Cookling Classes for Developmentally disabled and Autistic Students

I did a cooking class on appetizers at yesterday and spoke with the regional sales manager. We discussed the possibility of cooking classes (by me) given to kids with developmental disabilities or autism. My husband's background (just completed his M. Ed. in Special Education this week.)and my cooking could work well together especially in a commercial cooking environment like Miele. We are running this by others to get ideas together. If you have suggestions, please let me know.

Helen

Being Adir's Mom

I have been Adir's mom for 14 years. Every day he surprises me. Since he has Down Syndrome, he is not your average or typical 14 year old, but he is definitely 14.

This became apparent while looking at the Sunday paper's ads this week. He saw Toys R Us...he pointed out his wish list. He wanted to know why he never had the "my first tool set" (geared for 3 or 4 year olds)I pointed out that at 3 not only was he just starting to run, he was then using toys for 1 or 2, by the time he was at the right "developmental milestone" he was tooo big. He also wants to buy suits to impress the girls in his class. He wants to start dating, kissing, etc etc. His hormones of all things are on target. oy vey...

This morning he wanted to wait for the school bus by himself (assert independence). I said for ESE (Exceptional Student Education) students need a parent to wait with them or the parents get in trouble. He shouted at me that "I am NOT ESE!!" over and over. Oh JOY?!? LOL>

Helen

Baked Brie with Apricot & Almonds

At my cooking class at Miele this week, people were wowed by one of the simplest appetizers to prepare... Baked Brie. The hardest thing about this recipe is waiting for the puff pastry to defrost.

Baked Brie
Serves 10
Ingredients
· 1/2 package frozen puff pastry, thawed
· 1 (8 ounce) package brie cheese, round
· 1/8 cup toasted almonds, slices (optional)
· 1/4 cup apricot preserves
Directions

Preheat oven to 425. Lightly grease cookie sheet.
Roll puff pastry out slightly.
Place the cheese wheel on top of puff pastry (leave rind on).
Place preserves on top of cheese.
Place the almonds on top of preserves.
Bundle Puff Pastry up and around the cheese.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Let cool for five minutes.
Serve with your favorite crackers or sliced apples and pears.

Helen Gottesman, Helen’s Home Cooking & Catering
561-676-2078

Gluten-Free Diet and Special Requests

On Sunday morning, I received a call from a woman that just moved here from Michigan. She wanted me to cook a gluten-free organic diet for her. she needed this RIGHT AWAY. I was able to meet with her later that day. I did my shopping for her at Whole foods and the Kosher Marketplace in Boca Raton (kosher organic meats abound).
I cookedd and delivered her the food on Monday. She was sooo excited, she filled her refrigerator and could not wait for a taste testing of everything!!

I made>

Chicken Soup with vegetables
Mega Chunky Vegetable Soup

Roast Chicken with Orange Juice
Chicken Fricasee (tomato sauce)
Salmon with lime, ginger and tamari
Chicken with broccoli stir fry

Plain Brown Rice
Quinoa Pasta
Homemade tomato sauce
Baked Butternut Squash
Baked Sweet Potato

She is referring my cards to Dr. Albert Robbins, a well known allergist in Boca Raton that is dealing with her health issues.
What can I cook for you?

Helen

Thanksgiving Cooking Ad

I wanted to share my Thanksgiving /Hannukah/Xmas Ad for you to share with friends in the area

Thanksgiving Menu
For 8 to 10 people

Turkey roasted 10-14 pounds, approximately
Herbed Bread Stuffing

Sweet Potato Casserole
String Bean Casserole
Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie

Just the turkey and stuffing $239.00 inclusive
Turkey and sides $299.00 inclusive
Turkey, sides and pies $349.00

Everything is purchased just for you according to your specifications and cooked in your home.
Menu can be changed, call regarding pricing.

Prices are good until Tuesday 11/25/8.
Add $50.00 more for Wednesday 11/26/8

Thanksgiving delicious dishes

More yummy stuff

Sweet Potatoes and Marshmallows or Pineapple

2 pounds sweet potatoes or 1 can (1 pound, 7 ounces)
¼ cup sugar or syrup
¼ cup butter
½ teaspoon salt
Marshmallows or 1 can (1 pound, 4 ounces) pineapple

Boil potatoes until tender and peel, or use canned potatoes. Mash, add sugar or syrup, butter and salt and mix well. Turn into greased baking dish. Dot top with marshmallows or drained sliced pineapples. Place in moderate (350 degrees) oven until brown, (30 to 40 minutes). Serve hot.

From Settlement Cookbook

Courtesy Helen Gottesman
Helen’s Home Cooking & Catering
www.helenshomeccoking.net

I wanted to let you know what I cooked in the cooking class/demo at Miele this week.

