rice flour memoirs

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Shiitake Mushrooms and Sesame Vinaigrette

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We’ve been playing around with brussels sprouts lately.  They’re a totally under-appreciated vegetable.  This recipe is the way we prepared them on Thanksgiving.  It’s not a quick recipe, but it’s totally worth it.  The sprouts were lovely.  Find the recipe, below:

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Shiitake Mushrooms and Sesame Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

5 lbs. brussels sprouts, rinsed, trimmed, and halved
1 lb. good quality bacon (we used lovely, locally raised bacon from Grub, a Chico, CA based co-op farm run by the most beautiful people)
1/2 lb. fresh shiitake mushrooms, rinsed, stemmed, and thinly sliced
3 large onions, quartered, skins removed
1 full head garlic (we used home-grown elephant garlic from Kimberly Ranch – the name of Woody’s mom’s place)
Sea salt
Lots of good olive oil

Vinaigrette:
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
1/3 cup olive oil
2 – 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar (depending on how vinegar-y you like it)
2 Tbsp. honey
Sea Salt, to taste

Grab someone to give you a hand in the kitchen.  Woody and I shared tasks which made the preparation move faster, and was much more fun. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Begin by cutting the top end off of the onions (leave the root end intact – this helps the onion hold together when roasting). Cut the onion in half, remove the paper and first layer, then quarter. Toss generously with olive oil and sea salt. Cut the top off of the head of garlic and generously drizzle olive oil down inside the homes of the cloves and sprinkle the top with sea salt.  Roast at 400 degrees F until the outermost layer of the onions are dark and caramelized – slightly blackened is okay, too – and the garlic cloves are caramelized and softened. Check them after 20 minutes. This method gives the onions a great soft-sweetness that I think you’ll enjoy.

Rinse and trim the 1/2 inch of stem that may still be attached to the bottom of the brussels sprouts, and remove any outer leaves that are damaged.  Cut each sprout in half and place in a large bowl. Toss with enough olive oil to coat. Be generous with the olive oil. Roast the sprouts on a large sheet pan in the 400 degree oven oven they’re all caramelized – give it about 25-30 minutes or so. Pull them out when they look like the photo at the top of this page.

While the sprouts are roasting, cube up the bacon (about 1/2 inch squares) and place in a large pan over medium heat to render the fat and cook it through. Thinly slice the shiitakes and add to the bacon, continuing to cook over medium heat (adding more oil, if necessary) until the mushrooms are caramelized and dark. Salt, to taste; set aside. They should look like this:

Carefully chop the onions after removing the outmost layer – they’re slippery little suckers (throwing them in a Cuisinart is totally okay, just pulse them till they’re chopped evenly, about 1/4 inch pieces). Pull the cloves of garlic from their little homes and smoosh them together into a paste (I used the edge of my knife to do this) and add a little extra sea salt. Mix the garlic with the chopped onions until distributed evenly.

Combine the sprouts, onion mixture, and bacon mixture in a large bowl and toss until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Whisk together the ingredients for the vinaigrette (this can be made ahead, or as the first step of this recipe) and toss with the sprouts.  De-lish.

Notes:

*Good quality bacon makes a huge difference in this recipe. You could also use pancetta, prosciutto, or speck.

*You may not want to use the outer layer of onion for your sprouts, but they are perfect for eating – they come out almost like sweet, salty, onion crisps. You may even be able to entice an eight year old to enjoy onions.

*One of the best lessons Woody has taught me is not to hold back on the oil.  However much I think is enough, he adds more, and his roasted food is always just slightly more delicious.




Blush Catering is Jen Cartier and Woody Guzzetti

Please pass this info on!  We can't wait till our next Supper Club, and you're invited!

Supper Club
We are so excited to introduce the Blush Supper Club!  Woody and I hosted our first dinner  in our backyard just last weekend in celebration of Dave & Kim Guzzetti's birthdays. And because we received such an amazing response, we decided to create a special opportunity to dine with us once a month, in our home, for high end food in a casual environment.

Here we are preparing the meal:


Getting plates ready for a seared scallop appetizer.


I'm on the searing.


