Domestic Violence Services Private Chef Dinner

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I was auctioned off to charity this spring at the annual Domestic Violence Services charity auction. It was a very tense moment for me as I was really wondering just who would place the highest bid. It ended up being our Global Spectrum Marketing Director for XFINITY Arena, Tammi Bryant Olson. Who, by the way, just happens to be married to my boss! As a birthday gift to her mother in law, Tammi gave the Chef’s Dinner to Mrs. Olson. It was so much fun! I must admit that I was a little nervous however once I settled in everything flowed.

We started with an Amuse Bouche - Lemon Scented Mushrooms in a Crisp Gyoza Cup. We then went on to everyone’s favorite soup - Moroccan Butternut Squash with Chopped Chives and Crème Fraiche. Next the Salad - Grilled Spring Asparagus and Fennel Salad with a Raspberry Vinaigrette. 

Grilled Spring Asparagus and Fennel Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

For the Entrée- Saffron Seafood Paella with Jumbo Shrimp, Dungeness Crab, Petite Calamari, Grilled Andouille Sausage and Grilled Chicken Drumettes in a Saffron Citrus Sauce Topped with Grilled Ahi Tuna. 

Saffron Seafood Paella

Saffron Seafood Paella Plated

Last but not least for dessert- Dessert Trio of Mini Chocolate terrine, Blueberry Tartlet and Strawberry Tartlet on Crème Englaise with Toasted Coconut Ice Cream and Caramel Sauce.

Beautiful Dessert Plates

All of this paired with some really wonderful wines that also flowed course after course after course. All in all everyone had a really great time and we all enjoyed the company as much as the food and the wine. I hope to be able to repeat this fantastic dinner in the future as it is for such a great cause.

The Belmont Stakes in New York

I had the experience of a lifetime in June, when my company, Centerplate, sent me to New York to do culinary assist at the Belmont Stakes, one of our premiere venues. Which it turned out was a Triple Crown event. Attendance was high and so was the mood. The atmosphere was electric! I saw on the news that evening that there were around 175,000 people in and around the race track. Everyone was buzzing about California Chrome who had the potential to win the first Triple Crown 36 in years. It was EXCITING!!!!!!

Beautiful Animal

The Prized Trophy

I was asked to be Saucier, the person to make all of the stocks and sauces. 40 gallons of savory turkey gravy, truffle cream sauce, demi glace, chardonnay cream sauce, red sauce sort of like a marinara, beef au jus, saffron cream sauce and a few barbecue sauces including an espresso flavored barbecue sauce that was really tasty. I also made a fantastic seafood paella and saffron seafood scented rice for a few thousand hungry folks.

My 60 Gallon Kettle

If that seems like a lot it is because it is! Of the many huge buffets we had, I ran two. One was at the entrance side of the building and the other was in the center of the building so needless to say I literally walked a few miles that day. My buffets had filet mignon carved to order, beautiful risotto cakes, awesome chicken osso bucco, amazing salads and spectacular desserts. My company, Centerplate, really knows how to put out a spread!

Chefs Pre Planning Meeting

California Chrome did not end up winning, however the experience was one that I will keep with me for the rest of my life. Thanks Centerplate!

School Tour 2014

Client Party

Each year, we host an event for our clients, suiteholders and supporters to showcase new menu items just before the Everett Silvertips season. The party was a resounding success with more than 200 people enjoying the delicious food our team created. Jeremiah and I live demo'd Jamaican Jerk Wings and everyone went home with the recipe and a whisk to whip it up on their own.

Seattle Surf and Turf

Interviews. I happen to enjoy them.  Both being the interviewee and the interviewer. Most people cringe when they hear the word. I have always enjoyed the interaction and the exchange between a prospective employer and the fellow team members on the panel, if the interview process reaches that point. So when my current GM asked me to fly up to interview with Centerplate here at Comcast Arena at Everett I was pretty pleased regarding the job opportunity and excited to see new lands. As part of the process of becoming an Executive Chef at a corporate setting you are required to perform what Centerplate refers to as a “Black Box” or a mystery box. Basically a box filled with a wide variety of ingredients that you have to create a fabulous four-course meal from including an amuse bouche (A single, bite-sized hors d’œuvre that is a gift from the Chef to stimulate the palate and get the guest excited about the rest of the meal), a salad, an appetizer and an entrée. Similar to the TV show Chopped.

