Strawberry Shortcake - Cooking Demo - Pride of America, Hilo, Hawaii

There are tons of things to do on board a cruise ship.  One of my favorites is to attend cooking demonstrations typically presented by a member of the ship's Chef Team.  On our recent Hawaiian Cruise on Norwegian's Pride of America, the recipe demonstrated was Strawberry Shortcake.  The Chef was assisted by the cruise director.

Pre-Demonstration:  Mise en place - the cooking term for everything prepared and ready for assembly.  Even though the cake was pre-baked, the Chef demonstrated making the cake batter from scratch, by hand. 

The cruise director introducing the chef

Chef using a flat whisk to mix the cake batter

Switching from the cake batter to the pre-baked cake

I actually discovered a kitchen implement that I don't own:  a rotating cake stand.  Very helpful for slicing that singe baked cake into three layers, using a long serrated knife

After the cake has been cut across into three separate layers, Chef is brushing some Amaretto (which he kept referring to as Di Saronno) on the cake layers to moisten the cake

Topping the first layer with whipped cream, which had "stableizer" added to it.  Stableizer keeps the cream from getting runny and helps it hold its shape when used as a frosting. 

After topping the first layer with whipped cream, Chef added some chopped strawberries which had been macerated (soaked) in Amaretto

Second cake layer being carefully added

Third layer has been added

Chef using a flat spreader to apply a thin, even coating of whipped cream to the side of the cake

More whipped cream for the top layer

Chef using the flat spatula to even the top of the frosting (whipped cream)

Chef saved the crumbs resulting from slicing the cake layers; here he is gently patting cake crumbs on the side of the cake.

More whipped cream!  Scooped into a pastry bag and being piped in a decorative pattern to the top of the cake

Our cruise director had a different idea - a cake that looked like a volcano (as we would be sailing by the lava flow later that evening.)

Pouring some strawberry juice to mimic "lava"

Chef with a more traditional garnish

Et Voila!  The finished product

Plenty of tasty samples - and it was delicious!

The Recipe:

CHEF'S STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

Ingredients:

• non-stick vegetable spray, for coating the cake pan
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 pints fresh strawberries
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 recipe whipped cream frosting (below)
• Amaretto Liquor (optional)

Whipped Cream Frosting:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Whipped Cream Stabilizer

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the middle of the oven.  Lightly coat 2 9-inch cake pans with nonstick vegetable spray.  Line the bottoms of the pans with a circle of baking parchment. 

Into a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together, 3 times.  In a small saucepan, bring the milk and butter to a boil.  Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract.  In a separate mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until pale yellow, fluffy, and doubled in volume.  While still beating, drizzle in the hot milk mixture.  Fold the flour mixture into the milk and eggs.  Spread the batter in the prepared pans and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden, the center springs back when lightly touched, and a cake tester comes out clean.  Set the pans on a rack to cool.  Run the tip of a knife around the edge of the cakes in the pan to loosen them, and turn them out of the pans.  Peel off the parchment paper.

Whip the cream until lightly thickened.  Add the confectioner's sugar, stabilizer and vanilla and whip to the consistency of shaving cream.

Wash and dry the strawberries.  Pick out the 12 best and set aside.  Stem and slice the rest.  Brush the top of the first cake layer lightly with amaretto (if desired.)  Spread a 1/2 inch layer of whipped cream on top of the first layer.  Lay the sliced berries on top of the cream.  Place the second cake layer over the first.  Brush with amaretto (if desired.)  Frost the entire cake with whipped cream, reserving some for garnishing.  Place sliced almonds on the outer sides of cake, top cake with whipped cream florets (using a pastry bag) and the 12 reserved whole strawberries.

Tasteful Voyages Visits The Butter Churn - Recipes Included!

The Butter Churn, a charming locavore grocery located in Woodhull, Illinois - site of my very first Tasteful Voyages Event!

Partnering with businesses is a great way to promote a travel business.  I have a friend who opened an AH-mazing locavore grocery called The Butter Churn last July, which includes a kitchen space for rent - and it was here that I hosted a cooking demonstration featuring recipes I've learned in my travels.   https://thewoodhullbutterchurn.com/

The Kitchen at the Butter Churn - yes you may rent it!

I spent five hours on Friday prepping for my demonstration - and it was so much fun hanging out at the shop with Roxie and Joni and meeting the regulars who stopped by during the day.  I planned three recipes:

• "Meatless Meatballs" a/k/a Polpettini Cacio e Uova (Little Meatballs of Cheese and Egg) learned at the fabulous Palazzo Tour D'Eau in Carunchio, Abruzzo, Italy;  http://www.palazzotd.com/
• Roman Meatballs a/k/a Polpette de la Nonna (Grandma's Meatballs) learned at Cooking Classes in Rome with chef Andrea Consoli; http://www.cookingclassesinrome.com/
• Hot Smoked Salmon, originally from Cooks Illustrated, but using Sitka Salmon available for purchase at The Butter Churn, and reminiscent of the King Salmon we caught last year during a fishing excursion from Sitka, Alaska.   http://sitkasalmonshares.com/  

A visit to this Trabocco, or Fish House, on the Adriatic Sea, is one of the highlights of a week spent at Palazzo Tour D'Eau

Yours truly with a 12 pound King Salmon caught off the coast of Sitka, Alaska

First up was the meatless meatballs.  I sliced the peppers and onions for the very simple sauce, then cut the crusts off of some Italian bread and chopped the soft white part up in a food processor.  Mixed the bread with grated cheese, eggs and parsley, then formed them into "meatballs" (really dumplings) which were then sauteed in olive oil until browned on both sides.  They are finished off in the tomato - pepper sauce (although the dumplings are very tasty as is just after the initial saute.)  Roxie typically prepares soups and casseroles in the shop for sale which are VERY popular; it made me feel good as people came into the shop and asked Roxie "What's cooking?  Smells GREAT!"  Taking a cue from the countless TV chefs I've watched, I prepared everything up to a point so that I could demo the beginning steps and then whip out another batch already prepared.

Sliced peppers

crustless Italian bread, chopped in a food processor

Saute of peppers and onions before adding canned tomato puree

The polpetti sauteeing in Olive Oil

Polpette being finished in the tomato-pepper sauce

Next up was the Roman meatballs.  These are seriously the tastiest meatballs I've ever had.  They are made with a beef/pork mixture and I used the beef that's locally produced and sold at The Butter Churn, along with fresh oregano and parsley also from the Churn.  These meatballs have cheese - Italian cheese as well as Edam, so I substituted locally produced Gouda.  The ground meats are mixed with egg, more bread crumbs soaked in milk, and the cheese, and finally rolled in fine breadcrumbs before being sauteed in olive oil.  They are finished off by being simmered in white wine with the fresh oregano also in the wine and the aroma they give off while cooking is heavenly.  

Shaped "meatless" meatballs and Roman meatballs before being sauteed

Roman meatballs simmering in white wine with fresh oregano and garlic

My final Friday prep was to prepare the brine for the salmon, and get it marinating.  The brine is a simple salt/sugar blend melted in water which both flavors the fish and prevents it from drying while being grilled. 

I must admit prepping these dishes took five hours, and I was a bit nervous about the two hours scheduled for my Demo on Saturday.   Would there be enough time???

Saturday morning I took the brined salmon to the home of Bill & Sherry, which was equipped with the necessary charcoal grill.  Sherry helped remove the pin bones from the salmon before we grilled it.  Smoking the fish is quite easy - the grill is set up for indirect heat (in other words, the burning charcoal is piled on one side of the grill) and a packet of heavy-duty foil with dried wood chips inside is set right on the coals.  The fish (on oiled heavy duty foil) is placed on the "cold" side of the grill, and the grill is covered so the smoke can circulate around the fish.  

