Cooking with Chef Marcus Samuelsson

I had the amazing opportunity of working with celebrity Chef Marcus Samuelsson yesterday. Chef Samuelsson is the youngest chef to receive a three star rating from The New York Times. Along with his work with highly rated Aquavit in New York City, Chef Samuelsson has numerous restaurants around the world including the new Merkato55 which showcases the many vibrant flavors of several African countries. Marcus was recognized by the prestigious James Beard Foundation in 2003, has several cookbooks and has risen to star status with his highly regarded approach to food and culture. I must admit I was anxious, excited and eager to meet him. Chef Samuelsson was in San Francisco for a promo tour of his new book "The Soul Of A New Cuisine" and Hands On Gourmet was hired to work with him. Chef Samuelsson is the spokesperson for BlueStar, a company that makes professional stoves and ovens for home use. Just a week ago I was watching Chef Samuelsson challenge Bobby Flay on "Iron Chef" . And, now I'm working with him! Too cool.

I arrived to the venue at 8am. I was told that Marcus would arrive at 9:30am for a morning shoot of a local TV show. To my surprise, as I was walking up two flights of stairs with several food boxes in hand, winded and red in the face, I walk in and who's there?? Marcus, an hour and a half early! I was delighted to meet him, but now more nervous that he was there before me. He approached me with a very warm smile, put out his hand, as I balanced the boxes, and said "hi, I'm Marcus". I caught my breath and replied "Good morning Chef Samuelsson, I'm Alex, I'm here to assist you". Before I could turn around and pick up my boxes to head to the kitchen, Marcus was off in a corner talking on his cell phone. He's a very busy guy. You know making deals, buying restaurants, doing interviews. I was planning to use the loading dock and load my equipment onto a small push cart. However, a delivery truck that was dropping off stoves and tables for the night's event was blocking the entry way. I continued to bring more boxes up the stairs. I thought I was going to pass out. I burned off my oatmeal cookie Luna bar that's for sure. The truck driver told me to wait 15 minutes and they would be heading out. Fifteen minutes, then twenty minutes passed, nada. What happened? The battery died, that's what happened..ah crap!! I lost 20 minutes, was all sweaty and had to get ready for the am photo shoot. I said to myself "don't worry, you can do this chica!". And I sure did.

I got in the kitchen, put on my apron and began to pull ingredients out of boxes. If I am not organized I get this nervous energy that I can't work with. I like order in my kitchen. I was responsible for prepping all the food that Marcus would be cooking on TV. I made piri piri sauce that was fiery with tiny little red chile peppers, lots of garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and fresh herbs. I cut fresh pineapple into a petite dice and measured out flour, dark chocolate, butter and brown sugar for chocolate pancakes. I had to make sure that Marcus had all the equipment, plates, and ingredients he would need. No pressure. Yeah, right!

For the morning promo Marcus had an interview with Liam Mayclem from CBS5 "Eye On The Bay". Marcus was promoting BlueStar ranges along with his new cookbook . Marcus prepared shrimp piri piri, then guided Liam in making the chocolate pancakes. The pancakes were served with a fresh pineapple and cashew salad with mint. It was exciting to see all the action go down live and in person.


The filming took about an hour to do. Afterwards, I cleaned up all the equipment that was used and prepared two more quarts of piri piri that would be used for the evening event. Along with a live demo from Marcus, the chefs of Hands On Gourmet would be doing live interactive cooking demos with the 300 plus invited guests. Some of the food items were prepared by a catering staff and then passed out after Marcus completed his demo. Here we are checking over the ingredients making sure nothing was forgotten. I tell you, I get OCD when it comes to checking food prep lists, especially when I am setting it up for someone else. This was a humbling experience. I have been a guests for numerous cooking demos and have had assistants to set up my demo. Today the role was reversed and I had to do this for a very well known chef.
The other items were completed with the guests at ten different stations. For the live demo Marcus cooked the shrimp. I had that set up all ready to go no problem, since I did it earlier in the day. Also, I prepped mango, tomato, jalapeno and couscous which was being served with a berbere crusted leg of lamb. The lamb had to be Frenched on the bone, very clean. Marinated in olive oil and garlic then crusted in a spicy berbere blend of chiles, spices and bread crumbs. The chefs at their stations prepared a beef stir fry with a spiced compound butter that was served with injera, a spongy crepe like Ethiopian bread that has a slight fermented note to it. Also, chocolate pancakes were fired up on griddles and served with pineapple and cashew salad and cinnamon whipped cream. I worked a very long day but seeing all the bright lights, and admiration that Chef Samuelsson received, along with the satisfaction I got from doing a good job, actually an excellent job according to Marcus, I know for sure this is the life I want.

