Mother’s Day Private Chef Dinner

Chef Sean and I had the honor of cooking a three course dinner for clients to celebrate Mother’s Day this year in downtown Boulder. He was in charge of everything except the Rhubarb Pie, which I successfully put together the day before.

I set the table for four while he was busy cooking. The first course was delectable- Crab cakes with a watercress, mizuna, and apple salad and a champagne mustard vinaigrette.

Crab cakes with watercress and mizuna.

The second course was planned for the Texans visiting family in Boulder: Steak and potatoes.

Chef Sean Smith grills steaks at a client's home in Boulder.

Chef Sean made twice baked potatoes filled with pancetta, roasted garlic, parmesan, ricotta, and green onion served on top of sautéed spinach and chard from the Boulder Farmer’s Market. The steaks were topped with a relish of roasted peppers and pickled chilies (he pickled the chilies last summer during pepper season at the market).

Grilled steaks with pickled pepper relish, twice baked potatoes over sauteed greens.

We ended with my Rhubarb Pie.

It’s always fun cooking for hungry clients. Please let us know what we can cook for you!

Cheers~

Wild Rice and Veggie Salad

This started out as an experimental chilled salad, and turned out to be a delicious meal. Wild rice is the base, so cook one cup of wild or long grain brown rice (usually 1 cup rice to 2 cups water, boil, simmer 45-50 minutes). Remove the cooked rice from heat and let it sit a few minutes before transferring it to a large bowl.

The rest of the salad ingredients are:
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 cups chopped rainbow chard, separate the stalky parts from the leafy
  • 1 can cannellini beans, rinsed
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 yellow squash
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 TB cider vinegar
  • salt
  • pepper
While the rice is cooking, heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes or so, until soft. Add the garlic and cook another 3-4 minutes and remove from heat. Pour into a pyrex measuring cup because this will become the base for the dressing. Also, getting the onion and garlic out of the hot pan will help prevent it from continuing to cook in the hot pan.
Put the pan back on the stove and heat the stalky part of the chard for 3 minutes or so on medium high heat. Lower the temp to medium and add the leafy part. Cook until it is wilted. Add this to the large bowl (the one the cooked rice will eventually go in), but strain out the excess liquid first.
Slice the zucchini and squash into thick strips, toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and throw on the grill for a few minutes until they are starting to soften but still maintain some crunch. Remove them from the grill and let them cool a few minutes. Then slice them further into bite-sized pieces. Add these to the large bowl.
Add the rinsed cannellini beans to the bowl and mix this well. Then, assemble the dressing.
Add the maple syrup and cider vinegar to the onion, garlic, and olive oil and mix well. Toss the rice, chard, zucchini, squash, and beans with the dressing. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with feta cheese and avocado to round out the dish.

Spinach, Rainbow Chard, and Peppers in Coconut Sauce

This was a great side dish to the Grilled Yellow Tail Snapper and Coconut Basmati Rice. All of these ingredients are best when in season.

Ingredients:
  • lots of raw spinach (a colander full)
  • 10 or so whole leaves of rainbow chard
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 5.46 oz. can of coconut milk (undisturbed and minus the cream skimmed off for the fish and rice dishes during this might’s dinner)
  • 1 TB soy sauce
Chop the greens and put them in a dry pan. Start to cook them in the small amount of water left from washing them. When they start to wilt, add the peppers, sliced however you like. Next add the rest of the thick coconut cream and the garlic. Mix this all and let it cook down a little more. Add the soy sauce and the rest of the can of coconut milk. Stir until well combined, remove from heat, and enjoy.

Welcome to my kitchen

A Bolder Table is a place where I bookmark my favorite recipes for later along with some occasional musings. It's my personal digital recipe compilation... Let's say it's my cookbook. Thanks for stopping by! -Megan
© 2017 A Bolder Home LLC. All Rights Reserved. | Boulder, CO Personal Chef Services