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Chef2Chef Recipe Club - Volume 4 Issue 100- May 16, 2003 Chef2Chef Recipe Club Member Forum: http://forums.chef2chef.net Un/Subscribe: Un/Subscribe: http://chef2chef.net/news/subscribe.htm -------------------------------------------------- Hello Recipe Club, I'd like to thank all the folks over at the Personal Chefs Network for their support of Chef2Chef.net. And I'd most certainly like to thank all of this week's Personal Chefs for their wonderful recipes and stories. We wish you all the best. Today, Abra Bennet has a lovely Springtime menu for us. Next week Chef Doug Allen CEC, from Mustard Seed Gourmet Foods will share some of his favorite recipes with us. If you want to check him out early, click here: http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=335 Have a great weekend, Pam and I will be in Chicago for the National Restaurant Show. We'll report back next week. -------------------------------------------------- Abra Bennett from Washington Chef Abra Bennett is a perfect example of how people find their way to personal cheffing along all sorts of paths. Having spent most of her adult life as a public servant in the environmental field, Chef Abra recently chose to make a career change, opening her own personal chef business, Rolling Bay Gourmet, on Bainbridge Island, Washington. As she puts it "My love of cooking had far outstripped my family's ability to consume all my creations. I wanted to cook new recipes all the time, but we just couldn't keep up on the eating end of things." She loves to spend her free time searching out novel recipes and exotic ingredients, and testing them in her home kitchen, as well as on the more adventurous of her clients. As a result, she has an amazing collection of recipes and is always finding a dozen more that she just has to try. She believes in the transforming power of food, lovingly prepared. As one of her clients said recently "We feel so nurtured by your food, it's as if someone's really caring for us." You can find Chef Abra at http://www.rollingbaygourmet.com/ . This is a beautiful menu for a special springtime supper for four. Serving things en papillote really dazzles your guests, since most people don't do this preparation at home. It's quite simple, actually, and this dish really delivers on flavor and fragrance, while being a lot of fun to eat. The tortoni needs time to freeze, so make that first. Put the salmon in the oven just as you sit down for salad, so that you can serve it the moment it's done. Menu: Salad with Radicchio, Almonds, and Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette Salmon en Papillote with Leeks, Fennel, and Brandied Currants Rose Berry Tortoni -------------------------------------------------- COOKBOOK WIZARD RECIPE SOFTWARE for your PC. The easy way to organize your recipes, create shopping lists, cookbooks and create recipe web pages. It doesn't get any easier, Simple as 1-2-3! Click on website---->>> http://www.mealmaster.com -------------------------------------------------- Salad with Radicchio, Almonds, and Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette Recipe By: Chef Abra Ingredients: 3 oz. baby spinach leaves 1 bunch arugula -- cleaned and coarsely chopped 1 head radicchio -- sliced 1 ripe pear - diced 1/2 cup sliced almonds -- toasted 4 oz. shaved Manchego or fresh Asiago cheese 1 cup shallots -- peeled and sliced 4 cloves garlic -- peeled 2/3 cup olive oil 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp. soy sauce 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard 1 tsp. honey -- optional salt and pepper to taste Place shallots, garlic, and 1/4 cup oil in a small dish and cover tightly with foil. Bake in a 400° oven until soft and golden, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool, then purée in blender with remaining ingredients. While the garlic and shallots are roasting, set the almonds in the oven to toast in a cake pan for 5-6 minutes. Watch them carefully so they don't burn. Toss greens together with dressing, reserving a little dressing. Divide salad onto plates, top with diced pear, cheese and toasted almonds, then a drizzle of reserved dressing. -------------------------------------------------- Recipe Club, Are you familiar with the Bourbon Chicken that you find at the Cajun place in the Food Court at the mall? Well the marinade spices, basting sauce and cooking instructions are now available online from BourbonChickenSpices.com. If you are a fan of this great product, you can now make it at home and avoid the lines at the mall. Visit them by clicking here: http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=209 " Remember, Memorial Day is next week and BBQ season is now upon us. You can try something new this year. It would be unique to have some grilled bourbon chicken." Dave's Product Review: I've ordered their product four times. The first time I prepared it for a Labor Day Picnic. We also had Fried Turkey and slow roasted Prime Rib. The Bourbon Chicken was the "Hit" of the party I had a line in front of my grill for over an hour! The last time, we made a full batch and froze it in small portions, now we can have Bourbon Chicken like the mall at home whenever we want. -------------------------------------------------- Salmon