Welcome to the Cooking with C.C. Blog. I will be discussing all things food and travel related. Be sure to join me for information from recipes, cookbooks, restaurants and places to visit. I look forward to hearing from you!
Gratin Dauphinois
Potatoes, Cheese, Cream - Need I say more????? When I want to make an elegant side dish Gratin Dauphinois is one of my go-to dishes. I've made this for classes and guests alike. This is always gets rave reviews. The potato is not native to France, but was introduced in the 17th century. Interestingly enough, the "potato war" in Germany sparked the French adoption of the potato. A. Parmentier had been a German prisoner of war and was forced to survive on potatoes. When he returned to Paris, he lauded the potato as a food that would help feed the masses. During this time, Marie Antoinette wore potato flowers in her hair and King Louis XVI wore them as a boutonnieres. Barely 100 years later, the potato was firmly in the French cuisine. In 1767, Mr. Parmentier created a feast with just potato dishes. The US Ambassador to France at the time, Benjamin Franklin was a guest at that dinner. From this troubled beginning, the potato caught on all across Europe. It's hard to imagine Irish, French or German cuisine without the potato. While the classic Gratin Dauphinios does not include cheese, but according to Larousse Gastronimique, cheese is "permissible"…
Ice Cream!
Well - I've been meaning to write and post this for a VERY long time - finally got around to putting the post together.... I had an incredible experience during my trip to New York City for the International Association of Culinary Professionals conference back in April. When I came back, the quest was on to recreate the taste and texture. Would you believe this was a serving of Ice Cream where we ate dinner that Sunday night? There was one restaurant that I wanted to go to – a very simple restaurant. They served a very simple dessert – ice cream, with or without cookies to make an ice cream sandwich. I settled for just a dish of caramel ice cream. As I tasted that ice cream, it was like none I could remember before. Now I’ve been to some of the very tip top rated ice cream places around, but nothing like this. I picked up their cookbook and tried the ice cream recipe at home. It was REALLY good, but not like what I had at the restaurant. What could be the difference? Did I make the caramel just right before adding the other ingredients? Did I…
Summer Fruit Salsa
It's been a great summer so far - I've already been able to get some great local peaches (early crop) and strawberries. In the "Taste of Summer" class I taught last Saturday, we made a Strawberry Peach Salsa that was great with chips and would also be great as a "sauce" over grilled pork chops. We often think of salsas only when we go to a Mexican restaurant, and then it's something like Pico de Gallo or tomato based and with some heat. The term salsa can be used for pretty much any sauce. Generally a salsa is going to be chunky as opposed to a smoother sauce. Fruits make great ingredients for salsas - in previous classes, we've made multiple Mango salsas and a watermelon salsa that we served with a grilled chicken fajita. So for this first class of summer, I wanted to use the fruit in season right now and thus a salsa with strawberries and peaches. Here is the recipe (sorry, didn't get any pictures during the class) - so enjoy making this refreshing dish! (And be sure to use local grown and very fresh and ripe produce! For my Huntsville friends - check out the…
Sandra Gutierrez’s Chile-Cheese Biscuits
One thing I enjoy about being part of the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) is attending the annual conference and meeting a variety of authors and chefs from around the country. (This is a bit convoluted, so stay with me.....). One of the friends I have met through the IACP is Nancie Mc Dermott. I didn't realize what a rock star Nancie was for several years – we just had great conversations and I enjoyed speaking with her. I've been following her blog for a little while and a few weeks ago, she posted about a recipe from another friend's new book – The New Southern-Latino Table by Sandra Gutierrez. I've had the pleasure over the last several years to meet and get to know Sandra. I bought her book this year and had her sign it for me at the Annual Cookbook Fair. I haven't had time to go through the book because of the recipes I've been working and and I've been reading all about ice cream and cookies over the last few weeks. After reading Nancie's post, I had to pull Sandra's book down and read it. Wow – learned a lot of things about Sandra…