Preparing for Thanksgiving

Tips from Café Louise

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time to spend with family and friends but it can also be an incredibly hectic time with all that goes into hosting and serving turkey dinner. Thanksgiving is Café Louise’s busiest holiday, so we truly understand the importance of getting organized and planning ahead. Here are some tips for having it all go smoothly.

Plan Your Menu

At least two weeks prior, decide on your menu and make a shopping list. Go through each recipe and make a list of all the items you need to purchase and make sure your pantry is stocked with your cooking basics (spices, olive oil, stock, etc.) Once you know what you’ll be serving, start organizing platters and plan your table setting. 

Dessert First

This is also a perfect time to do some baking. If you make your own pies and desserts you can make your piecrusts and freeze them so they are ready to fill when you need them.  If you are planning on serving cookies, dessert bars or chocolate truffles it’s the perfect time to make these too and freeze them in Tupperware containers.

Shop

Do your shopping by the weekend before so you can start prepping food and decorating your table. Your trip to the grocery store will have your cart filled with food but don’t forget about candles for the table, flowers or decoration for a centerpiece and cocktail napkins for your hors d’oeuvres. Think about the whole day and what you’ll need to have on hand throughout.

Prep

Depending on what works best for your schedule and oven space, you can start preparing food a few days in advance. Vegetable side dishes and mashed potatoes can be prepped on Tuesday, and cooked on Wednesday. They will reheat beautifully in the oven so you are not piling up pots and pans on Thanksgiving Day. Also on Wednesday, prep your turkey and have it ready for the oven.  We stuff our turkey with onions, citrus, fresh herbs, and celery.  It’s fine to do this by Wednesday evening unless you brine your turkey, in which case you can have all the onions, fruit and herbs prepped and ready to go into your turkey on Thursday wen you pull it out of the brine. 

Helpful Wine Tips

A regular size bottle of wine is 750ml and contains 4 generous glasses.  If you have 8 guests that all drink wine you should figure at least 2-3 glasses of wine per person. That’s approximately 6 bottles of wine, or 8 to be safe. Both white and red wine are good with Turkey dinner so focus more on drinking what you like instead of what pairs perfectly with the meal. 

Wine Recommendations from Louise

Red- Beaujolais Nouveau (France) - light and fresh.

White- Chardonnay (Oregon) - oaky and full.

Pinot Grigio (brand- Kris) - light and crisp.

Thanksgiving Dinner from Café Louise

View our Thanksgiving menu on our website. We are happy to help make your holiday delicious.

Orders are due: Monday November 24.

Leftovers - Recipe

Thanksgiving leftovers are the gifts that keep giving. You can certainly enjoy the meal all over again or switch up the flavors with this recipe from Chef David Tolly.

Turkey & Dumpling Soup

• Carcass from one 12-14 pound roasted turkey, picked clean
• 2 large white onions, one quartered and 1 diced small
• 3 large carrots, peeled, 2 coarsely chopped and 1 diced small
• 3 stalks celery, 2coarsely chopped and 1 diced small
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ tablespoon peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups leftover stuffing
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 cups shredded leftover turkey meat
• 1 cup leftover corn kernels

Put the turkey carcass, quartered onion, coarsely chopped carrots and celery, garlic, bay leaf, and peppercorns in a large stockpot and add enough cold water to just cover, about 2 quarts. Bring the water to a boil, and then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and strain the solids from the broth. Pour the liquid through a fine mesh strainer and reserve; you should have about 10-12 cups broth.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the eggs, flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and some black pepper together until smooth. Add the stuffing and mix until well combined (see note) cover and place in refrigerator.

Heat the oil in the pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook about 6 minutes. Add diced carrots and celery, thyme sprigs and broth. Bring to a simmer, cook vegetables are just soft, about 10 minutes.

Roll the dumpling mixture into 1 inch balls with wet hands and place on a tray. Once all dumplings are rolled drop into the simmering soup, cook until dumplings float, approximately 3-4 minutes. Gently stir in the turkey meat, corn, and season with salt and pepper, and simmer until heated through. Serve immediately.

Note: Moistness of stuffing can vary; if the dumpling dough is too soft to roll, add flour a teaspoon at a time until it is firm enough to hold its shape while rolling.

   

Happy Thanksgiving and Bon Appétit!

Halloween Bash

Halloween is right around the corner and we’re ready to celebrate, are you?  Halloween is such a great holiday because it allows people to have fun and be creative. With our many years of party planning experience, we’ve seen some great ideas on how to throw a stellar Halloween bash.  Here are some of our favorites!

