Margaret McSweeney's Blog, page 7

Celebrating Flavors with Sherry Yard, Host of The Great American Baking Show

“If you make a syrup for a sorbet or souffle, take jasmine flowers and infuse them into a passionfruit base. Coax the flavor out from what already exists. Be intimate with your ingredients.” Chef Sherry Yard

Let’s celebrate flavors with Chef Sherry Yard, James Beard Award winning Outstanding Pastry Chef and a host of The Great American Baking Show. As a creator of the legendary Spago Beverly Hills’ chocolate “Oscars” at The Governors Ball and as a mentor on The Great American Baking Show, Chef Sherry exudes and shares her passion for creating sweet and memorable moments through flavor with Kitchen Chat’s co-hosts Margaret McSweeney and Chef Jaime Laurita.

On this special podcast, Chef Sherry has some great advice for aspiring “cheftesants” for The Great American Baking Show. In addition, she highlights a great memory with Julia Child and gives a lesson on ganache from her first cookbook, The Secrets of Baking: Simple Techniques for Sophisticated Desserts and spotlights her favorites in Desserts by the Yard: From Brooklyn to Beverly Hills: Recipes from the Sweetest Life Ever.

Here are Chef Sherry Yard’s Top Tips for the Home Chef:

Your tongue is the most important tool in your kitchen.

The freezer is your good friend. It’s okay to use the freezer.

Make a meal and share it with someone else

The post Celebrating Flavors with Sherry Yard, Host of The Great American Baking Show appeared first on Kitchen Chat.

Chef Jeremiah Tower: A Shining Culinary Constellation

“Chefs must stop thinking of themselves and saying ‘Look at me.” It’s not about ‘me, me, me,” it’s about the ingredients and the customers.” Chef Jeremiah Tower

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Let’s celebrate Chef Jeremiah Tower’s culinary past, present and future. Considered to be the first Celebrity Chef and a creator of California cuisine, Chef Tower’s creative genius continues to influence chefs around the world and across generations. During this special Kitchen Chat, he shares delightful stories about Julia Child, James Beard and Anthony Bourdain with Chef Jaime Laurita and me. Chef Tower also touches upon the music in the kitchen at Chez Panisse and shares why he left Stars, his famous restaurant in San Francisco. He explains, “At the very top, you step off. That’s why I left and went to the beach. It was time to go fishing. Only Anthony Bourdain understood it. Nobody else did.” Anthony Bourdain featured Chef Tower in a CNN documentary, “Chef Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent” which is available on Netflix

Chef Tower lives in Mexico now and is working on a new book about his experiences of eating food from around the world. In addition, he is partnering with a prestigious institute in Mexico on “la busqueda de la authentic cocina Mexicana” to create a full documentation in every way of the regions of Mexico and their cooking of the hearth in homes and to present new versions that keep the original flavors and tastes. He remains passionate about focusing on ingredients.

Chef Tower truly defines and lives life with exquisite taste and style: “Style has to come from within and it’s what you’re working with. The real style is finding the perfect fish, knowing how to take care of it, knowing how to cook it and knowing in what ambiance to serve it to your paying customers. Simplicity of food is the real style. Just like the little black dress in fashion.”

Chef Jeremiah Tower shares his top three tips for the home cook:

Empty out your spice drawer that’s got 40 bottles of two year old spices and throw them away. Buy spices in small quantities on the day or week that you plan to cook with them.Healthful eating is more important than ever. Eat healthy food, invite your friends to your home and cook for them. It’s all about the ingredients.Don’t be afraid to cook. You can always make scrambled eggs if your dish doesn’t turn out.

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Chef Rick Bayless: Creating Bold Flavor from Your Farmers Market – Encore!

What are you bringing home from your local farmers’ market?

Are you ready to create a vital and bold flavor profile with the produce? Chef Rick Bayless, a Maestro of Mexican Cuisine, provides tips, techniques and recipes from his latest cookbook More Mexican Everyday that will delight your palate.  Chef Bayless is an award winning chef, restaurateur, entrepreneur, cookbook author and philanthropist.  Over the past decade, his Frontera Farmer Foundation has funded over $1.5 million in grants to help small midwestern family farms bring delicious produce to the marketplace.  Chef Bayless is a Renaissance man and chef who savors the authentic flavors of Mexico and shares his expertise and passion with the home cook.

