A healthy cooking demonstration in Montclair, with a presentation on nutrition by Body Worx Fitness, LLC

For information on holding your own in-home cooking party, contact us.

Learn more about our company - www.chefdanleff.com

For more on my colleague, Butch Strehlow, contact Body Worx Fitness, LLC

It was fun and informative to work with a personal trainer/nutritional coach for a recent cooking class. Butch of Body Worx Fitness provided detailed nutritional information based on the menu we prepared and served for our clients at a beautiful home in the Oakland Hills. Here's a selection from the evening ...

Soy-glazed Salmon (or Chicken Breasts) with Fresh Salsa

Ingredients:
• Salmon filets (or Chicken breasts) = 1 – 3 to 4 oz. piece per guest
• Soy sauce = approx. 2-3 ounces
• Olive oil = approx. 2 ounces
• Roma Tomatoes = approx. 3-4 each
• Lime juice = approx. 1-2 ounces
• Red onion, diced fine = 1 each
• Jalapeno or Serrano chilies, minced = 1-2 each
• Handful fresh cilantro, chopped = 1 bunch
• Salt and pepper = to taste

• To prepare the salsa: (Do this before preparing the salmon). Dice all fruits (small dice). Mix in red onion, chilies, cilantro, and lime juice. Allow to stand for 5-10 minutes, and then transfer to a colander set over a bowl. Allow to drain for an additional 5-10 minutes. The salsa will shed a lot of liquid – this liquid will be used as the basis of the salmon glaze. After draining off the liquid, transfer the drained salsa to a bowl and refrigerate.
• To prepare the salmon: Take the drained off liquid from the salsa, and whisk in soy sauce and olive oil. Judge the number of salmon pieces you have; will there be enough glaze? If not, add more soy sauce and lime juice, as needed.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay salmon on a lined sheet pan. With a pastry brush, stir the glazing liquid briskly and thoroughly, and then brush each piece of salmon with this mixture. Cook in oven for 8-10 minutes; may vary depending on the thickness of the piece and exact oven used.

Mushroom Risotto

For question on this recipe, or on culinary matters, contact me.

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Thanks to Michael Corsentino for this beautiful image - www.michaelcorsentino.com

Mushrooms and Risotto have a natural affinity. This recipe utilizes Chanterelles and is not difficult to make:

Mushroom Risotto – serves 4-6

Ingredients:
6-10 oz. Chanterelle Mushrooms, cleaned
1 shallot, peeled and julienned
1/2 cup white wine
2 yellow onions, fine chopped
3-5 cloves of garlic, fine chopped
2 cups Arborio or Carnaroli rice
9-10 cups of chicken or vegetable stock, heated in a sauce pan over a low heat
3 TB. Olive oil, plus an additional 2-3 TB. For sautéing the mushrooms
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
1. Prepare the mushrooms: shred the Chanterelles into thick pieces
2. Sauté the julienned shallots in 2-3 TB. Olive oil over high heat, when brown, add the musrhooms. Saute for a few minutes, until the mushrooms start to reabsorb their liquids, then add the white wine. Stir fry 1-2 minutes more, then season with salt and pepper and set aside.
3. In a pan at least 8” wide by 2” deep, heat the remaining 3 TB. olive oil over medium high heat.
4. When the oil is hot, add the chopped onions and garlic and sauté until the onions become translucent
5. Add the rice – stir until the rice is evenly coated with any oil in the pan
6. Using a 4- or 6-oz. ladle, add stock to the rice; stir until the rice absorbs the stock, and keep adding more stock, stirring all the while with a wooden spoon
7. The risotto will be ready when the rice is tender with just a hint of chewiness – kernels will be just barely translucent at this stage
8. Season with salt and pepper; stir in the mushrooms, or place them on top of portioned servings of risotto as a garnish.

Corn, chilies, and herbs - on the grill

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I'm a big proponent of grilling, if the weather is right. As I've stated in previous blogs, grilling can be a subtle technique, if handled just so.

Consider the following:
Wash an ear of corn, then stick the un-shucked ear in the microwave, on "High", for about 1 minute. The ear will be hot, but MUCH easier to shuck and de-silk - the silk will come away in one bunch, easily! (Thanks to my friends at Pans on Fire for this neat trick.)
Lay the shucked/de-silked ear of corn on a piece of aluminum foil; top with about 1 Tb. butter. Wash 2-3 Padron chilies - cut them in half lengthwise, lay alongside the corn. On the other side of the corn, lay 2-3 sprigs fresh Rosemary. Sprinkle the whole lot with sea salt, then wrap tightly.

