The "Crostini" Lady

The Chef Next Door should be re-named to "The Chef Around Town" because I tell you what...I have been everywhere and back these past few weeks!  Cooking classes in Toney, cooking classes in Athens, boxed lunches in Research Park, cooking classes out in Madison, cooking classes in Meridianville, catering and pre-made meal drop-offs anywhere and everywhere around Huntsville, just to name a few.  Phew! Definitely been putting some miles on the vehicle.  But luckily, two spots that I've been featured at recently are within less than a mile of our home:  The Wine Cellar and My Spirited Art.   These are two venues that I hope to be doing a lot of work with in the future, and it sure is nice to be able to hop in the car and be there quicker than I can buckle my seat belt!

I happened to stroll through The Wine Cellar one day a few weeks ago in search of an inexpensive Red to get hooked on.  Right away, Will and Rhonda (the owners) befriended me and scooped me up into their weekly wine tastings.  They let me provide three flavors of my crostini which they paired some wines with accordingly for one of their Wednesday night tastings. (And let me give out a lot of business cards and shake a ton of hands, too!)  Their store is so fun and welcoming, and I can't wait to be doing wine tastings, cooking classes, and more with them in the future.

The Chef Next Door and Glinda Clardy of 

The Wine Source pairings- featured at 

The Wine Cellar's Wednesday night tasting

 

Praxis Viognier paired with 

Gorgonzola and Honey Crostini

Sables d'Azur Rose paired with 

Mozzarella, Cherry Tomato, Fresh Basil and Balsamic Crostini

Gode II Rosso di Toscana paired with 

Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese, and torn Prosciutto Crostini

Glinda did a WONDERFUL job pairing the wines to the flavors of crostini....and it was very cool to taste my own food on a whole different level.  Wine really does change things! Thanks, Will and Rhonda!

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I have also been an enormous fan of Rebekah Bynum's My Spirited Art for over a year now (See previous blog posting titled: "Don't Drink the Paint Water!")  Her store is filled to the brim with 40-50 ladies (and gentlemen, on occasion) every single night, so I thought I'd take a shot in the dark and see if she'd actually allow me to come set up a "free food" table for the guests on any particular night, to get my name out there in the public even more.  Well, sure enough, she is fantastically generous and basically said, "Sure! I'd love to have you do that!"  Fast forward a week or two and there I am, in front of a giant crowd of women, displaying the ever-popular crostini, among other things.  My poor "Sous Chef", Taylor, has helped me make more dainty little crostini in the past few weeks than I think he would care to admit. But boy, oh boy, are they yummy!  I got to meet a lot of great ladies and even had a catering request email waiting for me by about 7:30 this morning from a lady who was at the art class last night.  Gotta spend money to make money, right???  :)  Here are some shots of the yum-yums I gave out last night.

The "free food" table at My Spirited Art

Warm Bacon Swiss Dip in crispy Phyllo Cups

Gorgonzola and Honey Crostini

Caprese Salad Skewers with Balsamic

Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese, and torn Prosciutto Crostini (top)

Olive Tapenade, Cream Cheese, and Parmesan Crostini (bottom)

It was a lot of fun, and if I'm lucky enough, I'll get to be the "go-to caterer" for some of My Spirited Art's many private functions that go on several times a week. Thanks, Bekah!!

Stay tuned: There will be much more to come- 

my calendar is slowly but surely filling up!

Cheers,

The Chef Next Door

Best of the Best BIRTHDAY Cooking Class

As if my cooking classes weren't fun enough already, how about the fact that I had the pleasure of cooking with Brian Whitten on his BIRTHDAY.....and he had absolutely no clue I was coming.  His adorable wife, Leigh Ann, called me the week before and asked if she could book me for his Birthday dinner.  She purchased a gift certificate, we planned a menu for him, and she was going to surprise him with a cooking session for his own birthday dinner.  I love and can't wait for all my cooking classes, but I was particularly looking forward to this one!  So I show up, ring the doorbell, and there is the Birthday Boy- with a totally blank look on his face, like he was expecting me to just hand him a birthday cake or something.  He had no idea what he was in for!

SURPRISE!

So while most Birthday Boys or Girls get to kick back and put their feet up while their friends and family shower them with gifts and whisk them out to a nice dinner.....this particular Birthday Boy was thrilled to get to do all the cooking himself!  And when I say "all the cooking himself", I mean it.  I hardly lifted a finger.  HE made:

GREEN APPLE SALAD WITH HOMEMADE GARLIC BUTTER CROUTONS,

WHITE CHEDDAR WHIPPED POTATOES, 

&

ROOT BEER BRAISED SHORT RIBS

Here are some shots from our session.

Thanks for having me, Brian and Leigh Ann!

