What a crazy month!

So as you can see its been some time since I've updated a post. It's been a CRAZY, but in such a fantastic way.

To start I was asked to create items that would “jazz up” the sandwiches served at a new local coffee shop named Eat Gallery. The Eat Gallery is a Culinary Art Gallery featuring the Edible Artwork of community’s emerging culinary artists. I was honored to be asked to be a part of this.

I make a Spicy Cilantro Pesto as well as the curry Mustard. The first time I saw this I swooned!!

Artisan Spreads that's ME!

The other Culinary Artist are Vegan food truck owners and Chefs Rodney and Maddy of Green Seed Vegan, Ella Bella (not her real name I just call her that) the cookie pusher/creator owner of E-Dubalicious cookies she has 35 (and counting) different types of scrumptious cookies, Bread Boy Bakery who makes some amzing Rosemary bread and Chef Chris of Lucille's. This was a week long event that kicked off with a private rooftop dinner where all Chefs involved cooked a 3 course meal for a very very eclectic mix of people. There where politician, artist, promoters, business owners and community leaders.

My AMAZING team was there, Verlonsky, Marshelle and newbie Tomika. 

Tomika toasting the Rosemary Bread

 

Marshelly and Verlonsky plating

Our menu was:

Passed dishes showcasing Bread Boy Bread and the following from me:

• Ginger-Pear Butter
• Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
• Spiced Garlic Infused oil
  

Amuse Bouche

Causa- Smoked cumin purple potatoes, yellow curry potato and coconut cauliflower mashed, layered with avocado, cucumber and mango chutney, paired with lemon fried shrimp crisps.

Main Course:

Herb Crusted chicken breast stuffed with Roasted Garlic Spinach and mushroom, accompanied with warm summer vegetable Israeli couscous salad, lentils and Marsala sauce

Marshelly came over to help make this..

 

Dessert

Berry Frangipane

Marshelly came over to help make this..

Right in the middle of the 2^nd course it started to rain so they moved everyone downstairs.. Everyone was so amazingly cool, and receptive. Everyone seemed to LOVE the food that was presented to them from me I felt like I was off the a GREAT start.

Next was my satellite tasting at  Melodrama Boutique

The menu there was:

Sweet potato with Brown Butter and Basil Ravioli

Making these raviolis where very very easy

Plantain puffs with Chimichurro

Mango/Coconut Rice Sushi with Basil foam

Great Foam Success!!

It ended up on top of the Coconut Mango Sushi

Curry - Petatou (potato salad)

Fruit Salad/ Wonton chips

Coconut Polenta topped with Bacala Salad

It was just me and Verlonsky for this one, and despite the close quarters the owner Jackie was Amazing accommodating, the turn out was fantastic and it was a great success.

Next up was my artist talk, where I got another opportunity to have tastings of my food as well as an AMAZING rooftop performance from Michele Thibeaux.

The Menu:

Sweet and Savory Cream Puffs

Sweet had pastry cream topped with Chocolate ganash, the savory was a Gougers with whipped curry potato on the inside the puff was mixed with herbs

Sweet potato with Brown Butter and Basil Ravioli

Berry Frangipan

Coconut Polenta topped with Bacala Salad

Caribbean Petatou topped with Mango chutney

Vegetable spring rolls

Plantain Chips with Spicy Chimichurro sauce

This time none of my dream team was there but thankfully I had some amazing volunteers!

This has been an OVERWHELMING experience, the feedback on my food was amazing, I'm soo charged up and ready for the next event! Up next is a Foe dinner.. stay tuned!

Books I "heart"...

So I'm always being asked, what cook books do I love to read so ever so often I will post up the books both cooking and regular that have shaped me and led me to following my passion.. That said, my first book is..

Culinary Artistry

During my very first semester at school, I participated in “chopped” type of workshop were we where given a mystery basket. It was also the first time I met Chef Fernandez, who I would find during my time at school to be one of the BEST chef instructors at the school. 

After a dismal (and I do mean dismal) first effort he must of realized something in me (passion perhaps) because he pulled me aside and recommended that I get the book “Culinary Artistry”, he said it's the book that he keeps with him at all times, he didn't really explain what was in it, he just said it helps with flavor pairings. So off I went to the school library and checked it out.. 

