October 2010
Provisions Newsletter
WHY SHOULD YOU COOK?
In This Issue
SHABBAT IN A BOX
UNDERGROUND WINE TASTING DINNERS
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
ONE MORE THING
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Heirloom Tomatoes
AUTUMNAL GREETINGS FROM PROVISIONS!


We have had an incredible Fall!  We catered the LIVE STRONG event for ART MERE/ART PERE.  And our Underground Wine Tasting Dinner at the Sowden/Balbes house was an amazing evenng.  There was music from the Pangolin Cello Duet and wonderful wine from Domaine LA.

Our next Dinner is November 13th, please see the details below. 

And don't forget to book your orders for Thanksgiving early this year!!

Menus available upon request and special orders are encouraged but only if they are placed at least one week before Thanksgiving.


After all, Why Should You Cook?
Shabbat In A Box!
Chinese Food box

How many times have you thought," I'd love to have a lovely Shabbat dinner on Friday Night."  But who has time in our busy over scheduled lives?
WE DO!!
Inspired by our wildly talented friend Kate Douvan,each week we will offer a classic Shabbat meal for four such as:

Whole Roasted Jidori Chicken
(from Rocker Brothers Meats)
Noodle Kugel
Roasted Asparagus
Rustic Apple Pie
Challah

$65
Plus Delivery

Orders must be placed by 5pm Wednesday for the following Friday.
If there are several orders from the same school, delivery is free and you can pick up at the end of the school day!  Just try to get the Challah home before the kids eat it in the car!
UNDERGROUND WINE TASTING DINNER
Next Dinner is November 13th!


Dinner at the Sowden/Blabes House
Septemeber 25th, 2010

Thanks to everyone who attended our dinner last month.
Our next Dinner will be on Saturday, November 13th in Beverly Hills.  This architectural gem is in hidden in plain sight in the heart of Beverly Hills.
Five courses, five wines!
$95 per person.
We are handling tickets ourselves this time, so email us to reserve your spot and we will send you the pay pal link.

For more information about our food and philosophy please check out our website.


And if you know of a great house that would like to host one of our dinners, please contact us!
PUMPKIN RISOTTO
Something new for Thanksgiving
Pumpkin risotto
Pumpkin Risotto
From Andrea Watman

This dish combines rice and pumpkin - two of my very favorite things. It can be made as a main course, you can add mushrooms or even sausage meat, it can be made vegetarian by replacing the chicken stock with vegetable stock. I have even made it using the water that the pumpkin was boiled in. It may sound complicated - but it really isn't. You can stuff a medium pumpkin instead of six small ones, you can stuff a Turban Squash (ask your green grocer) or serve it family style in a beautiful bowl.

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1 Cup Chopped Onion
4 Cloves of Garlic Minced
2 Cups Arborio Rice
2 Cups White Wine
5 Cups of Chicken Stock
1 Medium Pumpkin
(I use what is called a milk pumpkin - it has a somewhat white color  - it is the pumpkin used to make pumpkin pie - you can use a good old jack-o-lantern pumpkin, or even butternut squash if you are not into pumpkin)
6 small pumpkins (for serving)
2 Sticks Sweet Butter
1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan
4 oz Pepitas or Shelled Pumpkin Seeds
(no I don't use the ones I just cleaned out of the pumpkin - I prefer to buy them ready to use.)

Preparation:
1. Cut the tops off of the six serving pumpkins - remove the seeds and fibrous strands.

2. Place the serving pumpkins and pumpkin tops on a baking sheet  - lightly coating the inner flesh with olive oil. Bake at 325 degrees for approx 15 minutes. The skin will begin to wrinkle - don't overcook you want them to hold their shape.

3. Bring a large pot of water to boil - season with salt. Cut up the large pumpkin: remove the seeds and fibrous strands, peel the outer skin away with a vegetable peeler. Add the cleaned pumpkin, cut into cubes, to boiling water. Cook as you would potatoes for mashing. It should take approx. 20 minutes.

4. Drain well and mash adding 1 stick of sweet butter. Do not add salt or pepper.

5. In a large heavy sauce pan heat olive oil and sauté the chopped onion and garlic until tender - do not brown.

6. Add rice and stir WITH A WOODEN SPOON - until rice is coated. (If you wondering why a wooden spoon - I am really not sure - but that's how my Grandmother made rice and that's how I make rice. No she never made risotto, but I am sure if she did she would have used a wooden spoon. She also taught me that if you spilled salt you had to throw some over your left shoulder, but that's a story for another day,  back to the risotto).

7. Once the rice is coated add 1 cup of white wine and 2 cups of stock, stirring as often as humanly possible,  until all liquid is absorbed. Add the remaining wine and 1 cup more of stock and keep stirring, once liquid is absorbed add 1 more cup of  stock, stir until absorbed and add remaining stock if necessary. You want the rice to be cooked but not mushy.

8. Remove form the heat and stir in mashed pumpkin. Return to the heat stir in the remain stick of butter and parmesan cheese. The rice will be almost creamy and really yummy. I don't add salt or pepper but if you want to know is the time to do it.

9. Spoon into cooked small pumpkins - top with the pepitas or shelled pumpkin seeds and serve immediately. Get ready to take a bow because this is a crowd pleaser.

ONE MORE THING!

A fun event for the entire family, ARTISINAL LA, on October 23rd and 24th in down town L.A!!  Support your community and buy local!  Also partial proceeds benefit LAUSD garden programs.  Eat, shop and watch a cooking demonstration.  Tickets are only $10 if you purchase on line.


If you have an idea for an event or need help planning your next dinner party we are here to help.

WHY SHOULD YOU COOK?

Lisa Feinstein
Provisions
323-667-2565
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