This is my last non-recipe related post for a while, but I could not resist sharing this new video from Le Cordon Bleu Paris with those of you who may be interested or have ever thought of going to culinary school.  And while culinary school is certainly no trade off for experience in the kitchen and is not necessary for success in the culinary world, it is an enriching experience that will give you a good foundation to build on. Whether is Le Cordon Bleu, CIA, FCI or The Art Institute, your experience at any culinary school you may choose is what you make of it.

Le Cordon Bleu Paris School Presentation

A bientot!

I was looking at the blog this morning and realizing that (gasp) it has been a month since I last wrote…far from my  intention of a twice weekly recipe and photo posting. BUT, I promise the silence has been for good reason.  I’ve been cooking, catering and teaching some classes…all things that give me the inspiration and material to create recipes, take photos of them and write about them.  So, my mantra from now on?  Write once weekly, no matter what, so those who read will still read and those who don’t might come back more often!  Having said that, don’t be surprised for the occasional 5am entry.  With a 3 year-old serving as my alarm clock, I guess I need to start take advantage of the time while it’s there!

In the meantime, for those of you interested in the staging process, take a look at today’s cover story in the  Charleston City Paper , which includes a little about my own staging experience as well.  Until the next post…Cheers!

(photo Reese Moore/Charleston City Paper)

I have always had a preference toward savory foods and the potato has long been one of my favorites.  It’s starchy, filling and can be prepared so many different ways. To me, potatoes are the ultimate comfort food.

My grandmother made the most delicious creamed potatoes – the kind that are melt- in- your- mouth good with butter, heavy cream and salt.  Simple and incredibly sinful.  I am going to put it out there and say that her potatoes were almost as good as the one’s Robuchon is so famous for – the ones where you keep licking, hoping your empty spoon is just a mirage and that there is actually another bite waiting to be savored.

Since I love potatoes so much, I decided to do a little research and I discovered there are around five-thousand potato varieties world-wide and that global potato consumption is around seventy-three pounds per person on an annual basis. Potatoes are inexpensive and easy to grow, but do not have a very long shelf life, staying fresh around two weeks maximum. My personal favorite potatoe variety is the new potato, which has less starch content than baking potatoes and a distinct taste.

I love to roast potatoes and I recently decided to play around with roasting them in citrus and smoked paprika.  The tartness of the lemon and the smokiness of the paprika balance each other perfectly and a touch of crème fraîche adds a cool, creamy finish to this easy potato recipe.

Of course, I made mine into miniatures, placing three potatoes in miniature 1.5″ x 2″ porcelain cubes.  Serve them with miniature forks at your next party for little bite of comfort with a kick.

Roasted Lemon & Smoked Paprika Potatoes with Crème Fraîche

Serves 8

3lbs. small red and small yukon gold potatoes

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

crème fraîche

freshly ground pepper

Pre-heat oven 400F.

Place potatoes in pot and cover with cold, salted water.  Boil on high-heat for 5 minutes or until soft.

Remove potatoes from heat and cut in half.  Toss with lemon juice, olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper.

Spread evenly on foiled baking sheet and roast, uncovered for approximately 30 minutes or until just browned.  The potatoes will be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Garnish with crème fraîche and an extra sprinkling of smoked paprika.

I have a snow cone addiction.  It’s true…I drive to my favorite snow cone stop on Sullivan’s Island every chance I get to satisfy my craving for shaved ice.  I even invested in my own ice shaver, so I could feed my fetish morning, noon, and night.  So when I had to create a summertime treat for a recent entertaining class, I immediately thought about snow cones.  A “Strawberries & Champagne Snow Cone”, a “Bloody Mary Snow Cone” with tomatoes, pepper sauce and pepper vodka.  So many possibilities and the perfect miniature show-stopper for a party.

And while glancing at the InStyle website today, I came across none other than the “adult”  snow cone.  Looks like I’m not the only one who is loving snow cones right now!  And check out Fresher Than Snow Cones Blog for really interesting flavor combinations for this summertime frozen treat.

I love it that the snow cone is InStyle!

