In the Kitchen

What's New at Paulding & Company

October 2009

Special Events

October 11, Crabby Chef Competition
Last year Terry and Tracy Paulding beat out a distinguished field in this Iron Chef event, and won the trophy, unseating a multi-year champ! We defend out title on Sunday the 11th, at 2 PM in the Spenger?s parking lot (4th & Hearst, Berkeley). The day is a benefit for Cal Rec Sports Camp Scholarships, with food, drink and music from Freight & Salvage from 11 AM to 4 PM.

October 14th, Special Cooking Class with Terry Paulding
A limited number of spots are still available for this ?catering prep? class, where we?ll make food for ourselves, plus more for the next evening?s event. The menu is a surprise, the class is a steal?only $35 and you get to come to the mixer the next night free, too!

October 15th, Emeryville Chamber of Commerce Mixer at the Kitchen
If you haven?t been in lately, here?s a chance to stop in, eat some great food and meet other local business people. We?d love to see you!

What Makes Paulding & Company Unique?

A client recently told me that the experience their group was having in the kitchen was unique, and that of the many outings she?d been on over the years, this was the best one ever. Quite a compliment to our chefs and our organization.

You can?t get the same kind of engaging experience on a wine country tour, Alcatraz trip, Chinatown walk. These were some of the other activities open to the 500 attorneys in this particular convention group, 50 of whom opted to come to play in our kitchen. We made absolutely delicious food together. There?s a sense of accomplishment, tasting the focaccia you personally kneaded, watched rise, formed, and picked the toppings for, or searing the scallops and learning by experience where that exact point of perfect doneness is. There?s deep satisfaction in having everyone taste your hand-formed gnocchi or the dessert you?ve made, and seeing their pleasure at the flavors you?ve magically, almost alchemically, helped create. You end up sharing a meal you all made, with a glass of wine and good conversation with one another and our friendly chefs. This is the alchemy of the kitchen at Paulding & Company.

There are several things that make us stand apart?our great kitchen, our great chefs, and a philosophy we bring to the prep table: We don?t believe in doing it for you, but rather in teaching you how to do it well yourself, so you can take home new skills and feel comfortable making the dishes in your own kitchen.

Murder on the Menu: The Ultimate Cooking Experience

We are always on the lookout for new and different experiences for you work team. We?ve just teamed up with Murder on the Menu and TeamBuilding Unlimited, California?s #1 mystery event company, to bring our clients a customized murder mystery event, set in our kitchen and featuring a mystery that unfolds as your guests cook and dine, one delicious clue at a time! A crew of improv actors will add to the drama. We are excited to be hosting our first joint event in just a few weeks. While you?re contemplating a unique holiday party experience for your crew, why not consider this? It?s available for groups of up to 65 guests.

Holiday Parties, Holiday Gift Certificates

There are never enough days just preceding the holidays to fit in all the parties?so we hope you?ll book yours this month rather than waiting. As an incentive, if you book by October 31st, and we?ll include sumptuous arrival hors d?oeuvres for the group at no charge!

We offer gift certificates for private cooking parties and events?a wonderful group gift idea!

Call us at 510.594.1104, or email cook@pauldingandco.com

In the Market

I predict we?re going to have a cold, early winter. Summer fruit is pretty much finished, except for a few melons, some late plums, and of course strawberries, which will last into the winter although their summer sweetness will diminsh. Plenty of fall figs and pears, Asian pears, apples and grapes have arrived in the market. Persimmons and pomegranates have made an appearance?and I?m not sure I remember persimmons arriving before September ends ever before, but Saturday I even had tastes of a ripe Hachiya (the ones you have to eat soft) at the market. On the vegetable side of the equation, the lettuces are getting thicker-leaved and sturdier, green beans are waning, and broccoli and cauliflower, although around all summer, are getting nicer now. Greens like kale and chard are around but not in large supply, they?ll improve as the weather cools. Summer squash is still lovely, and hard winter squash coming to market; peppers, are still strong, and eggplants for a little while longer. If you?re an okra lover, you?ll also find some still. Find a handy list of farmer?s markets online.

More Classes

Rosetta?s roster of fall offerings are mostly sold out, but there?s still spots in her November 5th Wild Mushroom class, and in Christmas in Calabria, on December 4th. If you really want to get into a sold-out class, be sure to get on the waiting list?sometimes there are enough people to add another section.

NEW! Fit For the New Year!

Join Tracy Paulding (cooking) and Antonio Narajo (personal trainer) for a food and exercise feast! Get a ?jump-start? on your New Year?s resolution with this rewarding series of classes. Each one-day session will combine two high-energy work-outs (all levels welcome), a catered breakfast and a healthy-cooking class leading to a healthy and delicious lunch. Menus will change each week. Come build motivation, skill and insight, to create healthy habits for now and 2010!

This is a series of four classes, meeting Sundays?November 8, 15, 22, and 29?from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Part of the class will be in the kitchen?and part in the Team Tufunga Gym, around the block.

Recipe of the Month

My fig tree is having a bumper crop this year, so I?ve had to figure out what (besides offer them to friends) to do with all the Mission figs. I?ve roasted them to pair with a pistachio torte (in the recipe archive use the Almond cake but substitute raw pistachios), I?ve oven-dried them and jarred them up with honey, and I?ve invented a great fish recipe, using both figs and their leaves, plus other herbs I have in the garden?a do-it-now kind of dish, as the fig leaves will begin to dry and fall soon. If you don?t have access to fig leaves, you can simply grill the swordfish and make the salsa. Right now there?s a great run of local (Monterey) swordfish in the market, too.

See the recipe »