TK dinner ~ September 2014

Little sign written by our 9 year old before she left on her date for the evening.

And then people started arriving and we started serving.

First up were these little bites of Phyllo filled with goat cheese, herbs and fresh strawberries.

Confession - these made an appearance because I had leftover cheese mixture from the mushrooms (below) AND,  since I was already making a GIANT mess with Phyllo dough (Good God what a mess) I decided I might as well make those cute little cups - and then fill them with stuff. (that all makes sense right?)

Next out went roasted mushrooms served with the same goat cheese concoction garnished with fresh chives. 

Carrot soup with curry and coconut milk and the cutest little carrot curls.

Then Plum, Radicchio salad with a lemon mustard vinaigrette 

(Is it just me? Every time I use the word vinaigrette I have to google how to spell it? .....sigh.....)

Main course for the evening was good ol' fashioned steak and potatoes.

Flank steak with a spicy Chimichurri sauce and thin slices of red onion.

Steak was served with Roasted potatoes done with cumin, coriander, caraway seeds and cinnamon.

And a little plate of fresh radishes and baby turnips served with more chimichurri sauce.

Finally it is time for dessert!

Lemon meringue Phyllo plates.

These were served with brownie bites (I had a friend attending who demanded something chocolate - I will refrain from naming her here on the world wide web) 

And spiced molasses cookies.

Whew.

Thank YOU to elizabeth d photography for some of the photos above!

Until next time!

gateau de Poire

It's that time of year again. Pears! Four cases of these beauties! (yikes)

Actually it feels a touch early to me this year. I thought I usually started this madness in late August - but maybe I am just not remembering correctly. 
The whole 'Pear, Peach, whatever fruit' episodes come about because I have a friend, who has a mother, who works at a job where she gets tons of stone fruit. Every year we are the lucky recipients of whatever she is able to throw our way. Right now it's all about pears and I have been in a frenzy in the kitchen trying to use them up. I've decided to avoid canning this year 
(i know...dumb...) 
(And especially dumb since we all know I will eventually be canning!)
But right now it's been all about cakes and jams.
Here's the favorite so far.

Gateau de Poire - Pear Cake.

I love this cake. 

Maybe because it's not too sweet? Maybe because of that to-die-for that crispy outside edge? Maybe because it's actually pretty quick to make and requires no fancy shmancy ingredients? Or maybe because the fruit choices are somewhat interchangeable depending on what is flooding my kitchen? Whatever it is, I hope you try this one. 

And grab your springform pan.

YOU WILL NEED:

12 tablespoons butter - divided.

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour.

6 firm pears.

1 cup + 2 tablespoons of sugar.

1 tsp baking powder.

1/2 teaspoon salt.

1 lemon - zest and juice.

3 large eggs.

TO DO:

Peel, core and chop 4 of the pears. I like big chunks.

In your stand mixer - place the flour, baking powder, salt and 1 cup of the sugar.

Zest the lemon into this mixture and give it a light stir.

Set aside.

In a large skillet melt 2 tablespoons of the butter.

To this pan add the chopped pears + juice from half of the lemon + the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Medium to medium high heat.

Give it all a good stir and cook about 15 minutes - until the pears have softened but are still firm and until there is almost no liquid left in the pan.

Stir frequently to make sure the guys on the bottom don't get too crispy.

While the pears are cooking, melt the remaining 10 tablespoons of butter and let cool slightly.

Prep your spring form pan. Either butter and flour the inside really well - or use a nonstick spray.

Oven to 350 - middle rack.

Peel and slice the remaining 2 pears.

You need these to make the top all pretty (this is also totally optional)

I only wanted the pieces that were about the same length and pretty for decorating. The pieces from the sides that are too small, I chopped these in half and threw them in with the pears on the stove (no waste)

Use the last half of your lemon over the tops of these pears and give them all a rub - just make sure they are all coated with lemon juice. This helps to keep the fruit from turning yellow/brown ick.

Set aside.

Back to the stand mixer - give all that stuff a good mix. 

Add the eggs. 

Mix well.

Add the melted butter.

Mix just until most is incorporated.

There may be a little butter floating around the edge and that is fine.