Thanksgiving Dinner Made Easy

Roast Turkey Breasts *
Stuffing
Cranberry Sauce *
Sweet Potato Casserole*
String Bean Casserole
Pumpkin Pie*
Pecan Pie*



Let me know if you need the rwecipes, or to have me cook it for you!!
Helen

Thanksgiving is delicious

I did a cooking lesson for Thanksgiving and wanted to share some of my recipes as everyone loved them.

Cranberry Sauce

1-cup water
1-cup sugar
1-pound fresh cranberries

Bring water and sugar to boil in a saucepan. Add cranberries and bring back to boil. After about 10 minutes, when cranberries start to pop, take off flame and allow cooling to room temperature (this will take several hours). Cranberry sauce can then be refrigerated. Makes about 2 ¼ cups.


Courtesy of
Helen Gottesman
Helen’s Home Cooking and Catering
www.helenshomecooking.net

For variety, replace half of the water with orange juice and add a few tablespoons of orange zest

Cream Puffs in my Cooking Class on Baking

I wanted to let you know about the dishes I will be preparing/teaching at the cooking lesson at Miele this Friday afternoon.
One of the dishes will be Profiteroles which are cream puffs filled with ice cream (or Tofutti if you are kosher and serving it with Turkey).

Let me know what you think. If you want to attend one of the classes, just let me know or cotact James at Miele, Jnorris@mieleusa.com .

Cream Puffs/Profiteroles

1-cup water
½ cup margarine or butter
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4-teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups sifted flour
4 large eggs

Vanilla ice cream or tofutti

Bring water margarine, sugar and salt to boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat and add flour all at once. Return to medium heat and stir (with wooden spoon) for about 40 seconds, until dough comes away from sides of saucepan and a film appears. Remove from heat. Add 2 eggs, beat with wooden spoon, then add 2 more eggs, beating until smooth. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease and lightly flour cookie sheet. Spoon batter onto cookie sheet in big teaspoons. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Lower heat to 350 degrees and bake for 10 more minutes. Let cool. The cookies will be hollow inside. Make a small cut in each and fill with ice cream or Tofutti.

Courtesy of
Helen Gottesman
www.helenshomecooking.net
Helen’s Home Cooking & Catering

Gourmet Cooking Lessons at Miele

The cooking lessons have started at Miele in Boca Raton. I demonstrated a few Italian dishes such as Bruschetta, homemade Pizza, and chicken Cacciatore.

On November 14th, we will do a few different baking tecniques.

First, I plan on doing a few quick breads such as Sweet Beer Bread and Banana Bread.

Some Thanksgiving Favorites .such as Pumpkin Pie and Pecan Pie will follow. You shall see that these dishes really are "Easy As Pie."

To join us at Miele on the 14th call James or email him at jnorris@mieleusa.com

Helen

Miele Cooking Lessons

We will finally start the cooking lessons at Miele USA in Boca Raton this week!! The first 2 lessons have been posted in the Sun_Sentinel and will be listed each week. This week, The topic is "A Tour of Italy". Not being familiar with the skill level or interest of the prospect clients, I am starting with fairly easy dishes.

Chicken Cacciatore, Pizza and Bruschetta. I have forwarded the recipes to James. If you want more information, please email James at JNorris@mieleusa.com.

Helen Gottesman

MieleUSA>com..Good and Bad News

I spoke To James the sales manager at MieleUSA in Boca Raton today. He told me that they will have the classes /demos listed in the Sun Sentinel next week for the 10/22 demo. I will be demo'ing "A Tour of Italy". We may simply do such staples as Lasagna, Garlic Bread etc. Perhaps I will do more interesting dishes.

Helen

Necessity.is.the.mother.of.invention..Cook,on a Grill

On Friday I was about to.put my challah in the oven..I heard zzzzap and found my stove on .fire.....I Unpluggedit and made the dinner I planned on,the grill.
We had chicken en papillote.(on.cookie.sheet),we had grilled butternut squash,lentil.soup.and.apple.cobbler....yummmy...

Now I plan out Holiday dinners around my grill and crockpot and butane stove....I.am forced to think outside the stove/box...

Will.advise.the.full.menu.tomrrow.

Helen

Challah Baking

On Tuesday night, I attended a class at Rebbetzin Leah Rosenfeld's home in Greenacres. Leah is a great baker and cook. I have been baking my own challah for 18 years (since I moved to Florida) and have always believed that there is something to be learned from every person that we meet.

Leah helped me improve my challah baking. I became clearer on the mitzvah of taking challah. It is not as simple as it seems. We had about 15 ladies at her home and I tried a few different (small, thanks to Weight Watchers) samples of her breads and yeast cakes as well as the herb "butters". Delish!! I plan on using some of her recipes for clients.

Helen

I finally did it!!

