Celebrate Mardi Gras with Gael’s Étouffée

It’s Mardi Gras and what better way to celebrate than with a rich, delicious helping of Étouffée. So, turn on the Marc Broussard and get down with Gael’s recipe for an amazing Mardi Gras treat!

Gael, one of our certified foodies in our Greenville store spent four years in New Orleans in the Garden District. She became immersed in the culture as a tour guide and started taking cooking classes in the Big Easy where she discovered her love this soulful dish.  Her recipe is adapted from The Plantation Cookbook published in 1972.

You should make this the day before or the morning before you want to serve it.  You’ll refrigerate it at least 1 hour before reheating and serving.  This will help all the flavors really marry together and give you the full etouffee experience.

What You’ll Need

2 sticks of butter OR 1 1/2 sticks of butter and 1/2 cup of crawfish fat 1/4 cup flour 1 cup chopped green onions 1 cup choppped yellow onions 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 cup chopped green pepper 1/2 cup chopped celery 1 bay leaf 1/4 teaspoon thyme 1/2 to 1 teaspoon basil 8 ounces tomato sauce

1/2 teaspoon white pepper 2 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Tabasco to taste 1 cup clam juice and 1 cup of water 2 pounds cooked crawfish 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/4 cup minced parsley 2 tablespoons cognac 1/2 cup chopped green onion tops

Roux: The Foundation
A good roux can take your dish a long way.  It is basically the glue for this dish.  A roux can start very light (blond) and get really dark (mahogany) and the depth flavor for your dish gets richer and richer the darker the roux.  For this recipe, you’ll need a roux that is in between the extremes that resembles a deep walnut color.  You will need to be patient and not jump the gun as it may take a little while for the color to get to the right stage.

Flame On!
Melt 1 stick of butter over a medium flame in a good stewpot and sprinkle the flour into the melted butter and continually whisk the roux until it comes to a nice walnut color.  If you start getting smoke coming off the pot, turn the flame down.

Once you’ve got the right color on your roux add in the remaining stick of butter (or the half stick and the crawfish fat) and melt the butter.  Throw in your green onions, yellow onions, garlic, green pepper, celery, bay leaf, thyme, and basil.  Saute all of the ingredients together over a medium flame for 30 minutes.  You’ll need to continually stir to ensure an even saute, so have a glass of wine ready and have some good music playing.

Now that you’ve got your veg squared away, time to add the liquids: tomato sauce, white pepper, salt, Worcestershire, tabasco and liquid (water or clam juice/water).  Bring this mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer slowly, uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Don’t worry we haven’t forgotten about the main ingredient: the crawfish! After 1 hour, turn off the flame and add the crawfish tails – don’t defrost if they are frozen, just throw them in – then add the lemon juice, parsley and cognac and mix thoroughly.

Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.  Before serving, heat up without bringing to a boil and serve atop some rice or in individual ramekins.  Garnish with the green onion tops.

Call in the Subs!
If you’re in the Wilmington, Delaware area, you can get crawfish tails from Sansones Seafood or you can order them frozen from cajungrocer.com.  They ship packed in dry ice.   If you can’t get your hands on crawfish OR you’re not sure if you would like the crawfish, you can substitute with small cooked shrimp as well.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Picture of the Roux

The Ups, Downs and All Arounds of Opening a Store

I started PKG in July 2010, solely online and ran the business out of my house.  I put the inventory in the basement on shelves that lined the concrete warehouse with the book collection upstairs to avoid any dampness absorbing into the paper.  I bought a $500 laptop – that I am currently typing on – and jammed the boxes behind the shipping table that was a leftover from my old house so I didn’t have to buy another one.  It was a little messy, but it kept overhead low, really low.  There was a good amount of inventory and I learned a lot over the 15 months we were online and now things – capital and location – fell into place for a brick and mortar to be a reality.

The brand of PKG – connecting the professional chef and the home chef – would not have been completely envisioned unless we had a brick and mortar location.  We wouldn’t be able to carry some of the products that our competitors carry and more importantly wouldn’t be able to engage our incredible customers in a face-to-face setting.

I am more than glad that I was able to have the online store and feel out everything from my vendors to my costs to my shipping to my customers before planting ourselves in Greenville.  It was a learning experience and risk mitigation factor.  It literally cost me less $100 a month to run the business.  The money we spent was put into the things that mattered, like the products.  This was one of the most important things from the way I saw it.

On October 29th I opened our doors at 4021E Kennett Pike in Greenville.  It was a fast and aggressive build-out.  The opening was phenomenal thanks to family, friends and great new customers even though it rained and snowed, but every day I learn something new: what products to carry, when deliveries come and are picked up, which vendors are aligned with our brand and those that aren’t.

