Coastal Cooking with Chef Michael Hutchings

Dinner at Hearst Castle 2013

 
The Central Coast Wine Classic has another year wrapped up. The four day events opened at the fabled Hearst Castle with a six course dinner crafted by a cadre of chefs. Arhchie Mclaren is the executive director of the CCWC these past 29 years. The press release is below.

Featuring the culinary artistry of Renowned Chefs from throughout California, including Chef Kurt Grasing of Grasing’s in Carmel, Chef Levi Mezick from 1833 in Monterey, Chef John Cox from Sierra Mar at Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, Chef Percy Whatley of the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, Chef James Sly, Chef-Owner of Sly’s in Carpinteria, and Chef Michael Hutchings of Michael’s Catering in Santa Barbara, coordinated by Chef James Sly’s Team, six courses with matching Wines from Vintner Dignitaries — $1250.00 Per Person Patron Sponsorship Required, which includes the Barrel Tasting, Auction, Auction Luncheon and Reserve Tasting.

It has been my pleasure to be involved over the last 29 years in a variety of rolls including coordinating chef, kitchen knave, petit four chef, canape chef and occasionally preparing on of the courses. The whole event is impossibly magical and been likened to the mythical city Brigadoon, arising out of a mist only to vanish whence it came.

Early in the morning, the space is a vacant terrace on the north side of the Castle. By 2:00, a full scale kitchen with walk in fridges, portable power generation, ware washing facilities, dish up lines under a heated tent, ice fridge, executive restrooms, tables adorned with $20,000 in glassware waiting for some twelve wine selections and a cadre of some 75 plus crew to serve the 250 guests. Besides serving some 250 guests, the crew is provided snacks and a full meal. And, all this vanishes by 12:00 or so. 

Enjoy the slide show

Chef Michael Hutchings

 

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Never content to leave a classic dish alone, I like to rethink the dish using the basic concept as a starting point to create variations. Scrambles eggs...scrambled eggs with chives and chive oil, scrambled eggs, chives and roasted mushrooms, scrambled eggs, chives, mushrooms on a puff pastry shell, all the preceding plus asparagus points and so forth. One has only to look at Escoffier's list of options for Dover Sole with over 66 variations mostly relating to saucing and garnishes.

They range from a simple Filet de Sole a l'Anglaise (Breaded and sauteed in butter and served with a softened herb butter) to the Turban de Filet de Sole Villaret (Sole fillets lining a savarin mold, filled with a lobster mousseline, garnished with crayfish, mushrooms, poached fish roe, sliced truffles, bechamel sauce finished with lobster butter.)

I have some 24 volumes of hand written recipe notes with some 5,000 plus entries that index rifts on classics as well as pilfered recipes, notes copied for ancient texts and the culinary ramblings over the expanse of a career. That codex is the next big project.

In the meantime, these photos are from a recent dinner where I turned a gazpacho into a sort of salad, prepared a classic paella and took the Australian Pavlova and served a roasted pineapple with a meringue crisp and raspberry granite.

 

Chef Michael

 

Paella - That Spanish Rice Dish

Pavlova Revisted

Simple Dinner Party

 At a recent dinner party, we prepared a "simple" menu for a small group of 15 guests. The abundance of great product makes it easy in Santa Barbara. I call this simple food because there are no modern, molecular methods that were used to prepare the dinner, just time tested, classic methods only were employed. Sauté, bake, steam...Might be boring but it works.

Chef Michael

Baby Greens, Avocado and Edible Flowers

Baked Salmon Persillade, Port and Five Spice Jus

Warm Chocolate Cake, Raspberries

Variety of Crisp Petit Fours

Baked Salmon Persillade

Warm Chocolate Velvet Cake

Variety of Petit Fours