THE PORTABLE CHEF^TM
"Have Pans, Will Travel!"

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Chef Chip Desormeaux - 678.480.4973

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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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I love this time of year! Warm weather means lots of great outdoor activities. We're just itching to have a free weekend to take the boys out on our big ole sixteen foot canoe up in the mountains somewhere!

This is also the second biggest season for entertaining. I get lots of calls this time of year for dinner parties, weddings, graduation brunches, backyard barbecues (yes, I even flip burgers!)

If you've had party on the brain lately, shoot me an e-mail. We have some great menus.

Roast of Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Reduction Sauce...Louisiana Creole Catfish Tulips with Shrimp Bechamel topped with a Fried Green Tomato...Grilled Fish Tacos with Corn & Black Bean Salsa and Chipotle Lime Sauce...Burgundy Chicken with Cremini & Whole Shallots...  OK. I'll stop.

Well everyone must have really enjoyed the last issue. I received more feedback on that issue than any other! So how about if we wrap that topic up with a rapid rundown fruits and vegetables and how to choose the ripest and best quality. Then I'll let you get back to work.

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Choosing the Ripest Fruit & Veggies

In choosing the ripest produce, there is no standard guideline that applies to all fruit and veggies.

Use all of your senses. Look for color, smell, texture and even sound to determine if the specimen in your hand is worth taking home with you. Here's a quick rundown of some common fruits and veggies:

A banana is actually still not fully ripe when it's solidly yellow. You'll find it to be at its peek of flavor when it's freckled with brown spots. If it's more than 20 percent brown, break out your banana-nut bread recipe.

Citrus fruit can be the most frustrating. Ever cut open a lime and squeeze it only to yield a drop or two? Yeah, me too. I've learned that a dark lime usually won't yield as much juice as one that's still a bit yellow. Look for a surface area that resembles a golf ball. Choose citrus that are fragrant, soft, but heavy for their size.

The fact that you even see a pineapple in the produce section is an indication that it isn't at its peak ripeness. A pineapple will not become any riper than it was when it was picked and fully ripened pineapples are too fragile to be shipped. Look for one that is uniformly yellowed. Sniff the base, opposite the leaves, for a sweet pineapply smell.

I look for a watermelon that's well formed and heavy for its size and I give it a solid thump. A hollow resonating sound indicates a sweet juicy melon with flesh that breaks easily in your mouth. The side the melon rested on as it grew should be golden, not white.

Pick up a cantaloupe with a yellowy background color. Put your nose up to blossom end (opposite the stem) and sniff for that wonderful sweet melon smell. No smell, just leave it.

Choose only the most brilliant tomatoes that give a little under pressure for use right away. Beware of tomatoes that have been over treated with a ripening agent. Brilliant but firm tomatoes will be hard, pale and completely flavorless inside.

Jalapeños can be green or red. I've found the hottest jalapeños are ones with a lot of striations on the surface. Green ones can be made red in a paper bag in a few days. Reds are milder.

Look for onions that are a nice round shape for cooking. The flatter the onion is, the sweeter it is, making it good to eat raw. In the winter time, onion layers will be looser and more difficult to manage when chopping.

Potatoes, of course, should be firm. A potato with a greenish hue beneath the skin has been exposed to light too long and may have a barely noticeable bitter taste. Please resist the temptation to refrigerate your potatoes.

Artichokes should be tight and compact, like a flower blossom, which is what they are. They should be a bright green and the leaves should "squeak" when you rub them together. Leaves should snap right off if you tug at them. Don't buy it if the leaves bend or if they look dry and leathery.

To test an avocado, wrap your entire hand around the avocado and increase pressure evenly around the entire fruit, as opposed to just using your fingertips. It should be just slightly soft. (Use the same method for a mango or tomato.) Do not refrigerate an unripened avocado as it very likely will go straight from unripe to spoiled without ever becoming edible. A spoiled avocado is virtually undetectable until you cut into it.

Bon Appetit!

Chef Chip Desormeaux

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

Recipes.
All kinds of fruits and veggies are coming into season right now. One of my favorites is the artichoke. Have you ever had a stuffed artichoke?

Part of my mom's side of the family came straight over from Italy. The recipe I have is my Aunt Dodie's, written as she told it to my mom so many years ago. I haven't yet seen a recipe quite like this one.

It only takes about an hour to do the stuffing. You can stuff 4 artichokes while you watch an episode of CSI. They can be refrigerated up to two or three days. Then steam them for dinner when you're ready, which takes about two hours.

Click here  to view the recipe.

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