I realized it was time . I finally joined Weight Watchers. I have betwen 15 and 35 pounds to lose. I hope to use the skills learned on the program to help other people get to a healthier weight. I plan on using the Core program to get to a healthier point. I also want to wear the size 8 clothes I own from a few years ago.

Helen

More Details on the Miele Cooking Demos

I just spoke with my contacts at Mieleusa.com We have a planned schedule and list of dishes. If you want to join us call me or Miele and you will get the details. Remember, this is a draft.


Cooking Lessons/Demos by Helen
For Miele

Great American Family Dishes
9/24/8 11AM to 1PM
Meat Loaf
Twice Baked Potatoes
Apple Cobbler

Tour of Italy
10/8/2008 11 AM to 1PM
Make your own Pizza
Toppings of your choice
Lasagna
Garlic Bread

Baking Made Easy
10/22/8 1PM to 3PM
Banana Bread
Cranberry Nut and fruit breads
Challah or other bread (would take more advance prep)
Chocolate chip cookies





Thanksgiving Celebration
11/12/08 11AM to 1PM
Main course (Turkey Breasts??)
Sweet Potatoes
Cranberry sauce
??

Baking for the Holidays
11/18/08 11AM to 1PM
4 or 5 dishes, to be decided

Any feedback you can give is appreciated.
Helen Gottesman
561-676-2078

Miele Demos to start

On Wednesday, I did my practice demo at the Miele showroom in Boca Raton, Florida.
After having a cup or two of their coffee and being shown how efficient and easy to use the steam oven, convection oven and standard ovens were, I kept thinking "I want it and I want that one too!"

I made some simple dishes for James (the sales manager) and Robert (the showroom manager. We had previously decided on Trout Amandine and risotto. I did the demo on the two dishes explaining things such as how to chop the garlic, the difference between the red and green peppers (ripeness), how to tell when the fish is ready (it flakes).

To compare their different ovens, we did 2 trout fillets in the steam oven (only 4 minutes!) and 2 in the regular oven (20 minutes)

Becaust the steam oven did not "crisp" the almonds, we all decided that a short time under the broiler would be the finishing touch. In the regular oven,it was perfect.

I made the risotto with onion, garlic, peppers and boxed stock. It still took the standard 18 minutes on the range.

The guys said the food was wonderful. On 9/24 on 10/8 at 111AM to 1PM, I will be doing the demos at Miele. If you want to go, ask me for an invitation or call Miele.com in Florida and ask.

We decided on doing foods from different countries as the weekly themes, with comfort foods as the focus. If everything goes according to plan, there will be a Jewish week, Italian, French, Chinese, American and a baking demo (challah and quick breads). I will advise when we have confirmed the menus with Miele.

Helen

Chicken Soup Recipe

I have had numerous requests for my chicken soup with matzoh ball recipe which I consider one of the easiest dishes to prepare.. To make this dish, you must allow the soup to simmer for 2 to 3 hours. If you don't have the time, it is not a dish that will do well with quick cooking. You can easily cook it in the evening, refrigerate and enjoy on succeeding days.

I have consistently found the cheapest pieces of chicken, (necks, backs or thighs) provide the tastiest soup. I have also found that kosher chicken provides a much tastier soup (I still don't know why).

Use a Dutch oven or stock pot. Not all of the vegetables are necessary and as you try the recipe a few times.you will see which combination works for your taste

Fill stockpot with at least 5 quarts of water and bring to a boil Add 1/2 Tbsp salt and 1 tsp pepper (amounts are approximate, and to taste). Adding the salt is recommended in the beginning and adding it later will never give the soup the right taste.

Add in about 1 pound or more of chicken pieces (I use necks,and at $1.50 for about 2 to 3 pounds, a bargain). Let the chicken cook for 20 to 30minutes and a foam known as scum forms. Many people will skim this off and toss it. I have been told by experts there is nothing wrong with this and stir it right back in!!

Keep cooking and put in a few peeled and sliced carrots (size is up to you), onions peeled and sliced as well as 2 to 3 garlic cloves. You need not get fancy with this, the veggies will be cooking for hours.

Depending on your taste,add in a few ribs of celery, a turnip (peeled and diced) and a parsnip (peeled and sliced),

All together, I cook the soup about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. When it starts to smell like chicken soup throughout your house, Add in the matzoh balls (even easier to make) and cook for at least half an hour before serving.

At the very end add in a few sprigs of fresh dill,or add directly to the soup bowl as you serve it. (people will think the soup is gourmet this way).

You can chill to room temp and chill in the fridge. The next day (depending on which type of chicken you used), there may be a layer of chicken fat on top which you can skim off.