Cheers,

The Chef Next Door

Working late?

...and don't have time to cook dinner?  No worries.  Check this out!

Citrus Roasted Grouper with Garlic spiced New Potatoes

Lemon and Herb Rotisserie Grilled Chicken with Curried Baby Carrots

Watermelon Spring Mix Salad 
with Balsamic Onions, crumbled Goat Cheese, and Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

Yep, you can have restaurant quality, healthy, gourmet meals delivered right to your door!

Click HERE.

Cheers,

The Chef Next Door

An 80th Birthday Cocktail Party

Well well well....just when I was really getting the itch to make some dainty finger foods- Howard and Emily Rogers come through wanting some h'or douerves for a cocktail party for Emily's mother's 80th birthday party!  What a treat. :)  She browsed my website and picked out 5 of my most favorite finger foods to add to the event:

 *Assorted Crostini Bar*

A variety to please any palate- all resting on crunchy but chewy Garlic Toast Points

Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese, and torn Prosciutto

Olive Tapenade, Cream Cheese, and shredded Parmesan

Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil, and Balsamic Reduction

Gorgonzola and Honey

*Tuscan Pinwheels*

Made with Rotisserie Chicken, Sun-dried Tomato, Parmesan and Italian herbs slathered in a Pesto Cream Cheese and rolled in a Sun-dried Tomato Herbed Wrap

*Asiago Stuffed New Potatoes*
Petite Red Potatoes are baked once, have their middles scooped out and mixed with all things yummy such as butter, sour cream, and Asiago cheese, then restuffed and baked again

*Asparagus Spirals*
Fresh Asparagus is wrapped in tiny strips of Cheesy Puff Pastry and baked to golden puffed perfection. Served with a Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce

*Warm Bacon Swiss Dip in Phyllo Cups*
A smooth and creamy mixture of Swiss Cheese, Green Onions, and crumbled Bacon is piped into tiny crispy Phyllo cups and topped with...even more bacon!

I try not to play favorites, but these intricate yummy bite-size treats are some of the most fun to make...and eat. Although the Rogers opted for the "Express" option (which is why most things are pictured in their disposable travel containers), it is still fun to hand over my hand-crafted h'or douerves and wish them well on their journey.

Thanks, Howard and Emily, for the opportunity to serve you!

Cheers,

The Chef Next Door

New Additions

The Chef Next Door has added a few new items to the repertoire. I tend to steer clear of baby animals (namely Veal) for really no better reason than it makes me sad to cook and/or eat them....but my eyes have been opened to the wonderful world of LAMB as of late. A lovely cooking class student requested to learn how to prepare lamb, so I had no choice but to really teach myself so that I could teach someone else. Thanks to Sam's Club, which offers a pre-frenched Rack of Lamb in a vacuum-sealed package for roughly $12-$14, this was an easy task. So I'm now all aboard the Lamb Train and loving it. What a tasty little creature! :)

Grilled Rack of Lamb Lollipops with White Cheddar Smashed New Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli, and Spicy Orange Reduction

(Nom nom nom......)

Another menu item was born out of pure frugal-ness and creativity. Also a great find at Sam's Club is Stacy's Simply Naked Sea Salt Pita Chips. Love 'em. However, a certain somebody.........hmmm.......MIGHT have dropped the bag of chips on the floor before even being opened..........and they MIGHT have all broken into a million pieces. I honestly don't know who could have done such a thing. What a bummer. I refused to throw away the entire bag of tiny fragments of the delicious pita chips and instead, turned them into "breadcrumbs" in my food processor. Mixed them with a handful of Parmesan Cheese, a heavy dose of seasonings such as Garlic Salt and Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning, and the vibrant zest of a lemon- and voila! I was left with an incredibly flavorful and incredibly crunchy breading for Chicken or Fish.

Pita Chip, Parmesan, and Lemon Encrusted Tilapia with Smashed New Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli (Yep, those are the two "quick and easy" go-to side dishes)

I've also been exploring the world of Brownie Bites. I know I'm a little late on this trend, but what I lack in modern-ality, I make up for with creativity. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. And last but not least, I've decided that Mini Homemade Chocolate Eclairs aren't as big of a pain in the you-know-what as I thought they were, so now they are available for catering functions; NOT just special family occasions. Tee hee.

Mini Homemade Chocolate Eclairs alongside Strawberry Heart Brownie Bites

Peanut Butter Fudge-Walnut Brownie Bites alongside White Chocolate-Mint Brownie Bites

For recipes and/or to request any of these items for your own catering function, you know what to do.

