The Basics: Hard Learned

This was never meant to be a definitive “how to” business book. Rather, I attempted to show, through stories, how I built my business one step at a time.

As I wind down, I’d like to point out some practices that were always in the forefront of my mind during the second half of my business life, and are part of the Love and Quiches Desserts philosophy and ethics. I embarrass myself when I think of the first half, except we wouldn’t be here without it.

Much of the following has already been demonstrated through my stories, but is important enough to bear repeating. I wish I could have been provided with this list when I was just beginning. So, in no particular order:

• Our employees are our greatest asset, and are valued insiders. We are all in this together. However, there is always politics involved, even in a small company; egos, jostling for position and power, jealousies, and so on, are a fact of life. Strong leadership and management at the top can keep it to a minimum, but cannot stop it altogether.

• Get the right people on the bus and know their strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities. That said, we now have, as 2012 is beginning, by far the strongest and most talented team in place than in our entire history.

• Cross training is an important part of our protocol.

• If your superstar suddenly leaves, you’ll survive if you keep calm and act quickly… no one is irreplaceable. We learned this more than once, but particularly when our beloved Jimmy the Baker died so suddenly in the late 90s.

• Customers are equal in importance to a strong organization. No customers, no business! It is the customer that fuels growth in business. We partner with our customers to make sure their needs are being fulfilled since it is much less costly to keep a customer than to have to constantly seek new ones. But we balance the needs of our customers with the needs of the company.

• We do not rely on too few customers, too few channels (areas) of business. We do not put all of our eggs in one basket.

• We strategize by business segment, channel, and class of customer. Our Sales, Marketing, and R&D departments work hand in hand in the process, gathering technical and market intelligence, and we analyze the information to see how it may benefit the company.

• If it isn’t working, change it. Or leave it to die. Don’t do the same thing over and over and expect a different result.

• And, for sure, we no longer throw “upside-down widgets” at the Operations Departments without first checking if the processes required are viable.
• The majority of the participants in my industry are knowing, sophisticated, and loyal (mostly). But there is a fair amount of moving around, so networking works. We belong to the key industry organizations, and keep our name out there.

• We price our products properly, because we are aware of all our costs. We keep what works well and rationalize those products out that do not generate enough sales.

• Cost cutting has its limits and can drive profits just so high. Reinvest those savings in growth. Grow or you will lose ground.

• We control all costs. Everything gets shopped; from waste disposal to logistics (shipping costs) and everything in between.

• We keep strict controls of our raw and finished inventory, and adhere to the Just in Time method of manufacturing; no excess or obsolete inventory.

• Our strong accounting practices get us the information we need to make smart strategic decisions for sales, marketing, labor needs, capital expenditures, and so on, but, most importantly, for projections, and forward planning. We always know where we are now, and are always planning for the future.

• Our market is constantly changing and we change along with it; because of the evolving economic climate, changing tastes (comfort foods, ethnic tastes, etc.), and demographics. We seek market intelligence from our sales and marketing teams, and use the information to remain cutting edge, in stride with or, hopefully, ahead of our competition.

• There is an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for everything; no shooting from the hip, which is just about the only way I did things, at first. In fact, I excelled in it.

• There is no “”One Size Fits All” management technique. We provide direction and goal setting, clearly communicated, from the top, but our department heads and managers run the meat and potatoes with complete authority.

• Communication, communication, and more communication-- which travels both ways. Everybody needs to be on the same page, at all times, and clearly understand why we are all here and doing what we are doing. Excellent communication is the best money saver of all.

• A last word, yet again, about failure. Success is never a straight line to the top. Failure never hurts unless we do not pay attention to its lessons. Our failures have been a learning tool. Our failures have made us better. We don’t often make the same mistakes.

Of course, in a complicated manufacturing business such as ours, these tenets are just a few of so many more that help us stay healthy and on message.

