The Family Meal

The Saturday night family meal is probably one of my favorites.  There is something to be said about prepping and cooking the majority of the day for people who love and care about you.  The best thing about cooking for my parents is that they are pretty adventuresome and are willing to try almost anything (organ meat and bugs excluded). 

Last Saturday, I got to cook for an early birthday celebration.  I carefully planned the meal with my mom a couple weeks in advance, ensuring that I was making something she would really enjoy.  Together, we planned a meal of marinated feta cheese with baby sweet peppers, brined pork shoulder, braised brussel sprouts, baked potatoes and flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sauce.  Planning is always a good time with my mom as we bounce ideas off each other...making faces if we don't like the idea the other came up with, laughing and congratulating ourselves if we like the suggestion.

There is always a little pressure when you cook for other people, even family.  As a chef, I want people (everyone) to like my food and to enjoy the experience.  I remembered last week's lesson learned, "trust your instincts."  And I was so glad I did!  I pulled the pork shoulder out of the oven about ten minutes too soon.  The juices, initially, looked as if they were running clear and the meat was pulling away from the bone, however, something just didn't feel right.  I waited about two minutes more and saw the juices from deeper inside the meat coming out of the hole I created with the meat thermometer.  They were not clear.  Dinner was quickly coming together and I had to make a decision fast.  I decided to throw the meat back in a 400 degree oven for another ten minutes and "hold" the remaining dinner components.  In the end, I'm so glad I put the meat back in the oven.  The meat came out perfect and the vegetables and potatoes held up well in a "just" warm oven.  Dinner was a success.  The chef and her parents were happy.  Below are pictures of the brined, braised pork shoulder and the braised brussel sprouts with bacon...

I'm learning that cooking for others is like living life on full speed.  Every day in life, we have to make decisions, sometimes we get to take our time and carefully evaluate all the points and other times, you all you get is some information and have to make a split second decision based on experience and instincts.  When in the throws of cooking, you have to be able to make those quick calls and then deal with the repercussions (if any) or the glory.  This is what I love about the culinary arts.

One of the menu items I took a chance making this week for my mom and dad was marinated feta.  I had something similar in Germany last fall and wanted to try my hand at recreating a delightful memory.  What's great about this appetizer is it's simplicity.  It's not complicated but the presentation is beautiful.

Buy a block of feta cheese and split the two inch width in half.  You need the about one inches so that the feta almost completely sits in the marinade.  Place in a glass baking dish that is about the same size as your cheese block.

In a separate bowl, squeeze half of a lemon, using your hand to catch any seeds.  Add 1/2 teaspoon oregano and 1/4 teaspoon thyme.  Slowly add about 1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil (depending upon taste...I used about 1/4 cup as I like acidity) and whisk into the lemon juice.  Add a good pinch of kosher salt and a couple grinds of fresh pepper.  Whisk again and set aside.

Thinly slice mini sweet peppers (yellow, orange and red), enough to cover the cheese.  For this recipe, I used two red, one and a half yellow and one orange.  This part is totally up to you, though, on how many peppers to use.  Spread over the cheese block.  Sprinkle lightly with Spanish Paprika. 

Whisk the lemon-olive oil mixture again.  Pour over all of the feta cheese and let marinated for six to eight hours.  Overnight would probably be a little much (fyi). 

Bake for 15 minutes in a 325 degree oven and serve with sliced baguette or crackers.  Enjoy!

An Act of Valor: Trying New Ideas for Dinner Parties Without a Test Run

The title of this post says it all.  Last night I created a meal with no recipe, on the fly.  Even for the highly trained, this is a risky business.  The meal could turn out to be the best one EVER...or...the meal could turn out to be the WORST one ever. 

Last night's meal, though, turned out to be a "mediocre at best" meal, ever.  Boo.

I love experimenting in the kitchen.  There's a certain rush that comes from "winging it".  Why is that, you ask?  Because some of my best work comes from throwing that recipe book out the window and doing everything by taste, experience and a little bit of luck.  I think, though, my luck forgot to show up at the house yesterday.

Last evening's dinner menu was a sure fire hit.  Honest to goodness, how can one go wrong with risotto inspired goat cheese and marscapone orzo, baked mahi, pan roasted tomatoes and sauteed asparagus.  I've included a picture for your viewing pleasure...

Some elements of this meal were delicious.  The tomatoes were appropriately sweet and the asparagus had beautiful taste and texture.  The orzo had the PROMISE of being creamy, but the cheese did a little separating in the skillet and I was left with dry whey on the orzo (but it had some great flavor).  The fish was slightly dry.  Unfortunately, I did not listen to my instincts and I left the fish in the oven two minutes too long.  Instead of juicy, flaky fish, I was left with slightly dry, tough fish.  Overall lessons learned about this meal?  Listen to your instincts and do not get distracted by how late the meal is getting. 

The silver lining to this meal, though, was the appetizer.  Bacon wrapped lil smokies.  Oh my goodness, seriously, everything IS better with bacon.  Take a look...

