Coastal Cooking with Chef Michael Hutchings: January 2015

Jan 28, 2015 Dinner Aftermath

My wife brought home one of those precooked supermarket chickens. The idea was to have an easy Low mess meal. I guess I messed that up.
Of course I had mashed potatoes, green beans, artichokes with homemade mayonnaise and a kind of banana foster on rocky road ice cream.
Guess who gets to clean up.

Posted by Michael Hutchings at 08:44 AM in Food, Drink, Recipes | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The Inn Crowd Welcomes Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree

Firestone Winery St. Ynez Valley Photo Michael Hutchings

Chef Michael, Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree, Host Craig Case

Craig Case, host of The Inn Crowd, welcomes Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree to the kitchen at the Crossroads Estate in the picturesque Santa Ynez Valley. Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree is one of Santa Barbara's most ardent benefactors to local non-profit groups and other philanthropic causes.

Less know is that Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree and an accomplished home cook and even hosted a cooking show in the 1970s in the Los Angeles area. I have had the pleasure of cooking in her home and have admired her collection of cookbooks and knowledge of classic cuisine.

I planned a menu that had the "royal" treatment. The first course is a watercress soup that Chef Albert Roux use to serve to the Queen Mum while he was a private chef to the royal household. The second course is a salad served in 1953 to Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her coronation, hence the name "Coronation Salad." The dessert is a terrific bread pudding created by my chef-associate, Darren McGrady. Chef McGrady, know as the Royal Chef, cook for Princess Di and Queen Elizabeth in the royal household.

Join is on The Inn Crowd Saturdays at 6:30 on ABC affiliate KEY channel 3. View the show on-line at the Santa Barbara News Press. Look to the right side of the web page for a link to the show.

Put on your apron, grab your food processor and hang on to your whisk. We have 30 episodes coming to you this year. I'll provide the recipes, the rest is up to you. See you in the kitchen.

Tastefully,

Chef Michael Hutchings

Watercress Soup Photo William Conlin

Coronation Salad Photo W. Conlin

Bread Budding with Amaretto Photo W. Conlin

Special thanks to our production company, YTS Video Productions and William Conlin for the photographs.

Posted by Michael Hutchings at 12:03 PM in Food, Drink, Recipes, The Inn Crowd Cooking Show | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

At the Farmer's Market

Celery Root

Our local farmers market in Santa Barbara is a chef's Disneyland. This past week, Roots Farm had a huge display of celery root. Celery root is a humble, unassuming vegetable. When given the royal treatment, however, it is delicious. It works well in soups, as a julienne nest for fish, chicken and pork and can make a delicious mashed vegetable foil for roasts. I have also made flan-like mousses with chopped truffles. Here are a pair of recipes featuring this under appreciated vegetable.

Tastefully

Chef Michael Hutchings

Posted by Michael Hutchings at 07:32 AM in Food, Drink, Recipes | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Cooking Basics

My recipes shown on The Inn Crowd call for some basic preparations. I will post them so that you can reproduce what you see us make each episode. Here are a few sauce and stock basics.

Posted by Michael Hutchings at 07:59 PM in Food, Drink, Recipes | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Another "Boring" Dinner - Cioppino with Fresh Local Shrimp

We are about to have dinner before my first TV show on the in crowd. Christina has made a delicious cioppino with homemade bread.
Chef Michael

Our first show of this season's The Inn Crowd aired tonight. No cuts, burns or epithets uttered.

Great start to the season.

My wife make a delicious cioppini to enjoy while watching the show.

Tastefully,

Chef Michael Hutchings

Posted by Michael Hutchings at 06:28 PM in Food, Drink, Recipes | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Farmer's Market - Giant Fennel

Fennel at today's farmers market

Posted by Michael Hutchings at 02:13 PM in Food, Drink, Recipes | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Back on the Menu - Foie Gras

After being banned from restaurant menus for close to two years, a recent ruling in court has put the foie gras ban in the disposal. Gastronomes 1, PITA 0. While the ban was in place, it was still possible to order the delicacy from out of state sources. I treated friends to a foie gras feast for a birthday celebration last December. I simply sauteed the slices with salt and pepper and served a madeira sauce that my friend chef James Sly had made.

The luxury dish has been consumed for over 6,000 years. Egyptians and Romans were reported to have feasted on geese that fed on large amounts of figs. I have clipped the into from Wikipedia, see below, and included a recipe for a terrine.