Helen
your kosher personal chef

Getting ready for Hurricane Ike and Miele

Hi.Today, my husband and I drove over to Home Depot to get Hurricane Boards, flashlight, batteries, lots of water and juices and other incidentals.Rob is cutting the boards to the right size now. I am cooking up a storm. I already made matzoh ball soup, chicken piccata, challah, risotto. I will make meat loaves, roast chicken and another dish or 2.

On Wednesday, I will meet again with the staff at Miele (high end appliance manufacturer from Germany). We will go over recipes, menus, demos etc. It looks good.

Helen

Experience as a parent of a child with Down Syndrome

I just saw the greatest video that explains what it is like having a son with down Syndrome.

http://www.cflparents.org/_vti_bin/shtml.dll/presentations/holland/index.htm

Helen

Let me know what you think.

Busy Week

things are really getting busy.

I prepared a romantic dinner for 2 on Sunday, a dinner party for 8 last night and I already talked about the bi-weekly cook date for the couple in Century Village.

Today I interviewed with Miele. They are a very high end appliance manufacturer based in Germany. They are looking for someone to demo different recipes to showcase their appliances to a captive audience of existing Miele appliance owners.
I felt like a kid in a candy store looking at all of their stoves, ranges, fridges, steam ovens, cappuccino makers etc.

Helen

Long cooking day for my client's in their 90's

Yesterday,I cooked for my bi-weekly clients in Century village.

On the menu, (or in their freezer)

Veal Cutlets Breaded
Salmon Almondine
Mini Meat Loaves with BBQ sauce
Chicken fricasee
Beef and Penne Skillet dinner

chicken soup with matzoh balls
Chunky vegetable soup

risotto
noodle kugel

apple cobbler
peach and apple cobbler
baked apples

Man am I tired!!

Helen

My favorite all vegetable soup

Mega Chunky Vegetable Soup

Vegetable Oil
One large onion
Two cloves Garlic
Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
White Potatoes
Zucchini
Butternut Squash
Yellow Squash
Red Pepper
Water
Salt
Pepper
Other Veggies to taste or availability

Put a tablespoon of oil in Dutch oven and turn to medium heat. Add
sliced onion and stir. Add peppers, garlic, zucchini, yellow squash
and butternut squash (peeled and cut into chunks). Stir the mixture
again. Allow some of these vegetables to brown as this will improve
the flavor and texture of the soup.
Add water just to cover the vegetables and after about 10 minutes, check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.
Add in the carrots, white and sweet potatoes. Allow to simmer and add
other vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes etc.) as available.
The carrots and sweet potatoes give the soup its sweet flavor.
Add more water to cover and simmer on a slow flame for another hour
if necessary.

If you like a smoother texture,you can use the immersion blender to your desired smoothness
This serves at least 8.


Helen Gottesman
Helenshomecooking.net
561-676-2078

My favorite muffins

One of my favorite snacks is banana bread. I tweaked the muffin recipe that I got on receipezaar.com, and now make banana, coconut , walnut muffins. OOOh they are sooo good. They also have a healthy amount of fiber!! I also use soy or rice milk rather than cow's milk.



12 muffins (change servings and units)


Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temp
3/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (PAREVE MARGAARINE)
1/2 cup sour cream (TOFUTTI SOUR CREAM PAREVE)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Optional additions
1 1/4 cups berries (chopped banana and handful of shredded coconut)
1/2 cup peanut butter or pumpkin
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
1Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and spices if using, into bowl and whisk together until well blended. Add berries and nuts if using at this time to flour mixture and stir to coat; set aside.
2In separate bowl whisk eggs until very creamy and add the sugar in several additions whisking vigorously until thick. Add melted butter in 2 steps whisking again until well mixed. Add sour cream and optional pastes in several additions and again whisk vigorously till well combined.

3With a large rubber spatula fold flour mixture into batter until just incorporated, you will see some small spots of flour, do not overmix. Batter may be refrigerated over night or for several hours, dough will develop more flavor.

4Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes until light golden brown and toothpick test comes out clean. Suggest preheat oven at least 30 minutes to get maximum burst. Oven rack middle


let me know when you would like muffins added to your cook date.

Helen Gottesman, Your Personal Chef 561-676-2078

Why I love being a personal chef?

I love to cook. I love to peruse recipes on the internet and the many ,many (OK too many according to my family) cookbooks I have in my home.

I studied nutrition (then known as Home Economics) in college. I learned how to improve on recipes by changing ingredients, cooking times, cooking methods etc to make the dish easier for a home cook or tastier and healthier. I also learned through practice how to accommodate different diets.

So, if you are put on a special diet by a health professional and are not supposed to eat leafy greens, are allergic to a particular food, are on Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet or some other plan, call me. We specialize in delicious, nutritious comfort foods.

I love to make lasagna, poached fish (especially salmon) chicken piccata and other dishes.

If you have any questions, call or email me helen@helenshomecooking.net 561-676-2078

Helen Gottesman, Your Personal Chef