My Garden and Pickled Radishes

This year's garden is coming along nicely. We have 5 tomato plants, broccoli, lettuce, radishes, carrots, speckled butter beans, lady peas and bell peppers.
I planted my favorite variety of radishes, French Breakfast and this morning I set out to make pickled radishes. There were not as many ready to harvest as I expected, but I gathered enough and got to work.

I cleaned and cut the radishes, added them to small jars, and made my brine.


I got four beautiful small jars!
These radishes have a lot of great peppery flavor and I just love how the intense color of pickled radishes really dress up a salad plate. I can't wait to incorporate these into menus for upcoming client dinner parties.

A Week Of Teaching

I love to do in-home food educational experiences with clients! Over the years I've done lots of variations: a ladies lunch and learn, group themed cooking parties, and sometimes just cooking alongside clients to help them become more comfortable with techniques and gain experience.

Last week I had two such opportunities. The first, teaching pasta making with a long-time client and their second-grade daughter. We began by making the pasta dough.

We then cut some of it and made a carbonara from scratch. We used the remaining dough to make sausage and ricotta filled raviolis. Then we all sat down for lunch and had a great time catching up and chatting over the food we'd just created!

On Friday night, I had a request to teach a family how to make French tarts. I brought two recipes and all the ingredients. The whole family pitched in and had a great time. I taught them how to make pastry dough from scratch, how to roll it to fit properly, and how to prepare the fresh fruit we would use. We made a filled tart with fresh fruit and cream. The second was a fresh apple tart. 

In-home cooking instruction is one of my favorite things to do and I'm so thankful that my job has so many legs to it that presents opportunities like this.

Yes, I do have the best job ever!

USPCA Conference and Vacation

I'm back home in Atlanta after being away for almost two weeks. My trip began with the 2014 United States Personal Chef Conference in Long Beach, CA. Four days filled with educational classes, inspirational guest speakers, networking with fellow chefs, and spending quality time with dear chef friends.  Highlights of educational classes included food styling, learning to make green corn tamales, and learning more about using my sous vide machine.  Great conference!

Then I was off to Salt Lake for the start of a week-long vacation with my son. We saw Salt Lake City, and visited the Bonneville Salt Flats....this had been on my bucket list, so checked that one off!

After Salt Lake, we headed to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. Amazing! If you haven't been, I highly recommend both of these beautiful spots. In Yellowstone, saw tons of buffalo and other wildlife, then relaxed amidst the beauty of the Grand Tetons. We enjoyed many long walks and a lot of time just admiring Mother Nature.
So, back in the thick of my business....cooking for clients this week and a dinner party Saturday night, with a calendar quickly filling for the next couple of months.  It's always nice to get away but equally as nice coming home.

So Many Peppers

This week, I found myself having about 4 bags of baby multi-colored bell peppers. Some were left over from a party I cheffed over the weekend, and some were from my last two CSA boxes. I was determined not to let them go to waste and I knew we wouldn't be able to eat all of them, so I set about making a bell pepper relish. I had made one before, but found another interesting recipe and decided to give it a try.

I washed and chopped the peppers, then the recipe said to put the chopped peppers in a bowl and cover with ice for three hours....OK.

Then, I cooked all the peppers with two kinds of vinegar, sugar, yellow mustard seeds and paprika....for one hour.

I was ready to fill my jars! I got four half-pint jars from about eight cups of peppers. Then, I used my water-bath canner to process the jars for about 10 minutes.  This turned out great....I used it as a topping for my fish for dinner.

So glad the peppers didn't go to waste. Canning is such a great way to preserve summer's bounty!

 

Visit To Decimal Place Dairy Goat Farm

Last week the Atlanta Chapter of United States Personal Chefs visited Decimal Place Farms in Conley Georgia for our March meeting. We had a blast! Mary Rigdon owns and operates the farm with about 50 adult goats and on the day we visited, about 25 new baby goats. The goats on the right were 2 days old! We all were able to feed the baby goats and got to milk an adult goat. Of course, this was a new experience for all of us and the goats were just delightful. They were very calm and friendly, and the baby goats were adorable.

