Katie Stew

It has been almost a year and a half since I started working in the food industry. It is also clear that during that time my writing here has dropped drastically. Someone once said to me that when you make your hobby your job, it is hard to keep it as the hobby as well. I have found that to be true. I love cooking, but since I started doing it professionally, it is harder to write about it. I also find that I cook less at home because by the time I get home, I’m done cooking, and the last thing I want to do is another pile of dishes. Needless to say, I’ve had an absurd amount of delivery pizza in the last year.

But, I also love it when I get to work each day. To be honest, the getting out of bed and getting to work part still sucks, but when I get there, I often feel centered, calm, and in control of my world. And, it’s fun! I think these feelings are a lot better than what most people experience in their work on a daily basis, and for that I’m grateful.

I’ve learned so much. When I first started at Le Reve Bakery, I had a great conversation with my mom about my choice to go into the food industry. She said to me that, the Cox family can throw great parties and that we can put on holiday meals to remember, but that I was going to learn things that she never had about food. It was exciting and inspiring. And, its true. I now know about purchasing, about how many cases of eggs a restaurant can go through in a week (a shocking amount). I know about all the proper rules for cleaning and food preparation. I can scale recipes up to an absurd degree, and budget it all. I know how to turn a profit (though I wish I turned a larger one), and I know the satisfaction that comes with knowing that I’ve fed a lot of people and made their days a little bit better.

Wanna know what it looks like to make meatloaf for 100 people? Now you know. It’s a little disturbing.

Le Reve was just named as one of the top five bakeries in Seattle, and I couldn’t be prouder. I’m very thankful that they brought me in, with no experience to show other than this blog, and taught me so much. I loved the people I worked with and the food that I produced. They let me experiment and come into my own.

Last April, I started working with Lishfood.com. Lish delivers professionally prepared meals from Seattle’s top chefs to your door. That’s me, a top chef! (Though my hair looks nothing like this anymore. You can’t keep pictures of me up to date! I like to keep people on their toes.)

My specialty is in Southern Comfort food. You need some BBQ, mac and cheese, meatloaf, chili, or some cornbread? You let me know. Doing the best I can to get some comfort food distributed around Seattle.

But, to be real here, it wasn’t just the change in profession that slowed down my blogging. Last year had to be the hardest year of my life to date and I just didn’t have the mental or emotional bandwidth to keep up here.

There was the physical strain of switching to a job where I was on my feet all day, and the very early morning schedule. My partner and I both had new and powerful stressors in our lives. We moved last year and both had epic professional changes. And though now, it is lovely to be in a new home, last summer, learning that the place we’d lived for five years was going to be torn down and having to find and move into a new place was very stressful. In the midst of all this, I suffered a number of losses in my family last year, something I have been lucky enough to not have experienced in my adult life up until now. 2015 was rough. Physically, mentally, emotionally.

But, I did have the kitchen to keep me busy, and that was lovely. I had the support of a wonderful partner and the love of my family. And so far, 2016 has been just fine.

And so now that things have calmed down a little bit, I’m back. I hope to be back here regularly again, but life has a way of making things crazy, so we’ll see. But my intentions are good and I have a backlog of recipes and half written posts that you wouldn’t believe. So wish me luck and I’ll wish you luck and we’ll see where the journey takes us.

My grandmother passed away about a week ago. Life events like this are never easy, but I feel blessed that I was able to be there with her and my family at the end. It has been an exhausting and emotionally draining few weeks.

Pearl Pryor Shields was 96 when she passed. Just a few months away from her 97th birthday. She was a beautiful, elegant woman and a wonderful grandmother. She was also a great cook. A few years ago, before a stroke and other numerous health issues began to make her life so much harder, I asked for a specific Christmas present from her. I asked her to write down her favorite recipes for me. That year, she gave me a recipe box filled with handwritten cards containing some of her classic dishes. That box is one of my most precious possessions.

I remember standing on a stool beside her at her kitchen counter rolling cookie dough into balls and then into a bowl of cinnamon sugar to make snickerdoodles. I remember eating her fried potato sandwiches (which were insanely awesome) and that she would always have a huge breakfast prepared for my brother and I when we’d stay over. Eggs, bacon, toast, and half a grapefruit with an absurd amount of sugar on top.

It is her brisket recipe that I made when my boyfriend’s parents came to Seattle and I wanted to impress them with my cooking. And every time I have a sugar cookie I compare it to hers.

In my experience, life often revolves around the kitchen. That is where memories are made, stories are told, and relationships are built. There are some foods that will always remind me of my grandmother, and that makes me happy. Happy and grateful.

Now that I’m back in Seattle, so far from my family, after the funeral and everything, I was thinking about how I could do some celebrating of Pearl on my own. So, I pulled out the recipe box and got to cooking. It was a  nice experience. And a filling one, since I now have chicken and dumplings and a squash casserole in my fridge.

Now, lets talk about this delicious recipe of Pearl’s.

Chicken and dumplings is such a delicious, classic Southern dish and one that I hadn’t made since college. I think it had just dropped off my radar as a food option. It is relatively easy to make, makes you feel accomplished, and there really isn’t anything more comforting out there. So here we go.