Click here for the recipe

Dancing In The Fog

The Stern Grove Festival for 2008 began last week. This is the 71st season of this amazing FREE concert series held in San Francisco. World music, local artist, dance and other various performers are featured every Sunday during the summer months. Folks come early to grab a good seat on the lawn. If you get there late, then you are sitting up in the woods next to the raccoons, birds and other wildlife. Fun for some, but not for me. Yesterday I enjoyed the afternoon with some friends from work. We all brought some goodies to share and had a family style picnic on the lawn. What a spread! I brought an Israeli couscous salad with cucumber, peppers and a tangy lemon and parmesan dressing, as well as pineapple with chile and lime. Gaby was very generous and brought ingredients to make sandwiches. Fresh baguettes, ham, cheddar, tomatoes, cilantro, basil, aioli, mustard, and jalapeno. More food from Gaby included honeydew melon, nectarines and fun Asian snacks like veggie crackers, coconut wafers and aloe vera juice. What a mishmash of stuff. Gaby is French and lives in a Vietnamese neighborhood, maybe that explains that. Gaby's date Jennifer came a little later and brought more snacks from Whole Foods. Dolmas, coleslaw, a pate of sorts (the price tag said goose mouse), truffle cheese, salami and strawberries. David brought some wine and his wit. He looks like Linguine from "Ratatouille" eh?

The array of food was so random but somehow it all worked. We joked about the goose mouse and couscous, sounding like a Dr. Seus book. Silly chefs we are.

Roger and Desi came with friends and their adorable little guy Anthony. He is teething and getting into food. Here he is enjoying a nectarine.

We grooved to Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 with funky vibes of jazz and African beats. Sila and the Afronfunk Experience turned it out with a huge ensemble of musicians. A blend of jazz, reggae, funk and afrobeats we all danced on the grass as we swayed from side to side in tune with the rhythmic percussion.

The day was foggy and cold and the sun only came out to greet us for a few minutes before fading out into the overcast sky. A few cocktails, some great food and amazingly energetic music made for a great day with friends. Here is a a picture of the aftermath from the picnic.

Cravings

Along with the deliciously sweet and juicy plums and cherries I picked up at the market on Tuesday I also filled my canvas bag with squash blossoms, white corn, spring onions and fresh cilantro. When I shop for food I plan my menus in my head as I go along. First thought I had was to make a creamy corn soup with sauteed squash blossoms. That all changed later that evening after watching an old episode of "A Cook's Tour". This was Tony Bourdain back on the Food Network, prior to his more recent ties to Travel Channel. It's funny how he claims to be the black sheep of FN, yet they still air his show. I'm sure he gets a royalty check each time that show airs. This episode of "A Cook's Tour" featured a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico.

Among the many regions of Mexico, Oaxaca is disputed as being the best when it comes to amazing Mexican cooking. The Mexican kitchen is very elaborate and the dishes are labor intensive. No shortcuts here. Everything is still done the old fashioned way. Roasting peppers on an open flame, milling hominy for masa, simmering mole for hours, chasing your own chicken for soup! It's definitely a labor of love.

