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using what you've got to make different food

post #1 of 28
10/3/07 at 5:24pm
Thread Starter 
Years ago cheftalkers used to play food games, similar to blackbox.....what can you make with these products? Different applications can be good not only for caterers but restaurants.


Chevre
Calamata Olives
Tomatoes
Basil
Radishes
Apples
Pate
Crackers....lavosh/crostini
Pork
Shrimp
eggs
Oils
garlic
onions
green beans
lemons
vinagers
spices/herbs
Beans....
tahini
Flours, salt, sugar....staples.....
Raisins
Bourbon

......ok what would you make with this larder?
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post #2 of 28
10/3/07 at 5:36pm

What would you make?

Well, this is very basic, but chevre with marinated tomato and olive on lavosh or srustini for starters... or with carmelized onion and chevre

At the opposite end of the meal there seems to be a bourbon raisin apple pie

Too tored to be more creative, but live the game
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post #3 of 28
10/3/07 at 6:53pm
Lends itself to medittereanean cooking - guessing you want several courses...here goes - don't laugh!!

Crostini with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping

Shrimp ravioli with lemon/ garlic sauce, or
Pork scallopine with green beans in same sauce

Pizza - olive, tomato, basil, goats cheese (assuming yeast is a staple)

This one prob doesn't fit in with the rest, oh well, desert then...

Baked apples stuffed with bourbon soaked raisins with clove, cinnamon and cardomom seasonings

...then polish off the bourbon

Will be interesting to see what others have - good thread.

DC
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post #4 of 28
10/3/07 at 7:07pm
Informal party, w/ cash bar.

Mezze Platter, family style
-Crackers/lavoush/crostini
-Hummus/tuscan bean spread (beans, garlic, lemon, tahini, cumin, evo drizzle)
-Kalamata olives
-Chevre
-Carmilized onion and raisin jam. (with a little rosemary, fortified with a shot of vinegar so it's got a nice sweet and sour thing going.)
-Shrimp escebeche if they are little.
-Tomato relish (oven dried tomatos, chiffonade basil, sherry vinager, evo, sugar, salt)
-pate (depending on what kind. I'm picturing something like rillets rather then a pate en croute.)
-1/4'ed radishes

Porchetta
-Porchetta. Cooked over wood!
-Green beans done simply with just a little salt and butter
-Potatoes cooked in the porchetta drippings.
-Herby lemon juice/olive oil vinegrette to drizzle on the pork (I like it...)

Apple Tart
-Open face apple tart with gushy caramel, cinnamon, and buttery crust.
-Bourbon creme anglaise.
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post #5 of 28
10/4/07 at 8:28am
MMMM

Hoping some of the beans are chick peas :)

Hummis; chick peas, garlic, evoo, tahinni, lemon juice and rind, salt pepper and crackers for scooping.

Roasted Tomatoe Soup; Tomat's, olives, basil, onion run it through my prosseser and simmer

I,m to challenged to flip back to the list but great chioces. This is fun I do a thing for a community kitchens where they give me a bunch of really wierd stuff from the food bank and I demonstrate how to make meals. I go about 6 times a year and have some fun. Its an idea that if you have time and want to giv eback into your community I have found very rewarding.

Cheers fstfrdy
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post #6 of 28
10/4/07 at 4:44pm
Thread Starter 
some nice twists guys....
it's ok to play more than once.....actually it's fun to see how many times you can create something different.
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post #7 of 28
10/4/07 at 5:34pm
It's been a while since I've had to play Walk-In Bingo :smoking:
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post #8 of 28
10/4/07 at 7:05pm
Thread Starter 
"had to".....this isn't have to, it's want to......kinda stretching the creative muscles if you will.
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post #9 of 28
10/4/07 at 8:05pm
I know, I know. I like this kind of fun.

I'm just remarking on the fact that it's been a month or two since I've had to turn some of the various odds and ends that accumlate into a sellable special before it rots.

We've hit kind of a weird rythem lately where we're fairly well balanced between redundancy, abililty to use up trim/etc in other dishes, and low overage on orders. We might end up with an orphaned eggplant or the like, and we can just throw that into the staff meal.

