July 2022

Upcoming Classes

Call now to book your seat 541-617-0312

Upcoming Classes with Chef Candy

July 27 | Farmer’s Market Bounty
August 10 | Pan Seared Lambchops
August 24 | Chicken Milanese
Sept 7 | Roasted Halibut
Sept 21 | Handcrafted Orecchiette & Cavatelli

Get to know our Chefs

Growing up in an Italian family, food was the center of every gathering. This influenced Chef Candy Argondizza’s love of food and the desire to pursue it as a career, which began with earning her degree from The Culinary Institute of America. Chef Candy has led kitchens in some of NYC’s finer restaurants, including invitations to cook at the famed James Beard House.

Chef Candy’s desire to teach let her to the International Culinary Center (formerly the French Culinary Institute) in NYC, where she taught the professional curriculum and mentored many aspiring chefs. In 2012, she received the prestigious “Educator of the Year” award from the International Association of Culinary Professions (IACP) in recognition of her role as a teacher and administrator. After a few years of teaching at FCI, she was tapped to lead the entire faculty of both culinary and pastry, and creating curriculum for the professional and amateur programs. Chef Candy worked alongside ICC’s legendary deans and worked on all of the ICC published cookbooks.

Chef Candy moved to Bend in 2017 starting her own culinary business, Ingredient Studio, with her partner. She continues to share her knowledge and talents with all food lovers in Bend and Central Oregon.

Q&A with Chef Candy

What’s your favorite cuisine to cook?
My favorite cuisine to cook is Italian, love the flavors and being Italian, it resonates with me!

What’s your essential cooking tool to have in the kitchen?
My knives, sharp and always ready to go. My wooden spoon is a close 2nd.

How did you get into cooking?
I grew up in an Italian family where food was always important and delicious but it wasn’t until I was in college and got a prep cook job and realized that this was what I loved so I enrolled in The Culinary Institute of America and never looked back!

Who are your Chef inspirations?
Jacques Pepin whom I was privileged to work with at the French Culinary Institute, Alice Waters and Thomas Keller.

What’s your favorite ingredient to cook with?
My favorite ingredients to work with are anything seasonal and local!

Black Beans with Peruvian Green Sauce (Aji Verde)

Here’s a great recipe from our customer Valerie from Bend. She mentioned how much she loves using Olivelle’s Caramelized Garlic Olive Oil and Jalapeño Lime Balsamic Vinegar for this family favorite recipe. Her family uses the Aji Verde sauce for different types of protein or even as a dip for chips or fresh vegetables.

INGREDIENTS:

8 cups water
2 cups dried black beans (can substitute 2 cans black beans and skip the soaking and long cooking process and do not drain the beans)
2 tsp cumin
3 cloves fresh garlic
1 tsp Olivelle’s Caramelized Garlic Olive Oil
2 T dried chili power
2 tsp Mexican oregano
Lime zest from one lime
Lime juice from one lime, filtered
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 T cotija cheese
Peruvian Green Sauce (Aji Verde)
2 or 3 T stemmed chopped cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS:

Plan to start soaking dried beans 6 to 8 hours ahead of time (then plan to cook longer, as necessary)

1. Sort, cull, and rinse two (2) cups of dried black beans

2. Add beans to pot with 8 cups of water and soak 6 to 8 hours

3. Rinse beans

4. Starting with fresh, clean large pot and add soaked beans along with:

8 cups of water
2 tsp cumin
3 fresh garlic cloves shaved or sliced thin
1 tsp Kara’s caramelized garlic flavored oil
2 T dried chili powder
2 tsp Mexican oregano
2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste

5. Bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer. Partially cover pot with lid (to release steam and allow beans to cook faster) and cook until soft. Central Oregon has a high elevation and as such dried beans can take twice as long to cook as compared to the printed instructions on the bag that the beans came in. Notably it can take up to five hours depending on the freshness of the beans and the elevation where you live.

6. Once beans are soft, drain intro strainer over a large bowl to reserve about 1 cup of bean water.

7. Put beans, reserved water back into pot and on low heat add the following:

Zest of one lime, and the juice of the same lime, filtered
1 tsp of Olivelle’s Jalapeño Lime Balsamic Vinegar
Adjust seasonings to taste, particularly salt

8. Pour about 1⁄4 of Peruvian Green Sauce (Aji Verde) on top of bean and give it little stir (recipe below)

9. Top with cotija cheese (most used in Mexican cooking. If not available, substitute with a dry, aged goat cheese or a salty ricotta salata)

10. Garnish with 2 or 3 tablespoons of stemmed chopped fresh cilantro

Aji Verde Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

2 fresh jalapeños (see notes below)
5 garlic cloves (see notes below)
1 cup stemmed chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup sour cream
2 T cotija cheese
2 T Olivelle’s Jalapeño Lime Balsamic Vinegar
2 T Olivelle’s Caramelized Garlic Olive Oil
2 T juice from fresh lime, filtered
Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a shallow pan, bring an inch or two of water to a boil and add 2 fresh stemmed jalapeños sliced in half vertically (the long way), remove membrane and seeds, and add to boiling water and cook until soft. For spicier sauce, keep seeds and membranes. At the same time:

2. Add 5 peeled and stemmed fresh garlic cloves to the boing water, cooking until soft. Be careful not to overcook. Remove jalapeños and garlic and set aside.

3. In a blender, combine soft, cooked jalapeños and garlic cloves. Add Olivelle’s Caramelized Garlic Olive Oil, fresh lime juice, Olivelle’s Jalapeño Lime Balsamic Vinegar, and salt. Blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour about 1⁄2 cup of finished sauce on top of the beans. Reserve leftover sauce to serve as a side dish along with beans, chicken, pork, or rice, and so much more.

Kitchen Products We Love

Everyone loves OXO products — all these great gadgets and utensils are handy to have in your kitchen, whether it’s a 3-in-1 avocado slicer , tomato corer or any of the many other OXO products we have in the store.

We just got a new local product in the store. It’s the Spicy Jalapeno Fruit Spread made right here in Bend. Our favorite way to use it is on a cheese plate with goat cheese! Delish!