En Papillote With Leeks, Fennel, And Brandied Currants Recipe By: Chef Abra Serving Size: 4 Ingredients: 1 fennel bulb -- stalks and fronds discarded 2 small leeks -- white parts slivered 2 medium carrots (1/2 lb) 1/2 lb. small red potatoes 1/3 cup currants 1/4 cup brandy 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest 2 tablespoons fresh dill -- chopped 2 large garlic cloves -- minced 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 4 tablespoons white vermouth 4 center-cut salmon fillets -- skinned 1 teaspoon fennel pollen -- optional Salt and pepper to taste Procedure: Preheat oven to 400°F. Place baking sheet in oven to preheat 10 minutes before you are ready to bake the salmon. Halve fennel bulb lengthwise and sliver. Sliver leeks. Slice potatoes and carrots as thinly as possible. Keep each vegetable separate. Warm brandy and pour over currants - set aside to soak. Blanch vegetables in lightly salted boiling water. Blanch the fennel and leeks for 2 minutes then remove from water, blanch the carrots for 1 minute and remove, then the potatoes for 2 minutes. Transfer vegetables with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water after blanching, then drain well. Drain currants, reserving brandy. Toss fennel, leeks, and carrots with soaked currants, lemon zest, dill, half of garlic, 2 tablespoons olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Toss potatoes with remaining oil and garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Divide potato mixture among centers of parchment squares. Season salmon with fennel pollen, salt and pepper and place on top of potatoes, then top salmon with fennel mixture. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of vermouth over each fillet, then drizzle evenly with the reserved brandy. Fold parchment up like a present, to make a neat package, or gather sides of parchment up over fennel mixture to form a pouch, leaving no openings, and tie tightly with string. Don't wrap the packages too closely, so that they can expand a little with the steam as the fish cooks. Place packages directly on hot baking sheet in oven and cook 20-23 minutes. Cut open each packet and place the opened packet directly on plate. Serve immediately. -------------------------------------------------- This Month's Giveaways and Free Stuff! Feeling Lucky? This month, two lucky winners will win a set of celebrity chef Jacques Haeringer's cookbooks, Two for Tonight and The Chez François Cookbook http://topchefs.chef2chef.net/recipes-2/haeringer/ Whatever's on the grill, you can be sure to bring out the best taste with the trio of grilling sauces that are part of this month's sweepstakes giveaway by Bandana Bandito! First up is a Blue Ribbon approved Habanero Steak Sauce with a true Southwest flavor. Next is the Mango/Chipotle Sauce that adds fantastic tropical flavor to any marinade or dipping sauce. Lastly, the Bandit's Spicy BBQ Sauce gives any meat off the grill pure Alamo City taste. As if this is not enough, the Bandit will also send the winner a fun and original Wooly Boy Cookie Jar. http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=215 Chef Revival has launched a new pattern for its line of quality chef clothing. It's called the Green Fish pattern. This month you could win one of 5 sets of Chef pants, an apron and PB hat. Visit them at Booth 1268 at the NRA Show. Register to Win this cool new Green Fish set! http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=36 Sign up for a FREE Subscription to Food Arts Magazine. The Magazine for the Foodservice and Hospitality Industry. U.S. residents only. http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=242 -------------------------------------------------- Rose Berry Tortoni Recipe By: Chef Abra Serving Size: 4 Ingredients: 1 basket berries of your choice -- use the most beautiful ones you can find 3 Tablespoons packed brown sugar 1 Tablespoon Chambord or Crème de Cassis 3 teaspoons rosewater (divided use) 1 cup half and half 1 cup whipping cream 5 egg yolks 1/2 cup sugar 4 oz Italian ladyfingers (savoiardi) Place berries in a bowl with sugar, liqueur and 1 teaspoon rosewater. Allow to macerate as you prepare the rest of the dessert. Make a crème anglaise by heating the cream and half and half gently together, either in the microwave or over very low heat. Mix the egg yolks, sugar and 2 teaspoons rosewater in the top of a double boiler and then place over rapidly boiling water. Whisk in the hot cream mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture thickens somewhat. It will still be thin, but will coat your spoon, after about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. Crush ladyfingers into small chunks. When custard is cooled, place in ice cream maker along with 2 tsp. of the juice from the berries, and freeze to a soft ice cream. Working quickly, in small clear glass bowls layer ice cream, crumbs, berries, a drizzle of the berry juice and a final layer of ice cream. Decorate top with a berry and a few drops of juice, and set bowls in the freezer. Remove from freezer 5-10 minutes before serving, to allow ice cream to soften to perfection. -------------------------------------------------- QUESTIONS, Comments, Technical Support: http://forums.chef2chef.net |