Finish mixing the batter by hand.

Time to assemble the cake!

Scoop the cooked pears into your prepared pan.

Pour the batter over the top.

Level it out as best you can.

Arrange your pear slices all around the top.

Skinniest parts of the sliced pears need to be in the center.

Wide part of the pears on the outside edge.

Into the oven this goes for 35 minutes.

Check the center with a toothpick - a little crumb sticking to the toothpick is a good thing.

Remove and let cool for a couple hours IN the springform pan.

Serve with salted caramel sauce (recipe up soon)

Enjoy!

60 Faces ~ Sacramento Farmers and Chefs

Thank you Greg for this poster! Love it! Pomegranate Design

What is it? It's an Art project. And those of you who follow me on Facebook know I teach art during the school year so this project is not a huge stretch for me. Is it a food movement? I don't really think it is. I think the word "movement" can be left to the group driving Farm to Fork. They are doing an amazing job promoting an identity for a city that is ginormous in it's agricultural industry and almost as ginormous in it's restaurant and food options (is ginormous even a real word?)

Sacramento Farmers & Chefs is a much simpler concept. SF&C is an art project and 60 Faces is an art show. A show with the faces of 30 chefs and 30 farmers on giant glossy prints and many, many other local celebrities that will be featured in a slideshow. 

I guess a little back story is needed here, yes?

The artist is Janine Mapurunga. She's a little woman from Brazil. She likes to take pictures. I have also come to know she likes to know all the why's and how's and what makes people do what they do. She's also a bit of a control freak and likes to make sure she is a part of every bit of minutiae involving every step of the process. And she is most likely going to choke when she reads that last sentence. None of this is bad (except maybe the choke part) Any individual that loves their craft is going to be more possessive than a momma bear. That's just how it is. And that is a-o-kay.

Janine started this project with a few faces and her camera. This turned into so many faces, and then interviews, and then an idea to share what she was learning. Thus SF&C began to form and on September 14th will completely come to fruition. 

By the way, here is a little photo of her I took one day while at her home. And right after she had harvested a bagful of tomatoes for me to take.

She is lovely and her heart is huge. She is a person who loves food, loves seeing the process of growing food and like myself, loves to see her friends enjoy food. She wants to share with the world what she loves about Sacramento and how huge the food culture is here in our city. Thus she has dedicated a year of her life to documenting the process and photographing all these individuals who are involved. Janine wanted a way to get close to each person. To share not only what they do - but to show what makes them tick - and to understand why. I also think she wanted to make the viewer question and wonder. Raising the curiosity level will heighten awareness will it not? And wont this in turn cause a greater appreciation for our surroundings? Or in this case - for the persons responsible for the food we love in Sacramento? 

Janine found a way to show the smallest tomato plant in someones' backyard - up to the biggest restaurants in the Capital City. And it is this project - Sacramento Farmers and Chefs.

My part in this project is large or small depending how you want to view it. This past June she asked me to be one of her 30 chef faces and wanted an interview. I agreed. We met. She took some photos. We chatted. And I left.

Here is my photo.

Yup - that's me. Thank you Janine for photo-shopping all the wrinkles and dark circles out of this image!

Then a few weeks ago she needed someone to take over as the Event Coordinator and called me (all those years being owned by Macy's have come in very handy these past few years) We met again. I said yes. And now here I am. Putting together an Art Show happening September 14th at Sunh Fish Market (how's that for a little shameless self-promotion?)

In fact - while I'm promoting - let's add a link to purchase tickets!

click me right here to purchase your ticket

What started out as a whisper of a thought has grown into this beast of a concept. There are now over a hundred images. Hours and hours of interviews have been recorded and are being transcribed. Flyers and posters can be found everywhere in the city. All of this to promote the 60 Faces exhibit happening September 14th. There will be live jazz, delicious edibles provided by several local chefs, wine and beer from a few local spots. What else can I tell you? This will be big. Bring the kids and enjoy the evening. Whether chef or farmer or culinary teacher - their photo will be found in this archive. And Janine is not done. There will be many more added to this growing list of Farmers and Chefs and many more events to come. 

Will we see your photo next?