 

Costume Contest

Most of your guests probably put a good amount of effort into planning and buying their costumes so why not highlight some of the best? You can collect your guests’ votes by simply having them write down their favorite and put it in a Halloween-inspired ballot box, or better yet pumpkin. The host then counts the votes and gives the top 3 winners a small prize (bottle of wine, gift cards, etc.). 

Have a Theme

Choosing a theme for your Halloween party adds a different dimension of fun and also gives your guests an idea on how to dress up. Here are some themes we think you can get creative with:

·      “Hollywood” – Ask your guests dress up as their favorite, familiar, or controversial celebrity. Have a red carpet and Step & Repeat area to pose for pictures. Does one of your friends love to take pictures? Ask them to dress as the “paparazzi” to snap photos of all the celebrities that attended your party.

·      “Politics” – This theme is most appropriate during an election year and can give your guests an opportunity to make light and have some fun surrounding the candidates, political issues and the media.

·      “Foodie Fun” – Who doesn’t love food or have a favorite restaurant? The costume possibilities are endless for this theme.  Make it a potluck party so everyone can share their favorite dish! Vote and award the top three dishes with a restaurant gift card.

A few years ago, Megan, our Pastry Chef, and her husband dressed up as Julia Child and her first cookbook, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”.  We had to share this great photo!

Decorate

Decorating for a Halloween party doesn’t have to be time consuming and expensive.  It just requires some creativity and sometimes a little sense of humor. Our favorite ideas are Martha Stewart’s Indoor Halloween Decorations. Don’t worry about going over the top. Your guests and their costumes will fill your home with the Halloween spirit!

Happy Halloween and Bon Appétit!

Foods We Love in Fall

Fall is such a beautiful, bountiful and colorful time of year and for those of you who love Fall, it has officially arrived.  The days are getting shorter, the air a bit cooler, and the foods heartier.  Local fruits and vegetables are still available in abundance and we’re excited to share some of our favorites with you.

Squash

Fall & Winter squashes (butternut, acorn, spaghetti, pumpkin, etc.) are delicious in Fall cooking because their flavors are stronger and sweeter than summer squashes.  They’re versatile and can be prepared in many different ways- roasted, steamed, baked, sautéed and pureed.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower, a member of the cabbage family, is available year round but becomes “in season” in the late Fall through Spring.  Cauliflower is very nutritious so don’t let the bland, white color fool you. It is low in fat and in carbohydrates and high in dietary fiber, folate, and Vitamin C.  Cauliflower is delicious simply roasted with olive oil, salt, and pepper, or steamed and mashed as a healthier alternative to potatoes. It’s also great with Curry powder or, as the French prefer, Au Gratin.

Green Leafy Vegetables

We can’t say enough good things about greens! Green leafy vegetables are especially nutritious because of their high Vitamin K content and also their high water content, protein, fiber, calcium, folate, vitamin A, and more.  Kale, swiss chard, mustard greens, spinach, collards, and turnip greens are some you might recognize. Greens have been very “trendy” for quite some time now and we predict (and pray!) this trend will last. It is best to buy your greens  - at least kale, collards and spinach - organic since these are part of the Dirty Dozen. A tried and true favorite way to enjoy greens is Louise’s easy, crunchy kale chips. You don’t even need a recipe!

Wash and Cut into 2”-3” pieces, dry, toss lightly with EVOO and salt and bake uncovered in a 325 oven for approximately 15-20 minutes or until crispy.

Apples & Pears

Both members of the “Pomes” family, apples and pears are now readily available. They are delicious on their own, added to salads, and of course baked in desserts.  Apples and pears will be available in grocery stores and farmers markets for the next few months but for the absolute best tasting fruit, we suggest picking your own.  Not only is it fun but it’s also the best and most affordable way to get the freshest fruit.  Lucky for us, there are tons of places in Connecticut to pick your own fruit. Check out http://www.pickyourown.org/CT.htm to find an orchard or farm near you!

Just about all of the fall produce we mentioned is available at the Bishop’s Corner Farmers Market.  Many of our prepared soups, salads, and baked items that we sell will include these ingredients.  Come visit us and the other vendors every Saturday from 9 a.m. - noon until the end of October. In November you can plan on Saturday mornings at the “Café Marketplace” at our New Britain Avenue storefront location. We will continue with retail sales on Saturdays from 9 a.m. – noon beginning November 1^st.

Enjoy and Bon Appétit!