 

Until next time...make someone happy —serve them dessert!

http://www.loveandquiches.com/

The Keys to the Kingdom: Best Practices

When I found myself in business in 1973, there weren’t the resources available that exist today, one of the most important being incubator kitchens, wherein aspiring entrepreneurs hoping to start a food business can rent space in already-licensed facilities. These facilities also provide classes in business basics, as well as mentoring, advice, networking, and moral support while the aspirants are trying to figure out if they have something or not, without the need for substantial financial outlays.

I still have no idea how I managed to get my house licensed as a New York State Department of Agriculture Bakery Establishment. I imagine we took them by surprise because nobody had ever asked before; for starters, surely my water wasn’t hot enough! Yet, off we went, stumbling our way blindly forward. (There have always been lots of people illegally selling food to restaurants from unlicensed home kitchens, but I was brought up to always do the right thing.)

And here we are. Love and Quiches Desserts has grown up. With all our myriad departments, from accounting to operations to engineering, it is hard to tell us apart from any of the giants. Strategic planning, projections by month, quarter, year, and beyond, and countless metrics have become everyday stuff for us. I didn’t know all these things existed, but, of course, now all of this information is crucial to me and to our organization.

By far, the most important thing I have ever learned is that the purpose of business is the pursuit of profit, not glory. In simple terms, we need to always be taking in more than we are spending. It is the engine that keeps us going. Since we constantly review our financials, we implement changes when we see the need, and do not accept unprofitable business as we once did. It is very difficult, if ever, to catch up on low margin business, once accepted.

We are not stagnant. Our company mission provides critical direction, but if we see a need for improvements, we go for it. As a private company, our flexibility has always given us an edge. But today, we enlist the entire organization in that effort. Our employees are the most important component of our organization and we choose them very carefully. The strength of our team, and their teamwork, informs our success.

Innovation can emerge from anywhere within the organization, and our employees are empowered to improve our company systems and products. We tap into those abilities across the entire organization, salute good work, and understand that mistakes will be made, as long as they are recognized and corrected as quickly as possible. That never changes; mistakes will be made.
And this implies some risk. As leaders, we guide our employees to overcome the fear of change and fear of risk that might otherwise offer barriers to moving the organization forward. Just as I had to overcome all of these barriers without any help, the strength of our numbers helps to overcome these fears and keeps the dynamic going.

We are constantly watching the market, and react to changes in the marketplace by offering new products, new price points, new packaging. But one thing never changes; the quality of the products that we ship out the door. Our constant is to always improve-- to be the best.

 
 
Until next time...make someone happy —serve them dessert!

http://www.loveandquiches.com/

Who I Am and How I Got There

I am coming to the end of my story. I started this Accidental Business nearly forty years ago (funnily it was right about the time that the first issue of Ms. Magazine was published). Feminism has never played a role in our organization, but I find it ironic, nevertheless. I was more of a pioneer than anything else.

I found that I had a tiger by the tail in my home business, and I took it from there to where we are today through a series of moves from my garage to a small storefront, to a small factory, to our present home where we have, during our thirty years here, grown the business from local to international supplier with major customers worldwide.

As soon as I bought my original partner out, in 1974, after only a little more than one year in business, I knew with certainty that I needed to do this thing. I developed ambition overnight…I would see it through and nothing would stop me. My innocence kept me moving forward because I had no idea what I was getting myself into. In most cases, building a successful business is a 24/7 proposition, and it is very painful. And, unfortunately, in most cases, new businesses fail within the first few years for many reasons, the primary reason being a lack of resources to see it through the start-up years.

I beat the odds. I still ponder whether I was lucky or, with steely determination, made my own luck. As I have said before, I had no preparation whatsoever for business ownership. I was completely clueless and had no resources, but I managed to stumble upon the identification of my market. I could supply quiches to a variety of establishments that had no way of preparing them from scratch. I provided an alternative to the hamburger that could also be served any time, from breakfast through late night. And we were the first company to do so. It bears repeating that it was our product that started the trend almost 40 years ago. And we had the perfect marketplace: the metropolitan tri-state region (NY, NJ, and lower Connecticut) provided thousands of potential customers with pubs, restaurants, hotels, gourmet shops, and so on, almost everywhere I looked. The desserts, for which we are mainly now known-- in spite of our name-- came later.

