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Saturday, August 26, 2006

"EASY COOKING" Newsletter

Just a short note right now to invite you join my periodic newsletter I call, EASY COOKING.

It's a periodic little publication I send out (no more than once a month) to my friends to provide them with kitchen ideas, recipes, information on food groups and why you should, or should not, serve certain things, and various tips that you may not be aware of. They're kind of reserved for elite Chefs around the world.

If you'd like to sign up to receive the next issue, just fill out the form below and click Do it!. You should receive a confirming email asking you to clink a specified link in order to double confirm your sign up. That's all there is to it. You will also be able to remove yourself from the mailing list at your discretion at any time in the future.

Thanks for joining our friendly group and don't be afraid to contact me with any questions, ideas, or concerns you might have come up in your kitchen.

Y'all have a great day, now!










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Friday, August 25, 2006

TO THE GLORIOUS TOMATO

TO THE GLORIOUS TOMATO
Asked this week to compete in the annual Covert farms Tomato Iron Chef culinary contest I decide that although I do not normally take part these any longer this one gemmed be just a lot of fun rather than a lot of work for which time does not permit.

The tomato a fruit not a vegetable is believed to have it’s "roots" as far back as 700 AD with the Aztecs of Mexico, and in the 1600's was brought back to Spain with the Conquistadors. Applied named the Love Apple because of it’s heart shape and bright red colour. The British believed the
tomato to be art of the Wolf Peach family and would not eat fearing that like it’s cousin it to was poisonous.

Rich people in that time used flatware made of pewter, which has a high-lead content. Foods high in acid, like tomatoes, would cause the lead to leech out into the food, resulting in lead poisoning and death. Poor people, who ate off of plates made of wood, did not have that problem, and hence did not have an aversion to tomatoes. This is essentially the reason why tomatoes were only eaten by poor people until the 1800's, especially Italians. Before long the tomato had made great inroads in all the Europeans nations and eventually as they migrated to North America they of course brought back to it’s home the tomato. The one cuisine that set the tomato onto the plates of course is Italian, the pasta sauces and of course pizza, remain the number one consumer choice the world over.There is no pizza without tomato sauce, and pizza was invented around Naples in the late 1880's. The story goes that it was created by one restaurateur in Naples to celebrate the visit of Queen Margarite, the first Italian monarch since Napoleon conquered Italy. The restaurateur made the pizza from three ingredients that represented the colors of the new Italian flag: red, white, and green. The red is the tomato sauce, the white was the mozzarella cheese, and the green was the basil topping. Hence, Pizza Margarite was born, and is still the standard for pizza.

Covert Farms is a vegetable gem in the Okanagan and the premier tomato growing farm in BC, truly an attraction for anyone visiting in BC, why not visit them at http://www.covertfarms.ca/

The menu I’ve selected for my tomato venture is as follows, try it you’ll like it. Make the Gazpacho, top with salsa and shrimp blossom and serve with the Corn bread on the side.

Yellow Tomato Gazpacho
1 ½ lbs Yellow Taxi tomatoes or other yellow heirloom tomatoes, ripe
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 English or regular waxy cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into large pieces
1 bell yellow pepper, seeded and cut into large pieces
1 red onion, cut into large pieces
½ small hot red chili, seeded, cut into large pieces or to taste
¼ cup red wine vinegar
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt and white pepper, to taste

Avocado-Tomato Salsa
2 avocados, preferably Haas, flesh cut into small dice
½ small hot red chili, seeded, cut into small dice
1 small red onion, cut into small dice
1 red heirloom slicing tomato, peeled, seeded and diced
1 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
juice of one lime
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt and cracked black pepper, to taste

To Prepare the Soup : Working in batches, purée all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer into another bowl by pressing the solids with a wooden spoon in order to extract as much liquid as possible. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate two hours or overnight.
Before serving, taste and adjust seasoning.
To Prepare the Salsa : Combine all ingredients in a stainless steel bowl and refrigerate at least 20 minutes.
To Serve: Place salsa in the center of chilled soup bowls. Ladle soup around the salsa and garnish with red and yellow cherry tomato halves.