Mary gave us a tour of the farm, showed us the equipment she uses for milking the goats and making the most delicious goat cheese you can find. We were able to taste several kinds: chevres, cheddars, one coated in ash (my favorite) and several flavored varieties.

You can find Mary selling her cheeses on Saturdays at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market and during the week at the Grant Park and East Atlanta Village farmers markets. Definitely buy her cheese...you'll be glad you did.

Would You Like Some Collards?

Last night I hosted knit night at my home. We were just getting ready to eat and one of my  neighbors came to the door with a huge, just-pulled-from-the-ground stalk of beautiful collards! He asked if I wanted to share them with him and well, yes, of course I did!

I cut them from the stalk last night and refrigerated them, so now this afternoon I'm getting ready to get them cooking. I'll make some cornbread and voila, dinner! Can't wait. I haven't had fresh collards since last Fall when they were in my CSA box. These apparently came from another neighbor's garden who shared with my neighbor, who shared with me...love my neighborhood. (Ashford Park in Brookhaven)

Last weekend we cleaned out what was left from our winter garden, and this weekend we will add another six-foot raised bed section. Spring is in the air and I'm ready for the first crops of lettuce and spinach from my own garden and from my CSA box that I get from Dillwood Farms.

 For knit night, I made chicken corn chowder and spinach salad with warm bacon dressing. Warm food for a cold night. Then we settled by a nice warm fire and got to our knitting projects and had a lovely evening....love my knitting friends and our knit nights!

I Do Love My Cookbooks

Yes, it's a bit of an obsession. But I love to sit down with a good cookbook. And I do have lots. I try to keep them fairly organized, so when I'm looking for something or need to embellish or confirm an idea I have, it's easy to go to the right spot.

These are some of my newest cookbooks -- two I can add to my collection of signed cookbooks, to join Wolfgang, Anthony Bourdain, Giada.

I've tried a couple recipes from the Hugh Acheson cookbook and look forward to trying his Atlanta restaurant soon, Empire State South.






I admit I have more French cookbooks than any other style, but these are my favorites.

 I have collections, home canning, special diets, and cookbooks devoted to using the pressure cooker. Then, I have some by celebrity chefs, but the Ina Garten books have great recipes and are worth a try if you don't have them.

I'm always thinking about new ways to prepare food for my clients. I try to keep ideas fresh and present new foods cooked in new ways so I use these books as inspiration. And I've ordered two new books on the Paleo Diet that should be here any day now. Obsessed? Maybe.

If you have a favorite cookbook, please let me know! It may be something I don't have and will need to rush out and get.

Busy Holiday Party Season

It was a very busy holiday season for me and I am very grateful to have been totally booked for the last 3 weeks of December. I cooked for my regular personal chef clients and also had events that were celebrating many different things, from mom's birthday to parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary. All the parties were different in style and theme and I love the diversity. The photo at left is from a family holiday luncheon, and one of the desserts was red velvet cake parfaits presented in jelly jars.

Another party I did was a small gathering celebrating a mother's birthday. Two daughters were in from Los Angeles and wanted to do something special so I did a hands-on cooking party. I started by showing them how to make two easy appetizers, then how to make a homemade citrus vinaigrette for salad.
We then made homemade pasta from scratch. Everyone was amazed at how easy it is and how much fun. Then I showed them how to cook salmon in parchment paper. This is a great healthy way to cook fish and lots of fresh vegetables can be added.

Another party I cheffed was a parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary. I was asked to come up with a Southern theme to honor their Southern roots. The menu: shrimp and grits, crab stuffed trout, Coca-cola glazed pork tenderloin, pimento cheese potato gratin, braised collards and skillet cornbread. Everything was delicious, the shrimp and grits plates all came back totally empty, and everyone came back for seconds. Dessert was a made-from-scratch coconut cake.

Thanks to all my clients new and continuing for a great 2012! And a big shout out to all my chef assistants who made me look good.

