Welcome to Our Forty Fourth Issue!

December; from the latin word decem, "ten," because this has been the tenth month of the early Roman calendar.
December Feature Chef

Chef Cathy Whims

Cathy has studied with Marcella and Victor Hazan at their home in Venice, with Madeleine Kamman at the highly respected School for American Chefs, and with Giancinto Albarello in his own kitchen at the Antica Torre Trattoria in Barbaresco, a renowned restaurant of the Langhe. Her extensive travels throughout Italy where she meets with chefs, restaurateurs, wine producers, distillers and artisan producers brings Cathy close to the heart of Italian cooking. Cathy has been nominated for Best Chef, Northwest by the James Beard Foundation six times. Nostrana, a rustic Italian restaurant, opened its doors with Whims as Executive Chef and received The Oregonian’s Restaurant of the Year in 2006. Nostrana is a relaxed restaurant specializing in the regional cuisines of Italy using ingredients provided by many of the best farmers, cheese makers, and meat producers in the Northwest. Nostrana has also been mentioned in many local and national magazine including Sunset, Cosmopolitan, Details, Esquire, Food and Wine, the Northwest Palate, Gourmet, The New York Times Travel magazine, Alaskan Airlines magazine and Italian Cooking and Living.
Speck-Wrapped Halibut
Cannellini Beans, Leeks and Green Garlic Aioli
Nostrana Restaurant
Salad
Poached Albacore Tuna Conserva, Red Onions, Cannellini Beans, House Jardiniera, Olive Oil
Nostrana Restaurant
Ricotta Cheesecake
Pistachio Crust, Chocolate, Candied Orange, Raisins Soaked in Dry. Sagrantino, and Olive Oil.
Nostrana Restaurant
Sea Bass
Sour Pan - Fried Sea Bass
Nostrana Restaurant
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Chef Kathy in Action

Ways to Get Vitamin "D"

7 ways to reduce stress and keep blood pressure down

Food link to better brain power

Just as there is no magic pill to prevent cognitive decline, no single almighty brain food can ensure a sharp brain as you age. Nutritionists emphasize that the most important strategy is to follow a healthy dietary pattern that includes a lot of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. Try to get protein from plant sources and fish and choose healthy fats, such as olive oil or canola, rather than saturated fats.

Notes from a Purchasing Pro by Robert Dennerlein.

I am excited to post my first tip, on Purchasing for Profit. It is my desire that this information will assist the industry with practical wisdom and best practices.
Quality/Cost Control/Yields: For any operation to succeed it is important to provide customers with a consistent quality at a cost that allows profitability. Your distributor can assist with both quality and cost control. Request your distributor to do food cuttings and provide yield analysis, so you can determine the actual cost of product (EP vs AP). What matters is your EP, which can be 15% higher from one label to another. For example, a #10 can of diced tomatoes may contain 15% more tomatoes than a lesser AP/quality label. If the tomatoes of the higher label were 10% more expensive you have a 5% savings by utilizing the higher-grade product due to the yield or edible tomatoes.

 Robert Dennerlein, Robert is a Past President of the Las Vegas Branch many years ago, and has recently rejoined IFSEA.  Welcome back Robert and thank you for allowing us to publish this edited article.  

Local Culinary News
VEGAS FOOD PROJECT Presented Its 3rd TURKISH ITS 3RD Taste Event Series/ OLIVE & OLIVE OIL
The Food Project Amazing Team
Olive & Olive Oil
The Speaker - Learn, Taste & Connect!
Guest Chef Michelle Vietmeier
Invited Guest
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November 11-2020 / 9am – 10 am
UNLV Hospitality Hall 4th Floor Kitchen
LEARN products, health benefits, and production details from the industry leaders.
TASTE best quality products from Turkey cooked by top Las Vegas Chefs in our events.
CONNECT with the largest producers for your business.
While the awareness of healthy diets, ingredient specifications, ethical production, and fair trade has been increasing among US consumers, businesses are looking for solid suppliers with high standards and flexibility at the same time. It would be safe to say, pandemics can only increase this awareness and the right supplier search. As VFP, we are bringing THE BEST and THE LARGEST Turkish food producers to you who can satisfy these needs of consumers and businesses.

The Olive Oil & The Mediterranean Diet

The Fads and the Hype ;

After decades of seeing it as a nutritional villain, Americans are finally learning to view olive oil for what it is: an essential nutrient. Culinarian from all walk of life, have an opportunity to capture these consumers by developing foods and menu items that feature the healthful lipids they now welcome in their diets.

We as Culinarian, had explore and have learned consumers’ attitudes about fat are changing, how consumer opinions of healthy fats have evolved, and why so many are choosing to include high quality olive oil in their diets today.

Olive oil has been proven to lower LDL (bad cholesterol) and raise HDL (good cholesterol) levels when used to replace saturated fat such as butter. It also contains beta carotene, vitamins A, E, D and K plus many more healthful nutrients. Research shows these nutrients have beneficial effects on almost every bodily function. Extra-virgin olive oil also has an amazing skin- and body-protecting polyphenol called hydroxytyrosol. Studies show that hydroxytyrosol has among the greatest free-radical absorbing capacities.

Extra-virgin olive oil has the lowest oxidation rate of cooking oils. Oxidation promotes free radicals, chemicals that are highly reactive and can damage cells. Some of this damage may lead to cancer and other disease states.  Extra-virgin olive oil It is also an excellent source of antioxidants, which also protect cells from damage and oxidation.

Guest Chef Michelle Vietmeier will created a delicious salad, utilizing " The Liquid Gold" of Turkish, Premium Olive OIl. Click on the image to watch Chef Michelle in action

Time is Running Out , Don’t miss your chance to save. Submit you application for IFSEA today.Get the recognition you deserves, Show pride in your next interview, and be recognized as the companies people love to hire for . So it’s no surprise that employers are redefining what it means to be a workplace in an age of unprecedented crisis.

A priceless offer to the Hospitality World from IFSEA/ Click the image below to enlarge it.

We are reaching out to the culinary community to offer free memberships in IFSEA and one free certification for anyone who lost their job or had their hours drastically reduced due to Covid19. As you are aware, we were hit very hard, thousands of hospitality employees have lost their job.
Many will not get back to their normal job. Having said that, by taking advantage of this great offer and this unique opportunity, it will help them to learn new skills, so they can apply for new jobs.
Please contact Mr. Ed Manley, should you have any additional questions.
Ed Manley, MCFE, CHM
IFSEA Chairman of the Board-elect
Email – [email protected]
Cell – 561-929-4765
web – www.ifsea.org

Cumulative 15 minute COVID-19 Exposure: What does it mean?

The CDC now defines close contact as somebody who has been within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24 hour period. If a person is a close contact, he or she must self-quarantine for 14 days from their last exposure to the positive person. All contacts should be tested for COVID-19, and a negative test results does not eliminate the 14 day quarantine period.    

 While data on this new recommendation is limited, this information is now very helpful and can be used as a method for contact investigation. Factors to be considered here are the proximity, the duration of the exposure, weather the infected individual is showing symptoms and if these symptoms are accompanied by a generation of respiratory aerosols via coughing, singing, shouting. Crowding, inadequate ventilation, being indoors, re- circulated air are also factors to consider.

It is crucial to continue to be mindful, responsible and maintain social distancing, wear a mask and practice washing hands often. Information provided by Aminta MArtinez – Food Safety and Nutrition Consultant

For more information click here

Food for Thought

The Dirty Dozen; Top 12 Pesticide-Contaminaded Fruits & Vegetables

Click here for more information; The Dirty Dozen

The Power of Garlic

Eating a little garlic might be able to help ease vertigo in a number of ways. Firstly, garlic is a vasodilator meaning that it can widen the blood vessels and thereby encourage more blood flow to the brain. At the same time, garlic is also useful for settling the stomach.

Finally, because garlic has a strong taste, this can sometimes be enough to help ‘distract’ from the dizziness and help you to feel a little more human. Strong smells also have this effect. This will also kill an infection, if that is the cause of your vertigo.

