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In This Issue |
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• Letter from the Chef
• Cooking Class Parties: Fun & Delicious!
• Byron Auker: Associate Chef
• All the Latest News
• Grilled Tri-Tip with Zucchini, Blistered Tomatoes, and Crawfish Ragošt
• Ask Chef Stephen
• The Freshest Catch - All Seas Wholesale Seafood
• Farmers' Market Finds
Dear Fellow Food Lover,
Welcome to Relish!
We have been outside enjoying the great
weather this month, grilling up this
month's recipe, Tri-Tip with
Zucchini, Blistered Tomatoes, and
Crawfish Ragout. Just to celebrate
summer, Chef Stephen has included a
bonus recipe for this issue (hint: more
meat on the barbie), and we've got lots
of other fun and useful info for you.
Our passion here at Hands on Gourmet is
presenting fun, creative cooking class
events. Whether for birthday parties or
wedding showers, team building or client
entertainment, we bring people together
around good food, fine wine, and
hands-on fun. We hope you'll give us a
call to talk about your next team
building event or celebration. And
please share Relish with your friends
and colleagues.
Approach life with Relish!
Stephen, Molly, and Anne
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Cooking Class Parties: Fun & Delicious! |
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 Hands on Gourmet's cooking class parties
are fun and delicious! They make a festive
group activity for birthdays, wedding
showers, or any celebration. For
businesses, they deliver great results as
team building events and client
entertainment. Gourmet cooking brings out
good communication, collaboration, and
creativity in people. And everyone feels
comfortable, because everyone loves great
food!
Our professional San Francisco chefs share
their passion for good food, as well as
expert instruction in classic culinary
techniques and exciting new approaches.
After having a great time cooking, you and
your guests then enjoy the feast while our
staff serves it to you and cleans up.
Contact us to talk about your next party!
Contact Hands On
Gourmet |
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Byron Auker: Associate Chef |
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 Somehow
it is no surprise that Byron connected
with Chef Stephen through a woman he met
while playing pool. He wanted to cook, and
she suggested he call Hands On Gourmet.
This relaxed, reggae-guitar playing guy
was a natural fit for us.
ìI like simple food prepared from the best
ingredients, and thatís what Stephen
focuses on,î says Byron. At home, he likes
to cook uncomplicated light fare,
particularly dishes with a Hawaiian
influence.
Though he was born in California, Byron
spent most of his childhood on the balmy
island of Hawaii ñ which is perhaps the
source of his mellow style. After a
couple-year detour cooking and living in a
rural cabin in Bend, Oregon, Byron moved
to San Francisco last fall. He loves
living in the city and being able to walk
everywhere, especially to the coffee shops
and restaurants in Hayes Valley.
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All The Latest News |
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 Hands On Gourmet Aprons Now Available. We are proud to introduce our new Hands On Gourmet aprons ó all the rage in stylish blue and yellow! They can be purchased for $18 To order one, give us a call.
Chef Stephen talks to the SF Chronicle, sharing marketing tips with small business columnist Ilana DeBare, in her August 17 column. Read it here.
Great Summer Food Events. Late August in Northern California is full of food events and festivals. Here are a few upcoming food events not to be missed.
Enjoy the beauty of Green Gulch Farm, run by the San Francisco Zen Center, for a special day dedicated to the taste of the August garden called Everyday Greens: Late Summer Jamboree. In the morning, work with others on the farm bringing in a huge array of organic vegetables and fruit, and in the afternoon, participate in a cooking class and tasting in the Green Gulch kitchen. Saturday, August 27, 10:00am-5:00pm.
Happy Birthday Chez Panisse!! Chez Panisse Restaurant and its friends celebrate 30 years of serving fresh, local foods expertly prepared, and changing the culinary landscape while they were at it, with a dinner to benefit the Chez Panisse Foundation on Monday, August 29.
Celebrate Marinís agricultural bounty at the 6th Annual ìTaste of Marinî Celebration, which features local farmers and ranchers, and showcases local chefs who will offer a variety of specialties made from organic produce, grass-fed beef, cheese, seafood, local wines, and even locally produced organic ice cream! Friday, September 9, 6:30pm- 9:30pm.
Find more Bay Area food events.
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Ask Chef Stephen |
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Have a culinary query? Chef Stephen and his team of experts will help you find answers. Just
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Susan in Alameda
asks:
How
in the heck do you get all the food to the table warm and have each dish cooked
just right? Especially for dinner parties? It drives me
nuts!
Read the Answer
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The Freshest Catch - All Seas Wholesale Seafood |
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 At
Hands On Gourmet, our passion for fresh
and authentic foods leads us to seek out
the best suppliers. This month, we'd like
to introduce you to one of our favorites:
All Seas Wholesale Seafood.
This family-run business was founded in
1985. The knowledgeable staff hails from
all over the world: Peru, Chile, Vietnam,
and China, among other places. The people
at All Seas have well over 150 years of
seafood experience combined.
All Seas' warehouse holds about seventy
constantly changing fresh seafood items
every day - everything from local halibut
to Hawaiian ono to smoked eel. We are
pleased to share All Seas wonderful
seafood with our clients.
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Farmers' Market Finds |
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At Hands On Gourmet, we always use fresh, seasonal ingredients, and we buy directly from the source whenever we can. Here's what's best right now.
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Heirloom Tomatoes
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Plums
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Fresh Black Eyed Peas
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Zante Currants
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Sharlyn Melons
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Golden Wax Beans
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Champagne Grapes
We hope you'll discover the wonderful fresh foods at your local farmers' market, too!
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To check out your local farmer's market, use the link below.
Find Your Local Farmers' Market
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| Letter from the Chef |
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My first bite of good authentic beef in
recent memory happened this past weekend.
And it was amazing.
We often forget ó or take for granted ó
what real food tastes like. Most of the
time, we associate overwhelmingly good
flavors with ripe seasonal produce. A sweet
peach that tastes better than candy, or corn
so tender and flavorful that it bursts in
your mouth with every chomp.
But this time, for me, it was beef. Ted
Fullerís Highland Hills Farm beef, to be
exact. And boy oh boy was it good! It would
take Best in Show at any County Fair.
Well-farmed meat has a tender texture and
balanced fat content that creates a taste
worth savoring. And itís even better when
the meat comes from a humane, sustainable
farming operation like Highland Hills Farm.
You can buy Ted Fullerís meat on Saturdays
at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market in San
Francisco. Or visit your local independent
butcher shop, where youíll find a variety of
delicious, naturally raised meats. (Try
Magnaniís in Berkeley, for instance.)
This month is dedicated to those farmers
who we tend to forget ñ those who raise
livestock. We are featuring a double header
of recipes to salute excellent beef. The
recipes I developed do a terrific job (if I
do say so myself) balancing flavor
profiles... smoky, tart, bitter, sweet,
grassy, tangy and nutty. And yes, you can
definitely tell the difference when you use
high quality beef.
Of course, stock up on the produce after
youíve picked your cut of meat. It all
compliments each other. The first crop of
tomatoes hit the market this week and there
is much more to follow.
So fire up that grill, get that cast iron
skillet smoking hot, invite some friends
over and dig in.
See you next month!
Chef
Stephen
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