CULINARY ARTS SOCIETY OF · PDF fileThough he hasn’t studied cooking formally, he has...

Volume 27 Issue 3 www.ajijiccasa.org [email protected]

CULINARY ARTS SOCIETY OF AJIJIC MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

March 2013

CATEGORIES for MARCH

Category A—Irish Main Dish

Category B—Pies & Tarts

NEXT CASA MEETING!

Monday, March 11th

NOTE: 2nd Monday instead of

3rd due to Mexican Holiday!

4pm at Min Wah Restaurant

Presenters, please be set up

no later than 3:45pm

Culinary Arts Society of Ajijic

Presidents Message This month we are featuring Board Member, Rick Feldmann,

CASA Secretary and Membership.

Rick has retired twice from the natural gas energy industry. First in July 2007 when he

and Sandy sold their home in Spring Texas and moved to Ajijic to buy their current

home in Chula Vista. Unfortunately he still had clients wanting the services from his

company so he continued working from Mexico and sometimes commuted to the U.S.

and Canada to visit with his workers and clients. It was three and one-half years later

that he fully retired.

His background as a CPA in the U.S. placed a demand on him to be involved in differ-

ent charities and other organizations. He was the Treasurer of Los Ninos de Chapala y

Ajijic, and then began the Foundation for Lake Chapala Charities, a 501c3 U.S.

charitable foundation for all the Lake Chapala Charities. He served a two-year term as

the Senior Finance Director for LCS and was instrumental in turning it around

financially. And most recently he has been the Treasurer of his Chula Vista colonos

where he is turning it around financially after the serious problems it went through in

2010.

He and his wife, Sandy, joined CASA in 2010 after walking in from the street without

really knowing what it was about. The Treasurer collecting money at the door said “no

problem, you can be my guests”. Rick has done the cooking at home now for many

years, owing it to the ability to make and serve foods that he enjoys. He loves to

experiment with seafood and vegetables. And he often jokes that he would present in

the poultry category, serving a big batch of fried chicken livers simply because he

would get to enjoy most of them by himself.

In the past he and his wife Sandy were involved in CASA,

selecting the judges, serving them, and tabulating the results.

This year he agreed to be the CASA Secretary and found that it

also included taking the reservations, monitoring points and

serving as Membership Director.

He and Sandy have been married for 25 years and have four

children, two from her first marriage and two from his first

marriage. He enjoys the slow laid-back life in Ajijic and says

that they selected this place to retire because it has an

infrastructure, choices of restaurants and tastes, and is also less

expensive to live here. The savings of living here gives them an

opportunity to spend up to two months travelling around the

world each year.

NEW CASA EMAIL SITE!

Please use this site to ask

questions, sign up to present

or to make reservations for

yourself and/or guests!

[email protected]

Thank You!

Michael Shields, one of

our new CASA members

loves photography and

has volunteered to take

pictures for our CASA

newsletter and for our

special events! Thank

you Michael.


CASA UPDATES

HOUSEKEEPING NOTES & REQUESTS

1. Presenters need to make enough food for 50-

60 tasting size servings. This equates to 12

full size servings. If presenters don’t make

enough food, people at the end of the line

can’t sample the food and your chances lessen

for getting a People’s Choice Award.

2. Please also remember this is a Tasting Only of

each presentation! Please notify your guests.

3. There will be no separate, small presentation

plates for Category A as most of those dishes

are served hot. If the judges are tasting from a

separate dish, they may not get a warm serv-

ing. If the presenter in Category B deems it is

necessary to offer a presentation plate, that

is acceptable, however, realize that when a

dessert or side dish is cut into, the total

presentation usually is not as attractive.

4. NEW! If you wish to be a presenter, you need

to send an email to the new CASA email;

[email protected] 5. Please remember that ALL members who

will be attending need to make a reservation

each month at the CASA email site.

2013 CASA BOARD

MEMBERS and

COMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS

President:

Pat Carroll (766-3144)

Vice President

Annie Green (766-5243)

Secretary/Membership/Reservations

Rick Feldmann (766-2606)

[email protected]

Treasurer:

Blue (766-5023)

Director at Large:

Sandy Feldmann (766-7606)

Past President:

Mary Ann Waite (766-1436)

Newsletter/Publicity:

Pam Ladd (765-3683)

Judging Tabulator

Peter Luciano (766-5336)

Judge Coordinators

Nancy Traill & Sergio Barajas (766-5770)

Decorations

Beth Cathcart (765-2164)

Special Events

Monica Molloy (766-0699)

Web Master

Kenee Campo (766-4510)

Historian

Tod Jonson (766-1981)

Campaign for New Cooking Members! We’ve had quite a few members who have requested to “take a break”

from cooking which leaves us a little short of cooking members.

If you know of someone who enjoys cooking; we welcome them to join CASA!

Also, look for “updated” Rules & Regulations soon!


2012 Award Winners!

THE FOLLOWING CASA MEMBERS WERE PRESENTED AWARDS AT

THE ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET ON FEBRUARY 27th!

GINGER PERKINS MARY ANN WAITE NANCY TRAILL

BING WINNER HIGHEST POINTS & BING WINNER BING WINNER

FIRST PLACE WINNERS

ALEXANDRA GORDON

ANNIE GREEN

ROBERTA HILLEMAN

PAM LADD

MONICA MOLLOY

SALLY MYERS

WAYNE PALFREY

DIANE PRETTI

HAZEL TASH

JOAN WARREN

SECOND PLACE WINNERS

ANITA CALDWELL

PAT CARROLL

LOIS CUGINI

RICK FELDMANN

LINDA FRIEDMAN

MARTI HURLEY

THIRD PLACE WINNERS

KAREN BLUE

SUSAN BZOZA

EVELYN CRONIN

HELENA FELDSTEIN

HOWARD FELDSTEIN

MAUREEN MARTIN

ERIK PHARISS


Patrice Bonnafous comes to us from Montpellier, France and has been in Mexico for 5 months. He is the owner of

Pâtisserie (Pastelería) Patrice et Sophie, a French bakery in La Huerta, facing the carretera. He started cooking at the

age of 16, inspired by his grandmother and his love of crêpes.

He went on to the C.A.P. (Certificat d’Aptitude Professionnelle en Pâtisserie), a dedicated program for preparing experts

in pastry-making, and then studied for his Brevet de Maîtrise, the most advanced diploma which certifies the trained

professional patissier. He went on to compagnage or the practice of his skills through the Compagnons du devoir, which

places the most distinguished chefs in positions for further learning in France or abroad. In that capacity, he spent a year

travelling the world on the diplomatic-military ship Jeanne d’Arc, which was for him “an extraordinary professional and

personal experience” marking his first time outside of Europe.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ruth Baker has been cooking for 40 years, but her interest in baking came after taking a cake decorating class and

finding she had a talent for it. She began making cakes for family and then doing wedding cakes for the public.

She and her husband Charles work with Hope House Home for boys in Ixtlahuacan where she also teaches the boys to

bake. She has a baking ministry, selling candy and sweets of all kinds at the Monday market at the Hole in One from 10

to 12:30, where all profit goes to help the boys in any of their needs, from dentists to anything not in the operating

budget.

Her favourite food is Tex Mex (and she knows the difference between Tex Mex and Mexican), and anything with

chocolate on top. The most exciting part of cooking for her is pleasing those she is preparing the food for.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Alvin Tung is an internationally known classical guitarist who has been cooking for 25 years. In his teens, he realized

that he could best indulge his passion for eating by cooking himself and he set about learning about the exotic

ingredients he loves and how to cook and plate his favourite dishes. His love of tech gadgets goes hand in hand with his

love for pots and knives and kitchen gadgetry.

Though he hasn’t studied cooking formally, he has studied classical treatises such as Larousse Gastronomique and those

of August Escoffier. He has held cooking demonstrations for stores and restaurants, has appeared on television and has

entered cooking contests. He holds the Chili Cookoff title for best chili and is currently preparing for a chili

championship.

As far as his approach to cooking goes, he has diverse tastes but would describe his own style as Asian fusion, “aiming

to articulate Asian ingredients utilizing French traditions and techniques with an Italian/Japanese minimalist philosophy

using minimal ingredients to highlight the subtle flavours of each ingredient and a strict adherence to regional and

seasonal ingredients.”

February

2013

Judges


Marcella is originally from California. She worked in a career of creating stylish galas,

custom sets for video and films and produced showroom installations for over 10 years.

Her passion for design and fabrication was inspired while working as a production

manager for Power Event Production based in Las Vegas. Marcella opened a custom decor

studio working with exceptional special event video producers, space designers and film

producers.