Yet, a good idea is not always enough. I needed to find out if the need was truly there or if it was already filled. For that the answer was no. For Love and Quiches, the answer was (a resounding) yes.

I needed money. I had very little in the way in personal financial resources, but I had parents who could help me if they chose to. They chose not to, because I had an older sibling that my mother was determined not to allow me to outshine. I was hurt and angry at first, but, as always, I got over it and built this business, slowly, one quiche at a time.

With drive and focus, I learned what business is and how to run one. I made lists and sweated the small stuff. I got help wherever I could find it. I sought advice from my mentors, my customers, my suppliers, my professionals. I took my many embarrassments and small failures (described all throughout this blog) in stride, and would not allow myself to be side-tracked. I was stubborn, and would not allow my optimism to falter.

Small as it was, I slavishly adhered to my budget, because at this juncture we had no reserves and could not afford any errors which may have proved fatal. I remained patient, and little by little, the dollars started to build and we were on our way.

One step at a time, I developed the knowledge and skills I needed to run a business and become a leader, all by just living it. As the organization and the volume grew, so did I. Today we are light years away from where we were then.




Until next time...make someone happy —serve them dessert!

http://www.loveandquiches.com/

Yet Another Trip: this time to Egypt

We recently returned from a two week holiday in Egypt (which we had planned long before the Arab Spring and all the calamitous events taking place all across the Middle East. We took this trip in spite of almost everybody we know asking us if we had lost our minds). Actually we watched Khadafi meet his end on CNN while in Cairo, which, in a way, was quite surreal, since Libya was right next door. The tourist trade, the number one industry there, is down almost 70% and the effects are horrendous. The restaurants, museums, cafes, and shops are empty. We had the Pyramids almost to ourselves, and even the camels (there for tourist rides) seemed bored to tears with nothing to do. When we were there during the last two weeks of October, we at all times felt quite safe, moving about freely, and it was our hope that the tourist trade would recover soon. Now only a few weeks later, the protests and violence have re-emerged to an alarming degree, and sadly, the prospect of peace and recovery seems far into the future. It appears we were lucky in our timing.


Top to bottom: a bored camel; street wares on display - spices,

fruits, goats (adjacent to butcher store); pita bakers,

pita delivery man; whirling dervish; Irwin bargains

for roses with street vendors.



Our experience was brilliant. We were a very small group of six and an Egyptologist (along with an armed guard!) and we visited Cairo and, during a Nile cruise, we stopped in Abu Simbel, Aswan, Esna, Luxor, and Dendera. Egypt’s history transcends thousands of years and the antiquities we saw were exquisite and awe-inspiring. However, there are so very many gods, goddesses, kings, pharaohs, dynasties, and myths to learn about in just a few days, that our Egyptologist, Azza, would question us and lament that we scored “zero minus”! Actually, Irwin knows his history, but he suggested that we were all experts of the “Moronic Period” and we all readily agreed. We were a great group.

We started out in Cairo for a few days. We arrived a day early, as is our practice, so we could spend some time touring the city with an eye towards seeing as much as we could about our favorite subject: the food. We hired Azza as our private guide that first day and we visited a small and ancient bakery with ovens even blacker than in the cashew factory in India, saw a typical local supermarket, and walked through a vast souk where the locals did most of their daily shopping. In Cairo, almost all of the food is displayed right on the sidewalks; neat piles, gorgeous fruit and vegetables (especially the tomatoes which taste like pure sugar), along with the spices, the fish, and the meat (no refrigeration whatsoever). Wherever we looked there was food being displayed, all over the city, everyplace. There were small herds of sheep near each butcher shop, with hanging meat up front; tomorrow’s dinner for sure. We saw very few European-style bakeries as there are in India and Vietnam, but huge trays of fresh warm pita and lavash breads were constantly being carried to various destinations all over the city.