Lay this package over hot coals. You can start when the coals are still flaming, not quite ashed-over. Let sit, turning occasionally, for about 1 hour. At the end, the corn will be tender, sweet and rich from the butter, lightly redolent with the essence of rosemary. The peppers will also leave a hint of piquant sweetness. Goes well with fish and chicken. Enjoy!

On Gazpacho

My appreciation for Gazpacho was kindled by my experiences working Garde Manger station at Lark Creek Inn. After lunch, during Summer months, it was my job to go out to the shed where cases upon cases of heirloom tomatoes were stored. I had to pick out the ones that were about to go rotten but were still just barely salvageable. We took these and made Gazpacho with them. Frugal, but also delicious.

The following recipe serves well for this dish ... know that, as with all such traditional dishes, styles and ingredients can vary quite widely.

Ingredients

* 10 oz of bread
* 21 oz. of tomato
* 2 cloves of garlic
* 2 onions
* 2 red and green peppers
* 1 cucumber (optional)
* 7 tablespoons of oil
* 2 tablespoons of vinegar
* 1 1/2 tablespoon of water
* Cumin (optional)

Preparation

In a big mortar mash the cumin, the garlic and the soaked bread, in a plastic bowl mix the chopped onion, the chopped tomato, the oil, the vinegar, the salt and the contents of the mortar, mash it with the mixer and add very cold water to mix everything. Add salt and strain it. Keep it in the fridge until served.

Serve with the tomato, the cucumber, the pepper and the toasted bread cut to dices.

For more information on fine-dining for small catered events, contact us.

Grilling pork

I'm done with pork loins. They are gigantic, far too lean, and easily wind up being too dry. Henceforth ... it's strictly pork TENDERLOINS for me.

You can buy a pack of 4 pork tenderloins at Costco for not much money. They don't even really require any trimming or other prep. Simply put 'em in a plastic bag with some red wine, herbs, garlic, and a little soy sauce. Let them sit over night, then grill them the next day.

The pork tenderloins pictured here were cooked until almost done. Then, they were transferred to an aluminum pan with about 2 cups of red wine, covered, and "braised" for another 10 minutes or so. I then let them sit for about 10 minutes. I sliced them thin and put them right back in the red wine braising liquid. For service, I served them on baguette with mustard and sliced cucumbers. Unbeatable for a Summer afternoon!

For more tips on cooking and catering, contact me.

Thoughts on Beverage Service

During the Summer, successful events often call for a variety of (preferably cold) beverages. Here are some thoughts on the subject, drawn from my experience to date:

- Ice: if you have time and a capacious freezer, you may want to simply go and get this, if it's a small event. For larger events, you might wish to have the caterer buy large quantities of ice - note well that in hot, inland places it's likely easier to simply plan to have lots of ice on hand, rather than to ask someone to run out to Safeway for more ice halfway through the party.

- Alcoholic beverages: many caterers simply can't provide booze, due to insurance issues. Make sure your home-owners' insurance is in good order, or that you're renting space at a venue where liability is clearly delineated.

- Non-alcoholic beverages: gone are the days of the Shirley Temple. Plenty of top-quality, organic iced teas and lemonades (limeades, tangerine-ades) are available to make customized, refreshing beverages. Which brings us to ...

- Additional ingredients: whether it's a catered event or do-it-yourself, it's a "best practice" to have items like limes, lemons, and mint on-hand for flavoring waters, iced tea, or stronger potions.

Contact us to share ideas, or for specific inquiries.

Chef Dan Leff Catering, Inc.

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Cooking risotto

I've cooked risotto in quantities ranging from enough for a dinner for two (and it's not easy to cook that little risotto), to hotel buffets for 400+ diners. Here's a few tips I've picked up:

- Have the stock hot before adding to the pan. If you're making saffron risotto (always a crowd-pleaser), let the saffron strands steep in the stock as long as possible before using it. Stock should be just below a simmer ... and please use stock, NOT water.

- Always use a wooden spoon. If you don't have a wooden spoon, refrain from making risotto until you've acquired one. Know that if you use a metal spoon, the kernels will break up and form crunchy fragments that don't release their starches properly. I learned this the hard way, in a big hotel, when trying to get the lunch buffet out.

- Risotto should not be cooked to quickly or too slowly. At too high of a heat, the liquid boils off before it can cook the rice. At too low of a heat, the mix just sits there.

