Recently, I had the honor of attending the Kohler Food and Wine Experience in Kohler, Wisconsin and got to stay at The American Club. The American Club is a luxury spa and resort located in Kohler, Wisconsin. It is owned and operated by the Kohler Company and has received various awards, including the Top 100 Golf Resorts by Conde Nast Traveler magazine, and is the Midwest’s only AAA Five Diamond Resort Hotel.
I attended the 4-day extravaganza of food, wine and fun last year and had an absolute blast. Nothing could top meeting Chef Geoffrey Zakarian, Christopher Kimball and Bridget Lancaster and watching all of the food demonstrations and attending the parties.
But then this year . . . I met the legend. . . Jacques Pépin, and his lovely daughter Claudine.
And the sandwich king himself, Jeff Mauro. Jeff was hilarious and fun, just like he is on The Kitchen on The Food Network. He even brought his son on stage with him for a bit which I loved!
He made this deliciousness, which I devoured in 2 seconds!
And, Christopher, Bridget and Jack were there again! I LOVE Americas Test Kitchen!
He totally remembered me from last year . . not! This was the best smile I could get from Chris. 🙂 I love this guy!
From the moment I walked into The American Club, I was, again, blown away by the customer service and attention to detail. After checking in, and given a complimentary glass of wine, we were escorted to our room by one of the front desk employees and learned a little bit of history about The American Club, which was built in 1918 to house the Kohler Company’s immigrant workers at the time.
The guest room was as beautiful as I remembered it . . so elegant, charming and beautiful. And the American Club staff even surprised me with a birthday “cake.” They knew it was my birthday weekend from the previous year.
The food demonstrations were so great and there was so much excitement in the air!
In addition to the fabulous dinners, events and parties, we got to watch my friend and up and coming superstar Jocelyn Delk Adams make a fabulous dessert from her cookbook, Grandbaby Cakes. Jocelyn had a few baking demonstrations during the event and did a fabulous job! If you don’t have her cookbook, you need it! This would make a great holiday gift!
At the end of the day on Saturday, we had the honor of sitting down with Jacques and Claudine to ask questions, chat and get his thoughts on his new cookbook, Heart & Soul In The Kitchen. We also each received a signed copy!
I was in awe sitting there watching one of my cooking idols talk and was just trying to take it all in. At the very end, we each got to take a photo with him and as I was leaving, he was hugging everyone and I got a little teary eyed as he hugged me and gave me a kiss on the cheek! Best moment from 2015 right here. I had no idea she snapped a photo, but my friend Kit took this photo and shared it with me later.
Sitting down with Jacques Pépin reignited my love and passion for food, cooking and being in the kitchen. I love feeding my family and having my kids in the kitchen with me. I love that he cooks and travels with his daughter, Claudine. They have a very special bond that they will remember forever. I absolutely loved meeting them.
Attending the Kohler Food and Wine Experience was truly amazing and I can’t wait for next year! If you enjoy food and cooking, hands down, this is the event for you! And if you live in the Midwest, you simply must consider Kohler and The American Club when planning your next weekend getaway. With the Kohler Waters Spa, amazing golf packages and remarkable restaurants, there is truly something here for everyone.
Next Year’s Kohler Food & Wine Experience: SAVE THE DATE for the 16th annual Kohler Food & Wine Experience, October 20-23, 2016. To keep up-to-date on events, special offers and more, sign up for the resort e-newsletter and follow The American Club on Twitter and Facebook!
And you don’t have to wait until next October to check out Kohler, Wisconsin. Check out these fabulous upcoming events, or click here to see the American Club Resort’s Calendar of Events!! Kohler is a magical place over the holidays! The Villager sparkles with thousands of white holiday lights twinkling through the trees! So beautiful!