Meet us at the Farmers Market

This has been a great summer for Café Louise that has been highlighted by our participation in the newly formed farmers market sponsored by the Bishops Corner Neighborhood Association.  Every Saturday until mid-October we’ll be among a great group of vendors selling.  Our Pastry Chef, Megan, provides tasty sweet treats including brownies, cookies, buttermilk scones, tea breads, fresh fruit hand pies, and Swag Bars (all of which have already given us return customers!).  Executive Chef, David Tolly, provides lots of wonderful items to choose from such as 6 inch quiches, pasta salad, chicken salad, seasonal soups, barbeque sauces, and fresh salsas which are available to sample at our tent.

  Participating in a farmers market is a new venture for us and so far has been a lot of fun.  Being in Bishops Corner every Saturday morning has given us a great opportunity to meet new local people and share what Café Louise is all about.  We are not your traditional farmers market vendor but we strongly believe in the philosophy of supporting local farms, food, and businesses.  The farms participating in this market provide beautiful, fresh produce every week.

George Hall Farm- Simsbury, CT

Located in Simsbury, George Hall Farm has been in business since 1966 and has been certified organic since 1979. They are famous for their blue potatoes but provide a wide variety of fresh vegetables that they sell at the farmers market. Along with their produce, they also sell eggs, pork and honey at their farm stand in Simsbury and offer a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

Chubby Bunny Farm- Falls Village, CT

The Chubby Bunny Farms practices sustainable farming and takes a holistic approach when it comes to raising and growing their produce. They believe in having a direct connection with their customers and strive to keep the conversation going throughout the community.  They offer a wide variety of fresh produce, over 50 different crops, and focus on nutrient dense food.  The big dark green bunches of kale jump out to shoppers every week.

GeoRoots Solar Growth Farm- North Canton, CT

GeoRoots is a small, family run grower of healthy and chemical free crops, specializing in vegetables and herbs.  They have a variety of unique and heirloom greens that they sell, including beautiful salad mixes dotted with edible flowers. The fresh herbs that GeoRoots brings to the farmers market perfume their whole tent!

Anthony’s Farm- Simsbury, CT

A certified organic farm, Anthony’s Farm is located in Simsbury but also grows crops in neighboring towns.  Their specialty is growing a wide variety of potatoes. We also bought a few ears of corn from them and they were delicious!

Newgate Farms- Windsor, CT

Newgate Farms has been family owned and operated since 1933. They grew tomatoes exclusively for 50 years. They are know for their heirloom tomatoes and now grow and supply a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits to their customers. Along with the Farmers Market, they also sell produce at their farm stand on Tuesdays.

This farmers market is organized and run by the Bishop’s Corner Neighborhood Association, a non-profit organization that works with residents and businesses to make Bishops Corner a destination for all.  They’ve worked hard to make the market successful and we thank them for letting us be a part of it. They're also looking for volunteers to help in the upcoming weeks at the market.

Please visit the farmers market for produce, pastries, and much more!

Bishops Corner Farmers Market

(next to Starbucks & The Crown Market)

Saturdays, 9:00 am – Noon

August 2 – October 18

Bon Appétit!

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

Mother's Day is just a few days away and and Café Louise owner, Louise Albin, reflects back on one of her favorite Mother's Day memories and sends a special Mother's Day message.

There are so many great gift options when it comes to Mother’s Day.  Gifts can be fun, personal, and don’t need to be expensive.  Our advice?  Give something to Mom that she may not normally buy for herself, but would love to receive and say “what a nice gift”.  There are so many to choose from but here are a few of our favorite gifts ideas with a few different options:

Plants

You can never go wrong with a beautiful and practical plant this time of year.  We love the idea of giving pots of fresh herbs such as basil, parsley and thyme. Fresh herbs are great to always have on hand to add freshness to any meal. 

 

One of our favorite ways to use fresh basil is by making pesto.  Pesto is so versatile and can be used in many different ways.  Toss with hot pasta, spread on sandwiches, or mix with softened butter and the possibilities are endless. Below is Chef David’s recipe.

Basil Pesto by Chef David Tolly

2c packed basil leaves
2 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 c pine nuts, toasted
1/2 c olive oil
1/2 c grated Romano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Place basil and garlic in food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add olive oil and blend until almost smooth. Add pine nuts, Romano cheese, salt and pepper and pulse until just blended. If you prefer smoother pesto pulse until desired consistency.

Lemon Trees

 You can take potted plants one step further with a Meyer lemon tree. Meyer lemon trees produce beautifully sweet, vibrant yellow lemons and are also wonderful to have on hand for everyday cooking and entertaining.  Imagine wowing your friends and family serving iced tea with lemon slices from your own tree. So fun!

