Coastal Cooking with Chef Michael Hutchings

Banana Salsa

Circa 1991

In the early 90s, a farmer names Dough Richardson raised a variety of Bananas in his farm at Los Conchitas, CA. The Seaside Banana Farm grew some 30 plus varieties of bananas. I created a banana salsa recipe using a Brazilian variety and paired it with a local caught grilled swordfish. The Brazilian, also known as Hawaiian Apple, because of its smooth texture, fruity flavor and ideal balance of sweetness and acidity. The farm was in a microclimate that supported the grown of bananas. Over time it proved to not be practical due to goffers, mudslides, and the occasional freezing temperature. Dough even tried hiring a helicopter to hover over the crop to forestall freezing. Dough did resuscitate his banana enterprise in 2002 and they are found at farmers markets in the Southland.

This recipe will work with the ubiquitous Cavendish strain of banana that is in your grocers. I also pair the salsa with grilled chicken, scallops and pork tenderloin.

Chef Michael Hutchings

 

Fire Chief and Fire Chef - The Inn Crowd Welcomes Chief Pat McElroy & Chef Michael Hutchings

Chief Pat McElroy

Join host Craig Case and Chef Michael Hutchings for another delicious episode of The Inn Crowd. We are delighted to welcome retired Fire Chief Pat McElroy to The Inn Crowd cooking show. McElroy's career as a firefighter has taken him to work in incidents throughout the country, including Hurricane Katrina, the Northridge Earthquake, and other major historical fires throughout the West Coast and Santa Barbara County.

About the Fire Department

The City of Santa Barbara (SBFD) has operated continuously since 1881. SBFD provides the response to all-risk emergencies to an average daily population of 123,000 people (90,000 residents plus visitors) within the 23 square mile City jurisdiction.

The department consists of 3 divisions: Administration, Operations, and Training, and Fire Prevention, staffed by 105 employees. 90 firefighters are assigned to the Operations Division, providing emergency response to the community 24 hours a day, 365 days a year from 8 different station locations. Special response capabilities include Hazardous Materials, Water Rescue, and Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF).

The menu for this episode starts with a Seafood "Crudo." Local rockfish and salmon fillet are accented with a lemon-fennel marinade and an array of tasty garnishes. For the main course, we have prepared a Q&D version of gnocchi called "Malfatti," which is to say poorly made, but tasty. The pasta dish would also serve as a foil for grilled check breast or pork cutlets. Dessert is another Q&D recipe, a version of Tiramisu that features those delicious Italian Amaretti cookies.

 

Pat McElroy, Chef Michael Hutchings. Host Craig Case

 

View us on The Inn Crowd Saturdays at 6:30 on ABC affiliate KEY channel 3. Please note that the airtime may vary to as late as 9:30 during the sports season. You may view the show online at the Santa Barbara News Press. Look to the right side of the web page for a link to the show. YTS Digital Films filmed and directed this show. 

Put on your apron, grab your whisk, fire up the oven, and get cooking. I'll provide the recipes; the rest is up to you. See you in the kitchen.

Tastefully,

Chef Michael Hutchings

 

Photo Courtesy of The Berry Man Produce

Guy Demangeon, Owner of The Berry Man Produce 

 

 A special thanks to The Berry Man Produce for providing the great produce for our show!

  All recipes copyright 2017 Michael Hutchings, All Rights Reserved

Photo Credits William Conlin YTS Video Productions unless otherwise noted.

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Organic Gold! More Chanterelles

In Santa Barbara, our chanterelle mushroom (Cantharellus californicus) season is usually from November to late February. On rare occasions, they might appear in September or as in the case of our latest find, in April. We struck gold yesterday, again. Last week one of my prime spots yielded one, perfect chanterelles. On the chance there might be more Christine, my wife, scanned under the bush and found another excellent button mushroom. A little more searching uncovered a few more.

The famed food writer of the early 1800s,  Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin,  was known for the quote, "The discovery of a new dish confers more happiness on humanity than the discovery of a new star." To which I would say, "The discovery of a chanterelle in late April confers more happiness than the discovery of a new quote."