• Five-Star Dine Around, Dec. 10, 2015
• Kellie Pickler Concert, Dec. 12
• New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31
• Wisconsin Food Favorites, Jan. 29-31, 2016
• In Celebration of Chocolate, Feb. 19-21, 2016
• Kohler Festival of Beer, May 6-7
I had to share a recipe today from Jacques’ cookbook. This cookbook is amazing! From soups and salads to fish and seafood to rice and pasta, Jacques has everything covered and he even drew some of the illustrations in this book himself! I can’t wait to make the Oyster Chowder with Potatoes, Spinach and Corn and I have already made the Corn Soufflés, pages 310-311 and can’t wait to try the Chocolate Soufflés as well!
Today, I’m sharing Baked Cod with Olive Topping. Jacques has a Grilled Snapper with Olive Topping so I took the liberty of adapting his recipe! Take a break from the ham and turkey and get some cod or snapper and make this! I hope you enjoy!
Baked Cod with Olive Topping
Ingredients
For the olive topping:
- 2 cups mixed pitted olives coarsely chopped
- 1 heaping cup cherry tomatoes sliced crosswise
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh parsley diced
For the fish:
- 4 6 ounce cod fillets
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- kosher salt and pepper
Instructions
For the olive topping:
- Using a medium sized bowl, mix together all of the ingredients and let sit while the fish is in the oven.
For the fish:
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray or grease a 13 x 9 casserole dish and lay the cod inside, in a single layer. Drizzle with the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
- Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until the cod just begins to flake easily with a fork. Be careful not to overcook. Remove from the oven and onto a serving platter. Top with the olive and tomato topping and serve immediately.
Recipe adapted from Heart & Soul in The Kitchen.
Disclosure: I attended the Kohler Food & Wine Experience on behalf of The Kohler Company and The American Club and was asked to write about my experience. All opinions stated here are 100% my own.
I can not believe how good this cod turned out. Just shows you, just a few good ingredients and you can make the most delicious food.. very much like the Italians think about their food & cooking..
ps. I love the photos of The American Club too! That bed!! 🙂
Johlene, right?!!! I always say it’s not the number of ingredients you have.. AND you can do amazing things with fresh ingredients! and yes the BED at the American Club was amazing! thank you for the comment!
I actually have a similar recipe that is in my book. I just love the Mediterranean flavours in such a healthy dish.
Dannii, oh really? when does your book come out? next year? Can’t wait and congrats!
I could totally get down with the celebration of chocolate in February. Does that involve holing up at this gorgeous place and eating chocolate while it’s freezing outside? Because I’m sold!
Sounds like the best trip, and I love the pics. You look so happy! And so does everyone else.
Plus, this cod looks delicious and healthy. I’ve always been into his recipes!
Mir, you should most definitely check out the American Club and Kohler! They have some really great holiday events coming up too!!! The Villager sparkles with thousands of white holiday lights twinkling through the trees! Thank you!! and hope you try the cod too!! 🙂
This cod looks amazing, Alice! I’ve only made it a few times, but it is one of my favorite dishes to order out. And that olive topping looks just perfect! I will have to check out that amazing cookbook!
I hope you do!! Thank you Gayle!!!
I’m loving this cod, Alice! It would make for a light and simple dinner option.
PS. Thanks for sharing the event and photos with us! It looks like you had so much fun.
Thank so much, Jen! I had a blast and hope you try the cod!!! 🙂
I don’t make cod NEARLY enough. I love it, but always forget about it! I know that this Mediterranean olive goodness would have me remembering this cod for a looooong time! Looks amazing!
Thank you so much, Taylor!!! I think you would really love this!
This recipe looks fantastic and I loved re-living that fabulous weekend! Great pics; I hope we get to do it again. 🙂
Me too!!! Thank you so much, Allie!!! xoxoxoxo
Your trip at Kohler sounds beyond words fabulous! Needless to say I am green with envy! Thank you so much for sharing all those photos with us! I love seeing tid bits of my friends lives, especially when they look like they are having the time of their life! This cod looks fantastic, Alice! I’ve been eating a lot of fish recently, so I can’t wait to try this! I will be making this for dinner this week for sure! Cheers, my dear! <3
Thank you so much, Cheyanne!!!! thanks for always reading my posts and being so supportive of everything! I hope you do try this!!! and sending you another virtual HUG (I just read your blog post). xoxoxoxo
Girl this was a trip to remember!!!! And Chris did remember you. He just couldn’t remember that he remembered you girl. He won’t forget you this time I bet. And this fish looks absolutely sensational! Like I could eat this sort of dinner every single night!! Beautiful recap my friend!
hahhaha!!!! LOL! YES, such a great time! I hope this is something we can do every year! 😛 thank you .. you need to try this cod (or snapper as Jacques made it!). !!!