Shrimp mousseline-stuffed squash blossoms

1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 shallots, roughly chopped
1 tsp salt
1 egg white
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup heavy cream
15-20 freshly picked squash blossoms

Combine shrimp, shallots and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the mixture becomes a paste.
Add egg white and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse to combine.
With the processor running, add cream in a thin stream.
Scrape mixture into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
Prepare the squash blossoms. Using a paring knife, cut the bottom 1/2 inch off of the stem end of each blossom. As you pull it off, the flower's pollen-covered stamens should come with it.
Transfer the shrimp mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a wide tip (or no tip at all if the bag's opening is relatively small). Pipe shrimp paste into each blossom until it is full but not bursting.
Place the filled blossoms on the trays of a bamboo steamer and steam over simmering water for 10 minutes.

TOMATO CORNBREAD

1cup all-purpose flour
3/4 C cornmeal
2 tbsp sugar
1tbsp double-acting baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup tomato juice
1/3 cup butter or bacon fat
1/3 cup chopped cooked bacon
1/4 cup green onion, chopped with tops
tomatoe confit (follows)

Grease a large loaf pan and preheat oven to 375 degrees.In medium bowl with fork, mix first 5 ingredients.In small bowl, with fork, beat together egg, milk, butter. Pour this mixture all at once into the first mixture, stirring just until the flour in moistened. Fold in the onions.Pour batter in to loaf pan, spreading evenly. Layer the tomato slices across the top.Bake 25 minutes or until bread is done in the center.

Garlic Tomato Confit

12 Plum Tomatoes
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
1 tbsp fresh minced garlic
1 tsp fresh thyme or basil leaves

Preheat oven to 250E. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. With a sharp paring knife, cut out and discard stem end of each tomato; score opposite end. Place tomatoes in a large bowl.
Pour boiling water over tomatoes; let sit until skin is easily peeled, about 15 seconds. Drain tomatoes, and cover with ice.
Peel tomatoes when cool enough to handle. Halve lengthwise and place, cut-side up, on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil; season with salt, pepper, and herbs and garlic.
Roast until tomatoes are dried halfway through, about 5 to 6 hours. ( or place in a food dehydrator) Let stand until cool. Transfer tomatoes to a storage container; pour oil from baking sheet over the top. Refrigerate for up to 1 week.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Organic Seafood????

