Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Wildtree at Cajun Kountry Kitchen Cafe (CKKC)

Cajun Kountry Kitchen Cafe is a little restaurant that serves up BIG flavors. The chef, Chef Frisco, obviously has a passion for cooking and is also versatile and creative. The current location isn't the best so while the lunch crowd is strong, their dinner service is very slow. I've eaten there a couple of times and they even catered my niece's quinceanera so I speak from firsthand experience when I say they have some GOOD EATING!!

As some of you may have caught on, my sister-in-law is a Wildtree representative. If you're not familiar with Wildtree, they sell all natural herbs, grape seed oil, bread mixes, all sorts of stuff. The company started out as a way to offer busy parents a quick jump start to a  healthy meal. FancyPants, as Skywalker likes to call my sister-in-law, decided to do a Wildtree fundraiser at CKKC with all proceeds going to CKKC to help them out. She gave him some Wildtree products to use in creating the spread. The menu looked so good; I couldn't wait to start sampling.


First Chef Frisco shared with the attendees cooking tips.


I knew some of them already but I learned stuff too. Here's a pasta cooking tip: you don't need to add oil! The key to making sure pasta doesn't stick together is making sure you have enough water and space in the pot for the noodles. When the noodles cook, they release starch. If the pasta is too snug, that starch will make the pasta stick together. Also, before adding the pasta, you'll want to salt the water. This is really the only time to flavor pasta. I do the same thing that Chef Frisco advised us to do... make that water salty like the sea!
 

A second tip Chef Frisco shared was making sure to add a "flavor conductor" to all marinades. Most "flavor conductors" we are familiar with are things like oil and vinegar. Chef Frisco explained that without that conductor, all that fantastic flavor from any marinade won't make it INTO the cut of meat you are using so it is critical to add that component. Did you know that honey is also a flavor conductor?? Neither did I! Honey is made from bee's saliva and I'm sure we all know that saliva breaks things down so once Chef Frisco pointed that out, it all made sense. So honey, although it works a bit slower, is also a "flavor conductor".


 Throughout the tip sharing process, Chef Frisco also shared jokes and made us laugh. He's funny, personable and down to earth so even before we started stuffing our faces, we all were having a wonderful time. And don't get me started on his wife, Dana. LOVE HER!! Actually I think Dana and I got fussed at because we were so busy yakking it up and not paying attention when they were ready to start. Oops!

Once Chef Frisco shared some of his trade secrets, we were able to make our plates.


Sometimes looks are deceiving. Not in this case. Or maybe it was deceiving because it tasted BETTER than it looked!! Honestly, I'm certain that Chef Frisco could make cruddy ingredients taste good but man oh man, the creations he came up with using the Wildtree products?? Slap yo momma good!

Had to have a bowl of Seafood Scampi over pasta... of course. Chef Frisco actually went to Sam's and bought a bag of frozen seafood meant for paella. Then he used the Wildtree Scampi seasoning mix and butter to create the sauce. Just goes to show you that you can make a simple and delicious meal.


The Wildtree Rotisserie Chicken was juicy and super flavorful.


The Moroccan Grilled Chicken Sliders were beautiful little bites.


The Wildtree Carrot Cake Cups weren't overly sweet and so moist. They complimented the Cream Cheese frosting perfectly AND the frosting comes with the cake mix. How cool is that??


We all had a fantastic time, enjoy some wonderful food and helped out Cajun Kountry Kitchen Cafe just a bit.


If you're nearby, stop in and enjoy some of Chef Frisco's amazing culinary delights at CKKC! I promise you won't regret it.

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