Coastal Cooking with Chef Michael Hutchings: April 2015

Ladies Spring Luncheon

We catering a ladies luncheon last week and highlighted the spring season. It was a simple luncheon greatly enhanced by a great set of china.

Chef Michael

Hors d'oeuvres

Stilton Mousse on Endive, Bay Shrimp Louis on Cucumber, Lamb Chop Lollipop, Onion & Orange Confit

Watercress Soup, Nasturtium Blossom

Grilled Chicken Breast, Mushroom Stuffing

set on asparagus

Frisée and Bibb Lettuces-walnut vinaigrette

French Shortbreads

layered with white chocolate mousse, raspberries

raspberry sorbet

French Bread

Watercress Soup

Chicken Breast, Mushroom Stuffed

Sablé Stack, White Chocolate Mousse, Sorbet

Posted by Michael Hutchings at 05:33 PM in Food, Drink, Recipes | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Mondays are my teaching day at the local city college, Santa Barbara City College. I instruct culinary students in advanced pastry art. We prepared chef Michel Richard's "Kit Kat Bar" and chef Michel's Crême Brulée Stack and for good measure a desert from The Inn at Little Washington, Caramelized Apple Crépe.

The apple crêpe is new to my repertoire. The method is pretty straightforward. Make a crêpe batter and half cook a six inch crêpe in a nonstick pan. Lay thinly sliced apples on top, shingle fashion, sprinkle sugar on top and cook a little more, flip over and caramelized the sugar then use a squeeze bottle to ring the sides with heavy cream. Cook a minute or so. Allow to set 2 minutes, invert onto a serving plate. Serve with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream and pour flaming Calvados liquor on top at the table.

Chocolate "Kit Kat Bar"

Crème Brulée Filo Stack

Caramelized Apple Crêpe

Posted by Michael Hutchings at 09:26 AM in Food, Drink, Recipes | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Chef Michael Hutchings on The Inn Crowd Featuring Hiroko Benko & Greg Gorga

Santa Barbara Harbor Photo Alexander de Jesus

Fresnel Lens Exhibit.

Craig Case, host of The Inn Crowd, and chef Michael Hutchings join Hiroko Benko and Greg Gorga at The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. Hiroko in addition to her involvement with the Museum is the proprietor of the whale watching boat The Condor Express. The Condor Express offers whale watching tours in the Santa Barbara Channel. Greg Gorga is the director of the fabulous Maritime Museum in Santa Barbara. The Museum houses a great collection of maritime artifacts and holds education events focused on maritime topics.

SBMM Santa Barbara Maritime Museum

From the maritime web page... "The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) opened its doors in July 2000, inside the Santa Barbara Waterfront Center (formerly the Naval Reserve Building). Built in 1943 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, the building overlooks the Santa Barbara harbor, the 1916 Sea Mew David T. Nidever and the museum’s flagship, the 1917 sportfishing yacht Ranger.

Before the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum

The Santa Barbara Waterfront Center Building was a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project, part of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies to stimulate the economy. As the building neared completion World War II broke out, and the City of Santa Barbara sold the building to the United States Navy for $1. During the war the building served as a Navy Training Center, and the Navy built the pier out front, commonly known as the Navy Pier of City Pier. After the war the building housed the Navy Reserve. Many locals remember playing basketball here. In fact, the original herringbone, maple wood court can now be seen around the base of the new Point Conception Lighthouse Fresnel Lens Exhibit.

In the 1990’s the City of Santa Barbara bought the building back from the U.S. Navy for $2.4 million, and then had to invest another $2 million in ADA upgrades. The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum opened its doors in July 2000, fulfilling one of the original purposes of the WPA project, to house maritime artifacts. The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum rents this 8,000 square feet space from the City of Santa Barbara’s Waterfront Enterprise Zone."

The menu was inspired by the sea and the early days of Spanish colonial California. A salad starter is created from the gazpacho soup native to Andalusia. A spectacular paella serves as the main attraction, full of seafood and the famous "bomba" rice flavored with saffron. Dessert is a religious experience highlighting the St. James cake, an almond based pastry.

Saffron Threads Drying, Photo Wikipedia

Saffron is one of those exotic ingredients in the cooking repertoire. While expensive, quality saffron goes a long ways. The main thing to know about saffron is:

Saffron threads (Stigmas) are all red (no other color).

Saffron threads must be dry and brittle to the touch.

Saffron aroma is strong and fresh, never musty.

A great source for quality saffron is Vanilla, Saffron Imports in San Francisco. Ordering on line is easy and prices are commensurate with the quality.

Bomba Rice Photo Wikipedia

Bomba is a Spanish short-grain rice that expands in width when cooked. Most other rice varieties expand in length. It is able to absorb three times its volume in liquid, so it is one of the best rice varieties for the preparation of popular Spanish paella recipes. The grains remain separate when cooked and do not stick together. Bomba rice is expensive compared to other rice varieties due to the care required in cultivation and the length of time required for it to mature. It is most often available in specialty shops and through mail order suppliers.

Hiroko Benko, Chef Michael, Craig Case

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. YTS Digital Films produced and directed this show. Foley Food and Wine Society is our host and provides wines from their vast portfolio.

Put on your apron, grab your food processor get your sea legs on 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 on board.

Tastefully,

Chef Michael Hutchings

Michael's Catering specializes in modern California-French, European and American cuisine. Consider our catering service for your next dinner party, wine reception or banquet.

