Inside Food Network Star with Jay Ducote

All photos courtesy of Food Network

If you're a fan of the TV show The Next Food Network Star, you may have wondered what it's like to be on the show. I mean, we get to see what the producers and editors want us to see, but you know it's got to be different to be on the other side of the camera.

I had a chance to interview Jay Ducote, one of this year's contestants. Full disclosure: I've "known" Jay for quite a while, online, and I'm rooting for him to win. We belong to a blog group called Virtual Potluck, but we've never met, and until this phone call, we've never had a conversation that didn't involve typing at each other.

The folks at Food Network were nice enough to set up and interview, and I was armed with a few questions. Just like the guy you see on television, Jay was easy to talk to and super-nice. And I'm sure the ears at the network were listening in to make sure I didn't ask any questions about future episodes. You do know it's not a live show, right? It's filmed ahead and we're watching things that happened a while ago.

Jay originally auditioned for the Season 10 show, which was last year. He said he got pretty far through the interview process, but didn't make the cut. This year, he got a call back from the network who said that they had liked him the year before, and they encouraged him to apply again. Even though he was invited to apply, he said it was still a long process and a lot of interviews and paperwork.

So, it's not like you interview once and wait for the results. You go step by step by step, and then when the call comes, you have a short time to "put your life in order" so you can run off to be on the show. Jay said that he got the call while he was at a restaurant and while he couldn't say too much, he toasted his two employees and said, "Have fun running the business without me." Besides blogging at Bite and Booze, Jay does pop-up events and hosts a radio show. He also has his own line of barbecue sauce, and it's pretty darned good!

Jay and his sister had watched The Next Food Network Star together many times, and his brother also knew what the show was about, but his parents were a little more in the dark. He said that his mom had never actually seen the show, and his dad might never have seen the Food Network at all. Once he told them the news, his mom watched the previous year's episodes to get an idea what her son would be facing. I'm pretty sure they're both watching it every week now.

Of course we had to talk about cooking challenges, and Jay said that the hardest one for him was the restaurant challenge, for two reasons. First, it was the only challenge where he had to collaborate with someone on a single dish. There were other team challenges, but in those, people worked on their own dishes. In the restaurant challenge, the two contestants had to collaborate and create a single cohesive dish.

The other reason it was hard, he said, was because it was done in a commercial restaurant kitchen, and that's not something he's used to. The equipment is much different from home cooking, and the space was small and cramped.

The Food Network Star kitchen certainly isn't like anyone's house, but he said it was nice because it was so roomy, and the equipment was more like something high-end home cook would have, so it was easier to work with.

What about that equipment? What cooking things did Jay wish he could have brought home with him?

"They had a really good selection of cast iron Dutch ovens and skillets," Jay said, and noted that if you watch closely, that's pretty much what he goes for every time. Once, Dom beat him to the punch and got the cast iron skillets in the pizza challenge, and Jay's pizzas ended up with underdone crusts. I have to agree with Jay that when you need cast iron, you NEED cast iron!

Speaking of Dom, Jay said that Dom is one of the funniest people to be around when the cameras aren't rolling. While he seems shy on-camera, he's very fun when the contestants aren't competing.

Jay mentioned that he's made good friendships during the show, and that they continue to stay in touch, even though filming is over.

He also said that the contestants all had the attitude that they wanted to get ahead and to win by being the best they could be, and no one wanted to win because someone else screwed up. They were all cheering for each other, while also being competitive.

One big question is whether they all get to nosh on each others' food, and for the most part, they don't. Sometimes they will sample some component someone's dish in progress, if the other person asks for an opinion. But there were times when they didn't even get a chance to sample their own finished dish, like with the pizza challenge. They each made three pizzas for judging, and although they could taste the components as they made them, or perhaps a bit of topping that fell off, no one got a chance to try a slice of their own, or anyone else's pie. The judges were the only ones who got a chance to taste.

For some challenges, though, if there's leftover food after an event, they might have a chance to do some sampling, like at the Fourth of July event where teams had food that wasn't served to guests. But it doesn't happen often.

When it comes to best and worst dishes, Jay said that his gumbo will probably live in infamy, but it truly wasn't as bad as it was made to seem. Bobby Flay said that the flavors was good, but the dish was "murky."

