Page 22 Chef Paul’s Eat it UP!


Santa Rosa, CA. ~ I met up with Chef Josef of ‘Chef Josef’s Seasoning Blends’ once again at the Sonoma County Har- vest Fair held at the Sonoma County Fair- grounds back in October of 2018. He was serving snacks of various sorts with his spice mixes/dry rubs. I have to say that is was very tasty. I had tried some before, and had liked it then. I love the celebration of food. I personally spend many


UPBEAT HOLIDAY EVENTS, FOOD, CELEBRATIONS & GIFT IDEAS


www.upbeattimes.com Because...Food Is To Be Celebrated! by Chef Paul Andrew Doyle, Founder & Publisher - Upbeat Times (photo by Paul)


hours of my days when not working on the paper prepar- ing food and making mixes of spice


blends


to accompany the food I prepare. ter


Af- meeting


up with him at the fair, he graciousl y agreed to let me


have a


sample pack- age of 5 dif- ferent rubs if I would men- tion


him in


my magazine. I have tasted them all in the last few months, but wanted to try the specific one he was serving, (pulled


BENNETT VALLEY JEWELERS


Serving Sonoma County Since 1987


2700 Yulupa Ave. ~ Santa Rosa, CA 95405 707-523-1333


bennettvalleyjewelers.com 22 • December 2018 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC.


pork on bread) With the wine available to the attendees of the Harvest fair, this made the food pairing exceptional. I was tasting a cabernet, and I looked up and Josef and some of his assistants were laying out sam- ples right behind where I was standing. People were in a line to get a taste. I took a sample, and... wow! Delicious! For those of you who don’t know Josef, he’s has been a part of the restaurant & food industry a long time. Josef Keller was born and raised in Switzerland. In his early teens he made his way into the rigorous Suisse Cooking Apprenticeship pro- gram with an emphasis on French cuisine and dining room management. He also worked in the fine European hotels of Zurich, Geneva and the winter resort area of Ver- bier in an up-scale restaurant. On moving to the U.S., the precocious chef amazed Phil- adelphia while at la Scala’s, a northern Italian restaurant, for four years, and charmed Lake Tahoe at the Swiss Lake- wood Restaurant and Lodge, working both the front and the back of the house for another four years. He opened his first restaurant in 1980 called La Province. He then moved to the Stoney Point Shopping Center, then on to Hotel La Rose in downtown Santa Rosa in 1993 and ran it until 2010! He has also is & has been a cooking instructor at the Santa Rosa Junior Col- lege, and simultaneously help- ing out at his most meaningful roles with Meals for Wheels, which he has been involved with for over


eight years. He


officially started his ‘Chef Jo- sef’s Seasoning Blend Com-


pany 2 years ago and all has gone great! Although I’ve not been in constant contact with him, we still enjoy each others company and he’s always got a good word to say and talks about how his company con- tinues to grow. The spice blend samples


he gave me were some of his personal favorites, Curry Ba- sil, Citrus Tarragon, Barbeque and Lemon Dill. All of them equally tasty! I’ve used all of them since October 2018 and I chose the BBQ blend to feature because of its his rich blend of herbs, Himalayan sea salt, onion and various other ingredients. The reason we are telling you about his rubs is that it’s Christmas time and thought that this might be a great gift idea! I know you cant go wrong


Beauty is power; a smile is its sword. ~ John Ray


with a gift of food! Josef says, “Some years ago, I started a new Christmas tradition. In- stead of the family feeling ob- ligated to spend money on gifts that might not be meaningful, we make gifts to share with each other.


It was Christmas


Eve of 2016 that the concept for Chef Josef’s Seasonings was born. I mixed together my original seasoning blend that I have been using for 40 years, and put it into gift con- tainers for family and friends. The response was so positive that it occurred to me that oth- ers might enjoy my spices as well.”


Here’s how we used one of his blends, simply named ‘Bar- beque’ I took about 4lbs of Pork loin chops(bone out and


...continued on page 23


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