- I have it on good authority that Carnaroli rice is superior to Arborio, but I've had good results with both.

... And if you have questions or comments, contact me at Chef Dan Leff Catering, Inc.

Oven-fried Chicken

I love fried chicken but the doctor says "no way". If your doctor says the same, try this version that's baked in the oven, NOT deep-fried ....

Oven-fried chicken – makes 5-6 servings
Ingredients:
• 1 quart buttermilk
• 5-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 bunch each of marjoram and sage (can add thyme if desired)
• Flour
• Breadcrumbs (seasoned ones work well)
• 1 egg
• Salt, black pepper, cayenne
• Pan spray

Directions:
• Pour buttermilk into a bowl; whisk in salt, pepper, and cayenne.
• With the back of a knife, bruise half of the herbs – add to the buttermilk mixture.
• Add chicken breasts to this mixture; tried to get them all submerged. Let sit to marinate for about an hour.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a sheet pan – I like to cover the pan with foil, and then spray with pan spray (much easier to remove the aluminum foil than to scrub and scrub the pan, later on).
• Trim the rest of the herbs off their stems, and then fine chop them. Add the chopped herbs to the flour.
• Mix some salt, pepper, and cayenne in with the flour as well. Don’t go to heavy with the spices, remember, they are in the marinade as well!
• Have breadcrumbs ready in a bowl.
• Remove the marinated chicken breasts from the buttermilk mix, to a bowl. Remove the bruised herbs and discard. Whisk one egg into the buttermilk mix.
• Get an “assembly line” going. Start with chicken breasts at one end, then the flour, then the buttermilk/egg mix, then the breadcrumbs, then the sprayed sheet pan.
• Work as follows: Dust each chicken breast well with flour, and then dunk it completely into the buttermilk mix. Then roll it completely with breadcrumbs to coat; transfer the coated chicken breast to the sheet pan. Repeat until they’re all ready-to-cook on the sheet pan.
• Bake for about 25-30 minutes (depends how big they are … some chicken breasts these days can range up to 8 oz. each in weight!). When done, let them rest for about 10 minutes, then serve. If you are saving them for later, DON’T wrap them up unless they are COMPLETELY cooled-down, or they’ll steam in their wrappers … a big potential health danger!
• Re-heat them in a medium oven for 20-30 minutes … they won’t be as crispy as when first out of the oven, but will be delicious!

On Tapenade

Tapenade is one of the first things I learned to make in Garde Manger ("Cold Kitchen"), the class wherein we learned about pates, terrines, and other applications fit for fine buffet service. After years of making this, I've come up with a few twists on the original concept.

Olives - I use a mix of pitted Kalamata olives plus some sort of pitted green olive. It makes for a more interesting taste and appearance. The briny nature of the Kalamatas is off-set nicely by the more fruity essence of green olives.

Anchovies - I don't use them. Not everyone likes them, and I realized that I could accommodate die-hard vegans simply by omitting them. They do have a very strong taste and add a lot of sodium.

Salt - lightly, if at all! Just a TINY extra bit of salt can make the mixture nearly inedible.

Mortar and Pestle, or Food Processor? - Food Processor wins hands down! For best results, pulse the olives, just by themselves, in the processor for a little bit before adding any other ingredients (garlic, thyme, olive oil, capers, etc.) - if there are ANY pits that didn't get properly removed, they will be detectable by listening closely ... their presence will be betrayed by an unpleasant clacking sound against the blade!

Yuzu and me

"Add a little Yuzu vinegar."

Hunh?

The sharp young sous chef was correcting a spiced-vinegar reduction I was making. It was the basis for one of the vinaigrettes at my station. But something was missing.

I added the Yuzu vinegar and gave it another try, as did the sous chef.

"Perfect! Cool it down and get it on your station, service begins in less than half an hour."

I'd never heard of Yuzu before. After lunch service, I asked about it. It's an Asian citrus with an aromatic, perfumy essence. A new one on me (I'd gotten into fine-dining to learn stuff like this).

I later found a Yuzu syrup at a local farmer's market. Always made a nice addition to various glazes. Never saw a fresh one until recently ... I encountered a particularly fragrant bin of citrus at the Berkeley Bowl and I had to take notice. Fresh Yuzu! The ones I got hold of had tender skin and a somewhat feathery flesh, but they had that ineffably complex perfume and taste. Great for steaming shrimp ... and the client agreed!