Jay explained that he was going for a slimy dish, since that was his challenge. He chose to do gumbo because okra can be slimy. He said that what he ended up with was more of a stew than a soup, but he said it wasn't as bad as it looked. Still, if he had a chance to do it over again, he would like a chance to re-do that dish and get it right - even if he only had 45 minutes.

As far as dishes he liked, the outdoor cooking and grilling events were the most comfortable for him, and he chose the Fourth of July event as his ultimate favorite. His steak was well-liked, he redeemed himself with the okra, and he did a great job with his presentation. For a non-grilled recipe, he was very happy with his crazy calamari dish that had to incorporate pink lemonade and the color black as part of the improv challenge.

A really tough challenge for almost everyone was the grocery swap challenge. Jay said that he was happy with what he got (Dom's beautiful steaks) but other contestants "were dumbfounded" when they had to cook with things that other people had shopped for. It was particularly hard for Rue, who had chosen South African spices to match her point of view - and when she lost all those spices to work with, she had to shift gears. And Dom is probably still looking for those steaks.

Jay said that watching the show on TV doesn't "do justice for how challenging and how crazy it is." The contestants don't have a clue what they will be doing ahead of time. "It's not like you have two days to think about making pizza," he said. The challenges are described, and the countdown starts, just like you see it on TV.

For those who want to consider applying for the show, Jay said that most people know they need cooking skills, but many lack the necessary presentation skills. Very crucial is the internal clock that allows you to know how long 30 seconds or 1 minute or 4 minutes is, so you can pace yourself and "wrap it up and get out on time."

Considering how many of the contestants leave dead air after they're done talking, or who are mid-sentence when the camera stops rolling, that's very good advice.

Another important thing is to know your cooking point of view. Jay said he was surprised that some people had no specific point of view and just said, "I like to cook everything." The network isn't looking for that - they're looking for people with a very specific point of view - not necessarily a gimmick or recipes based on geography - but a theme that works for the person, their stories, and their recipes.

Based on what I've seen so far (just on TV, I don't get any special viewings), this year's cast definitely has cooking chops. Jay said that the judges often commented on how good this year's cast is and how good the food has been from everyone. As far as Jay's recipes, I wandered through his blog to see if he might have a gumbo hiding there. I didn't find one, but I think I'd be even more happy with the crawfish rolls he recently posted.

Jay didn't even hint at what might happen in upcoming episodes, but I know that I'm glued to the TV every Sunday until it's over. How about you?

Blackberry Chipotle Red Wine Barbecue Sauce (And an interview with winemakers: The McBride Sisters from Truvée)

Photo courtesy of Truvee

The McBride sisters

You probably don't know this about me, but part of my freelance writing work is for a trade publication (in the non-food world) where I do phone interviews of people in the industry. Some of them are very interesting and some ... not so much.

So when I got a chance to do an interview the McBride Sisters, Robin and Andréa, co-creators of Truvée, I knew it was going to be fun.

Robin and Andréa are actually half-sisters (they have the same father), and they grew up on opposite ends of the world, but both grew up in winemaking regions. When they finally met, they knew that they were destined to be winemakers.

"When we met, we felt like we were invincible and we could do anything," they said.

The sisters are known as the first African American sisters to found a wine brand, and they are part of the very small percentage of women in the wine business, although they've seen more women coming into the industry since they started.

They started in the wine business about 10 years ago, first importing wines, then distributing. Finally, they made the leap to making their own wines.

The sisters make super premium wines in Marlborough, New Zealand and Central Coast, California. Their new wine brand (following the previous eco.love) is Truvée (pronounced true-vay), made with wines from the Central Coast of California.

There are two Truvée wines: a lightly oaked Chardonnay and a red blend.

When asked what foods were their favorites to pair with their wines, both agreed that the chardonnay was ideal with seared scallops. For the red, Robin suggested roasted or grilled meats, or perhaps a roasted chicken and vegetables.

Andréa thought the red worked well with barbecued ribs and said that they're currently working on a barbecue sauce recipe using the red wine that will be on their site very soon. (I have it for you here! Check below the interview for the full recipe.)