Some of the challenges involved are not just the ingredients that you find out about immediately before you cook, but also the challenge of being in unfamiliar surroundings as every kitchen has its quirks.  I did my face to face interview here in Everett and was asked to do my cooking demonstration at Safeco field in Seattle, which is also a Centerplate account. David Dekker is the Executive Chef there and he was primarily conducting that part of the interview process. I was to be in the Diamond Club kitchen at 8 AM and have my amuse bouche on the table at noon. So I had four hours to nail it. On my own. All by myself. 

I reasoned that if I left my hotel here in Everett at 6:30 AM that I could be in the kitchen at Safeco sipping coffee by 7:30 to 7:45 AM. I pulled out at exactly 6:29 AM and hit I-5. On my way down the traffic stopped dead right before the exit for the stadium. A Fed-Ex truck had overturned and burst in to flames, completely closing down I-5 south bound. I called and David told me not to worry. He said that whenever I arrived that he would begin the four hour countdown and that he would call everyone scheduled to join us and let them know. I arrived at 9:55 AM and went directly to my ingredients. After looking them over I decided to just go for it. When David came into the kitchen I told him that I would be ready at noon as promised. He said “You don’t have to do this Chef” and I said “A deal’s a deal” so I was off and running. 

I had halibut, scallops, skirt steak, bacon, lentils, red potatoes, bell peppers, onions, garlic, shallots, lemons, heavy cream and all kinds of other ingredients. The wild card was the ground hot Italian sausage so I began by making a sausage patty and cooking it on the char broiler. After it was cooked, I crumbled it and put it in the lentils and cooked them in a Turkish curry spice I made from scratch. This was to be the foundation of my amuse bouche. I put the lentils in a soup spoon, topped them with red and yellow cherry tomato slivers, drizzled it all with a roast garlic olive oil and sprinkled it with thinly sliced fresh basil. As promised, they were on the table just before noon. The crowd went wild. Next I made a scallop casino chowder with bacon and bell peppers. The soup bowls came back clean. Then I made a nice frisee salad with dried fruit and sherry vinaigrette. Another crowd pleaser and all courses were flying out of the kitchen looking good and tasting great. I was pleased, so far.

My grand finale, the piece de resistance, was a Seattle Surf and Turf. I crusted the halibut with Romano cheese and pan seared it, then I made a roast garlic lemon cream sauce to go with it. The skirt steak I marinated in fresh herbs and grilled it to a perfect medium rare, then I made a port barbecue au jus for it. My starch was red potato Tuscany home fries and my vegetable was grilled asparagus with lemon zest. I put the potatoes in the center of the plate, the halibut on one side and the steak on the other. I placed the asparagus over the top of the home fries perpendicular to the steak and the fish, then topped the asparagus with thinly fried onion rings. The sauces went down last and out the plates went. They loved the dish and the presentation and I have been doing a similar dish here in the Arena Grill restaurant ever since.  All six guests really enjoyed the meal and guess what? I got the job! I am posting some of these recipes soon and hope that you enjoy them all. See you at the Arena!

Halibut - A Fish Tale

I love halibut. Its beautiful white color, great neutral flavor, and wonderful firm texture make it an extremely versatile fish. That’s why I jumped at the chance to go halibut fishing out of Westport on Tuesday, May 20. The weather gods had frowned upon us for an earlier trip so it was rescheduled for the Tuesday. Then, over the weekend prior to our trip date, the halibut gods frowned upon us as the halibut quota was reached. The halibut season was shut down. So no halibut trip. I was really upset- I love halibut!

