Adia in France

It’s hard to explain. I became a part of this truly unique family that makes Restaurant Christian Etienne such an incredible place. This place became my home. The people here became my family. The entire experience has changed me, every part of it, every person I met. I spent over twelve hours a day with these people and developed long lasting friendships. I have been to their homes, played with their children, eaten dinner, and drank wine with them. They gave me an American Thanksgiving. I spent my final day with Chef on the radio explaining Thanksgiving live. We drank wine in his office next to the mayor, bought lottery tickets, and had a champagne toast that evening. So although I could go on forever, here are a few things that made my three months in Avignon absolutely irreplaceable.

Q. What has been your most memorable cooking experience while in France?

A. Good Questions. I would have to say it was the thirteen days I worked
fifteen hours a day and slept about four hours each night. Restaurant Christian Etienne along with the Palais de Papes hosted this amazing event. Aside from being a Michelin Starred Chef, Christian Etienne also works for the mayor. He is head of tourism and culture in Avignon, and when planning a three day forum on culture, economy and media it came natural that he would be the best man for the job. Five “Master Chefs” were invited to represent their country and cook for the Prime Minister and 250 guests. Spain was represented by Chef Luis Andoni Aduriz from Marguritz (the third best restaurant in the world), Italy was represented by Chef Massimiliano Alajmo from Le Calandre (they brought truffles from Alba!) France was represented by Piere Herme, the best pastry chef in Europe and arguably the world. And England was represented by Chef Heston Blumenthal from The Fat Duck. Because Christian Etienne was hosting this dinner, we as his staff prepped for eight days and when the master chefs arrived we were given the opportunity to be their assistants. Because I speak English I was with Chef Heston, or as they call him “Hes”. I worked along side him and his three staff members for twenty hours on a Sunday. He is one of the most incredible people I have come to meet. Not only was his food flawless but he and his staff were fantastic. The celebration of talent and passion for food is something I will never forget.

Q. What is the most challenging part of working in the kitchen? AND Did anything embarrassing happen to you in the kitchen?

A. The hardest part and most embarrassing thing about being in France, and especially in a kitchen, is speaking French. When I arrived I spoke very simple French. It was difficult in the Kitchen, everyone was speaking fast and I did my best to learn. Each day I understood a little bit more but every day I made mistakes. One of the “funniest” language mistakes I made was when a chef asked me to get the “petite verres” (small glasses) and because I didn’t understand I thought quickly in my mind what it sounded like so I returned with a bucket of “haricot verts” (green beans) instead of the small glasses for the amuse bouche. Everyone here has found my “language learning” very entertaining. But now, after A LOT of mistakes, people tend to stop me on the street to ask directions, people seem to
assume that I live here, and assume that I am French. With hard work and many mix ups, I consider myself fluent.

Q. Has there been any food in France that you can’t bring yourself to eat?

A. There are three things here that I cannot bring myself to eat. I have tried all of them once but after that I would much rather stay far away. One of the meat courses has chicken “crowns” in it which is the rubbery textured “thing” that is on top of a chickens head. I closed my eyes and ate one, I will not do that again. The second thing that I have a hard time eating is pig head. We receive pigs heads in the restaurant and after taking their eyes out and cutting off their ears, it’s not something I enjoy eating. The last thing that is the most difficult for me to enjoy, although here it is a delicacy, is hare (rabbit). We get whole hare in the restaurant, cut their feet off with a cleaver and skin them. After that I would rather not eat hare. (see picture).

Adia and the Rabbit

Q. What has surprised you most about working with seasoning or produce in France?

A. Not many people associate France with Moroccan food, but here in Provence Moroccan cuisine influences a lot of restaurants and recipes. Moroccan seasonings and flavors are very unique and in my mind underrated. I have enjoyed all of these ingredients. Another underrated or under-appreciated
ingredient is olive oil. Here in Provence there are so many different olive oils and each one has its own purpose. Chef Christian Etienne has written an entire book on olive oils and in the restaurant we have many different bottles for different uses. I have learned a lot about it and understand their unique and distinct tastes. Overrated, honestly, I cannot think of anything. The food here is fantastic. All of it.