They're also working on other recipes to use or pair with the wines.

As far as drinking or saving the wines, they said that their wines are meant to be enjoyed young they're just about a year old when they're sold, but the red could be aged for up to five years.

They said that the quality of their wine in the bottle is "greater than the price" which makes it a good buy, and that consumers can be confident that they're buying from real people who are very passionate and "maybe obsessive with our craft."

Grapes are purchased from wineries that use sustainable practices, which they said results in a better quality grape, and they buy from several wineries to get exactly the right blend of grapes. One vineyard is over 100 years old and doesn't use posts or wires for the grapevines.

The choice of what wines to make actually came from the choices of vineyards to work with. Once they found those vineyards and knew what the grapes were, they decided what kind of wines to make. While they don't yet own their own vineyard in the US, they do have a 50-acre property in New Zealand where they grow sauvignon blanc and pinot noir grapes. It's possible they'll buy more grape-growing property in the future, but they also like the flexibility of buying from other grape growers.

Neither Robin nor Andréa were formally trained in the wine business, although both grew up in wine regions and Andréa has grape growers in her family. But when it came to their business, they learned as they went, and said that other winery owners were willing to help them. "It's a very close community - not really competitive."

While the winery currently products just the two wines, they hope to eventually launch some varietals, but first they want to make sure they're "very strong" with the current wines.

While I didn't ask the question during the interview, I found out later that Truvée is from the French verb “to find,” which refers to their separation for many years, and how they eventually found each other and founded a business together.

So far, I've only tried the red blend. I guess it's time for me to go out and find the chardonnay. For a list of places where you can find these wines, look here.

Blackberry Chipotle Truvée Red Wine Barbecue Sauce
Red wine sauce was produced in partnership with Susan Palmer, The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen 

Photo courtesy of Truvée

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serving size: 2 tablespoons
Serves: approximately 16

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 tablespoon avocado or grapeseed oil
2 cups fresh blackberries
1/4 cup ketchup
3/4 cup Truvée Red Blend Wine, divided
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
2 whole chipotles in adobe sauce
2 tablespoons adobe sauce from the canned chipotles
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

In a large saucepan over medium heat drizzle the avocado oil and add the onions. Sautee until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the blackberries, ketchup, 1/2 cup wine, balsamic vinegar, chipotles, adobo sauce, brown sugar and salt to the pan.

Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes or until the blackberries start to soften.

Remove from the heat and transfer to your blender. Carefully puree the barbecue sauce until smooth.
Place a fine mesh sieve over the saucepan and pour in the sauce into the sieve. Using a spoon, press the sauce through until only the solids are left, discard and add the remaining 1/4 cup of wine.

Return the saucepan to medium heat and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Let the sauce cool slightly before applying to chicken, pork, beef or seafood.

Inside the Bengali 5 Spice Cookbook

The second in my series of blog posts from cookbook authors is with Rinku Bhattacharya, the author of the Bengali Five Spice Chronicles.

Here's what she had to say:

There are so many good Indian cookbooks in the market, however; the regional nuances of Indian cooking still remain unexplored. I personally find it fascinating to see how the same spices can be used to produce such amazingly diverse culinary creations. In fact, this is why I feel that I am always learning something new about Indian food.

Just looking at the differences between my mother (from Eastern India) and mother-in-law’s (from North India) cooking can keep me entertained for a lifetime. Since the cuisine of Eastern India has still not been extensively written about, I felt that it might be nice to offer readers a different dimension of Indian cooking.

The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles was done in two disconnected phases, but somehow connected together as this cookbook.

When my son was born about seven years ago, my parents visited me and well, my mother kind of took over my kitchen for a while. When she cooked, I suddenly reconnected with a lot of the regional Bengali delights, particularly the simpler everyday comfort foods.

I began taking notes, and jotting down some of the recipes which formed the beginning of my book without my realizing it. Then, a couple of years back, I spent a lot of time going back and forth to India, to spend time with my father who was very sick. Sitting around my childhood landscape inspired me to think a lot, write a lot coming together as the body that is now this little book.

I love food and cooking and often express life and experiences through food. Memories of mornings with my children come through as egg recipes (their breakfast staples), quick-fix stir fries are usually my memories of my husband (the gardener) and this book really is a reflection of how I link food with memories and culture.