Do you ever get weary of the onslaught of hype we get over what food we should or should not eat? I sure do, but there is a new twist in food marketing now,the so called organic's. Many food ingredients will come as organic, to qualify as certified organic a strict set of rules must be adhered to. Visit the USDA national Organic Program for the complete program http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/indexIE.htm. I believe in many cases, organic is better but the one that got me the last few days has been the marketing of certified organic seafood. It just can’t happen, not by following the rules above, and not with simple logic. How does one know for a certainty where a fish in the wild swims and what does it eat, and what it does, it does that contain anything not allowed on the list for certification?
Let's first look at what some consider this a new trend in dining, yet it is the original way of dining. Go out in the field and forage for what you require for the daily meal, take it home and enjoy. In doing so the diner enjoys a flavor experience that only the freshest ingredients can provide. Farm to fork food is locally-sourced, seasonally influenced, and produced in a sustainable and organic fashion.  From fruit to nuts, meat and cheese, fowl and vegetables, every ingredient should be chosen as if they came off the farm minutes ago.
Why? Foods are more flavorful as they have traveled less and therefore are fresher. They are more nutritious because the longer the food travels from afar it loses health-promoting components, it has less opportunity to be contaminated with chemicals like sulfur dioxide (used to preserve freshness) or just fuel fumes and chemical sprays use to transport the food from large distance. Sulphites are used as preservatives used: antimicrobials that inhibit growth of bacteria, yeasts, or molds; antioxidants that slow air oxidation of fats and lipids, which leads to rancidity; or to block the natural ripening and enzymatic processes that continue to occur in food after harvest.
Proteins (meat, fish and fowl) are often packaged with addition of preserving gasses, carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen, allow these food items extended shelf life up to as much 112 days (diced lamb). In Canada a system called MAP (modified atmosphere packaging) is used to extend the shelf life of proteins, it is a process of removing or changing the gas concentrations (oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide) from proteins. The US uses both the CO2 and MAP methods, often in combination. Extending to the shelf life of proteins poses higher health risks for the consumer.   Thus farm to fork philosophy provides far a superior dairy, vegetable or protein to consumers.Farm to table philosophy supports local economies because the money spent on local food returns to the local purveyor supporting the "home grown" economy. The local purveyor provides a fresher product can charge a fair (often less) price. Gives the local purveyor opportunity to hire more local employees as well as building personal relationships with their clients. Local, also gives the dining establishment a stronger reputation within the community as one actually supports the community.
Promotes seasonal dining because eating local often translates to eating what's seasonal in your area and offers us the chance to eat in conjunction with what nature is bearing to harvest. Seasonal dining means that chefs need to be creative in menu offerings, thus an ever changing opportunity for the consumer, no more stagnant menus, the same old same old has past.Chefs who support the philosophy buy at least 50% of their ingredients from small farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food producers within 100 miles and less than 150 miles from their kitchens, when possible. Climate may require flexibility in the philosophy, clearly a fresh most vegetables purchased in the middle of December in most of Canada cannot be grown locally. Yet, when it is seasonally available it is always first choice. The only way you could have an organic product would be to farm it, raise it, ensuring it is completely free from anything that could have it labelled as a GMO (genetically modified food) which then leads to a whole new batch of contentious issues.Most for products can carry the label as organic and be farmed to the table, however, I have some issues with fish and seafood being labelled such. As for fish and seafood it is nearly impossible to bear such a designation, as no fresh or sea water marine animal lives in a non polluted environment.   Whether Pacific salmon, Lake Erie Pickerel of Gulf of Mexico shellfish, all marine life in all the worlds oceans are subjected to environmental pollutants.
In January of 2006, California passed a law that bans the labeling of seafood as organic, one seller of this product is quoted as saying". Organic is so hot right. It’s a buzzword, it delivers more impact". Perhaps so, but it can also be a lie! Be watchful of anything fish or seafood labelled organic, or eco-farmed.
"The reality, they say, is that for certain types of aquaculture, there are few, if any operations that don't damage the environment"."There really is no ecologically friendly large fish or shrimp operation that I know of," said Sophika Kostyniuk, California markets campaigner for the Coastal Alliance of Aquaculture Reform in Vancouver, British Columbia. For farmed salmon, she said, there is little difference between operations touted as organic and others that don't make that claim. Fish are kept in cages in the open ocean, she said, with few controls over waste. Diseases are transmitted to wild fish, and the farmed salmon sometimes escape into the wild. Salmon farmers use wild fish as feed and apply antibiotics and pesticides, Kostyniuk said.
There are sustainable aquaculture operations, she said, and have been for thousands of years, but they involve fish, such as tilapia and carp, that are not carnivorous. For most farmed shrimp, mangrove forests are destroyed, she said. In the wild, trawling for shrimp tears up the bottom in a way that is compared to clear-cutting a forest. For every pound of shrimp that is caught, she said, 10 pounds of other sea creatures, including marine turtles, are caught and discarded".“It was surprising to find measurable and sometimes high amounts of toxic pollutants in such a deep and remote environment,” Michael Vecchione of NOAA Fisheries said. Among the chemicals detected were tributyltin (TBT), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs), and dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT).  They are known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) because they don't degrade and persist in the environment for a very long time.
In other words, it is just impossible to certify that ocean fish and seafood are 100% organic. You decide is Organic seafood for you?

TODAY'S RECIPES

Linguine With Roasted Garlic & Clam Sauce

1 dozen little neck clams; scrubbed clean
2 tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
3 tbsp. chopped parsley
1 cup white wine
12 oz fresh linguine; cooked and drained

Preparation:
Place garlic on square of foil and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Roast in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or until tender.

