Thursday, June 25, 2009

How Sonoma Chicken Coop Almaden Concept Start?

The catering businesses is one of the most lucrative and profitable home businesses with a high potential for expansion and growth. It is both financially rewarding and fun. Each catered event - whether birthday parties for children, breakfast in bed and intimate candlelight dinners for two, company dinner parties for 50 and wedding receptions involving a hundred or more guests -- is a new experience and challenge with a new group of people.

The owners of Sonoma Chicken Coop Almaden are planning to bring their “inexpensive excellence” to Almaden Valley with plans to open a new restaurant at the former McDonald’s site at Old Almaden Plaza.

The concept for Sonoma Chicken Coop Almaden Catering began as a brainchild of four friends: Jeff Starbeck, Gary Kjolhaug and Bob and Bonnie Ray. Starbeck, who owned Peggy Sue’s at the time, jumped when a location became available across the street from his downtown restaurant. “I thought it would be a great spot,” he says, “and I wanted to keep it simple, with an ordering counter like Peggy Sue’s.”

The name, “Sonoma Chicken Coop,” was chosen to convey the concept of a restaurant that serves high-quality meals like one might find in Sonoma, with a more casual approach. “Chicken Coop” also reflects their famous rotisserie chicken, which is a house favorite, along with their Red Hot Prawns, Barbequed Chicken and Chicken and Walnut Salad.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Barbeque Chicken on the Grill

At The Coop I am often asked, what is a good way to barbeque chicken at home? Even though we use our famous rotisserie formula to seal in the natural flavor of chicken we still can appreciate the home cooked BBQ that takes advantage of the flavor from a coal fire. At the Coop when catering large parties outside the restaurant we barbeque with mesquite when the opportunity arises. This is a recipe that has been used by us and many others to great success:

Barbeque Chicken on the Grill

Crispy skin smothered in sticky barbeque sauce…I personally don’t think nature has made a better wrapper for juicy white meat chicken. Sure, grilled boneless chicken breasts are healthier and cook quicker, but I love to get my fingers dirty and pick the meat off the bones of barbeque chicken. Grilling this type of chicken doesn’t get much easier either. All you have to do is set your grill up for indirect heat, lightly season your split chicken breasts, slap them on the grill and then check back about 35 minutes later to add your sauce. For more flavor, we suggest putting together a smoke pouch for your gas grill. Sounds easy right? It really is, let’s take a look at the steps:

Ingredients
Split Chicken Breasts (on the ribs with skin)
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Smoke Pouch (optional, though recommended)
Easy Directions for Barbeque Chicken
1. Preheat the grill for indirect heat. If you have a 3 or 4 burner set up, leave the middle burner(s) off and light the others to high (we may adjust these later, some grills get hotter than others).
2. While the grill is heating up, rub the chicken breasts with some Kosher salt and black pepper. It’s best to leave the chicken breasts out for 30 minutes or so before grilling, if you have time, so that the chicken cooks through evenly.
3. If using a smoke pouch, go ahead and prepare the pouch and place it on the grill.
4. Once the grill is heated (if using a smoke pouch, wait until the smoke starts to appear), place the chicken breasts on the grill with the bones facing down.
5. Close the grill and sit back and dream about barbeque chicken for about 35 minutes and don’t open the lid!
6. After about 35 minutes, open the lid and brush your favorite barbeque sauce onto the top of the chicken.
7. Close the lid and cook for another 10 minutes or so. Make sure you check your chicken after about 5 minutes. Barbecue sauce has a lot of sugar and sugar burns, so we need to be careful not to burn the sauce at this point.
8. 10 minutes should be plenty of time to heat up that delicious barbeque and form a little bit of a glaze on the chicken. Go ahead and remove the chicken from the grill and place on a platter to enjoy!

