Chiappa - The Lacoja Cocinas Cookbook: Tips, Techniques and Recipes Inspired by Memorable Events

The
Lacoja Cocinas Cookbook

Tips, Techniques and Recipes Inspired by Memorable Events

DENIS CHIAPPA

Copyright 2015 Denis Chiappa.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

LifeRich Publishing is a registered trademark of The Readers Digest Association, Inc.

LifeRich Publishing

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.liferichpublishing.com

1 (888) 238-8637

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4897-0547-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-0546-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-0548-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015918213

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 11/11/2015

Contents

My love and thanks go to my beautiful wife, Julie. She has always supported my passion for food, and for that I am forever grateful. I could not do what I do without her.

Its seven oclock on any night at Carlow Cookery in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and cooking classes have begun. An assemblage of culinary enthusiastsnovice to advancedsit around the chef, who sets the stage for tonights topic. The participants are eager to learn, prepare, and taste whatever the class is offering.

The focus could be on the techniques of international cooking, or maybe terrific tapas. The class might cover knife skills (thats one that I need to continually enroll in). My favorite class would demonstrate fantastic wine and food pairings. All this and more, under the tutelage of the chef who orchestrates it all: Denis Chiappa. It was in the last of these classes that I had the good fortune to meet, and ultimately work with, Denis.

We met through a mutual friend who wanted to couple my wine knowledge with Deniss food expertise. He thought we would make a fun and informative team of food and beverage educators at his store, Carlow Cookery. Denis and his business partner, Liam Keegan, had built a fabulous demonstration kitchen smack-dab in the middle of their fine retail culinary establishment. Many years prior, they had facilitated numerous culinary classes as the food scene was exploding with popularity. Their reputation soared. I was honored to be a small part of their success.

When wine became Americas beverage of choice in the last decade, Denis had the foresight to integrate wine classes into the schedule. These themed classes paired regional wines with Deniss recipes, much to the delight of his customers. These classes areand continue to besome of the most enjoyable hours of my life.

And although the wines were usually delightful and thought-provoking, it was Deniss food that was consistently recognized and praised. I learned so much from himeverything from how to make a simple beurre blanc sauce to the proper roasting of a turkey. The chorus of requests to share his recipes after class was constant, always ending with a rousing ovation for the chef.

Now you can enjoy some of Deniss favorite recipes in his first cookbook. These recipes will be a valuable resource for you, and I can guarantee that each and every dish you make from Deniss repertoire will be delicious. Yes, this is his first cookbook, but I dont think it will be his last!

Cheers,

Mike Conti

Wine Educator - From Stem to Learn

Wine Consultant Vintage Imports

I remember distinctly the moment I became involved in catering. I was at my place of business, Carlow Cookery, a kitchenware store in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, that also offers cooking classes and wine tastings. One of my regular customers had just sent an e-mail asking me to cater his companys year-end holiday party. My initial reaction was to politely decline. Even though I was a regular instructor at our many cooking classes, I had never organized an event of the magnitude he was proposing. Rather than responding immediately, however, I decided to take a day and think about it.

One of the benefits of doing the classes at the store was that I was in regular contact with people who had expertise in a variety of areas within the food business. After consulting a number of them, I decided to take on the challenge. Im glad I didmy appreciation of food and how people respond to it has grown because of that experience. I have organized many events since then and relish seeing people respond to the food I serve.

From the start, though, I had to develop an approach that would ensure success but at the same time suit my style. From a food perspective, that meant organizing these events similarly to the way I organized my cooking classes. The menu for each event had to have a theme, and the recipes needed to be interesting and appeal to a broad audience. For me, the goal of a successful event should always be to make sure your guests thoroughly enjoy themselves. Its great to push yourself and satisfy your own food curiosity, but never at the expense of that goal.

I have been interested in writing a cookbook for a number of years but was waiting for inspiration for the overarching theme of the book. As each event passed, I became increasingly convinced that my first attempt at a cookbook should be based on the amazing experiences I had at Lacoja Cocinas., an amazing kitchen and site of some of my fondest food memories. As luck would have it, a by-product of treating these events like a cooking class was the recipes. Over the course of five years, I have accumulated detailed recipes from more than forty events, ranging in size from four people to more than eighty. It was certainly serendipitous, and I was able to accurately reproduce every recipe.

I often wish my general memory matched my food memory. I can recall, with great detail, specific instances where food was memorable. Many times, those memories are from meals that I shared with the people I love. Other times, like the ones chronicled in this book, the memory is of making meals for others to enjoy. I find great pleasure in both scenarios. I hope this book conveys that.

My path in cooking is not what I would consider to be a typical one. I was neither classically trained nor self-taught. I was fortunate to be able to spend time around people who knew a lot about preparing exceptional food. Over the course of many years, I witnessed different approaches to cooking, read at length about the science behind it, and talked about food with chefs and teachers. Ultimately, I developed a philosophy that worked for me. I could never name everyone who had an influence on my cooking, but there are some Id be remiss if I didnt mention here.

Clearly, the person who had the most to do with my love and understanding of cooking is my mother, Carol Chiappa. For as far back as I can remember, she worked magic in the kitchen. Preparing meals from scratch, using fresh ingredients, experimenting with ethnic flavors, focusing on healthy eating, and pushing the family to try new foods are just a few things that stand out. As I write this, I am just a few hours removed from one of her fantastic Sunday suppers. My twelve-year-old daughter asked me when we got home, Dad, did you eat like that all the time growing up?