Let me break it down for you.. Culinary Artistry is written by Andrew Dorneburg and Karen Page, I believe they may be husband and wife, they are James Beard award winning authors for their plethora of culinary related books.. (a few of them I will share here). It's part reference, part real world stories, part recipes.. I was struck and stuck when I read this passage under the title Sensory Perception:

“Food is something we ingest, we judge it carefully, critically and instinctively. All of our senses are used to evaluate whether to put the food in our mouths, and then whether to swallow it. First, you look at it, and the you might smell it, Is it safe. Is it appealing. If a food appears hot for example you may first try to touch it to gauge the temperature, will it burn your mouth? If it passes muster and you bit into it, your first experience is texture. Is it soft, crispy? If crispy, you hear the crunch in your inner ear a split second before its flavor begins to register on your taste buds.... then goes on to say.. Taste is existential, sensual experience..”

I was hooked.. Then I turned the pages to find that this book, ties all food, and I mean all food together with every other food it taste well with.. ie its flavor pairing.. It clues you in on seasonality, and menu themes, holiday and international food ideas.. it is FABULOUS!.. So much so for the next two years I checked it out of the school library for entire quarters.  I finally got around buying it so now I own it  (its all highlighted and tagged)..Watch  yours will be too.. enjoy!

You can buy the book at   Amazon.com

and you can read more about the authors here: Andrew Dorneburg and Karen Page

I LOVE this poem... "The Weeds"

The first time I read this blog Eggbeater.com written by Shauna Fish Lyndon, I read this passage below. For starters her site is a haven for chefs.. She is a on the job trained chef with over 16 years in the field. If you're at all interested in the world of professional cooking she keeps it REAL.. Her insights on working in kitchen as a womenchef is like none other. If your work on the line these words WILL move you ;) Enjoy!



The Weeds
 
The Weeds
Will take you
No matter how smart, clean, efficient, organized, you are.
The Weeds will find your weakness.
And live there. The Weeds wait for every cook.
        In plain fucking sight, yo.
The Weeds will take your lunch money and throw sand in your face and take your girlfriend and steal your pride.
The Weeds do not discriminate.
The Weeds wait.
The Weeds are patient.
Quiet. Confident.
The Weeds strip you naked and leave you out to dry.
And the next night? They'll be back again.
Refreshed.

For the rest of the post check it out on her blog: here

It's Here! Bocage Catering – Tailored to your taste..

.So besides working on "Plantation F", being a full time mom and student, my spirit, (you know that voice in the back of your mind, the whispers the “truth”) just won't stop telling me “do it! Do it! Do it! DO IT! ” like a chant that kept getting louder and louder.. And just as that voice was about to hit a fever pitch scream my fantastic friend and colleague fashion stylist extraordinaire (no really click her name if you think I'm exaggerating) Raygon Fields asked me (despite me adamantly saying or psyching (as in psyching myself out) that I was not ready) to cater an event she had coming up. It's Ray , it's paid and I get to do what I love.. So I accepted.. I worked the event and things took off I had to get a logo (thankful for Cynthia Stepechi) order cards i and start to work on the site

That was about 6 months ago and now I'm ready to redefine catering, elevate the expectation beyond the buffet..

The site is still a work in progress.. I still need to widdle down my breakfast sample menu as well as upload ALL my pix for the gallery.. After that I have a photo shoot coming up because lets face it the pix can be better.. But the photo shoot means narrowing down what dishes will be the best to highlight on the site, which means conceptualization each one (plating, garnish, plates) and I need at least 25 pixs..As overwhelming as it sounds I can't sleep because I'm thinking about plating.. It's rather amazing..

I'm sure Food Fete will serve as a the landing board for me to vent about of my gigs and the process/growing pains, lessons, warnings, adventures, successes, experience' adventures that I'm sure will come. In advance I am thankful for each gig I get, each and every one.. And so it begins..

Here's a link to the site please leave your comments and feedback.. Buckle up and lets ride!!!!

