Displaying items by tag: Compliments to the Chef, Paula and John Reardon

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

I know it’s a cliché’ but time does go by so quickly. This coming week is our daughter Aubrey’s birthday. It just seems like yesterday we were sitting at the Saratoga Race Track with her sitting on her foldable Barbie chair with a Saratoga umbrella watching the spectacular racing horses walking by.  We are blessed to have our daughter still in the Saratoga area serving our community as a doctor of Physical Therapy on the Wesley community campus. To this day, she insists that my wife make her an ice cream cake as part of her birthday celebration. My wife has developed various creations over the years.  I have to admit, I do not mind having ice cream cake as our special birthday dessert. I love ice cream as much as I did when I was a kid. Many of us love ice cream.  We crave for it during hot summer days, even during the cold northeast winters. It is a wonderful treat to have as we watch movies like “Sleepless in Seattle,” or “When Harry met Sally.” Can you tell I am a fan of Meg Ryan? Ice cream is a sweet treat for all ages. It has been proven that whether you are young or old, you will never outgrow your love for Ice cream. So why do we love ice cream so much? Here are some thoughts:

1. There are so many flavors to choose from. Ice creams are famous because of their flavors. 

2. Having a bad day at work or in school? Got dumped or got your heart broken? Eating ice cream helps lighten up one’s mood.

3. It is delicious and refreshing and makes you want more. 

4. What’s for dessert? Ice cream is always a sure way to satisfy those dessert yearnings. 

5. Ice cream reminds me of when I was a kid screaming for ice cream!  “I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice Cream!”

One culinary item that my wife relies upon when making her ice cream cake is a spring form pan. Spring form pans are a kitchen essential for producing flawlessly smooth cheesecakes, perfectly crusted tarts, or intricate ice cream cakes without damage to their tops, bottoms, or sides. Meant to eliminate the risks associated with removing cakes from traditional pans, removing your product from the pan is the final step before placing your delicate treats on display, serving to your family or guests, or packaging them to go.

Stop by Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store located at 33 Railroad Place. We have an assortment of spring form pans and accessories to assist with adding that special dessert to your menu. 

To our daughter Aubrey:

You give us a thousand reasons to smile every day. We are so proud of the woman you are. Happy Birthday to you, our beautiful daughter! 

May love and laughter Light your days And warm your heart and home;
May good and faithful friends be yours Wherever you may roam;
May peace and plenty bless your world With joy that long endures;
May all life’s passing seasons Bring the best to you and yours! 
- Traditional Irish Blessing

Although I cannot share Paula’s recipe for her ice cream cake, I have included another fantastic ice cream cake recipe to make

Remember my Food Friends, “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

 Take Care,
John & Paula

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

So many of us have cut our hands while washing our knives. I know my wife has (or did) and watched in horror as she held her hand above her head to stop the bleeding.  We are faced with the dilemma on how to properly wash our knives. Good knives are the engines of the kitchen. We slice, dice, chop, and cut with them, making them the shining stars of meal prep. While it might be tempting to throw them in the dishwasher, this is not an ideal method for keeping your knives in top shape. Viola Wüsthof, the first female CEO of her family’s knife company Wüsthof and a repository of seven generations worth of knife knowledge, says the biggest misconception about cleaning knives is that they can be washed in the same manner as other kitchen utensils. “A dishwasher can be detrimental to the quality of your knife,” she says. “They are often too abrasive and based on the type of detergent used, the process can cause rust or corrosion.” Think of your knives as investment pieces for your kitchen, a little sweat equity is a small price to pay to keep your tools in working order. Knives should not be put into the sink until you are ready to clean them. You want to prevent any contact from other dishes or pots and pans going into the sink. This helps to prevent blade damage.  Placing blades in your dishwater can also be dangerous as you can’t see what’s beneath the water. You don’t want to get injured. All knives, regardless of blade or handle material, should be hand washed in warm water, rinsed, and immediately dried. 

Cleaning sharp knives and cutlery can be a hazardous task, but there is an innovative washing-up brush that makes it easier. The knife cleaning brush by Joseph Joseph helps you to clean sharp blades safely. The brush has a unique, wrap-around design that cleans both sides at once. The brush is designed with opposed bristles for effective cleaning, has a textured hand-grip, and is easy to store. You can also use this brush to wipe food off forks, spoons, and butter knives. Just get it soapy and pull the blade through a few times. Your fingers stay protected and the sharp blade gets brushed clean.

This brush can be a game changer in how you properly clean and take care of your knives. Good knives need to be looked after. This means that you need to use, clean, sharpen and store them properly. If you take good care of your knives they will continue to amaze you time and time again. We advise you to always wash your kitchen knives by hand, even if the supplier states that the knife is dishwasher proof. A knife with a wooden handle will visibly get damaged and a riveted handle will eventually tear at the rivets. In addition, the handle can break because of the heat. Aggressive detergents can cause irreparable damage to your knife. Detergent can af-fect hardened steel and plastics and can leave specs of rust on the blade and leave you with dull handles.

Stop by Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store to get those game changing gadgets that help make life easier and safer in the kitchen. Remember my Foodie Friends: “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

 Take Care,
John & Paula

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

This is Memorial Day weekend! Hopefully, the weather will cooperate so we can have our outdoor picnics to celebrate the holiday. I am so happy to see the sun and the warmer temperatures. The season between Memorial Day and Labor Day brings the opportunity to host many outside events. Having a picnic with family and friends on a beautiful day can be a time that creates those unforgettable moments and memories that last a lifetime. 

Having or attending a picnic remains one of my favorite things to do during the summer. This stems back to my childhood. As I have mentioned in past articles, I am one of five children. Having two sisters and two brothers always meant that the house was crazy, and my mother would do what she could to keep us outdoors. Picnic time was a word that would stir up excitement and anticipation of having our favorite potato and egg salads, hamburgers, hot dogs, and other fabulous items that our family and friends would bring to the picnic. In fact, insects are so common when dining outdoors, that there are even clichés about ants showing up at a picnic or flies getting stuck in the potato salad. It goes without saying, that you need to come up with ways to protect your food from these unwanted invaders.

One way to do just that is by using mesh screen food cover tents. As you might guess, these are dome-shaped screens that fit over dishes of food on the table. These unique food covers offer quite a few advantages. For one thing, they do a great job of keeping insects away. The holes in the mesh are small enough that they keep even the tiniest bugs from getting through. When you use these covers, you don’t have to worry about shooing insects away from the food table. Instead, you can rest easy knowing that all of your food is safe and secure. At the same time, the covers make it easy for guests to access the food. They are lightweight and easy to move. Grabbing food from un-derneath them is as simple as lifting up the cover and dishing up the food onto a plate. When the guest is done, they can simply replace the cover to protect the dish again. The whole process is incredibly easy.

At Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store, we carry various sizes of food tents. Stop by this weekend to pick up the essentials you will need to assist with your gatherings. 

We would like to thank all who have either served or are currently serving our country for your service. My father served in WWII fighting on the beaches of Normandy under General George Patton; my father-in-law served 22 years in the army, training and commanding young recruits in Korea and beyond. Our parents come from a period that is called “the greatest generation.” The stories that both my father and father-in-law have given over the years about their time in the war or in the service, and the stories both my mother and mother-in-law have told, reflect an incredible period of our history. 

Just before you’re ready to eat, stop and raise a glass to reflect and cheer all those who have given so much for us. Have a nice weekend and remember my Foodie Friends: “Life Happens in the Kitchen!”

 Take Care,
John & Paula

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

Did you know that May 21 is National Strawberries and Cream Day?  We get to celebrate having fresh strawberries and whipped cream. This is one of my favorite desserts and snacks. Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C, fiber, folic acid, and potassium. There are so many ways to use strawberries; you can eat them for breakfast and add granola for some texture, drizzle chocolate on them, or make strawberry cream pie or shortcake! Growing up, I lived by a farm that grew strawberries. The last weeks of May would bring the start to some beautifully ripe and delicious strawberries.  My mother would load up the five of us with buckets and send us on a journey into the blooming fields. We loved being out in the fields with the warm sunshine and the bright red and green fruits.  My two sisters were diligent in looking for the biggest, reddest strawberries. However, my brothers and I preferred to create a “bug competition” looking for the most bugs and different bugs we could find. The other issue was when we did pick the strawberries, it was difficult not to take a bite out of them. My mother would often find our buckets filled with little bites taken from several of the strawberries. I have to admit the best part of the day was eating the strawberries. Getting children involved with gardening and harvesting fruits is a great way to create memories. Being involved with creating a garden or visiting one is a wonderful way to encourage eating fresh garden harvests. Although my mother and grandmother did not have strawberry fields, they did have beautiful vegetable gardens. One of my favorite memories is when my mother would ask us to gather rocks for her garden. Picking out the largest and coolest rock kept us three, highly energized boys busy for hours.  Another favorite memory was plucking the fruits of my mother and grandmothers gardens. Snacking on the garden vegetables was another challenge for us to avoid. We would play hide and seek in the garden while nibbling on some of the garden treasures. My brothers and I would try to hide and flatten our bodies close to the ground as soon as we heard either my mother or grandmother asking us what we were up to. 

At Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store, we carry tools to help you with your strawberry creations. One item is the strawberry huller. A strawberry huller is a small kitchen tool used to remove leaves and the hull from the top of a strawberry. Lots of dishes call for it. The huller, which resembles a mini set of tongs with tips or you can get the one with teethlike edges, allows you to push the tips into the top of a strawberry (around the stem), grip, twist, pull, and you’re done. The advantage to using a huller is that you lose much less fruit than if you just cut the ends off of your berries. Yes, you could use a knife. However, the huller is much safer. Another item to have is a paring knife to help you slice up your strawberries. 

This spring, step into the strawberry fields with friends and family or stop by the farmers’ market to pick up some strawberries.  While you are creating your favorite strawberry dish, maybe even put on the Beatles and listen to “Strawberry Fields Forever” (oh! I am showing my age). Remember my Foodie Friends; “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

 Take Care,
John & Paula

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

Like with any genre of film making, there are periods of time where there’s an influx in a certain type of entertainment and then it ebbs away again. I have always enjoyed watching movies about the Vikings, being one who appreciates the aesthetics and stories of the Vikings. There are some great Viking movies out there. Of course there is “Thor,” the Mighty God of Thunder, and “The Vikings” starring Kirk Douglas as the Viking prince Einar and Tony Curtis as Eric the Slave. One of my favorites is the movie “How to Train your Dragon.” DreamWorks make such good pictures that it is no surprise that it is also one of the best Viking movies of all time, especially since they are based on the popular children’s books by Cressida Cowell. I believe I truly loved watching these movies, making modern day Vikings one who approaches the unknown with curiosity and strives to face hardships with courage. One who displays loyalty and honesty, and who values integrity and honor. 

So what does being a Viking have to do with cooking? Apart from just the appetite, cooking shows make you yearn for one more thing; the cookware. Behind a fantastic cookware set is a reputable company that is dedicated to making your kitchen-time enjoyable and fruitful. The cookware industry comprises of well-known companies that have spent decades in manufacturing some of the best kitchen brands that are in most households. “Viking cookware” is one of my personal favorites. These professionals are experts in the industry, and they understand how to easily enhance the overall kitchen experience while offering top-of-the-line cookware that goes along with any kitchen design and offers an amazing culinary experience. So many of our customers come in and state that they want good cookware. They are tired of going through generations of cookware that does not last or is not providing them with the heat conduction or distribution they are looking for in cooking.  Good pans are worth their price because they manage heat better. Being a “good conductor” and “heavy gauge” are the key features of good cookware. 