Peel garlic and coarsely chop. Heat oil in a large pot and stir in garlic.

Add pepper flakes and parsley. Pour in wine and bring to a simmer.

Add clams and cover pot. Cook about 6-8 minutes or until clams are all open. Discard any unopened clams.

Stir in linguine and toss to coat.

Serve immediately.

Lobster Medallions:1-1.5# Lobster tail (thawed)
1-cup dry vermouth
3-cup water
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1-cup heavy cream
2-teaspoon dry tarragon
1-stick butter, cut into pieces

Preparation:
Bring vermouth and water to low boil in steamer, add lobster tail in shell and steam for 20 minutes.

Remove lobster and wrap in damp cloth to retain heat, add shallots, tarragon and heavy cream to liquid and allow to simmer for 5 minutes, reducing liquid to ½ .

Strain and add butter. Whisk to incorporate and place to side.

Remove lobster meat from the shell and slice into 1/4 inch thick medallions.

Place on medallions on warmed serving platter and drizzle sauce over and serve.

Note:
This is a thin sauce but may be thickened, if desired.

Fresh Lobster Spring Rolls with Lime-Ginger Vinaigrette:

1 each fresh lobster, about 1-1/2 lbs. cooked
1 head butter lettuce
1 ea. small carrot
1/2 ea. hothouse cucumber
20 ea. basil leaves
20 ea. cilantro sprigs
40 ea. garlic chives
20 ea. mint leaves
1/4 cup toasted peanuts, chopped coarsely
15 Pcs. rice wrappers
1 / 4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 ea. egg yolk
1 tsp. water
1 cup peanut oil
1/2 cup cilantro, basil and mint leaves, loosely packed
2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 ea. juice of lime
1 tbsp. minced fresh gingersalt and pepper

Preparation:
Prepare the Vinaigrette: Place the egg yolk and water into the workbowl of a food processor and turn it on. Slowly add half of the oil then add the herbs and ginger then puree until the mixture becomes smooth. Add the vinegar then add the remainder of the oil. Finish with the lime juice then season to taste with salt and pepper.

Prepare the Rolls: Remove the lobster meat from the shell and dice into 1/2 inch pieces. Keep chilled. Peel the carrot and wash the cucumber. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Cut both the carrot and cucumber into thin julienne and reserve.

Prepare the herb leaves by washing and spinning dry. Separate, wash and dry the leaves from the lettuce, discarding the dark green outer leaves. You will need one leaf for each roll. Lay the leaves down, concave side up on a clean work surface and assemble the remaining ingredients in each leaf starting with the herbs and finishing with the lobster and peanuts.

Heat a 5 qt. pot of water to a boil and add 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar. Dip a rice wrapper into the water for a second or two then lay out onto a damp towel. After it becomes soft, place the lettuce cup into the center and roll into a cylinder, tucking the ends in before the final roll.

Chill well, then slice the hard ends off and cut each roll into six equal slices. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the top and serve.

Halibut in Champagne Sauce

1 1/2 pounds halibut fillets
2/3 cup champagne
1 pound bay scallops
2/3 heavy whipping cream
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
salt and cayenne pepper
1/2 cup peanut oilfreshly ground white pepper
1 ounce salmon roe

Preparation:
Rinse the halibut fillets under cool water and pat them dry with paper towels.

In a large non-aluminum saucepan, bring the Champagne to a boil.

Add the scallops and cook for 3 minutes. Remove the scallops from the liquid with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Boil the cooking liquid for about 15 minutes, or until reduced to about 3 tablespoons. Whisk in the whipping cream, then remove from heat and whisk in the butter. Set aside.

Preheat the broiler or charcoal grill. Sprinkle salt and cayenne pepper on both sides of the fish fillets and brush with the peanut oil. Broil for 4 minutes on each side. Remove and keep warm.