Chef Michael Hutchings

Bas Relief from Egyptian Tomb Photo Wikipedia

From Wikipedia: "

Foie gras (ⁱ/ˌ f w ɑː ˈ ɡ r ɑː /, French for "fat liver") is a food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened. By French law,^[1] foie gras is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by force-feeding corn with a feeding tube, a process also known as gavage, although in Spain^[2] and other countries outside of France it is occasionally produced using natural feeding.^[3]

Foie gras is a popular and well-known delicacy in French cuisine. Its flavor is described as rich, buttery, and delicate, unlike that of an ordinary duck or goose liver. Foie gras is sold whole, or is prepared into mousse, parfait, or pâté, and may also be served as an accompaniment to another food item, such as steak. French law states that "Foie gras belongs to the protected cultural and gastronomical heritage of France."^[4]

The technique of gavage dates as far back as 2500 BC, when the ancient Egyptians began keeping birds for food and deliberately fattened the birds through force-feeding.^[5] Today, France is by far the largest producer and consumer of foie gras, though it is produced and consumed worldwide, particularly in other European nations, the United States, and China.^[6]"

My foie gras moment was in 1981 while doing a "stage" at Le Prés Catelan restaurant in Paris. The occasion was a dinner with a gaggle of ambassadors and the French president. The first course was a Terrine de Foie Gras. The wine was a 1970 sauternes from Chateau d'Yquem, the most renowned late harvest wine in the world. The then chef Patrick Lenotre, nephew of the famed Gastone Lenotre, treated me to a generous slice of the terrine and handed me a bottle of the Y'Quem. I scurried off to a far corner of the kitchen and savored the treat.

Here are a few Chateau Y'Quem tidbits from the Y'Quem website.

In 1790, Thomas Jefferson ordered thirty dozen bottles of Yquem for George Washington and himself.

"It takes three to appreciate the beauty and light that emanates when a bottle of Yquem is opened: the bottle, a friend, and oneself".

Thanks to an initiative of Emperor Meiji, Yquem was one of the first Western brands to be introduced to Japan.

A lover of Yquem's fabulous colour had a decanter specially designed to serve this great wine at the Tsar's court.

In the 1980s, a French astronaut who loved his country's great wines took some small bottles of Yquem with him on a mission to outer space.

It takes one vine to
produce one glass of Yquem.

Posted by Michael Hutchings at 06:45 AM in Food, Drink, Recipes | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The Inn Crowd Food with Archie McLaren

Firestone Winery Vineyards

All Photos Credit to William Conlin

The Inn Crowd is delighted to welcome my long time friend Archie McLaren, director of The Central Coast Wine Classic. Archie regales us with wine tales and his whit and charm. Mariculturalist Doug Bush drops by to deliver his farmed abalone for the first course. And naturally, host Craig Case is there to greet and eat.

I also want to thank the YTS video productions team of Gary, Harlene and William Conlin for a professional job of filming and editing the show. The Foley Food and Wine Society has generously provided sponsorship including the Crossroads Estate for our studio and selections from their fabulous wine portfolio.

The menu features my all time most popular signature dish, Cultured Abalone. The Cultured Abalone farm has been growing abalone for almost two decades. It's an onshore facility nestled by the coast in Goleta, California. The abalone are fed a natural diet of various types of seaweed and are marketed to restaurants after 18-36 months. The main course is braised, boneless beef short ribs, slowly cooked in a red wine broth until fork tender. Lastly, the great Sablé aux Fraise, created by chef Albert Roux of Le Gavroche is the featured dessert.

Put on your apron, fire up the oven and unsheathe the knives, it's time to get cooking. We'll supply the recipes and inspiration, the balance is in your frying pan.

Tastefully

Chef Michael Hutchings

Now on Facebook

Cultured Abalone Dill Butter Sauce

Photo W.Conlin

Braised Short Ribs

Photo W. Conlin

Sablé of Berries Photo W. Conlin

Sablé or Shortbread Dough

Crossroads Estate

Posted by Michael Hutchings at 12:21 PM in Food, Drink, Recipes, The Inn Crowd Cooking Show | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The Inn Crowd Food and Wine Show with Krista Harris

Firestone Estate Photo Michael Hutchings

Photo William Conlin

The first show of the 2015 season of The Inn Crowd is now "in the can" as said in the film industry. I am delighted to be the Chef-Host of this food and wine show. Featured guest is Krista Harris, Publisher of Edible Santa Barbara. Krista brings a mindset that local sourcing of food products is essential for economy and ecology. We feature local farmed mussels, beef tenderloin from the * Watkins Cattle Company in neaby Ojai with Santa Barbara Farmers Market vegetables. We go off the farm for the dessert and feature a rich chocolate dessert. And naturally, host Craig Case is there to greet and eat.

I want to express my appreciate to Craig Case for inviting me to be the chef of record. I also want to thank the YTS video productions team of Gary, Harlene and William Conlin who bring the electron magic together. Lastly I want to acknowledge the Foley Food and Wine Society for providing sponsorship including the Crossroads Estate for our studio and selections from their fabulous wine portfolio.

Put on your apron, grab your food processor and hang on to your whisk. We have 30 episodes coming to you this year. I'll provide the recipes, the rest is up to you. See you in the kitchen.

Tastefully

Chef Michael Hutchings

*Watkins Ranch Information