Chickpeas, cumin and fresh herbs patted into tasty little cakes, sautéed and served with a cucumber, tomato and feta topping. The original recipe appeared in Vegetarian Times in 2009…shows you how long I’ve been making (and eating!) them .

Sometimes I skip the Greek salad topping and go with sriracha + mayo, my favorite all-purpose sauce, but I do love the briny feta, cold crunchy cucumbers and tomatoes, and the acidity of the lemon juice…mmmm, I want some more right now!

Chickpea Croquettes with Greek Salad Topping

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 cucumber quartered and sliced (1 cup)
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes – quartered
• 2 green onions – chopped
• 2 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese – optional (Omit for vegan)
• Croquettes
• 1 cup chickpea flour
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 15-oz. can chickpeas – rinsed and drained
• 4 green onions – chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic – minced (2 tsp.)

Directions

To make Topping:

Toss together cucumber, tomatoes, green onions, lemon juice, and oil in bowl. Gently stir in feta crumbles. Season with salt and pepper, if desired, and set aside.

To make Croquettes:

1. Whisk together chickpea flour, cumin, chili powder, and salt in bowl. Whisk in 1/3 to 1/2 cup hot water. Stir in remaining ingredients, and season with salt and pepper, if desired.

2. Coat nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Scoop 4 ı/4-cup dollops of chickpea mixture into skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until golden.

3. Flip with spatula, and cook 3 to 4 minutes more. Repeat with remaining chickpea mixture. Serve each Croquette topped with 1/4 cup Topping.

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My nomination was put forward by the Center for Women & Enterprise, and organization near and dear to me and familiar to basically anyone who’s ever talked to me about starting a business.  Their mission is to provide opportunities for women entrepreneurs and women in business to increase professional success, personal growth, and financial independence.

As many of you know, when I was contemplating starting my business way back when (2004 or so), I completed a business plan workshop with the CWE.  Over the years since then, I’ve benefitted from so many of their programs and resources, and I love giving back by helping budding entrepreneurs as well.  If you’re thinking about starting a business, definitely check them out – get on their mailing list to stay up to date about the many free and very affordable classes, conferences, workshops and other services.

(And if you’re thinking of starting a personal chef business – check out my ebook too! “Cook for a Living: Becoming a Personal Chef” is on sale now, right here.)

I’m looking forward to learning more about the other nominees, both in Massachusetts and across the country.  You can participate too through this free, 3-Day Virtual Conference during National Small Business Week.  There will be sessions on everything from email marketing and social media, to managing finances, dealing with customer complaints, and how pop-up shops can help your brand.

In the meantime, I’ll be working on my acceptance speech

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If you’ve ever thought about becoming a personal chef, a few things to consider as a starting point:

• Culinary school or training programs can be helpful, but not necessary.  Most PCs I know have no formal culinary training.
• Business skills ARE important for any business – basic bookkeeping, attracting customers, simple marketing and communications. I suggest a course or workshop on starting a small business.  Look to your local colleges, the SBA,  government programs in your state, and other programs that specialize in helping you launch new businesses (such as this one in Massachusetts, or this one.)
• Membership in a professional organization can be a big help to get you started (and can also be a great way to get insurance for your business). Check out the United States Personal Chef Association (USPCA) or the American Personal & Private Chefs Association.

 You can also check out my ebook: “Cook for a Living: Becoming a Personal Chef”! 

It’s based on my 13+ years experience as a personal chef, cooking for clients and also working with dozens of people on starting their businesses. I’m happy to answer your questions, too!

The post “Could I Be a Personal Chef?” appeared first on TaylorMade Meals.

These are also fun to do for parties – serve with just the protein in the pepper, kept warm in a chafing dish or just a covered casserole, and then set up a toppings bar for guests to add what they like.

