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Chef Christine Dahl created this cake for the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. The cake is a vanilla chiffon cake. Fillings include house made lemon curd, white chocolate mousse and fresh raspberries. All this is frosted with buttercream and decorated with inedible frogs.
The reception was in the bird hall (obvious) and was a celebration for the twenty years of avian art exhibits at the museum.
Chef Michael Hutchings
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This past Saturday the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History held its annual wine festival. We were delighted to be there serving the participants.
With some 7,108 steps, we served 1,400 "meatballs and mashed potatoes" to some 1,000 guests. Well, they were not as pedestrian as you might imagine. Being a flavor-smith, I added a few flavor twists.
I used 50 pounds short ribs as the meat base and added black chanterelles (see note) with a little truffle oil for good measure. The chanterelles, also called trumpets of death or "poor man's truffles," were dried and reconstituted in warm water. I set these little flavor gems on mashed potatoes flavored with dried porcini mushroom powder. The potatoes looked like a peanut butter mix but has an earthy, rich flavor that begs for a pinot noir.
As fast, and we were fast, as we could dish the meatballs up, they were snatched up by the wine enthusiasts, all 1,400 of those meatballs.
Note from Wikipedia: "
Craterellus cornucopioides, or horn of plenty, is an edible mushroom. It can also be known as the black chanterelle, black trumpet, trompette de la mort (French) or trumpet of the dead.
The Cornucopia, in Greek mythology, referred to the magnificent horn of the nymph Amalthea's goat (or of herself in goat form), that filled itself with whatever meat or drink its owner requested. It has become the symbol of plenty.
A possible origin for the name "trumpet of the dead" is that the growing mushrooms were seen as being played as trumpets by dead people under the ground."
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Chef Michael is delighted to announce a new series of cooking classes in his professional kitchen. Michael Hutchings is the host of the popular video cooking show The Inn Crowd, owner of Michael's Catering, and Adjunct Professor of Advanced Pastries at Santa Barbara City College.
Classes are held in the chef's kitchen and will feature a range of dishes designed for entertaining at home. Food styles encompass classic Europeans foods as well as the chef favorite American dishes and more.
Chef Michael's will show all the details in preparing the recipes. Students will assist in some of the preparation.You will see professional methods for you to use in your own cooking. Learn the fundamental skills for a lifetime of enjoyable cooking. Work side-by-side with other students to prepare each dish. Interact with classmates and the chef Michael for a rich learning experience. You will have recipes for all dishes prepared, special equipment needs.
Classes are 2 to 2½ hours in length. We offer three different formats listed below. Classes are 2 to 2½ hours in length. You will be given a tasting size portion of all the dishes prepared during the class. We will also provide you with recipes for all the menu items. Please see our FAQs blog for more details.
Demonstration: Designed as an observation class, participants watch while chefs explain and show recipe preparation and cooking techniques. All dishes are sampled by the participants. Class is limited to 12 people.
Demonstration and participation: Participants will be able to rotate to have hands on experience. All dishes will be sampled by the students. Class size is limited to 10
Cook and Dine: Includes some hands on as well as a full dinner for participants. Following the demonstration, dinner will be served in the kitchen. We will provide non-alcoholic beverages and you are welcome to provide your own wines to enjoy.
Chef Michael’s upcoming cooking school schedule:
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I am delighted to offer our cooking school sessions. Below is all the information you will need to participate.
How do I register for a class?
Please call 805 568-1896 or email us at [email protected] to register. You may also mail payment to 22 W. Mission Street Suite G, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.
Be sure and leave your contact information, which session you are requesting and the number of participants.
How long are classes?
Classes are 2 to 2½ hours in length.
What is the format of your classes?
We offer three different formats listed below. Classes are 2 to 2½ hours in length. You will be given a tasting size portion of all the dishes prepared during the class. We will also provide you with recipes for all the menu items.
Demonstration: Designed as an observation class, participants watch while chefs explain and show recipe preparation and cooking techniques. All dishes are sampled by the perticipants. Class is limited to 12 people.
Demonstration with some hands-on participation: Participants will be able to rotate to have hands on experience. All dishes will be sampled by the students. Class size is limited to 10
Cook and Dine: Includes some hands on as well as a full dinner for participants. Following the demonstration, dinner will be served in the kitchen. We will provide non-alcoholic beverages and you are welcome to provide your own wines to enjoy.
Should I register for a class with a waitlist?
If a class is in waitlist status, you can add your name to the waiting list. You do not need to submit any payment information until a spot becomes available. If an opening becomes available, you will be contacted by phone or email. Please provide both day and evening phone numbers. Your credit card information will be required at the time you accept a spot in the class. Depending on kitchen availability and interest, we may add additional classes to satisfy demand.
What to expect in your class.
Chef Michael’s will show all the details in preparing the recipes. Student volunteers will assist in some of the preparation. You will see professional methods for you to use in your own cooking.
Learn the fundamental skills for a lifetime of enjoyable cooking.
Work side-by-side with other students to prepare each dish.
Interact with classmates and the chef Michael for a rich learning experience.