If you do happen to burn your barbeque chicken, the good news is that you can always peel off the skin, smother it with more sauce and you should be able to salvage a delicious meal. Of course, some of us like our skin a little charred and crispy, but that’s up to your personal tastes. The bottom line is that barbecue chicken is pretty forgiving and very low maintenance grilling. How many more reasons do you need to go out and make some finger licking good, shirt staining barbeque chicken breasts? Get grilling! And if you don’t want to get dirty please give the Coop a call, we would be happy to do the grilling for you. Almaden Catering is a best catering businnesses.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Why Sonoma Chicken Coop Almaden is Best??

Sonoma Chicken Coop Almaden the best Almaden restaurant in San Jose and Almaden. There are a bunch of reasons and I will try here to enumerate. The first reason is that kids ten and under eats free Monday through Thursday. The next reason we have the best catering lunch menu restaurant in the Silicon Valley is that we have the space for kids, moms and dads to spread out and eat a nutritious meal made with fresh ingredients. Our bread is made fresh every day; our rotisserie chicken is fresh and moist. This is an area we would could have scrimped on for cost savings, but we went the extra mile and bought the best quality product for our customers.

A little known secret about the Almaden Catering Businesses lunches is that people who want privacy without the hassle of waiters or waitresses hovering over them, can be left alone to negotiate a profitable business deal or have a heart to heart talk with a co-worker over the trials and tribulations in their work environment and not have to worry about being over-heard at another table.

When we surveyed a group of business men as they left the restaurant, they shared with us that the reason they came to the coop besides the food, was that they knew they would not have to worry about privacy and the service was excellent.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Best Lunch Restaurant in San Jose

Another big reason Sonoma Chicken Coop the best Restaurant in Almaden? In a word variety. The Almaden Coop has a very comprehensive menu (American New) coupled with the fact that we have five or more specials running weekly. A lot of thought, time and research went in to creating our specials and we get some of the input from our own customers. We are not too proud to refuse a good suggestion or even a recipe from a customer as they are our most valued asset.

A funny thing happened on the way to having the best almaden restaurant in San Jose, one that you dream about but are never sure will happen to you in the restaurant business, we have customer loyalty, we built it and they came. They told us that they were hungry (pardon the pun) for a great family lunch and dinner restaurant in Almaden Catering and we listened.

I am not saying we were not apprehensive, as the last several restaurants in the same location went out of business, but we thought we had a good business proposition “good food at a reasonable cost” which fit our motto of Inexpensive Excellence to a tee. There is great deal more we want to accomplish for the restaurant and we are not satisfied with the status quo, so we will continue to talk to our patrons and ask them for guidance on how to keep Sonoma Chicken Coop Almaden the best lunch restaurant in San Jose California. Sonoma Chicken Catering Menu

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Wine Grilled Artichoke - Recipe

Fresh artichoke marinated in white wine and herbs, grilled and served with aioli dip

Ingredients:-
For Artichokes

* 4 large artichokes
* 2 lemons, halved

For Artichoke Basting Sauce

* 4 tablespoons butter
* 4 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 tablespoons white wine
* 2 tablespoons lemon juice
* kosher salt (or Garlic Salt is good, too!)
* fresh ground black pepper

Directions:-

Preheat an outdoor grill to medium heat.

Break the artichokes' small outside leaves. Cut the top with a knife and trim the sharp points of the leaves with scissors, rubbing with cut lemon as you go to avoid discoloration. Squeeze the lemon halves into a bowl of cold water, soak the artichokes for 10 minutes, then wash with cold water to remove sand.

Put artichokes in a large steamer insert over simmering water and steam until heart is tender, about 25 to 35 minutes depending upon quantity. Allow to cool. Cut in half lengthwise and remove choke with a spoon. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the olive oil. Stir in the white wine and lemon juice, keep it warm.

