Experimental Station is Making Traditions with Sit Down Meals and Conversation

Experimental Station is making traditions this month over sit-down meals and conversations.

Experimental Station Big Room

Veronica DeFillo in the green shirt and at the head of the table.

I got this email invitation from Matthew Searle (he/him), Assistant Director, Experimental Station.

"Hi Alpha, it happens to be a magnificent week for eating here at the building. Please look at these special opportunities to connect over food and let me know what you can join. Note that these are all sit-down meals rather than chances to take food on the go." Matthew Searle

So, after reading the list, I RSVP for Thursday's lunch with Veronica DeLillo.  Thursday at 12PM (11/21) - meet a wonderful neighbor, Veronica Defillo, who lives across the street on Dorchester. 

Veronica came to our soup dinner a few weeks ago, and I found out she makes incredible Gumbo in our ensuing conversations. She is making a giant pot of this Gumbo and has invited more neighbors and community stakeholders to come and share this meal in the Big Room.

Veronica is originally from Arkansas. Before migrating to Chicago, her formal education, courtship, and married life were in NOLA. There she learned the culture of cooking Gumbo. It was a family affair where all her in-laws, aunties, cousins came together to make the stew.

The Gumbo was the star of the table.

She recalled it as a festive time, cleaning the seafood, cutting and dicing the vegetables: onions, garlic, celery, bell pepper, parsley, and okra. Each family contributed meats like ham hocks, pork shank, hotlinks, cracked chicken wings, shrimp, and crabs. She didn't share her secret to the Roux with me, but she said she put the okra in last so it would be firm.  Roux (pronounced "roo") is the foundation for many Cajun and Creole recipes, from gravies to sauces and soups to gumbos. Though simple in nature, Roux brings incredible flavor to so many recipes. Roux is a cooked mixture of flour and fat (oil, butter, or lard) used as a thickening agent.

Veronica says she loves to play cards, so making Gumbo was filled with trash-talking, "Bid Whist," "Spades," and lots of whooping and hollering, and some good old family partying and toasting, waiting on the Gumbo to be ready.

Assistant Director, Experimental Station
6100 S. Blackstone Ave., Chicago, IL 60637 USA
office: 773.241.6044; alt: 773.270.2502
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I like a medium to dark brown Roux; I avoid putting tomatoes in my gumbo or anything that looks like a paste. The trick is the timing.
Medium Brown Roux: If you cook the roux for 20 minutes, you will get a medium brown roux that should be the color of a copper pot.
Dark Brown (Chocolate) Roux: When you cook the roux for 25+ minutes, you will end up with a dark brown roux the color of dark chocolate. Alpha Bruton

How to Make a Louisiana Roux: This is the traditional method for making a roux using equal parts of oil and flour.

• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup flour

Method of Preparation:

1. Heat oil over medium heat until hot in a heavy skillet (Cast-Iron Skillet).
2. Add flour gradually, stirring or whisking, to combine with the oil.
3. 
   
4. After adding all the flour, reduce the heat to low and cook, frequently stirring. About 45 to 60 minutes or until Roux ranges from a peanut butter color to a dark brown (red-brown or the color of milk chocolate, and has a nut-like odor (it will be very thick and pasty).
5. 
   
   This process takes some time, depending on how high the heat on your stove is. The slower, the better, but be ready to remove the skillet from the heat and stir more rapidly if the Roux is too hot.
   If you stop stirring – the flour will burn. So never walk away from the Roux. The secret to getting a perfect roux is to take your time and go constantly.
6. 
   
7. When done to your liking, immediately remove from heat and set aside.
8. Carefully transfer it into your stockpot and start making Gumbo or other recipes.

Cuban-style Paella: Paella Cubana

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cuban-style-paella-paella-cubana-recipe-1940838

Total: 1 hr 50 min
Prep: 40 min
Cook: 1 hr 10 min
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
1/2 cup olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons for sautéing seafood
1 cup diced ham
1 cup chorizo sausage or pepperoni, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces (recommended: Spanish sausage)
1 large onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced

One 3-pound chicken, cut into 6 to 8 pieces
3 cups Valencia rice
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup red wine
1 can mussels
2 teaspoons salt
Bijou powder, a dash
1 pound medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 pound scallops
Meat from 5 lobster tails, reserve shells for garnish
1 cup of frozen green peas
1/4 cup minced parsley leaves
1 red bell pepper, sliced for garnish
1 cup steamed mussels in their shells, for garnish


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat olive oil in a large pan. Sauté the ham and chorizo sausage. Remove from pan and reserve. *
Add onions, red pepper, and garlic to the pan and sauté until wilted but not overcooked.

