The party is over, but what an event it was! (Several events, actually). This weekend was a culinary throw down, tapping into many aspects of my chef- powers, from shopping to “mis en place” prep to brunch cooking and catering, whew!
On Friday I facilitated the “Chef, Butcher and Lamb” Cooking Event at Fresh Starts Cooking School. In over 15 years of cooking event work, this was one of the most fascinating and engaging events I have ever witnessed. Dave Budworth a.k.a. “Dave the Butcher, celebrity butcher” of Marina Meats in San Francisco joined forces with J.W. Foster, the Executive Chef of the Fairmont Hotel (S.F.) to butcher, cook and honor, yes, honor a whole lamb, fresh from Redhill Farms in Petaluma, California.
“People may see this as macabre,” Dave explained as he began to cut into the whole lamb, “but if this turns your stomach, then you should not be eating meat. This is where meat comes from, from whole animals. I hope to connect people to the importance of eating meat from animals raised in humane, sustainable conditions, like this lamb which was born, raised and harvested in the same field.”
Chef Foster demonstrated 5 courses based on the cuts of meat, his recipes included Lamb Rillettes with Citrus and Tarragon, Lamb Loin Carpaccio with Arugula Salad (this recipe and photos on my post on November 4th), Tagliatelle with Baby Fennel and Cabbage with Lamb Cheek Confit and more. I live for moments like this, working side by side with chefs of this caliber; we prepped, cooked, plated and bonded! Each demo ended with a plated course created by Catering Chef Jacques Kirk and the culinary academy students and staff.
That late night led into an early morning at Standards of Excellence in San Rafael for our “Meet and Eat” Cooking and Listening Event, celebrating my food segments on Green 960AM, the Green Morning show. We had a great brunch event, more on that on Thursday’s post…
We then jumped in the car to head to Design 101 in Los Gatos for a Grand Opening and Kitchen Warming Event for 180 guests. Our San Jose team was there in force with Sandra Cisneros, manager Dave Patterson and the unstoppable James McIntire. James, a top sales associate donned an apron as promised and cooked, plated and truly made our event unforgettable. We kicked out appetizers for the crowd in the live Viking Kitchen, supplied by Standards of Excellence, of course. I am so grateful to you all.
Two days; tons of action and fun. Here I am, wrapping the lamb butchered by Dave for an after class raffle. Time for me to “wrap it up” as well…until next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment