I just finished answering questions for my Kitchit profile.This was fun. :) 1. describe your most memorable meal: I have two. One, every Thanksgiving meal my Mom makes. Im a good cook, but her turkey is always juicy, and her stuffing is da bomb! And two, every dish Ive ever had at Boulevard restaurant in San Francisco. Ive been there many times, and Ive yet to have a dish I didnt love!! 2. five ingredients I always have on hand Kosher salt, Freshly cracked pepper, garlic, olive oil....and passion 3. I knew I wanted to be a chef when: I was willing to give up being a size 2. Most women wouldnt do that! 4. My guilty pleasure food is: Foie Gras!! If they dont serve foie gras in heaven, then Im not going... 5. My beverage of choice is: An aged Cabernet from Silverado winery. I bought my husband a bottle as a Fathers day gift and we drank it when he harvested his first California black tail deer. I dont know which tasted better, the wine or the venison. Ever since then, I always recommend my clients serve a bottle with vension. 6. My culinary role model: Well, there are many. My Mother, of course, who many times, managed to feed 5 hungry children with 3 eggs, 2 potatoes and a few slices of bread and made it the best meal Id ever had. My Great Grand-Father, Giuseppe. He immigrated from Italy as a teen, and became a chef. I must have inherited his palate and the love of cooking running through my veins. As a contemporary chef, I really admire Chef David Burke. I love how he breaks all culinary rules! Hes fearless. Id love to meet him. I always make it a point to stop in at any of his restaurants, buy all his cookbooks, and cheer him on any time hes on Food Network challenges. And finally, everyone, who puts all they have into breaking culinary boundaries,,,, those who feed the hungry,,,, folks who work out in the fields for low wages to bring in fresh produce to local farmers markets,,,, and even the timid culinary student who is willing to pick up a very sharp knife, knowing it will be the first step in a long career where you literally bleed for your art. 7. My favorite cookbook: Every cookbook I own is my favorite. Whether its the c.1900 Amish cookbook my Mom found at a yard sale, an expensive one I had to save a few months to buy, such as one from El Bulli, or the small regional cookbooks my husband buys for me from every state he goes to for business, and I guess the most precious one was one given to me by my daughter, Erica who made a collection of recipes when she was in grade school, I received as a Christmas gift. 8. My favorite ice cream flavor: No doubt about it!! Tea Berry ice cream at Penn State Creamery in State College, PA! I was raised just over the mountain from State College, and tea berries grow wild all around the area. When I was a kid, I used to pick them and chew on the berries for that wild wintergreen/bubble gum flavor. 9. My favorite local artisan food product is: Bistro Blends Heirloom Balsamic Vinegar from Napa Valley. They say the way to tell if a balsamic vinegar is really good, is the ability to drink it from a tablespoon, but with Bistro Blends, I can drink it from a glass! I love this stuff. When I want to entice my daughter, Caitlin to come home for a visit, I offer to make her favorite appetizer/salad. I crust a piece of brie with ground macadamia nuts, then sear it in a pan until the inside gets gooey, slice a fresh Granny Smith apple along side some salad greens, a French baguette and butter sprinkled with Himalayan pink salt.... then I drizzle the Bistro Blends Balsamic Vinegar over ALL OF IT! She squeals with delight at the sight of it. 10. my favorite person/people to cook for are: Anyone who can appreciate the heart and soul I put into it. 11. My favorite season to cook: Its got to be Autumn. My husband is a hunter, so he brings home lots of venison, wild pig, rabbits, and squirrels for me to cook. Also, Autumn is the time of year for braised meats, roasted root vegetables, risotto, chestnuts and soups that warm the body and soul. Nothing smells better than Autumn. I like it when my husband fires up the smoker and I brine a turkey and then wrap it in layers caul fat and we smoke it for several hours before our annual Fall party. Its the best time of year for entertaining friends over a great meal, a bottle of wine, and lots of laughs. 12. My idea of comfort food is: My Moms homemade beef meat pie! This isnt your ordinary meat pie. She cooks it in a huge roasting pan, thats probably older than I am, with lots of vegetables, big chunks of beef, a rich sauce and a 3 inch thick crust thats like a huge dumpling!! 13. The dish that my mother/grandmother makes best is. My Mom makes so many... Her homemade meat pie, her turkey with stuffing, chocolate peanut butter fudge AND chocolate cake with marshmallow icing, which is my favorite request for birthday cake! 14. The first dish I ever learned to cook was: Moms dish she calls, Popeye Im not sure why she calls it that, but its made by putting a leftover roasted ham shank, spices, water in a huge pot to create a meaty stock then we add homemade egg noodles. We roll out the noodle dough on her table, and go up and down the dough, cutting it with a pizza cutter into thick ribbons, then we heat the broth to bubbling hot and toss in the noodles a few at a time, so they dont stick together. I think its a rite of passage to learn this one. Even her grandchildren are introduced to it. I remember my daughters at 3 and 4 years old, being given a piece of their own dough to play with, while Mom makes the rest.. I usually share recipes, but when it comes to this one? NO! Sorry, no can do... 15. The five spices/herbs I tend to use most are: Fresh Thyme, Bay Leaves, Black Peppercorns, Cayenne Pepper, Juniper Berries 16. Two eggs my way are: Lightly scrambled and served on top of homemade biscuits with my wild pig sausage and cream gravy, OR Benedict style over an english muffin with sautéed crab and spicy rum cayenne hollandaise. 17. What do you love most about being a chef: The happiness from knowing people created a wonderful memory over a plate of my food... and watching them rub their belly in fulfillment when they are done. 18. What is one food or dish you would happily eat every day: Triple creme brie from Cowgirl Creamery with a warm baguette and apricot jam! 19. What is the one food or food group you couldnt live without: Meat! I like sharpening my cuspids on a grilled steak, served rare! 20. What is the one kitchen tool other than a chefs knife you couldnt live without. A great sauté pan. One that heats evenly, goes from stove top to oven, and has just the right depth for braising meats. 21. What is your signature dish: A pepper crusted, then smoked rack of elk with a roasted shallot port blueberry demi-glace, pureed celery root and wild mushroom bread pudding. Its my most requested dish and the best one to change a clients mind when being skeptical about how elegant and flavorful wild game can be. This is not, Oh, my Uncle was a hunter and he gave my Mom some meat and she cooked it and it was too gamey, and I havent had it since, kind of dish. Ive converted many people with this dish, and I always tell them, if they are willing to try wild game once more, and still dont like it,,,Ill remove it from the bill. Ive have yet to have a client ask to deduct it. 22. When Im at home just cooking for myself, I make: This will sound crazy but I hate cooking for myself, so I keep it simple. I just make a short stack of chocolate chip pancakes! I make them on my cast iron griddle, with lots of syrup and Clover butter, and a big glass of ice cold milk! 23. Where can you be found/what are you doing on your days off Working on a new recipe, checking out food blogs, spending 2-3 hours in Barnes and Noble looking for cookbooks, or looking in my latest JB Prince catalog for new cooking gadgets for my Christmas wish list... hint to my husband...Immersion Circulator. :) 24. Where would you like to take your next vacation: Italy. I cant guarantee Ill come back, though. 25. Youve just been offered your own television show, describe it: Well, Its funny you should ask that, because Im currently filming!!! I cant divulge too much yet, but it will involve wild game. Its been a dream of mine to bring people back to trying wild game, but elevating it for contemporary palates .... so stay tuned :D
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 02:32:51 +0000
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