Cairo is, by far, the dirtiest city we have ever seen during our travels. Debris is everywhere, and burned out vehicles surround the blackened hulk of Mubarak’s original political Headquarters There are no refuse pails, and we saw no evidence whatever of any sanitation pick-up system. Azza admitted it wasn’t much different even before the revolution. In some areas there were individuals with brooms doing their best to bring some order. In contrast, in India, garbage is an industry and nothing is wasted. So there are vast piles of neat garbage, with all the scraps of fabric, food, metals, and so on, sorted to be sold, or otherwise used.

Also, there are no traffic lights in Cairo and any painted traffic lines are just for decoration! It’s every man for himself, and to cross the street, we just put our hands up and plunged into the street. It was a very hectic city; we loved it!



The food is excellent everywhere we went. We had two memorable typical Egyptian meals while in Cairo. One was at a restaurant named Abou el Cid, an atmospheric and elegant place where there was a hookah at every table, all low to the ground with couches for seating. They offered a specialty called haman, rice-stuffed whole pigeon, but I opted for the grilled quail instead, and we shared many other typical Egyptian dishes that the waiter suggested, and tons of the ubiquitous hot fresh pita bread. Another typical local meal we had was at a famous place called Andrea, where they have their own pita oven and bring out fresh hot ones every few minutes. Their specialties are spit-roasted chicken and a myriad of Middle Eastern salads and hors d’oeuvres. They showered us with so much food, which we shared with a thousand flies since this was an outdoor patio; local color which we managed to survive.

The rest of Egypt that we visited was, by contrast, quite beautiful; pristine, orderly, and lush.

From the top: Sugar cane growing

along the banks of the Nile;

a giant vase with the iconic

"evil eye" greets visitors to

Esna; the scene of a car accident

in Cairo; a bakery in the city.



Our cruise ship was a luxurious yacht with accommodations for 36, but there were only the six of us plus one British couple-- eight of us and a staff of 45 (down from 58); another amazing experience, but, sadly, frustrating and upsetting for the crew. Professional to the core, they never showed it.

I toured the kitchen and the chef did a cooking demonstration for the few of us; I noticed during the tour that the double convection oven (a major space saver) was the exact one that I had in my garage when I started out almost 40 years ago. A newer model, of course, but the same, nevertheless… It made me smile.

The best word I can use to describe the Nile is unbelievably lush, verdant on both sides for at least ten miles; sugar cane, corn, many other crops and vegetables as far as the eye could see. And each site, such as the Valley of the Kings, was more awe-inspiring than the prior one. A feast for the eyes!

Back in Cairo we did a lot of walking through the ancient thoroughfares of the old city, toured the Coptic (Christian) areas with their own beautiful architecture, visited the famous Ben Ezra synagogue, wandered around in the Khan El-Kahlili market, Cairo’s vast street market, with both its tourist traps as well as aromatic spice shops and food stalls where all the locals shop daily.

For us, nothing is more intrinsic to anyplace we have ever traveled than its food, conveying its true essence. But in Egypt, the antiquities may have surpassed anything else.

 

 
Until next time...make someone happy —serve them dessert!

http://www.loveandquiches.com/

Some Funny Stuff from Way Back

I still have all my handwritten recipes and notes from my days of giving cooking demos; I have to say, after reviewing them all recently for this blog -- some of the advice and lists I distributed to my students are quite hilarious (and woefully inadequate).

One sheet was called “A Well Equipped Kitchen”, where I listed wire whisks, wooden spoons, cheesecloth, pastry brushes and feathers, mouli grater, food mill (ricer), 14 qt. stock pot, huge mixing bowl, mortar and pestle, candy thermometer, and carbon steel knives. I never mentioned sauce pans, frying pans, rolling pin, measuring cups and spoons, slotted spoon, spatulas, pitchers, strainers, cookie sheets and dozens of other things that even the most basic kitchen would need.