Reheat the sauce gently (Do not boil) and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve: Ladle sauce onto 4 plates. Place the grilled fish in the center, dividing it evenly. Arrange the scallops in a large circle around the fish. Top the fish with a dab of salmon roe.

Blackened Grouper Serves1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons Chef K’s Multipurpose seasoning
1 lb. red grouper fillets, skinned
4 tablespoons melted butter1 tablespoon oil, for frying

Preparation:
Combine flour and seasonings and mix well. Brush fillets with butter, then rub spice mixture all over fillets.Heat oil in iron frying pan over high heat until very hot.

Add fillets and cook 2 to 3 minutes per side or until fish is opaque and beginning to flake when tested.

Serve immediately.

Notes: Start with a really hot frying pan. The fish will sizzle immediately and will result in a very crisp, dark coating.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Summer Newsletter

Summer 2006 Newsletter

Hi friends! Sorry for the long delay in getting out this letter but it’s been very busy summer so far.

As many of you know our Penticton, BC. restaurant (Chef K’s On Main) is closed. The reason for this is simply that our lease in that location has expired, and with the building of a new restaurant we did not feel that we should bind ourselves to another extended lease.

We ask your patience in waiting for the new location to open, you will not be disappointed! We also wish the new operators at our old location the very best with their Vietnam-influenced food.

Hope you use and enjoy the delicious recipes in this issue. Send me your comments (like, 'em or not) once you have tried one, or all, of them by clicking on "COMMENTS" below.

The Okanagan Is Alive

Summer in the Okanagan means sunshine, beach daze, and smoky haze. It also means the fruits and vegetables are at peak freshness and peak flavours. Of course the favourites, cherries, peaches, apples etc., go quickly---but what of the less popular ones? In my yard I have a wonderful plum tree and have already enjoyed a variety of delicious recipes from the plums on this one tree.

Plums are high in carbohydrates, low in fat and low in calories. They are an excellent source of vitamin A, calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium and fiber. Plums are free of sodium and cholesterol. Like all fruit, plums contain a substantial amount of vitamin C.
A prune is nothing but a dried plum. Plums for drying are harvested at a more mature stage than those used for fresh consumption or canning. Prunes used to be dried on the tree and in the sun like raisins, but nowadays they are dried in forced-air tunnels heated by gas, this gives a more uniform product.
California is famous for its export of Japanese plums. The Japanese plum should be called the Chinese plum because the Japanese imported the fruit 200 to 300 years ago from China where plums had been cultivated for thousands of years. The Japanese spread the fruit all over the world and so it became the Japanese plum.
One of the best known effects of plums is their ability to stimulate the bowels. Plum skin contains a substance that is responsible for that effect. If you peel the fruit you won't be bothered with that well-known side effect of this lovely fruit. Of course you can leave them intact for a natural internal cleansing!
In any case here are some wonderful recipes to help you enjoy the summer’s plum bounty:

Plum-Glazed Chicken

1 lb plums
1/4 cup Chardonnay
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup prepared tomato-based chilli sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the pits from the plums. In a blender or food processor, whirl the plums and the wine until pureed.

Melt butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft. Stir in the plum puree, brown sugar, chilli sauce, soy sauce, ginger and lemon juice. Cook, uncovered, stirring often until slightly thickened. About 15 minutes.

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Arrange the chicken in a lightly greased baking pan. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, basting with plum sauce every 15 minutes. Turn the chicken over and bake, basting occasionally, for 30 more minutes. Heat the remaining sauce and pass it at the table.


Plum Good Spareribs

1 pound whole purple plums
2/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup each lemon juice, soy sauce, tomato based chilli sauce, and orange marmalade
2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon each grated orange peel, grated lemon peel, and dry rosemary
1/2 teaspoon each ground cloves and ginger
1 tablespoon instant minced onion
6 - 7 pounds pork spareribs, St. Louis or baby back, cut into 2 - 3 rib portions.
1/4 cup Chef K’s Multi-purpose seasoning

DIRECTIONS:

Drain plums, reserving liquid. Pit plums, then place plums and syrup in a food processor or blender and whirl until pureed. Add orange juice, lemon juice, soy, chilli sauce, marmalade, sugar, mustard, orange and lemon peel, rosemary, cloves, ginger and onion. Whirl until pureed.
Rub the seasoning into the ribs on both sides.