I would like to think that I have been able to make the recipes user-friendly and suitable for the American kitchen without making them watered down.

This is important for any cookbook, more so a regional one, where you are actually introducing a dimension of India food beyond the now familiar Chicken Tikka Masala and Saag Paneer.

In a nutshell, my book offers you over a 180 recipes, spread over fifteen chapters, ranging from appetizers, rice, breads, starters, an assortment of entrees broken up by type to chutneys and finishing off with desserts. These are traditional recipes from my mother’s and grandmother’s Bengali kitchen and several Bengali inspired recipes from my New York kitchen. All my recipes work with ready to find American ingredients and of course work in an American kitchen.

Well, before you ask me I might as well tell you what makes Eastern Indian or any regional Indian cuisine unique, while we tend to use similar spices across the country the uniqueness of each region rests in how we use these spices. This is not unlike the concept of offering two artists the same palette of colors, but each artist uses these colors differently to express their creativity.

The seasonings in Bengali cuisine are subtle and nuanced, with a lot of emphasis on balance. The Bengali cuisine is also very sustainable we work and cook with nature. Take for example the banana tree, we use the blossoms, the fruit and the stem in cooking and if you think that is not enough, we use the leaves in traditional settings as serving plates – simple, pretty and completely bio-degradable.

So, certain spices that are somewhat unique to the eastern part of the country is the Bengali Five Spice Blend or Panch-Phoron a mixture of five whole spices – fenugreek, fennel, mustard, nigella seeds and cumin seeds, mustard pastes, poppy seed pastes and coconut both shredded and the rich and creamy coconut milk.

Ironically enough, what took me a lot of time to get straight was the fresh mustard paste that forms the seasoning of several recipes. I have written this down in my blog, just for reference. The blender would yield a paste that is rather bitter, very different from the smooth and mellower stone ground texture I was used to. It took some trial and error to work out that I needed to soak the mustard seeds longer to get this texture in a blender, so I now soak the mustard seeds overnight before grinding them the next day.

Of course, once I had gotten this straight my mother informed me that most people used powdered packed mustard these days anyway – well, so much for my accomplishment of the authentic taste.

An honest confession here is that putting a book out there is always a scary proposition at was for me. I have been thrilled with the reader responses so far, it is always interesting to see what people find interesting and worth trying.

So here are two recipes to persuade a little experimentation,

ONION RINGS WITH NIGELLA SEEDS
Gol Piyaji

These onion fritters are a well-loved roadside food in Bengal—hot and crisply fried, wrapped lovingly in newspaper bags.

There is a story behind the newspaper itself. In India, recycling is perfected to an art form, designed with a 4-layer industry. First we have the purchaser of the original newspapers. Then that person saves and stacks the papers for the used newspaper buyer, a very essential middleman. When he arrives, they settle on a price, the newspaper stack is weighed, and then he is on his way. He then sells the newspapers to the paper bag manufacturer, who makes the paper bags that are in turn bought by the vendors of the onion ring fritters.

I make these fritters like onion rings to make them fun for my kids. They also make a great appetizer to pair with drinks.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Makes: 6 servings
INGREDIENTS
4 medium onions, tops removed and peeled
3/4 cup chickpea flour
3/4 teaspoon nigella seeds
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
1 teaspoon black salt
Oil for frying
Cilantro to garnish (optional)

PREPARATION
Cut the onions into 1/2-inch-thick rounds and separate the rounds.

Mix the chickpea flour and ½ cup of water into a thick batter (the consistency should coat easily). Stir in the nigella seeds, turmeric, cayenne pepper powder, and black salt and mix well.

Heat some oil in a wok or deep skillet until hot enough for frying. Dip each onion ring in the batter and fry until crisp. You may fry 3 or 4 or more rings at a time, depending on the size of the wok or skillet. It is important not to have the rings touch each other while cooking. Remove rings from the oil and drain on paper towels before serving.