Q. What is one thing that you learned while at CSR that has been most useful to you in the kitchen?

A. As simple as it sounds, the most valuable thing that CSR gave me was a great education. There have been hundreds of times where I am not quite sure what a chef said or if what I am doing is right, and when there is no time to ask questions or try to understand what they are saying the most important thing I have is confidence. We were taught very well at CSR and the basic skills that we learned has given me a sense of security and knowledge in the kitchen. I know how to make basic recipes from memory and how to execute cooking techniques. So while in the kitchen, when things get crazy, which they normally do, I have confidence in my skills and education from CSR.

Q. Who in your life has influenced your cooking the most?

A. I have always loved cooking but for a while I never imagined that I would be able to make a career out of it. I never thought that playing with food, studying recipes, and experimenting with ingredients would lead me to where I am now, but the one person who has always believed in me is my mother. She most definitely is my inspiration and the reason I have accomplished the things I have and the reason I am where I am now.

Q. What are your plans when you return from France?

A. I am returning home to the US in December and have applied to restaurants in New York City and Chicago. I am not sure where I will end up. I have been invited back to Avignon and would love to do that in the near future.

Project Angel Heart

CSR was very excited to take part in this year’s Project Angel Heart’s annual food and wine extravaganza. CSR instructors Chef Michael Scott and Chef Rebecca Peizer along with two students from our current Culinary Arts Farm to Table program made our booth local for this year’s event. CSR served local barley and smoked tasso (ham) biscuits with local preserved peaches that had been canned by the culinary arts students. The tasting included a with a shot of sweetened barley water, the event was a great success for foodies and Project Angel Heart. Read more about the event in Nutritious & Delicious section of the Denver Post.

CSR Table at Project Angel Heart

Chef Tiffany Askins

Chef Track alumna Tiffany Askins, and her personal chef business, The Nutritious Gourmet, were recently featured in the Denver Post. Chef Tiffany is working with public schools to rethink school lunches and include more fresh and local foods. She teaches an after school class at Silver Creek Elementary in Thornton called Edible Learning, and a Harvest Celebration class, at Nutritious Gourmet, for 8-16 year olds which celebrates various world cultures.

Chef Jeremy Young

Jeremy Young, a graduate of Culinary School of the Rockies Chef Track Program, talks to us about his current job at the Boulder Country Club and what inspired him to become a chef.

Q. Are you using local seasonal produced in your menu and if yes what purveyors do you have relationships with?

A. We do use local products once and a while however we are not purchasing them from anyone. A lot of chefs and members at the club have pretty impressive gardens. Now and then people will bring in fresh herbs and produce and we will work them into a dish. One of the most recent that I can recall was fresh oregano that we used on a tuna steak with sun dried tomato cous cous, olives and cherry tomatoes.

Q. What is the hardest/most challenging part of working in a kitchen?

A. The most challenging part for me was atoning myself to the speed of the kitchen while maintaining a high quality. The sense of urgency was different from what I was used to. It took me about 2 weeks to reach the pace that the kitchen was at.

Q. What is one thing that you learned at CSR that you find most useful?

A. Well there are so many things that I learned at CSR I could refer to at this point. But I guess if I had to choose one I would say that the knife skills I learned helped me out the most. Things like how to bone a chicken or clean a fish. Also the different methods of cutting fruits and vegetables helped me out a great deal. Not having to ask the chef again and again what the best way was to cut something. Just knowing exactly how to perform the cuts saves valuable time.

Q. How did you become interested in becoming a chef?

A. Well I had originally gone to college for auto collision repair and refinishing. After I got my associates degree I was the head painter at a major collision shop in my home town. To tell you the truth I was good at what I did but the satisfaction was minimal. When I moved to Colorado I started working as a mechanic at a local dealership and it was still just unsatisfying. It wasn’t until a family and friends party that I prepared all the food at, that I realized how much people enjoyed the food I was preparing. I was receiving compliments and applauds and it felt really good. Then it hit me - I realized that I had been working in food since I was 15 and I had a confidence about food that just laid dormant. So going to culinary school to learn all the techniques and professional terms seemed like the best route. I couldn’t be happier that I decided to go to culinary school. I love my job now and I look forward to being at work everyday. My hopes are to continue to work at the Boulder Country Club for a while and hopefully someday start my own business.

Q. Do you have a favorite dish that you like to prepare?

A. I would have to say my favorite dish right now is garlic prawn linguini with roasted cherry tomatoes.

Q. Are there events happening at the Boulder Country Club that you would like tell our readers about?

A. Well just last month we had our annual week long frolics event. We spent about 30,000 dollars on food alone. Needless to say it was the best one the club has had to date. Other than that we are constantly trying to out do ourselves by coming up with new specials for our members. The club is under renovation right now and should be completed by the end of fall. Approximately 11 million dollars was put towards the renovation which included the golf course the adjacent grounds, and the fitness center.