Her love for baking integrates with her amazing design background. Marcella moved to

Lakeside in 2012 to be near her parents who retired here in 2000. Marcella has been a

vendor at the Monday Market at Hole En One. Realizing she had the talent and business

experience, she recently open a store and named it “Mostly Chocolate, Ajijic”. It is

located at # 39 Constitution in the Village of Ajijic.

Marcella loves baking...creating pretty little editable treats...

February 2013

Speaker

Marcella Monroy

Chocolate Samples Marcella

made for CASA!

Our Speaker for March will be Mary Bernadette McCann.

She will have stories to tell about simple Irish food delights!


Judy

WINNER’S PHOTO GALLERY

JUDGES CATEGORY A– Romantic Main Dish

FIRST PLACE & People’s Choice—MONICA MOLLOY Crab & Shrimp Thermidor in Phyllo Cheese Cups

SECOND PLACE - BETH CATHCART Oysters Rockefeller with Pernod Spinach

THIRD PLACE - WAYNE PALFREY Coquille St. Jacques

PRESENTATION WINNER- MONICA MOLLOY

SECOND PLACE

Beth Cathcart

Oysters Rockefeller with

Pernod Spinach

FIRST PLACE

Monica Molloy

Crab & Shrimp Thermidor

In Phyllo Cheese Cups

THIRD PLACE

Wayne Palfrey

Coquille St. Jacques

Monica Molloy Beth Cathcart Wayne Palfrey



THIRD PLACE

Pat Carroll

Fresh Fruit Flan

FIRST PLACE

Nancy Traill

Chocolate Heart Cake

with Roses

SECOND PLACE

Hazel Tash

Grand Marnier Meringue

JUDGES CATEGORY B —Valentine Dessert

FIRST PLACE—NANCY TRAILL

Chocolate Heart Cake with Roses

SECOND PLACE —HAZEL TASH

Grand Marnier Meringue

THIRD PLACE - PAT CARROLL

Fresh Fruit Flan

PRESENTATION WINNER—HAZEL TASH

Nancy Traill Hazel Tash Pat Carroll



MARUREEN RENZ

MAUREEN MARTIN

PEOPLE’S CHOICE

CATEGORY A—MONICA MOLLOY (See picture of Monica’s dish on page 5)

CATEGORY B—TIE

MAUREEN MARTIN-He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not Souffle

MAUREEN RENZ—Te Amo Pastel

Monica Molloy Maureen Martin Maureen Renz


Crab & Shrimp Thermidor in Phyllo Cheese Cups

Monica Molloy

Fish stock/mushrooms

Home-made fish stock—3 1/2 cups

½ lb. Sliced fresh button mushrooms

1 Tb. Butter

1 tsp. Lemon juice

While fish broth is warming stew mushrooms slowly in a covered saucepan with butter, lemon juice and salt for 10 minutes.

Pour any mushroom cooking juices into fish broth and reduce fish broth to 2 ¼ cups. Set Mushrooms and fish broth aside separately.

The sauce

5 tbsp. butter

6 Tb.Flour

Chopped shallots

1 Tb. Cream

1 Tb. Dry mustard

2 egg yolks

½ cup whipping cream

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Herbs de Provence

Salt

White pepper

4 – 6 more Tb. of whipping cream

Sauté chopped shallots in butter. In a separate saucepan cook butter and flour slowly until they foam together without browning, add

sauteed shallots. Off heat, beat in simmering fish stock, then return to a boil back on burner for 1 minute, set aside. Film top of sauce

with cream 1 Tb. Separately combine in a bowl 1 Tb dry mustard, 2 egg yolks, ½ cup whipping cream, stir. Add by driplets this mix-

ture into the sauce. Bring sauce to a slow boil for 2 minutes, correct seasoning with ¼ tsp cayenne, ½ tsp. Sweet paprika, herbs de

Provence, salt & white pepper. Thin this sauce out with 4 – 6 Tb of cream, back of spoon should be fairly heavily coated. Correct sea-

soning, set aside, top filmed with a spoonful of cream.

Crab & Shrimp

1 pound fresh, cooked crab meat

1 pound shelled and deveined shrimp (40 count)

4 Tb. Butter

1/3 cup cognac or brandy.

Cut up shrimp in 3 pieces per shrimp, and clean 1 pound of fresh, cooked crab meat.

Set a skillet with 4 Tb of butter over moderate heat. When butter foam subsides. Stir in shrimp and sauté until shrimp turns pink, add

crab meat that is already pre- cooked, pour in cognac 1/3 cup and boil for a minute shaking the skillet.