Chef Rick Bayless shares great tips about produce from the farmers market and the grocery store:

Picking the right tomato.  Chef Bayless likes really ripe tomatoes.  The standard and most popular tomato you find people using in Mexico is called a saladette which is left to fully ripen on the vine.  “The saladette looks like a large plum tomato. It has enough juiciness that you can make it into a chopped tomato salsa or slice it for a sandwich. But it also has enough pulpiness so you can cook it into a sauce,” Chef Bayless says.  He also explains the process of how we are able to find beautiful tomatoes at today’s farmers market in spite of challenging weather. “Many of the farmers are working with what is called hoop houses, a structure that looks like a green house and that is heated by solar sources.”  He especially recommends tomatoes from Iron Creek Farm and Nichols Farm and Orchard, both of which offer CSA (Community Supported Agriculture.) If you are shopping in the grocery store, Chef Bayless recommends Mighty Vine tomatoes which are delicious and are grown in Illinois.  You can find them at Jewel and Heinens and Roundy’s (including Mariano’s) grocery stores.Three things to do with cauliflower.  At Macy’s Culinary Studio in  Chicago, Chef Rick Bayless featured a recipe for Spicy, Garlicky, Grilled Cauliflower (Steaks) with Browned Butter, Toasted Nuts and Tequila Raisins. (See recipe below). For the portion of the cauliflower you don’t use for grilling, Chef Bayless recommends making pickled cauliflower with carrots and jalapeño (a classic Mexican dish) or even a gratin by blanching the cauliflower, making a cheesy sauce and putting it under the broiler.Maximizing the flavor of cilantro.  According to Chef Rick Bayless, you shouldn’t chop cilantro, but rather slice it really thinly.  Another surprising tip is that the stems of cilantro are very flavorful and tender. You can even prepare the cilantro a day before. Here’s a link to a video of Chef Bayless prepping cilantro.

Spicy, Garlicky, Grilled Cauliflower (Steaks) with Browned Butter, Toasted Nuts and Tequila Raisins Serves 4.

Recipe compliments of Chef Rick Bayless and Macy’s Culinary Council.  This recipe can be found pages 319-320 in More Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless, Copyright 2015 by Rick Bayless and Deann Groen Bayless.  W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

1 to 2 small (2 pounds) heads cauliflower (if you’re cutting the cauliflower into steaks,you’ll need 2 heads)2/3 cup raisins1/4 cup tequila or fruit juice1 cup toasted peanuts or hulled, toasted pumpkin seeds12 tablespoons (6 ounces) butter (or half butter and half olive oil)4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped1 to 2 tablespoons Mexican hot sauce (like Tamazula, Valentina or Buffalo)1/2 teaspoon ground black pepperSaltAbout 1/3 up chopped cilantro or parsleySeveral tablespoons grated Mexican quest anejo or other garnishing cheese such as Romano or Parmesan

Trim away any of the cauliflower’s stem that protrudes beyond the head, then set the cauliflower head (stem-side down) on your cutting board and cut it into “steaks.”  With a large knife, trim off a half inch or so from both the right and left side of the head (this gives you two flat sides; save trimmings to sprinkle on a salad), then cut what remains into 1-inch thick slabs.  Or, cut the cauliflower into 2-inch chunks.  Arrange the cauliflower on a large plate in a single layer, cover with plastic and microwave at 100% until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.  Uncover, season with a little salt and let cool.

Heat a gas grill to medium-high or light a charcoal fire and let it burn until the coals are covered with white ash and the fire is quite hot.

While the grill is heating, in a small, microwave-safe bowl combine the raisins and tequila (or juice). Cover and microwave at 100% for 30 seconds.  Without uncovering, let cool to room temperature.  Scoop the raisins into a food processor and pulse a few times until roughly chopped.  Add the peanuts (or pumpkin seeds) and continue to pulse, 6 or 8 times, until roughly chopped.  Transfer the mixture to a bowl.

Melt the butter in a small (1 to 2-quart) saucepan over medium heat.  Cook, swirling the pan regularly for a couple of minutes, until the butter is golden brown.  Add the garlic and store for a minute, then pour into the bowl with the raisin/nut mixture.  Store in the hot sauce, black pepper, 3 tablespoons water and, if you’re not using salted butter, a little salt.