Here’s how these characteristics affect cooking. You get responsive heat. Good heat conductors, such as copper and aluminum, are responsive to temperature changes. They’ll do what the heat source tells them to do—heat up, cool down—almost instantly. You get fast heat flow. Heat flows more easily through a good heat conductor, assuring a quick equalizing of temperature on the cooking surface. You get even heat diffusion. A thicker pan has more distance between the cooking surface and the heat source. By the time the heat flows to the cooking surface, it will have spread out evenly, because heat diffuses as it flows. You get more heat. Mass holds heat (heat is vibrating mass, so the more mass there is to vibrate, the more heat there will be). The more pan there is to heat, the more heat the pan can hold, so there’s more constant heat for better browning, faster reducing, and hotter frying.

At Compliments to the Chef, we carry the 5-ply construction Viking cookware. With 5-ply construction and four outer layers of treated aluminum, this cookware is designed to offer an incredible heat transfer for all your cooking needs. You can use these pans with ovens, broilers, and grills. These pans, with the help of aluminum layers, can easily withstand a temperature of up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. You can use this cookware on all cooktops, including induction, without having to worry about sacrificing the integrity and taste of your dishes. The heat transfer ensures that your cooking experience is remarkable and delicious. The polished interior is non-reactive and does not add any foreign or metallic flavor to your food. One of the best perks of using this cookware is the signature Viking stay-cool handle. This ergonomically designed handle ensures that you do not burn yourself during the cooking experience, and also offers a secure grip, maximum comfort, and ultimate balance at your fingertips. Viking Professional Series Cookware will enable you to experience the art of luxury cooking and they are handcrafted in the USA.

Buying good cookware could be a wonderful gift to give your culinary enthusiast. Stop by Compliments to the Chef - your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store located at 33 Railroad Place. Make music in your kitchen with the sounds of stirring, pots and pans clanking. Play some music while you cook. Maybe even put on a Viking movie while you are cooking. Remember my Foodie Friends: “Life Happens in the Kitchen!” 

 Take Care,
John & Paula

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

This weekend is Mother’s Day. Remembering my mother at this time brings those memories that make me laugh and cry. I lost my mother many years ago. However, I do still have my Mother-in law, who I do love very much and I recently got to visit her for the first time in a year and a half. As I reflect on the years that I did have with my mother, the importance of family and time spent with family is a significant piece that stands out. Our home was filled with emotions, excitement and constant family interaction.

I have talked about growing up in an Italian family in many of my articles. Italians are a matriarchal nationality. It’s the women who carry on the traditions and hand out the majority of discipline, wisdom and nurturing to the children. As I was growing up being one of five siblings, every room in the house involved teaching and training by my mother. Life seemed much simpler and sweeter then. We had parents who loved us but weren’t afraid to discipline us. I continue to reminisce with my siblings on the “Italian” scoldings we would often get with something being said in half Italian and half English and the constant phrase “…because I said so!”

There are so many of life’s lessons we learn from our mothers, that get handed down from generation to generation. Lessons such as: “it’s the small things that count, or don’t sweat the small stuff; always be honest; admit mistakes, be humble; care about the right things; laugh often, learn from others.”  I can go on and on there are so many. 

Compliments to the Chef would like to salute all the Moms who have made life happen in our homes and especially in the kitchen. Who is the first one to start cooking a meal and the last to sit down for a meal?  Who is still in the kitchen cleaning well after everyone else has left?  What room in the house does mom dole out free advice on dating, school, employment and dealing with disappointment?  Where do some of your funniest memories of mom take place?  Moms hold court in their kitchen as a judge does in his court room or Queen Elizabeth does in Buckingham Palace. My Mom didn’t hold a staff like the Queen but she did carry a rolling pin and a wooden spoon.  For a few years it was never very far from her right hand. 

This Mother’s Day when it is time for dinner, seat mom first and clean up so she can enjoy her day.  Call Mom on a regular basis and tell her how you feel about her.  You cannot say “I love you Mom” enough.  Meal time is family time. Look at each other, listen to each other, tell stories, and talk about life. Whatever the gift is that you give your Mom on Mother’s Day, the greatest gift is the smile and love you give her. Hold onto these traditions and family time you have created. Enjoy your time at home and make beautiful memories. Thank our moms for the valuable life lessons learned that we continue to pass on. 

At Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store, we are available to help you with finding that special gift to give to Mom. Remember my Foodie Friends and Moms: “Life Happens in the Kitchen” – those memories will last you a lifetime.

 Take Care,
John & Paula

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

Next week is Cinco de Mayo. Many of us foodies may be planning some type of festivity for this day. And what better way to celebrate than to eat delicious Mexican food. Our son lives in San Diego. The city is renowned for its wide selection of excellent Mexican restaurants and influence on the cuisine in that area. Mexican food is a major player on the San Diego food scene. Our son has also learned to add many Mexican flavors to his regular meals. One of his favorite things to do is to work with avocados and make guacamole or to get creative with salsas. To make the guacamole, the molcajete (a black volcanic rock) connects with making amazing and laborious Mexican dishes. One of those dishes is a salsa cruda, which is a red raw spicy salsa. The molcajete can be a very valuable object to assist when making your guacamole or salsa this Cinco de Mayo. The molcajete is among the world’s oldest culinary tools, volcanic rock mortars and pestles like these have been used by great cooks for thousands of years. Our molcajete (mortar) and tejolete (pestle) are hand carved from a single piece of basalt rock, so every piece is unique. In addition to being a great prep tool, the molcajete makes an impressive serving dish for guacamole and other party favorites. It is perfect for crushing whole spices and making spice blends, ideal for blending and serving guacamole—or for making pesto and other rustic sauces. You can line the molcajete with lettuce leaves to use as an all-purpose serving bowl. The rough interior texture of mortar helps crush and grind ingredients and it has a heavy pestle that does the work for you, ensuring efficient grinding, blending and mixing.

At Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store located at 33 Railroad Place, we offer various types of mortar and pestles including the beautiful molcajete. Stop by and view our many spices that can be used to help you with your Cinco de Mayo culinary creations. Have a festive Cinco de Mayo. Remember Foodie Friends, “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

 Take Care,
John & Paula

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

For the most part, I do not like having spiders in my kitchen -or anywhere, really. When I was a child, I would love to play with insects in my mother’s garden. However, I have outgrown that! I will make an exception for one spider, though: my beloved wood-handled, stainless steel spider. I am talking about the kitchen tool that looks like a mini flattened colander with a long handle. (It’s called a spider because the woven metal netting resembles a spider’s web.).  It is much less creepy than an actual spider. I have found that the spider has become one of the most reached-for tools in my kitchen. The perforated bowl is perfect for transporting pasta from pot to pan (while reserving the pasta water), lifting items like dumplings or thinly-sliced potatoes out of sizzling oil, and picking blanched vegetables like carrots or green beans out of boiling water. Another great way to put the spider in action is when making eggs hard or soft-boiled. Any egg that goes in boiling water benefits from being carried in a spider. The spider makes it easy to lower multiple eggs gently into a pot, and removing them three at a time is no problem either. Eggs love spiders, and spiders love eggs—it’s the perfect boiled egg tool. The best part is that you do not need a fancy or expensive one to reap all of those benefits. We carry the Helen Chen Spider, offered with a wooden or stainless steel handle. It is comfortable and lightweight. 

At Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store, we carry all types of “cool tools” for cooks. Sorry, no real insects like spiders, but we have the ones that will help you do the job in the kitchen. Remember my Foodie Friends, “Life Happens in the Kitchen!” 

 Take Care,
John & Paula

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

There are many ways to make coffee. Our cups of coffee are very important to us since we start our days with that “necessary cup.” If you like coffee, you will find that you have many choices. You can spend lots of money to let other places make it for you. Many people find that their choice is a French press machine. People who use a press know and act like it is their own secret.  You can see it in the smile they have when they talk about it as they are purchasing one for a friend.  You can also see it in their frowns when they need one because the old one is lost due to a move or they are visiting here for an extended vacation and need one now!  My customers have many different passions for their favorite products but French Press people are knowledgeable and loyal. French Press coffee captures more of the flavor, aromas and oils from the coffee beans than drip coffee makers.  You lose a lot in a drip maker to the paper filter.  The difference between French press and drip coffee is that the grounds using a French press are steeped in boiling water while water just passes through the grounds in an auto or manual drip system. Grounds used for French press coffee must be larger and rougher. These grounds tend to release more caffeine, especially when steeped longer. Connoisseurs contend that this method of brewing produces a richer, fuller flavor. A serving that’s higher in caffeine may also have health advantages as well.