CARP OR RAINBOW TROUT WITH CILANTRO, TOMATO AND MUSTARD SAUCE
Tomato Sohorshe Rui

I made this recipe when my dear friends Dr. and Mrs. Brush were visiting. I met Dr. Brush, a professor of colonial history, at a faculty picnic at my university. An amazing gentleman who spent his boyhood in pre-independent India, Dr. Brush told me tales of West Bengal as he knew it, before the hustle and bustle when the Anglo-Indian culture dominated.

I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like had I not met the Brushes. They not only welcomed me into their hearts and lives, but they helped slowly ease me into New York culture in such a subtle manner that I barely noticed it at the time. I will be forever grateful for their friendship and Dr. Brush’s wonderful foreword to this book.

The Brushes enjoyed this fish recipe, which I usually try to make with carp, something that is close to the all-purpose Bengali fish rui. Because of the mild tasting firm flesh of the fish, it is used for the more vibrant sauces—but ofcourse if you are a Bengali, mustard sauce is never a problem.

This recipe can also be made with mahi mahi, tilapia, or rainbow trout (which is what I tend to use most frequently) with good results.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Makes: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds carp steaks, rainbow trout, or other white fish, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons oil, plus additional for drizzling
1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, chopped
2 tablespoons mustard seed paste
2 tablespoons low-fat Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

PREPARATION
Place the fish on a flat cooking sheet and sprinkle with the turmeric and half the salt. Drizzle with some oil and broil on low till lightly browned on both sides, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

Heat the 4 tablespoons oil in a wok or skillet on medium heat for about 1 minute. Add the nigella seeds and let them sizzle lightly. Add the onion and cook for about 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until it reaches a soft pale golden consistency.

Add the tomato and continue cooking for another 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick and pulpy. Stir in the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, the mustard seed paste, and yogurt and cook the sauce on low heat, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes. (The key is to get a nice smooth creamy-textured sauce, without letting the yogurt curdle.)

Carefully add the fish to the sauce and simmer for another 7 to 8 minutes, stirring the fish very gently and occasionally to mix the fish in but not let the fish break up. Stir in the cilantro before serving.

Want your own copy of The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles?

Just go like the author's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/cookinginwestchester, then come back here and leave a comment telling me that you've liked the page.

Contest opens when this posts, and ends on Wednesday, December 26 at midnight, mountain time. US residents only. Good luck!

Inside the Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook

If you read this blog, I'm guessing that you like cookbooks. Am I right? Maybe you collect them. Maybe you hoard them. You might even read them like novels.

Have you ever wondered about the people who wrote the cookbooks that you love so much? About what inspired them? About what frustrated them?

Well then, I've got a deal for you. I've rounded up some cookbook authors, and I'll be featuring them here. Some will be guest posts, some will be Q&A, some authors might be very familiar to you, and I'm hoping to introduce you to some new authors and new cookbooks as well.

The first authors I'm featuring are Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin, authors of The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook. I wrote about it - twice - quite a while back, but now you  get to hear directly from the authors.

Dining Like Draper: 
How The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook Came to Be

If you grew up near New York City in the 1960s, as we did, you know Mad Men, though filmed largely in Los Angeles, evokes 1960s Manhattan with arresting accuracy. Everything feels right about it: from the furniture and the narrow neckties to the restaurants and the food. And Mad Men drew us in for another reason: it evoked the adult world our parents inhabited and which we only glimpsed through a child’s eyes. Mad Men was a window into their lives. We don’t think their world was quite as dark as Don and Rogers, but it wasn’t Leave it to Beaver, either.

Judy has written several cookbooks pairing food with literature, so it wasn’t a huge stretch to see why she was so curious about the food and drink in Mad Men. How did Sardi’s prepare the Hearts of Palm Salad that we see Don Draper order for Bobbi Barrett? Was it still on the menu? How would Don make an Old Fashioned? What would the staff at Sterling Cooper be drinking after hours at P.J. Clarke’s? Did Keen’s Chophouse still prepare its Caesar Salad tableside and, if so, was the recipe still the same?

Many assume our book is simply a 1960s cookbook and ask if our book has recipes for jello mold or tuna noodle casserole. Our goal wasn’t to write a ‘60s cookbook, but to create a cookbook true to Mad Men with recipes for food and drink that appear in Mad Men or are mentioned or were served at the restaurants depicted in the show. And every recipe had to authentic to the times. Each recipe in our book ties into a specific scene in Mad Men.