Grill the artichokes, basting with the butter mixture, until golden on the surface and heated through, about 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with the Spicy Smoked Tomato Mayonnaise. In my next post i'll provide you recipe to cook Spicy Smoked Tomato Mayinnaise.
You can taste delicious starter food at Best Restaurant in Almaden.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Buffalo Wings Recipe From Sonoma Chicken Coop

Ingredients for Buffalo Wings at Sonoma Chicken Coop :-

* 1/4 cup butter
* 1/4 cup louisiana hot sauce
* 1 dash pepper, Ground
* 1 dash garlic powder
* 1/2 cup flour
* 1/4 teaspoon paprika
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 10 chicken wings
* vegetable oil, for frying
* bleu cheese salad dressing
* celery

Directions to Buffalo Wings at Sonoma Chicken Coop :-

1. Combine the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper, and salt in a small bowl.
2. If the wings are frozen, be sure to defrost and dry them.
3. Put the wings into a large bowl and sprinkle the flour mixture over them, coating each wing evenly.
4. Put the wings in the refrigerator for 60 to 90 minutes. (This will help the breading to stick to the wings when fried.)
5. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees.
6. You want just enough oil to cover the wings entirely -- an inch or so deep at least. Combine the butter, hot sauce, ground pepper, and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Heat until the butter is melted and the ingredients are well blended.
7. Put all the wings into the hot oil and fry them for 10 to 15 minutes or until some parts of the wings begin to turn dark brown.
8. Remove the wings from the oil to a paper towel to drain.
9. But don't let them sit too long, because you want to serve the wings hot. Quickly put the wings into a large bowl.
10. Add the hot sauce and stir, coating all the wings evenly.
11. You could also use a large plastic container with a lid for this.
12. Put all the wings inside the container, add the sauce, put on the lid, then shake. Serve with Bleu cheese dressing and celery sticks on the side.

Enjoy Delicious Starter at Sonoma chicken Coop At Almaden also try to make it at home!!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Sonoma Chicken Fried Calamari Recipe - Now For You!

The Sonoma Chicken Coop “Restaurant in Almaden” offers their fresh delicious food to go for your next celebration or office event. From Box Lunches and individual meals to bulk catering, the Coop can meet your group's dining needs.
Ingredients

* Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
* 1 pound clean squid with tentacles, bodies cut into 1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick rings
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons dried parsley
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 2 lemons, cut into wedges
* 1 cup simple tomato sauce, recipe follows or jarred marinara sauce, warmed

Directions

Pour enough oil into a heavy large pan to reach the depth of 3". Heat over medium heat to 350 degrees F. Mix the flour, parsley, salt, and pepper in a large bowl seperatly. Working in small batches, toss the squid into the flour mixture to coat. Carefully add the squid to the oil and fry until crisp and very pale golden, about 1 minute per batch. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the fried calamari to a paper-towel lined plate to drain.

Place the fried calamari and lemon wedges on a clean plate. Sprinkle with salt. Serve with the marinara sauce.
Simple Tomato Sauce:

* 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 1 carrot, chopped
* Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
* 2 dried bay leaves
* 2 cloves garlic, chopped
* 1 stalk celery, chopped
* 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 5 - 10 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and bay leaves and simmer uncovered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.

Add 1/2 the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.

If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.

Yield: 6 cups

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

East of preparation: easy

Monday, June 1, 2009

Almaden Catering Businesses For Families

Considering the wide range of foods, prices and services available, finding the best caterers in San Jose County for your event can be overwhelming. Catering companies specialize in different aspects of food and party services, so it pays to be sure they are right for your special event. Whether you want the caterers for a catered dinner for a special occasion, or snacks for a party, read on for information on how to find the best caterers for you in the San Jose, CA - Almaden. Even casual spots serve memorable meals.

The organisation is a registered union of employers under the Industrial Relations Act and operates predominately in six regional centres in the state in addition to being a key stakeholder in the industry’s peak national body, Restaurant & Catering Califronia. Sonoma Chicken Coop Almaden Catering your assurance of a fantastic dining experience.

The Sonoma Chicken Coop team continues to search for new, innovative ways to gain customers and to keep our established customers coming back for more. Sonoma Chicken Coop family restaurants have been built solidly on a tradition of pride, integrity and honesty. These qualities combined with the strong work ethic of our employees will propel Sonoma Chicken Coop to new opportunities. We believe that an Sonoma Chicken Coop will expand to a city near you!