Also on that sheet was a list of ‘necessary’ ingredients where I did only a slightly better job. Some items on this list were totally unnecessary, such as meat extract paste (what’s that?), sweet almond oil and truffles, but I neglected to list salt, butter, canned plum tomatoes and a dozen other staples.

Another sheet was called “Hints” which was a veritable potpourri of advice, some of which I seemed to have taken out of thin air! A sampling:

1: Never forget presentation; garnish dishes in wine sauce with toasted buttered bread triangles.
2: Egg whites; the older the better- freeze in ice cube trays.
3. Don’t use more than one rich sauce per meal.
4. Assemble all ingredients beforehand and measure accurately (this is good advice).
5. Onion- grip the onion, not the board. (What?)
6. Oil- must be room temperature for sauces. (How else?)
7. Beurre Manie- knead 1 tbs. butter with 1 tbs. flour and use to thicken sauces (good basic).

There were about twenty-five items on that list, and most were right on. I’ll save the rest for my book (if I get to write it), but in the meantime, I don’t mind making fun of myself because I know that I have always been a pretty good cook.

What I do have for you this week is that avocado cream dessert that I demonstrated 40 years ago but seems very “today” to me (considering that bacon, along with many other non-traditional ingredients, has become the “of the moment” dessert inclusion). I admit I haven’t tried it since then, but I remember it as being unusual, and very good.

Avocado Cream: In the blender, puree 2 large avocados with 3 tbsp. lime juice, then transfer to a bowl. Stir in1/2 cup sugar, two tbsp. at a time, 2 tbsp. honey, 4 tbsp. heavy cream, pinch salt until very well combined. Divide among 4 parfait glasses, and chill for at least four hours. Serve garnished with a few berries or semisweet chocolate shaves.

But the best thing I have for today is my original Quiche au Fromage recipe, as I taught it. I’m going to scan it in as it first appeared. It doesn’t include the method for the crust (because I was demonstrating it) and the crust definitely should not be pre-baked, for sure. Our product today has not changed all that much from the original. Here it is:

Until next time...make someone happy —serve them dessert!

http://www.loveandquiches.com/

Easy Does It

I’ve changed. Long gone are the days (described for the last few weeks), when I would never buy anything prepared to serve at home. I made all my own stocks, my own mayonnaise, my own ice cream, all sauces 100% from scratch, and so on. I even churned my own butter! Must have been on some kind of ego trip.

Now I buy many of those things as components, albeit vetted very carefully, when I cook. There are plenty of top quality foods, ingredients, and prepared foods available. I buy my fruit in one place, my meat in another; some cheeses in one place, others elsewhere; olive oil in one place, vinegars in another. That’s my drill.

I no longer cook during the winter; only one dinner party on New Year’s Eve for a small group of very close friends. But during the summer we have a beach house on Fire Island, a very casual barrier island off the coast of Long Island; there it seems all I ever do is cook, with the house always filled with family and friends.

Just as I have changed, so has my cooking style. When I taught those classes, almost everything was spilling over with butter, heavy cream, and starches; the more fat the better! Many of my techniques were over-complicated and I doubt most of what I taught was incorporated into my students’ everyday cooking; but as I looked over my folders, I saw that some of them were truly timeless; one was an avocado cream with honey served as dessert that shocked me as being somewhat ahead of its time-- this was 40 years ago. Was this really me?

I have learned not to be afraid of recipes. When I cook, I often vary my ingredients or method just a bit to keep it all interesting. Few recipes, I have found, are set in stone, and it helps keep the passion alive.

On the other hand, many principles of baking are more of a science, with rules for balance that must never be violated, as I have, on occasion, learned the hard way in my Love and Quiches business. We can vary the flavors, the decorations, and the presentation, but never the inviolate principles. Our products must travel halfway across the world; they must be perfect.