Kitchen Linens

We use a variety of different linens every day in the catering world but know how useful they are for people at home.  If your Mom loves to cook and entertain, there’s a good chance she could use extra or new linens to freshen the look of her kitchen.  Here’s our list:

• Tablecloths- remember one size does not fit all. Choose fabrics that are easy to wash and care for.

• Napkins- Have some fun with these!  Choose colors that contrast a tablecloth or table runner that your Mom might already own.  Fun napkin rings add a nice touch.

• Dishtowels & Tea Towels- Dishtowels are usually more absorbent but tea towels can have beautiful designs and add great décor to Mom’s kitchen.

• Aprons- Aprons with fun fabrics and designs are still a big trend and so fun to collect.  If Mom likes to cook, we think she’ll like a new apron.

Whether you’re going out for brunch, sending Mom to the spa, or planning a relaxing day at home, we hope you have a great day celebrating the women you love. Happy Mother’s Day!

Food of the Irish

Saint Patrick’s Day is less than two weeks away so we of course have Irish food on our minds.  “The day of the festival of Patrick”, is a public holiday in Ireland but is widely celebrated around the world.  With holiday celebrations comes an emphasis on food and drink and Saint Patrick’s Day is no different.   What many people do not realize is that Irish cuisine goes far beyond your standard Shepherd’s Pie and boiled Corned Beef & Cabbage.  Here are some fun facts and myths about Irish cuisine.

Corned Beef

Corned beef is a salt cured beef product.  Corned Beef & Cabbage is the most recognized meal to eat on St Patrick’s Day, if you’re celebrating in the United States.  Corned beef and cabbage didn’t actually originate in Ireland and if served in Ireland, is more for tourist appeal. The Irish-American “Corned beef and cabbage” actually developed from the traditional Bacon and Cabbage.    The dish was made with back bacon and boiled with cabbage and potatoes.  It is believed that Irish immigrants replaced the back bacon with corned beef in the mid to late 19^th century due to cost and availability and it has been a tradition ever since. 

Irish Stews

When you think of an Irish Stew, you probably think of a combination of lamb or beef, potatoes, carrots, and Guinness.  While, these ingredients are traditional and popular among the Irish there are also many variations.  Coddle is a traditional stew made with sausage, rashers (thinly sliced back bacon), onions and potatoes.  Unlike many beef and lamb stews, Coddle is made with chicken stock or water, making the stew light in color but certainly still rich in flavor as it is usually cooked for several hours.  Also, fish stews and chowders can’t be forgotten.  Ireland is a country on the coast with access to an abundance of fresh seafood.  Oysters, wild salmon, white fish, and varieties of shellfish are among the Irish favorites for stews highlighting their sea.

Vegetables

Many believe that the only vegetables that exist in the average Irish person’s diet are potatoes, cabbage and the occasional root vegetable.  Potatoes are the pride of Ireland.  They grow in abundance there so it is no surprise they are such an important and celebrated part of their cuisine.  Other popular vegetables found in Irish dishes include cabbage, leafy kale, carrots, onions, leeks, parsnips, turnips, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower. 

Soda Bread

We can’t talk about Irish food without mentioning Soda Bread.  Soda bread is a traditional baked bread in the Irish culture.  It is a “quick bread” comprised of just a short list of ingredients; flour, salt, baking soda, buttermilk, and (depending on the recipe) a little sugar.  When introduced in the 1800’s, it was made in a “bastible”, a large cast iron pot with a lid, and cooked over a flame or coals which meant anyone could make it, no oven required.  Today, there are several variations of the recipe but if you ask us, there is only one way to serve it- with a generous smear of butter. 

At Café Louise, we’re celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day with, among other things, delicious Brined Corned Beef, Buttery Potatoes, Cabbage and Soda Bread.  See the complete St. Patrick’s Day menu below and call or email us to place your order.

Saint Patrick's Day Weekend Extravaganza

Corned Beef Dinner- Corned Beef with Cabbage, Baby Carrots and Yukon Gold Potatoes.

Bangers & Mash- Traditional Irish Sausages griddled with Sweet Onions, served with Garlic and Herb Mashed Potatoes.

Lamb Stew- Tender Lamb simmered with Root Vegetables in a rich broth with Fresh Herbs.

Cottage Pie- Ground Beef, Corn and Lima Beans in a rich Gravy topped with whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes.

*All meals served with Irish Soda Bread and Shamrock Cookies.

$20 per person plus tax (minimum 2 orders per item)

Available March 14, 15, 17

Pre-Order 24 hours in advance

*additional Irish Soda Bread and Shamrock Cookies available for purchase.