Amuse Bouche

The Annual Dinner Party - With an homage to Maine

Right now I am in the final day of prepping for our annual end of year gathering.  Mom and SD are here from VA and are out today visiting SD's daughters and grandkids. 
I am in the final throws of prepping.  Still need to make port reduction sauce for the duck, vol-au-vent cases for smoked salmon and creme fraiche.

Here is the breakfast Coffee Cake

Cooling is my pithivier.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie pies are assembled. 

The lobster salad is made for the appetizers atop buttered gridded challah.

There are marinated olives in fennel orange and lemon. 

My vacuum machine arrived Friday and I will be setting up the duck breasts soon in their little pouches for their bath in 56C water.

 There is still celeriac and potatoes to peel, leeks to clean, and raclette to grate for the gratin. The playlist on the ipod is ready.  Sparkly things are chilling, bottles of red stuff are breathing, Now I just have to figure out how to get 8 people around the table and then 4 of our friends from the lake will be coming down from their winter homes in Somerville and NH and we will all reminisce about warm days and lazy cocktail cruises.  I hope you are all similarly ensconced in wining and dining with friends and family.

Later we'll talk about the newbook my wonderful Brother in Law sent me for Christmas...I can't wait.

Take a breath, Take a Deep Deep Breath**

How long it has been! I just wanted to come and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, if you celebrate and a general Happy Holiday if you do not. Life has been ramped up to 11 around here lately and I barely have time to cook dinner every night never mind take any pictures. the immersion circulator has been AMAZING, and I have been having a great time trying out different things. Duck breast, I can assure you will never be the same cooked any other way. In fact I have gone loco enough to have ordered this and it will be arriving on my doorstep Friday just in time for my dinner party on Sunday.

I'm excited to cook for friends, but I have one no pork, no beef and one no duck, no venison, nothing exotic.  SIGH.  I think duck will win and I will just have to make something separate for the no duck guest. 

I hope wherever you are tonight you are with friends and family, eating well, drinking and cheering in the spirit of the season.  Husband and I are off to my cousin's for La vigilia and I am looking forward to the stuffed calamari as I do every year.  There will be about 50 screaming Italians wildly gesticulating, 20 kids running around hopped up on sugar and the promise of Santa yet to come, there will be swearing and singing and Elvis, there is always Elvis where my cousin Johnny is concerned, he has never left the building. The photo on the top is my cousin Fuzzy's son and a future Elvis lover as you can see.

Cousin Johnny (8 days older than me and not about to allow me to forget it), who is also head cook tonight, has always sung and more importantly he has always been an enormous fan of Elvis. Years of family gatherings always, ALWAYS, included a Karaoke segment long, l-o-n-g, before anyone stateside knew what karaoke even was. One of his teachers was one of the guys in a local group called Boston Rockabilly.  He finally went in the studio with them and made a CD called "ode to a king".  This is my crazy Elvis lovin cousin Johnny doing my favourite track on the CD, Little Sister.

So as I leave to celebrate Christmas with my crazy family, I'd like to wish the best to you and yours. 

Buon Natale!

**Lyrics in the tilte are David Gilmour from On an Island.  They have been swimming around my head the past week.

Menu for Hope

 

It's that time again.  Chez Pim and a revolving group of bloggers are hosting the annual Menu for Hope fundraiser.  Again this year the money is going to the UN World Food Programme the world’s largest food aid agency, working with over 1,000 other organizations in over 75 countries. In addition to providing food, the World Food Program helps hungry people to become self-reliant so that they escape hunger for good.  Last year donations raised form Menu for Hope totaled over $100,000!  This year the East Coast prizes are being hosted by Jaden at Steamy Kitchen and as always the donations are being collected by Firstgiving.com so you can be assured that your donations are being handled in a safe manner.