Sherry using needle-nosed pliers to pull the pin bones out from the brined salmon filets

The finished product; these small thin filets were done after only about 35 minutes on the grill.

Once the fish was done, I headed back to Woodhull to prepare for the big event.  Roxie had set up chairs for our guests, as well as small plates and cups for sampling.  I had my recipes for distribution, as well as promotional material from Tauck http://www.tauck.com/ and Tour de Forks  http://www.tourdeforks.com/ for our guests.  (I had on hand First Timer's Guide To River Cruising from Tauck, as well as fliers from Tour de Forks describing 4 of their domestic culinary travel adventures.)

Folks started to arrive a few minutes before the start time, and we started with an audience of over 20 guests!  I'm happy to report that things went very smoothly - the advance prep work was well worth the effort and our guests enjoyed sampling the food and had good questions, both about the food preparation and travel.  

Our audience starting to arrive

The talented Roxie B

Hands on - mixing the meatballs

Audience Participation!  His wife and daughter could not believe it!!!

At the conclusion of the demonstration

I did it!  First travel event / food demo under my belt!

 

All in all it was a fun event and I felt comfortable and prepared.  I was not nervous about anything except the time scheduled for the class - and as it turned out my cooking demo took only 90 minutes. I hope that I've whetted your appetites, both for cooking and cooking while traveling - and that you'll think of me when planning your next trip!  And now for those recipes...

 

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Polpette della nonna (Grandma’s Meatballs)

8 Servings

Meatball Ingredients:

1-½ pounds ground beef

½ pound ground pork

- 2 eggs

- 2 cups grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese

- 8 Oz Grated Edam cheese (soft, mild cheese - American cheese may be substituted)

-2 cups milk (for soaking bread)

- 1-cup fresh unseasoned breadcrumbs

- 1 loaf Italian bread, soaked in milk (remove crust, use only the soft part of the bread)

- 1 tbsp. salt

- Pepper

Sauce Ingredients:

- 10 tablespoon of Extra Virgin olive oil

- 2 cloves garlic (remember to keep the skin on as it contains all the nutrients)

- Fresh herbs from the garden (sage, rosemary, bay leaves, marjoram, thyme, etc.)

- 1 ½ cups dry white wine (Trebbiano or Chardonnay recommended)

Instructions:

To make the Polpette (meatballs:)

Soak the bread in the milk.  Mix the ground beef and pork in a bowl, Add the grated cheeses, eggs, soaked bread, salt and pepper. Mix it very well, powerfully, and set aside for a good half an hour to let the flavors develop.  Shape into meatballs, about 1 inch each, and roll them into the breadcrumbs.

To Cook and Create Sauce:

In a large frying pan over low heat, heat the olive oil, then add the whole, unpeeled garlic cloves and cook until the garlic cloves start to brown. 

Raise the heat to medium high, and add the breaded meatballs to the pan.  Cook until brown outside but still undercooked in the inside. Add the wine and fresh herbs, increase the heat to high, cover the pan and cook until the wine evaporates.  (This will cook the meatballs all the way through.) It will take about 10-15 minutes (depending on the size of the meatballs, making sure they will not have undercooked pork while serving.) turn the meatballs carefully once or twice while cooking in wine. . If the meatballs seem too dry, add a little water to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.

Wine Pairing: Dry white wine, such as trebbiano, sauvignon Blanc, chardonnay

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POLPETTINE CACIO e UOVA

(Abruzzo Style Meatless Meatballs)

4 servings

POLPETTINE

6 eggs

1/2 pound of day Old Italian bread, crusts removed, grated

1 pound grated, mixed Parmesan and pecorino cheese

Chopped parsley

Salt & pepper

 4 cloves garlic, chopped fine

Olive Oil for Saute’

Mix the above ingredients (except olive oil) together in a bowl until fully blended.  Form by hand into compact ovals or rounds.