The only issue we've got curently is when one of the higher ups wants to run a seafood special for the restaurant and we end up sitting on a few pounds of live shellfish.

Hey Shroomgirl, you're like the master of the ellipsis!

For FrstFrdy-

Don't limit yourself to garbanzo beans for hummus. You can do good hummus like things with white beans, dried fava beans, or black eyed peas.
There's a good variation on hummus w/ the same flavor profiles using whole beans. Take the whole cooked beans and toss with a dressing made with tahini, lemon, garlic, and cumin. Sprinkle with parsley.
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post #10 of 28
10/5/07 at 6:28am
Caramelized onion frittata lightly drizzled with artisan real) balsamic vinegar, garnished with fresh diced tomatoes and basil or other herbs, dried or fresh. Serve with crostini lightly drizzled with good evoo.

Shel
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post #11 of 28
10/5/07 at 8:41am
Hors d'oeurves:

Pate tray with various crackers, lavosh, flat breads, sliced apples, chopped onion, capers, cornichon, mustards, quartered boiled eggs, pickled onions
Apples
Pate
eggs
onions
Crackers....lavosh/crostini

Fresh radishes with fresh whipped butter and sel de mare or a trio of salts
Radishes

Green bean crudite with garlic aoli
Oils
garlic

Pickled Shrimp
lemon
olive oil
herbs and spices

Main Course:

Roasted pork with a coriander tahini sauce served with white beans or braised pork belly with white beans and fresh herbs (in which case you would not use the tahini here).
Pork
spices/herbs
Beans....
tahini

Fresh tomato tart with cornmeal crust Chevre
Calamata Olives
Tomatoes
Basil


Dessert:

Baba rum made with bourbon or bread puddings with bourbon sauce (make the bread or baba first! :D )
raisins
staples (flour, sugar, yeast, oil, water, cream)
eggs
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post #12 of 28
10/6/07 at 6:42am
Thread Starter 
I'll play some tonight or tomorrow...today it's off to the markets to shop....then PCing for a special client at my kitchen.....
Pates
Butternut Soup
Beef Bourgonon....ala Julia Child
Chicken Stock with 4 chickens.
Greens....

Gearring up for Chicago this week, got invited to cater for a Women's Event Wed. pretty back to back couple of days. The rest of the week will be spent with my KY cherub, whom I've not seen since July. So, tin and zebra please help me keep this thread alive, it's a good one to practice different ideas on.

Buffets, cocktail parties, dinners, to go food, cooking onsite, bringing it in.....change some criteria in your next posts and see how that affects your responses.
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post #13 of 28
10/6/07 at 10:39am
Thanks TTC as a BBQ Chef/Caterer I let my mind go numb some times and dont stretch it. I am doing the meals for hot air balloon pilots this weekend and I am going to try some of the variations of hummis wiht other beans, thanks

Cheers fstfrdy :smoking:
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post #14 of 28
10/6/07 at 2:08pm
Chopped salad with:
romaine, basil, radish, onion, tomato, kalamata, chevre, raisins, pine nuts in a garlic vinaigrette

Fish Course:
Tahini and lemon marinated shrimp breaded in flour, egg wash and cracker/lavosh crumbs and deep fried on a puree of flageolette with olive oil drizzle.

Main Course:
pork loin wrapped in bacon, stuffed with pate with a bourbon, apple cider vinegar reduction sauce
homemade spaetzle in brown butter with fried fresh sage leaves
sauted green bean with garlic chips and olive oil

Dessert:
apple dumpling or baked apples stuffed with butter, brown sugar, raisins soaked in bourbon, cinnamon, with a creme anglaise.
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post #15 of 28
10/6/07 at 10:26pm
Speatzl? I think I'm in love.

Hmmm, I'm feeling Spanish...

-Basket of crostini still warm from the grill, very ripe tomatoes 1/2ed, raw garlic cloves in the husk with top snipped off, a crock of roasted garlic.

-Crudites (Go radishes!) with aioli and romesco.

-Marinated olives. Mixed if I can get them.

-Gambas ala jillo. Shrimp in garlic/paprka sauce.

-Green beans with house cured bacon. Just lardons fried crisp, and the beans sauteed in the bacon drippings.

