President's Ball and Chef of The Year Awards

You are cordially invited to the

ACF / OECA & ACF/ CCAC
2012 Chef of the Year Awards and Valentine Day Sweet Heart Dinner Dance
Sunday, February 12, 2012 - 6:00pm at Crawne Plaza Hotel,
12021 Harbor Blvd., Garden Grove, CA 92840- (714)867-5555

Reception
Butler Passed Hors D’oeurve & No Host Bar

Appetizer Salad
Gourmet Greens with Pomegranate Dressing and Roasted Quail with Molasses Reduction, Toasted Macadamia Nuts, Tomato and Goat Cheese.
(Served with White Wine)

Intermezzo
Cantaloupe Sorbet with Berries

Entrée
Beef Medallions with Croquette Potatoes,
Petit Vegetables and Cabernet Wine Sauce.
(Served with Red Wine)

Dessert
Sweet Sampling Platter – Coffee & Hot Tea Service

Entertainment and DJ by Robin Grosmark

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Donation: Junior & Seniors Culinary Students $45.00, others,$50 all inclusive. Please contact me if you would like to attend. Contact me at Chefmarie@chefmarie.com

Happy New Year and Best Wishes to All! It has been an incredible busy last month and finally a well-deserved break for a few days. Winter is here now and, to me, when the cold settles in, there is nothing better than snacking on some warm roasted chestnuts in the cold windy street of Paris! But here I am now in California and it is not like I will find one of those old fashioned roasters around! So I had to find another way to satisfied my craving. Enjoy!

Roasted Chestnuts with Spices (4 servings)

1 tablespoons grape seed oil
12 ounces cooked peeled chestnuts
1 tablespoon Cognac (optional)
1/4 cup unsalted raw almonds
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 tablespoon maple syrup
A small pinch of salt


Heat the oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the chestnuts and quickly sauté. Flambé with the Cognac and then add the remaining ingredients. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, sautéing on occasion. Add salt and serve immediately.

Per Serving: 219 Cal (38% from Fat, 7% from Protein, 55% from Carb); 4 g Protein; 9 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 4 g Mono Fat; 30 g Carb; 1 g Fiber; 3 g Sugar; 71 mg Calcium; 2 mg Iron; 24 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol

Pain Au Chocolat

When I was a child, my father occasionally would get up, early on Sunday morning, to go to our local bakery. He would bring us back some special treats. It was either a warm "croissant, almond croissant, pain au chocolat or brioche". With a warm chocolate milk, this was the start of our day. To me, such memories are particularly strong during winter time. It was so hard for me to get up in the cold morning. I realized, years ago, I was finding a "warm comfort" in the delicious aromas arising from those pastries in the house. They made it a lot easier for me and my brothers to get out of bed! Just baking these "pain au chocolat", on this chilly morning, brought back those memories. Interesting enough, this brought up an interesting conversation with my son.

As the holidays are approaching, my son just reminded me how he loves the holiday season. I asked him why, and as I suspected, it had to do a lot with all the food we prepare during those days. He also brought up the fact that the house smells so good and how he cherishes the memories he has with family and friends, particularly during such time of the year. I guess I passed on to my son the connection between life moments and foods, just like my parents did! Is that a good thing?

I think so, as long as we are aware of such powerful connections. Those connections can be good or bad, by the way. Once we are aware of them, we can then revisit those memories and foods that have a certain influence on our life choices. We can see them in a whole different way and re-frame them in a healthier way, using all of our senses. This will be soon the subject of one of my up-coming seminar in 2012!

For some of those great treats I just talked about, I suggest you check these great recipes Jacques Torres on Food Network