Photos Speak 1,000 Words

Cotton Candy Wrapped Around Bacon

Enough Said in this Blog!

Chef 0 - Kids 1: Kids win me over! "All Classes are Free"

Frees Kids Cooking Classes 
brought to you by
New Dream Catering and My Charleston Photo

To view more photos of kids class
CLICK HERE

Big Thanks to Kate Connor (middle of picture) for her most wonderful help.

Our first trial free kids cooking class was such fun and such a huge success that I am waiving the $15.00 price and will be doing all cooking classes for free. THAT'S RIGHT FREE! I don't have it in my heart to charge for such pleasure.The feeling I had going home from my first cooking class for kids was so great, that money could only tarnish that kind of feeling.

Me and Mini Me sharing the cookie he made me :)

Big Thanks To  
Photographer Jeni Roni 
and 
The Charleston Spice and Tea Exchange
For helping making this class a huge success!

The Next Cooking Class is: PIZZA From Scratch, making, rolling, flipping dough in the air, and adding their own toppings to make it as special and unique as they are.

First Contact First Serve: All classes hold 12 kids only

Click Here to RSVP

Tuesday 

 January 4, 2011

5pm-7pm

Ages 7-14

Brought to you by: 

New Dream Catering and My Charleston Photo

2284 Savannah Highway

Charleston, SC 29407

Homemade Gift Ideas: Bacon Brittle

Who Wouldn't Want This For A Gift?

BACON BRITTLE   Yields 12 Servings

Thyme, finely chopped	2 TBS
Old Bay	1 tsp
Kosher salt	7 tsp
Cayenne	1 tsp
Dry mustard	1 tsp
Peanuts, unsalted, roasted	6 C
Maple syrup	1 C
Bacon, cooked, finely chopped, with its fat	4 Oz
Instructions:
1. Preheat convection oven to 275 degrees F, with fan on low.
2. Place thyme, Old Bay, salt, cayenne and dry mustard in a small bowl and stir to combine.
3. Put peanuts in large bowl. Add maple syrup and bacon (with its fat) to peanuts and stir thoroughly to coat.
4. Add herbs and spices to peanuts and stir thoroughly to coat.
5. Lightly oil 2 half-sheet trays and divide peanuts between trays, spreading evenly. Bake peanuts in center of oven for 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes. Lightly oil another sheet tray. Remove peanuts from oven and cool on original sheet trays for a few minutes. Transfer peanuts to new sheet tray, stirring to coat, breaking up any clumps of bacon and coating brittle with warm sugar.
6. Let cool completely before breaking up brittle chunks and storing them in small jars.

FREE Kids Cooking Class, Gingerbread Houses!

WOOOHOOO!!! FREE COOKING CLASS FOR KIDS!

Come join me in this fun & free cooking class. We are making Gingerbread Houses with all the fixings. We all ready have half the class filled and want just a few more.

Date

Tuesday December 21st

Time  
5pm-7pm

Location

New Dream Catering

2284 Savannah Highway

Charleston, SC
843.45.4849

Ages
7-14 years old

This will be a great time for the kids. 
You may drop your kids off or stay for some wine and cheese in our tasting room.

TO RSVP

Click Here! 

Yes, they will be able to take there Gingerbread House Home With Them!

This is the kind of fun everyone deserves!

APRICOT CORNBREAD TOPPED WITH CANDIED BACON AND MAPLE ICE CREAM

New Dream Catering, Taste The Dream!

APRICOT CORNBREAD TOPPED WITH CANDIED BACON AND MAPLE ICE CREAM    Yield: 12 servings (one 8-inch square cake) Butter as needed Flour 3/4 C, plus as needed Bacon, slices, small dice 3 each Cornmeal 1 1/4 C Baking powder 2 tsp Baking soda 1/2 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp Sugar 1/4 C Eggs, lightly beaten 2 each Buttermilk 3/4 C Milk 1/2 C Honey 3 TBS Molasses 1 TBS Apricots, dried, thinly sliced 1/2 C Maple Ice Cream                                          as needed Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square baking pan; set aside. Fry bacon until crisp in a large skillet. Drain bacon on paper towels; reserve. 2. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Whisk to blend, then form into a mound and make a well in center. Pour eggs, buttermilk and milk into well; stir with fork until lightly combined. 3. Add honey, molasses, apricots and bacon bits to batter and mix until evenly combined. Pour into pan and bake until it has risen and center is firm and dry when a toothpick is inserted, about 35 minutes. Allow to cool, then cut into small squares and serve with a dollop of maple ice cream on top.

Fresh Baked Brioche Bread

 Fresh Baked Brioche Bread

Bowl 1:
12 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tbs salt
3 1/2 tbs yeast

Bowl 2:
2 cups water (warm) not (hot)
8 eggs

Bowl 3:
4 cups milk
1 pound melted butter (room temperature)

Place each bowl in mixer, one at a time in the order of the recipe and allow each one to mix into each other. (3 minutes each)

Pre heat oven at 350 degrees

Spay a bowl/bucket with pan spray, pour mixer in and cover with plastic wrap.(prevents sticking to bowl/bucket)

Let rise to "double" the original size .(best if you leave on oven as it is heating up, to activate yeast.
When dough has risen, dust counter top with flour, to prevent sticking

kneed with hands and form little rolls or long pieces of dough.

Spray baking pan with pan spray, place formed dough on pan, and cover with plastic wrap, and let sit on top of oven for about 30 minutes.

