Fresh Herbs: Adding Flavor to your Dish

We believe in fresh herbs

Our goal at Savory is to have a depth of flavor to each dish; that's why we hand make 98% of all our food in addition to using fresh herbs.

To use an analogy...using dry herbs is like having only one sparkler lit during a 4th of July celebration whereas using fresh herbs is like having the best fireworks display in the world. It really makes a difference!

Here are some of our favorite herbs:

 

Thyme. We all joke that we can never get enough "time" but at Savory, we really can't ever get enough Thyme! It's our favorite herb because it's very universal and quite mild. When using, remember to get rid of most of the woody stalk, using only the leaves and pliable stems.

 

Italian parsley. This kind of parsley is much milder than the curly parsley you're probably more familiar with. It goes well in most dishes. Cut off most of the stem at the bottom and chop up the rest to use.

 

Oregano. Its most modern use is in Italian cooking but it is used in all kinds of ethnic dishes. Tear the leaves off the stem and use to add flavor to any dish.

 

Sage. Its leaves are very soft and it is great in chicken dishes. Pull the leaves off the stem and chop from there.

 

 Basil. This is a spice you might be familiar with. It has a wonderful distinct smell. Tear the leaves off the stem and chop till your heart's content!

  

Cilantro. One of my favorite herbs to use for Hispanic dishes. It has some citrus overtones which makes it go well with salsa and guacamole. Its aroma is one of my favorite smells. Cut off most of the stem and chop up the rest.

Taste the difference from ordinary to extraordinary by using Savory for your next party!

Magical Seasoning

I had a friend at Culinary school introduce me to Johnny's seasonings. 

 Like the label says, it's pure magic.

 

 I mainly use Johnny's when cooking meat but its uses extend to vegetable, home made fries, soups and burgers. 

It's important to salt and season your meat before cooking; it helps the seasoning become part of the meat rather than have it taste like meat with salt. I like to sprinkle Johnny's on just before I start to cook the meat. You can also use other spice rubs but this one is already mixed! It works well on any kind of meat- beef, pork, chicken, and fish.

Simply seasoning the meat before cooking makes a big difference in the dish. Try it for your next meal and wow your tasters with its' depth a flavor!

Valentine Education

Fighting the masses to go out to eat on Valentines Day can be stressful. So why not have a night at home and eat a delectable meal by candlelight?

Our cooking class this week focused on a meal for just the two of you. The menu was fancy, familiar and finger-licking good! We started with handmade French Bread.

  

This bread recipe easily fit into a kitchen aid mixer.

We put our bread into these french bread pans, available at Bed Bath and Beyond, Orson Gygi, Williams Sonoma and many other stores.

Like any other bread, you must let it rise.

 

The bread was a little bit crunchy on the outside and very soft on the inside. We served it with some herbed compound butter: butter blended with other flavors, in this case, savory herbs!

We then started making our Salted Caramel Gelato

 Starting to caramelize the sugar.

 

Chef Lou showing us what scalded milk looks like.

 Adding the cream/milk mixture to the caramel. After mixing it together, put the batch in an ice cream maker. In about 15 mins you will have silky smooth ice cream!

 Our entree for the night was Breast of Chicken Florentine

 After breading the chicken in a 3-step process, we fried it on the stove

We then started on dessert: a pear frangipane galette

Frangipane is a term for a filling made from or flavored like almonds

galette is a term for a flat, round or free-form crusty cake

 Spread the filling on the flower shaped pate sucre dough, and arrange the cut pears

 Turn over the "flower petals" and you're ready to bake it! We served it with a scoop of the salted caramel gelato

The entire meal was delicious! Now we can practice before the big day!

Our next cooking class is February 12th: Comfort Food night

Baby Boy

We love themed parties. We love creating new and inventive food. Clearly, we just love food!

For one of our events we catered a baby shower. We had lots of fun incorporating the colors and creating bite-size food for the event.

Can you guess what gender the mother was expecting?

 

We made cute blue and white striped meringue stars with edible glitter.

We even made topiaries with the stars!

For the shower we made an original drink: "Rubber Ducky Mocktail"

It was a blue raspberry, "bubble bath" mocktail complete with a floating rubber ducky! 

Food Photoshoot

Here is something you don't hear everyday: a food photo shoot

Back in November we had a photo shoot for our food! We had to pamper them as much as a fashion model would need but our models stayed silent the entire time.

 

 We picked the place with the best lighting. Our "studio" was a corner in a bigger room, had two windows, and light colored walls.

 Jessie would take many pictures at many different angles with a lot of different backgrounds and trays for each item. This is a picture of our Killer Chocolate Cake.

 Sometimes you have to get a little creative...

 Chef Lou is putting on the finishing touches. 

At Savory, we like to express our individuality through our aprons... 

What do you think Chef Lou is expressing?

 Jessie is rearranging a sample box lunch. Our box lunches are perfect for business meetings!

 Everything has to be perfect for the photo, hence, Chef Lou is 

trimming excess lettuce off this sandwich.

 We are using our resources here and re-purposing this white 3-form tray for bounce lighting

Here are the finished pictures. What do you think?