Chef Deb Traylor

Chef Deb Traylor, a graduate of CSR ’s Culinary Arts program, CSR instructor and owner of the Divine Dish, recently had her recipes published on Horizon DHA site. All of the recipes are made with Horizon products and are healthy and delicious. It is great to see an almuni published and we can’t wait to see what she comes up with for her next round of recipes using Silk soy milk!

Yvon Gross

Last night we had leg of Black Welsh sheep (mutton essentially) done 2 ways (on the grill and roasted and stuffed with chanterelles. Unbelievably tender, flavorful and succulent. We had the best cornbread I’ve ever tasted, stuffed summer squash, greens with bacon, spaetzle and poached pear topped with chocolate sauce, and a spiced peppery sauce. Dava Parr, who owns the company Fresh and Wyld, joined us for dinner. She is a former chef who delivers produce to restaurateurs in Aspen, Carbondale, Telluride, Crested Butte etc.

This afternoon we are “processing” live pheasants and Bill Muskegon, a wine expert, will be our guest, along with a Cordon Bleu culinary school graduate who is doing a farm externship here and wants to meet the students and tell them how their education is so far superior to what he received. We look forward to spending time with him.

Students tasting Yvons Wine

This has been a fabulous experience all the way around so far. The students are engaged, learning a ton, and seem already transformed by the experience. The dinners have been amazing. Everything is local! Yvon Gros is a great chef and teacher. Tomorrow we go to the market at Telluride.

Monday evening, September 8, 2008

We set the dinner table at Scenic Mesa for 20 – one long table. The centerpieces were wild flowers, antlers, and a Yugoslavian Finger Fruit - a weird squash with 5 symmetrical prongs.

Western Slope

Chef Yvon, Chef Michael and six students cooked up a storm using all the produce and the buffalo parts harvested that day. We had two tomato salads, one with cherry tomatoes and one with heirlooms. Lots of protein: sautéed buffalo liver with caramelized onions, kidneys with a mustard cream sauce, and grilled buffalo chuck steak. We had a medley of sautéed fingerling potatoes, buttered carrots with a peach glaze and seared melons for dessert. Guests were two farmers, Yvon’s wife, and Molly Watson, a free lance writer from SF.

The students spoke about the dishes they cooked, and the farmers described their farms and their philosophies and shared stories. We all went home tired and happy.

Ela Family Farms

Tuesday, September 9

I picked up Molly Watson and we made the rounds of the four farms where the students were working.
1. Zephyros Farm and Garden – The students were helping to thin lots of carrots and tasting amazing cheese and melons.
2. Abundant Life – The students were picking heirloom tomatoes, and carrying buckets of rocks to place around the tomato plants to offset an expected frost predicted for next week.
3. Ela Family Farm Orchards – The students were picking pears, sorting apples and packing fancy gift packages of peaches.
4. TLC and the Living Farm – The students milked the sheep and learned about Lynn’s amazing use of natural energy sources to grow greens year round in greenhouses.

Zephyros Farm and Garden

Highlights:
• Dan’s comment about carrying the buckets of rocks – “I’ve hauled a lot of rocks out of gardens, but never brought them in.”
• Drinking absolutely creamy, sweet and flavorful sheep’s milk at TLC – a first for me.
• Patting Angel and her baby lamb Melissa at TLC

More tomorrow about Tuesday’s dinner – amazing!

Leroux Creek

Sunday afternoon, September 7, 2008

The Farm to Table Externship (5 weeks of the 6-month Culinary Arts Program) has finally begun! I’ve been working with my amazing CSR team to put this together for about 18 months, and it’s thrilling to see it actually unfolding.

The drive from Boulder to Paonia and Hotchkiss in Colorado’s North Fork Valley is jaw-droppingly beautiful and serene on a clear blue Colorado early September day. McClure Pass is my favorite. The North Fork refers to the north fork of the Gunnison River. Delta County with 1142 square miles (half is public land) boasts a population of only 30,000. You do the math. With rolling green hills and farmland surrounded by mountains, the valley looks to me like France, or like the States in the 40’s or 50’s.