Strawberries & Champagne Snow Cone

makes one

1/2 cup fresh strawberries

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup simple syrup

1 oz champagne or prosecco

Purée strawberries with water.  Put 8 oz. of shaved ice in cup.  Add champagne or prosecco to cup. Top with strawberry purée and simple syrup. Splash with a little sweetened condensed milk for a little richness.

photography clarisse aillet

Peach season is in full swing and the Farmer’s Market has been full of this gorgeous yellow fruit with its hints of red and pink and its sweet fragrance filling the air.  On a recent trip to the Market, the peaches were so beautiful I decided to fill a bag, head home and figure out what to do with them.  With our thermostat working on overdrive lately, what better than a summertime soup to cool things off.

This soup is a simple mixture of roasted peaches and tomatoes that have been blended until smooth, passed through a sève, seasoned and chilled.  Some of the peaches and tomatoes were reserved prior to roasting, diced and combined with shallot, cider vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper to make a quick salsa for a garnish.

To add a little extra flavor and texture to the dish, I made a homemade chicken sausage with ground chicken, basil, egg, whole wheat panko breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.  The sausage was pan fried, placed on a miniature skewer and served over the soup.  The perfect combination of sweet and spicy.

I used this recipe to create a miniature version of the soup for a recent Spoleto Festival Garden Party Event.  The soup was served in miniature porcelain cylinders, garnished with salsa and miniature skewers with the chicken sausage were placed on top.  Guests could sip the soup or use miniature teaspoons that were provided.

Roasted Peach & Tomato Gazpacho

6 medium peaches, quartered and pits removed, reserving 2 quarters for salsa

4 small tomatoes, quartered, reserving two quarters for salsa

1/2 cup olive oil, divided

1 cup fresh peach nectar

kosher salt

ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Toss peaches and tomatoes with 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper to coat.  Spread evenly on sheet pan and roast until fruit is soft or approximately 15-20 minutes.

Place roasted fruit in food processor and blend until smooth. Add remaining olive oil and peach nectar, blend.  Strain mixture, season and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour. Serves approximately 4.

Quick Peach & Tomato Salsa

2 reserved peach quarters

2 reserved tomato quarters

1 small shallot, minced

2 tsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

kosher salt

pepper

Take remaining fruit cut into small dice.  Toss with shallot, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Refrigerate. Use to garnish gazpacho before serving.

Cooks Notes: While recipes are helpful as a blueprint to follow, part of the joy of cooking is using the senses to create something that is pleasing to you.  Always taste and adjust seasoning and acids according to your preference.  With this recipe, you can adjust the amount of peach nectar or even add more tomato to the ratio to slightly alter the flavor.  If you prefer a chunkier gazpacho, blend less.  If there is not enough liquid, add more.  Experiment!

When buying peaches, look for plumpness, unwrinkled skin and are slightly soft to the touch.  Avoid peaches that are bruised, mushy or dark in color.

Photography by Leigh Webber

While technically we still have a few days to go, the summer heat has already arrived and when I think of summertime flavors, citrus is one of the first that comes to mind. So when I was thinking about small bite ideas for the Cynthia Rowley Bridesmaids Dress Launch Party, I knew it had to be something with cake and citrus.

These bites may be petite, but their flavor is anything but.  The sweet nuttiness  of the almonds is perfectly balanced by the bitterness of the orange.  Cooking the whole orange provides a good bit of liquid, which makes for an incredibly moist cake.

These cakes are not only the perfect sweet bite for a party, but could also be packaged in small boxes and given as gifts.  Top with a cream cheese frosting, greek yogurt, or a simple powdered sugar glaze and garnish with blood orange segments or even edible flowers for a really stunning presentation. For our party, I arranged the cakes on cake stands that had been dusted in powdered sugar and decorated with beautiful yellow and red Rainier Cherries… The recipe is simple, but the end result is a really flavorful, moist cake that makes a beautiful presentation.

Orange-Scented Almond Cakes

makes 25 miniatures

2 whole oranges, unpeeled

3 eggs, beaten

1 1/4 cups organic cane sugar

2 cups ground almonds

1tsp. baking powder

1 cup greek yogurt

2 tbsp. butter

1 blood orange

powdered sugar

Pre-heat oven to 375 F.  Line a 14 x 10 inch baking pan with buttered parchment.  Cook oranges in boiling water until they are soft – just over an hour. Cool.

Cut oranges in half and remove any seeds.  Place orange halves in food processor and puree until smooth.  Add eggs, sugar, almonds and baking powder and pulse to combine.  Pour batter into baking dish and bake approximately 40 minutes or until cake is firm to the touch.  Brush with melted butter and cool.

Using a 1 1/2 inch pastry cutter, cut 25 miniature cakes from cake pan and line on parchment.  Top with small amount of greek yogurt and a segment of blood orange. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

I love simple, clean, seasonal food.  Food that is not overly complicated and really focuses on the beauty of the flavors of just a few key ingredients, one never outshining the other.  And while part of what makes my job so much fun is figuring out creative and unique ways to present a relatively simple bites – dressing up something uncomplicated, while providing a little visual inspiration… In the end, it is all about the flavors of the food.

This Pea Purée recipe from a recent party Canapé catered for Garden & Gun Magazine is the perfect backdrop for any spring garden soirée.

Simple Spring Pea Puree

3 cups fresh english peas

1/2 cup light extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp unsalted butter

sprig of thyme

kosher salt

pepper

dash of heavy cream (optional)

Heat olive oil, butter and thyme in saute pan over medium heat.  Remove thyme.  Add peas and cook until tender.  While warm, transfer peas to food processor and purée until smooth. Pass pea purée through sève, pressing with ladle to remove shells. Season with salt and pepper. Splash with heavy cream.

Phyllo Cups

Frozen Phyllo Dough

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. Thaw dough and unroll onto parchment paper.  On a separate piece of parchment, using two sheets of phyllo, cut rounds with a 3-inch cutter.  Place each round into a muffin tin brushed with olive oil and press the center down into the cup. Bake phyllo cups until golden brown.

Assembly

Spoon a tablespoon of purée into each phyllo cup.  Top with a piece of shaved parmesean, a drizzle of olive oil and lemon zest or top with ricotta salata.

photo by michell frizzell

“I love food, and a while back, we published an over the top, detail image by Leigh Webber.  Luckily, this photograph led us to learn about Cynthia Groseclose, the creative chef and owner, of Canapé.  We did our research and it was all raves for this talented food artist.  So, of course we had too [...]“ click here to read full article…

Truth be told, I am not a baker.  Never have been, never will be.  In the culinary world, you are either pastry or cuisine.  Very few of us successfully do both and I am in awe of the ones who do! But when duty calls, there are a handful of tried and true favorites to rescue those of us who are “baking challenged”.

The cupcake, which dates back to the 17th century, has been wildly popular in the past five years, with free-standing cupcake shops popping up all across the country.  One of the first, Magnolia Bakery in NYC, is among my favorites and their cupcake and frosting recipe is foolproof.  Check out the Food Network link below for the recipe.

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/magnolias-vanilla-cupcake-recipe/index.html

For my variation, Strawberry Minis with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, fold diced strawberries into the cupcake batter before baking.  For extra color, add a couple of drops of all natural rose food coloring, which can be found at most specialty gourmet food stores.  Makes approximately 35 minis.

Spring is in full swing, so grab your friends and join us for a night out of learning and fun at one our Spring Cooking & Entertaining classes we  have scheduled… We are especially excited to announce the new class we are teaching at the Coastal Cupboard in their beautiful new demonstration kitchen!  Additional dates and classes will be added throughout the summer, so stay tuned…

Classes offered at Stems…

Girl’s Night In, May 26, 6-7:30pm, $30 per seat

Southern Entertaining, June 8, 6-7:30pm, $45 per seat

Summer Entertaining, June 16, July 13, 6-7:30pm, $30 per seat

For more information, email us at info@thecanape.com or call 843.224.3452

Classes offered at The Coastal Cupboard…

Girl’s Night Out, June 30, 6:30pm, $50 per seat