Please Pardon our Virtual Dust

July 23rd, 2010

Please pardon us as we work to make this an amazing food blog. We have a team of people who are designing, editing video, taking food photographs and otherwise frantically working to get this site looking beautiful. We have been traveling the country, from Chicago to New Mexico, Traverse City to New York City, to bring you articles and videos about food, farming, sustainability, local eating, and much more! Also watch for more videos, articles and a slew of recipes about cooking from scratch and getting the whole family involved.

We can’t wait to have you stop by again!

In health,
Nicolas and Cora

A Bunch of Fun Workshops I Get to Teach

July 14th, 2010

I wanted to let you know about several classes I have coming up. I hope you can can make one or more! Peace and health to you!

Dessert Class 1
Date: July 21st
Time: 7:00pm-8:30pmWhere: The Raw Melissa Kitchen
1190 N. Main St. #18 Springville Utah
(45 minutes South of SLC)
Desserts you’ll learn: Strawberry Sauce, Lime Mousse, Apple Crisp, Chocolate Peppermint Fudge, Oatmeal Cookies, Chocolate Sauce
Cost: $25

Dessert Class 2
Date: July 28th
Time: 7:00pm-8:30pm
Where: The Raw Melissa Kitchen
1190 N. Main St. #18 Springville Utah(45 minutes South of SLC)
Desserts you’ll learn: Strawberry Cheesecake, Macadamia Nut Thumbprint Cookies, Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream, Orange Cinnamon Shake, Chocolate No Bake Cookies, Candied Walnuts
Cost: $25

Expect to get samples for each dessert and to even take some of the goodies home with you! If you’d like to sign up for two sessions, the cost is only $45. Class size is limited because the Raw Melissa kitchen is SMALL, so sign up quickly!

Local and Seasonal Food Made Easy
Date: July 31st, 2010
Time: 11:30-1:00pm
Where: Jacob’s Cove Heritage Farm (1526 South Geneva Road Orem, Utah
(35 minutes south of Salt Lake just off of Exit 269)
What you’ll learn: Cherry Tomato Salad with Red Pepper Flakes and Radish, Garlic Sweet Peas with Prosciutto, Homemade Pasta with Wilted Arugula, and Summer Squash Raisin and Nut Muffins
Cost: $20

Local and Seasonal Food Made Easy

Date: August 14th, 2010
Time: 11:30-1:00pm
Where: Jacob’s Cove Heritage Farm (1526 South Geneva Road Orem, Utah
(35 minutes south of Salt Lake just off of Exit 269)
What you’ll learn: Caprese Salad (Mozzarella, Basil and Tomato), Colored Pepper and Yellow Squash Saute over Millet, Roasted Beets and Broiled Green Beans with Lemon, Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Cinnamon
Cost: $20

Local and Seasonal Food Made Easy
Date: August 28th, 2010
Time: 11:30-1:00pm
Where: Jacob’s Cove Heritage Farm (1526 South Geneva Road Orem, Utah
(35 minutes south of Salt Lake just off of Exit 269)
What you’ll learn: Gazpacho (cold cucumber and tomato soup), Italian Checca Sauce, Eggplant Rollatini, Sweet Yellow Pepper Muffins with Ginger and Currants
Cost: $20

Local and Seasonal Food Made Easy
Date: September 11th, 2010
Time: 11:30-1:00pm
Where: Jacob’s Cove Heritage Farm (1526 South Geneva Road Orem, Utah
(35 minutes south of Salt Lake just off of Exit 269)
What you’ll learn: Balkan Cucumber Salad, Odessa Beets with Lemon, Quick Walnut Bread, Pickled Eggs, Honey Butternut Squash Puree with Nutmeg
Cost: $20

Local and Seasonal Food Made Easy
Date: September 25th, 2010
Time: 11:30-1:00pm
Where: Jacob’s Cove Heritage Farm (1526 South Geneva Road Orem, Utah
(35 minutes south of Salt Lake just off of Exit 269)
What you’ll learn: TBA
Cost: $20

Expect to get generous samples of each of the foods listed! We can only take 15 participants in each of these classes so sign up QUICKLY. A BIG THANK YOU TO JACOB’S COVE HERITAGE FARM for supplying all the produce and the location for the above classes!

Fresh Food Full-Day Workshop
Date: September 25th, 2010
Time: 10:30am-3:30pm
Where: St. George, Utah
What you’ll learn: Several fresh salads, condiments, entrees and desserts to help you get more fresh foods into your life
Cost: $80

Expect to get abundant samples of each dish. We can only take 20 participants in this class so sign up quickly!

To register, either:

1) Send a check to: Raw Melissa, P.O. Box 721, Springville UT 84663. Include your name, email address, phone number, and date of class you’ll be attending.

OR

2) PayPal the class fee to us at register@rawmelissa.com. BEFORE you hit “send money” please scroll down and fill out the “email to recipient” section with your name, email address, phone number, and date of class you’ll be attending, in the body of the email. Then hit “send money.”

We will send you a confirmation of your registration in the class as soon as we receive your information.

See you there!

Omelette of Love

May 13th, 2010

Yesterday evening I made an omelette for Cora!

She is such a wonderful person, in so many lovely and enduring ways.  For this reason I cook for her.  It was the most delicious omelette she had ever tasted, and truly a delight to see the look on her face as she took her first bite.  To be perfectly honest, I was a bit surprised by Cora’s reaction.  Now, I’ve made a few omelettes in my day, but I never thought of myself as a great omelette maker.  Until now.  Sometimes it just takes a little extra motivation, a little more faith, a little more immersion.