Won't you help?  Buy a raffle ticket, heck buy 2, buy them as gifts, give them as stocking stuffers or maybe you can win one of the great prizes on offer this year.  I asked create a cook if they would help out and this is their contribution. Don't make us look like the girl at the prom with no date, BUY SOME TICKETS and give generously.

Dinner Cooking Party at Create a Cook  Prize code: UE18

From create a cook. One cooking party for up to 6 guests at create a cook in Newton, MA. (Valued at $400.00) We supply the chef, the menus, the ingredients, the professional kitchen, a set table, and all the clean up you just bring the wine and 5 of your friends and we have a party! You and your guests can help determine the theme of the party (Asian, French, Italian, Vegetarian, American or Chef’s Choice).  Winner must be willing to travel to venue or can give the gift in kind to a local friend.

If you want to have a great night out with friends, this is all you need to do.

1. Choose a prize or prizes of your choice from our Menu for Hope at Chez Pim
2. Go to the donation site at http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhope5 and make a donation.
3. Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. Please specify which prize you'd like in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code.
For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 tickets for EU02. Please write 2xEU01, 3xEU02
4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.
5. Please allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win.  Your email address will not be shared with anyone

Playing with an Immersion Circulator

I decided to try out the new toy today.  I've studied up and I'm hoping for the best.  This may find it's way into the holiday cooking event for Mom and SD and the friends.  We shall see. 

In the bottom of the pot is a Cowboy steak or basically 1 rib off of a prime rib.  Since husband is being very brave about this whole test, I promised him to sear it off as an au poivre and make a cognac pan sauce.  The sink is full of leeks soaking in cold water for a side dish of our favourite creamed leeks with horseradish.

There has been some menu testing lately for a few changes to the party menus at work and a potential workshop on crock pot cooking that was requested by a customer.

I spent some more time with Molly Stevens All About Braising and made her Braised Squid and Shrimp.  Either cook your squid for 40 seconds or 40 minutes there ain't no in between. Don't skip the green olives, the salty burst makes it that much better.

I tested out a wild mushroom ragu for a swap out in our Italian party.  Sorry the photo really isn't appealing is it?  The lights make everything a bit yellow. During the party they make sheets of pasta anyway, so cutting them into pappardelle and serving them with a rich meaty mushroom ragu ought to take the winter chill off anyone's cold bones.

For the Crockpot class I tested a nice pappa al pomodoro made for winter with canned San Marzano, and then I tested my Mom's Creole chicken with smoked linguica instead of the kielbasa she usually uses.  So from here on I am calling out to you dear reader.  Does anyone have a favourite braise that can be translated to the crock pot?  Do you already have a favourite slow cooker recipe?  All tips appreciated!

Finally - I passed!

Not sure if I mentioned it here or not, but ever since I finished at CSCA I had considered taking the CCP (Certified Culinary Professional) exam with the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) but forces conspired against me. 
I filled out the 15 page application, collected all my data, passed it on to the powers that be to approve it and then life got in the way.  I had wanted to take it as close to my final exam as possible so all that STUFF I had crammed into my brain would still be fresh and available for recall instead of tucked in the dark recesses of my musty aging brain.
Finally the man called me and said he had another applicant ready to sit the exam, was I ready?

OH GOD NO was what I thought, but YES OF COURSE I AM was my answer.

I broke out my old flash cards rejigged my brain to recall a long list of small sauces, the wines and cheeses and charcuterie BY REGION for France and Italy.  Brushed up on my Asian ingredients and terms, read Harold and Shirley, Michael and Root.  When we ran errands on the weekends husband would ride shotgun and quiz me on my Servsafe sanitation and flashcards of Baking and Basics and Italian and French.
The week before Thanksgiving I headed over the library at CSCA and cracked the test open and wrote for 2 hours.
Tonight I got the call that I passed the exam.  I'll get my final numbers later, but I'm just so pleased it's OVER.
So as a reward I bought myelf this tonight....and I can't wait to play with it.
Now, will someone please kindly just buy me this book please so I can start the fun??

Thanks!