I was a pioneer in utilizing the indigenous chanterelles back in 1981 when I was the chef of the Olive Mill Bistro. A lady named Francis Dwight introduced me to the local chanterelle. Soon after that, a fabulous season pulled me into the mushroom brokerage business, and I picked, bought and shipped 6 tons of mushroom around the country and to London. In 1984, Julia Child invited me to take her on a mushroom hunt for her show Dinner at Julia's. It was a real adventure. The first day of the scheduled taping, a terrific storm almost washed us into a creek. The next day the four-wheeled jeep got stuck in the mud. Persistence paid off, and we brought back a basket of chanterelles. Julia prepared the mushroom for the episode and after taping quipped, "That's a blow for fungafobia."

 

Julia Child, Michael Hutchings

 

 

To enjoy these mushroom, do a simple sauté in butter. These young buttons were still crunchy after cooking. Below is a basic recipe for preparing the chanterelles. This recipe also worked well with most mushrooms.

Tastefully,

Chef Michael Hutchings

 

 

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Top of the Granada

Chef Michael, Dan Burnham, Meg Burnham, Host Craig Case

There is a French culinary term Haute Cuisine that translates as High Cooking. This style of cooking is not cannabis cuisine but refers to the Grande cuisine of "high level" establishments, gourmet restaurants and luxury hotels. Haute cuisine is characterized by meticulous preparation and careful presentation of food, at a high price level.

In this episode, it's a double entendre, and the food style is elevated in execution and done on the top floor of the highest building in Santa Barbara!

I am cooking a Monte Carlo style Salad Niçoise as devised by Chef Alain Ducasse. As always, I have my spin on the dish. Since it is spring, I start with a soup duette course comprised of a watercress and leek soups. Dessert is a playful dish I call a "French Taco."

View us on The Inn Crowd Saturdays at 6:30 on ABC affiliate KEY channel 3. Please note that the airtime may vary to as late as 9:30 during the sports season. You may view the show online at the Santa Barbara News Press. Look to the right side of the web page for a link to the show. YTS Digital Films filmed and directed this show. 

Put on your apron, grab your whisk, fire up the oven and get cooking. I'll provide the recipes; the rest is up to you. See you in the kitchen, atop the penthouse.

Tastefully,

Chef Michael Hutchings

 

 

Photo Courtesy of The Berry Man Produce

Guy Demangeon, Owner of The Berry Man Produce 

 

 A special thanks to The Berry Man Produce for providing the great produce for our show!

  All recipes copyright 2017 Michael Hutchings, All Rights Reserved

Photo Credits William Conlin YTS Video Productions, unless otherwise noted.

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Italian Adventure, Saluto - Chef Michael Hutchings of The Inn Crowd Cooking Show

Melissa Mahan, Chef Michael Hutchings, Host Craig Case

If I had not gone the route of mastering the art of French cooking, I would have gone Italian. Italians have played an important part in my education. First, there was Ricardo Marino, our high school band teacher. He taught about life as well and fired my interest in music such that music was my major in college. Then there was my history teacher, Mr. DiCarlo. History was not the least of what he guided the students on. Mostly there was Dominick Laruccia. Dominick was a brilliant person having excelled in music performance (Carnegie Hall at 18), metal sculpting and organic chemistry (Berkley). Working for him was like getting a masters degree in life.

In that Italian vein, I have cooked an Italian "Saluto" to those descendants from the boot. We start with Pasta et Fagioli soup topped with a seared sea scallops. The dish hails from the fabled Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York City. The soup is a worthy dish on its own, and the scallops are a nice bonus. Be sure and get large dry-pack scallops. They cost more but are worth the price. The main dish of lamb chops was my Italnesque version of a French recipe. A pâté-like lamb is cooked in a mold and served with braised fennel. Finally, the dessert is a ricotta and pear mouse layered with a hazelnut meringue. Buono Appetito!

View us on The Inn Crowd Saturdays at 6:30 on ABC affiliate KEY channel 3. Please note that the airtime may vary as late as 9:30 during the sports season. You may view the show online at the Santa Barbara News Press. Look to the right side of the web page for a link to the show. YTS Digital Films filmed and directed this show. 

