Chefie’s World

Only a few of you came to this once in a lifetime chance to watch me live in action at the USDA Culinary Theater to cook and bake healthy dishes with California raisins. But there will be other demos and I will invite you again. That is also the main reason why I have not posted during the last week because events like this requires full attention and concentration and I was also teaching professional and skills class at the same time. It took me awhile to finally decide on the array of dishes that I will be demonstrating and had to test and retest all of them to fit the taste and flavor I wanted. Finally, last week or 6 days before the event I finalized the recipes. I purchased all the ingredients Wednesday and started cooking and prepping everything Thursday with my assistants, Julie, Star and Mr. K. We finished early since the dishes didn’t have too much ingredients and there wasn’t too many pre cooking to be done. I had to do five recipes of the chicken dish ahead to age for better flavor and an additional recipe of dressing with the same reason since if you rest and keep it chilled in the refrigerator for sometime the taste changes so much since the raisins get to infuse their flavors too. Friday came, everything was ready by 11 am and my demo was scheduled at 2 pm so we took a nap right after lunch. As I was cleaning the platters for the final product presentation, I noticed something smelling and I saw the culprit, it was the chicken and it had bubbles and had a funny smell. In other words, it got spoiled since I didn’t have the time to boil it after removing it from the chiller. My fault! spoiled, wasted and thrown immediately - a lesson to learn in preparations for a demonstration. My other concern was I got several text messages from participants that they cannot make it so I might be doing the demo for only a dozen people…heheheh…..My sponsor, Raisin Administrative Committee’s representative would be coming in from Singapore and I really had to make a good impression. Don’t worry, everything went well, all participants who are part of my group of clients and friends in the food industry came and almost filled the theater. I was overjoyed, they all loved the recipes since it was healthy and not too difficult for an ordinary caterer to cook or make which I believe should be taken into consideration now by most chefs when they do demonstrations. Here are the recipes, I hope as usual you enjoy them.

Assorted Green Salad with Seasonal Fruits and California Raisin Dressing

Golden Raisins Dressing:

Ingredients:

1 cup white distilled vinegar
¾ cup water
½ cup honey
¼ cup finely grated onion
2 tsp salt
pinch freshly ground pepper
2 tsp celery seeds
¼ cup golden raisins

Procedure:

In a saucepan, boil vinegar, water, honey and grated onion. Cool.
Add in salt ground pepper, celery seeds and golden raisins. Mix well.
Chill overnight or for 2 – 3 days.

Salad:

Assorted Lettuces, washed and spun dried
Seasonal fruits; mangoes, pomelo, in slices or small bits

Procedure:

Toss lettuce in dressing. Add in fresh fruits slices and other vegetables

CALIFORNIA RAISIN AND TUNA ORZO

Ingredients:

450 gms orzo or rizzoni pasta, cooked al dente

1 cup sliced zucchini
1 cup sliced eggplant
2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
2 pcs whole garlic, roasted
2 pcs red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and sliced
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
2 cans Hot and spicy tuna, drained
2 pcs tomatoes, coarsely chopped
¼ cup sliced black olives
¼ cup sliced green olives
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice of one lemon
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1 cup California raisins
2 tbsps finely slivered basil

Procedure:
Brush zucchini and eggplant with extra virgin olive oil. Grill.
Toss all ingredients together. Season with salt and freshly ground
pepper. Chill.

CALIFORNIA RAISIN WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

Ingredients:

300 gms whole wheat flour
200 gms bread flour
7 gms instant yeast
5 gms salt
350 gms water
100 gms California Raisins

Procedure:

Mix whole wheat and bread flour. Add in instant yeast, salt and
water. Mix well. Knead for 10 minutes or until dough is smooth
and elastic. Add California Raisins and mix into dough.
Put dough in an oiled bowl and cover. Let rise for an hour or
until double in size. Divide dough into two pieces and shape.
Proof until double. Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes.
Cool well before slicing.

CALIFORNIA RAISIN AND SESAME BRAISED CHICKEN

Ingredients:

1 pc whole chicken, cut up and pat dry
salt and freshly ground pepper
¼ - ⅓ cup canola oil

3 tbsps minced garlic
2 tbsps minced ginger
1 ½ cups sliced onions
3 tbsps tahini paste
2 tsps Worcestershire sauce
2 tsps mustard
1 ½ cups chicken broth
2 – 3 tbsps sesame seeds
1 cup California raisins

Procedure:

Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
Heat oil in a pan, brown all sides of the chicken.
Set aside.

In another pan, saute garlic, ginger in oil.
When aromatic, add in sliced onions and cook until translucent.
Pour in tahini paste, then add in chicken pieces. Cook.
Stir in Worcestershire sauce, mustard and chicken broth.
Boil and simmer until cook. Add in sesame seeds and California
raisins. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Best served when aged.

GRAHAM CRACKER CALIFORNIA RAISIN CAKE

Ingredients:

¾ cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 pcs eggs, separated
1 ½ tsps baking powder
3 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs
1 ½ tsps cinnamon powder
¼ cup fresh milk
1 ½ tsps vanilla
½ cup chopped walnuts
⅔ cup California raisins, chopped

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line and grease two 8 inch round pans.
Set aside.

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until light. Add egg yolks, one at
a time beating well after each addition.
Mix baking powder, cinnamon and graham crumbs.
Add alternately with fresh milk and vanilla.
Stir in chopped walnuts and California raisins. Set aside.
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into batter.
Bake 35 – 40 minutes. Let cool at room temperature before
frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups low fat cream cheese, softened
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ - 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp lemon juice

Procedure:

Beat cream cheese with butter until creamy. Add in confectioner’s
sugar and lemon juice. Beat until smooth. Use to frost cake.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 4:39 pm and is filed under Food, personal, recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.