Historical context was also important to us. For example, why all the Mai Tais? The quick answer is that with the recent addition of Hawaii to the Union, Americans were fascinated with Polynesian culture, including the food and drink. This was the era of the Tiki restaurants such as Trader Vic’s serving up Americanized versions of Polynesian foods. Why the many French restaurants? Julia Child had just burst on the scene and was popularizing the French cuisine in her new book Mastering the Art of French Cooking. And America’s royalty, President and Mrs. Kennedy, were so fond of French food they hired a French chef as their White House chef. For Mad Men fans who are also foodies, we thought this kind of gastronomic history would enhance their appreciation of Mad Men and the pinpoint accuracy of its recreation of 1960s New York.

Our first step in creating The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook was to note every item of food and every restaurant seen or mentioned in the show from Spam to ham, from caviar to Chicken Kiev; from absinthe and crème de menthe to Canadian Club whisky and Smirnoff’s vodka; from Keens Chophouse (now Keens Steakhouse) and the Forum of the Twelve Caesars (now defunct) to Barbetta and the Grand Central Oyster Bar.

Our next step was to obtain as many recipes as possible from the restaurants, bars and hotels featured in the show that are still operating today. If the recipe had changed over the years, as it had, for example, for the Grand Central Oyster Bar’s Oysters Rockefeller, we wanted the recipe for the version served in 1962, when Roger and Don dined there. Sometimes a concoction we were looking for had long since been extinct. The Beverly Hills Hotel hasn’t served a Royal Hawaiian cocktail in decades, but since Pete Campbell sips one poolside on a visit to L.A. we wanted the privilege of tasting one, too, and the Beverly Hills Hotel was able to oblige, though they had to dig deep to find the recipe.

Next we pored over hundreds of period cookbooks, magazines, and advertisements (after all, Mad Men is about the advertising industry), not only for recipes, but to learn about the dining and culinary trends of the era. We also looked for cookbooks the characters might have used, or those we saw on their kitchen counters in Mad Men. When Joan Harris (formerly Holloway) made that crown roast in her tiny kitchen to serve at a dinner party, we turned to The Small Kitchen Cookbook by Nina Mortellito (Walker and Company, 1964) for a recipe. When Pete Campbell asks his new wife to make rib eye in the pan, we thought a logical cookbook selection for Trudy cooking for her “ad man” would have been The Madison Avenue Cookbook by Alan Koehler (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1962).

This year, we’ve enjoyed chronicling the food and drink from each episode of Season 5 of Mad Men on our blog, from the vegetable cutlets served at Ratner’s Deli, where Paul Kinsey and Harry Crane meet for a meal, to the beef bourguignon Megan cooks up for Don, to products Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is pitching such as Heinz Baked Beans and Cool Whip.

As Mad Men’s sixth season approaches, we look forward to renewing our pursuit inside the kitchens, bars, and restaurants of Mad Men.

—JUDY GELMAN AND PETER ZHEUTLIN

You can buy The Official Mad Men Cookbook on Amazon

For more about the book and the authors:

Website:  http://www.unofficialmadmencookbook.com/
Blog: http://unofficialmadmencookbook.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unofficialmadmencookbook
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DineLikeDraper
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/dinelikedraper/
Gift Guide:  http://www.unofficialmadmencookbook.com/HolidayGiftGuide.htm

Thanks to Judy and Peter for guest posting on my blog!

Bootstrap Brewing

Back in the stone age, beer-drinking was something for the guys. The gals sipped fruity cocktails or wine.

Now, beer is an equal-opportunity beverage, and the soon-to-open brewery in Niwot, Bootstrap Brewing, is a husband-wife partnership.

Steve and Leslie Kaczeus will be hands-on owners, which is exactly what they want to be. "She wants to bring in the woman's perspective," Steve said of his wife. "It's kind of a nice balance."

Steve started home brewing in 1993, and soon the couple starting introducing craft beers to their friends.

They look like they're having fun, right?

Yep, that's the kind of friends you want - the ones that invite you over for beer sampling.

The couple said that some people who were initially wary of hoppy or dark beers often changed their minds. "We gave them a safe place to try a sip," Steve said.