I still use only butter (never margarine or other substitute), but I use less of it; I use olive oil in most of my cooking, but not too much; I add wines and broths to add flavor without adding calories. When I’m tempted to use cream, I often use light cream instead, or even milk, with excellent results. Dijon mustard adds a lot of flavor to a myriad of foods without adding calories. I use only Vidalia or other sweet onions when cooking; I use more shallots than I do garlic; I use wild mushrooms-- all kinds-- with reckless abandon. One inviolate rule is that I still make all my own salad dressings (never store bought), but I am not averse to finishing off a lovely cauldron of Pomodoro or Bolognese sauce with a jar of Classico brand Tomato and Basil sauce to gather it all together.

I plan to turn this blog into a book once I have finished recording my almost forty-year journey, from my kitchen where I founded Love and Quiches to where we are today. That was my primary purpose here; a business memoir where I’ve held nothing back. And then, for fun, both from back then and from today, I will share some of my favorite recipes, but for now I will share just a few that I use over and over nowadays; my easiest and most favorite, to compliment and enhance so very many dishes.

*     *     *     *     *

Mustard Sauce:
heavy cream (or light cream or whole milk), one cup
low salt chicken stock (homemade, supermarket, or store bought from a favorite gourmet shop), one cup. Combine first two ingredients and simmer in saucepan (low heat to prevent burning) on stove top until reduced by exactly half. Remove from heat.
Dijon mustard, one third cup. Stir into warm, reduced liquids.
salt, add to taste.
white pepper, add to taste.
Serve warm over anything: meat, fish, poultry, or vegetables. Can be refrigerated for up to two weeks, or frozen for a few months, but defrost thoroughly before reheating. Reheat very gently to avoid curdling. This recipe can be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled for larger gatherings, but increases the reduction time for the liquids quite a bit. Be patient.

My Famous (but don’t tell) Barbeque Sauce:
ketchup, one cup
“All Fruit” Marmalade, one cup (I prefer Polaner brand)
white wine, one cup
Dijon mustard, one half cup
Combine all four ingredients and cook gently (low heat to prevent sputtering) on stove top until well combined. You can up the mustard, if desired, for a stronger sauce, or add some fresh ground black pepper, but I serve it as is. This no work sauce keeps forever in the fridge, and is always a big hit.

Balsamic Vinaigrette
Balsamic vinegar, one half cup
Dijon mustard, one tablespoon
salt, one teaspoon
fresh ground pepper, to taste
olive oil (best quality, very important), one cup
Stir together first five ingredients until well combined
shallots, one large (well diced to make three or four tablespoons).
olive oil, one tablespoon. Sauté shallots in the oil for a few minutes until translucent. They will turn very sweet. Be careful not to burn them.
Stir shallots into prepared dressing. This dressing compliments almost any combination of greens. The mustard can be eliminated for a lighter dressing, and white balsamic vinegar (thanks to my friend Alan) can be used, instead, for another elegant variety.

*     *      *      *      *

As mentioned above, I would love to share some of my more complicated, but very best recipes (such as Wild Mushroom Ragu with Risotto, Bolognese Sauce with Tagliatelli, and Gazpacho with Fresh Crabmeat, as well as a few from my cooking classes from way back), but I have found that just these few have been quite difficult to translate into this blog format. I promise to try; otherwise it will have to wait for the book.

When I cook, I just keep making adjustments: a little more wine, or stock, or olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs, and so on until the flavor is just right. I use my instincts here just as I have learned to do in business; what ingredients to add and how much vs. what to do next and when -- a skill learned from experience that has served me well.


Until next time...make someone happy —serve them dessert!

http://www.loveandquiches.com/

My First Paycheck

It’s hard to believe how unsophisticated I was when I taught those series of cooking courses on the North Shore of Long Island that I told you all about last week. This was just the warm-up for going into business; a year or two before my original partner, Jill, cajoled me into starting what became my destiny.

