A Boost of Culinary Confidence with Chef Dennis
Episode 8 Season 2: I took notes so you didn’t have to…. So grab your apron and let's get into it!
Chef Dennis Littley is on a mission to show people at home that creating delicious restaurant- quality meals is not as hard as it seems. He is encouraging everyone to break out of their recipe routine and tune into a place where they can make elegant meals in a the confines of their own kitchen. And as Dennis says, “Part of the adventure in cooking is the journey you take to get there.” which couldn’t be more true. If you enjoy having conversations with the owner of an incredible olive store then that’s where you should go get your olive oil and enjoy the experience of chatting with the person to learn more about the product. Maybe you enjoy thumbing through pretty cookbooks, surround yourself with them and grab that cup of tea and thumb away my friend. The point is to make the experience as enjoyable as possible, because what’s the other option? It’s a trudge, pain in the butt, totally unenjoyable? Well then I pick the enjoyable way for sure!
Dennis brought up a lot of great points while we were chatting and when it comes to having some culinary confidence in the kitchen he believes there are 5 easy steps to follow.
Make something you enjoy eating and are comfortable with.
Follow the recipe closely but be flexible too. For example if you don’t like broccoli and it’s one of the ingredients in the recipe but not the star of the show, well then swap it out for a veggie you do like. If it’s broccoli cheddar soup…well you may want to rethink this one.
Set up your ingredients ahead of time. Take some time to chop up everything in put them in little dishes. Get your sauces, stock, cream, butter, whatever it may be, portioned out and ready to be assembled. Culinary professionals call this Mise en place. In french is basically means “put in place”.
If the process is more enjoyable you may find you want to cook more often
Get Sautéing!
Dennis has a few tricks up his sleeves when it comes to finishing dishes. He loves using a Beurre Monte. As Food and Wine says, “We cook in it, rest meats in it, make sauces with it. It's an extraordinary vehicle for both heat and flavor. Here's what beurre monté is: a few drops of water and chunks of butter whisked over a moderate heat to melt the butter and keep it emulsified, in one piece and creamy. Solid butter is an emulsification of butter fat, water, and milk solids; beurre monté is a way to manipulate the emulsification into liquid form.”
I always have at least two kinds of olive oil in my kitchen. One I cook with and one I finish with (more delicate). Olive Oil varies region to region where it is produced usually based on what is cooked in that region. For example the olive oil in Southern Italy is much more delicate than that in Tuscany because the food in Tuscany is much bolder in flavor and heartier as well so you need an oil to stand up to that with flavor. I keep this mind when I buy my olive oil and also always look for an expiration date as well as a single origin.
One of Dennis’s favorite shortcuts is using a soup base when he doesn’t have time to make his own stock. He likes Minors a lot. And another option that you can get in most grocery stores would be Better than Bouillon.
Dennis mentioned a few recipes during our conversation…
Chicken Marsala and he recommends using a Sweet Marsala Wine
Now go forth and cook/eat some amazing food!!
Beth Fuller is a Boston based Food, Product and Lifestyle Photographer. One of the best ways to support the podcast and Beth is to write a review wherever you listen, like the podcast on your favorite platform and please keep Beth in mind for any photography projects as a gal has got to pay her bills!
If you have a question and want it to be featured on the podcast please email either the question or a voice memo to letsgoonafoodadventure@gmail.com. Are you on instagram? Tag me in your food adventures, @letsgoonafoodadventure. Do you want to work together with food and product photography, drop me a line here!
xoxo
Beth
Just Incase You Missed It…Gardening Tip and Tricks
Episode 7 Season 2: I took notes so you didn’t have to….I thought it was be a lot of fun to take a trip down memory lane with a "just in case you missed it" episode dedicated to all things gardening and planting with some great ideas from previous episodes. Grab your your seed catalogue and let's get into it!
From Season 1 Episode 15, “Gardening 101 with Shannie from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds”
Shannie has so much incredible information with all things gardening. You can really hear the passion come through when she’s answering all of your amazing questions. From what she said throughout the podcast it sounds like the following would really help make a “recipe” for success when it comes to our gardening…
Figure out your first and last frost dates for your town which can be found here on the Farmers Almanac.
Take a look at where your garden will be in your yard or porch. How much sun does it get daily? Take note of what kind of sun you are also getting..i.e. direct or slightly shaded…
Invest in good soil and compost, maybe look to a local farm to see if they might have some for sale or a local garden center.
READ THE SEED PACKETS!!! Turns out there’s a lot of information on those little suckers and rather than just tossing the seeds in the dirt and hoping they come up, read the seed packets. And then plant the plants according to the information on the packets.
Don’t over crowd your garden space. This is my biggest problem. I get SO excited about growing so many things that I ALWAYS overcrowd my garden in hopes to get as many veggies and herbs as possible. I also do this when I order any type of asian take out. I always want a bite of everything and then ALWAYS order way too much. I just get so excited! Anyway, back to gardening.
If you are using raised beds make sure they are nice and deep about 18” if possible.
Companion Planting is a big deal and super cool! What plants go with what and even help each other! There is a ton of information on there but I think the Farmers Almanac does a nice job here of explaining it more.
You can do succession planting, “In agriculture, succession planting refers to several planting methods that increase crop availability during a growing season by making efficient use of space and timing. ... Two or more crops in succession: After one crop is harvested, another is planted in the same space.” from Wikipedia. The Spruce does a great job of explaining this more here. If you have a smaller garden to work with this is a great way to get more out of your space.
Now you’re growing things like crazy and need some recipes to use up your veggies! It can be overwhelming when you have a ton of lettuce one day and then the following week it’s just herb city! Shannie had some great ideas of how to use up lettuce when you are burnt out from salads!
Lettuce Wraps from Damn Delicious or Skinnytaste
Fresh Rolls are a great way to use lettuce and maybe some other little extra pieces of veggies floating around in your fridge.
For herbs, I am huge fan of freezing them. I have done this in a few different ways over the years and all seem to work. If you are going to put them right in a pan then you can chop them up, maybe even mix some together like parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme or keep them all separate too, which ever you prefer and then place them in a clean ice cube trays, cover them with olive oil or whatever cooking oil you like to use and freeze them. Once they are frozen solid I pop them out, put the cubes in labeled baggies and place them back in the freezer. When you need some fresh herbs just pop a cube out and into the pan. I have also done the exact same thing and used water instead. The only downside to the water method is you do need to let these thaw out before you use them. I like to put the cubes in a small strainer over a bowl and let them melt while I do the other prep for the meal.
I also love making Pesto, Chimichurri, Chermoula, Zhoug and gorgeous Indian Green Chutney! They are freeze beautifully and really brighten up any dish! Especially in those long winter months when you are craving sunshine and warm weather food.
Is fermenting your thing? If it isn’t, well maybe it should be. Lacto-Fermented veggies of any kind are awesome! They taste great and are good for your belly! Check out this website for more information and to get you started on your fermenting journey!
And last but not least…canning! If you are new to canning, here’s a great article on Canning 101. Personally this is something I love to do with friends and family. Get a canning party going, have some drinks, laughs and enjoy everyone’s company. That’s how we do it in our household and for some reason the canned food always tastes better when there’s more love and laughs happening around it. Just sayin!
From Season 1 Episode 38, “Let’s Buy a Farm” with Linda from Tangerini’s Farm
Linda was kind enough to include her spiced Cantaloupe Tea Cake Recipe:
Spiced Cantaloupe Tea Cake
Ingredients:
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 tsp cinnamon ground
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ginger ground
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups sugar granulated
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups cantaloupe ripe, diced and smashed with a pastry blender (only the flesh)
Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 F degrees. Grease and flour two 5×8 inch loaf pans. Combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, ginger, baking soda, and baking powder in a medium bowl.
With an electric mixer or a whisk, beat the sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla in a bowl until well blended and slightly frothy. Fold in the grated cantaloupe. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and fold until just blended; don't overmix or your tea cakes will be tough.
Divide the batter between the loaf pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out dry, about 1 hour.
Let cool on a rack, then invert. Serve just slightly warm or at room temperature.
Now go forth and cook/eat some amazing food!!
Beth Fuller is a Boston based Food, Product and Lifestyle Photographer. One of the best ways to support the podcast and Beth is to write a review wherever you listen, like the podcast on your favorite platform and please keep Beth in mind for any photography projects as a gal has got to pay her bills!