Makes sense. If order a glass of beer in a restaurant or bar, you feel kind of obligated to drink it, so it's difficult to try something new. What if you don't like it?

But when a friend offers a taste, it's a lot easier to take a sip and then maybe try something different. But after a few sips, a lot of those folks got used to the stronger flavors and decided they actually liked more than just light beers.

While Steve was the one who graduated from the American Brewer’s Guild to learn how to brew beer, Leslie is working on becoming a member of the Pink Boot Society - a group for women who are involved in the beer world.

Those women might be brewers or beer writers, but they key is that they have to make some income in the industry. It won't be long before Leslie can join.

Meanwhile, the couple is hoping the new brewery will be a destination location that will draw customers from all over the local area - as well as tourists who love beer. They're also hoping it will also become a spot where the local hang out and relax. And Leslie is determined that the gals will be just as welcome as the guys.

Leslie was happy to introduce her friends to more interesting brews, and she hopes to do the same for the customers who stop by, with educational events like beer-pairings featuring food from local restaurants. The brewery won't be serving its own food, but Steve and Leslie were talking about having food trucks stop by and maybe some catered food, as well.

What was most obvious when I interviewed these two was how much fun they were having and how excited they were to open the brewery, be part of the community, and have a business that both of them can participate in.

And they've got lots of ideas. Niwot has long mourned the loss of Rev Taylor's restaurant that drew people to the town - could this be the new destination location? Given the enthusiasm these two have for their business and for the town, it's a possibility.

Bootstrap Brewing is on schedule to open on June 20 at 6778 North 79th Street in Niwot, just south of Cottonwood Park Shopping Center. Customers will be able to purchase tasting flights, pints and 64-ounce growlers to take home.

Initial hours for the tasting room will be Monday-Thursday 3-8 p.m. and Friday-Sunday noon to 8 p.m., but that may change. You can follow the progress of the construction on Facebook.

Here's more on Bootstrap Brewing on Boulder County Eats.
And in the Boulder Daily Camera.

Robin Chocolates (Yum!)

Robin Autorino has a lot to celebrate in February, but she’s not going to have the luxury of taking much time off to do that celebrating. Her business, Robin Chocolates, is bound to keep her busy supplying area sweethearts with chocolates for Valentine’s Day.

Aurorino took a circuitous route to becoming a chocolatier, including a stint in the navy and quite a few years in IT. Her first foray into chocolate was when her son, Nikolas, was young. She helped him make some chocolate-dipped pretzels, which they wrapped up and tied with ribbons and gave as little gifts.

About six years ago, she decided she wasn’t happy in the IT world and signed up for cooking classes that included training in France. Although she was sure she wanted to be a chef, that time in France changed her mind. “I decided I wanted to be on the dessert side of the world,” she said.

After she graduated and before starting her own business, she worked for several well-known local restaurants, but then she started making chocolates at home and bringing them in to work for people to taste.
One day, she decided the time was right and she left the restaurant and launched her chocolate business. Three years ago on February 3, she got an order from a local florist for 12 four-piece boxes of candy, and that was the day Robin Chocolates was born.

It was a risk, but Autorino said that she inherited some of her mom’s determination - mom holds the record for the Ironman Hawaii Triathalon for 70-74 year-olds, and at 81 she still bikes and swims regularly. “Mom is a chocoholic,” Autorino said. “When I started with chocolates, she was really supportive.”

Aurorino said that the first year she was in business, it was very slow, but the second year saw the business double. In the third year, it more than doubled again. She credits part of her success to the fact that she’s always learning about her craft. Although she knows she’s good at what she does, she always asks, “What can I do better?”

Several of her truffles have won awards at chocolate shows, and her business has gotten some impressive media attention. She was recently featured on a Channel 9 News segment and she will be on Fox’s Good Day Colorado at 6:45, 7:45, and 7:45 a.m. on Feb 2.

But Robin Chocolates isn’t a one-gal show.  Autorino’s son, Nik, “will help out in just about any capacity,” she said. Her husband, Chris, helps with design and with her website.

