Those of you reading this are probably foodies at heart. Let me guess – you chide yourself for not whipping up a gourmet meal as often as you like? Your day dreams are often filled with visions of the season’s bounty? (Asparagus and strawberries, anyone?) And, you secretly hope for a starring role in an episode of “Iron Chef”?
Go ahead, fess up – you’re in good company around here! In fact, there’s a new cookbook available beginning today, Cooking Club: Great Ideas & Delicious Recipes for Fabulous Get-Togethers, that may just inspire you to turn that foodie dream into reality. The fact that it’s written by two talented foodies living in our very own backyard is, well, like icing on the cake.
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Folsom-based cookbook authors Dina Guillen and Michelle Lowrey to discuss their second cookbook. We met on a breezy, sunny day downtown at Il Fornaio and, over iced teas and cappuccinos, talked about Cooking Club, and what it means to be a passionate foodie in this town.
Q: How did the idea for this cookbook come about?
A: The idea for our second cookbook was actually our publisher’s idea. We were in the process of writing our first cookbook (The Plank Grilling Cookbook), and they offered us a second book deal. They were looking for something that had a more suburban feel.
Q: When reading through the menus in Cooking Club, I felt transported around the world. What was the inspiration for your menus?
A: We pulled from the menu themes that our cooking club has done. We didn’t set out to create an international feel, but the international yearning was there – in our travels and in our cooking. This cookbook fulfilled our need to discuss food; it is really our cooking club experience in a book – and then we created the recipes to go along with them.
Q: You offer a lot of guidance in the book for those who might want to set up their own cooking club. But if you had to boil it down to three – what are your top 3 “musts”?
A: 1. Assemble a group of like-minded individuals who have similar interests. 2. Make sure that every member of the group can commit to being an active member of a “gourmet cooking” club. 3. Create written guidelines and expectations. We interviewed eleven cooking clubs around the country and all but one had written rules.
Q: Would you share a funny cooking club story or a cooking disaster?
A: There are a few! (This one is from Dina.) For one of our cooking clubs, I was hosting and making filet mignon from one of Ina Garten’s cookbooks. The recipe called for roasting the filets in a 500 degree oven. Little did I know that at that temperature, I should have cleaned the oven first! Thick black smoke filled the house – to the point where we could not even see in front of us. Needless to say, we opened all doors and windows and ate outside!
Q: We all have our share of cooking stories! Are you up for a quick word association game?
A: Yes!
• Must have kitchen gadget: Micro grater (Dina), Cuisinart (Michelle)
• Must-have spice: Allspice (Dina), Cinnamon (Michelle)
• Pantry staple: Worsteshire sauce (Dina), Sugar (Michelle)
• Favorite dessert: Anything with caramel (Dina), Anything with pastry cream (Michelle)
• Favorite menu in the new cookbook? Greek (Dina), Comfort foods (Michelle)
• Favorite food show or chef? Anthony Bourdain! (Or, “Tony” as they both called him.)
• Favorite Sacramento-area restaurant? Mulvaney’s (Dina), The Waterboy (Michelle)
Cooking Club is not only filled with twelve inspired theme menus from places like New Orleans, Latin America and Thailand, but it includes a “how to” guide for starting your own cooking club, wonderful sidebars on everything from how to make your own yogurt to how to clean squid, plus interviews with cooking clubs across the nation. If you’ve often considered starting your own cooking club or supper club, this cookbook is a must-have.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this celebration of food that was so obviously written out of a true passion for and love of food. I cannot wait to make the following recipe for Creamy Chocolate-Kahlua Pudding that Dina and Michelle allowed us to share with you from their new cookbook!
Creamy Chocolate-Kahlua Pudding (makes 8 servings) Did you get enough chocolate over Valentine’s Day weekend? Is there even such a thing as enough chocolate? If you’re anything like us, 3:00 in the afternoon usually hits at about the same time as a serious craving for chocolatey goodness. In a quick poll around the office, we each claimed the following as our favorites, but you know we don’t discriminate against chocolate in any form.
Ingredients:
½ cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
4 cups half-and-half
2 tablespoons Kahlua
8 ounces high-quality bittersweet chocolate, such as Valrhona or Scharffen Berger, chopped
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Whipped cream (optional)
Chocolate-covered coffee beans (optional)
In a medium-sized saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt until well combined.
Whisking constantly over medium heat, gradually add the half-and-half, and heat until the mixture thickens and begins to boil, about 10 minutes. Continue whisking while adding the Kahlua, and allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute more. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chopped chocolate and the vanilla. Let stand for 5 minutes until the chocolate is melted. Stir gently until smooth.
Divide the pudding between 8 small serving dishes. Cover with plastic wrap, placing it directly onto the surface of the pudding so a skin does not form. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Garnish with whipped cream and a chocolate-covered coffee bean if desired.
Recipe courtesy of You Can Never Have Enough Chocolate
Jenna – Crunch Bar
Brittany – Almond Joy
Julie – See’s dark w/ almonds
Liz – Kit-Kat
Kim – Scharffen Berger
Shelly – Reese’s
Christine – Ghirardelli squares with gooey caramel
Tired of your same old chocolate routine? We just came across a new chocolate product with a fun historical twist!
American Heritage Chocolate is the newest product from the Mars Company and we were lucky enough to get our hands on a sample of the handcrafted chocolate sticks. The chocolate has a unique Colonial Era-esque blend of spices including anise, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange and vanilla making this chocolate goody truly one-of-a-kind.
Mars is also leading the effort to uncover the mysteries and stories surrounding the origins of chocolate. Findings will be published in a book out this month titled Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage. Did you know that chocolate actually played a very important part in American history and was even used as medicine, for military rations and was enjoyed by many prominent figures including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin? Even the Sacramento Bee has picked up on the story!
If you want to check it out for yourself, American Heritage Chocolate is available in Chocolate Sticks, Chocolate Blocks and Finely Grated Chocolate Drink Mix. We’re dying to try the historic Chocolate Tart recipe below – but if you get to it first, let us know how it turns out! For more information and recipes, visit www.americanheritagechocolate.com.
Chocolate Tart
Ingredients:
1 tbsp. rice flour
3 tbsp. white sugar
5 medium egg yolks or 4 large
1 tbsp. whole milk
1 pink heavy cream
1 five oz. American Heritage Chocolate Bar
1 prepared frozen 9 inch pie shell
Grate the chocolate into a bowl and set aside. Combine salt, egg yolks, rice flour and milk in a separate bowl and set aside. Pour all the cream and the chocolate into a sauce pan and heat to a boil, stirring continuously. Add the sugar and cook until both the sugar and the chocolate are melted. Take a quarter of a cup of the hot mixture and slowly add to the egg yolk and rice flour mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk, to prevent scrambling. Stir the warmed egg yolk mixture into the sauce pan and bring all the ingredients to a boil for about a minute. Set aside and allow it to cool to room temperature. While the mixture is cooling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour the chocolate mixture into the frozen pie shell, set it upon a cookie sheet to prevent spillage and bake for 40-45 minutes until set. Remove from oven and let it cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight.