But the idea of Cooking Club and the reason we started remains the same. We all show up to the table and share a meal. We catch up on each other’s lives. We laugh together and often laugh at each other. And most importantly, we walk away with a good feeling in our hearts and are recharged for what the next day brings… and thankful we made the time to share a meal at the table. Maybe at our next Cooking Club I’ll give the Avocado Chocolate Tart a go again. Or maybe you can make it for your next Club meetup. If you do, let me know what you think! Avocado and Dark Chocolate Tart 2021-11-03 13:36:10 Print Ingredients ½ cup unsalted roasted pistachios 6 ounces dark chocolate wafer cookies 2 teaspoons granulated sugar Kosher salt 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 2 medium soft-ripe avocados 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature 6 tablespoons powdered sugar 2 teaspoons each lemon juice and vanilla extract 4 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 64% cacao), chopped ½ cup heavy whipping cream Instructions Preheat oven to 350°. Pulse pistachios in a food processor until coarsely ground; reserve 1 tbsp. Add cookies, granulated sugar, and a pinch of salt to remaining nuts and whirl until finely ground. Add butter and whirl until mixture is just combined. Press over bottom and up sides of a 9- to 10-in. tart pan with a removable rim. Bake until fragrant, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack. Scoop avocados into cleaned food processor. Add cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and a pinch of salt; whirl until smooth. Spread filling in tart crust, preferably using an offset spatula. Chill while making ganache. Put chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. Heat cream in a small saucepan until bubbles form at edge of pan. Pour cream over chocolate and let stand 1 minute. Whisk until smooth. Cool ganache until just warm to touch (95°), 5 to 6 minutes. Pour ganache over avocado filling and gently spread to cover, preferably using a clean offset spatula. Sprinkle with reserved 1 tbsp. pistachios. Chill at least 2 hours. Marcel's Culinary Experience https://www.marcelsculinaryexperience.com/