Besides family, she has a number of part-time employees. At the height of chocolate-making during the Christmas rush, she had as many as six people helping her at one time, including her right-hand gal, Gabrielle “Ellie” Strandqueist who is the assistant pastry chef at The Mediterranean in Boulder.

And now Autorino is gearing up for her anniversary celebration on February 3 from 1-4 p.m. when she’ll have “something special” and a gift basket give-away at “her store” inside Cayenne Kitchen in Longmont.

Autorino recently purchased a temperature-controlled display case which is installed inside Cayenne Kitchen, so now customers can choose their own single truffles or fill a box with even more favorites. She considers that case “her store” since it’s the one place where all of her truffle flavors are available.

The celebration continues on Feb. 12, when she will be toasting s’mores at Cayenne. The s’mores will be made with homemade graham crackers and marshmallows, and of course there will be top-quality chocolate. For Valentine’s shoppers, Autorino will have some special items to wow the chocolate-lover in your life.

For more information, see www.robinchocolates.com, email robin@robinchocolates.com or see her chocolates at Cayenne Kitchen, 372 Main St., Longmont.

Bulking Up

This was published in the January issue of the Left Hand Valley Courier as part of my Vicinity and Beyond series.

If the words “bulk food store” make you envision a behemoth warehouse filled with giant bags of rice and restaurant-sized jars of pickles, you’ll be in for a surprise when you step into Simply Bulk in Longmont. The “bulk” in Simply Bulk means they buy in bulk so you can buy in any quantity you want, whether it’s five pounds of flour, or a couple ounces of a spice you don’t use often.

The business is owned and run by Phil Bratty and his wife, Georgia, and it  has been open in Longmont since March 1, 2010. Phil Bratty said that it may be the only business in the country that is entirely bulk products.

Bratty isn’t a newcomer to the food industry. For the eight years before opening the store, he worked for a natural food chain in the bulk foods end of the business, and he spent a total of about 30 years in the food business.

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On the hot dog trail with Adam Kuban

When I heard that Serious Eats guru Adam Kuban was coming to Denver to sample hot dogs, I volunteered my services as sidekick. Happily, he agreed to let me tag along.

Here's Adam, looking happy. We're gonna go eat hot dogs! Yay!

I'm not sure who those four guys in the background are. They might be (a) a barbershop quartet; (b) a nonthreatening-looking gang; (c) employees of the business in the background wearing the company tee shirt; or (d) guys eating hot dogs.

My money's on c and d.

Adam had one place on his "must try" list, and that was Biker Jim's, a stand that can be found at the 16th Street Mall in Denver during the week, and in the parking lot of Argonaut Liquors on Saturdays. Since it was Saturday, we headed off to the liquor store.

Biker Jim's had a bit of a crowd assembled, so we had some time to chat, take photos, and decide what dogs to sample. For some reason, we talked a lot about food. And a little about Serious Eats, which is all about food, anyway.

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Janet Johnston, host of the Food Network show Spice & Easy

I've often wondered what TV personalites are like when they're off camera. I got my chance to peek into that world when I met Janet Johnston, the host of the Food Network show Spice & Easy and one of the owners of Savory Spice Shop.

On camera, I thought Janet's personality was a nice mix of food passion and quirkiness that made her easy to watch. When she was explaining the spices, she was serious, but she often tossed in oddball comments that were too spontaneous and natural to be scripted.

I couldn't wait to meet her, and I wasn't disappointed when we met at the Boulder location of Savory Spice Shop. In person, Janet was as funny, quirky, and serious - sometimes all in the same sentence - as she was on TV.

Janet said that she came into cooking later in life, through her husband, Mike. "I caught the food bug from him" she said. But that it is now a passion for both of them. "We're spice geeks, foodies...and we love the shop."

When the couple lived in Chicago, Mike had worked for a spice store. They decided that they wanted open their own store, and settled on Denver as the ideal location. The first Savory Spice Shop opened in Denver in 2004, a second store opened in Littleton, Colorado in 2006, and the Boulder store opened in 2008, where Dan Hayward (at left, with Janet) is a partner in the business.

The Food Network first took interest in the Johnstons and their store when the Neeleys were doing the Road Tasted show and were planning a visit to Denver. For that episode, Janet and Mike prepared a little cooking demonstration using some of the store's spice blends.

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