My family is from central Mexico, the capital actually. This area is influenced by the neighboring states of Puebla, Michoacan, Jalisco as well as Oaxaca. Since I have been enjoying the food from an early age I make it often. However, I do take shortcuts, and that's OK. I'm a busy single gal and don't have time to always stir and roast, and peel. Don't get me wrong I am a slave to the stove on special occasions, such as Christmas when I make tamales. But on a daily case, and on a typical day, I'm all about working smarter not harder. The food still has to taste good.
So out went the idea of soup and instead I shifted gears and opted to make sopes. Sopes like gorditas, huaraches and tamales are all made with masa. The differences are the way the masa is formed and cooked. Tamales are wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves and steamed. Sopes are little disks with pinched sides, gorditas are pockets, and huaraches are filled and flattened disks. These little morsels are known as antojitos in Spanish, which comes from the word antojo which means craving. Filled with various fillings and eaten as snacks or appetizers antojitos are found at festivals and sold by street vendors both in Mexico and in the US. For more info on masa click here.I wanted fresh masa so I took a trip to the Mission and headed to La Palma Mexicatessan. They are known for their freshly prepared stone ground masa, fresh tortillas and tamales. I was planning on making my own sopes, but then noticed that they sold mini sopes by the dozen for $3.50. See, that's where the shortcut comes in. Now the fillings that's where my mind starts to get creative and my antojo's take over. Along with the sopes I purchased some tomatillos, poblanos, avocados, Oaxacan string cheese and chorizo. With two full bags of goodies I headed home to cook. OK..here's what I came up with a trio of sopes.. trifecta of sabor!! Purple potato with sauteed white corn and radish, fire roasted poblanos with squash blossoms, queso and crema, and yukon gold potato with chorizo and avocado. All sopes topped with fiery salsa verde...I ate well that night, and so did my staff the next day. I brought in some sopes and toppings and made family meal. A well fed crew is a happy crew!

Summer Sweets

I am delighted that stone fruit is at the farmer's market!! Yippee!! Peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines and pluots. Beautiful shades of pink, red, and fuchsia with hints of gold and amber. Succulent, sweet and floral these fruits are wonderful all on their own and also make great additions to sweet and savory dishes. I favor desserts with fruit so when stone fruit season rolls around I am excited to play with new recipes. In the summer months cool sweets like sorbet, ice cream and custards are always in my fridge and freezer. On Tuesday morning I picked up some plums, apricots and pluots (a hybrid of plums and apricots), from Frog Hollow Farms. Frog Hollow is known for their amazing organically grown fruit. Along with fresh fruit Frog Hollow specializes in tarts, pies, chutneys, jams and other preserves. The pluot variety that was available was the flavorosa...love that name. Bright pink flesh and pale green and purple skin...very unique. I also picked up some raspberries and cherries. I was ready to make something spectacular!

I have been know to make some elaborate creations in my little apartment kitchen. Today though I wanted to keep it simple, yet still fabulous. Hmm..flan? nah..too sweet. A pie, nope..don't want to bake..too hot for the oven. Ah ha..panna cotta!! Yes, that's it..jazzed up with ginger and honey. The recipe follows...enjoy! PS. when working with gelatin, be sure to boil your bowls and pans otherwise that stuff does not come out!

Honey-Ginger Panna Cotta

1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons fresh sliced ginger
Pinch salt

Place the milk in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes to soften the gelatin. Pour milk mixture and ginger into a heavy saucepan and stir over medium heat just until the gelatin dissolves but the milk does not boil, about 5 minutes. Add the cream, honey and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow the ginger to steep for about 15 minutes. Strain and pour mixture into lightly greased ramekins or small bowls. Refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours. Serve with fresh fruit.

Kids In The Kitchen

This Saturday I had fun cooking with the next generation of great chefs! This is the third time I have participated with "Kids In The Kitchen". The event was hosted by The Junior League of San Francisco along with fellow sponsors CUESA, Dacor and Hands on Gourmet. "Kids In The Kitchen" strives to bring awareness about the importance of healthy eating to children across the country. Cooking outdoors is always a treat especially at the historic Ferry Building. This year my group of kids and I made mini chicken tacos with corn and avocado salsa. Little hands were kept busy making tortillas from fresh masa, mixing fresh veggies and shredding roasted chicken.