While there are moments that I shake my head with W-T-F moments; everyday I have been so happy with the results of the store.  My team that works with me gives me great feedback and it is a relief to know while I am at the helm, I have the best group looking out for the metaphorical iceberg.

So, to memorialize the W-T-F moments and the incredibly awesome times I had opening the store, I made a daily video blog on our YouTube Channel.  If you don’t watch all of them.. watch Day 1 and Day 40. Oh, and come into the store and say hello.  You won’t be disappointed.

Cook Well & Eat Great!

Bourdain vs. Deen: Everything in Moderation

I am sure you heard by now that celebrity food cynic and Chef, Anthony Bourdain recently made headlines taking the usual, not surprisingly jab at Food Network’s resident southern charmer Paula Deen in the latest issue of TV Guide by saying [Deen] is “the worst, most dangerous person to America.” Bourdain is referring to America the Overweight & Obese, where we pledge our allegiance to the Golden Arches, for which it stands, one nation under a fast food dictatorship.  Pretty much right: 2/3 of the American population is overweight or obese.

Let’s be honest, Bourdain saying something obligatory does not make headlines anymore since that is pretty much his career.  What made headlines was that the Queen of southern cuisine responded, “You know, not everybody can afford to pay $58 for prime rib or $650 for a bottle of wine. My friends and I cook for regular families who worry about feeding their kids and paying the bills . . . It wasn’t that long ago that I was struggling to feed my family, too.”  This ignited the writing mojo from long-famed New York Times Restaurant Critic, Frank Bruni and other food stars were chiming in left and right.

Bourdain & Deen

Here’s the deal kids: they both have their own market. Ms. Paula has the southern market which captures the home cook and is about love and warmth and family.  AB has the other side of the coin: the Chefs and Home Chefs that are not cooking out of necessity, going to the restaurants that are molecular masterpieces or Mom & Pop stands in the middle of a war zone.  Is Paula solely responsible for two-thirds of America being in the “shape” that it’s in?  No or she would be making a bigger “killing” than she does now.

Honestly, I like them both for their own qualities.  I have plenty of friends that have made Paula’s recipes and I am glad that they did because it looks like they could use the extra butter in their culinary repertoire and on their waist lines.  Are there people out there that cook her food way too often?  Sure.  I have other friends go out to eat at places that AB has visited and spend a decadent amount of money on a meal, but it happens far and few between.

The morale of the story is everything in moderation.  Too much Paula and you’ll weigh as much as a cow and too much Anthony you’ll be as poor as he was when he was a full-time Chef.  Now, the two of you: get back to do what you do best.  We all thank you for it.

Cook Well & Eat Great,
Dave McCormick

Owner, PKG

The South Beach Wine & Food Festival Recap

There are few events out there that combine great weather, the best food and the world’s greatest Chefs in one area and the South Beach Wine & Food Festival pulled it off for the 10th year in a row from February 24th – 28th.  While this was our first time at the event, it will definitely not be our last.  All of the Chefs whose food you have yet to try or you want to rub shoulders with are at this event.

The toughest part is deciding which events you are not going to attend as there are over 50 events over the course of this four day extravaganza.  We went this year as guests, not as sponsors, to get an idea of the market Pro Kitchen Gear could engage.  With this said, we would recommend using your American Express card to buy your tickets early. We went for the package deal and then did a few add-on events after the fact.  The package deal secures your hotel and entrance to the best events on the docket.

The package we selected included 3 nights at the beautiful W Hotel in South Beach.  Their rooms are spacious, luxurious and everyone has a great view of the ocean.  Honestly, waking up to the ocean is the way your time in Miami should be spent.  The service at the hotel was spectacular (minus the delay in getting our room) and the pool was incredible.

Every possible Chef and celebrity food person is at this event.  We were lucky enough to spend time with the vibrant Chuck Hughes from Chucks Day Off on the Cooking Channel and Food Network Canada.  The Chuck you see on TV is as real and bigger-than-life in person when we met him at the Burger Bash which was the first event of the trip, held under a football sized tent on the beach.  This was the place to be.  Not only did we have the opportunity to speak to Chuck, but Alex Guaranschelli (Alex’s Day Off) was delightful and eloquent as well.  Along with the vibrant Anne Burrell from Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, there were sightings of Ted Allen (Chopped), Susie Fogelson & Bob Tushman (The Next Food Network Star) and many more! You really couldn’t go wrong at this event.

Every one of the big events have multiple after parties that you can attend as a separate ticketed event.  We went with the Moonshine & Swine event since it was at the W Hotel and made for finding the way home much easier after this booze-laden party.  Not that the event needed any help in keeping the alcohol flowing, the event was attended by Zane Lamprey from Drinking Made Easy. This is not a person you want to start drinking with if you are looking to have a productive next morning.  Trust me, I did not.  Witty, funny and down-right hilarious Zane kept us entertained and holding our sides for the rest of evening until it was time to retire.