Put on your apron, grab your whisk, fire up the oven and get on your bib apron. I'll provide the recipes, and the rest is up to you. See you in the kitchen.

Tastefully,

Chef Michael Hutchings

 

 

 

View us on The Inn Crowd Saturdays at 6:30 on ABC affiliate KEY channel 3. Please note that the airtime may vary to as late as 9:30 during the sports season. You may view the show online at the Santa Barbara News Press. Look to the right side of the web page for a link to the show. YTS Digital Films filmed and directed this show. 

Put on your apron, grab your whisk, fire up the oven and get on your apron. I'll provide the recipes, the rest is up to you. See you in the kitchen.

Tastefully,

Chef Michael Hutchings

 

 

 

Photo Courtesy of The Berry Man Produce

Guy Demangeon, Owner of The Berry Man Produce 

 

 A special thanks to The Berry Man Produce for providing the great produce for our show!

  All recipes copyright 2017 Michael Hutchings, All Rights Reserved

Photo Credits William Conlin YTS Video Productions unless otherwise noted.

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Abalone and Red Wine!

 

Photo Wikipedia

Red wine and abalone? Yikes!

Photo Wikipedia

I am preparing an abalone tasting this week for a local organization. My usual default sauce is a beurre blanc with enoki mushrooms, dill, and fresh tomato. I am going to shake it up a bit and do a red wine butter sauce and set the abalone on a nest of forbidden rice. The abalone are raised on a farm by The Cultured Abalone. Dough Bush is the marine biologist in charge of the farm. They raise the red abalone as it has proven to be the best of the local species. Here is a link for abalone preparation that I made for The Cultured Abalone Farm a few years back.

 

Notes from Wikipedia: Haliotis rufescens (red abalone) is a species of very large edible sea snail in the family Haliotidae, the abalones, ormer shells or paua. It is distributed from British Columbia, Canada, to Baja California, Mexico. It is most common in the southern half of its range.

Red abalone is the largest and most common abalone found in the northern part of the state of California, and it is the only species of abalone still legally harvested there, though on a restricted basis.Habitat

Red abalone live in rocky areas with kelp. They feed on the kelp species that grow in their home range, including giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera), feather boa kelp (Egregia menziesii), and bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana). Juveniles eat coralline algae, bacteria, and diatoms. They are found from the intertidal zone to water more than 180 m (590 ft) deep but are most common between 6 and 40 m (20 and 131 ft).

Photo Wikipedia

Photo Michael Hutchings 

Noah's Anchorage 2018

Reaching for the Stars

 

 

PRESS RELEASE Reaching for Stars: Top Chef/Winemaker Dinner Benefits At-Risk Teens SANTA BARBARA, California–January 22, 2018–One night a year, top chefs team up to create the spectacular Reaching for Stars 5-course dinner to benefit local at-risk and homeless youth. This year, on Thursday, April 26th at the Santa Barbara Women’s Club, the program will be enhanced with premium wines from Brander, Alma Rosa, Babcock, Flying Goat Cellars, Buscador, and Lumen specifically paired to the culinary creations. Winemakers will also pour from their portfolios in a pre-dinner tasting. Reaching for Stars is the principal fundraiser for Youth & Family Services (YFS), the social branch of the Channel Islands YMCA. YFS comprises Noah’s Anchorage Youth Crisis Shelter–a licensed shelter for teens; My Home–providing housing for transitional age young adults; Support and Outreach Services–assisting homeless teens and those in risk of losing their housing, and the St. George Youth Center–providing after-school enrichment and support. Executive Chef Vincent Vanhecke has been leading the chef team for 14 years. His passion for helping kids comes from his heart and his history: “Supporting Reaching for Stars and YFS is important to me because it shows that the community cares about kids who are at risk and who have had a harsh upbringing. It is important to let them know that they are not different, that there is hope, and that many of us have been able to come out of these situations successfully.” His generous donation of his time and considerable talent has been matched with his top-chef team including chefs from the Wine Cask, the Yacht Club, La Cumbre Country Club, Michael’s Catering, Christine Dahl Pastries, Chocolats du CaliBressan, Bouchon, Sly’s, the University Club, SBCCS’s School of Culinary Arts and the culinary students of the same. This year’s menu will be accompanied by carefully curated regional wine pairings. Tama Takahashi of Inside Wine Santa Barbara has also selected vintners to participate in the wine tasting that will greet attendees as they arrive at the event. Takahashi volunteered her services after attending the event for several years, “Twice I’ve had the good fortune to be seated next to the keynote speaker–who is always one of the teens who have been helped by YFS. Hearing the personal story of a young person taken out of danger and mentored toward college has been profoundly moving and inspirational.” Valerie Kissell, Executive Director for YFS, comments on the challenges facing our youth. “We know that youth are extremely vulnerable when faced with trauma or adversity in their formative years and the support provided by programs, such as YFS, with consistent, caring adults can strengthen resiliency and the improve the prospect of future success.” Tickets for the event are $250 and include the winemaker tasting, 5-course gourmet wine-paired dinner, and a souvenir wine glass. A limited number of table sponsorships from $1,000 - $10,000 are available to support YFS programs. Please visit https://santabarbaracountyys.org/give/reachingforstars2018.html to purchase tickets or for more information. You are also invited to contact YFS Executive Director Valerie Kissell directly at (805) 569-1103 x 32.