Hungry for More, Click Here

Moringa / The Superfood

According to the USDA, one cup of fresh, chopped moringa leaves contains two grams of protein, vitamin B6, vitamin C, iron, vitamin B2, vitamin A, and magnesium. Compared to kale, moringa powder can have twice the amount of protein, four times more calcium, six times more iron, 1.5 times more fiber, 97 times more B2, and five times more B3, says Manuel Villacorta, R.D.
A two-teaspoon serving of this smoothie scene-stealer packs nearly three times the iron of a cup of raw spinach and half your recommended daily vitamin A. And because they’re jam-packed with antioxidants. The peppery-tasting leaves of the tropical moringa tree can relieve pain, ward off high blood pressure, rev immune function, and protect the liver, kidneys, and heart, research shows. Try mix % teaspoon with lemon zest, sea salt, and olive oil, then drizzle onto raw kale and bake for kicked-up veggie chips.

Hungry for More, Click Here
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A trend that should be re-introduced in the Workplace

Your Business and your community can benefit from volunteers…taking your team out of the office to volunteer in the community.

For more related reading, please click here*

How to Focus Your Teams' Strengths in Times of Disruption

In times of stress, change or crisis, people fall back on what’s comfortable to them. The COVID-19 crisis has taken away dinners out with family, going to kids’ sporting events, and in-person office conversations with coworkers — the places, spaces, and people that are familiar.

But our natural way of thinking, i.e., our strengths, are still with us, even when we work remotely. Remember that our strengths are those tendencies that come naturally to us, where we find work to be easier, more enjoyable and more rewarding.

A Must Read ! Click here for More Information

Toni Ali/HR Expert

Hospitality doesn’t start at the restaurant, hotel or airline. It start at home. In everyday life. Because is all about being hospitable.

Click here for more info.

A helpful sheet for accuracy in recipe costing/ click below

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WHAT’S COOKING TODAY?

Recipe provided by Chef Raymond Bar CEC-CCE-ACE 

“The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must-eat to live. The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.” Joy Harjo

Nasi Berempah

Fresh Basil leaves 1.5 oz Pine nuts 2 oz. Extra virgin olive oil 8 floz Fresh garlic cloves ¾ oz. Freshly grated Parmesan cheese 3 oz. Freshly grated Pecorino cheese 2 oz Gorgonzola cheese 1 oz Sea salt ¼ tsp

Method

1- Place chicken into heavy sauce pan, add lemongrass, galangal Coriander, lime leaves, salt, garlic and water; cover tightly bring it to a boil. Cook till chicken is tender. Remove and deep fry till golden brown. Set aside. 2- In a separate pot cook the rice into 17 oz. of the cooking liquid and add nutmeg, ginger, peppercorn, and mace to the cooking liquid. 3- Place cooked rice in a large plater with the aromatic along the edges. 4- Fry the onions and set on rice as garnish. Serve o Yield 5lbs/ 5 portion size 16oz. / Calories per serving: 1718 The Nutrition Facts for this Recipe was done utilizing the INFOODSYS Recipe App.


Enjoy it!! / any question, please send us an email at [email protected]
Think Positively (Leadership)
TRUE NORTH

Leaders can build accountability by spelling out what’s expected from employees in terms of results and behaviors, monitoring progress daily and applying positive and negative consequences based on outcomes, says S. Chris Edmonds. “Without consequences, clear agreements and monitoring do not ensure either results or respect,” he says.

Click the image below to watch Leadership Guru, Chris Edmonds
2020 Culinary Forecast

Do you have the skills to make a great coach?

  1. Hire the right fit for your open position
  2. Allowing this new employee(s) to adjust to your company culture
  3. Seeing their potential
  4. Begin grooming them to take positions that are higher than yours in the industry
  5. Be open to their ideas

Quotes that will help you stay ahead of the game.

Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein.

Telling people what we think of their performance doesn’t help them thrive and excel, and telling people how we think they should improve, actually hinders learning. “

Lead On!

Perspective Theories of Leadership

Participative Theories of Leadership are considered by some to be an ideal style of leadership because they consider input from others. Leaders utilizing this type of theory tend to encourage both contributions and active participation from other group members. In turn, this allows the other group members to feel more relevant and committed to the direction the leader has chosen to go. The only real caveat here is that the leader maintains the right of what input to allow from the other group members.