The next day was the final chapter for the Pierre Jouet BubbleQ event that featured the incredible tastings from the greatest Chefs from around the world including the Italian cuisine master Marc Vetri (Vetri, Osteria, Amis), Iron Chefs Michael Symon (Lolita) & Jose Garces (Village Whiskey, Chifa, the list is too long) and many, many more.  The charming Todd English (Olives) was patient as a fan tried to take a picture about 5 times that finally worked out and Al Roker was mobbed with a line that was consistently 30 people deep.  Who knew?  This was the last year for the BubbleQ, but I am sure that the Grand Master of events, Lee Schrager, has something up his sleeve for next year!

Saturday was the perfect day for attending the Grand Tasting Village which took place a little further south than the two aforementioned events.  When I say this event is huge, it is an understatement.  There are two tents and an open area that equate to about 3 football fields in length.  Set on the beach, it was the perfect background to go around taste some of the greatest food & spirit from around the world while stuffing your tote bag with samples and brochures and business cards.  With wine glass secured around our necks and complimentary SoBe Wine & Food Festival cookbook in hand – another advantage of the package deal – we made our way through the crowd.  One tip: over-hydrate.  The staff constantly tells you and you should listen.  It’s warm, your drinking more than you think and the last thing you want is a mid-day hangover because you are so dehydrated.   Especially when you are getting ready for the Best Thing I Ever Ate: At the Beach event that night!

Before I go on, I should mention that you’ll want to get to these events early if you want to beat some of the crowd.  Most events have a VIP entrance for a premium ticket, but showing up 30 minutes early is not that bad.  You’re on the beach, at night, in Miami.

The Best Thing I Ever Ate: At the Beach is what it sounds like.  The television reincarnation at the beach that features the Celebrity Chef dishing out food from their favorite restaurant from across the country.  Between exchanging military stories with Sunny Anderson (Cooking for Real) and posing for a picture with the striking Debi Mazar and Italian hubby Gabriele Corcos (Extra Virgin), we jammed out to an incredible performance by KC and the Sunshine Band in between eating Fried Clams from Cape Porpoise Lobster Company and other epicurean delights.  We wrapped the night up early as the event emptied out, leaving only napkins in it’s wake.

By this point, we’re exhausted, but we haven’t given up.  We still have two events to go:  a cocktail clinic by Zane Lamprey and the closing party hosted by Guy Fieri.  The cocktail clinic hosted in the W Hotel was fun and engaging.  Zane invited volunteers to come up and make the French 75, a classic drink most people mistakenly thought was a Mimosa.  After a few goes with the shaker, the volunteers tasted their try at this classic to determine if they had nailed it or not. Unfortunately for me, not enough Gin.  I think my liver was telling me something.  The closing party was a little underwhelming, so we went out and indulged in traditional Cuban food to round out our trip.

Here are some tips from our experience at the SoBe Wine & Food Festival:

• Go for the package deal, it will be worth it since hotels jack up their prices knowing the influx of visitors for the weekend.
• Get your tickets early with the pre-sale from American Express.  The pre-sale usually starts around the last week of October.  These events sell out fast.
• Hydrate like hell.  You can not drink enough water with all of the alcohol you’ll be consuming.  Don’t kid yourself on this one.
• Not doing the VIP passes? Get to the bigger events about 30 minutes early and stand in line to avoid the crowd.  It gets crowded quickly.
• Follow the hash tag #sobewff on Twitter.  You will get updates from the event staff and others on what is going on.  You’ll also meet a lot of people that way.
• Bring business cards.  If you’re down there and are looking to establish relationships for business, always have our contact info available.
• Go for walks.  Miami has a lot to offer when you are not attending an event and you’ll need to work off some of those fried clams.

We will be going again next year as guests or sponsors.  Hopefully, we’ll be partnering with a Chef and bring some of our incredible cookware to the show!  In the meanwhile, stay up to date and follow the event Director, Lee Schrager on Twitter.

Until next year!

Yes, deep-frying is unhealthy! Enjoy it!

I recently received a question from someone about buying a deep-fryer that claims it can make “up to 2lbs of crisp, succulent fried food with only one tablespoon of oil”.  They wanted to know if they should buy this single-minded, unbranded entity that was listed at a steep $299.95 and dubs itself as the “The Healthiest Deep Fryer”. Of course, my answer was no.