Saute’ the dumplings in the olive oil until lightly browned.  Remove from oil and drain on paper towels while preparing sauce.

SAUCE

 Olive oil for sauté

1 medium yellow onion, sliced

2 medium bell peppers, red and yellow, cut into strips

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 28-ounce cans of chopped tomatoes

Salt & pepper

Bay leaf

Rosemary

Saute’ the onion, garlic and bell pepper in the olive oil until soft.

Add the tomatoes and salt and pepper.  Simmer 45 minutes until the oil shows on the top of the sauce.  If the sauce seems dry, add some water and bring to a boil.  Drop the browned dumplings into the sauce. Cook and turn gently, taking care to avoid the dumplings sticking in the bottom of the pan.  They are finished when they are spongy.  (About 45 minutes)

Makes 8-9 DUMPLINGS

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HOT SMOKED SALMON

1/2 cup kosher salt (or 1/4 cup table salt)

1 cup sugar

1 skin-on salmon filet (about 2 ½ pounds)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 ½ teaspoons sweet paprika

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 Cups Hot Water

5 Cups Ice Water

1.                 Heat 2 cups hot water in small saucepan.  Add salt and sugar and heat until dissolved.  Carefully pour this mixture (Brine)  into a gallon sized zipper lock plastic bag.  Add 5 cups cold water and salmon, seal bag, and refrigerate until fish is fully brined, about 3 hours.

2.                 About 45 minutes prior to cooking, open bottom grill vents and ignite about 4 quarts of charcoal in pile on one side of grill; burn until completely covered with thin coating of light gray ash, 20-30 minutes.  Meanwhile, assemble wood chip pouch by wrapping 2 cups wood chips on 18 inch square sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil; seal to make pouch.  Prick top of pouch at least 6 times with knife tip to allow smoke to escape; place on top of ash covered coals.

3.                 Meanwhile, remove salmon from brine and, using paper towels, blot completely dry.   Place filet, skin side down, on a 30-inch sheet of heavy duty foil.  Rub both sides of filet, especially skin side, with oil.  Dust fillet top with paprika and pepper.

4.                 Set grill rack in place; open grill lid vents and cover, positioning lid with vents opposite wood pouch to draw smoke through grill.  place foil with fillet still on it onto rack opposite fire so that the long side of the fillet is perpendicular to the grill rods.  Barbecue until cooked through and heavily flavored with smoke, about 1 ½ hours. 

5.                 Carefully remove foil and salmon from grill.  Serve either hot or at room temperature, cutting through flesh but not skin to divide into individual portions and sliding spatula between flesh and skin to remove individual pieces, leaving skin behind.  (can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated up to 2 days.)

Vintage Valentine

This is the setting for the fun and energetic cooking class we participated in at The Marine Room in La Jolla, California.

We have enjoyed many fine meals at the Marine Room in La Jolla, and I recently learned that cooking demonstrations are offered four times yearly.  Earlier this week, Rich and I attended the "Vintage Valentine" class which was great fun.  In the oft repeated words of Chef Bernard:  "Life is Delicious!"

The class was presented by Executive Chef Bernard Guillas and Chef de Cuisine Ron Oliver, who have also collaborated on two gorgeous cookbooks - most recently, Two Chefs, One Catch - pictured above

The cookbooks are a story in themselves.  Beautifully written and photographed, Chefs Ron and Bernard shopped the first book, Flying Pans, to several literary agents, with no takers - so they self published - and the book won awards!

We were treated to a very refreshing, light cocktail - lemon vodka with pomegranate juice and seltzer

Mise en place for the Maine Lobster Minestrone 

First up was preparation of the Maine Lobster Minestrone.  Chef Ron reminded us that Minestrone is essentially "Cucina Povera" or peasant cooking and was typically a way to create a filling dish using food leftover from previous meals.  This was no Cucina Povera!!!

