Posts filed under 'Guest Blogger'
Our guest chef celebrates Veteran’s Day with Cobbler
The “super bowl” of holidays is finally upon us. The Halloween candy has run out and our thoughts turn to Thanksgiving plans and holiday shopping. Before our thoughts are completely consumed by the madness, let us take a moment to thank the brave men and women who have or are serving in the armed forces.
For many, Veteran’s Day is just another reason for the bank and post office to be closed or to put the trash out a day later. It’s easy to overlook and take for granted the many men and women sacrificing their lives daily to ensure our freedom.
I have two veterans in my family. My grandfather was in the army in World War II and my uncle served in Vietnam. I can remember how important I felt helping my grandfather put up and take down the flag while visiting his house.
Right now you may be wondering what this has to do with food…Well, I believe the ultimate in patriotic food is pie, whether it’s cherry, apple, rhubarb or pecan. A close second to pie, and perfect for the holidays, is cobbler. There is something about a warm dessert with melting ice cream on top that softens the heart and warms the soul. As we all begin to worry about frying turkeys and whether the stuffing should go inside the bird or not, we often overlook dessert.
This cobbler recipe can be put together a day ahead so the day of the big show all you have to do is top it with the dough and toss it in the oven. Enjoy the cobbler, and next time you see one of our troops in uniform, remember to thank them for their service to this country.
Apple Cranberry Cobbler with Cinnamon Ice Cream
For the filling:
4 cups granny smith apples peeled and cut into wedges
2 cups fresh cranberries
1 ½ cups sugar
2 vanilla beans
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon butter, softened
Combine apples, sugar, water, flour, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla bean pulp. Put in buttered 9” pan and dot with butter.
Topping:
½ cup sifted flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons softened butter
1 beaten egg
Combine all topping ingredients. Beat with a wooden spoon until batter is smooth. Drop batter in 9 portions over entire pan spacing evenly. Batter will spread evenly during baking. Bake at 350 degrees until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream.
Serves 6 to 8 people
—Chef Christian Messier
November 13th, 2007
Warm your soul with Roasted Pumpkin Bisque soup courtesy of Chef Christian Messier of SunDial Restaurant.
Halloween has come and gone and we find ourselves in the middle of the mad holiday rush. Thoughts of turkey, shopping, and a few days off consume us. The last thing on anyone’s agenda is stretching one’s culinary prowess. No time for experimenting — stick with the tried-and-true recipes that got you this far, right? Wrong!
This is the perfect time of year to show off your inner chef. Soup, to many, is a magical dish that takes years of study and practice to master. Wrong again! Soup can be the savior in a busy holiday household. With a few techniques and a small amount of creativity, anyone can come out looking like they belong in the top echelon of chef–dom.
If you have never made soup, and are somewhat intimidated, just remember that back in the day, soup consisted of some meat scraps, bones, water, herbs, and vegetables. The meat and bones cooked all day in the pot over a fire and vegetables and herbs were added for flavor.
Essentially there are two kinds of soups: broth based soups with meat and vegetables and pureed soups. Most soups start with mirepoix (two parts onion, one part carrot and one part celery), and the major ingredients come next, including meat stock, etc.
After 18 years of cooking, I have never even been pulled over by the soup police. A few tips: when you cut the vegetables, cut them the same size so they cook at the same rate. Season and taste each step of the way. A crockpot is the perfect soup making vessel because you can cook at low temperatures without burning.
I think soup tastes better the next day, so I like to cook, cool and reheat in the crockpot. You can start a meal with it or base the whole show around it. The added bonus: you might even get a chance to sit and dine with your family for a change. Happy souping!
Roasted Pumpkin Bisque with Ancho Chile pesto and crab
2 med size butternut squash
1 acorn squash
1 small pie pumpkin
2 med yellow onions
2 med size carrots
4 ribs of celery
1 cup pumpkin seed oil
1 med size sweet potato
1 head of roasted garlic
3 cups unsalted chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
6 oz pasteurized crab meat
½ cup chopped chive
1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
ancho chile powder to taste
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cut the bottom (the non stem end) of the garlic off exposing cloves, drizzle with olive oil, and roast cut side up until cloves are tender.
• Cut pumpkin and acorn squash in half, scoop out seeds, and rub with softened butter. Season with salt and pepper and roast for 20-30 minutes until flesh is soft and starts to brown.
• Peel seed and dice butternut squash.
• Medium dice carrot, onion, celery, and sweet potato.
• Put sweat onions, celery, carrot, and butternut squash in a pot with canola oil. Add chicken stock and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add roasted garlic cloves and sweet potatoes and simmer 10 minutes more.