First, deep frying is not meant to be healthy and personally, I don’t want it to be healthy.  It’s an indulgence to eat deep fried food.  There is something incredible about a ball of creamy risotto, going into a vat of warm fat with a skin of panko and coming out a few minutes later with a  crispy tan.  No machine is going to get you that with that little amount of oil.

If you want something “fried”, but really don’t want to mess with all the oil.  Here is a tip where you only need the oven you already have and one or two baking sheets.

1. Heat your oven to 425 degrees with two sheet pans in the oven
2. Leave the sheet pans in for 15 minutes after the oven has come to temperature
3. Carefully remove your sheet pans and drizzle on a small amount of oil
4. Add your favorite vegetable, season and put back in the oven for 25 – 40 minutes (depends on what you’re cooking)

When the oil hits the super-hot cookie sheets it will immediately warm the oil making it easier to cover and coat your vegetables.  Once your veg hits the pan it will do a mini-fry and the hot oven will take care of crisping the other side.

If you want to do this with meat, make sure to check the internal temperature before serving.

Deep-fry on! And.. stay away from the uni-taskers!

Fighting Obesity

There has been a movement in America to fight obesity on all fronts with all ages.  Obesity has sunk its claws into America and will be the leading cause of death by 2019.  In the United States, 68% of individuals over 20 years old are overweight or obese and a staggering 20% of individuals between 12 – 19 years old are obese; this does not include overweight individuals in this age group!

One of the first and most effective ways to fight obesity and being overweight is information.  Your is body is like a car engine, you give it fuel and you press on the accelerator, it burns the fuel.  The more you press on the accelerator the sooner you will need to refuel.  Unfortunately, for those engines that are comprised of cells and tissue, our fuel gets stored – if not used properly or we use the wrong kind/quantity of fuel – into something called fat.

Having the right information of what we put into our bodies starts with knowing the ingredients that go into the food we eat.  There is no better way to know this than by cooking your own meals.  Having intimate knowledge of  what you use to make your food is the first step into fighting any weight problem.

The majority of fast food ‘meals’ make up 90 – 95% of your daily caloric intake.  You may be saying, well that is okay because that is the only other meal that I eat besides breakfast – also not good – but the majority of the ‘meal’ has no nutritional value meaning your body does not know what to do with it besides turn it into waste or fat.

Cooking at home is an excellent way to a) have fresh, healthy meals b) spend time with your family c) feel rewarded for making something on your own.  These days there are plentiful markets in your area that you may not know about.  If you aren’t sure where to find a local farmers market or share program, check out www.localharvest.org.

This is coming from someone who weighed in at a whopping 240+ pounds in the 7th grade!  Yes, I was around 12 years old and weighed more than an obese 30 year old.  It was not solely what I ate, it was also how much of it I ate.   It took the reality of High School and enlisting the United States Army to become physically fit and aware of what I was putting my body.

Cooking at home is not as time-consuming as you may think.  Once you get in the kitchen and learn the basics, cooking is a snap and it is just up to your imagination on what you can put together on a moments notice.  Get in the kitchen and cook!

The fight against obesity starts at home, but continues in our schools.  Check out these great people doing wonderful things to help educate and improve the food options available across the country.

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution
Michelle Obama’s  Let’s Move Campaign
Bill Clinton’s Alliance for a Healthier Generation

Stay tuned for our upcoming webisodes on how to cook quick, easy and delicious meals!

The SoBe Wine & Food Festival

At the end of February, the PKG team will be heading to the SoBe Wine & Food Festival.  Not only is this a huge-helping of food and wine from some of the best Chefs in America and around the world, it is also the venue to rub shoulders with all of the personalities you see and idolize on television.

You will be blessed with the presence of the likes of the always appealing Tyler Florence, vibrantly vivacious Anne Burrell, the prominently paramount Art Smith, and our insane drinking friend Zane Lamprey, along with ship loads more!

This year the festival is celebrating its 10th Anniversary and we are excited to be in attendance.  The festival director and tweeting juggernaut, Lee Schrager, has promised that this year will be the most thrilling year yet with new events and some old favorites that people love.  Lee is such a twitter guru that he actually has a the festival trending under #sobewff!

Tickets for this event go on sale at the end of October of the previous year for American Express cardholders and tickets to some events sell faster than Paula Deen’s cookbooks or the Barefoot Contessa’s Chocolate Chunk Blondie Mix! You must get on their website and plan your events out ahead of time and prepared to purchase your tickets EARLY.  We had a spreadsheet, seriously.

Grand Tasting Village Entrance

Why does the PKG team partake in such an event?  These Chefs and celebrities are all trying to get you to cook in your own kitchen as well as that is what we want you to do!  Not to mention, it’s a great way to go to some place warm in the middle of winter!!

If you aren’t able to make it, be sure to follow us on Twitter as we will be tweeting throughout the event!