In the Kitchen

What's New at Paulding & Company

January 2009

Happy New Year to all. What will this year bring? It seems that everyone is uncertain, but one thing I’m sure of after talking to my restaurateur friends--we’re all eating home more. Perhaps a good cooking class, that gives you great ideas and dishes for pleasurable home meals, is a wise buy right now. Perhaps a team development cooking session to build morale among a consolidated work force needing more of it. Perhaps a bit of an entertaining escape, or a really fun birthday party--for all of those things, Paulding & Company will fill the bill.

We’re reaching a milestone this month--our 5th anniversary! On January 27, 2004 the kitchen first opened. We didn’t finish construction until June, but we were inspected and OK’d to start work at that point, and held our first classes, and prepped for our first catering from the shiny new kitchen in the ensuing weeks and months. We’re in the planning stages for an anniversary celebration--most likely nearer the end of February, as our calendar is a bit busy right now. You are, of course, going to be invited.

New, Fun Classes!

We are always happy to have your own group of friends or family come in, but have put together some great classes as well. I love teaching late afternoon on Sundays, especially in winter--so I’ve added two classes to the schedule. The first, on Sunday the 18th, features a wonderful Spanish menu with small tapas plates and a hearty paella. There’s still some space in this class, but it is filling fast; click here to register.

The second class is February 22nd, a few days before Fat Tuesday--and has a Cajun menu to get you in the mood for Mardi Gras. Register now for this fun and delicious evening.

Rosetta Costantino has a great, warming soup class January 15th--featuring soups from her native Calabria. Register soon--this class will fill up, but there are still a few spaces. Her February pizza class is already sold out, but you can get on the waiting list. Her Calabrian class and her Carnivale class (on Fat Tuesday) still have space; she’s also put her March classes on the calendar so you can register early and be sure to get in.

Valentines class with Joe Cates, who co-taught our Chicken series, is scheduled for Friday evening, February 6th--this is the class that is “Better than Roses,” as you will learn an easy but impressive menu to wow your significant other on the Big Day.

Our wonderful Knife Sharpening class, with Eric E. Weiss, who sharpens knives for many of the area’s restaurants (and for the public at Berkeley and El Cerrito farmer’s markets) is scheduled for Monday evening, March 2nd. We offer this class quarterly, because you know as well as we do, that the key to having an easy time in the kitchen is having a sharp knife to make the work easier; Eric will teach you how to keep your knives in tip-top shape.

We’ve postponed one class--the Dumplings and a Movie class with my daughter Tracy Paulding, but do watch the calendar for a new date. Her Ramen and Tampopo class was a wild success, selling out, with the group avid for more--so we will get her back on the schedule soon.

I love having my daughter work with me, and we’re adding a few services that are dear to her heart: for one, Tracy is pleased to offer cooking birthday parties for your kids, in your home. Her skills are varied, and her background includes cooking for a retreat center, restaurant work, and a year spent in Japan studying the tea ceremony full time. Tracy also enjoys creating wonderful flower arrangements for some of our clients’ events. Email her, at tracy@pauldingandco.com for further information.

In the Market

The cold weather is bringing us really good greens--the kale and collards sweeten as the winter deepens, the broccoli (there are several types right now) and cauliflowers are great. Winter squash and root vegetables are at their peak. Persimmons are still around, but not as many, and the citrus fruits are all showing up--mandarin oranges, cara-cara oranges (which have a tinge of grapefruit flavor) and pomelos joining the regular oranges and grapefruit; blood oranges are coming soon. I bought some strawberries Saturday at Grand Lake, flavorful still, but they don’t last, you need to eat them up fast. Apples are great--my favorite, the Pink Lady, is at it’s peak. Crunchy and sweet-tart, great eaten out of hand or for cooking. This is the time of year that supporting the farmers who come out and stand in freezing weather to bring you good produce is most important--getting produce that has just been picked, and still is filled with all that great nutrition, is worth the trip. And, there are other great items to pick up--meat and fish and condiments and all sorts of creatively prepared items to taste. Not sure where and when your local market is? Click here for a handy list.

Recipe of the Month

Making bread can be a satisfying and warming experience. You need a bit of time--but really, the amount of attention you have to give the process is not that much. I find focaccia one of the easiest and most useful breads to make. You can play with additions such as herbs, and toppings such as onions, garlic, etc., to go with whatever you’re serving; leftovers make excellent crostini or croutons, and day-old focaccia can be split to form two thin pizza bases, topped and baked (check out my easy tomato sauce in the recipe archives)--something I just did for my own birthday party, to the joy of all the kids (and many of the grown-ups) who attended. Making the focaccia is also a good project for kids--who get to see the rising process and perhaps receive a science lesson about how the yeast “eats” the sugar in the flour and makes carbon dioxide bubbles that cause the rise. You can even make mini’s--focaccia rolls for the kids to get creative with.

Also in the recipe archive: try the Turkish style chicken and leek soup with yogurt and rice--it’s probably my favorite warming winter soup!