FALL 2010 - Les Dames d'Escoffier International

Kansas Cit yAnne BrockhoffKansas City Dames celebrated their 11th annual Escoffier Dinner atthe Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Two new members wereinducted: Theresa Ng, co-owner of Bo Ling’s restaurants, and KarenSiebert of Harvesters Community Food Network. The evening began withsparkling wine and a stroll through the museum, which features worksfrom the likes of Louise Bourgeois, Dale Chihuly, Willem de Kooning,David Hockney and Wayne Thiebaud. Next came three courses fromChef Jennifer Maloney and an entertaining series of cameos of AugusteEscoffier’s life and career, courtesy of Kathy Denis.miamiMarguerite GilThe Miami Chapter had arendezvous at The CheeseCourse, where a dozenmembers attended a tastingseminar of a varietyof traditional Europeancheeses and variousAmerican artisan cheeses.We tasted the MarcelPetite Fort St. AntoineComte, which remainsthe textbook referencefor French, pressed,cooked-curd cheeses. Alsoon the menu was Neal’sYard Dairy LincolnshirePoacher. Buyers often visitNeal’s, selecting Cheddarsevery eight weeksand tasting throughyoung cheeses to selectthe batches that will bestrepresent the cheese makers.Some of the Americancheeses that weretasted included PleasantRidge Reserve (raw cow’smilk) from Dodgeville,Wisc., and Beecher’sFlagship Reserve Cheddar(pasteurized cow’s milk)from Seattle. We learnedMiami Dames enjoyed a cheese and wine tasting seminarat The Cheese Course.that the first step to appreciating cheese is to look, smell, feel and tastethe goods. Cheese is made by artisans who use their hands and expertiseto produce a variety of delicious cheeses from around the world.It’s a healthy way to eat because authentic cheeses have no artificialingredients, flavor additives or preservatives.New York Cit yPatricia CobeForget the old saying “soup to nuts!” On June 9, a group of Damesdiscovered the versatility of nuts at a lunch prepared by noted cookbookwriter Susan Herrmann Loomis, composed of recipes from herlatest book, “Nuts in the Kitchen: More Than 100 Recipes for Every Tasteand Occasion.” Nibbling on cocoa nuts with fleur de sel and Parmigianoseed sticks in the fabulous kitchen at Suzen O’Rourke’s eventspace, Cooking By the Book, we watched Loomis prepare three recipesin her book. As she assembled an easy and delectable crumbly almondcake, she suggested, “Always make dessert first because there willbe less stress preparing the rest of the meal.” However, there was noevidence of stress in the lunch we sat down to enjoy. The first course,Mushroom and Walnut Tarte Tatin, is a play on France’s most populardessert. It was followed by Tagine from Le Casbah, inspired by a dishin a restaurant in Algiers. Lemon Poppy Seed Ice Cream accompaniedthe almond cake, a recipeof Italian origin. Loomis,a former Dame when shelived in New York beforemoving to Normandywith her family, is theauthor of nine books andoperates the renownedcooking school, On RueTatin. We all went homewith autographed copiesof the book in hand,ready to welcome nuts toour kitchens. Kudos toLila Gault for arrangingthe event, to RobertaMorrell for providinglovely wines, and SuzenO’Rourke for hosting.Herrmann Loomis prepares lunch.(L-R): Event guest PatriciaGoodman and San Diego DamesTracey Amernick and VickiMogilner enjoy lunch together.Tagine from Susan HerrmannLoomis’ new book, Nuts in theKitchen.PhoenixGwen Ashley Walters and Michelle DudashThe Phoenix LDEI chapter sponsored the 3rd Annual Farmer +Chef Connection, a one-day conference on October 4. Hosted byEdible Phoenix and Phoenix Slow Food, the event brought togetherlocal chefs and restaurants with local farmers and producers to buildrelationships and nurture our local food community. For more details,visit http://fcc.eventbrite.com.In May, the Phoenix Dames enjoyed an evening of local, sustainablefood and wine at FnB restaurant in Scottsdale. Owner Pavle Milic,winemaker and film director Sam Pillsbury and Chef Charleen Badmanprepared a scrumptious five-course meal with wine pairings.Candy Lesher, Chapter PresidentEugenia Theodosopoulos, MichelleDudash and Gaye Ingram areenjoying Arizona wines.Smoked trout salad with local citrusfrom FnB restaurant in Scottsdale.Pavle Milic and Sam Pillsbury.22 L e s D a m e s d ’ E s c o f f i e r I n t e r n a t i o n a l