Add chicken pieces and sauté for about 15 minutes until brown, but not fully cooked. Remove and reserve.

In a large pot combine the rice, broth, wine, and mussels. Add salt for flavor and Bijol for color. Stir. Turn up the heat, bring to boil and cover. Add chicken, ham, and chorizo. Cover and simmer on the stove for 20 to 30 minutes, until the rice is cooked and fluffy. (You may have to add a little more chicken broth if the mixture gets too dry).

Sauté shrimp, clams, and lobster tails separately in the oil. Remove and keep covered and warm.**

At the last minute, fold the seafood into the rice mixture. Transfer to a flat paella pan suitable for serving. Top with peas and red peppers. Place in oven for about 5 minutes to heat through. Take care not to overcook!
Serve garnished with mussels, parsley, and lobster shells.
Cook’s Note

*This will draw the oil from the chorizo and flavor the pan. **This will keep it from drying out.

Reference:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cuban-style-paella-paella-cubana-recipe-1940838

Hosting Art Salon, Pot lucks, Receptions Handling Evites RSVPS for VIP's

WH on Cottage, Popup Gallery Opening Night.

 In this age of FACEBOOK and EMAILS, many invitations go unanswered or answered and forgotten, and most of all, not communicating with the host when they decide they're not going after replying that you are.

ETIQUETTE/REFERENCE

Entertaining has become more a chore than a pleasure, I just want to relax and enjoy the party. So I went, to my bookshelf and pulled out Emily Post’s book on Entertaining. The etiquette of entertaining begins with this code of behavior and continues with those guidelines that enable you to be self-confident and comfortable in any social situation, whether it be a backyard barbecue or a formal ball.

Invitations and Reply’s

When inviting friends to an informal dinner, barbecue or small gathering for cocktails or dessert and coffee, a telephone invitation is appropriate. Send an invitation by mail if you are honoring a special guest or in celebration of an event, salon series, reception preferably send by mail, You should reply as soon as possible so that the host can plan accordingly.

“I sent out eight personal invitations for my 1st Sunday Salon Series I’m hosted this month. I only planned for eight guests, and their plus ones. I called each guest, first verbally invite them, then to follow-up on the verbal invite. I filled in the blank lines by hand and waited for replies.  I also, sent an electronic invitation by email so I could share the menu, and suggested side items they each could contribute. 

Feb 05, 2018, Sunday Salon Series, guest  Nicole M. Davis, (Culinary artist, AIR at Bronzeville Artist Lofts), Alan Emerson Hicks (Curator, Artist/Sculpture), Patric McCoy  (Collector Diaspora Rhythm), and Aaron Petty (Preparator at Gallery Guichard). We gather informally around the wet bar, which functions as a focal point in the gallery for the art of entertaining, culinary art, preparing food, and plating with the guest. 

Because my gallery practice gives so many art openings and receptions, cocktail parties, trolley tours, and open studios. I felt like I wanted the 1st of the month social experience to be more intimate with artist talks, it's important for me to balance the room and share a planned menu.

South Side Host Passport, Airbnb Host 1st Holiday Meetup

What kinds of social events require an invitation in return? Parties in private homes, whether luncheons, brunches, cocktails, or dinner parties, do require a return invitation.

BYOB- “Bring your own bottle”, you can take it with you when you leave, or leave it for the host. The bar shelf is fully stocked with glassware of various types, and plasticware from Bombay Shappire parties. I frown on giving guests plastic cups, or foam cups.

BYOF- “Bring your own food”, it’s rare to see it written on invitations, say “potluck”, or “chips-in-dinner”.  It's okay to say it when you are having a meetup at one of the many Movies in the Parks, Jazz in the Parks,  Jazz at the Museum, and an outing where the guest has selected a social experience out and about. 

I use Evite online invitations and ask my guest to Sign Up to Bring Something.