• When butternut and onions have lost their crunch puree, mix in a blender and return to pot.
• Simmer for 10 more minutes, add cream and adjust seasoning.
• This soup can be put through a chinoise (fine strainer) for a more elegant velvety presentation. I prefer to leave more of the fiber in it, making it slightly more rustic.
For the ancho chile pesto:
• Toss pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas in Hispanic markets) in melted butter, season, and toast in oven at 350 degrees until they start to brown and smell nutty. Cool.
• Blend pumpkin seed oil, seeds, and ancho chile to taste. It should be spicy, which will offset the sweetness of the soup and crab.
• Mix crab, chives, salt and pepper.
• Garnish each bowl with 1 ounce of crab and pesto.
• Makes 6 to 8 servings.
— Chef Messier
November 7th, 2007
AH&L invites Sun Dial Restaurant, Bar & View Executive Chef Christian Messier to blog about his favorite holiday recipe: Sugar Cookies.
As the holiday season approaches, you can feel the excitement in the air. Most people are out shopping for gifts, decorating their yards, going to children’s holiday plays, and looking forward to a few days off to relax.
And then there are the lives of chefs. This time of year, chefs are inundated with holiday parties, off-site catering events, a multitude of special holiday menus, and the final sprint to the end of the year to meet or beat food and labor cost goals.
Still, this time of year holds a special place in our hearts. When I think about my favorite holiday recipe, many memories from my childhood come to mind. Holidays were filled with friends and family gatherings– most of the time around food and enjoying each other’s company. (This was long before HDTV, pay per view, or Xbox.)
Many two-hour long trips to Grandma’s house were filled with eager anticipation of kitchen countertops filled with containers of baked goods: home-made candies, cookies, and of course, a house filled with the smell of a roasting turkey.
My favoriteholiday recipe, though, was one Grandma Tony and I found in a Lutheran Church cookbook from Rudd, Iowa from the early 1970s. The contributors were Gladys Gruis and Mrs. Dale Sido. It is a Sugar Cookie Recipe requiring no time to set up in the refrigerator as many do.
As I make cookies with my children, and think back to when I was young, I realize the best holiday recipe of all has only three ingredients; good food, family, and friends spending time together. And the best part of the recipe? It’s so easy to make. Cook, cool, and decorate as you wish.
Drop Sugar Cookies Recipe
Although it is called “drop cookies,” we always rolled the dough out right away, without refrigeration, and cut shapes with cookie cutters appropriate for the season. They were easy to cut and tasted terrific.
Sift:
2 1/2 c. flour
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
Cream:
1/2 c. margarine and 1/2 c. lard or 1c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
Add 1 egg. Beat until fluffy. Stir in dry ingredients. Add 2 T. milk. Drop by teaspoonfuls on ungreased sheet; flatten with bottom of glass which has been dipped in sugar. Bake at 375 degrees, 12 minutes.
Enjoy the cookies. What is your favorite holiday recipe?
—Chef Messier
About the chef: The Sun Dial Restaurant, Bar & View Executive Chef Christian Messier integrates 15 years of culinary experience into creating contemporary American cuisine with the finest ingredients and his own creative flair. Chef Messier came to The Sun Dial from The Renaissance Grand Downtown St. Louis-Convention Hotel where he was chef for almost two years. Prior to that, Chef Messier served as sous chef at The Phoenician, a five-star, five-diamond, world-class resort in Scottsdale, AZ. He began his career at the award-winning Country Club of the South in Alpharetta.About the restaurant: The Sun Dial Restaurant, Bar & View is Atlanta’s only tri-level complex featuring a revolving upscale restaurant, a rotating cocktail lounge, as well as an observatory view level. Situated atop the Westin Peachtree Plaza at 210 Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta, the Sun Dial offers breathtaking 360-degree panoramic views of Atlanta, live jazz, seasonally-influenced contemporary American cuisine and specialty desserts.
October 30th, 2007
New York Design Diva Marcia Sherrill sends dispatches from her most recent travels.
Working at the Hong Kong office of my handbag factory and my precious stone lapidarist, I found that both factories were located just hours away in the same province in China. Yes, southern China is rivaling Bejing and Shanghai as an industrial SUPER ZONE. When traveling, DO NOT try what we did going in—namely a bus to the Hong Kong Immigrations; another bus to the Chinese Immigrations; and then traversing 8 million stairways and then another bus to our destination.
Nope, this Southern Lady insisted on a car on the way back to Hong Kong (about 3,000 Hong Kong dollars, or $400), but worth every yen as we were whisked back to Hong Kong in a van replete with Video for you and the driver who alternately watches TV, talks on his Bluetooth-enabled cell phone and plays games on another contraption. Such is their CAUTION on the roads.
