Recounting the delightful adventures of a farm to fork, female- run, catering company & café’.
We recently had the opportunity to participate in a series of really awesome Champagne Dinners featuring Champagne Jacquart in collaboration with The Savory Affair, Magnum Wines International, and Preston Layne & Partners.
Did you know?
Champagne is primarily made of three grape varietals? Yup, it’s true. Champagne is only made with Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay grapes. Continue reading “Jacquart Champagne Dinner”
It’s October, Autumn is here, and we couldn’t be happier! We had some beautiful pumpkins come in from Schartner Farm’s the other day and we just had to share them with y’all.
Chef Ashley recommends…
Seeds
“Make your own pumpkin seeds! The next time you pick up a pumpkin to turn into a Jack ‘o Lantern, scrape out the seeds, rinse them well, and let them dry overnight. Season them the next day and roast them in your oven for about 20-30 minutes on 375 degrees – you’ll have a nice snack, or a great salad topper.”
Pumpkin Chili
“Pureed pumpkin is a great addition to a Fall chili for a sweet, nutty flavor. The next time you whip up a batch of Turkey Chili, toss in some pureed pumpkin (we roast and puree our own but you could certainly use canned as long as it’s not sweetened) to add an additional level/element of flavor.”
Thanksgiving Stuffed Pumpkin
“If you make a meat stuffing for Thanksgiving, hollow out your pumpkin like you would for carving and stuff the pumpkin with the stuffing – then roast it all together. When you scoop out the stuffing for a serving you’ll get some of the roasted pumpkin flesh which introduces nice flavor.”
Roasted
“Roasting your own pumpkin is so much better than canned product – it brings much nicer color and a completely different flavor to your dishes. Roasted pumpkin can be used interchangeable with butternut squash or even potatoes for side dishes or some of your favorite Fall sauces.”
If you use Chef Ashley‘s tips at home let us know – take a picture and tag us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter!
#LetsGetCooking
With each season comes a new menu here at Easy Entertaining. Each menu change requires a lot of time for development, tasting, and photographing. My favorite part is the photographing – from beginning to end I try to get shots of the development process along with the final product.
This photo-shoot has been my favorite one so far so I wanted to share some behind the scenes shots with y’all. Fall brings a combination of great colors like oranges, reds, and yellows, and I was so excited to grab some neutral colored plates for the food with some warm accents. This time around Continue reading “Behind the Scenes – Fall Photo-shoot”
Fall is in the air and what better way to welcome the new season than to feature one of it’s great bounties – apples!
We figure featuring apples will give you an excuse to go down to your favorite orchard and pick some to put to good use as the weather gets cooler.
Applesauce
“Homemade apple sauce is one of the easiest things to make and there’s nothing better. All you need to do it peel, core, and cut about 8 apples (try to get a variety that is more towards the tart side) and simmer them in a cup of water until they’re tender. Once tender, add in some of your favorite fall spices – cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. and about 1/2 cup of sugar. I would also suggest adding a pinch of salt or some lemon juice to cut the sweetness a bit. Taste it to make sure your seasonings are right and if you like it cook it for just a minute longer, mash up the apples that haven’t cooked down, and enjoy cold.”
Fall Mash
“Fall tends to bring a lot more root vegetables to the table, like parsnips. Break up your traditional mashed potatoes for mashed parsnips with apples incorporated. Parsnips are like a carrot, but a little more spicy in flavor, so the sweetness from the apples would go well with that. All you’d have to do is cook the apples down like you would for the applesauce, boil the parsnips until tender like you would potatoes, mash them both together, and season appropriately.”
Prevent Browning
“We all try to wait until the last possible second to cut an apple because nobody likes a brown apple. You can defer this oxidation process by dunking your pre sliced apples in a solution of 3 parts water and 1 part lemon juice.”
Now that Chef Ashley has added to your tool kit, go grab some fresh apples and get to it!
We’ve featured a lot of fruits and veggies from our various farmers and even our own gardens but this week I said to myself, “Self …what about the other things in people’s refrigerators?” So we decided to feature yogurt, as that seems to be a popular item coming off the dairy shelves these days.
Our yogurt comes to us from Narragansett Creamery, and let me tell you it’s one of the best yogurts I’ve had. While most people choose to consume yogurt for breakfast, and I’m totally with them, it can be used in many more aspect of cooking. Continue reading “What’s Fresh Featured Ingredient – Narragansett Creamery Yogurt”
A while back we started something we call #DonutFriday (follow our hashtag on Instagram to see our mouthwatering masterpieces – @EEntertaining) and it seems to be pretty well received by our clientele. Each week our Pastry Chef Danielle comes in and whips up these light, airy, and delicious treats to sell in our Cafe and I thought to myself, “Self, let’s show the public what actually goes into making our homespun donuts.” So here we are – I hope you enjoy 🙂
We started with the dough – bright and early, might I add. Doughnut dough is far less complicated than I thought it would be. It’s simply..
Continue reading “A Day in the Life: Behind the Scenes look into #DonutFriday”
Cauliflower is often neglected and looked right over at the supermarket because it is often thought of as boring and bland – but you just have to know how to work with it! Hopefully after reading this, we’ll sway you to give this versatile vegetable another whirl.
Cauliflower does have an extremely neutral flavor, but that makes it a great candidate to add some of your favorite flavors into the dish you’re making with it. Additionally, it’s also extremely good for you. Cauliflower is something that is nutritionally referred to as nutrient dense being so low in fat and carbohydrates and so high in fiber, folate, and vitamin C. It also comes in a variety of colors (purple, white, green, and orange). However the color of the head doesn’t change the flavor of the vegetable.
Chef Ashley had some nice tips for y’all this week … Continue reading “What’s Fresh Featured Ingredient – Schartner Farm’s Cauliflower”