Liberally brush the cauliflower on both sides with the buttery part of the mixture (leave the solids in the bowl), sprinkle with salt and grill until warmed through and richly marked by the grill grates, about 4 to 5 minutes per side.  Remove to warm dinner plates.  Rewarm the buttery mixture, stir in the chopped cilantro or parsley and spoon over the cauliflower steaks.  Sprinkle with cheese and your cauliflower “steaks” are ready.

Savor the Day!

The post Chef Rick Bayless: Creating Bold Flavor from Your Farmers Market – Encore! appeared first on Kitchen Chat.

Signature Salad

Salads are nutritious and have endless creative possibilities limited only by your imagination and what you have on hand. They can be a side dish or the main course. A salad can restore your health and refresh your palate.

My friend, Lynn, who is also a Kitchen Chat producer, shared her family tradition with me. Her Italian mother- in law, Lola, taught her the basics to create a signature salad. The secret is to use good quality, fresh ingredients. Do not use precut, prepackaged, or prepared items such as bottled garlic.

Start with a foundation of a quality vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, I use red wine vinegar. Experiment with apple cider, malt, balsamic as well. Choose a lettuce or combination of lettuces and put in an bowl. I personally enjoy Romaine. Squeeze a clove of garlic through a garlic press and put it on the lettuce. Cut up onion; white, red, green, or chives and place on salad. I enjoy using a mandolin for the onions. Now you can add any other ingredients you wish. Fresh pepper, olives, berries, apple, pear, nuts, roasted pumpkin seeds, dried fruit, cheese, egg, steak, salmon, shrimp, avocado, honey, squeeze of lemon, etc. Create a palette for your palate!

Finish your creation with a sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, sea salt, pepper, parmesan reggiano and croutons. I remember Patricia Wells telling me years ago that “a salad always needs a crunch to satisfy.” The amount of oil, vinegar, etc. is put on the salad to taste. This takes practice to understand, it is what makes your salad unique. You, too can perfect the tradition of Lynn and Lola to create your own taste legacy for your family and friends.

Ingredients in my pictured salad:

Romaine hearts, garlic, red onion, red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, parmesan reggiano, olives, raspberries and blueberries.

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End of a Season

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” —Ecclesiastes 3:1

Spring is a time of new beginnings, and I would like to share some new beginnings in this season of my life.

First, I would like to thank each of you for being one of the Pearl Girls.  Your friendship and encouragement have truly blessed my life.

With my unexpected “lump” in the road behind me, (i.e. breast cancer) and my recovery from my unexpected “bump” in the road, (i.e. car accident last summer when someone ran into me), I have had time to do a lot of praying.  Cancer and car accidents can definitely cause you to ponder and pray.

I prayed a lot about the future of Pearl Girls and realized that at this time, I need to press pause. Believe me, this was a very difficult decision. The website will remain online along with archived blog posts, photos, and links to the Pearl Girls books. And perhaps in the future, there will be another Pearl Girls book if that’s the Lord’s will.

Meanwhile, I would like to share with you the next season or should I say “seasoning” of my life . . . .

As many of you know, my late father, Dr. Claude H. Rhea, Jr. profoundly influenced my life. He loved the Lord and exuded joy everyday through his words, actions, faith, songs, and food. My dad was an incredible gourmet home chef.  He loved to cook! One of my biggest regrets in life is not accepting his many invitations to join him in the kitchen to learn how to create culinary masterpieces and to learn the basic skills of cooking.

My dad found joy in the kitchen!  So, at age 52, I am on a long overdue journey to discover joy in my own kitchen and to honor my late father through this process. Yes, I realize the irony . . . I am not a good cook, but I am hosting a cooking show called Kitchen Chat. I hope that you will join me on this journey as I invite top chefs and food experts virtually into my kitchen to share their recipes, cooking tips, and their joy of cooking.

As a Christian, I know that Jesus is the true provider of joy, and I also know that He enjoyed eating and even cooking for the disciples.  His invitation to “Come and dine,” (John 21:12) brings joy to my heart and grace to my life.

I really want to keep in touch with you.  You can always find me in my kitchen. If you would like to subscribe to my Kitchen Chat blog and podcast, please click this link.  You will automatically be entered to win a copy of Shauna Niequist’s book Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes.

Once again, dear Pearl Girl, thank you for being a blessing in my life.

Savor the day!

