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| From blog |
A few weeks back, it was a hands-on team building class at a client’s home for 25 people in the hills of Park City that produced some wonderfully coordinated and delicious cuisine.
Try to organize 25 adults, all in different modes of cooking disciplines (some not at all), into groups of 5, given recipes, and their job is to workout the dynamics of the team, time the recipes, and then get everything on the table at the same time.
Some 1 1/2 hours later, food appeared…simultaneously. It was a beautiful thing. Entree of chicken parmigiana with homemade tomato sauce, sides of broccoli in garlic, salad of endive, watercress and oranges, and a dessert of chocolate dipped strawberries and bananas Foster with vanilla ice cream.
Team building and cooking. A concept that works. Men who never butterflied a chicken breast deftly maneuvered sharp boning knives and produced trimmed poultry. Executives dipped berries and sauteed garlic. And the finale was a meal fit for any Food Network segment. I was proud of their skills.
Here are two recipes used that night for the berries and bananas Foster. Now if novices in the kitchen can create a magnificent sweet, then it is possible for anyone to read, follow directions,
and voila! Dessert. With or without a team effort.
Bananas Foster
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
juice and zest of 1 large orange
3 firm bananas, peeled and cut into ½” thick slices
½ cup dark rum
¼ cup triple sec or other orange flavored liqueur
6 scoops good quality vanilla or butter pecan ice cream
Garnish: thin strips of orange zest
In a medium skillet, heat the butter until melted. Add the cinnamon, brown sugar, orange juice and zest; cook on medium heat until sugar is melted. Take the pan off the heat, and add the sliced bananas, rum and orange liqueur. Return pan to heat, and cook over LOW heat for another minute, until bananas are heated through, about 1 minute. Do not cook on high heat otherwise the alcohol will ignite.
Place a scoop of ice cream in serving bowl and top with bananas. Garnish with orange zest.
Serves 6.
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| From blog |
CHOCOLATE DIPPED STRAWBERRIES
½ pound melting dark chocolate cut into small pieces or dark semi-sweet chocolate bits
4 ounces white chocolate bits
1 pound large strawberries, with stems, wiped dry with paper towels (about 20)
Parchment lined baking sheet
Candied sprinkles
Put the dark and white chocolates into 2 separate heatproof medium bowls, such as stainless steel bowls. Fill 2 medium saucepans with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Set the bowls of chocolate over the water to melt, stirring until smooth (use wooden spoons or plastic spatula, not metal, please).
Once the chocolates are melted and smooth, remove from the heat. Line a sheet pan with parchment or waxed paper. Holding the strawberry by the stem, dip the fruit into the dark chocolate, lift and twist slightly, letting any excess chocolate fall back into the bowl. Set strawberries on the parchment paper. Sprinkle with candied sprinkles. Repeat with the rest of the strawberries. Allow the chocolate to harden slightly before drizzling with melted white chocolate.
Dip a fork in the white chocolate and drizzle the white chocolate over the dipped strawberries.
Chill the strawberries until chocolate has hardened. Makes about 20 chocolate dipped strawberries.
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| From blog |