-Chickpea, potato and house cured chorizo stew. Throw some soffirto in there too. You can make a good Spanish style chorizo with "Fermento."

-Goat cheese fritters. Breaded and deep fried goat cheese rounds with shallot caper vinegrette.

-Greens Tortilla. Spanish style omlette made with cooked down collard greens and cheese.

-House made blood sausage in puff pastry (if you can get the blood from your pig) and House made chorizo in puff pastry.

-Spanish Vanilla Cake. Vanilla bean, almonds, lemon zest. I think it has grated chocolate in there too. Might as well add some bourbon soaked raisons.
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post #16 of 28
10/7/07 at 4:20am
Thread Starter 
GREAT!!!!!
I'm behind the eight ball and need to make some more pate/lavosh this morning.....it's soooo tempting to play hookey and design dishes.
You guys are doing some interesting things.

Cheers!
Shroom
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post #17 of 28
10/7/07 at 10:47am
tincook I did not see collard greens in the walkin! Where did you hide em? I woulda had to make my collards and neck bones! ;)

Also, I dare you to gimme the goat cheese fritter recipe! ;) Ok I double dog dare you to give it ovah!!! ;) :D :D :D Come on! I'm waitin!!!!

(btw, I would sooooo eat your meal!)
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post #18 of 28
10/7/07 at 7:05pm
Shroom, when are you going to get yourself a sheeter? What kind of pate are you doing?

fstfrdy- No problem! I hope you find it usefull. Lots of ways you can play with hummus.

Blue Zebra- heh, Thanks! The greens were behind that massive pile of pate that no one ever uses. It's also good with spinach or chard or beet greens. You can add part mustard greens too.

Double dog dare me?! OOOOH Its on!
I'll have to think of another meal format to play with...
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post #19 of 28
10/8/07 at 7:15am
Thanks for the recipe tincook! So it's basically fried cheese! I got it and very yummy too. Had never thought of using pimiento cheese but how fun! Especially jalapeno pimiento cheese. :D I was thinking it was a "fritter" so more like a "batter combination" as opposed to a flour coating. I have some panko in the freezer so I might give this a go tonite with our salads. :D

Mwuah! Thanks and you're a doll! And hahahahaha on hiding behind the pate!!! :D
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post #20 of 28
10/9/07 at 6:06am
Thread Starter 
no, just alot on my plate....usually have more play time, but between getting ready for the Chicago catering gig....leaving anytime now, or at least after I pack and gas up....

I've gotten some last minute gigs keeping me in the kitchen, new to me auto repairs, taxes....

But what I will write about when I get back into STL next week is what it's like working with restaurantuers that are in charge of offsite catering.

I'm hauling in equipment for other chefs....not only coming with all my shtuff but pretty much shtuff for most of the others.

Shoot I need to market my skills with designing/equiping kitchens out of thin air....aka cooking with no running water, electricity....etc....

Wish me luck! I've got the halloween gig in 8 days and am not accessable until Monday.

Happy Cooking friends.

Country Pate...with liver, fat, ground leg....wish I hadn't baked all the shoulder. Grand Marnier, orange zest, thyme, pepper, onions, garlic, eggs, white wine, cream

Liver pate....pork liver, cream, pork stock, flour, eggs..actually lucious jelled (boiled head)stock, Grand Marnier, orange zest, onion, lard. Sieved...it's a total pain....but worth it..
waterbath 1.5 hours, 350
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post #21 of 28
10/9/07 at 6:08am
Thread Starter 
PS....if you guys want to write about events, stage work, working with non-caterers.....start the thread without me, I'll post when able.
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post #22 of 28
10/9/07 at 6:12am
Nice Pates! Nice logistics too.

Kick Murphy's butt while you're in Chicago:smoking:

Dealing with taxes?
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post #23 of 28
10/12/07 at 7:26pm
Thread Starter 
"kick Murphy's butt?"
ok, the only Murphy I know if Aiden Murphy, head ACF chef for USA culinary olympics team.

I was catering an international women's event....had nothing to do with competition.