Chef Bernard is over the top, bubbly, effusive; Chef Ron is deadpan.  They play off each other beautifully!

Waiting for dinner service

Chef Bernard shelling the lobster for the minestrone that Chef Ron was composing.  The stock was the lobster cooking water re-infused briefly with the lobster shells for added flavor. 

The lobsters had been prepared prior to class, and the water in which they were cooked was the base for the minestrone.  After the meat was deftly extracted from the shells, the shells were added back into the simmering stock for about 10 minutes, to further fortify/infuse it with the rich flavor of the lobster.  Diced pancetta had a quick saute' in olive oil, then aromatics were sweated in the fat.  Drinkable white wine, tomatoes, the lobster stock and barley were added and brought to a simmer, at which point the pasta and remaining vegetables except the spinach were added to the pot.  The spinach leaves were placed in serving bowls; they are cooked at the point that the hot finished soup is ladled over them.  Similarly, the cooked lobster is simply pulled through the hot stock to reheat, to prevent overcooking.   The reheated lobster pieces were beautifully arranged in the serving dishes, which were garnished with sprigs of flowering herbs.  Absolutely delicious.  And the pasta shape?  Shells, of course!  Chef Bernard has shared the recipe online; here is his link:  http://www.chefbernard.com/REFLECTIONS/MaineLobsterMinestrone.html

Maine Lobster Minestrone, as presented by Chef Bernard

Chef Bernard seasoning tenderloin for Beef Wellington

 Next up was Filet Mignon Wellington with Foie Gras and Duxelles, with a Truffle Port Wine Reduction, served with "Sexy Bundles" of White Asparagus, Pickled Carrots and Chive, and Comte Mashed Potatoes.   Chef Bernard started by seasoning the trimmed filet portions well with salt and pepper, and then searing in olive oil on all sides.  Meanwhile, he sauteed sliced mushrooms, shallots and butter until they sizzled, then chopped them into a paste in the food processor.  Next step was to slice foie gras pate thinly in order to assemble the final dish.  Puchased puff pastry was cut into an 8' square, then rolled out more thinly.  A portion of mushrooms was placed on the pastry, topped with the filet, then the slice of foie gras, then more mushroom duxelles.  At this point the pastry was gently folded over the top of the bundle, and the edges sealed under.  The entire package can be refrigerated for up to 12 hours prior to baking.

Chef Bernard plating the components of the main course

Filet Mignon Wellington, Comte Potatoes, White Asparagus Bundle with a Truffle Port Wine Reduction 

 Et Voila - the finished product!  The aromas during preparation were simply amazing!

Finally, a Flight of Chocolate Pot de Creme

The final course for the evening was a trio of Pot de Creme, which is basically a very gently cooked egg custard made with heavy cream, and in this case, three types of chocolate - dark, milk and white.  The custards were piped into mini-ramekins using a tool called a "Sugar Gun" or "Sauce Gun" which was similar to a funnel but with a lever with which one is able to easily control the flow of liquid into a container.  The ramekins were plated on top of an orange slice and two pieces of sliced lotus root - simply to keep the small dishes from sliding around on the dish.  They were garnished with citrus biscotti, shortbread spoons and a chocolate curl.  The only difference between Pot de Creme and Creme Brulee is that the Brulee is coated with a layer of sugar which is "bruleed" or carmelized by direct flame on top.

Interestingly, The Marine Room, which this year celebrates its 75th anniversary, was in the news recently, as a hungry sea lion pup wandered into the restaurant and was found sleeping in a booth with a view very early in the morning.  During the evening, Chef Bernard shared the news that he had been to Sea World earlier in the day to visit the pup, now named "Marina", and that she has gained 4 pounds since her rescue and will be released back in the sea in a few weeks.  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/us/a-hungry-sea-lion-wanders-into-a-restaurant.html?_r=0

Anyone interested in more information regarding this wonderful evening, please contact me at Joan@tastefulvoyages.com

Travel Well!!!