An interview with one of Tampa’s favorite chefs
by Claudia McCants
It’s Christmas, the time of year when all cooks find themselves in the kitchen preparing hand-me-down favorite recipes and searching for new ways to prepare familiar foods in unfamiliar ways.
Imagine attending a one-night cooking demonstration where a chef shows you how to prepare an ‘Elegant and Easy Make-Ahead Christmas Eve Dinner'. Think about the surprised expressions on your dinner guests faces when you serve Kris Kringle Soup, Individual Beef Wellingtons, Gruyere Scalloped Potatoes, Brussel Sprouts with Buttered Pecans, and Chocolate Cranberry Cakes with Bourbon Whipped Cream to end the meal with smiles that will continue in their dreams later that night. This is Shari’s favorite make-ahead meal. “So elegant and SO easy!”
Chef Shari is well known to people who attend cooking classes at The Rolling Pin Kitchen Emporium at Brandon Town Center Mall. She loves what she does, and says, “I believe I have as much fun, if not more, than my students. Most of the menus I put together for my dinner classes are Elegant Make Ahead Meals. The menus for my Lunch and Learns usually revolve around a specific food or region. In February, we are celebrating National Cherry Month, so everything I prepare will have cherries as an ingredient. I have also done a Williamsburg Lunch and Learn where all the foods prepared were from one of the Taverns in Williamsburg, Virginia. As for my Afternoon Teas, they are just fun. I try to select recipes that fit with the monthly theme. We have one scone, 3 tea sandwiches and one or two small desserts.” The “Teas” have become such a hit, that beginning in January, she will be doing two a month.
Shari came up with “Elegantly Easy Entertaining” when she prepared a dinner or cocktail party for guests in her home. “People kept telling me that everything was wonderful and it all looked so easy. What they didn’t know is that one of my favorite quotes is ‘A hostess is like a duck…calm and serene on the surface, but paddling like hell underneath’. The more I can do ahead of time, the calmer I am. When I plan a party, most of the menu can be prepared days in advance. That way, when the company arrives, I can enjoy a glass of wine with them and not be in the kitchen slaving away. The other great part of make ahead menus is your kitchen is not full of dishes at the end of the evening!
“Working at Rolling Pin is incredible. The owners, Dave and Karen West, are the best to work for. Dave lets me plan my own menus for class, which has been so much fun for me. I experiment with different foods and combinations at home…trying to keep my classes interesting, yummy and, of course, FUN!”
She learned about cooking by watching her family cook. “There really isn’t much to tell you about my culinary training,” she says. “Honestly I am self taught “relatively” speaking. Actually, most of what I have learned has come from watching, asking tons of questions, and experimenting. Just about everyone in my family cooks. The best memories I have of my grandmother are in her kitchen. She always said that “she never ate a hot meal” and now that I look back on it, I believe it is because she was always moving on to the next meal. You never left Baba’s home hungry. Our tummies were ALWAYS full of fresh bread, great food and incredible desserts. The best part of this is my mom took “Baba cooking” to a whole new level. There are not many foods that my mother hasn’t prepared. I owe most of my knowledge and experimentation to her!”
She learned still more about cooking when she was traveling abroad with her husband. “Being an Army wife for over 25 years, we had the advantage of living all over the country and meeting people from all over the world. I loved going into their homes and trying new cuisines, then asking as many questions as politely possible. I love everything! Well, everything except Jell-O and hot dogs. When our children were little, about once a week, we would have a meal from another country or region in the USA. German, Greek, Italian, Oriental. It would be an ‘all inclusive’ evening, right down to the dishes and music.”
When she’s not teaching classes at the Rolling Pin, Shari works as a Personal Party Planner. She enjoys going into a client’s home, helping them pick out a menu and then preparing foods in their home on the day of the event. She says, “This gives me the flexibility to still do my classes at Rolling Pin and to experiment with foods at home for my wonderful husband. He is my inspiration and my sous! It is wonderful and so much fun cooking together!”
Shari thinks the biggest mistake new chefs make is saying “I don’t know how” and says, “You NEVER will know how if you don’t try!” She added, “Recipes are great, but the best thing I have learned to do is only use them as a guideline.” Her best advice for new chefs is: “Experiment!”
MORE ABOUT SHARI:
Gruyère Scalloped Potatoes
4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 cups Gruyere cheese,shredded
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dill
1/4 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper, to taste
Place potatoes in a large pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender outside, but slightly firm inside. Drain well and set aside. Preheat oven to 375°F and butter an 8- or 9-inch glass baking dish. Place half of the potatoes in the dish and sprinkle with half of the cheese. Repeat layers. Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over potatoes. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. (Tent loosely with foil if potatoes brown too quickly.)
Cherry-Stuffed French Toast with Cherry-Orange Sauce
French Toast:
butter (for greasing the pan)
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons fresh grated orange zest
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 jar cherry preserves
8 slices Christmas Braided Bread (see recipe below) or Challah Bread
Cherry-Orange Sauce:
1/2 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups fresh sweet cherries, pitted and halved
3 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 400ºF and grease a large 13×9-inch baking pan with a generous layer of butter. Whisk together the eggs in a medium bowl with the milk, vanilla and orange zest until well blended. Pour into the baking pan and set aside. Spread 4 slices of bread with cream cheese and 4 slices with cherry preserves. Sandwich together.
Place the "sandwiches" in the egg mixture. Let stand on each side for 5 minutes to absorb the egg mixture, and sprinkle the almonds over one side. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, and then turn over the slices to bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
Meanwhile, make the cherry-orange sauce by bringing the orange juice to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the cherries and bring to a boil again. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the maple syrup, cornstarch and cinnamon, and continue to cook, stirring frequently, for another couple of minutes or until the sauce thickens. Reduce to a simmer until the French Toast is baked.
Serve the French Toast warm covered with hot cherry-orange sauce.
Baba's Christmas Bread
2 packages dry yeast
6 cups flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 stick butter
2/3 cup sugar
11 teaspoons salt
Mix well 2 cups flour with dry yeast. Heat milk, butter, sugar and salt till warm. Mix with yeast, beat. Add beaten eggs, beat. Add remaining flour. Mix till smooth. Knead for 5 minutes. Grease top, raise 1 1/2 hours. Divide dough in half, then divide each half into thirds. Make 2 braids, raise 1 1/2 hours. Bake 350ºF for about 25 minutes, or until lightly brown.
