Charlie Trotter's 22nd Anniversary Celebration

I attended Charlie Trotter's 22nd anniversary celebration - somewhat as a VIP guest. I was a backstage pass to kitchen before, during and after the dinner, and I have tell you this is not the first time Charlie has allowed me this opportunity.

For this dinner, Chef Juan Mari Arzak of Restaurante Arzak of San Sabastian (Spain), Chef Michael Carlson of Schwa (Chicago), Chef Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park (New York), Chef Paul Liebrandt of Corton (New York), Farmer/Chef Lee Jones of The Chef's Garden (Ohio) joined Charlie in preparing a nine course dinner. Furthermore, there were four master sommeliers in the restaurant that evening: Larry Stone, Serafin Alvarado, Robert Houde, Conrad Reddick.

All of the proceeds from the evening (there were about 110 guest who paid $450/plate) went toward Charlie Trotter's Educational Foundation.

Here are a few of the the goings-on in Charlie Trotter's kitchen. It was a great evening.

Happy Eating! Mr. Foodie

Boeuf Bourguignon

Here's a photo recap of my attempt at making boeuf bourguignon, following Julia Child's recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I have to admit the final dish came out pretty darn good. The intensive flavor that developed was incredible. This is one dish that anyone can make ... guaranteed! Now, since those of you who read this blog are foodies, I'm hopefully confident that you know what each picture depicts. If not, get Child's book to find out or e-mail me at robbenes@comcast.net. Happy Eating! Mr. Foodie!

Foodie Public Relations Gets Recognized

Foodie Public Relations worked with the Glen Ellyn library this past summer by having local restaurants and chefs put on food demonstations for tweens and their parents.

To help promote the program, Foodie PR not only had the food programs mentioned in the library’s print and electronic newsletter, but free publicity was secured in the Village of Glen Ellyn’s newsletter (circulation: 26,999), Glen Ellyn News (circulation: 15,500) and Wheaton Sun (circulation: 20,502). Coverage of the food program (featuring Honey’s pastry chef) also appeared in the Glen Ellyn News.

One restaurant that joined the program was Honey. Here's what Elizabeth Janus, Owner of Honey, had to say about Foodie's work:

"Thank you so much for your effort in coordinating the library demos. It’s great to have opportunities for publicity that are unique, not expensive and well thought out. You're great with communication and organization. We at Honey recommend your services to any restaurant looking for opportunities to grow, with ideas that are outside the box of traditional marketing."

To learn more about how Foodie Public Relations can help with your marketing needs, call 630-913-6289 or e-mail robbenes@comcast.net.

Happy Eating! Mr. Foodie

Foodie PR Gets Another Endorsement

Foodie Public Relations worked with chocolate confectioner Nahualli Trading Co. (www.nahuallitrading.com), which makes Chocolate Seeds: whole shelled cocoa beans covered in dark chocolate.

Foodie partnered with Nahualli's founder and owner, Paul Mosca, to develop an integrated communications program that included a media kit. The kit, which was sent to 10 food editors and writers throughout the country, included product samples, photography on a flash drive and complimentary tea bags to pair with the Chocolate Seeds.

The campaign resulted in placement in four national publications: Fancy Food & Culinary Products, National Culinary Review, Candy Industry, Tea and Coffee. Placement included positive product reviews and a company profile. In addition to being in the print version of each magazine, Nahualli Trading Co. appeared electronically on each magazine’s web site.

More than $15,000 in free publicity was secured when the all print and electronic placements are totaled.

Here's what Mosca had to say about Foodie PR's work:
"Rob's [Foodie Public Relation's president] perspective, intuition, and creative insight produced several magazine product placements for Chocolate Seeds. In addition, having a sounding board with intimate knowledge of the food industry allowed me to reshape our website and mission statement for The Nahualli Trading Co. Good bloke all around. And he knows his food.”

