Scotch Tasting Dinner

The Scotch Tasting Dinner fund raiser for the Petaluma Historical Museum went off wonderfully last night.  We had better than a sold out crowd; don't quite know how that happened!  The selection of scotches was a very well selected tour of Scotland, providing excellent examples from their 5 major regions, which produce very different malts.  I'm very proud of the food pairing, which worked out very well with some dishes I just loved.  The speaker Steve Beal did a great job, very informative and funny; I hope he will be available for the Bourbon Dinner in June at the Petaluma Arts Center.

The museum raised several thousand dollars, and I hope had a lot of new people introduced to this downtown jewel.

Shaved Matos St George Cheese with Roasted Pear and Spiced Almonds on Baby Arugula

pair with a Glenkenchie 12 Year Old

Smoked Salmon Rillette with Roast Red Potatoes and Asparagus Tips

 with Talisker 10 Year Old, Isle of Skye

First course

Shaved Matos St George Cheese with Roasted Pear and Spiced Almonds on Baby arugula

Glenkenchie 12 Year Old

Second Course

Smoked Salmon Rillette with Roast Red Potatoes and Asparagus Tips

Talisker 10 Year Old, Isle of Skye

 Third Course

Duck Confit Cannelloni with Asian 5 Spice

Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old, Central Highlands

 Fourth course

Braised Beef Short Ribs on Tattie Scone Pancakes

 Oban 14 Year Old, West Highlands

 Fifth Course

Chocolate Marquis with Scottish Short bread and berry compote

Clynelish 14 Year Old, North Coastal Highlands

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Beet Salad

Roasted Beet and Chevre Salad

 

This is one of my favorite photos from last years events. We might still be in the tail of winter but beets are at their best.

One of the best flavor combinations is that of beets and Chèvre (fresh goats milk cheese).  In this dish I used three different beets, golden, chioga (Italian striped) and classic red.

It's best to choose medium to small beets, rub them with olive oil and wrap in foil.  Bake at 350 degrees, till tender (approx. 45 minutes to 1hour).  Check with a knife tip, it should go in easily.  I find the red beets take a little longer.

Allow the beets to cool. Often the skins will slip right off, but you might need to help them with a paring knife

Cut beets into desired pieces, place on platter, drizzle with a sherry vinaigrette, crumble the goat cheese over the top and this dish I finished with micro greens and black sea salt

Enjoy

A

Bali (the Lotus Cafe)

One of our stops was in the beautiful city of Ubud in Bali.  An absolutle gem, shopping, lots of monkies and great food.  You might have seen it in Eat, Pray, Love.

 

We tried a traditional Balinese platter with about 8 different items.

One that was my favorite was the tempeh. Tempeh is fermented soybeans often pressed into a patty.

What mad this so different was that is was loose, but held together and a light sweet glaze. Allowed you to enjoy the chewy texture with crunchy little bits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view made the meal event better looking across a pond of water lilies at a classic hindu temple.

 

 

Singapore (Crystal Jade Dim Sum)

Since we are in the slow season for catering I was able to take a couple of weeks off and travel; I was particularly impressed with some of the food in Singapore and in Ubud, Bali.

 

First Dim Sum in Singapore

Crystal Jade is a chain of restaurants that were suggested to us and luckily they had an outpost at the airport

We  had Crispy Eel (not shown), I am a huge eel fan.  The thin slices of eel were dusted and fried crisp in a ligtly sweet sauce.  I need time to play  with the recipe.

 The second item with a steamed pork roll (right).  Center cut pork loin wrapped around perfectly cut carrots and cucumber steamed and served with a hoisin drizzle

Pork Belly Buns (above).  Steamed sweet bread that was topped with tender pork belly, good but I like ours better.

 

We also had a great meal in Bali, which I'll blog about shortly.

A

O'Pumpkin

I just noticed we forgot to re-publish the October column from the Petaluma Post.  Enjoy...

Roasted Pumpkin

I love pumpkins; everyone that knows me knows that.  I love to decorate with them for the fall.  However, I don’t actually like pumpkin.  I am not a fan of pumpkin pie, not a pumpkin chai latte fan, but I have found a few recipes that I do enjoy.

What is a pumpkin, by definition it is a gourd like squash.  From a culinary stand point when you speak of pumpkin we think of the pulp that comes from steaming, or roasting.  Most of the canned pumpkin that we all use for our pumpkin pies is actually other varieties of hard squash, such as butternut or acorn.  So when planning a recipe if you have either of those to use you can substitute. Most pumpkins that are on the market are actually not for cooking, if you would like to cook from scratch you will want to look for a sugar pumpkin, they are smaller in size and will be heavy for their weight.  To yield pulp for cooking or baking I prefer to roast not steam.  By roasting you will end up with a dryer pulp that has more flavor.

Roasting Sugar Pumpkins

4lb pumpkin (should yield 1½ cup pulp)

Cut pumpkin in half, and scoop out the seeds (save the seed for roasting if you want), then place the cut side down in a baking dish and cover with foil.  Bake it at 350 degree for approximately 1½  hours or until tender.  Allow it to cool, then scoop out the pulp.  Then puree or mash the pulp, and for smoother texture you may push it through a sieve.

Now on to recipes that are my favorite.

Pumpkin Crumble

This is a great dish for potlucks, has the flavor of pumpkin pie, but does not have to be sliced; just served with a spoon.
3 eggs
2 cups pumpkin pulp
1 cup sugar
1 Tbl pumpkin pie spice
1 cup evaporated milk

Mix ingredients together and pour into a 9x13 baking dish.

1 spice cake mix

1½ cup melted butter
½ cup chopped pecans

Sprinkle the cake mix over pumpkin mix.  Then drizzle butter over the top.  Sprinkle with chopped pecans.  Bake at 350 degree for about 50 minutes.

 

In many ways pumpkin is a super food, with its orange color it is full of vitamin A, it is high in fiber, little to no fat and all parts of the pant are edible.  People often roast the seeds; we use the seeds in tossed green salads.  The seeds can also be roasted and pressed into a very robust oil very popular in eastern Europe.  The stems are also edible and are cooked in African cuisine.

Pumpkin Crumble Bars

3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups oatmeal
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1½ cups butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla

Combine all of the ingredients in this group to create a crumble.  Then press about 2/3rds   in to the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Press firmly.

3 cups pumpkin puree

½ cup brown sugar
1 Tbl pumpkin pie spice

Combine these next ingredients and spread over the crust.  Sprinkle with remaining crumble and a bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes till golden.  Cool and cut into 2x3” squares (also great when made with cranberry sauce).

One of my most favorite recipes is for roasted Pumpkin soup

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

1 sugar pumpkin roasted for pulp (see recipe above)
1 small onion diced
¼ cup celery diced
¼ cup carrot diced
½ tsp cumin
½ cup vegetable oil
4 cups roasted vegetable stock (or you can use chicken)
¼ cup flour
1 cup heavy cream

Sauté  carrots, onion and celery in a ¼ cup of oil till very tender,  approximately 10 to 12 minutes.  Add the cumin and sauté an additional 4 to 5 minutes.  Add in pumpkin and vegetable stock and allow to simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.  Then, using a blender (counter or hand) puree the soup, and  return to the stove.  Combine the remaining oil with the flour to create a slurry, which is then used to thicken the soup.  Finish with salt, pepper and heavy cream.

You might also want to check out my blog for some past recipes.  Blog.SonomaCaterers.com just search for Pumpkin and you will find recipes for Arugula Salad in a Whole Roasted Pumpkin with Chevre and Peppitas, and Pumpkin Salad, and Corn Bread Stuffed Pumpkin among others.

Enjoy