When dough has risen again, brush with melted butter and bake until outside starts to get brown and slightly crusty. (25-35 minutes) Then brush again with butter..

 

Osso Bucco: Set It and For Get It, Recipe

 This recipe can also be used for Braised Short Ribs

Ingredients:

12 pieces of Osso Bucco (great for veal, lamb or short ribs), 2 stalks of celey diced, 2 carrots diced, 2 yellow onions diced, 2 large tomatoes ruffly chopped or use cherry tomatoes and cut in half, 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped garlic, 2 fresh bay leaves (can use dried), 6 cups of veal stock, 1 bunch of fresh chopped parsley, 1 bottle of red wine ( if you wouldn't drink, you shouldn't cook with it)

Cooking instructions:

1 heat a large skillet (piping hot), biggest you have!
2 add 1/4 cup of olive oil
3 dredge the shank in flour and season with salt and pepper
4 brown shanks on both sides and place in baking pan
5 add vegetabless to same skillet
6 deglaze pan with red wine (pour wine in same pan and reduce to half)
7 add veal stock, heat untill warm.
8 pour over the veal in baking pan (liquid should come to top of the shanks, if not add more stock or wine)
9 preheated oven at 350 DEGREES and bake for 3 hours and serve

That is it put in pan at 350 degrees. Set timer and 3 hours later pull it out, it will be perfect !!

OR CONTACT ME, I CAN DO THIS FOR YOU! Sales@NewDreamCatering.com

What's Realy Going on in the Kitchen While You Relax & Sip Your Wine

Next time your in a restaurant and your food is taking a bit long. Please keep this Blog in mind. I will bet there is a 98.9 % chance this is whats going on !! Please be patient and don't take it out on your wait-staffs tip !! This is taking place at 98.9 % of restaurants every Friday & Saturday night while you are sipping on your wine..

How do I know all this?  I was a restaurant Executive Chef in Miami & Boston for 14 years before I owned New Dream Catering

The nine stages of being in the weeds

Stage 1: The Clubhouse
You’re not busy at all. There is nothing happening. In fact, there is so little business that the few housekeeping things (like maintaining the water in the steam tables) get neglected.

Stage 2: The Fairway
You’re now getting some tickets, but there's not enough to really make you focus. This is usually at the very beginning and very end of service. Thoughts of pints and flirting with the waitress fill your mind, while the steak overcooks.

Stage 3: The Green
Now you have plenty of tickets to keep you busy, but not feel rushed. You're in the zone. Meat temps are spot on, ticket modifications are all done, life is good. You feel strong, ready for more action.

Stage 4: The Rough
Your board is beginning to fill. There are no more thoughts of the waitress. You have an increasing number of pans on your stovetop, your grill is filling. You're in the flow, slinging some serious food, working up a good lather. Nothing can stop you.

Stage 5: The Tall Grass
You now have a full board and your tickets aren't getting pulled off the printer right away any more. Your grill, stovetop and fryers are all full to capacity. You are now operating at peak efficiency. You're working up a good sweat, there are no wasted motions. You're feeling a little rushed, but that's Ok because you're on top of it. But if anything goes wrong, then that's it for you and you progress to...

Stage 6: The Weeds
Now you have more orders coming in than you are putting out. There is no more physical space to handle the load. You start employing certain "tricks" to get the food out faster. The stress level is building, the expo is getting louder and tickets are now 5 deep at the printer. Ticket times are getting longer. The most important part about this whole thing is that it's a mental thing as well. You start to feel a little panic in the back of your mind. Getting into and leaving the weeds can be in a matter of minutes and you can do it on your own.

Stage 7: The Forest
You’re deep now. The printer is going non-stop. You've resorted to sandbagging food. You're mind is starting to move faster than your body, usually to the detriment of the food. Things get dropped, presentations are sloppy, and sauces may start to break. Things start to burn. It's at this point that you realize you need help to get through the rush. You start to loose track of the levels of mise-an-place on your station and next thing you know, you got to run to get something out of the walk-in, putting you further behind. Ticket times are consistently exceeding acceptable limits. Without help or a sudden stop in business, you spiral deeper into...

Stage 8: The Jungle
Nothing can save you now except for a stop in orders. You feel beset on all sides. The tickets are forming a 6-7 foot trail of paper and are curling on the floor. You swear you see pygmies out of the corner of your eye shooting blow darts at you. Food is coming back at an alarming rate because you didn't get the mods right, the wrong sides went out, the food was over/undercooked. The world is crashing all around you. This stage is often accompanied by, say, an oven going down, or the dishwasher breaking, or some other global event. Rarely is a cook on the line alone in the jungle. For the mentally tough, this is the final stage. This is rock bottom. A fried calamari app can take up to 45 minutes to go out (should take 5 minutes). The strange thing, though, is that an eerie calm comes over you and the world turns in slow motion, and you start to laugh. There's nothing more you can do.

Stage 9: The Kelp Forest
You’re now under water and you can't breathe. Crabs are pinching your toes and seals are dropping rocks on your head. The only difference between this step and step 8 is purely mental. To get to the Kelp Forest, you experience a total mental break such that you cease to function. You are so overwhelmed that you're found muttering to yourself in a corner, or curled up in the bathroom crying. If you reach the Kelp Forest, you should not be in this line of work. And few people, after reaching the Kelp Forest, continue on in the work.

So there you have it, the 9 Stages of heading to The Weeds. 

Please be patient your food will be out momentarily !!!