What a great experience Alice, thanks so much for sharing! Glad you had a great time! This fish turned out amazing! A few weeks back I made something similar, but used roasted red peppers instead of tomatoes! Will thy this version soon! Pinned!
Thank you so much, Mira!!! and I love the idea of roasted red peppers!!! delicious!
This sounds delicious! I love eating fish and love how you cooked it here. Happy I found your blog! : )
Love fish prepared like this. Looks so so good.
Looks like you had a wonderful time. It’s so much fun to see what other bloggers are doing and to meet Jacques and his lovely daughter, so nice.
I think it was around the time of your trip last year that I discovered your blog and fell in love with it…making this a kind of anniversary for me and Hip Foodie Mom…hahaha! This post of course delivers on all fronts! And I love the recipe with its gorgeous Mediterranean flavors!
I’m crushing over that olive topping. So simple and yet perfect with a well baked fish. Kolher sounds like so much fun!!
This cod looks and sounds delicious, Alice. I love the Mediterranean-style flavours – so delicious.
What am amazing trip this must’ve been meeting up with friends AND all these cooking icons! And this fish dish looks amazing, Alice! I love that mediterranean topping –this is how I love to eat! 🙂
Wow! What an awesome experience! Such an honor to meet Jacques Pepin and I would be so excited to meet Christopher Kimball! I have never been to Wisconson but it is on my list of places to visit for sure, the American Club looks fantastic.
And this cod! So good. It is nice to take a break from the traditional holiday fare and have something lighter like fish, love it!
Oh my goodness, I’m so jealous! So many wonderful people I’d love to meet (including YOU Alice!)! Seafood is such a great way to balance out allllll the Christmas baking I’ve been doing 😉
love the topping Alice! And looks like you had lots of fun at the event!
Such a fun and amazing experience! So glad you had a great trip with so many wonderful people 🙂 This cod looks and sounds so flavorful and delicious! I love cod and it sounds perfect with the cherry tomato and olive topping!
It was so nice getting to see you at the Kohler Food and Wine Experience, isn’t it just one of the coolest events, ever? Love this simple baked cod recipe, definitely a must make for dinner 🙂
I love Jacques Pepin and bought his new cookbook recently. He is a legend and I miss having watching his show with Claudine. What a wonderful experience you were able to enjoy – definitely something you will always remember and treasure.
This looked like such a fun trip, Alice! I watched Jacque Pepin’s show on PBS when I was a kid, and he definitely has a place in my heart. This baked cod dish looks so delicious!
Okay, this looks amazing Alice! I don’t eat enough cod. That is so cool that you got to meet Jacques Pépin! Sounds like you had an amazing time!
Thanks so much for sharing your Kohler Food and Wine Experience with us Alice – it sounds like it was a blast! From the people you met, the guest speakers and the food – And LOVE your birthday “cake” – those were towels right? How thoughtful of them to remember and happy belated birthday!
Looks like both you and Jocelyn had an amazing time. How exciting! You look like a kid in a candy shop with that big smile of yours! xo
This fish looks amazing! I especially love the topping!
Coming to The Kohler Food & Wine Experience has been on my bucket list and hope I can make it there next year. And this baked cod….it looks delicious!
What an honour and amazing experience to meet Jacques Pépin in person! THe baked cod looks delicious too!
Thank you so much!!! yes, meeting Jacques was an experience I will never forget!
This is a fantastic topping – I love, love love olives!
Thank you so much!!