Once you have your press, here are the simple directions:
• Place the pot on a dry, flat surface. Hold the handle firmly, then pull out the plunger.
• Add a heaping tablespoon (7-8 grams) of coffee to the pot per 200 ml (6.7 oz) of water.
• Pour hot water—not quite boiling—into the pot, and gently stir.
• Carefully reinsert the plunger into the pot, stopping just above the water and ground coffee (do not plunge yet), and let stand for 3-4 minutes .
• Press the plunger down slowly, exerting steady pressure.

After each use, wash the pot with water and mild detergent, and dry thoroughly. Use coarse ground coffee. (remember fine will come through your screen).

You should probably consume your coffee within about 20 minutes as it could become bitter. Some people prefer it that way so whatever your tastes are is fine. You can also vary the strength by adding more or less coffee. If you remember, last week I talked about Tea and they also make a tea press which is catching on with Tea customers also.

Whereever your tastes take you, do what is best for you! Stop by Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store. Remember my Foodie Friends: “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

 Take Care,
John & Paula

Hello my Foodie Friends! 

One of our family’s favorite food is pizza, especially Paula’s homemade pizza. Pizza is an excellent all-round family food that every person can personalize and enjoy on the day it is cooked, or the following day (Breakfast Pizza?). It is also a perfect “on the go” food to help with the crazy schedules that we all have. Back in the days before children, pizza was a frequent meal for Paula and me. Our lives were basically like “two ships passing in the night.”

When Paula and I first dated one of our favorite romantic places to eat was an Italian restaurant called Verdolini’s. We were there so much they knew our order when we came in. The waitresses used to elbow each other and fuss over the young lovers. They were planning our wedding even before we even thought about getting married. The lighting and ambiance were straight out of a movie. The whole Verdolini family worked there and when he was old enough, my brother Bill, worked there also. They made a pizza that was different from any pizza I have had before or since. Paula was curious about their ingredients and how it was made. She would ask and they would say “it’s a secret.” We had my brother Bill, however, as our spy on the inside. Bill would bring home any leftover pizzas at the end of the night and hand them out to whoever wanted them. He could not manage to get the entire recipe from the owner, but he got enough that he and Paula came close. One of the special parts was baking them in their stone oven. We have tinkered with it over the years, and I think Paula’s pizza is now perfect. That’s the thing about pizza; it’s a personal taste type of food. The way I like it might be different than the way someone else likes it and that’s ok. 

Paula still enjoys making homemade pizza. A key tool that she uses is a pizza stone. When using a pizza stone, the unglazed clay surface absorbs and distributes heat evenly, producing a crispy crust, but this is how to do it correctly: Place a pizza stone in the oven on the lowest rack. Placing the stone in a cold oven is very important because if you put the cold stone into a hot oven, the stone will crack and break–it’s called thermal shock. Allow at least 30 minutes for the stone to heat before you cook the pizza. Let the dough come to room temperature before baking. If cold dough is placed directly on a hot stone, the abrupt change in temperature may also cause the stone to crack.

Because pizza stones are porous, they absorb odors. Avoid using soap to clean them. Wash with hot water and use baking soda to remove stubborn stains.

Stop by downtown Saratoga Springs’ Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store. Get creative with your pizza and make lasting memories. After 60 years in business our hometown Italian Restaurant, Verdolini’s had to close due to a flood and family health problems but they live in our memories forever. Enjoy making pizza with your family and friends. Sing, dance, play music really loud, and have fun eating your very own creation. Remember Foodie Friends; “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

 Take Care,
John & Paula