Taco Stuffed Peppers

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Their “Keep It or Toss It?” engine lets you type in a food and find out how long it should stay fresh in the fridge or freezer – and, most importantly for personal chefs, it differentiates between raw and cooked foods, which many other resources like this don’t.  For instance, I typed in “pork tenderloin” (I’m plagued by spoiled pork) and found that all cuts of pork will stay at their best quality when frozen raw for 4-6 months, but once cooked, are best eaten within 2-3 months.   (And it always notes that food properly stored at 0 degrees Fahrenheit will keep indefinitely, in terms of being safe to eat – it’s the taste and/or texture that will suffer past the recommended dates.)

Another cool thing:  the “Your Questions Answered” section, where it addresses such often-pondered questions like “Can You Safely Drink Milk After the Sell-By Date?” (sure, for up to a week usually) and “I Left Pizza Out Overnight – Is It Still Safe to Eat?”  (they say no; I say yes provided you sizzle the hell out of it in a covered skillet til it has reached 165 degrees to kill off any nasties…or maybe I just hate wasting pizza, and having never had food poisoning am willing to risk it – until I get food poisoning, after which I’m sure I’ll change my tune.)  They source their data mostly from US government sources, research studies and food manufacturers, and they do a nice job of balancing an abundance of caution with a healthy dose of common sense.

For personal chefs, this expiration date info is great to point clients to, in case they have questions about the expiration dates on meals you prepared eons ago that they’ve just discovered in their freezer. And the “3 Ways to Defrost Food Safely” is worth referencing too, so they know it’s not just you telling them the best way to thaw meals is overnight in the fridge.  (And I guarantee that food-obsessed people will be unable to tear themselves away from the site without reading the entire “Your Questions Answered” section.)

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Chicken Yakitori – boneless chicken marinated with a blend of (mostly) soy sauce, sugar, ginger and garlic – is one of my favorite things to eat on a stick. I use chicken thighs, which have more flavor and fat than breasts, and therefore superior taste and tenderness.

A quick soak in the marinade and then threaded on skewers with bell pepper and scallions = yum. Nice with Jasmine rice and a green veggie on the side.

(I’m pretty sure the original recipe came from Food & Wine: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chicken-yakitori.)

Chicken Yakitori
Description
Skewered boneless chicken, red bell peppers and scallions, brushed with a lightly sweet soy glaze and broiled.
Serves: 4

Ingredients
1/4 cup tamari (gluten-free soy sauce – or use regular if that is not a concern)
2 tbsp mirin (Or rice- or white wine- vinegar)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp minced ginger
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs, Cut into 2″ pieces
1 bell pepper, cut into chunks
8 scallions – cut into 2-in pieces
Wooden or metal skewers

Directions
1. To make the sauce, bring the soy sauce, mirin, sugar, ginger and garlic to a boil in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until the sauce thickens and nicely coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat; set aside.

2. Spray the grill or broiler pan with nonstick spray; prepare the grill or preheat the broiler.

3. Thread the chicken, bell peppers and scallions onto each of 8, 10-inch metal skewers (or wooden skewers soaked in water for 1 hr). alternating the ingredients. Grill or broil the kebabs 5 inches from the heat, frequently brushing with the sauce, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Serve with rice.

The post Yum – meat on a stick! appeared first on TaylorMade Meals.

Pasta with Tuna, Tomatoes and Capers
Chunky pasta tossed with olive oil, Italian tuna, capers, chopped tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Both the capers and pepper flakes are optional, if you have eaters who object to them – but they are sooo good and really make the dish pop.
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 tbs oil
• 1/2 onion – chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes – 28oz — not drained
• 8 ounces pasta (half the box)
• 1/4 c white wine
• 1 can tuna in oil – 6 ounce
• 2 tbs capers
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• black pepper
• 1/2 c basil – chopped (or use a teaspoon of dried, or you can skip it entirely)

Directions

Cook onion in oil until soft, 3-5 min. Add tomatoes, cook over medium-low heat – they should be just barely simmering – until thick and saucy, 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta, reserving some cooking liquid. (I do this by sticking a Pyrex measuring cup or a coffee cup in the sink next to the strainer. Splash a little cooking water in to the cup before pouring the pasta into the strainer.)