I met the students on the sleepy Main Street of Hotchkiss, population 1000. From there, we drove to a 9,000 acre cattle and hunting ranch called Scenic Mesa, where the students will cook in the evenings. It’s also their “home” for the next 9 days. It’s beautiful and comfortable and surrounded by fields and mountains.

We meet for a welcome dinner at Leroux Creek Inn and Winery. A secluded location on 47 acres, it renews your spirit with breathtaking views of the Vineyard, West Elk mountains, Canyons and Mesas. The setting is reminiscent of the Leroux Creek is owned by French born and trained chef and vintner Yvon Gros and his American wife Joanna. They have four acres of vineyards planted with hybrid grapes such as Chambourcin from France and Cayuga from New York and welcome lucky guests in a Southwestern style adobe inn. Yvon will be working with the students and Chef Michael Scott each evening to make fabulous meals from the daily local harvests.

The setting was sensational. Sun setting over the vineyard, tables set with Provencal table cloths on the grass, dogs and puppies running around, the scent of a cabrito (young goat) roasting over a fire in the pit. Yvon began the evening with an al fresco wine tasting. We tasted his Chardonnay, Cayuga, Rose and Chambourcin. Hors d’oeuvres followed with a fresh heirloom tomato salad from Yvon’s garden, home-made hummus on cucumbers and an onion jam on toast. Along with the roasted goat, Yvon had prepared individual ratatouilles, roasted eggplant stuffed with his fresh cheese, and sautéed local chanterelle mushrooms with garlic and parsley. Dessert was made with grilled local peaches, Yvon’s Port wine and garnished with a crispy meringue cookie. The students were beyond thrilled. As it grew dark, the conversation continued over wine and kerosene lanterns. A perfect welcome.

Monday, September 08, 2008

The students were split into four groups this morning. I went to Hire Wire Ranch with students David, Carrie and Ryan. The owners of this magnificent grass-fed buffalo and elk ranch are Dave and Sue Whittlesey who couldn’t have been more gracious.

Kim Boos of Tee & Cakes

Kim Boos, a 2003 graduate of CSR’s Pastry Arts Program, talks to us about her Boulder pastry shop Tee & Cakes and what inspires her as a pastry chef.

Q. Congratulation on Tee and Cakes Denver’s 7 A List nomination and on your recent write-up in 5280 Magazine! We recently got to try your delicious bacon cupcake, how do you come up with all your delicious flavor combos? And do you have a favorite?

A. The flavor combinations come from classic recipes that I find amusing. Also from traveling and watching current food trends.
Honestly I am constantly thinking about new and approachable flavors. I like to take the old and make it yummy with new tweaks and better ingredients. I think picking a favorite cupcake is like picking a favorite child!

Q. What is the most challenging part of working in the kitchen?

A. I think the most challenging part of working in a kitchen is battling the multi-tasking and the long hours. Oh yeah the space is always an issue too! Creative use of space is key.

Q. What is one thing that you learned while at CSR that has been most
useful to you in the kitchen?

A. Paying attention to my instincts and not so much the exact recipe.
The way dough feels when it is done. The way a cookie smells when it is done. Instinct and the use of your senses is integral to being a chef.

Q. How did you become interested in becoming a pastry chef?

A. I think it is my life’s mission! I know that sounds silly but it feels right and there are few things that I enjoy more. It combines all of my favorite things. Food, change, art/creativity, feeding/entertaining others, and (of course) not being stuck in an office all day!

Q. Do you have a favorite dessert you like to make (besides cakes and cupcakes)?

A. I am not sure why but scones have always held a soft spot! Also pies. And I am still trying to perfect the French macaroon!

Q. Are there any events coming up at Tee and Cakes that you would like tell our readers?

A. Well one thing that is new and exciting is the change to the cupcake and cake menu. Brian has been busy printing new stylish shirts. Also, we are turning one in September! Look for something special to honor our friends and customers. Art shows will start again in October too!

Our mission today was to utilize a palate of Colorado produce: romaine lettuce, green beans, corn, eggs, spicy greens, red bliss potatoes, herbs, and striped bass, to create entrée salads in the classic styles of Nicoise and Caesar.

Nicoise Salad

The Nicoise, a composed salad, accomplished its goal to represent Colorado’s color, flavor, and bounty. The Caesar, with its traditional dressing, was topped with poached striped bass sustainably farmed in Colorado.

Caesar Salad

It is always exciting to accomplish a beautiful and delectable entrée and relish in its local nature.