The SideDish.com Cooking Blog

Lunch Hour Chef at CUESA

3 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in News & Events August 5th, 2008 @ 10:09 am

One of our Lunch Hour Chefs shows off some freshly grilled peaches. Friday, August 1st marked the first of a month-long series of Lunch Hour Chef, a partnership between CUESA (the Center for Urban Education and Sustainable Agriculture) and Parties That Cook. It’s like a quick mini-version of a cooking party while offering a nice respite from work in the middle of the day. You have to eat anyway — why not make it fun, healthy and homemade? This menu consisted of Grilled Chicken (or Grilled Vegetable for non-meat eaters) Sandwiches with Marinated Artichokes and Lemony Hummus and a Salad of Arugula with Grilled Peaches, Gorgonzola and Candied Walnuts. Not only do you get to make a yummy lunch, learn tips from super-Chef John Silva while making new friends. It’s the perfect antidote to those days when you’re nose is to the grindstone but you feel like you’re getting nowhere. This isn’t work; it’s instant, delicious, friendly, buttery, sweet, grilled gratification.

Parties That Cook and CUESA go together like wine and cheese, and the gathering began with a brief discussion by Christine Farren of CUESA. We got the lowdown on the farmer who grew the peaches we were grilling, as well as some of the perks of shopping at farmers markets (in short, supporting the farmer over supporting the corporation is the healthiest choice for the consumers, the growers and the earth). Then PTC Chef John helped everyone get into the groove by demonstrating tips for the menu, such as how to “show the peach who’s boss” and how to butterfly a chicken. Armed with the correct tools and tips, the guests broke up into two groups to begin lunch.

The grill was aflame, the oil was steeping and nearly everyone wielded a knife (when else can you play with knives during the workday?) as chickpeas were whirring for hummus and fragrant peaches were brushed with sugar and fruity olive oil while waiting to be roasted for the peppery and creamy Arugula and Point Reyes Blue Cheese Salad. You might even call the experience therapeutic as the bursting aromas, the sunny crisp background and the relaxed yet energetic company all offered a nice preview of what the weekend might hold while offering a break from that grindstone — at least enough so we could go back in and tackle it sated, educated and refreshed.

I think it’s safe to say that a tasty and fun time was had by all. For more information or to sign up for a class, go to http://www.partiesthatcook.com/cooking-classes-san-francisco-bay-area-chicago-los-angeles/.

Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet: Another Cookbook Club Adventure

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in General, Menus & Recipes, News & Events Tagged with Cookbook Club, hot sour salty sweet, parties that cook, san francisco, southeast asian food July 29th, 2008 @ 2:31 pm

For this month’s Cookbook Club lunch, we ventured over to Southeast Asia to follow the Mekong River for a taste of Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Burma. Our tour guide for the adventure: Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet, a novel of a cookbook with 175 recipes from the region.

We began the meal with an appetizer of Beef Lettuce Roll-ups. The recipe called for the beef to be simmered in coconut milk for 10 minutes. Against her better chef judgment, Crissy obliged past rare and found her lovely piece of Chateaubriand seized up and became tough. Texture aside, we enjoyed the beef encased in a lettuce leaf and liberally decorated with peppers, mint, peanuts, lime and a host of other traditional toppings.

Next on the agenda, the Simple Cucumber Salad. Cool, crunchy and refreshing the salad packed a bit of sweet tang with its vinegar-based dressing. Christina couldn’t find the smoky-flavored black rice vinegar the recipe called for, so she substituted balsamic vinegar, which the book suggested.

Rosie dared to make a recipe titled The Best Eggplant Dish Ever. She unfortunately realized later that this would shape up to be The Worst Eggplant Dish Ever because of the recipe’s incorporation of dried shrimp – a odorous ingredient that Rosie personally cannot stand. The rest of us loved the subtle stink of the dish and gobbled up the spicy eggplant mixture.

For the main courses, we enjoyed a Spicy Fish Curry with Coconut Milk that Crissy whipped together on the fly substituting shrimp for fish. Michelene had brought in a cone-shaped sticky rice basket steamer which she acquired while living in Thailand. We enjoyed the curry over the chewy and indeed sticky rice that came from the basket. Michelene also made the Tomato Salad, a concoction similar to salsa, also meant to be poured over the sticky rice.

Lauren completed the rice-o-rama with a fried rice dish called Perfume River Rice. The lemongrass-based rice also included dried shrimp, shallots, onions, cilantro and fish sauce. It is a simple yet very fragrant dish served majestically alongside fresh vegetables like tomatoes and cucumber.

Our Lead Chefs Mick and Carolyn joined us for the luncheon. Mick treated us to his rendition of Squid with Ginger-Garlic Sauce. The surprisingly very tender rings and legs of squid were lightly dressed and sprawled over a bed of greens. We could imagine this being a dish that the fishermen make on the beach with their fresh catch.

For dessert, Erin brought the Bananas in Coconut Cream and Bibby brought a very unusual Tapioca and Corn Pudding with Coconut Cream. We decided you really can’t go wrong with any dessert when topped or simmered in coconut cream! Erin switched things up using red Ecuadorian bananas, which are a bright yellow on the inside and sweeter than your typical banana. Bibby found the tapioca dessert to be a bit bland at first, so she incorporated palm sugar and more coconut cream for added sweet, creamy goodness.