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The Nelscott Wine Shop will be on hand, selling wine by the glass, and Captain Dan’s Pirate Pastry Shop will have a wide assortment of sweet treats for purchase. There will be a raffle, with proceeds going to the Taft High School culinary program, and a live cooking demonstration performed by competitor Pati D’Eliseo of A Posto Personal Chef Services. In the demonstration, Chef D’Eliseo will show the audience how to prepare a prosciutto-wrapped shrimp, pan sautéed with olive oil, herbs, and garlic. She’ll invite a bystander to help prepare the dish, and offer samples to the crowd. Chef D’Eliseo is a personal chef who works in homes and kitchens up and down the north Oregon Coast, preparing meals for vacationers and busy families. The name of her business, A Posto, is an Italian phrase meaning “everything is in place.” She was classically trained at the French Culinary Institute in New York City, and found her culinary focus during a five-month externship in Italy, on the Adriatic Coast. With A Posto, D’Eliseo is enjoying a second career after spending 25 years as a project manager in the technology field. D’Eliseo said she “never makes the same thing twice,” preferring to use the ingredients she has on hand to create different versions of the same dish. Her home base is Newport, where she runs her business with her husband, Bruce Birt. |
At this Saturday’s cook-off, D’Eliseo is planning to prepare an Italian-inspired red seafood chowder. She starts the chowder with a sofrito base, which includes onion and garlic toasted in olive oil, then mixed with tomato paste, water and red wine vinegar. The acidic juices from the base marry with the juices from the seafood to produce a delightful taste, she said. It’s not the traditional white clam chowder, she admits, but hopes the cook-off patrons will be ready for something different.
When you’re making chowder, D’Eliseo advised, don’t over-emphasize the other ingredients.
“The protein you’re focusing on should be the first thing you taste. Remember that’s what you’re making: clam chowder,” she said. “How many times have you eaten a bowl and said, ‘Where’s the clam?’”
Don Williams, head chef and owner of Nelscott Café in Lincoln City, is excited to be competing again in this year’s cook-off. Williams said that all the chefs, including him, bring their “A” game for this event.
“This is a real effort of love,” he said. “We have a very good chowder at the café, but this year I’ve decided to step it up and go in a different direction.”
He plans on making a Jamaican-inspired seafood chowder that includes crab, shrimp, fish, sweet potato, and coconut milk. Like the other competitors, Williams will be preparing more than 12 gallons of chowder (at the end of the event, patrons will have the opportunity to purchase quart containers of the leftovers).
Williams has worked in restaurants since he was 16, and owns several Subway restaurants in the Portland area. He opened Nelscott Café in December 2009 and loves the immediate feedback that customers give him. Williams describes his café as eclectic Americana, like something you might see on the popular television show, “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”
He prides himself in making almost everything from scratch, and believes cooking for the family is great preparation for the restaurant business. The Seafood and Chowder Cook-off, he said, is a perfect place for his style of cuisine.
“There is nothing mass produced about this contest, and everyone puts their best into it. I wouldn’t miss it,” Williams said.
Williams suggests that home chefs start their chowder with a base of smoked pork. He uses a jowl, a fatty type of bacon, for the Nelscott Café’s clam chowder.
“After you render the fat, remove the bacon and begin to cook your vegetables,” he said. “Next, add the milk or cream.”
Williams prefers a thinner type of chowder, so he thickens the soup with crushed potatoes, instead of flour. As a side benefit, this also makes the chowder gluten-free. He also recommends pre-cooking your potato cubes: “Otherwise, they will never get done.”
You can sample Williams’ Jamaican chowder, D’Eliseo’s red seafood chowder, and plenty more, at this Saturday’s event. You can learn, satisfy your hunger for chowder, and enjoy the view.
For more details, visit oregoncoast.org.
When you’re making chowder, D’Eliseo advised, don’t over-emphasize the other ingredients.
“The protein you’re focusing on should be the first thing you taste. Remember that’s what you’re making: clam chowder,” she said. “How many times have you eaten a bowl and said, ‘Where’s the clam?’”
Don Williams, head chef and owner of Nelscott Café in Lincoln City, is excited to be competing again in this year’s cook-off. Williams said that all the chefs, including him, bring their “A” game for this event.
“This is a real effort of love,” he said. “We have a very good chowder at the café, but this year I’ve decided to step it up and go in a different direction.”
He plans on making a Jamaican-inspired seafood chowder that includes crab, shrimp, fish, sweet potato, and coconut milk. Like the other competitors, Williams will be preparing more than 12 gallons of chowder (at the end of the event, patrons will have the opportunity to purchase quart containers of the leftovers).
Williams has worked in restaurants since he was 16, and owns several Subway restaurants in the Portland area. He opened Nelscott Café in December 2009 and loves the immediate feedback that customers give him. Williams describes his café as eclectic Americana, like something you might see on the popular television show, “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”
He prides himself in making almost everything from scratch, and believes cooking for the family is great preparation for the restaurant business. The Seafood and Chowder Cook-off, he said, is a perfect place for his style of cuisine.
“There is nothing mass produced about this contest, and everyone puts their best into it. I wouldn’t miss it,” Williams said.
Williams suggests that home chefs start their chowder with a base of smoked pork. He uses a jowl, a fatty type of bacon, for the Nelscott Café’s clam chowder.
“After you render the fat, remove the bacon and begin to cook your vegetables,” he said. “Next, add the milk or cream.”
Williams prefers a thinner type of chowder, so he thickens the soup with crushed potatoes, instead of flour. As a side benefit, this also makes the chowder gluten-free. He also recommends pre-cooking your potato cubes: “Otherwise, they will never get done.”
You can sample Williams’ Jamaican chowder, D’Eliseo’s red seafood chowder, and plenty more, at this Saturday’s event. You can learn, satisfy your hunger for chowder, and enjoy the view.
For more details, visit oregoncoast.org.