Along with tasty tacos the kids also had a chance to make and feast on pizza. Toppings were seasonal, fresh and nutritious. Roasted broccolini, mushrooms, tomatoes, and zucchini were topped with fresh mozzarella and baked on mini hand tossed crusts. Here is a pic of my buddy Roger with his little sous chef Michael.

Check out Roger's blog at Soul Cocina.

Creature Comforts

Eating for comfort separates the common everyday eater from the true foodie. Grant it we all need to consume food for nourishment. However, taking pleasure and finding solace in food is what it's all about for me. I get turned on by aromas. Certain tastes take me down memory lane. Textures, colors and sounds of the kitchen add to the act of eating. It's not just food...it's therapy, it's religion. My love affair with food started at a young age. Apparently I had a fondness for sticks of butter when I was a toddler. According to my Mother she would find me in my PJ's reaching into the fridge and nibbling on cold sticks of the yellow stuff. What was that all about? A few years later we had a small garden patch in our yard and I could not wait to harvest the first of the pickings. Pulling that first tomato from the vine and just popping it into my mouth was amazing. The tender tomato would still be warm, from the sun, and lusciously sweet and juicy. Now as an adult, and as a professional foodie, I seek out more adventures in culinary tastes. The experiences of cooking and eating are taken to new heights with innovative flavors and cutting techniques. Yet, what makes me truly the happiest is simple down to the bone home cooking. Especially ethnic street food.

Two weeks ago we had an unusual heat blast and temperatures reached into the 90's. This week the high was 56 degrees. What, what, what!? OK, as summer produce is making it's way to the local farmer's market and local menus are printed up with daily specials as "fresh salad" "chilled soup" and "icy sorbet" I wanted something hot!

What is a girl to do? Make soup! And that's what I did. Caldo de res to be exact. A hearty Mexican soup of beef and tender vegetables so thick from natural gelatin, that once chilled the soup looks like Jello. That's good eating!

I picked up some beef bones and oxtails at my corner butcher. I love the pink paper the meat is wrapped in. My own little gift of beefy goodness. After simmering the meat and bones with some

carrots, onions and cilantro stems I was left with a hefty stock rich with a mahogany color. I added in sweet white corn, new potatoes, carrots, cabbage, green beans and lots of garlic. I enjoyed my caldo with a squeeze of lime, warm tortillas, some chile and a cold cerveza.On Saturday I headed to the Balboa theater to see the long awaited "Sex And The City". I had an hour to spare before showtime so I opted for an early lunch. The Outer Richmond district of San Francisco is known for it's dense fog, cold air and amazing Asian food. Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai food are all welcoming choices on a brisk day. So, what's for lunch? I started walking until something stood out to me. And that something was DUMPLINGS! I love dumplings in any shape or form, sweet, savory, hot or cold, I am a dumpling aficionado. And these dumplings were no ordinary morsels. The speciality on the menu at Shanghai Dumpling House, are Shanghai style dumplings, more commonly known as soup dumplings. These little pockets of goodness are filled with ground pork, scallion and aspic, the gelatin from meat stock, that when chilled is easily folded into the meaty filling. Once steamed or added to hot broth, the aspic melts into a liquid center of heavenly pleasure. I remember watching "No Reservations", with Tony Bourdain and he shared his culinary epiphany when first sampling these dumplings in China.

With only 12 tables, this place was busy! A packed place is always a sure sign of something being done right. When there is a following of people willing to wait for food, I'll wait with them. I highly recommend this place. For $4.95 I feasted on a huge cauldron of soup. No kidding, it was enough for 2 people served with a ladle! It helps to be ambidextrous when having dumpling soup. Holding a soup spoon in my left hand and a pair of chopsticks in my right hand was no easy task. But when this gal is hungry, I work it out. The movie was great! I laughed, I cried, truly worth the wait. I watched "Sex And The City" through my 20's, and seeing it all culminate on the big screen, now that I'm 32, was a cinematic flashback to my days when I was trying to figure it all out. Hell, who am I kidding? I'm still trying to figure it all out. At least I can look back and think to myself, "Alex you have come a long way!" And I continue to do more in my life each and everyday! Go Diva go!!