Bocage Catering.com 

50 things about Me

I saw this on another foodie blog and thought “this would be fantastic for my first real post” so here we go:

1. My name is Keisha Bocage, yes Bocage (pronounced Bo- caache or Bo-cash if your from the islands) is French it means bushes (how exciting, I know)
2. I have a two daughters J is 12 and B is 8, I am engaged to the love of my live we'll call him K
3. I was born in St. Croix, Virgin Islands
4. My entire family is from British Islands of Trinidad and Tobago
5. I am first generation Caribbean - American
6. I have 2 sisters 1 brother, two step sisters and one step brother
7. I grew up in Baytown,Texas a tiny little town outside of Houston and my formative teen years belonged to the beaches, bonfires,boardwalks ,sunset blvd and hollywood capers while living Long Beach,California
8. I currently reside in Da H
9. I am currently finishing up my Culinary Arts degree @ the Arts Institute of Houston
10. I graduate at the end of this year.. Sooooo stoked!!
11. I worked for over 13 years in the interactive field wearing an array of hats – project manager, creative director, interactive- public relations director, interactive marketing manager, etc, etc...
12. For about the same amount of time I've not so secretly been completely obsessed with food..
13. During this time I secretly went to tour the LeCourdon Blue Culinary Institute in Pasadena Ca, signed up, got a pell grant and didn’t go because of the next cushy Hollywood gig...
14. I now work for a French Chef in a French restaurant it will be referred to as the “F plantation” (“F” could stand for French or fantastic or maybe some other “F” word :).
15. I both love and hate this job...
16. My favorite color is brown.. all shades..
17. I realized my love of, not just cooking but cooking for people, when at age 22 I was the designated house for french toast.. My boyfriend at the time (my daughters father) and his crew would buy the ingredients for me to cook them french toast.. It's gives me complete satisfaction to be able to make people that happy..
18. I love the word “moxy”
19. I curse a lot, (like ALOT) I blame it on my interactive life working with interactive programmers and dealing with Hollywood clients (that alone will drive you to complete sailorspeak) and now working in the kitchen with a chef that will call you both pussy and cocksucker in one sentence
20. Lavender is my favorite scent and I wear it as perfume
21. I swoon listening to Anthony Bourdain talk about food.. (literally swoon)
22. I'm starting my catering business, and its terrifying and exciting at the same time.
23. I am BLESSED to have an amazing, supportive, crazy, humungous, loving cast of family and friends
24. I am 36 years old.. holy shit did I just type that!
25. My mom is my culinary sounding board, she is an AMAZING cook.. (just ask anyone in Baytown!!)
26. My dad is my biggest most supportive cheerleader, one phone call with him and I could conquer the world.
27. I LOVE Bravo reality.. (Hi Andy!)
28. I am extremely, EXTREMELY competitive
29. I am unable to mask my feelings if I'm not happy it shows, if I don't like your energy it shows, even if I try to fake it.
30. My goal is to have Bocage Catering up and running (2-3 events/wk) by the end of the year 2011
31. God I still have 18 more facts to go!!
32. I grew up on Hip-Hop and I will love it till the day I die!
33. I lurve to sing.. and during my hay day I belonged to a few all girl singing groups..
34. Sometimes I can have a concert in my shower for hourss.......
35. My favorite wine to drink is Pinot Grigeo
36. I wish I could draw.. J is an artist.. I'm thinking about taking a class..
37. I HATE that people smoke cigarettes.. and I have a bit of judgment for those that do..(sorry)
38. I love fashion..
39. I was a pescatarian for 7 years before I started culinary school..
40. Now I LOVE bacon..
41. I'm a dancing fool, if there is a kick ass dj and a dance floor.. im on it dancing all night! (that is until the dj goes “south” literally)
42. However Zydeco is starting to grow on me
43. I sometimes miss being a civilian, I crave for a Friday/Saturday nights of my past..
44. I *heart* 80's – 90's rock music (Don't let Bon Jovis living on prayer come on.. )
45. Swimming is my favorite pastime unfortunately I don't have a pool out here in da H.. “Will cook for Pool”
46. I need glasses.. I've become an excellent squinter..
47. I am one of those “Oprah” fanatics.. She is one of the most, if not the most successful women ever.. And she happens to be a lil black girl from Gary, Indiana
48. My favorite singer of all time is Amel Laurieux
49. I'm a concert junkie. I have been to over 100 live shows
50. When I started this list I panicked, not thinking I could come up with 50 things all about me, now at 50 I have about 50 more things I'd like to say.. I guess I'll change this to Vol I and next year I'll make another list..