You will have recipes for all dishes prepared, special equipment needs.
What is your cancellation policy for classes?
You may cancel your registration for a class up to 48 hours in advance of the class starting time and receive a full refund or transfer to another class of equal value. To cancel a registration, contact the kitchen at 805 568-1896. No refund or exchanges will be given on classes that are cancelled less than 48 hours prior to the class. SB Cooking School reserves the right to cancel any class that fails to attract sufficient enrollment, chef illness or inclement weather. We will contact you by email or telephone and issue a full refund or you may request to be transferred to another class of your choice (depending on availability). If you miss a class due to weather-related concerns, our standard cancellation policy applies.
What should I wear?
We ask that you wear comfortable, casual clothing and flat comfortable shoes with closed toes. Please do not wear open toed shoes or sandals. We will have aprons for you to wear. The aprons are also available for purchase. We are not responsible for damage that might occur with preparing food.
Details
Class participants must be 18 years old or more. You must be 21 years old to consume alcohol and able to provide proper identification when asked by our staff. Use of equipment is at the risk of the participants.
Location and parking: Handicap parking is available, please call ahead as stalls are limited. Due to limited space, all other please use street parking. Location is 22 W. Mission Street, Suite G in the back of the old Flying “A” studios between State Street and Chapala.
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The first day on our recent trip to Paris was capped with a dinner at a new restaurant called Spring. The restaurant was suggested to us by one of my wife's wedding cake clients. Located just a whisk's toss from the Louvre, we walked to dinner from the apartment we rented on Rue Montmarte. It is located on an alley that you might not walk had it been in most large cities. It was founded by an American, Daniel Rose, who went to Paris to study Greek, got hooked on cooking, went to cooking school at the Bocuse Institute, worked around France and then dove into the restaurant business.
The menu format is Prix Fixe with some minor choices within the menu. On American couple seated next to us was annoyed with the format and left five minutes after arriving. They had no sense of adventure.
Our meal was quite good. The standouts were an razor clam amuse bouche . Razor clams are seldom seen on a menu and these were simply done with an olive oil-herb butter. The starter was a riff on asparagus with amusing garnishes. A fish course was next, sea bass with artichoke hearts and a fish based coriander spiked broth. We also enjoyed a classic skate wing in brown butter, breast of duckling (maigret) with chickpea puree and an array of desserts (see photo below).
In their own words: "Dinner is 84 euros. An optional cheese course is 15 euros
Spring Restaurant serves a ‘prix fixe’ menu. The dishes are inspired by the market and the French tradition. Daniel Rose and his team love France and all things french. In addition to a team of cooks, servers and sommeliers, there are dozens of different suppliers, producers, and fisherman from all over France who make your meal possible. Dinner is served in 4 courses (3 savory dishes and dessert).
There is no menu or ‘carte’- we simply make you dinner. The only thing you might want to choose is the wine, but our Sommeliers would be glad to choose for you.
The Spring story began in 1998 when Daniel Rose moved to Paris to finish university. After graduation, Daniel moved to Lyon to learn to cook and enrolled in the Institut Bocuse cooking school. After 6 years of apprenticeship and adventure all over France, Daniel decided to open a restaurant. Having very little experience running a restaurant he opened the only one he thought he could run properly: a very small one. After a few years of a consistently full house, Daniel discovered an abandoned skate board shop in the center of Paris and decided to move locations.
On the 14th of July 2010, after two years of renovation, Daniel and his new team moved Spring to its current location and it has since been growing into a proper restaurant. Spring restaurant is Daniel Rose’s vision of a classic french meal: abundant and excellent products from all over France, attentive service and carefully chosen wines.
While Spring began as a ‘one man show’, Spring is now a team effort with cooks, captains, waiters, sommeliers all united by the same purpose: to please our customers and create an enjoyable moment at the table."
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We will be at the Santa Barbara Wine Festival this coming Saturday at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. I have had the pleasure of participating in this event many times over the last couple of decades. This is the longest running and best wine festival on the central coast.
2015 Santa Barbara Wine Festival™
Saturday, June 27, 2015
2:00-5:00 PM
SWIRL, SIP, & SAVOR...wines from Central Coast premier wineries complemented with savory and sweet delectable delights at the Santa Barbara Wine Festival™. Escape for an afternoon and enjoy the refreshing ambiance of being in nature as you take pleasure in tantalizing tastings of food and wine.
I have created a new dish designed to compliment the great central coast wine varietal pinot noir. We are preparing some 1200 short rib meatballs with "poor man's truffle" also know as Trumpet de Mort (trumpets of death). They are being served on a porcini flavored mashed potato and a classic demi glace.
Join as at this great event. Tickets are going fast!
From Wikipedia:
"Craterellus cornucopioides, or horn of plenty, is an edible mushroom. It can also be known as the black chanterelle, black trumpet, trompette de la mort (French) or trumpet of the dead.
The Cornucopia, in Greek mythology, referred to the magnificent horn of the nymph Amalthea's goat (or of herself in goat form), that filled itself with whatever meat or drink its owner requested. It has become the symbol of plenty.