On my way home I stopped at Seakor, a European deli and sausage factory for some Polish goodies. Still cold and still craving stick to your ribs food. Seakor is stock full of Eastern European fare. Jams, pickles, relishes, soups, cured meats, sausages and pastries. Jerry, the big fella with a mighty large tattoo of the Polish flag on his arm, was very friendly in helping me select what to take home. Smokey and garlicky kielbasa, plump pierogies stuffed with potato and cheese (yes more dumplings), poppy seed coffee cake and rich and luscious Russian style sour cream made their way into my shopping bag. Growing up in Chicago I had many Polish and Russian friends and was able to find good home cooking almost anywhere. That's not the case here in San Francisco. The Polish population is small and good Eastern European eateries are hard to find. Jerry did suggest I try Old Krakow over in West Portal. Maybe next time I have a craving or the lumberjack appetite comes back I'll check it out.

I got home and had cooked up some cabbage I had left over from my beef soup. I braised it with some apple cider vinegar, onion and caraway seed. I also sliced up some cucumber and tossed in some white vinegar, sugar and dill and made a quick pickle. I caramelized some onions in butter and browned the pierogies until a little crust formed on the dumplings. Served with a generous serving of rich sour cream the pierogies took me back to the southside of my childhood Chicago. Oh boy, after my feast, I slipped into a food coma. I woke up from the phone ringing. It was my mom calling to see what I had for dinner. You see we are all foodies in my family, there is do denying it. A majority of my family phone conversations are based on culinary chat. What's for dinner? Where did you eat last night? Did you watch Top Chef? Did you get the latest issue of Gourmet? I truly love it.

Last night on "Bizarre Foods" Andrew Zimmern was in Russia. He was talking about the sour cream there and said he had nothing like it before. I would love a job where I could eat, write about it and then nap afterwards. Trust me I would put some thought into it. I have tons of ideas, amazing stories to share and a gift for gab. So where do I get a gig like this? Food Network, Travel Channel, PBS? I know it's not on Craigslist. Well, until that day comes I will blog my little heart out and hope that someone with the powers that be (TV EXEC) takes notice and gives Food Diva a ring a ding ding.

On Sunday I took the bus to the Union Street Fair. Arts, crafts, fried food and beer gardens made up the bulk of the fair. Along with lots of twenty something kids wearing the latest fashions, families with cute kids in strollers and couples sharing ice cream, I was the single spinster, doing my thing and checking out the scene. San Francisco's Marina district reminds me of Lincoln Park in Chicago...yuppy central. Not my thing. Clothes that is too small, coffee that is over priced, no parking and "valley girl" chat is too much for me to handle. So, I strolled into some of the shops and checked out some fun items. Organic soaps, hand crafted candles and perfume, dog collars studded with diamonds, over sized handbags. All that was missing was a guest appearance by Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian. Ay, ay, ay!! I did find a cool little shop with a great name "Diva Diva". So, of course I checked it out.

A more suiting name for this shop would be "Diet Diva". Give these girls a snack or something! I'm no skinny Minnie, and that's OK with me. But everything in here was a size 6 or smaller. I love my curves, I like food and it shows. That's why I enjoy Nigella Lawson. She is a curvaceous diva foodie like me! I love when during the show credits she is always raiding her fridge at some late night hour.I did spot a cute t-shirt, but $30 for a t-shirt uh uh, I'll pass. I'd rather spend that on a meal or a nifty new kitchen gadget.Yet, the print was very cute...check it out.

I will be doing a class at Sur La Table in San Francisco this week. I will be discussing how to stock your pantry with cooking essentials. I'll be sure to post a list for all my foodies out there! Until next time, go make something good to eat, enjoy and take it easy.