Where To Shop?

When planning a supper club dinner party, one of the keys to success is using high quality ingredients. One stop shopping is great for convenience, but it usually doesn’t mean the best quality. Today, depending on where you live, you probably have all kinds of options.

In Europe you have the option of going to your favorite butcher for meats, farmer’s market for vegetables, baker for breads and patisserie for dessert. In most of the United States we are subject to what retail chains are in your area. In Memphis, we used to have one or two super market options led by Kroger. Kroger by default was the leading “one stop shop”, but it was limited in variety and quality.

Today’s market is filled with options. I will got to:

Costco, for meats and wine.
Fresh Market, for bread, smaller quantities of meat, herbs and certain vegetables.
Whole Foods, Sprouts and Trader Joe’s when I am lost
Kroger, for staples and most vegetables
Amazon, for specialty items like Double Zero flour.

The good news is that increased competition has forced all the players in raise their game. Kroger gets extra kudos for improving their offering and technology advancements like Scan and Go where shoppers can scan items as they shop and speed through checkout.

I have a confession to make. My choice of shopping options are tainted by my 35 years in the food business. Costco and Kroger were great customers for us. Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s were not. The joke in the food business was that Whole Foods would be better known as Whole Paycheck. They were very proud of their product. Maybe Amazon will change that. Their niche being natural/less processed products, left a disconnect with Kraft as a major food processor. Whole Foods focused more on smaller manufacturers that made less processed products. The good news is that the smaller manufacturers were in a better position to meet the Whole Foods requirement for less processed. The bad news was that less processed meant greater food safety risks. At one point Whole Foods approached Kraft saying that if we wanted to sell to them, we would have develop a program to train their smaller manufacturers about food safety. That certainly didn’t work and has tainted my opinion. But I digress…

Getting back to the goal of getting the best ingredients for your dinner party. I take the following steps:

Develop a theme (e.g. Italian)
Write a menu
Outline recipes and ingredients
Detail a shopping plan (what, where and when)
Identify timing of when I will prepare/cook
Shop/prep/cook/serve/enjoy

Quite often things will change as you do the shopping. If I see great mushrooms at the farmers market I might change things to accommodate something special. The key is to enjoy the process. Develop a list of your favorite places to find the ingredients you like. When it is time to entertain, you will have fun shopping for those special items that you, and your guests, will enjoy.

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

The Perfect Lobster Mac And Cheese

Capital Grille makes a fantastic Lobster Macaroni and Cheese. Making a consistently great Mac and Cheese isn’t the easiest thing. The problem is that macaroni can be like a sponge and before you know it, your perfectly saucy Mac and Cheese can become too dry. The key is to add enough sauce, (The Capital Grille Chef recommends a 2 to 1 ratio of sauce to pasta) then bake it quickly to add a crust and serve immediately. Follow this rule and you will have a winner for your supper club dinner party.

I worked for Kraft for 35 years. If you want to talk to THE expert on Mac and Cheese, hang out at the Costco in Memphis Tennessee. Larry Woodford was the research scientist that invented Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. He is retired now and lives on a lake in Mississippi. I worked with Larry for years, but now it is scary how many times we run into each other at Costco.

When my kids were young, my son’s buddy Eric Brown basically lived on Kraft Mac & Cheese. Eric was the pickiest of picky eaters. This kid didn’t eat pizza, he even hated McDonalds, but he loved “Blue Box” which was Kraft slang for Mac & Cheese. I will never forget telling Eric that I worked with the guy that invented Kraft Mac and Cheese. Eric said: “Wow, he must be rich”. I said: “No, he is just fat”.

Larry developed the cheese sauce that was used in Blue Box for over 30 years. He probably got a $200 bonus for the development. He certainly didn’t get rich. If you ever have any questions about cheese, he is your guy. He has forgotten more about cheese than most of us will ever know. One thing he will recommend to the chef at Capital Grille, or the supper club chef, is that if you are using 4 cheeses to make your Lobster Mac and Cheese, make one of them Velveeta.

Using Velveeta has nothing to do with being a Kraft alumnus. Using process cheese in your Mac and Cheese recipe will add to the lubricity or mouth feel of your product. The fat system in Velveeta is the reason for the great mouth feel. The flavor also benefits from the salt level in Velveeta. Kraft research told us a long time ago that Americans equate Cheesiness with saltiness. It doesn’t hurt that salt is cheep and by adding salt you lower cost and adds to the perception of cheesiness. Ironically, another big steak chain, Flemings, used to use Velveeta in their famous Jalapeno Mac & Cheese. It just so happens that the head of R&D at Flemings was also a Kraft alumnus and had learned a trick or two from Larry.

Check out the Capital Grille recipe for Lobster Mac And Cheese. Keep this recipe in mind for your next supper club menu. Remember to add plenty of sauce, bake and serve. If you have any questions, look for a really happy cheese expert at Costco in Memphis.

Eight Keys To Making Your Appetizer A Hit

“Bring an appetizer” is a common request, or challenge, for a gathering of friends. Whatever the event, you want to bring something people will like. It isn’t always easy to come up with something that is a winner, but here are a 8 keys that will increase your chances of success:

The primary ingredient tastes great.

OK, that seems to be an oversimplification, but it is true. The majority of people like a perfectly cooked piece of beef or seafood. Of course there are vegans and people that don’t eat meat or seafood, but they are in the minority. Just about everybody likes a perfectly grilled piece of steak or shrimp.

Keep it low carb.

Most of us are trying to watch our weight. Watch what gets eaten off of a neighborhood buffet of appetizers. My experience is that people will gravitate to a low carb offering, even if it really isn’t all that healthy, under the pretense that they are better off with low carb versus filling up on chips and dip.

Layer in flavor.

Chef Vendome, my friend and culinary muse, used to preach about layering in flavor. Our old mantra of “Nothing influences the flavor of food more than how it is cooked” is true. Adding flavor with grilling helps versus boiling. Given a choice between a grilled shrimp and a boiled shrimp, people will pick the grilled shrimp. It also never hurts to add a sauce that you know people will like. For example, I have used an Asian sweet chili sauce on a variety of things that people love.

Don’t forget seasoning.

Chefs are trained at culinary school that if you don’t get a complaint or two every night about too much salt you are not adding enough salt and pepper. One reason restaurant food tastes better is that professional chefs are heavy handed with the salt.

Add freshness.

If you can add fresh herbs or fresh fruit your guests will pick it. Fresh herbs and fruit add wonderful flavor, but they also add to the perception of healthy.

People eat with their eyes

Presentation really helps. I like to add a small vase of fresh herbs or flowers to the platter. Adding something that catches and pleases the eye works well.

Holds up at room temperature.

Not everything works well after sitting out at room temperature on a buffet of appetizers. There are some appetizers that have to be served hot and just don’t work at room temperature. If you can serve something that will be good for at least an hour, you will be more successful.

Remember that there will be other appetizers

My mother asked me to make an appetizer for her college event. She insisted I make enough for everyone not remembering this rule. Mom got stuck with leftovers. I watch appetizer buffets to see what gets eaten quickly. If something is gone quick, it is a winner. You don’t have to make too much.

Steak And Peach Bites.

Check out the recipe for the Steak And Peach bites. This appetizer was a winner at a neighborhood event. Having a perfectly ripe peach, helped to make this app a hit. Peaches are tough to get right. There is nothing better than the perfect peach. There is also nothing worse than a mealy peach. The sweet chili sauce was also a perfect compliment.

Making an appetizer that is a hit isn’t exactly rocket science. Even lousy cooks (like me) can win the most popular app award by following these 8 keys. If you are really stuck try making the steak and peach bites app. It is a winner.