Category Archives: May 2011

Meatless Monday: Creamy Leek Cavatelli with Crostini

Looking for a date night dinner? This creamy pasta dish is simple, sophisticated, and sure to impress any guest.

This dish is made with Béchamel, a classic French sauce made by whisking hot milk into a roux made with equal parts flour and butter. The technique results in a thick, creamy coating, making pasta dishes both heartier and more elegant.

Creamy Leek Cavatelli with Crostini
Yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 lb. dried or frozen cavatelli pasta, cooked al dente
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 leeks, white parts only, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups milk, heated
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

For the crostini:
1 French baguette, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces on the bias
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add leeks, shallots and garlic, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are translucent, about 3-5 minutes.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter over medium-low heat and add flour. Stir or whisky, making sure to break up any lumps, until frothy, about 1-2 minutes. Add heated milk a little bit at a time and cook over medium-low heat, whisking or stirring, until liquid is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 6-8 minutes.

4. Stir in leek mixture, cavatelli pasta and grated cheese. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

5. Brush olive oil onto bread slices and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in a preheated oven for about 5 minutes.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Food2, May 2011, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes

Eggplant Parmesan with Kumato-Cucumber Salad

Eggplant parmesan is a hearty, satisfying vegetarian dish. This version is prepared in elegant stacks, rather than the traditional casserole method, making it equally appropriate for a weeknight meal or entertaining. It’s served with a salad made with kumato tomatoes, which are darker and sweeter than the traditional types. If you can’t find them, Roma or cherry tomatoes (or even a mix of the two) are great stand-ins.

Recipe: Rina Oh

Eggplant Parmesan with Kumato-Cucumber Salad
Yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

Eggplant:
1 large eggplant, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1 egg, beaten
Frying oil
2 cups homemade or store-bought marinara sauce
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Salad:
1 plum tomato, chopped
4 kumato tomatoes, quartered
1 seedless cucumber, thinly sliced
1/4 cup lemon segments, sliced in half

Vinaigrette:
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large straight-sided skillet, pour oil to a 1/2 inch depth. Heat over medium heat until temperature reaches 350 degrees.

2. Dredge eggplant in four, dip in egg, and then dredge in breadcrumbs.

3. Working in small batches, fry breaded eggplant until golden, and set on paper towels to drain. In a saucepan, heat marinara sauce.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover the bottom of a small baking dish with marinara sauce. Place four slices of eggplant on the bottom, and top each with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. Repeat with remaining eggplant, sauce and mozzarella, making four stacks. Top the final piece with sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cook until warmed through and cheese is melted, about 10 minutes.

5. Mix all vinaigrette ingredients together in a small mixing bowl. Dress cucumbers, tomatoes and lemon segments. Finish salad with a sprinkling of lemon zest.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Food2, May 2011, May 2011, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes

The Food Chain Goes Beyond Professional Kitchens

Food styling work is similar to working in a professional kitchen. If you’re an aspiring stylist you better be prepared to deal with the same process of ordering, cleaning, organizing the refrigerator, mise en place, working quickly and efficiently. If you can’t do this or think it may be too much to work 10-12 hour days, than this is not for you. Turn away now and find something else to do.

Food Network Stars Aarti and Sunny with visiting fans

On the set, you’ll be expected to do all this and wash the dishes at the same time. There’s no such thing as a dishwasher budget. Loading and unloading equipment on and off site is part of the job description. And when you’re starting out, you are not going to be the chef. You will most likely trail the first assistant stylist, or as restaurants may refer as sous chefs.

Behind the scenes for a Kitchendaily production

My first styling gig was working on Kitchendaily’s Pantry Project starring Gail Simmons. The crew ranged from culinary, to lighting, cameras, producers, makeup artists, wardrobe, PA’s. I worked as the second assistant stylist and my tasks included picking herbs, organizing the fridge, washing dishes, until I proved my competence in the kitchen and the stylist allowed me to cook off a few recipes for the stills while prepping out a duplicate copy of the mise en place for the on camera demo. From there I worked on a Smuckers advertisement where the food we made was product driven showcasing less of the culinary expertise but rather set styling with props and products. I left that set with cases of penut butter that should suffice a year’s supply of P&J sandwiches.

Chris Bradley on the set of Tasting Table Sous Chef Series

A few other styling jobs welcomed me as the assistant stylist for the Tasting Table sous chef series. I got a chance to work with James Tracey, the chef de cuisine at Craft as we taped one recipe for an entire day. Not that much work in the back end but swapping out five versions of roasted chicken in various stages including every ingredient was a juggling act since none of the cooking steps you see in a television or video production is filmed in order. A few weeks later I got called back for another Sous Chef video featuring Chris Bradley.

The magic of food styling made for television

I recently worked on two jobs back to back, one for a product driven website featuring store brands and the second for an educational series featuring Jamika Pessoa who appeared in Season 5 of the Next Food Network Star.

We had to recreate this shot 2 days later, thank goodness for the iphone camera!

It was on the first job that I truly proved myself and went from being one of four assistants to the first assistant stylist by the end of our three-day production. The natural progression of a food stylist starts off at the bottom, you will be the first, second, third, etc stylist depending on the size of your team. After becoming a first assistant stylist for a while, the next step will be to work as the lead stylist and then culinary producer.

Michelle Bernstein for the Macys Red Campaign. The call time was 5:30am

I woke up at 5:00am every day we were in production and arrived on the set at 8:00am. A very good call time as other jobs required arriving on the set at 3:30am. I didn’t sleep the night before the Smuckers production as the evening courses at FCI had me leaving the campus past 11:00pm. Considering I live about an hour away- that left no time to sleep, not even for a minute. I contemplated sleeping in the car and going to work four hours later. It’s not as glamorous as many believe it to be. When you’re working behind the scenes for any television or print media production it requires diligence, organization, and fast execution skills. You’re not just answering to the lead stylist but rather an entire team of producers, directors, clients.

Inside the production kitchen @ Food Network studios with Miriam Garron

A few months ago I got a chance to visit the Food Network production studios inside the Chelsea Market. I have to admit that it was their channel that drew me into enrolling at FCI. I watched food shows for the past five years and never missed a season of Iron Chef. I wanted to learn how to sous vide and play with liquid nitrogen too. And then I saw the advertisement featuring Mario Batali who graduated from the French Culinary Institute. I called the 800 number the next day to go on a tour and at first sight of the FCI kitchens, I was hooked. I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Hot on the Blog, May 2011