Woody's topping the scallops with mild chili aioli.


And a sprinkling of chopped chives.


My seared scallops with mild chili, cumin, and sea salt, served on a bed of sautéed crimini mushroom, sweet corn, and lime relish on cilantro pesto, topped with mild chili aioli, chives, and micro greens (micro greens not pictured).






Butter Lettuce cups with Pyramid Farms cucumber, melon, and basil in a vinaigrette made with Morse Farms mandarin olive oil, white balsamic, and honey, and topped with shaved parmigiano reggiano stravecchio.  A joint Woody & Jen effort.



Woody's lovely salmon steaks just before cooking.


Plating the salmon.


A lovely dish: Woody's Wild Caught Salmon steak topped with saffron tarragon leeks that were sautéed in coconut oil on a bed of lentils.

The lovely guests enjoying their meal in our backyard:







Our youngest guest with our family dog, Arlo.

And now, for desserts:





Orange Custard made with Straus Milk and Harpo Organics oranges, served in an orange cup (love that), a little shot of limoncello, and (not pictured) peach dessert arancini made from Lundberg Farms organic arborio rice, locally grown peaches, and fine grain coconut.  Custard by Jen, peach arancini by Woody.  They worked so well together, especially when enjoyed with liqueur...kinda like the people making the food, eh?

Our guests finishing up dessert while night set in:






Such a lovely evening!  We were so happy to be able to celebrate Dave & Kim's birthdays in such a special way: bringing the restaurant home, and gathering with many friends.

The full menu included:

Locally Grown Sliced Peaches ~ topped with Pt. Reyes bleu cheese, honey, and thyme
Seared Scallops (pictured above)
Locally Grown Heirloom Tomatoes with fresh basil, olive oil, and sea salt (provided by Dave Guzzetti)
Butter lettuce cups ~ with melon & cucumber (pictured above)
Wild Salmon on a bed of lentils (pictured above)
Peach Arancini, Orange Custard, and Limoncello (pictured above)

Lots of wine, and lots of love.


So, now, it's your turn!

Our first Supper Club dinner is Sept. 9th, 6:00 pm, at our house (call or email for directions).
The menu will change each month, but you can always expect a fabulous, seasonal meal.
We are only able to host 20-25 guests.  Seats at the table are $35 for September's meal.
Call Jen at (530) 222-4895 or Woody at (530) 354-8421
or email us at blushcatering@gmail.com
to reserve your seat at our September table!

We're looking forward to having you over.

Mwah!

Jen


Also: A Biiiig thank you to Daron Graham of Red One photography for his beautiful shots, and totally professional demeanor while shooting this dinner.  We love you, Daron!
--


Jen Cartier
Owner, Blush Catering
Facebook.com/blushcatering



Blush Food And Living


~ Adventures in food and life       

 search for Blush Food and Living for the recipes, pictures and other offerings from this post



We had a fabulous dinner party last night to celebrate the birth of Dave and Kim Guzzetti...2 people I'm exceedingly glad were not only birthed into this world, but also that they reproduced and created the man I so happen to be in love with.  Yay for people who have babies!  Details and photos of of said dinner are to come.

I'm not huge on keeping up with the newest best sellers, but Woody has been reading through some of the food writing that has been inspirational to me, so I thought I'd share a few titles with you.  Lucky dogs...

Like Water for Chocolate is one of my all-time favorite books, ever.  I've read it a few times and love it every time...skip the film, read the book.

Woody loved this one.  Ruth is amazing.

I fall in love with Blush over and over again, the way I do with everything worth working hard for: life, my partner, my kids, and, every once in a while, my hips.

I know I've said this before, but owning a business is like having a baby.  You're so exhausted.  You wake up in the middle of the night thinking about things like a new buttercream flavor or how you should present your cheese boards.

Drink this (especially poolside) to help with the heat.  It's yummy, fizzy, and refreshing:

1 can Blood Orange San Pellegrino

1 shot Malibu Rum

Frozen Berries (Ice, too, if you like)

Mix 'em all up, put up your feet by the pool and sigh...summer is in her prime.

