That's What Bob's Cooking: July 2011

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Cooking Tip #1

How to chop a Bell Pepper

Having watched several people in the kitchen, from neighbor to friends to family cook, I’ve always wanted to show people how to do a few things, in a positive way, of course.

Several years back I was watching a TV show (I think it was Yan Can Cook), that the chef was chopping a green pepper. This was so impressionable on me that I still cut peppers this same way. Here is my interpretation of a classic TV show:

Step 1: Slice off the top and bottom of the bell pepper.

Set aside top and bottom, you just cut off.

Step Two: Cut the core out of the top and bottom of the bell pepper

Step three: Slice down one side of the bell pepper and remove all of the unusable insides and seeds, discard.

Step four: Lay the bell pepper out flat.....

Step five: Lay out knife flat and run it along the "meat of the pepper and slice off the "white pith". This will allow the bell pepper to lay out flat.

Step six: slice the bell pepper into strips. Cut the strips into the width desired. At this point you can have Julienne strips. If you'd like diced or chopped, continue to step seven.

Step seven: Turn the sliced bell peppers sideways, and slice into the desired width.

Final Product, Diced bell peppers.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Fresh Fig Appetizer

Back in June, I posted (http://bobscooking.blogspot.com/2011/06/homemade-fig-newtons.html), I had attempted to mention a raw fig appetizer that we make when even figs are in season. Buy them at specialty stores, farmers markets, or pick them off your tree, however you can get them, just get them!

Fresh Fig Appetizer

1 pint Fresh Figs

2 Cups Balsamic Vinegar, reduced to ½ (1 cup)

1 small log Chevre, cheve, or crumbled goat cheese

Put vinegar in a small pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to ½ the volume. If not thickened up, thicken with a small amount of cornstarch and water mixture. Allow to completely cool.

Wash figs, and quarter.

Place figs on plates or platter and drizzle thickened vinegar over top of figs. Sprinkle goat cheese on top.

That’s it, SIMPLE, SIMPLE, SIMPLE!

White-Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake

Cheesecake. One of life's little pleasures, we have a city named after a style of it, we even have a factory named after it, or is it a restaurant?

You all can celebrate Independence day with Cherry pie, I'll take................

White-Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake

Crust

1 ½ cups chocolate cookie crumbs(Nabisco Chocolate Wafers)

1/3 cup butter, melted

Filling

½ cup seedless raspberry preserves

¼ cup water

4 8-ounce pkgs. cream cheese-room temperature

1 ¼ cups granulated sugar

½ cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

5 eggs

4 ounces white chocolate, chopped into chunks

Optional Garnish

2 ounces shaved white chocolate

whipped cream

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Prepare 9-inch springform pan by buttering pan, covering bottom with parchment paper and butter parchment.

Using a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil wrap bottom of pan well to keep water from seeping into pan during baking.

Crust

Crush chocolate wafers in sealed plastic bag with a rolling pin, or break wafers into food processor bowl and process until fine crumbs.

Mix melted butter with crumbs. Press crumbs onto bottom and 2/3 way up the sides of springform pan. Use spoon or fork to press crumbs into pan.

Place in freezer while preparing filling.

Filling

Use an electric mixer to combine the cream cheese with the sugar, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed for a couple minutes or until the ingredients are smooth and creamy. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl and then add them to the cream cheese mixture. Blend the mixture just enough to integrate the eggs.

Remove crust from freezer and sprinkle bottom of crust with white chocolate chunks.

Pour half of the cream cheese filling into the crust. Gently layer the raspberry preserves over the filling. Using a knife, gently swirl the raspberry into the filling. Top with the remaining half of the filling .

Place into oven by putting the springform pan into a larger baking pan, such as a roasting pan, and add enough hot water to the baking pan to come about halfway up to the outside of the cake pan.

Bake for 12 minutes at 475 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the top of the cheesecake turns a light brown or tan color.