For more information regarding the Participative Theories please visit: Behavioral Leadership

It has been my observation, over the years, that many leaders rank low on empathy. They understand it intellectually, they just don’t pay enough attention, ask the right questions or comprehend that it is not just about what your colleagues think, but about how they feel. To be an effective leader you need to do more than just manage the bottom line and watch the numbers like a hawk. Obviously that may be necessary, but so is offering suggestions, being supportive, being a source of creative ideas, helping your people think through their roles and helping them make the best use of their time. In fact, that is precisely what the best leaders do.

As you think about how you exhibit genuine empathy here are five questions for you to contemplate. For more information visit: patrickmckenna.com

ACF Culinary Corner

Form the American Culinary Federation, your chance to create spectacular dishes and contribute with inspirational new ideas.

Click below for more information:

The 2016 Menus of Change Annual Report was released at the fourth annual Menus of Change leadership summit on June 14. It includes an analysis of issues at the convergence of public health, the environment, and the business of food, plus and updated Dashboard of how the food and foodservice industries have progressed—or not—since last year’s report was issued.

The World Culinary Arts Video Series
Click on the image below to enlarge
La Finestra: Trends Spotting

Just like fashion, food trends come and go in the blink of an eye. Every year, we see a rise in these fads that inevitably affect the way we eat and plan our meals. From superfoods to juice cleanses, the modern dining pattern has undeniably been influenced by the presence of a health-conscious effort, which we see continuing into 2020.

Learn more 2020 Food trends according Chefs

If you’re feeling forgetful, it could be due to a lack of sleep or a number of other reasons, including genetics, level of physical activity and lifestyle and environmental factors. However, there’s no doubt that diet plays a major role in brain health.

The best menu for boosting memory and brain function encourages good blood flow to the brain — much like what you’d eat to nourish and protect your heart. Research found the Mediterranean Diet helps keep aging brains sharp, and a growing body of evidence links foods such as those in the Mediterranean diet with better cognitive function, memory and alertness

Learn more by visiting: Types of Foods to Help Boost Your Memory

Meeting the Demand for Safe, Natural Products

Lately, while shopping at my local grocery store, I have noticed the increasing number of food products marketed as organic or preservative-free. More and more, consumers are demanding green labels and ingredient lists they can understand. Yet food safety — preventing food spoilage and contamination from microbial pathogens — must remain a top priority for food producers. The food safety industry faces many challenges if it is to transition away from the use of refined chemicals toward more label-friendly preservatives.

By Suzanne Osborne, PhD
Wednesday, 30 April 2014

Kale is one of the cruciferous vegetables, cancer fighters full of fiber and antioxidants. great addition to salads or you can bake it with a spritz of extra virgin-olive oil and sea salt for a crispy potato chip alternative.

Hail to the Kale!!
Click on the image below to enlarge
2020 Culinary Forecast
Nutrition, Eat Better

Salt, Consuming the right amount, Most Americans consume more sodium than is good for their health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Learn more!

8 Tips For Avoiding Gluten Cross Contamination – PrimoHealthCoach

▪ Oils that have been used to deep fry battered foods will contaminate foods like French fries. Use separate oils, and ask the chef when dining out if the same oil is used for battered foods.

▪ Cutlery, utensils and potsand pans must be thoroughly cleaned before cooking gluten-free to avoid cross-contamination.

▪ Toasters and ovens that have been used for glutenous breads can contaminate gluten-free breads. At home try to keep two separate toasters.

▪ Grills and barbecues can easily cross-contaminate foods if not properly cleaned. Many sauces used to barbecue have gluten.

▪ Sifters used for both glutenous and gluten-free flours will cross-contaminate. At home if you use both types of flour, keep separate properly labeled sifters.

▪ Your mayonnaise, peanut butter jar, jams and jellies are easily contaminated when making sandwiches.

▪ Glutenous flours have a tendency to stay airborne for some time after use. Cooking in a kitchen shortly after preparing foods with glutenous flours is risky for the sensitive person. Because of this I find it very hard to believe that you can get a truly gluten-free pizza from a pizza restaurant that makes regular pizza as well.

▪ Any foods not prepared in a gluten-free facility, including your own home, runs the risk of getting cross-contaminated.

Goodness!!

Avocado oil; this silky fruit oil helps fight joint condition and promoted soft skin.

Click on the image below to enlarge
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