 

 

Noah’s Anchorage 2018. 

5:30 PM April 26

Rockwood Women’s Club

Santa Barbara

 

HD’s Station:

Wineries pouring

Miniature Crab Cakes with Aioli garnished with Green Onion

Tuna Tartare on ruffled Potato Chips

Polenta mini Crostini with Mushroom Ragu

Vegetable Gazpacho served in demi tasse

Stephane Rapp and Students (SBCC)

Sybille Kroemer

Carla Romero

 

1^st Course: 

Alma Rosa 2015 Jabali' Chardonnay

Spring Bounty Dégustation

Spring Onion flan, Pickled Ramp, English Pea Puree, Candied Vadouvan Pistachio, Black Olive crumble, Green Garlic Crisps, Pea Tendril

Mike Blackwell (Hilton Garden Inn)

Mossin Sugish (Santa Barbara Yacht Club)

 

Fish Course:

Babcock Pinot Noir

Salmon Wellington with Savoy Cabbage and Apple Wood Smoked Bacon and Sea Scallop served with Forbidden Black Rice and a Beurre Rouge Sauce

Eric Widmer (La Cumbre Country Club)

Michael Hutchings (Michael’s Catering)

 

Main Course:

Buscador 2015 WaveSlider Syrah/Petit Sirah

Brander 2016 Cuvee Nicholas Sauvignon Blanc

Syrah-braised Bison Short Rib, Mushroom dusted Bone Marrow and

Wild Boar Shank Crepinette with braised Shiitakes and Spring Shallots

Randy Bublitz and students (SBCC)

Greg Murphy (Bouchon)

Brandon Cogan (Wine Cask)

 

Cheese:

Lumen 2015 Pinot, SM Valley

Fontina, Reggiano, Salsiccia and Artichoke Tart with petite red veined Sorrel, edible Calendula flowers, and Popcorn shoots

Vincent Vanhecke

Pete Clements (Pete Clements Catering)

 

Dessert:

Flying Goat 2013 Goat Bubbles Blanc de Noir

L’arbre à Pommes (The tree of Apples)

Christine Dahl (Christine Dahl Pastries)

Jessica Foster (Jessica Fosters confections)

Jean Michel Carré (Chocolats du CaliBressan)

 

 

The Inn Crowd Chef On Vacation

 

Eureka! I found it! The yellow mushroom gold has been scarce in Santa Barbara these past few drought-affected years. I found this lonesome, solitary chanterelle two days ago. It wound up on a sauteed breast of chicken.

I will be on a break for a few days. We are going to Yountville to dine at The French Laundry. I will catch up on Inn Crowd posts after my return and tell you about dinner at the Laundry.

 

Tastefully

 

Chef Michael

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