Taxes, always a chore....new accountant....not sure if I like her yet.
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post #24 of 28
10/13/07 at 7:54am
Thread Starter 
Chevre
Calamata Olives
Tomatoes
Basil
Radishes
Apples
Pate
Crackers....lavosh/crostini
Pork
Shrimp
eggs
Oils
garlic
onions
green beans
lemons
vinagers
spices/herbs
Beans....
tahini
Flours, salt, sugar....staples.....
Raisins
Bourbon




Radishes and chevre on lavosh

Shrimp and green bean salad with aioli and fried lemon slices

Maker's Mark Bourbon Onions with Rosemary Pork
Sauteed tomatoes with tarragon
Wilted greens that appearred when I went back to look in the fridge :)
rolls/butter

Apple Tart with Rum Raisin Ice Cream

*reads like a mix of spring with the shrimp salad and fall with the pig/onions and apple tart.....but I'd eat it in a heartbeat.



Lunch:
Deviled eggs with shrimp
Pate with radishes, apple slices and lavosh
White Bean Salad, heavy on the parsley, lemon, garlic
Raisin Pie



Nother Lunch
Tart with chevre/egg custard hit with a dab of pesto, slices of tomatoes

Green Bean and Flagolet salad, vinagrette

Baked Apple Flan




Shrimp Salad
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post #25 of 28
10/13/07 at 9:24am
[QUOTE=shroomgirl;192472]Chevre
Calamata Olives
Tomatoes
Basil
Radishes
Apples
Pate
Crackers....lavosh/crostini
Pork
Shrimp
eggs
Oils
garlic
onions
green beans
lemons
vinagers
spices/herbs
Beans....
tahini
Flours, salt, sugar....staples.....
Raisins
Bourbon

Provencal (tomatoes, basil, olive oil, Garlic) with crustini

Shrimp with Chevre, Rosemary (is that in with the herbs?), garlic, olive oil, olives

Simple steamed & seasoned green beans

Apple raisin crumble with bourban

Hey! There is no wine on this list! Do I need to go to the store?
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post #26 of 28
10/14/07 at 10:37am
mmmmm I would eat both of those sets of menus!!! :D

Ok here's another one!

Chevre
Calamata Olives
Tomatoes
Basil
Radishes
Apples
Pate
Crackers....lavosh/crostini
Pork
Shrimp
eggs
Oils
garlic
onions
green beans
lemons
vinagers
spices/herbs
Beans....
tahini
Flours, salt, sugar....staples.....
Raisins
Bourbon

Brunch:

Mint Juleps

Scotch eggs (one half of each egg is filled with pate the other half has the egg yolk remaining) - wrap with sage pork sausage, bread and deep fry

Faux scotch eggs (stuff kalamata olives with chevre and a raisin. Wrap with sausage and bread then deep fry

Apple blinis with pate

Fried shrimp with cheese grits

Eggs benedict with bernaise sauce on homemade English muffins

Scrambled eggs

Bacon baked in maple syrup

Sausage gravy

Fried ham in red eye gravy with a splash of bourbon in it

Angel biscuits with chives

Southern biscuits

Baked tomatoes with tahini and basil

Fried Green Beans (egg whites and parmesan then sauteed in olive oil til crisp)

Lemon curd with dried blueberry or dried cherry scones

Apple tart tatin with whipped cream or creme fraiche

Bread pudding with bourbon sauce

Coffees and hot teas

Fresh squeezed orange juice

Fresh squeezed tomato juice

Lemon and lime garnish

Paramedics for any heart attack victims
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post #27 of 28
10/15/07 at 4:54am
Thread Starter 
I LOVE BRUNCH....Southern is best!!!!


Crepes with sweetened chevre, sauteed apples with orange zest, brown sugar and a dose of bourbon.

Fried Tomatoes with Shrimp remoulade

Fritto Green Beans, lemon slices, how about radishes....not done but hey why not? really lemony garlicy aioli.

Maple bacon is one of my all time favorites....PIA to deal with the pan afterthe greasy sticky sweetness is cooked but oh so yummy.
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post #28 of 28
10/15/07 at 5:02am
mmmmm shroom!!

**** in all of it I forgot to put on there Radish Browns (make them as you would new potato hash browns). Very delicious.
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