Remove from the oven to cool. When cheesecake is cool, refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

To Serve sprinkle the top of cheesecake with shaved white chocolate. Slice the cheesecake and top slice with rosette of whipped cream.

Makes 12 servings.

My Complete Profile

I was born and raised on the East side of Portland Oregon, by two native and second generation, Oregonians, my Mom and Dad (Jack and Joan). Oregon, and the Northwest are deep in my blood. That being said, I have always had an interest in cooking. I would love to add a warm loving story here about how my Mom nurtured my love of cooking by setting me up on or near the counter top to help with whatever she was cooking. Well, that's not exactly the case.

Being a child of the 70's and 80's, I had a great exposure to classic foods like Spam, Tang, Rice-a-Roni and Hamburger Helper. While many of these premade, sodium roller coaster, treats where regulars on our table, my Mom would have to hold the title as "casserole queen". Casseroles are her favorite and her specialty. Whereas, my Dad was more of a spur of the moment kind of cook. His creations included many of the items from our makeshift pantry. Sometimes, i think he was thinking, "the more ingredients, the better it'll be!". I think my first attempt at cooking would have to have been making cookies, either peanut butter (with the criss-cross fork tine print on top), or chocolate chip cookies. Over the years I have made so many of both of these recipes, I have surely lost count.

During middle school, my Mom encouraged me to take Home Economics, thinking that all kids, boy or girl, should know how to cook out in this world. This sparked a growing interest in cooking. So when I entered my junior year of High School, at David Douglas, I enrolled in the culinary arts program, we called it Food Services I. This was a class that had been offered many years before, where the students ran a restaurant, The Kilt, during the lunch periods. Unfortunately, since the class had not been offered in several years, so we didn’t have enough students to open the restaurant, that year. Within the first few weeks of this class, my instructor asked if I'd like to be involved in an outside "club" (kind of like a version of Eagle Scouts) that was mentored by local business owners. It sounded interesting so I joined (not to mention it got me out of the first 2 periods of the day).

At our first meeting I was approached by Sylvia Poesdel, the owner of the Portland landmark restaurant, Sylvia's Italian Restaurant & Dinner Theatre. She asked me if I would be interested in an afterschool job, coming to work for her to learn the cooking/chef trade on the job. I jumped at the chance and started in October of 1985. During my senior year I rejoined the culinary arts program (Food Services II) and this year we were able to reopened the restaurant, which the rest of the students voted me to manage. I just absolutely loved it! I worked at Sylvia's until after I graduated, in 1989. I learned a lot about the restaurant industry, and I would have to say it would be one of just a few life altering jobs I have had throughout my career.

After high school, while I was working at Sylvia's, I applied to culinary arts school. The Two things kept me from continuing my career in culinary arts, were financial and having worked out in the field, I saw so many negative attributes to being a chef, I decided that since I love to cook, I wanted it to be a hobby, and not a drag to go work each day.

When I left Sylvia's, I worked at a hotel, then Safeway. From there I joined Fred Meyer in the Service Deli, and was quickly promoted to a manager. During the next 8 years, I worked throughout the Portland and Southern Oregon areas. In 1998, I earned a promotion to the regional specialist position (District Manager) in Seattle. During this career move, I learned so much about the Food Service industry. I was charged to develop a new service salad case program, as well as work on a new catering program. I had the opportunity to work with manufacturers to develop these new programs.

In 2000, I met the love of my life, Craig. I also, moved from the food service program to the grocery department as an assistant manager. In the capacity I learned to develop my management skills as well as managing inventory. By being the best in my category, I earned the position of manager, where I moved from store to store cleaning up and reorganizing as I went. I also was entrusted with training future Food managers for the region. At which point I was pursued by another company to run a store for them, and enter back into the restaurant industry. During these 3 years, I learned the Restaurant Supplier side of the business. While I enjoyed the time I spent in this opportunity, I yearned to go back to the Grocery industry, and spend more time with my first love, cooking, and writing about my adventures….in the kitchen!