Establishing food culture, like any culture, doesn't come quickly, easily, or without hard work and some soapbox-getting-on.  While some things come naturally (like, the fact that we need to eat daily, and hopefully more than that for most of us) other things develop with the nudging of time, the same way wine develops flavor on it's journey from barrel to bottle.

Speaking of things developing, Woody and I have been together for a year now.

Thumbs, up, kids.  Blush Bakery is super excited to announce that we will now be at the Wednesday farmer's market in all our gluten free glory!  Where is the Wednesday market, you ask?  Click here for a map. 

We are devoted to bringing you the very best products, ones that we are proud to offer, and ones you'll be happy to indulge in, especially since we offer you incredibly delicious taste and texture, and we do it completely without gluten containing ingredients.

Ladies, I've been Etsy browsing, and have found some really fun accessories for summer.  I was poking around, while bearing in mind that one of my favorite summer clothing items is my gray rolled shoulder maxi dress much like this one from Gypsy 05.

I've mentioned before that I absolutely love Nigella Lawson.  I mean, what's not to love?  I shared a different version of this crustless pizza a while back using chorizo, find that version here.  The version below makes use of more veggies, including fennel, which I could just eat in raw chunks, and because I love it so much (and want to marry it) I cook with it often.  By the way, Grub has amazing fennel.

People always say to my kids, "Oh, you must just love growing up in your house with all that good food."  Or other people will say things like, "I'm not cooking for you guys.  I wouldn't know what to make."  But really, I think there's just a lot of mystery when it comes to knowing what the people who own food businesses really eat in their daily lives, so I thought I'd show you a couple examples of real meals we've had this week at home.  We generally eat simply.

Blush Catering Co.

Gluten Free Banana Bread

(makes great muffins, too!)

Ingredients:

3 large or 4 small bananas, fabulously overripe

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 cup sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 cups rice flour

2 tsp. xanthan gum

*warm spices

A pinch of salt

There’s really no need to use a mixer for this recipe, unless you prefer a smoother texture for your bananas.

The old saying, “You are what you eat,” isn’t just a warning about what not to put in your mouth.  It is also an acknowledgement of this: the way we eat reflects what we believe; about ourselves, our connection to our world, and our need for pleasure, sustenance, and experience.  

The recent CN&R article on Grana missed this point, entirely.  Grana was compared with (and called a complement to) other local pizza joints that tend to focus on feeding the masses, not the foodies.

Blush Catering @ Bicycle music festival

June 2, 2012

6 pm @ Grub

Greetings friends and fellow bike riders!  Blush Catering is excited to be serving you at the bicycle music festival for the second year in a row, delivering hungry riders delicious food options.  I was thrilled with your enthusiasm for great food last year.  We all had such a great time!  

It became quite evident that we are changing the food culture in Chico, and that I had some changes to make myself.

Hello Friends!  It has certainly been a while.  We have been working in full force for weeks now.  I can't tell you how many 12, 15, and yes, even 20 hour days we've put in over the last month or so.  How does one manage to pack all that in, you ask?  Well, let me just say, a good supply of coffee, vitamins, magnesium, probiotics, kombucha, coconut water, tequila, wine, and cigarettes generally works for me.  And yes, I see the disconnect between the healthy and unhealthy things.

Here are just a couple items you can find at the Saturday Chico Farmer's Market:

Beautiful Oyster Mushrooms

Oyster mushrooms are great grilled, sautéed, and pureed to be used as a base for other flavors.  Actually, they're great in just about every way.  Something I've been wanting to make for a while (and I swear, I'll do it, and then blog about it): Oyster mushroom puree with caramelized shallots and crispy garlic, topped with seared scallops and a cilantro coulis.  Stay tuned for that.

On the subject of making things, we usually talk about getting crafty or getting in the kitchen.  Today, I want to talk about dressing yourself up in little ways that make you feel pretty or unique that don't cost a fortune.  Today, I decided, after working a long weekend making gluten free cakes for one client, a Thai-inspired lunch for another, and then a super fun champagne brunch for another, that I was going to keep things low key.