It cost me a fortune; thirty to forty hours of preparation for each three hour weekly session, G-d only knows what I spent on all the foodstuffs I needed for each class, what I spent for other needed supplies, travel time, additional hours in front of a copy machine preparing my giveaway materials for each participant. Yet they offered to pay me $150 per session. I thought that a princely sum, clueless as usual.

Yet it taught me that the time to do something, other than entertaining my friends, had arrived.

As promised, following is the application (and I use the term loosely) that I submitted to teach the classes I told you all about last week:

*          *          *          *          *          *

I create an analogy between painting and cooking. I love to cook and find it creative, challenging and really satisfying. A fine dinner or dish must balance color, texture, form and taste. Its final presentation in its very own way combines all of these parts, as a painting does. What we choose to serve, whether formally or informally, and how we present it helps create the atmosphere for any gathering.

I plan on dividing my three courses into (1) French (2) Italian (3) Pastries, Desserts and Confections.

I have learned during my years at serious cooking that there are some very basic principles and techniques that once mastered, can give us the necessary tools or rather skills for improvising and inventing things on our own that are unusual or express our own personalities, and fit our own families and friends. A good kitchen needs certain basic equipment, tools, spices, canned goods, etc. that we cannot do without. I will talk about these and I will try to be representative in the foods I choose to demonstrate using as broad a spectrum and basics as I have the time for and I feel the “girls” (!) taking the courses are ready for, flexible concepts for whatever things they want to learn. I’ll also keep in mind that we, as hostesses, want to be able to enjoy our own parties as well as our guests. Lots of parts can be prepared in advance, menus planned with our own pleasure taken into consideration.

My cooking methods, even when elaborate, try to bring out the natural goodness and flavors of the foods I use, rather than making them for the sake of “fanciness”. We want to learn how to prepare really good food.

French cooking techniques form, for me, the basis for expert cooking in any type of cuisine (Spanish, Italian, etc.) though, of course, any national cuisine has parts to it uniquely its own. But I have learned the most from French techniques. Some French foods are very delicate, elaborate, classic and some more robust, peasant. They have given me the tools for a myriad of creations.

Techniques for dealing with fresh vegetables, spices, knowledge of meats, poultry and such; braising, poaching, sautéing, roasting, blanching, subtleties of seasonings, proper use of butter and oils are some of the things best learned through the French cuisine.

There are five basic sauces from which practically all other sauces are drawn (Espagnole, Béchamel, Veloute, etc.) These incorporate use of stocks and wines, etc. I will choose some simple but elegant and some really elaborate dishes to demonstrate here. We can make a filet of beef or veal, sliced thin, in Madeira and truffles, combined with mushrooms, glazed pearl onions, and almonds, served with Potatoes Anna. Or a filet with foie gras in red burgundy, shallots, mushrooms and cheese with olives, artichokes and salad. Or a classic coq au vin or a duckling in port with poached fruits, or roast rack of lamb stuffed with pistachios served with a Cumberland sauce. Or veal chop in white wine sauce with morels, with some sort of pasta. Veal Orloff using a Soubise sauce is fantastic.

For hors d’oeuvres I will choose perhaps a classic cheese soufflé with lobster sauce. Soufflé techniques, once mastered, can be adapted for sweet or savory dishes, and can be done in advance by several hours if done properly. Quiches and crepes can be used for gaining knowledge of custards, Béchamel and Hollandaise sauces. Lots of imagination can be used here.

Pates, simple or in pastry cases, and cold fishes in aspic with homemade mayonnaise are very good. We can also make some brunch dishes such as eggs in cream and cheese served on homemade English muffins, or eggs Benedict with a crisp salad.

Potatoes, vegetables and salads are extremely important to French cuisine. I will devote some time to these.

I do a lot of Italian cooking, especially for my closer friends. Italian cooking is probably more fun but can be quite delicate and subtle, too. A very good dish, very fine, is veal in Marsala wine with prosciutto, eggplant and fontina cheese.