Margaret

For everything, there is a season… find out what's in store for Pearl Girls
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How Motherhood has Stretched Me

Motherhood has stretched me . . . and I’m not just talking about the marks that my polka-dot bathing suit fails to hide. (With each child’s birth, my hips and thighs expanded along with my heart!) Although my physical body has changed since I’ve had children, my mental, emotional, and spiritual shape have been transformed even more.

I think like a mom, have a mom’s heart . . . and my ears are now tuned to K-MOM frequency. While everyone seems to have a built-in warning system (part of God’s standard package), only moms can recognize the little signal that goes off in their heads—the silent warning that tells them something’s really not right and they do need to check on the lack of noise in the other room or the thump coming down the stairs.

I’ve discovered that this God-given radar has morphed as my children have grown. I’ve learned to listen to the intricacies, tuning into the minor things that hint that something’s not exactly right, such as when I see sadness in Alyssa’s expression. Or when Casey looks away a little too quickly. Or when Bella seems fine, but that nudging inside tells me to ask . . . just in case. In moments like these I feel God’s Spirit telling me to stop. To turn off the computer, stop the housecleaning, or call my friend back later instead of answering the phone. Then the stop is usually followed by an urging to find a way to connect within this small window of time.

What about you? How has motherhood stretched you?

How has #motherhood stretched you? Share with @TriciaGoyer!
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Motherhood: Fear Not

“Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had, and dealing with fears you didn’t know existed.” — Linda Wooten

When I first noticed that the subject for this month’s writing was motherhood, I thought it would be easy as I am the mother of a nine-month-old baby boy. Motherhood consumes most of my time, energy, and emotion. However, just like Motherhood, writing about it has proven to be more difficult than originally thought.

I love my son more than words could ever possibly convey. All the cliché sayings about motherhood could be inserted here. My heart’s capacity to love has grown by leaps and bounds, but so has my ability to feel fear. I worry about him feeling pain, rejection, and sadness. I worry about his development. I worry about what kind of Mother I am for him. I worry about the friends that will ultimately influence him. I worry about him being so far from our families. I worry. With the birth of a child, so also a deeper sense of fear is born.

I know that I will not be able to shield my son from the ugliness of life, and I struggle with that. I fear for him as my natural instinct is to protect. Knowing that I cannot keep him from experiencing whatever life throws his way creates an uneasiness within. My son will feel pain. This is life and I need to come to terms with that. He will fall. He will scrape a knee or break a bone or worse. He will have his feelings hurt. He will experience rejection and failure. My heart aches thinking about it. So what do I do? Live my life in fear while trying, yet failing, to control it all? Certainly not! Instead I need to do what I can and learn to trust in God through it all. I need to pray for God’s guidance, strength, and peace whenever I encounter fear. In fact, every single day I need to begin with prayer that is filled with humility and gratitude as I offer it all up.

A wise man once told me that any money we have is not truly ours. It is all ultimately Gods, given to us, and therefore we are to hold it with an open hand. I believe this applies to everything, including our children. My son is a child of God that has been given as a precious gift and I need to parent him in the light of this understanding.

Lord, thank you for giving me the gift of my baby boy. Help me to raise him to be strong in character, loving, kind, intelligent, and with a heart that beats for You.  Help me to parent my son as you would desire and may I not miss any moments of happiness because of worries or fear. Provide me with your peace and guidance throughout this difficult but joy filled journey that is Motherhood.

Deuteronomy 31:6  “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

With the birth of a child comes a deeper sense of fear. Trust God through it all! @swauterlek
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Motherhood Changes

My son is not coming home for the summer this year. Zach is finishing up his junior year at Boston University. He will spend his summer working in a neuroscience research lab. He’s twenty years old.

I am excited to see the things he is trying. The new fields he’s exploring. The opportunities he has grabbed. I’m a proud mom. I am also a tiny bit sad. I’m having growing pains as a mom. When Zach arrived in my life it was a huge—happy— adjustment. Now learning to live in my empty nest is an equally huge adjustment. I am surprised to find happy parts to this adjustment as well.

When Zach left for college, our whole family was ready. Zach knew how to do laundry. He knew about good eating habits. He was excited about new classes, people, and places. I knew that my husband and I had done our best job possible to prepare Zach for launch.

Yet every cliché was true. The time had gone so fast. Here I was twenty years into being Zach’s mom and I still wanted to get a hug and hold the hand of the toddler as he crosses the street. Zach rides the T in Boston without supervision. I’m not needed on a day-to-day basis anymore. I have let him go, but sometimes, I wish him back. It would not be a good thing for either of us.