This recipe is simple.  Divide your bacon (I used un-nitrated, all natural smoked bacon) down the middle (perpendicular). Tightly wrap the bacon around the sausage.  Place in an aluminum lined jelly roll pan.  Sprinkle the wrapped sausages with brown sugar (to taste, I don't like things too sweet) and some cayenne pepper (a little goes a LONG way, I used about 1 and 1/2 tsp to 3/4 c brown sugar).  Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20 - 30 minutes.  You want the bacon to look done.  Pull from the oven and put in your serving dish (poke a toothpick in it).  Let these guys sit and cool for about 15 minutes (you'll thank yourself for waiting).  The brown sugar slightly hardens giving the bacon a more "candied" mouth feel.  Done!

All-in-all, the best part of a successful dinner party is not the food (food does play a part but it's never the end all, be all), it's the people.  If you make your home a safe, warm and inviting place, people will come.  There is a lot to be said about opening your home to people and giving them opportunities to laugh, share and have fun.  All those things we did last night.  So really, who cares about the food when there's life in your kitchen?

Walking the Talk, Part 2

Success.  Overall, the night was a success.  Were there things that could have been better?  Of course, yes. I would have liked the skin of the chicken crispier.  Someone suggested, too, that there could have been more rosemary in the Blood Orange Gin Sparkler (recipe here).  But guess what?  We did it.  We pulled it off.  Inclement weather and everything.

These supper club events are helping me understand that people want to connect.  Every time my team and I host an event, it's so amazing the me how some of the most unlikely people, people who normally wouldn't talk to each other, close their normal barriers and allow someone different in...even if just that evening. These are the most special moments to watch.  I love that.

I know my team and I made the right decision to go ahead with the event.  Why?  Because as my friend, Kevin Shinn said in his blog today (The Sustained Chef), "you make a decision and you make it right."  We made it right yesterday, as evidenced by the 19 people who showed up, ready to eat, drink and be merry.  For that, and maybe that alone, I'm glad.

Walking the Talk

Well, wouldn't you  know.  After the first posting from this blog, I am getting the chance to walk out my new, "what-the-hell" attitude to the world.  Myself, along with my dear friends, Rachel and LeAnn are hosting a Supper Club event during an epic snowstorm here in Nebraska.  Mind you, there was little to no snow all winter long...and now we have snow in spades.  Well, damn.

I know that some of the 22- 23 guests who RSVP'd will not come.  That's a given as we all have our limits.  What I'm hoping for, though, is that the lure of really good food and even better company brings out the majority of people.  Food does that.  I've proven it out time and again when I've held dinner parties at my home and almost EVERYONE has shown up during the worst weather winter had to offer in the past. 

So, walk with me during this scary time...as there are people who have never eaten the food Rachel and I have prepared...Nor has some of these people ever experienced the kind of hospitiality that LeAnn is so good at showing.  I promise the food will be great but the love and comraderie that goes into these events are what makes these nights amongst the most special.  More to come...

The "What-the-Hell Attitude"

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”-- Julia Child

I fear failure, plain and simple.  If one were to watch me menu plan for a party, they would laugh.  I research to find inspiration, recipes and even tablescapes.  I agonize on how to put my own twist on all of the recipes so that those recipes are more mine than someone else's.  Then, when I present the menu to the outside world, I worry.  I worry that the food is too simple or too elaborate.  Finally, when the day comes to cook and present the meal, I fuss over the preparation and then worry after the food is presented.  "Will people like it?"  "Does it taste spectacular?"  You get the idea.

Somewhere along the line, my self confidence faded.  I don't believe it's gone, just hidden an attic in my heart.  I know I have the talent.  I know I have the drive.  I even know I have the passion to cook.  So, what's my problem?  I care way too much what people think. 

Chefs should care what people think of their food.  People's patronage is how a chef stays in business.  That's the bottom line.  However, there's a fine line of caring too much.  When a chef cares too much, it paralyzes the creative processes and the passion for crafting a gorgeous (and delicious) meal.  There's no love that can be poured into that meal because all the energy is concentrated in fear...and people can taste that.

For me, in order to overcome the fear of failure, I need to expose it to light. And then, say, "Yes, dammit!  I'm a chef!"  I need to continue to surround myself with positive, caring and supportive people to help me through this season of self doubt.  I'm a lucky girl in this aspect.  Somehow, I've managed to befriend the kindest, most amazing people...people who believe in me when I can't anymore.  Then, I need to walk the talk.  Act as if I have the self confidence, the skills and the talent...and the knowledge (not just in the head) in the heart will come.

This is a process, and not an easy one. When cooking for someone, there's a lot of "me" in that meal.  I designed, crafted and served that meal because you're special, even if I don't know you.  Then, there's risk involved..  What happens if that person doesn't like what you've made for them?  Oh!  How that hurts...but I have to move on.  "What the hell?" Right?  Smile, evaluate..toss the lies, keep the truth and learn from it.  Easier said than done, but it can be done.  If Julia can back in the day, I can today.  What the hell do I have to lose?