In the Kitchen

What's New at Paulding & Company

October 2008

The Heat Is on!

Things to Do the next few weeks:

On Sunday the 12th, I am competing in the Crabby Chef competition, which takes place in the Spenger's restaurant parking lot. There will be lots to do and eat from 11-4, but at 2 PM, the competition heats up--with an Iron Chef event featuring crab and a mystery ingredient. I'll be competing against 15 other chefs, mostly from area restaurants--so a cheering section will be a big advantage. The rules dictate that I can only bring dry spices and equipment to cook with, and one assistant, in this case my daughter Tracy. So, if you have some time, come on down and watch me either win, or get totally humiliated by all these practiced restaurant chefs. Let's just hope it doesn't rain!

This weekend, it's time for the annual Hoes Down festival www.hoesdown.org at Full Belly Farm in Guinda. For 21 years, they've celebrated the harvest with a true farmland celebration, including tours, a farmers market, food and drink, and hands-on seminars. Check it out--a nice excursion and a good reminder of where our wonderful food comes from.

Wednesday, October 15th Paulding & Company hosts the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce mixer, together with our neighbors, Periscope Cellars. See more about the food for that below--we will make it during a special class the evening of the 14th. If you want to come to the mixer, visit the Chamber website, www.emeryvillechamber.com to register.

What's Been Happening at the Kichen

Paulding & Company's kitchen has been really busy lately. We've catered several parties, including one for the winner of the Clorox Top Chef sweepstakes--a family reunion party for 50 in a Santa Rosa park, with 2007 Top Chef contestant Casey Thompson as the special guest. We've also hosted team building groups from many companies, and held great public classes and private cooking parties, too.

On a more esoteric level, the kitchen has been the home base for a couple of TV pilots (I'll let you know if they get aired), and recently became the site for the final shot in an indie movie. Finally, we became the temporary home for the chefs from La Mar Cebicheria Peruana for a few weeks, before the restaurant's kitchen was completed, and had the privilege of watching Chef José Luis de Cossió and his talented crew bring the menu together for Peruvian celebrity chef Gaston Acurio's first U.S. restaurant. The restaurant opened Monday, at Pier 1 1/2 in SF. My husband and I, along with some friends, had the pleasure of dining there during the pre-opening last week, and we were thrilled with the meal. The food is fresh, vibrant and different, and the flavors are clean and wonderful. The restaurant is going to be a huge success, so make a reservation while you still can. I reviewed this restaurant (and some others) on Yelp, you can link to the reviews from the Paulding & Company listing there (go to "about me"). You can also review your own experience at Paulding & Company on my page, if you want--I'd particularly love for some of you team building and private party folks to add your voices.

You may not know that I also write a monthly column for the Emeryville Connection, which you can access online at www.emeryvilleconnection.com. It's a bit frustrating though--each month I do a food column with a recipe, and the recipe is never in the online version of the paper. My recipes from this newsletter do occasionally end up published in the Piedmont Post, however.

Classes

Our Chicken class series (101, 201, 301) was truly enjoyed by those who attended, who had a chance to learn the basics and more--the last night of class included consomme (clarified stock), confit and a galantine, or whole boned stuffed chicken, and every person in attendance got their own bird to bone out and stuff. We'll put together some more great butcher-centric classes soon, so don't forget to check the calendar in between newsletters.

The latest knife sharpening class was well-attended, and we will continue to offer this class quarterly, with the next date TBA. We will also schedule a Knife Skills class for the beginning of next year, as soon as our wonderful teacher, Charlie Vollmar, is available--right now he's teaching at the Professional Culinary Institute in Campbell full time.

I've canceled my autumn Dinner for Company class--nobody signed up, sadly. Of course right after I pulled the class, I got an inquiry, but one person does not make a class. I have yet to figure out how to economically advertise classes, so I can keep my classes from becoming prohibitively expensive. All suggestions welcome!

One class of mine that's still on the calendar is the Tuesday, October 14th Hors d'Oeuvres Class, for the next night's Emeryville Chamber of Commerce mixer. A great class, where you'll learn some good dishes, eat well, and learn something about production preparation--that is, making a larger quantity that might also be relevant to your next party or donation to the preschool fundraiser or contribution to family Thanksgiving. This class is dirt cheap, since you're helping me prepare for an event--but you will eat well, of course. You can also come to the mixer as an assistant, if you want. We sponsor it along with Periscope Cellars, so you get great food AND wine and good company, of course!

Rosetta Costantino has some interesting classes on the schedule, including one that is new, different and quite fascinating, Cook and Speak Italian, on October 18th. She has a lot of great classes on the schedule, with room for more people in several. Check the calendar and sign up soon, before they're all full.

In the Market

It's harvest time, and the peaches are mealy. Plums are starting to be past their prime as well, but a few pluots continue to thrive. Apples are great--have you even had a crisp, fresh Roma? Not the soft insipid ones from the store, but the real thing, from the Tuesday Berkeley farmers' market. Soon, my favorite apple will come, the Pink Lady, that perfect balance of sweet and tart, crisp and succulent. Pears are also great right now, I got great, perfectly ripened Bartlett's at the Saturday Grand Lake market, and Frog Hollow Farm's Warrens are in as well. Figs and berries are still OK, but not as plentiful, and grapes, of course, are at their peak. All you have to do is smell the air in the kitchen lobby--heady with aromas from crush next door. Soon, we will have the first persimmons. I've already spotted some pomegranates here and there. Good citrus will follow as well--there are already a few good oranges in some markets.

On the vegetable front, there are still great dry farmed early girl tomatoes as well as heirlooms, which started late and hopefully will continue a while, at least until rain forces the end. There are still peppers and eggplants, okra and green beans, and great shelling beans too. Try some cannellinis or cranberry beans straight from the pod. They take about 20 minutes to cook up, and make great side dishes, salads and components to other dishes too. In fact, try the very simple recipe I've included this month--Beans with Garlic and Parsley, a side dish worthy of any meal, with some of the fresh beans. Lettuces are still wonderful, and again, will remain so until it gets too cold or too rainy. Sprouting broccoli is making an appearance, this is the type that makes small straight stalks kind of like broccolini. Fall artichokes are good, as are the kales and chards. It is after all, harvest time--which straddles the seasons around here, so we get the late summer best along with the autumn harvest. Summer squash mixed with winter squash and pumpkins, which are often found at the market, sitting on the spun wool of fall sheep shearing.

I hope to see you at the kitchen soon!