In the Kitchen

What's New at Paulding & Company

July 2009

I take great delight in the burgeoning supply of summer produce at the market. I go to at least two farmer’s markets every week, and often over-buy because I’m excited about all the things to choose between. I just found some great recipes to try for preserving cherries, and got canning jars. I will report next month on that project’s progress, or put it in my long neglected blog sooner. I also just put one class on the schedule in July (see below) so may try out the product of my experiment on some willing students, as well as for catering. If you haven’t gone to a farmer’s market yet this summer, take the time—and taste your way through it, a true treat. If you’re not sure where your most convenient market is located, here’s a handy online list that stretches to four pages, and includes every market in the Bay Area. So many of the items are simply not available in stores, being rather more perishable than is practical for bulk orders. The Regina peach is one, find it at Blossom Bluff Farm’s stands (they’re in several of the markets). It’s exactly what a peach ought to taste like, and a handsome, large one, too.

Summer in the Kitchen

We’ve been busy! Kids cooking up a storm every day, catering, team building events and parties have kept the place rocking. The momentum seems to be slowing for a bit—so if you were thinking “gee, I’d love to have a group of friends get together and cook a meal” or “hmm, my work team would REALLY benefit from a fun activity together” now would be a great time to plan it. If you’re planning a party, a wedding, or thinking in advance of the big family gathering for the holidays, don’t forget that Paulding & Company caters. Here’s what our most recent party client had to say, which makes us very, very happy:

“Many many thanks for the beautiful arrangements and food you provided for us on Saturday. Everyone I have talked to raved about the food and your staff was careful and efficient. Thanks so much.”

Len and Mary Ann

I’ve had several conversations lately with future catering clients about quality. One, who’s getting married soon, told me she’d done tastings at several caterers, all of whom were high-end in cost—and she’d come away wondering why the food didn’t taste like anything. I always say that the hallmark of my operation is the quality of ingredients I start with. You just can’t make good food unless you start with good, fresh ingredients. My other secret is that I treat these good ingredients simply, so that their flavors shine through.

Cook! Creative Culinary Camp

Two camps completed, two camps to go. Register now!

We still have room in the final two camps of the season: Cooks Live!, session III, starting next week, which runs from July 6–17, and session IV, July 27–August 7. We’re making some changes to that final camp. Due to popular demand, we’re opening this session to younger kids too. If you have a 10–16 year old who loves to cook, or would love to learn how to cook, we can offer a stimulating two weeks in the kitchen. Register here, or check out the new camp website. You can see from the pictures how much fun the kids had—and how much they learned!

The final two camps in our season are two-week long Cooks Live! sessions, where the participants will learn from some of the top chefs in the bay area including Paul Canales (Oliveto), Ben Ward (Dopo), Jessica Sullivan (Boulevard), one of the top pastry and chocolate chefs in the world (Derek Poirier, Valrhona Chocolate), and more—including our friend Jesse Schwartzberg (owner of Star Meats, formerly at Bay Wolf, Rubicon, Jardiniere etc.) teaching Garde Manger, Joe Cates (Star Meats) teaching butchery, Eric Weiss (All Things Sharp) teaching knife sharpening, and Top Chef III contestant Casey Thompson with cooking show expertise. On the last day the group will perform their own cooking show, and we’ll videotape it, too!

Comment by many of the parents: Can I come to this camp too?

Classes

I’m teaching a class this month, my first public offering in a while as so many of you have requested one. On the evening of Wednesday July 22nd, a summer party class. You’ll learn a lot of great seasonal dishes, including several small desserts that would make great party fare, and can also be recycled into a bunch of different home meals. Sign up fast—the menu is TBA, based on anticipated attendance. The more people, the more dishes we can make.

We had a good crowd at the knife sharpening class last Monday, and will hold another in the fall, Monday evening, September 21st. This class is very popular—you get to learn a LOT about sharpening knives, and we all know how much easier sharp knives make cooking.

Rosetta has some delectable Italian classes on the calendar for summer and fall. Her trip to Calabria is in September. There’s still space for more people. She was just featured in the Boston Globe, which ran an article about her ricotta making class, a class which will run again in October. And her cookbook will be out next year too.

Video

Tracy and I just finished a fun video, which is for a contest we would like to win! We need votes- so if you have 90 seconds (that’s how long the video is) view it and VOTE for us. We will get TV airtime if we win. Our friend Adrian Avilla, a student at Ex’pression College, filmed and edited the video for us. Adrian will also be doing video in our last summer camp.

In the Market

Figs are finally in (my tree, too! Yipee!!!). All the berries are great, including the best strawberries in my memory and giant blackberries. Cherries are getting near the end locally, but the ones from a bit farther, Washington and Oregon, are great. A hand-held, inexpensive pitter like the one from Oxo will make quick work of that job, so you can serve them in desserts (see below for the recipe of the month). Tomatoes are getting better, and the baby sungolds, sweet like candy, are showing up. Stone fruit is all at it’s peak, including the short-season Blenheim apricots. They are the little ones with mottled skins, that don’t look as if they’d be good—but they have the most flavor of all the varieties. On the veggie front, you’ve got the first eggplants, plenty of summer squash of all types, heirloom tomatoes, great green & yellow beans, and my favorite Romano beans, the flat broad green beans. I’m finding plenty of delicate lettuces, bright greens, artichokes, and more—just about every vegetable known to mankind is in the market right now.

 I’ve talked about eggs and the difference between the types before. Now there’s a video to show you what a pastured egg is, with thanks to our friends at Oliveto. They have a new “community” blog section, including the egg video. I recently catered a party where deviled eggs were a special request, and used some pastured eggs for them. Every single one was gobbled up. A deviled egg hint: a little creme fraiche lightens them up really nicely!

Recipe of the the Month

Cherries are great eaten out of hand, but for a special treat, pair this recipe, warm from the oven, with some vanilla ice cream. Grab the pitter first, and be prepared for a treat!