For hors d’oeuvres, my favorite is Pizza Rustica, an extraordinary Italian quiche; sausage in pastry; caponata, a cold eggplant dish that is fantastic when homemade; spedini, stuffed artichokes; calzone.

Pasta is easy to make, even easier with a pasta machine (not very expensive). From these or certain imported brands I will list for the class, we can make fettuccine Alfredo with white truffles, spaghetti carbonara (love it, the best pasta creation, I feel), ziti Siciliana, homemade marinara sauce, light northern Italian meat sauce, clam and lobster sauces. We can work with risotto, make gnocchi or polenta.

Very special is Frito Misto platter, batter fried vegetables and meats. Another very special dish is called a country platter which I adapted from the Grotto Azurra restaurant in Little Italy.

We can also make some Italian desserts that I may not have time for in my Pastry course. Cannoli are my favorites. Or a huge Italian cheesecake made with ricotta. Zabaglione is easy to make (sabayon in French desserts is the same). Certain cookies are uniquely Italian.

One of the most important techniques, included in so many varieties of desserts is a successful pastry crust. They can be made in many ways, some crisper, or sweeter, or more short, or with overtones of wine or including pulverized nuts, or other spices, or with or without egg yolks, or the whites. Each is just right for a particular filling or presentation. I will talk about many and demonstrate a few. We can make a poached fruit tart with a frangipane cream, or a pecan tart, or tarts and pies with creams and mousses and other fillings.

I always make my own ice creams and sherbets. It is easy, can be done several days in advance, and ends almost any dinner well, served with an elegant cookie and sauce.

Custards and creams, Bavarians and pastry fillings are a course in themselves. We can make a bread and butter pudding with a fresh raspberry Melba sauce, or a crème brulee or a chestnut Bavarian with a chocolate sponge, sauce Anglaise, or some elaborate bombe. Lady fingers are fine with any meal, served in addition to any dessert, as if they are mints. They freeze well, don’t even need defrosting, are hard to make but can be used in dozens of ways. We can also make other elegant cookies, crumb cakes to be filled with creams, etc., chocolate cups, etc.

Dessert soufflés and crepes served with special fillings and sauces are always spectacular. Chocolate is good for the soul. I make a very special French torte called a trianon which can be served with a praline crème, or sauce Anglaise or sandwiched with a rich pastry filling.

Another chocolate dessert is an almond torte. Tissue thin almond layers which alternate with a deep chocolate and mocha mousse, extremely elaborate.

We can also make really authentic shortcake, a split short, sweet biscuit with strawberries, raspberries and apples. Tarte Tartin (a French apple flan) is really lovely.

Each dessert I will present will be done with an eye towards creating something really special, different, and elaborate, and very beautiful to look at.

We will also make some candies. For example, a macadamia or mixed nut brittle and chocolate truffles, which are both easy and elegant.

If it is preferred, I can substitute the last course for a potpourri of dishes, such as Chinese Peking duck, cassoulet, a very special Spanish paella or Spanish sliced pork or veal with almond sauce and saffron rice, South American or Greek specialties, etc. Then I will include my pastries throughout all these courses.
                                                 

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I had tears running down my face (from laughter) as I read it. The language was so flowery and overly dramatic. The scope of what I said I would cover in the nine sessions was breathtakingly over-ambitious; I called the participants “girls”; and it was more like a laundry list of everything I had ever cooked or prepared. Funny thing was, I almost did it all! My courses were a sell out, with participants spilling out the doors.

During the next few weeks I’ll share some recipes from these courses and tell how I would simplify them for today’s lifestyle. Also, I’ll include changes I would recommend to take some of the calories out, if desired, without sacrificing even one bit of flavor.

More importantly, I’ll also be talking more about “Who I Am” and how I got that way; doing what I needed to do to become a leader, to succeed, and to survive it all.

Until next time...make someone happy —serve them dessert!






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