Gazpacho Inspired Salad

Seafood Paella

St. James Cake

Food and People Photo Credits William Conlin YTS Video Productions

Special thanks to Craig Case and YTS Video Productions

Chef Michael Hutchings on The Inn Crowd with Karl Hutterer

Craig Case, Chef Michael, Karl Hutterer

Chef Michael and Karl Hutterer

Craig Case, host of The Inn Crowd, and chef Michael Hutchings welcomes Karl Hutterer to the kitchen at the Crossroads Estate situated in the rustic Santa Ynez Valley. Karl is the former director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and now is Director Emeritus.

I planned a menu of Austrian classics to honor Karls heritage. The first course features an Austrian potato soup with root vegetables and a rich beef broth base. The main course highlighted Weiner Schnitzel with braised cabbage and apples. Dessert hails from the city of Salzburg, the famous Salberger Knockerl that echoes the three mountains around Salzburg.

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. YTS Digital Films produced and directed this show. Foley Food and Wine Society is our host and provides wines from their vast 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

Michael's Catering specializes in modern California-French, European and American cuisine. Consider our catering service for your next dinner party, wine reception or banquet.

Austrian Potato Soup

Weiner Schnitzel

Salzberger Knockerl

Food and People Photo Credits William Conlin YTS Video Productions

Special thanks to Craig Case and YTS Video Productions

Reaching for the Stars Fundraiser

Reaching for Stars

Thursday, May 7, 2015

5:45-9:30

Montecito Country Club, 920 Summit Road

An unforgettable evening of extraordinary cuisine in a lovely setting, to benefit Youth and Family Services

YMCA and the young people we serve through My Home, Noah's Anchorage Youth Crisis Shelter,

Support and Outreach Services, and the St. George Family Youth Center.

Enjoy tantalizing dishes prepared by Santa Barbara's top chefs, paired with fine wines of the region.

From passed hors d'oeuvres through the amazing five-course dinner, our chefs will work in

teams to create culinary masterpieces to share with you throughout the evening. Now in its 16th year,

this is an event not to be missed!

Click here to purchase tickets.

2015 Star Chefs

Becca Iglesias | C'est Cheese
Greg Murphy | bouchon

Brian Parks | Georgia's Smokehouse
Stephane Rapp | SBCC School of Culinary Arts

2015 Star Sponsors

Event Sponsor

Marilyn and Steven Gutsche

Table Sponsor
Union Bank

Patron Sponsors
Ann Jackson Family Foundation
BB&H Benefit Design

The Storage Place
Hutton Parker Foundation
Montecito Bank and Trust
Doyle-Morgan Structural Engineering, Phileen and Morgan Jones
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians
Venoco Inc

Individual Sponsors
Community West Bank
Anna and David Grotenhuis

Marsha and Al Roberson
Lynn and Roger Karlson
UCSB Office of Student Life

Posted by Michael Hutchings at 04:39 PM in Food, Drink, Recipes | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Chef Michael Hutchings on The Inn Crowd with Anne Towbes and Debby Davidson

Anne Towbes, Chef Michael, Debby Davidson, Craig Case

We were saddened to hear the Debby Passed away recently after a battle with cancer. Our condolences to family and friends. She was a great lady.

Anne Towbes, Debby Davisdon

Craig Case, host of The Inn Crowd, and chef Michael Hutchings welcomes Anne Towbes, and Debby Davidson to the kitchen at the Crossroads Estate situated in the rustic Santa Ynez Valley. Anne is a philanthropist and community leader and Debby is renowned for her newscasting career on our local television station. Click on their names for a link for more on their careers.

For the menu, I planned a menu of classics. First course features a potato blini finished with a caviar cream and smoked salmon. The main course is a rack of lamb. served boneless, sauced with a tarragon jus and garnished with market vegetables and a port glazed Anna Potato. To finish the menu, we prepared a cream brulée perfumed with lavender and a side of French crisp petit fours.

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. YTS Digital Films produced and directed this show. Foley Food and Wine Society is our host and provides wines from their vast 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. Follow these recipes and get "runnin, cookin and eatin." See you in the kitchen.

Tastefully,

Chef Michael Hutchings

Michael's Catering specializes in modern California-French, European and American cuisine. Consider our catering service for your next dinner party, wine reception or banquet.

Potato Blini, Golden Caviar Cream

Lamb Noisettes, Market Vegetables

Lavender Creme Brulee

Food and People Photo Credits William Conlin YTS Video Productions

Special thanks to Craig Case and YTS Video Productions

Au Pied de Cochon Paris

We wandered our environs near our rented apartment in Paris. First we circumnavigated an ancient church called St. Eustache. The bells were ringing like crazy at 7:00 so we thought a choir of angels must be singing. It turned out to be a soup kitchen calling the chosen to partake in a potage with some hundred plus disciples.
We wandered further on and came across a place called Au Pied de Couchon, over 60 years old. Yes, pigs feet were on the menu. As well as tails, snout and everything on between.
The place has been serving pigs trotters and other classic bistro fare since 1947. I opted for two classics, onion soup and mixed pig parts breaded and deep fried (ears, feet, cheeks, and tail) with bearnaise.

We washed it down with Cote de Brouilly and Badoit. Christine dined on a creamy lentil soup with chorizo and a veal dish christened tendron de veau, braised veal breast.
There was a bit of excitement when four policeman arrived to take care of an apparently homeless person who skipped out on paying her bill. Where were they when Charlie got assaulted?
Fun place, lots of character and professional service. Awarded three cloven hooves by moi, oink oink.

Chef Michael Hutchings