Cheers,

The Chef Next Door

Boxed Lunches for Intuitive Research and CSC Wellness

So between the cooking classes, numerous catering proposals, private chef inquiries, and cramming in some favors for loved ones, I've stretched it even further and am now the Contracted Caterer for a new Huntsville-based Wellness company called CSC Wellness.  They provide all sorts of "employee wellness" programs for large companies around Huntsville- such as personal training, fitness classes, healthy cooking classes, and so forth.  And when one of their clients needs catering services, they bring me in. 

Today, we provided 23 Executive Boxed Lunches for the participants of the "Sizzle" Healthy Cooking Class, lead by Dr. James Reed.   Each box came complete with: half of a Grilled Chicken Wrap with Provolone, half of a Roasted Veggie Wrap with Feta and Balsamic, Mayo and Mustard packets, a Fresh Fruit Cup, a bag of Sunchips, a pack of Trail Mix, Bottled Water and Milo's Tea. 

Boxed lunches are an easy, healthy, and still delicious way to feed a crowd during a corporate meeting, seminar, orientation, and so forth.  Give me a call today to place your order!

Cheers,

The Chef Next Door

What Culinary School DIDN'T Teach Me

I've been out of school for a year and a half now, and still come across something every once in a while that I really can't believe I don't know how to make or do.  The really surprising part: They are COMMON things.  Don't get me wrong...Culinary school was amazing.  I'd love to be a "professional student" and go to Culinary school for the rest of my life.  BUT- I participated in the "Fast Track Program" which condensed the traditional two years of schooling into an action-packed, intense, 5-hours-a-day-of-nothing-but-cooking program that only lasted 9 months.  Therefore, they had to choose the best of the best, the most useful, most well-known recipes to teach us and had to weed out the "fluff."  For all of my readers who haven't gone to Culinary school, you should enjoy this.


1.  I know how to make homemade Chocolate Eclairs from scratch.......but I have no clue how to make Sugar Cookies.

2. I could make homemade Ice Creams and Sorbets all day with my hands tied behind my back.....but I would have to scour the internet for a Chocolate Cake recipe.

3.  I can make a loaf of Brioche or a Challah Braid with my eyes closed........but I have never made Cinnamon Rolls.

4.  I can make Duck Confit or Stuffed Quail for a crowd...........but this past Thanksgiving was my first real experience cooking a Turkey.

5.  I have no problem putting together Beef Wellingtons or Braised Short Ribs......but I'd scratch my head if you asked me to locate the Sirloin or Flank Steak on a cow.

6. I know how to make just about every sauce under the sun.......but I had to figure out for myself how to make Pesto.

7.  I was taught how to make Vichyssoise (a cold Potato Leek soup) and Borscht (a cold, Ukranian Beet soup)...............but I had to turn to FoodNetwork.com  to learn how to make a Tomato Basil Soup.

8.  In school, I made tiny delicate Blinis topped with Smoked Salmon and Dill......but I've never made or even eaten a Crepe.

9.  I know how to MAKE Mozzarella cheese..........but until I messed up a batch of White Queso Dip on Cinco de Mayo, I had no idea that some cheeses simply don't melt.  At all. 

10. I could carve a Swan out of ice, butcher a whole Pig, fillet a 40 pound Salmon, or make an Ice Cream bowl out of egg whites..........but I still manage to mess up White Rice every time I try to cook it.

So there.  Do you feel better about yourself????  :)


Cheers,

The Chef Next Door

Cutie-pa-tooties!

Did I spell that right?  Anyway, you know what I mean.  I just can't stand it anymore, and I HAVE to post these pictures of three of the most adorable kids ever.  I am in the middle of a 6-week series of cooking classes with their adorable Mommy, and I just get so excited to see these little darlings every week.  They even drew pictures for me one week which are now posted on my "Chef Next Door" business bulletin board.  :) 

These photos are from our "Pizza Night" cooking class.  Their Mommy and I prepared the infamous Chicken and Chorizo Pizza, Pesto Pinwheels with homemade Pesto, AND........drumroll please........a Dessert Pizza just for the kiddos.  We made a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough "crust", a Chocolate Ganache "pizza sauce", shredded White Chocolate "cheese", and let the kids add their own toppings to their personal corners of the pizza.  Too fun and too cute.  I think they were pretty happy with their masterpieces.  Wish I could have stuck around to see them covered in chocolate and sprinkles later...but that's not part of the deal.  I scoot out just in time for them to sit down to dinner as a family.   If this looks like something you'd like to do for your kids or yourself, you know who to call!

(Do you see how bored the other two are while waiting on their sister to decorate her corner?? Hilarious.)

(The youngest took his sweet time making sure his corner was PERFECT.  The other two snuck a few M&M's while Mom wasn't looking....)

(Aren't they the cutest children ever??)

Cheers,

The Chef Next Door