I decided to make myself the ’same thing’.  Hmmm. . . It worked!  Again!  I loved it.  So much flavor bursting in different directions.  I had never made an omelette quite like the ones I made last night.  What a great feeling!  To try something new AND have it work so well…  Ahhh, the wonders of improvisation.  : )

Behold the few SIMPLE ingredients (okay, slightly more than a few):

  • 4 medium-sized Crimini Mushrooms, sliced
  • Tiny bit of onion (optional), sliced
  • EVOO
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • Handful of Kale, chiffonaded
  • Nip of fresh Rosemary
  • Smoked Gouda, freshly shredded
  • Kalamata Olives, sliced (not too many)
  • Fresh Basil, chopped
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Oh, maybe I  should tell you a little bit about the stages of cooking that I used for this particular ingredient list:

In small saucepan, sauté mushrooms and onion in the extra virgin olive oil on medium-low heat for a few minutes before adding garlic and kale.  Cook for about 5 minutes more before adding rosemary, pepper, and salt.  Continue cooking for 2 minutes, then add olives and set aside.  In another small to medium sized saucepan make 3 egg omelette (you can be liberal with the olive oil!).  Cora and I tend to use water with the local free range eggs instead of milk.  Of course, don’t forget to season with salt and pepper!  When omelette is flipped, add cooked vegetables and shredded smoked gouda  before folding in half.  Plate the omelette, add more gouda if you so desire, then add basil and pepper and savor every bite!

Mushroom, Kale, and Kalamata Omelette!

Posted by:  Nicolas  :)

And don’t forget, SHARE your love and appreciation for the ones you love!!

Testing Recipes for the Cookbook

May 12th, 2010

One of the ingredients I've been experimenting with

Testing recipes for my new cookbook is a lot harder than it sounds. I have ingredient attention deficit disorder. When I pick up an ingredient, I want to try it in a brand new dish. If I’m satisfied by a great recipe, I want to move on to finding another as equally satisfying.

Luckily I have customers who beg for the same things again and again from my commercial kitchen, those foods that have attained the “wow factor,”  so I have a really good repertoire. I’m using many of these in the cookbook, but I wanted to have some really new and fresh ideas included alongside the old stand-bys. That means testing the same recipe with the same or slightly altered ingredients, over and over and over.

Nicolas is really good at making things several times. As I write, he’s in the kitchen making his 4th (or is it his 5th?) Chocolate Honey Cake of the week. He loves altering ingredients by a smidgen to see how the original recipe is affected. The outcome is always perfection (if it’s not perfect, he’s not done testing it) and there’s usually some swooning involved for those he tries the finished product on.

Sometimes my tendency is to make up a recipe and say, “Good enough.” But fortunately, I have a stubborn streak in me that won’t let me stop testing, no matter how tedious, until I have a “WOW!” result. So if I go past my June 2010 deadline for the cookbook, please forgive me. I’m working on WOW as fast as I can.

Posted by: Cora :)

How to Cut a Mango

May 3rd, 2010

How to Pick a Ripe Mango

May 3rd, 2010

How to Chiffonade

April 20th, 2010

Kids are Amazing Chefs

April 8th, 2010

Creamy Praline Magic

1 pkg. cream cheese (softened)

1 T vanilla

10 T flour

1 C milk

2 pinches salt

1/2 cube butter melted 30 seconds

1/2 C yogurt

1/2-3/4 C powdered sugar

Mix in a bowl with beaters. Bake 350 for approximately45 minutes.

Berry Sauce

Mixed berries sweeten with honey and blended in blender until smooth.

Posted by: Praline :)

Carob Balls Rolled in Coconut?! No way!

April 7th, 2010

Yummers. Mouth explosion. Recommended batches: More than One.

Carob.  I  grew up on it.  Heck, I even grew in on it.  Do I enjoy it more than chocolate?  Most of the time, most certainly not.  Do I consider it to be a reasonable cacao substitute?  All I can really say in answer to that query is:  Each of these foods stands on its own.  When you want chocolate, by all means, EAT CHOCOLATE (Dark and fair trade if possible)!  When you want carob, or if you are feeling rather adventurous, make the following rich and chewy (and sparkling) carob balls.  Thanks for the recipe, Mom!  Oh, and these are best served cold.

I currently only use a 1/2 cup of milk powder!

Sunflower seeds are optional!  Enjoy…

Posted By:  Nicolas  :)

Lemon Pasta and Toasted Lemon Asparagus

March 15th, 2010

Lemon Pasta and Toasted Lemon Asparagus

I didn’t have a lot on hand this evening, and it was late, but I wanted to cook something delicious so I went for the staples, things I usually have on hand: a lemon, some fresh parsley and dry pasta.

I also happened to have some fresh asparagus I’d snatched up when I was buying my client meal ingredients for the week.

Timmy helped with the asparagus and Praline helped with the pasta.

It was a late and simple meal, but elegant and satisfying.

Timmy Lemoning the Asparagus

Lemon Pasta

Add a generous portion of lemon juice and snipped Italian (flat leaf) parsley to a batch of cooked pasta

Tear a few Kalamata olives into the mix

Give it a good drizzling of olive oil and a smattering of sea salt and red pepper flakes

Eat

Toasted Lemon Asparagus

Coat a good bunch of washed and trimmed asparagus with olive oil

Give it all a good sprinkling of sea or kosher salt and a squeeze of lemon

Spread it all out on a cookie sheet

Broil under a hot broiler until browned

Eat

Posted by: Cora :)