In the Kitchen

What's New at Paulding & Company

June 2009

Culinary Summer Programs for Pre-teens and Teens

Cook! Creative Culinary Camp launches June 15th! Registration is still open for all four sessions.

Why come to camp? To learn cooking skills, work not only with our great staff of chef/teachers, but with restaurant chefs and cookbook authors. To set the course for a lifetime of cooking enjoyment. To explore new flavors. To have something really, really great to do for a week, or two weeks this summer without traveling.

Camp includes two meals every day, with healthy, vibrant food. Think about it—your son or daughter, coming home and wanting to cook YOU dinner. Your child, setting out in life able to feed him or herself, and cook for friends too.

We have made a commitment to taking some kids at reduced rates, who simply can’t afford the tuition. Some of this, we’re donating ourselves. We have also set up a scholarship fund to give others the opportunity to get involved.

If you are interested in registering, donating to our scholarship fun, sponsoring a teen directly or if you would like more information, please please contact Tracy Paulding.

Valrhona Chocolate Event

I have mentioned before that we are privileged to offer our team building clients and/or private party groups a special event with Derek Porier, Valrhona’s US Executive Pastry Chef. Valrhona recently spent a week in our kitchen, training chefs from many high-end local restaurants and confectioners (French Laundry, Aqua, Michael Minna, Boulevard, One Market, Highlands Inn, Quince, Tartine, Emporio Rulli, Reschutti Confections, Slanted Door). After seeing them in action we are even more excited to be able to offer this opportunity. We have arranged for two events with Derek, and one has already been reserved, so there’s still one up for grabs. For a glimpse into what’s in store for these groups here is the menu we’ve worked up (featuring recipes from Chocolate Fusion, Chocolate in Cuisine by Frédéric Bau, Valrhona’s own cookbook). This is adventurous, yet classic cuisine—very exciting food, and we’re modifying each dish, designed for restaurant use, to be more accessible to home chefs. The menu is all small dishes, with chocolate in every course, including three desserts.

• Gazpacho of Two Chocolates
• Bluefin Tuna Tataki (yes, with chocolate)
• Rack of Pork with Chocolate Risotto
• Duck (and chocolate) Pastille
• Satay of Scallops with cocoa nib tuiles
• Black Cod with Chocolate Hollandaise
• Rack of Lamb with Chocolate-Infused Sauce
• Chocolate Soufflé
• Single-origin Chocolate Financier, Almond Strussel and Praline
• Verrine of Milk Chocolate and Caramel

The event is a real bargain at $130 per person, with a 30 guest minimum. If you’re ready for the birthday party of your dreams, or to bring your company to the kitchen for a real treat, don’t delay—this is a unique offering, once purchased there will be no more. There is no set date, it can be scheduled for anytime Derek can come to town.

Making the Kitchen Work Better

Improvement is a never-ending task. In years past, I’ve done work to make the kitchen more efficient (we are a certified green kitchen), including having the landlord add a composting bin to our trash options for the entire building. I’ve added infrastructure improvements, such as changing our lighting to T8 ballasts (the most efficient system). To make the kitchen more comfortable, we’ve added ceiling fans, and sound-abatement panels in the dining area and kitchen, plus sound-absorbing hangings from the high ceiling. To make cooking more pleasurable, I’ve improved our stock of pots & pans and cutlery, and worked diligently to make the kitchen design function better. Recent improvements include a 37-bin sorter shelf system for the small tools, all of them labeled so you can find things easily. I’ve also just gotten a new cooking toy, a 4-burner flattop griddle, that will allow us to prepare some items we’ve never made before, which is very exciting. Everything from homemade tortillas to seared fish and meat will get it’s turn on the griddle as time goes by. What’s next? Perhaps one day I’ll find the right, affordable new chairs—I never stop looking for those!

Classes

It’s time for our quarterly Knife Sharpening Class with Eric E. Weiss. Eric is sharpener to many local restaurants including the venerable Chez Panisse, and he’s a great teacher. The class will be Monday evening June 22nd, and there are still spaces available. You get a stone and oil to take home, and gain the knowledge to keep you most useful tools in fine working condition.

Rosetta Costantino continues to fill her Italian cooking classes, but is taking June off—she will resume in July with three classes, and feature different foods in 2-3 classes every month. At the end of September, Rosetta is leading a group trip to Italy, to explore her home area, Calabria—a chance to cook with locals, and experience the area in depth. Check out her website, cookingwithrosetta.com for further information on the trip.

A special class for you!

Think about organizing a class for your friends and family. For a birthday, to celebrate an anniversary, as a wedding rehearsal dinner, or for no particular reason except to get together and have fun. Group events are available by reservation, with a menu specifically created for you. Contact me for further information on this, or on bringing your work group in for a team event.

Catering

Paulding & Company is a full-service caterer, creating our fresh, vibrant food for your event. Contact me for further information—we always get rave reviews, but the one I’m most proud of is “this doesn’t taste like catered food” from one recent party guest.

In the Market

June features an explosion of great fruit. A feast of peaches, nectarines, pluots, apriums, apricots, cherries and berries. Bright flavored peas and beans, tender lettuces, good greens, summer squashes, the first of the peppers, and crunchy cucumbers. Fava beans are still in the market for a while. Morel mushrooms seem to be finished or just about—porcinis are showing up now, but the price is steep. If you buy these wonderful mushrooms, beware that the stems should be split, so you can see that they are not riddled with tiny worms. Corn is in, not yet regularly in the farmer’s market, but certainly in Berkeley Bowl—and the new Berkeley Bowl market on 7th & Heinz, so close to the kitchen, is opening on the 4th of June. Eggplants should be in soon, and the early crop of figs, once we get some hot weather, should come in too. Asparagus is still in the market, artichokes, too. The artichokes love our foggy coast—did you know that most of the artichokes grown in the US come from our coastal area? There are onions and new garlic and new potatoes and gorgeous carrots. This is the time of year carrots are sweetest. There’s also fresh basil, both Genovese and Thai. Combine the carrots and the basil for our monthly recipe.

Recipe of the Month

I have to look through the recipes of the month archive to make sure not to repeat myself. There are over 50 recipes now, which means I’ve written more than 50 newsletters. How time flies! The recipes follow through the seasons, and I’m betting there are plenty of entries in the list that you’d find inspiring.

It’s time for a summery recipe. “Summery” in our area often means chilly, so I think a soup would be appropriate. This one includes the option to make the soup vegetarian, using miso and water instead of broth, a very healthy option. Use white or light miso, and don’t over-do it. This is a case where a little is wonderful, and too much is a disaster, dominating the soup and diminishing the brightness of it’s flavor. Using pesto as a garnish in a gingery soup may seem strange, but it works—really well. I first made this with my chef-friend Cheryl Beere, who has taught many vegetarian cooking classes in the past, but is now living far away, in her native New Zealand. We were hungry after a long walk, and these were the ingredients in the house. The best dishes, sometimes, are created from necessity like that.

View the recipe »

Happy eating. Happy June.

Become our friend on Facebook. Check out our page on Yelp. Read my articles in the monthly Emeryville Connection, each archived with a recipe. Send your teen to camp. Bring your friends and family in for a private class. Let it be a “mini vacation.” You’ll be happy you did!