Shells or Phyllo Parmesan Cheese Cup recipe

1 Tb melted butter

1 Tb. Olive oil

4 sheets phyllo pastry

½ cup very finely shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine melted butter and oil. Layering in turn, spread 1 phyllo sheet lightly with butter oil mixture and

sprinkle with 1/3 of parmesan. Lay another sheet on top, repeating twice. Finally top with fourth sheet, finishing with butter oil mix-

ture only. Cut layered phyllo into 6 rectangles or squares. Push centre of each phyllo rectangle deep into each muffin tin cup stagger-

ing each phyllo cup. Allow edges of phyllo to overflow on top of muffin tin. Bake in centre of oven for 8 – 10 minutes or until golden

brown. Cool before filling.

Rice

1 ½ cups Indian basmati rice

Follow directions on package

Combining Ingredients

When ready to serve; fold the hot cooked mushrooms and 2/3 ‘s of the sauce into the skillet with the shrimp & crab meat.

Place by Tb. in bottom of the prepared phyllo cheese cups. First: some boiled rice; then a couple heaping Tb’s of the shrimp and crab

mixture; then add a tablespoon of the remaining sauce and sprinkle finely chopped parsley on top. Serve immediately.

Recipe is for 6 people, or 12 if you double the amount of phyllo cheese cups. Do not double the sauce, it is very rich and you will have

plenty for 12 ( 1) thermidor per person.


Chocolate Heart Cake with Roses (Chocolate Mocha Pecan Cake)

Nancy Trail

150 g dark chocolate

4 tbsp strong espresso

175 g unsalted butter

175 g golden brown cane sugar

5 large eggs, lightly beaten

100 g finely chopped, toasted pecans

100 g self-raising flour (or 100 g all-purpose + 1 tsp baking powder + ½ tsp baking soda)

Additional materials:

White chocolate espresso ganache (recipe follows)

Fondant

Royal icing, or gumpaste (buttercream makes nice roses, but does not sit well on fondant) for piping flowers

Preheat oven to 180 C. Butter a 20 cm cake pan (heart-shaped); line the base with baking paper cut to size and butter that too.

Melt the chocolate and espresso slowly over a pan of simmering water and stir until smooth. Allow it to cool slightly.

Toast the pecans on a cookie tray in the oven for about 5 minutes. Chop.

Cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, beating in the eggs a little at a time until well incorporated. If the mix-

ture starts to curdle or separate, it will not affect the finished cake.

Pour in the chocolate mixture and add the pecans, stir until combined.

Sieve the flour and baking powder together (or the flour, baking powders and baking soda if not using self-raising flour) in a separate

bowl and then fold gently into the butter-sugar-egg mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for 45-55 minutes until firm to the touch. Allow it to cool slightly

before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To layer: using a knife or a cake leveller, cut the cake in half, use the flattest side for the top, and fill the layers. Using buttercream,

thinly coat the entire cake until it is level and all defects are covered. Roll out your fondant and cover the cake. Decorate with roses or

other flowers made out of royal icing or gumpaste.

White Chocolate Espresso Ganache Filling

3 parts white chocolate broken into chips to 1 part cream (eg. 900 g white chocolate to 300 g cream)

Bring the cream just to a boil, pour over the chocolate and slowly stir. Leave it sit for a few hours before whipping. If refrigerated, leave

it out to come to room temperature. Do not overwhip or it may turn grainy. I added about 30% buttercream to make it more like frosting

and 1 tbsp of espresso powder.

Buttercream: 2 parts icing sugar to 1 part unsalted butter (250 g butter to 500 g icing sugar) + 1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

CASA Categories for 2013

MD= Main Dish

* Changed to 2nd Monday due to Mexican Holiday

Month Category A Category B

January 21st Comfort Food MD Old Fashioned Desserts

February 18th Romantic MD Valentine Dessert

March 11th* Irish MD Pies & Tarts

April 15th Thai MD Thai Complimentary Side Dish

May 20th India MD India Dessert

June 17th Vegetarian MD Gluten Free Dessert

July 15th Peruvian MD Peruvian Complimentary Side Dish

Aug. 19th Lebanese MD Lebanese Dessert

September 9th* Spanish MD Spanish Dessert

October 21st Ground Meats MD Savory Breads, Biscuits or Rolls

November 11th* Cuban MD Cuban Complimentary Side Dish

December 16th Botanas/Appetizers Holiday Desserts


CULINARY ARTS SOCIETY OF · PDF fileThough he hasn’t studied cooking formally, he has...

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