Captain Justin of the Samarai is such a great guy, he offered to take me and my co worker out for ling cod and black bass at a cheaper rate and it was going to be just the two of us on board. What a guy! How could we refuse! Less money and less people on board…we pounced on the offer! The weather forecast was perfect, so off to Westport we went, arriving early and eager to set sail at six thirty that morning. I also love ling cod and black bass and they have been nailing them in Westport recently, so we were extremely confident that we would limit out and be back at the dock for lunch by noon.

Well, the wind gods decided to frown upon us and it was blowing twenty five knots. The tide was ebbing and the wind was against the tide so we had a massive chop and some really gnarly conditions going out over the bar. We took several waves over the bow but on we went. When we finally got into the ocean the waves were still pretty big, a few fifteen footers, but for the most part it was just fine. And Captain Justin is a great helmsman so he kept us on our lines. Because of the wind we drifted really fast which meant we had to keep pulling up our lines and head back up the hill to the rock patches we were angling. But catch fish we did. All of us. Even the Captain’s friend who was invited at the last minute. Three guys reeling them in, in big wind and big waves- too much fun!

It was my lucky day as I caught the most black bass, six, and I limited out on ling cod catching my quota of two. But the best surprise of the day was the massive wrenching tug on my line that bent my rod and started my reel singing as the line played out and whatever it was that ate my bait began to run. And run. And run. I finally came to my senses and tightened the drag on my reel and began the arduous but fun process of reeling whatever it was on the end of my line in. I reeled. And reeled. And reeled as my fellow fisherman made some really funny jokes like “What did you hook, Moby Dick?” and “It must be a halibut!” It turns out that catching a halibut where we were drifting is pretty rare so I figured I had a monster ling cod. Visions of winning the derby danced in my head……

Then suddenly we could see color beneath the waves and guess what I caught? That’s right, a halibut! Woo hoo!!!!!! The Triple Crown! The trifecta of fishing! It was a really nice sized fish, just right, about twenty five pounds. Perfect for me to enjoy for quite some time. We landed the beauty in the boat and I was ecstatic. So was everyone on board. We all high fived and everyone congratulated me. It was awesome. I asked the deck hand to save me the carcass as I wanted to make a fish stock. I also asked him to save me the liver as they are really tasty. The filets are the perfect size and Brian, the deck hand, did a great job of filleting all of my fish.

Steve, Deck Hand Brian, Chef Stu and Bruiser

I will add the recipe for my fish stock to the blog soon. I am also putting on the recipe of the halibut dish I prepared when I did my Chef interview for my current Executive Chef position here at Comcast Arena and Event Center. Ah yes, my Executive Chef interview. What a day THAT was. That will be one of my next blogs, so please stay tuned!

Black Bass on the Barby

Roasted Winter Pumpkin Soup with Roast Butternut Squash, Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese

45 Gallons Pumpkin Soup

600 Bowls of Soup

Soup Recipe:

2 pounds roasted pumpkin
1/2 pound celery- small dice  
1/2 pound carrots- small dice  
1 pounds onions- small dice  
1 1/2 quarts heavy cream 
½ quart vegetable stock
1 bunch parsley – finely chopped
1 bunch sage– finely chopped 
2 branches Rosemary – finely chopped 
½ bunch thyme – finely chopped 
1 TBL butter
1 TBL olive oil

Sweat out the vegetables in the butter and olive oil.
Add the heavy cream and bring the heavy cream and vegetables to the boil.
Add the pureed pumpkin and blend well.
Add the finely chopped herbs.
Season with kosher salt and white pepper to taste.

Garnish:

1/2 pound roast butternut squash- dice small
1 pound of onions julienne- caramelize in two to three tablespoons of butter 
1/2 pound of goat cheese- crumbled  
1 bunch chives chopped fine

• In each soup bowl place a small mound of the roast butternut squash.
• Top the squash with some caramelized onions.
• Top the onions with some crumbled goat cheese.
• Ladle in the hot soup being careful not to go directly on the goat cheese until the goat cheese is almost covered.
• Sprinkle on some chives.

ENJOY!!!!!!

100 Pounds Roast Pumpkin