Turn sauce to medium high heat. Add pasta, wine, tuna with oil, capers and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, another minute. Add some black pepper and the basil, toss well; add a little cooking water if it seems too thick. Adjust seasoning (this means: taste it and add what you think it needs – salt, pepper, herbs, a splash more wine, more capers or their lovely sharp briny liquid).

When it’s right, toss the pasta and sauce together and serve. We like to add grated Parmesan as well. Enjoy!

The post Too cold to go out! Make dinner from the pantry appeared first on TaylorMade Meals.

Look no further – your roadmap is here!

Cook for A Living: Becoming a Personal Chef

is my brand-new ebook, based on my 12+ years of experience as a successful personal chef and teacher, consultant and mentor to many others.

Buy the book!

In this easy-to-read, 40-page guide, you’ll learn:

• The skills and training you need to be a personal chef
• What to do first (well, second. First, buy my book!)
• How to find and follow your state & local regulations
• How to choose a name and business entity
• Ways to handle your bookkeeping
• What about insurance?
• Pricing is everything  – how the heck do you know what you’re worth? (Hint: a lot)
• How to find clients (and not go broke giving discounts to friends and family!)
• Marketing to get your new business off the ground

and the proverbial much, much more!

I’ve been at this game a long time – since 2004 – and I still love it.  I mean LOVE love it, like I whistle while I work, smile on my way out the door and thank my lucky stars that I get paid to do something fun, special, creative, productive, and delicious. Let me tell you how, so you can love your work too!

Cook for A Living: Becoming a Personal Chef

is a 40 page PDF, easy to download and quick to read on any device.

Your future is waiting – buy the book today!

Buy the book!

(Clicking the “buy” link will let you securely purchase the ebook. Once your purchase is complete, a link will be emailed to you to download the PDF. Thanks for your interest!)

The post Want to be a personal chef? My new ebook tells you how! appeared first on TaylorMade Meals.

Grouper with Salsa Verde

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So you want to make dinner rolls or conrbread as a side dish for a client entree, and you’re standing in the grocery store wondering if they have flour, cornmeal, baking powder etc.  Or you know you bought a big bag of brown rice on your first cook date with them, but don’t recall if you’ve used it all yet…do you go ahead and buy it, knowing you might be overbuying, or risk gong without and finding out you did in fact need it?  One of the many daily conundrums facing a busy personal chef…

Some chefs keep very detailed records of the items in their clients’ pantries, and I applaud this, while finding it completely impractical for me    Just keeping track of where I wrote it down, or making sure to find extra time in every cook date to do an update are things that  I find challenging.  (I did try doing this several years ago but gave up after I seemed to never note the things I had real questions about.)

So what do I do now?  I use the nifty Voice Memos app on my iPhone to leave myself little updates as I go thru the cookdate.  (There are undoubtedly many other similar 3rd party apps out there for all smartphones – just check the app store of you choosing.)  The cool thing about Voice Memos is that you can pause it and resume later – helpful when you want to keep one recording snippet for the whole cookdate (although, tragically, you can’t keep a recording on pause and use the iPod functions at the same time, so if you listen to music or podcasts while cooking like I do,  you have to make a separate recording if you need to add something to your reminder.)

Given the state of my memory, usually what I do is towards the end of the cookdate, I hit record and start talking to myself…”grab a new large bottle of olive oil next time…they have all sorts of rice and pasta so no need to buy any the next couple of times…pick up some Glad Press-N-Seal.”   Then, I hit the Share button and email the snippet to myself with the client name and date in the Subject line.  Next time I’m shopping for that client, I bring up the snippet, and there you have it – you, telling yourself what to do.  (Sometimes I also tell myself jokes to see if I’ll laugh when I hear them again, but mostly I think I laugh at the fact that I’m trying to make myself laugh.)

Happy Cooking!

—

Chefchick Says: A damp towel or a few wet paper towel sheets under your cutting board keeps it from slipping – and if you use the color-coded thin plastic cutting sheets, it makes for a much better “knife feel” under your blade.

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