A possible origin for the name "trumpet of the dead" is that the growing mushrooms were seen as being played as trumpets by dead people under the ground."
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Photo WikipediaWarning, this is a biology report on farmed shellfish.My chef friend, Kurt Grasing who owns Grasing's in Carmel, California asked his abalone supplier about food safety of abalone during these algae blooms. Below is the response."Periodically, there is an algae bloom off the coast of California. When is gets out of hand, filter feeding shellfish should not be consumed due to concentrations of toxins.
Here is some background info on the situation with the algae bloom:
It is caused by a marine diatom in the genus Pseudonitzschia. The diatom is often present in our waters during spring and summer, and the theory is that it only produces the toxin when it is stressed, which (theoretically) it is right now due to the El Nino which means there are less of the nutrients the diatom needs to grow. The toxin is called domoic acid, and it causes amnesiac shellfish poisoning. The toxin is not neutralized by cooking. During our 23 years of farming abalone, there have been almost annual spikes of domoic acid. The majority of those spikes have been minor, but this year's is the biggest since 2000 (another El Nino year).
The Shellfish Sanitation Department (CA State Dept. of Health Services) is very concerned about this bloom and is very actively monitoring the commercially grown shellfish produced in CA. In terms of the risk associated with eating shellfish from the coast of California right now, filter feeding shellfish like oysters, mussels, clams and scallops grown in waters where the bloom is present are the biggest potential threat to human health. They filter out microalgae, like Pseudonitzschia, when they filter feed and the toxins become concentrated in their tissues, mainly the viscera (stomach, gonads, gills, etc) as opposed to the muscles. Abalone are grazers and eat macro algae - seaweeds - which are not producers of toxins. In past episodes, we have sent samples of our abalone to be analyzed, and they have come back with either "non-detect", or very low levels of toxins - below the criteria established for protecting human health. Today, we are sending in more samples for analysis and we should have the results by the end of the week.
Because any toxin in the abalone would most likely be concentrated in the viscera, out of an abundance of caution we are recommending that our customers avoid preparations that include the stomach, gills, gonad, etc. We believe that the foot muscle, which is the part of the abalone most commonly eaten, is safe to eat."
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Our last episode for this season was produced at the Santa Barbara City College where I am an adjunct professor for advanced pastry. The college has a two year culinary program that includes hands on instruction. Chef Randy Bublitz, head of the culinary program, recruited three students to be part of the episode.
The format for the show features three advanced students that are provided with a selection of mystery ingredients. They are then taken to The Berry Man Produce company and have five minutes to gather ingredients for their competition from within the 20,000 foot warehouse that has coolers you can drive a fork lift inside. This local Santa Barbara company is owned and operated by Santa Barbara resident Guy DeMangeon. The Berry Man started on a shoestring in 1989, when Guy began selling sweet, succulent local strawberries out of the back of his truck. Going from restaurant backdoor to restaurant backdoor, starting with a few, the number grew as Guy's reputation spread. The inventory grew along with his reputation; more and more chefs asked Guy to carry more and more items.
Dreams can become reality; The Berry Man's success is living proof. Today, there is much, much more than just berries -- or even produce. We carry convenience items like a full line of dairy including milk, eggs, conventional, as well as specialty cheeses, state of the art creme fraiche, fresh squeezed fruit and vegetable juices, prepared deli salads, an amazing salsa fresca, fresh and frozen pastas, Asian seaweed salads, exotic mushrooms and truffles, olive oils, flowers, exotic produce, delectable desserts and more.
"The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of"
Back to the show. Our contestants are Lucas Da Silva Chagas, Tim Levadnuk & Omar Uribe. The student chefs were given local cultured abalone from The Cultured Abalone mariculture farm to prepare as an appetizer. Abalone is now somewhat exotic on a restaurant menu due to the lack of a wild catch. The harvesting of wild abalone was terminated in the early 1990s due to overfishing.
Now, aquaculture is the only source for this very California mollusk. I brought the requisite pounding mallets and gave the young Turks the one minute abalone prep speech. The main course secret ingredient was rack of lamb. I have seen some TV shows that bring in absolutely idiotic ingredients like movie candies to challenge the rookies. Since I had to taste the results, I wanted something I like to eat.
Contestants are given 30 minutes to prepare each course and then present their dishes to be judged. The judging panel consisted of myself, Chef Randy Bublitz and Vanessa Craig who was a recent contestant on the Food Network's Allstar Academy.
First Course Cultured Abalone
Entree Rack of Lamb
And the winner is...
Omar Uribe with his abalone "Tomatillo & Mushrooms" and "Rack of Lamb on Polenta, Berry Jam"
And the runner ups...
Put on your apron, grab your food processor, put on your crown and hang on to your whisk. Learn to eat like royalty for a pittance. I'll provide the recipes, the rest is up to you.
Tastefully,
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.
All recipes copyright 2015 Michael Hutchings, All Rights Reserved
Food and People Photo Credits William Conlin YTS Video Productions
Special thanks to Craig Case and YTS Video Productions
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