How 'Bout Them Apples?

Had a great week this week! I cooked for a new client on Monday and got feedback that "everything has been wonderful!" Yay! Love to hear that clients like my food. I'll be cooking for this new family every other week, so really happy that they're happy.

On Tuesday I went to Ellijay, Georgia with my mom to get apples. Loved spending time with my mom. We had lunch at Cantaberry Restaurant in downtown Ellijay. We both had the she-crab soup and it was divine! It was cream based, so what's not to like.

Next we went to two different apple places and bought apples and fried pies at both.

So many choices of apples, all freshly picked and delicious. I made my own 1/2 peck bag by choosing different kinds. At the second stop, I bought a bag of small apples called Yates and my mom and I split the bag. They're beautiful apples, tart and juicy!

Yates Apples

On Thursday, I met with a new client and confirmed a New Year's Eve party. We planned the menu and discussed all the details, so we're good to go. Should be a fun party and love it when people think ahead!

Also  yesterday, I picked up my last CSA bag for this year. It's been great and I'll definitely do it again next year. This week's bag had carrots, collards, spinach, mixed lettuce, radishes and turnips, all beautiful. Today, office work, menu planning and recipe research, getting ready for another week much like this one!

Cooking Southern

Last night I tried a new recipe for ribs that is in the October issue of Southern Living Magazine.
There's an article about Sorghum Syrup and Atlanta chef Linton Hopkins' use of the syrup with several recipes. I grew up eating Sorghum Syrup, but mainly on biscuits so I was excited to see these recipe ideas and eager to give a recipe a try.

I had a jar of Sorghum Syrup in my pantry, so all I needed was ribs! I bought some pork and some beef, just to taste test.

The recipe says to use the oven, but since I have a Big Green Egg, I knew it would be that much better so we got out the Egg.

First we cooked the ribs at about 250 degrees for two hours, with the rub on and wrapped in foil.  They were already looking good. Then, we removed the ribs from the foil and put them right on the grill rack and began basting with the syrup glaze, for about another hour and a half.

I'm telling you, this recipe is definitely worth a try! The glaze was this awesome sticky, sweet, but not too sweet, delicious burst of flavor in your mouth! Yum and yum.

The recipe, in my own words:

2 1/2 lbs ribs

1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup kosher salt, 2 tbsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp ground red pepper

1 cup sorghum syrup, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper

Remove membrane from ribs. Mix sugar through red pepper together to make the rub and massage into ribs. Wrap and refrigerate up to 12 hours. Cover ribs with foil and cook in 275 degree oven for 2 hours.

Mix syrup, vinegar and salt and pepper in small saucepan. Bring to boil and simmer till reduced by half. Cool.  Remove foil and cook another 3 hours, basting with sorghum syrup mixture.

Thanks Linton Hopkins and Enjoy!

Cooking For Allergies

Today I had a great cook date for a new client. She contacted me after receiving results from her ALCAT test, showing what foods to avoid because of allergic reactions. The results sheet shows all the intolerances, but also gives a recommend 4-day rotation diet with a list for each day of food items that can be incorporated.

Each day has a column of foods, oils and spices that should be eaten for a particular day. So I set about developing menus, two meals for each day. Today I prepared for her eight meals, with two servings of each meal.

This was a fun and interesting challenge, kind of like being on Chopped! Each day's food could only use certain oils and spices, and each day had a limited number of proteins to choose from. For example, one day's choice was pork, and the spice choices included coffee and cocoa. So, I made a rub with coffee and cocoa and it was great!

I had to make a "recipe" for each meal to make sure I kept it all straight. Granted, some of the recipes had only three ingredients, given the restrictions. But all in all, the food turned out great. The thought came to me more than once that great food doesn't have to be complicated, just use high quality ingredients and a little creativity!

Here are some pics from today:

Pecan Roasted Salmon with White Rice

Basil Chicken with Wild Rice

Buffalo Meatballs with Roasted White Potatoes