You drive up to both Immigration posts and are not subjected to anything more than a throwing open of your van doors, passport scrutiny and an electronic gun that accesses your temperature—yes with SARS and Avian Bird Flus still in recent memory you are not leaving Hong Kong or Mainland China with a temperature.
But CHINA is magnificent. Every other corner is unbridled construction and development; while in between this frenetic work are the tiny Chinese stalls selling goods and cooking God Knows What! Carts full of chickens and pigs stop at the red light alongside Mercedes and Bentleys.
Our hotel, The International Hotel of Quandong, featured three types of accommodations: Western, Japanese, and Chinese. Opting for Japanese we each had a two-story Zen Palace with a top floor boasting a typical Japanese bed and a plasma screen TV and as for the hotel help…a call to the hotel concierge started with “I’d like a Pellegrino…” and an IMMEDIATE ding at your door from a waiter bearing a bottle and lemon slices. The work ethic is unbelievable.
The factory workers work from 8 am to 10 pm with meal breaks and then retire to DORMITORIES where they sleep. But I am constantly assured that my offering of extra cash would be an insult as the Chinese are PROUD of their factory jobs. And the factories? Nothing in America or Europe compares—the hive of activity, the belt floors, the bag floors, the SCREEN PRINTING floors—everything but handbag hardware together for one-stop designing. Dinner at the hotel offers surprises while lunch is routinely McDonalds and KFC (with Chinese twists such as the KFC egg pie dessert).
The Hotel Buffet netted us Fried Loach (a local worm delicacy from what we could decipher), Fried Insects with Solt and the ever-tempting Frog with Sauce. We chose pizza, which seemed innocent until we could not get our waiter to assure us that the meat was NOT French Bulldog.
The Chinese will kill themselves to accommodate you. And their TV is CCTV (Chinese controlled, but in English is more fascinating than Bravo, CNN and The History Channel rolled into one). China is the stepchild of the more Western Hong Kong but for this weary traveler, it is China that calls me back. Its youth, earnestness and its sheer hospitality.
—Marcia Sherrill
October 22nd, 2007
New York Design Diva Marcia Sherrill sends dispatches from her most recent travels.
Having been to Japan I thought I was prepared for the magic and mystery of this former British Isle but nothing could have prepared me for the inscrutable Orientalism of Hong Kong and China. And the best part? It seems as if there is one Chanel, Dior and Louis Vuitton store for every 200 people—they are ubiquitous in the city that sports giant skyscrapers like Atlanta does trees.
Every squre inch of this hilly atoll sports either a mall (and I mean mega-mall, like Lenox on steroids) or a hotel or a giant office building. In between lurk the tiny shops and market streets and warrens of restaurants, Chinese and Western, that feed these affluent hordes. The Peninsula Hotel is magnificent and tea there is de rigeur for the weary traveler but try to get off the beaten path of stores, stores, stores and head to the tiny local markets for silks and other yummy fabrics—and trust me, they can make you that Balmain Dress in Vogue in the three days that you will reside in Hong Kong.
It was all I could do not to launch The Marcia Sherrill Couture Collection right then and there. The main attraction is the city’s nightly light show that has all of the massive buildings lining the harbor lit up in a 4th-of-July style extravaganza that lasts a full 15 minutes. The Gateway Mall across from the Sheraton is not as super mod as the newly opened Elements Mall but it does house Japan’s IT shop, where all the natives shop and upstairs on the third floor is their incomparable outlet store with all the big European labels. Go native and buy scads of make-up from Japanese Cosmetics, FACES.
Seems as though the younger Hong Kong shoppers want all things Japanese, and why shouldn’t you at half the price of the European Brands we can get at Phipps!
—Marcia Sherrill
October 22nd, 2007
Grilling at home can be both exciting and intimidating - some of the best and most flavorful meats and vegetables come off the grill, but getting to that point can sometimes be a challenge. You’ve probably asked yourself whether or not charcoal or gas is better, if you should use high or low heat, marinades or dry rubs and whether or not to leave the lid open. As Executive Chef of Lobby at TWELVE and the modern American steakhouse, Room at TWELVE Centennial Park, I’ve learned that using high heat is essential for searing the outside of a meat, whether it be a rare steak or tuna, but be sure to lower the heat and allow time to do its work on a thick piece of meat. When grilling, it’s best to keep the lid closed to enhance your food’s flavor by allowing it to keep its natural juices.
What are some grilling tips you have that make for a delicious meal?
<>-Chef Oltarsh
October 19th, 2007
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—Chef Christian Messier