We're catering a Seder later this afternoon, in honor of Passover.  In order to keep things kosher, we had the opportunity to be a little extra creative with the desserts; we're not serving dairy products because we're serving chicken.  On Passover, dairy and meat are not mixed.  Therefore, I came up with some vegan treats that are great for Passover, or for any darn day of the year.

I'm just gonna keep on keeping on with the silly little titles until someone threatens to stop reading my blog because of it.   ;)

When we're working (which seems like always), I often realize that there's so much we do that no one really knows about.  I'm fixing that.  This Wednesday, I'm going to tell you exactly what we've been up to on the Blushy front.  Enter, What'cha Doin'? Wednesday (I'm on a roll, I tell ya).

From Wikipedia:

Arancini or arancine are fried (or, less commonly, baked) rice balls coated with breadcrumbs, said to have originated in Sicily in the 10th century.[1] Arancine are usually filled with ragù (meat sauce), tomato sauce, mozzarella, and/or peas.

There are a number of local variants that differ in fillings and shape. The name derives from the food's shape and color, which is reminiscent of an orange (the Italian word for orange is arancia, and arancina means "little orange").

Folks,  it's Make-It-Monday again!  I promised last week that I would do my best to squeeze a Gluten Free Arancini blog in.  The good news:  we're getting halfway there today.

Woody made a great point: Arancini really needs to be discussed in two parts.  Part one: Risotto.  Part two: Arancini.  So, onward ho with the risotto.  I'm excited.  Risotto is seductive, rich, and delicious.  Those Italians know what they're doing.

Here I am with two of my three kiddos, Sydney and Owen.

To our whole family of advertisers, readers, and fans:

First, I want to express my gratitude for your support.  I, along with Woody Guzzetti, am blessed to share the priviledge of serving up delicious meals and recipes, and sharing stories about local farms.

I used to have a cardigan kinda like this one:

A couple of weeks ago, I decided I was bored with my gray cardigan.  I loved the cut of the sweater and the overall longishness (think, mid thigh length when pulled all the way down) and the v-ness of the neck.  However, I was no longer a giant fan of the flowers that protruded down the button holes.  I felt frilly when I just wanted to feel laid back.  I decided to take the flowers off.

Bloggy bloggy bloody bloo.  I'm fixing to say what all the darn bloggers say: I'm way behind on posting.  If I were as consistent a blogger as I am bloggist I wouldn't have to say such things, but alas, I do.   Why?  Well, because we've been working hard.  Hard, I tell you.  And it's fun!  Really fun.
2

While my oven was on the fritz, I had some mega challenges with Make it Monday, sooo I skipped last week.  Darnsters.  So, today is all about the adventures I had while I was oven-less, and about making it work...because some Mondays are, well, just like that.

My frenemy of the week: the four month old oven that didn't want to do life anymore.

Aha! Oven, you can't outsmart me, I have a TOASTER OVEN!  Muahahaha.

Yeah, I have a toaster oven that burns eggs baked in cream.  Criminal, I tell you.

All kinds of crafty people have written posts about paper roses, and I've been wanting to make my own for a while.  Enter, Make-It-Monday, where I get to test out all the things that make me say, "Ooh, I want to try that."  Here's my step by step paper rose tutorial.  They're fun and easy.  Enjoy!

Directions:

1.  Gather cute paper (I ransacked my scrapbooking supplies for three 12 x 12 inch sheets)

2. I began by cutting the paper into quarters, giving me four 6 x 6 inch sheets.

3.

Source: ronputnamphoto.com via Jen on Pinterest

Corn Battered Asparagus Spears with Honey-Jalapeno Aioli

Source: ronputnamphoto.com via Jen on Pinterest

Stacked Apple and Pear Salad with Bleu Cheese, Toasted Almonds, and Micro Greens in a Honey Vinaigrette.

Source: ronputnamphoto.com via Jen on Pinterest

Asparagus Soup.  Mmmm...

In the name of finding continued inspiration, I've declared Mondays (usually kind of an "off" day in the world of catering) "Make-It-Mondays" which means I'm going to actually make the recipes, or do the home projects, crafts, or what-have-you's that have been rattling around in my head for weeks, maybe even months, at a time.  Call it my "inspiration journal," if you will.
 
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