Happy Eating! Mr. Foodie

Beach Front BBQing

I'm on a family holiday in Northern Door County (WI) with my wife, Cathy, and my two daugthers, Ava and Ellen. One of our favorite beaches is North Bay Beach at Rowley's Bay. When we spend the day at this beach we often grill out ... using the beach supplied barbecue grills. Have you used this type of grill? They are challenging, depending on the direction of the wind and the unexpected gusts that blow off the water. We had garlic and onion burgers for dinner.
Oh, yeah, here's a picture of a wayward Door County Seagull that would not leave us alone. He (or she) wanted to constantly sneak up to our table to grab a dropped morsel. The bird was very persistent to say the very least.


Happy Eating (and barbecuing at on your favorite open fire grill)! Mr. Foodie

Super Easy Grilled Sockeye Salmon

The local market had fresh, wild-caught Sockeye salmon. The color was deep red and I couldn't pass it up. Here's a super easy way to prepare it on the grill. Preheat your grill to 400F. Rip out a good size piece of aluminum foil, drizzle a little olive oil on it, lay the salmon on the oil, season the fish with salt and pepper, wrap up the foil (be sure it's tightly sealed), place the package in the center of the grill and cook for 10 minutes ... 10 minutes! Remove the package, let it sit for a few minutes and then enjoy (be careful when you unwrap the foil because there could be steam, which is a nasty burn).

The salmon will be perfectly cooked ... kind of like being poached. The skin will remain stuck to the foil, so there's no need to skin the fish first.

Serve with grilled asparagus and a nice white wine of your choice.



Happy Eating! Mr. Foodie

BBQ Ribs: Boiling or No Boiling?

I contribute to another food blog called The Pathetic Suburban Males’ Grill Club (www.psmgc.com). Here’s a recent post I had discussing a recent rib dinner I made.

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Here's a no-brainer on how to make fall-off-the-bone barbecue pork ribs cooking the ribs in a crock pot first and then finishing them on your grill.. Use 5-6 pounds of pork loin back ribs or spareribs ... if you're not a fan of the fatty taste of pork then use beef ribs. Be sure to remove the silver skin from the backside of the ribs before cooking. If you leave it on it'll toughen up the ribs and you won't enjoy them. Take a sharp deboning knife and start working the silver skin off one end, use a paper towel or dry dish rag and grab hold of the silver skin and just pull it off ... it should peel off very easily.

Next, cut the ribs into portions of four bones each. Boil the ribs for 20 minutes in a mixture of apple juice and water (enough liquid so the ribs are covered). I added six cloves to the pot. Boiling the ribs first cooks off some of the excess fat. While the ribs are boiling prepare the barbecue braising sauce. In a bowl pour in the following ingredients: 1/2 cup of ketchup, 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce (mine is Sweet Baby's Ray), 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar, 3 tablespoons of yellow mustard, 1cup sweet onion (chopped), 14 oz. can of chopped tomatoes and its juice, and 2 cloves of fresh garlic (chopped).

Next, set up your crock pot. Pour just enough sauce in the bottom of the crock pot to cover the bottom. Start layering the ribs in the pot. Pour the rest of the sauce over the ribs. Make sure the ribs are covered completely. Just add water (or apple juice) if you need to add more liquid so the ribs are covered. Cook the ribs for about 4 or 5 hours ... until they are fork tender. When done, remove the rib portions carefully because you don't want them to fall apart ... they will be really tender. Let them cool completely ... put them in the frig when ready to grill.


While the ribs are cooling, strain the braising sauce from the crock pot, put the sauce in a sauce pan and reduce until the sauce turns into a thick barbecue sauce.

When you're ready to eat, fire up your grill, place the rib portions on the grill, mop on sauce and let the ribs get warmed through. Turn the ribs over and mop sauce. The sauce will caramelize and the ribs will get crusty and develop a deep red color.

Serve the ribs with a side of sauce, slaw, and sweet tea. Must be a southerner at heart.

The question the blog master posted along with my entry was if boiling ribs was a good thing or not. What do you think?

Happy Eating! Mr. Foodie