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Chef Chip Desormeaux - 678.480.4973

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Below is the Premier Issue of my newsletter! Enjoy!

Chef Chip Desormeaux

AMUSE BOUCHE                 by Chef Chip Desormeaux

/ah-mooz boosh/ def: A small complimentary appetizer offered at fine restaurants. From French, literally, "it entertains the mouth."

Food & Entertaining Tips from The Portable Chef

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W elcome to the Premier Issue of "Amuse Bouche"!

Beginning this week, I'll be publishing a bi-weekly newsletter. The purpose of this newsletter is to deliver practical, useful information about nutrition, cooking, and entertaining. Every issue will also have tried and true recipes from my own menus!

The holiday season is upon us. In this issue I'll share with you some tips about entertaining at home and how to make the whole experience run just a little more smoothly.

A Few Must-Know Tips for a Successful Party

When I ask my clients if they entertain very much, most of them take a mental step back, stare into space, and in a tired way, say something like, "No. We don't. But we'd really like to..."

And I know why, too. Without proper planning, having guests over for dinner can be more work than fun. But people who do entertain a lot usually have a good system that they follow.

There are at least four things that are most commonly overlooked in preparing for your guests' arrival. I'll cover a couple of them this issue and we'll finish up in the next issue.

Set the room temperature down low first thing in the morning. This is by far the most common oversight. How many parties have you been to where the room is packed tight with merrymakers and you're wishing you could shed that beautiful new wool sweater?

Set the thermostat somewhere around 68, just slightly uncomfortable. This way, when your guests arrive, the temperature will rise only a little and the a/c will be able to keep up. (In colder months, just turn the heat down-don't run your a/c as you run the risk of damaging the system.)

Don't put all the food out before the guests arrive. The vast majority of the time, guests want to have a drink or two when they arrive. Think about it; what's the first thing the host usually says when you arrive? "Can I get you a drink?" It's often a full thirty minutes before anyone goes to the table to get some food.

Put out a few things that are just fine served cold or at room temperature. Have everything else ready in the oven, set at 150 degrees (any higher and you'll over-cook your food, any lower and you're in the danger zone for bacterial growth). This way, you can take just a few seconds to get it out on the table after most of your guests have arrived.

In the next issue I'll go over a few more good pointers for entertaining.

I hope your Thanksgiving is fantastic!

Bon Appetit!

Chef Chip Desormeaux

But, Wait! There's More!
(Recipes, Nifty Gadgets, & Stuff Like That)

Want a great menu you can put together to feed a crowd? One of the biggest problems of entertaining is planning a menu that has something on it for everyone to enjoy. Here's my "go-to" menu for the holidays. This menu has never ever failed me. (Knock on wood!)

Roast of Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Reduction
Broiled Salmon with Rosemary
Baked Barley with Caramelized Onions
Parmesan-Roasted Artichoke Hearts

The barley dish is a great one if I know there will be vegetarians in the crowd--never met a vegetarian yet who wasn't good friends with a bowl of barley! And this dish has the texture of a rissoto almost.

Two side dishes that I like even better than those two are:

Château Potatoes
Gruyère Creamed Spinach

These two are the traditional accompaniment to Chateaubriand.

You know what's great about this menu? With the exception of maybe the barley dish, everything on it sounds familiar to people. And it makes your mouth water just thinking about it, doesn't it?

This is just the main course. When I cater a dinner party for a client, we serve a four course meal. During the planning stage, we'll start with the main course and then come up with a nice appetizer, a salad and a delicious dessert based on what we chose for the main course.

Follow this link for the above recipes.

Chef Chip on the Radio!

Earlier this month, I was interviewed on the Dr. Fitness and the Fat Guy radio show. All you have to do is click on this link to hear my interview.

While I am present throughout the whole show, I'm not interviewed until the last half hour.

These guys are a riot! Please listen..it was a lot of fun.

About My Newsletter

The purpose of this newsletter is to deliver practical, useful information about cooking, nutrition, entertaining and other pertinent topics to my subscribers.

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