Barbecue ribs by indirect heat (try to maintain a temperature of 275 F. ( Place a small tin pie plate filled with water soaked plum tree wood chips in the grill to give a matching wood smoke flavour). Place ribs, meat side up, on grill directly above drip pan. Cover barbecue and adjust dampers as necessary to maintain an even heat. Cook ribs, brushing occasionally with plum sauce, until meat near the bone is no longer pink; cut to test (2 to 2 1/2 hours.) Brush with the sauce one final time before serving.

PLUM WINE INGREDIENTS: (for each gallon to be made)

4 pounds fresh Plums
2 1/4 pounds sugar
Water to one gallon
1 Camden tablet (crushed)
1/2 teaspoon Pectic Enzyme
1 teaspoon Acid Blend
1/4 teaspoon Grape Tannin
1/2 teaspoon Super Ferment yeast nutrient
Wine yeast (one pkg. for up to 5 gallons - try Red Star Cote des Blancs or Lalvin 71B-1122)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Wash the fruit in cool water and remove the seeds. Chop up the fruit (do not pulverize! ) and put into the primary fermenter.
2. Add the pectic enzyme, the tannin, the acid blend, the sugar, and enough water to give a total volume of one gallon. Stir in the crushed Camden tablet, cover the container with plastic sheeting, then wait 24 hours. Stir several times during this period.
3. After 24 hours, stir in the activated yeast (For best results, "rehydrate" the yeast in a half cup of lukewarm water for 15 minutes beforehand). Now would be a good time to add the yeast nutrient, too. Allow to ferment in the primary container for 7 days, stirring well every day.
4. After the week is up, strain pulp, squeezing out as much juice as possible. Syphon this liquid into the jug, attach the air lock and allow to ferment for three to four weeks.
5. After this initial three to four week period is up, syphon wine into another clean secondary (or into primary, wash secondary and back into clean secondary). Re-attach air lock and let it stand until clear (approximately one month). Repeat this step once a month until clear.
6. When wine is clear and stable it may be bottled. If a sweeter wine is preferred, use 1/2 tsp. of potassium sorbate stabilizer per gallon at least 48 hours before adding sugar. For a fruitier sweetness in the finish, use fructose (fruit sugar) in lieu of household sugar. For best results, dissolve the sugar in some boiling water, and sweeten to taste. Bottle in fifth wine bottles with corks, stand upright for 3-4 days to allow corks to expand then lay on side and age at least 2-6 months.

Cinnamon-Sugar Plum Cake

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup + 1 1/2 tblspn sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
5 large plums (about 1 1/4 pounds), pitted, cut into 1/2-inch
wedges
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9-inch-diameter springform pan. Whisk
first 3 ingredients in small bowl to blend. Using electric mixer,
beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in 3/4 cup sugar. Add
eggs 1 at a time, then lemon juice and lemon peel, beating until
blended after each addition. Beat in flour mixture. Spread batter in
prepared pan.
Press plum wedges halfway into batter in concentric circles, spacing
slightly apart. Mix remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon in
small bowl; sprinkle over plums. Bake until cake is browned on top
and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes.
Cut around cake; release pan sides. Serve cake warm or at room
temperature.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Chef K Live

Welcome Friends!

This is my first attempt at a blog, and I want to thank you for comin' on in to visit, and invite you all to come back often.

I'd especially like to welcome you as a new friend, as well as all my
long time friends and associates. I'll be trying to give you some of my thoughts and musings, and letting you know some of my activities, as we all travel along this bumpy road we ride.

I'll be I'll also try and answer any of your questions, if you care to post them at any time.

Please feel free to visit my website too, at http://chefk.com whenever you have an opportunity. Now, let's on with it, Gang, and y'all have a great day, now won't you?