If you have a question and want it to be featured on the podcast please email either the question or a voice memo to letsgoonafoodadventure@gmail.com. Are you on instagram? Tag me in your food adventures, @letsgoonafoodadventure. Do you want to work together with food and product photography, drop me a line here!
xoxo
Beth
Living a more Sustainable Life Part One and Two
Episode 5 and 6 Season 2: I took notes so you didn’t have to….Today we have Carl from the Self Sufficient Hub podcast talking about what it means to be more self sufficient, living off the land, reducing your carbon foot print and so much more!
As Carl says so beautifully, “Every mistake is a fantastic learning experience”
So you have been thinking, “What can I do to help the environment?” or maybe “Lower my carbon foot print in the world?” or even just want to start growing fresh herbs in your kitchen. I know it can feel a little like an uphill climb when you dive into the world of change. But I know from doing this first hand that even the smallest changes can create big impacts. For example I remember a few years ago I wanted to start to run a 5k. I hadn’t run in years and even when I did it wasn’t very far let alone 5k. I loved walking, always have, but never running. I picked a race a few months away and started my training. The first few days I was just excited to be out in the world “doing it”. Then shit got real about day 5 of “training” and I reverted into that 8 year old who just ‘didn’t wanna!’. Rather than giving into my own personal temper tantrum in my head I decided to just put on my shoes and put one foot in front of the other. It didn’t matter how far I went or how fast I was or wasn’t going it was that I was going to do it. And every day when doubt would creep in I would just tell myself to put one foot in front of the other and try.
I ran 4 5k’s over the next two years and was really proud of myself for not giving up. My point in all of this is when you think the task ahead feels IMPOSSIBLE or too big for one person, well….just try to do one small thing. Anything and one more small thing and one more after that…just keep going and I promise you. I PROMISE you that you will look back and see that it’s a HUGE difference with time. This is a marathon people, not a sprint. Wow that was a lot of running/walking analogies.
Alright, Carl, Carl is here on the podcast today inspiring me and hopefully many of you to start by even doing just a few small things to make big changes in our lives. Check out his podcast, Youtube and patron page for more information!
We dive into a lot in our conversation and one of things we talked about was PermaCulutre and what that means. Our friends at Masterclass define this as, “Permaculture gardening is based on the concept of designing your garden around your local environment. ... Permaculture gardening also focuses heavily on gradually building up soil quality with nutrients so that you're constantly rejuvenating the earth as you strengthen the health of your plants”
Carl says to google, “what will grow (insert where you live) and the (season) you plan on growing in”. Planning a year round garden does take some planning on your end and learning how to do succession gardening. The farmer almanac has a great resource here.
Carl loves to go forging for mushrooms. There’s a lot to learn when it comes to finding wild mushrooms. And as he says, “Don’t munch on a hunch”. Before you get going on your forging we both highly recommend educating yourself on what’s an edible mushroom in your area. Pick one or two you’d like to search for and focus on JUST trying to find those. Also if at all possible go with an expert in your area at first or second time you go out because again, “NEVER MUNCH ON A HUNCH”
Carl has some great tips on what you can do even on a smaller scale to be a little bit more sustainable in your current life.
So space is an issue? What about a table/counter top compost bin like this one or if you have a little bit more space and a little outdoor space this one is great too.
Do you want to grow a few things but aren’t sure where to start or no outdoor space? Little pots in your kitchen or a place that has some sunlight in your home or apartment can easily grow an herb or two. Small cherry tomatoes and strawberries also do well in pots inside.
Have kids and want to get them more involved with being sustainable…try a point system in your home. If the kids want to use an iPad or be online, set a certain amount of “points” they need to use their devices or whatever they like to do. They can get the points by helping out with sustainable tasks. It’s a way to get into learning how to be more sustainable and also how to budget and spend with their points.
Are you looking to visit England and would like to know where to go? Carl suggests checking out Cornwall, North Wales and the Peak District ( a beautiful national park in England). I would like to add to the list to check out Cotswold. It’s BEAUTIFUL and very picturesque British countryside.
Now go forth and cook/eat some amazing food!!
Beth Fuller is a Boston based Food, Product and Lifestyle Photographer. One of the best ways to support the podcast and Beth is to write a review wherever you listen, like the podcast on your favorite platform and please keep Beth in mind for any photography projects as a gal has got to pay her bills!
If you have a question and want it to be featured on the podcast please email either the question or a voice memo to letsgoonafoodadventure@gmail.com. Are you on instagram? Tag me in your food adventures, @letsgoonafoodadventure. Do you want to work together with food and product photography, drop me a line here!
xoxo
Beth