Grandma Pearl’s Chicken and Dumplings

• about 4 cups rich chicken broth
• 1 TB Crisco
• 1 cup cream
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• Chicken, shredded- about 1/2 a chicken

Place flour in a mixer. Pour in 1/2 cup chicken broth and the TB Crisco. Mix until stiff dough forms. Flour a space on your cabinet or a big cutting board and roll out dough very thin. Cut into squares.

Boil remaining broth on stovetop. Drop squares of dough in boiling broth. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add chicken, cream, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer another 15-20 minutes, until liquid thickens.

When I made this, I used homemade stock and shredded 1/2 a rotisserie chicken into the dumplings. It was so delicious.

If you don’t ever make your own chicken stock, you should consider trying it. Whenever I get a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, (which I do often because their easy and delicious), I often make a stock. Here’s a simple breakdown of how to do it.

Chicken stock

Once you’ve picked off all the chicken you are going to eat, throw the carcass in a pot. Look in your crisper drawer and see what you’re working with. The basic broth tends to have about 3 stalks of celery cut in half, a handful of baby carrots, or two whole ones cut in half, and an onion, roughly cut into quarters. If you find half a bell pepper, toss that in as well. Fill the pot with water until it covers all that stuff and add a generous amount of salt. As my mother would say, salt it like the sea. Then toss in about 5 whole peppercorns. At this point, you’re good to go. But, if you grow herbs in your garden, go outside and grab some chives, parsley, and thyme. I wouldn’t add things like rosemary or basil to my stock because they can be overwhelming.

Bring it all to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Forget about it for about two hours, until your house smells so wonderful that you just can’t take it anymore. Strain the liquid through a fine colander or cheesecloth into a large bowl. What I do at this point is usually stick it in the fridge until it cools and then freeze the broth in quart sized freezer bags. Then you always have homemade stock for soups or anything else, really handy.

So, next time you get a little rotisserie chicken, make yourself some stock.

Enjoy.

Today I was on the front page of the Seattle Times.

So, that’s awesome.

You can read the article here.

I’ve been working with a great Seattle based company called Lish for the past few months. Lish provides delicious chef prepared meals that are delivered to your home with instructions for heating, for  you to enjoy at your convenience. I really enjoy working with them. I write my own menus, accept orders and prepare them on a schedule that I decide upon. It’s super flexible and enjoyable. I’m putting out food that I really care about. I’m bringing some Southern charm and comfort to the food of Seattle.

Lamb Shephard’s Pie with Roasted Broccoli

Summer Salad with grilled chicken, summer squash, roasted corn, tomatoes, and herbs with a lime vinaigrette.

Here is my Lish profile. You can see all the yummy dishes that I make, and if you’re in the Seattle area and want to order my delicious food, I highly recommend it. I’m totally not biased about it.

Tuna Noodle Casserole was not part of my childhood experience. In fact, I don’t think I’d ever had a Tuna Noodle Casserole until a dinner party I went to in 2010 that I wrote about. And honestly, I didn’t really think about it again until about a month ago. I was searching Pinterest for ideas for dinner during my meat free Lent time, and saw some beautiful picture of a casserole and decided I had to go for it. The recipe I came across seemed a little dull, so I decided to kick it up a notch.

Bam!

The basic base of Creole cooking- celery, onion, and peppers, and some of my favorite seasoning, Tony Chachere’s, bring this casserole to another level. It is a little spicy, creamy, and comforting. I ate this casserole up in no time. I look forward to making another. I never would of thought that a tuna casserole would make it into my regular rotation, but I loved this dish.

I love food surprises.

Next time, I’ll take pictures before I eat it all…. Probably.

Creole Tuna Noodle Casserole

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 celery stalks, small diced
• 1/4 onion, small diced
• 1/4 red bell pepper, small diced
• 1 tablespoon minced jalapeño
• 1 teaspoon Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 6 ounces flat egg noodles
• 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 6 ounces nice canned tuna, drained

For the topping:

• 1 tablespoon minced parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 cup crushed crackers: Saltines or Ritz

For the casserole:

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-by-8-inch glass baking dish, and bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. Heat olive oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When oil is hot and butter foams, add celery, onion, jalapeño, and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft but not browned.
3. Add Creole Seasoning and flour to vegetable mixture, stirring until flour is well incorporated. Cook for 1 minute, then slowly pour in milk, stirring well to make sure no lumps of flour are left. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and adjust seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir in sour cream and mustard, and set aside.
4. Once the water is boiling, add egg noodles and cook until they are slightly tender and still white in the middle, about 3 minutes. Drain.
5. Stir cheddar and egg noodles into vegetable-and-milk mixture. Flake tuna into mixture, and stir gently. Pour into the prepared baking dish.

For the topping:

1. Combine parsley, butter, cheddar, and saltine crumbs in a mixing bowl, using your hands to mix well until all butter is incorporated. Sprinkle mixture evenly over casserole.
2. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until crackers are golden and casserole is bubbling.

Enjoy!