I am still his mom, but I have other day-to-day concerns. Making his meals is not my concern anymore. Cleaning his room, changing his sheets, doing his laundry are all things he has to do. Going to museums and parks and playing and studying are all things he does on his own with new friends. It’s not up to me anymore. I miss it, sure. But he’s finding things I never would have shown him.

Zach has his own interests—a whole world I am not a part of any more. He is not coming home this summer and I will miss him yet that’s a positive thing. For when I do get to see him again, he will be a young man full of stories to tell and excitement for the things he is discovering in his life. I will be here ready to hear what he’s found. I will have stories to tell him as well.

I am finding new things in my life. I will share the things that fill my days. He will smile and think it is funny when I get excited about a recipe or a new knitting project or my writing projects. I will tell him about what dad and I are up to on our own. He sees that these things are important to me. He doesn’t always understand my interests and I don’t understand his excitement of science, but we will share our stories and enjoy each others company. We don’t play together everyday any more but we’re still family. I may not be a day-to-day mom anymore, but I am still Zach’s mom. Motherhood changes.

Being an empty nester is a huge adjustment, but not a bad one. Lisa Bogart  @Grit_Grace
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“Mom, I feel like Cinderella…”

And no, that was not a good thing . . . .

Kristina, our second born was healthy, smart, helpful, and compliant. She was often there to help our son Joey (3 years older than she) when he needed his shoes tied, face washed, or teeth brushed. The problem was—she was only about 7.

Joey’s special needs made it such that he needed a lot of help for us just to “get out the door” and often, she was very willing to help. But this one particular day, I had asked her to do a number of things, right in a row, and not with much chance to comprehend it all. That was when she said, “Mom, I feel like CINDERELLA. Not the pretty one, but the one who had to do all the work.” Ouch.

Sometimes it takes the mirror of reality for us to stop and change our course. That comment did just that for me. I became keenly aware of the fact that she needed to be a kid. I know I didn’t expect her to “take over” my job of caring for our son with special needs, but I was happy for her help, and at that moment I could see I’d lost the ability to see that I was asking too much.

From that moment on, I made some changes. Perhaps the changes I made, will be helpful for you with your children, but also with your extended family, friends, and others in your life:

Don’t bark orders and expect others to jump.
Each child needs attention. Give them one-on-one as often as you can. Make it a point.
Allow your children to “understand” that you must take time (and often more time) with the child with special needs, but find things they like to do and purpose to do it with them.
Have family meetings. Talk about the “work load” and if they feel you are expecting too much of them. You might not like what you’ll hear, but the open communication serves well for now and when they become adults.
Don’t beat yourself up when your children are honest with you. Let them share.
Show appreciation in words and actions for those who lend you a hand.
Don’t make others feel stuck helping you. Ask first.
Don’t expect others to know what you need. If others offer to help, tell them what is helpful.
YOU make caring for you loved one look easy because you do it all the time. Others will need to be trained to help you. Take the time.
When asking other children in the family to babysit/care for/look after the one with special needs, treat them like you would someone coming in to help. Ask them to set the day aside for you and confirm it with them—like you would with a babysitter. Pay them like you would a babysitter. Ask them how things went and if there is a way that would make life easier for them when they are helping you. (And we would let our daughters have one girlfriend over so that once Joey was in bed they could enjoy time with a friend.)
Don’t expect people to read your mind. If you need help – ask.
When people offer to help, ask them what they most enjoy doing. Make and keep that list so you can call on them. The longer your list, the less often you’ll have to call on and rely upon one or two people.
Be sure to do things your typically developing children want to do – even if it means finding someone to stay home with the one with special needs.
Invest in each child, so there will be no regrets when they are adults.
Have fun. Life is better that way.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST:

Make sure you get your daughter a pretty prom dress when her time comes – so she knows how the pretty CINDERELLA felt!

Sometimes it takes the mirror of reality for us to stop & change our course! @CindiFerrini
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Winner Announced from April Book Giveaway!

Congratulations to the winner of our April book giveaway of Claiming Mariah by Pam Hillman, A Promise in Pieces by Emily Wierenga, A Sensible Arrangement by Tracie Peterson, and Surprised by Grace by Elizabeth Sherrill, SANDRA LEESMITH! Please email elizabeth {at} litfusegroup {dot} com to claim your prize.

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