Construction is well under way for Chef Pope’s newest venture- Roundz Gourmet Market- at 2299 Johns Hopkins Road in Gambrills.This unique culinary shop will house current Roundz Catering operations in a state-of-the-art gourmet kitchen, while offering gourmet food for carry-out or café dining and hard-to-find food items and kitchenware in a welcoming culinary environment.
“It’s all about food and raising food awareness,” Chef Pope said in an interview for the online news source Patch.See the complete story at this link, and visit our photo gallery for the latest on-site photos of the progress.You can follow our journey on Facebook (Roundz Catering & Consulting) and Twitter (@RoundzCatering)
Green Roundz Roundz Catering showcased fabulous appetizers featuring sustainable ingredients for Annapolis Green Drinks at Historic London Town and Gardens in Edgewater in June.Green Drinks the networking event for Annapolis Green, a group dedicated to providing information on living an environmentally responsible life.See the photos and learn morein our photo gallery
Chef Pope at Green Drinks Reception
Toasted Sprint Onion Polenta with Roasted Red Pepper Salsa
Elvia Thompson, Chef Pope & Lynne Forsman
Chef Pope at the Farmers' Market
Chef Pope on Patch
The farmers’ market, wedding trends, lemonade, quinoa and grilled peaches- what do these things have in common?They are all recent hot topics for Chef Pope’s Culinary Crofton column on Patch, AOL’s news website.Check it out:
Take the Farmer’s Market Challenge!Chef Pope did and came up with a recipe for a tasty arugula pesto.See the video and article.
We love quinoa!Try this power-packed seed in Chef Pope’s amazing quinoa salad.
Your grill is good for more than just meat & veggies. Chef Pope shares his recipe for Grilled Peaches with balsamic vinegar sauce on angel food cake. See the video and article.
It's hot out there! Chef Pope's summer lemonades pop with cool tropical purees.
Grilled Peaches on angel food cake
Roundz Weddings Our best wishes to the latest Roundz brides and grooms: Skye & Mike, Jenny & Chad, Pearl & Paul, Jodie & David, Dyane & Mike.We wish you endless years of happiness together.To see photos from recent Roundz Weddings, check out our photo album.
Roundz News Extra June 14, 2011
Roundz Gourmet Market to open Fall 2011!
Chef Zachary Pope, owner of the award-winning Roundz Catering, has announced plans to open Roundz Gourmet Market in Gambrills late this fall.
Construction modifications started this week at 2299 Johns Hopkins Road in the Hopkins Place shopping center just off Route 3.Initial plans set the grand opening for Roundz Gourmet Market in mid-October.
The 2600-square-foot Roundz Gourmet Market will house current Roundz Catering operations and serve as a unique culinary shop offering:
Prepared hot and cold gourmet foods for carry-out or café dining
Specialty food items such as infused oils, compound butters, cheeses, honeys, mustards, vinaigrettes and more.
Unique kitchenware such as a specialty vegetable peelers, spider strainers and mandolin slicers.
An audio/video ready venue for meetings, special functions and events
Cooking classes for all interest levels from novice to gourmand.
“This region is experiencing a business boom,” Chef Pope said.“As a long-time resident of the Crofton area, I am thrilled to open my storefront here where I live.I believe Roundz Gourmet Market will provide foods and services that have been hard to come by locally.”
The new Roundz Gourmet Market space is at the end of the Hopkins Place shopping center, facing Johns Hopkins Road, with ample parking and easy access.Prior to opening day, you can follow the development and construction on Roundz Catering’s website (www.roundz.com), Facebook and Twitter.
Chef Pope & Jason MacWilliams of Roundz look over floor plans.
Roundz News May / June 2011
And the winner is... ROUNDZ!
For the second year, Roundz Catering has been recogized for excellence in the Capital Gazette Reader's Choice Poll. Zachary Pope won the Best Chef honor and Roundz Catering won as finalist for Best Caterer. Our thanks to the amazing Roundz clients and supporters who made this possible!
Mary Gebbia of the Capital presents Chef Pope with Reader's Choice award.
Happy Father's Day! Chef Pope talks about working with his sons in the kitchen on Crofton Patch
Chef Pope & son Cameron
Roundz Video Vignette Got 30 seconds? Take a look at our latest Roundz Video Vignette, featuring food by Chef Pope and photos by Mark Beck. Warning: Tastebuds will be tempted!
Chef Pope's Culinary Crofton on Patch Chef Pope writes a bi-weekly food column on Patch, America Online's community news source. Covering everything from recipes to food trends and kitchen tips, Culinary Crofton is always online. Check them out for amazing recipes and insights. The most recent columns include a recipe for Roundz famous chicken salad and new ways to shake up your margarita mix. Enjoy!
Summer Margaritas
Roundz Chicken Salad
Roundz News March / April 2011
In This Issue: Roundz2U Debut • Brides Choose Roundz • SOUPer Bowl Success • Hot Topics • Asparagus: Tips for Tips • Follow Roundz on Facebook and Twitter!
Chef Pope & Jason MacWilliams of Roundz with Roundz2U
Roundz2U The newest member of the Roundz team is now on the road!Last month, we debuted “Roundz2U”, a mobile cuisine unit that allows us bring a selection of hot and cold foods to office parks and business sites.The menu varies, but typically Roundz2U offers brisket or smoked pork sandwiches, salads (mixed green, cous cous or quinoa), soups, chips, cookies, Roundz roasted gourmet coffees and a selection of other drinks.If you and at least 5 co-workers want Roundz brought to you in the Annapolis area, schedule a stop with Chef Pope by calling or texting 202.744.9595 or follow us on Twitter @RoundzCatering
Roundz Awards For the second consecutive year Roundz Catering has been awarded the Bride’s Choice Award from WeddingWire, a national wedding industry company.Selection for this award is determined by reviews and surveys from over 750,000 newlyweds.Roundz is among the top five percent of professionals in the WeddingWire community.Our deepest thanks to the many wonderful newlyweds we have worked with in the past year.
SOUPer Bowl Success The 5th Annual SOUPer Bowl charity lunch, held in February, raised $2700 for the Light House Shelter in Annapolis. We were honored to be a part of this wonderful event. We saw many familiar faces in the crowd that day and truly appreciate the support! (Photo: Chef Pope, Annapolis City Council Members Classie Hoyle, Shelia Finlayson and Fred Paone- photo courtesy Charles Phillips)
Hot Topics Chef Pope’s food column on Patch continues to generate buzz.Most recently, he shared recipes for seafood pie and chocolate mousse.Coming in March, he’ll discuss Spring Cleaning for your spice drawer along with the recipe for his much-requested potato soup.Patch is an online community news site owned by AOL.Check out Culinary Crofton on Crofton Patch today!
Asparagus: Tips for tips
While asparagus is available year-round, spring is the best season for this power-packed spear.In celebration of May’s National Asparagus Month, Chef Pope offers these tips for blanching asparagus:
You’ll need: pan of boiling water, salt, tongs, knife, kitchen scissors.
About Rubber Bands: Asparagus typically comes bundled by rubber bands.These bands are perfect to bind the spears during blanching so they don’t bump around and knock off the tips.Leave at least one band on for the blanching process.
Wash: Leaving the rubber band on your asparagus bundle, rinse it off under running water.
Trim: Before blanching, you’ll want to remove the woody root portion of the spear.To determine where to cut the stalks, remove one spear from the rubber-banded bundle and hold the tip end in one hand and the stalk end in the other.Gently bend the stalk until it snaps.That break shows you where the woody root meets the tender portion.Discard the stalk end and use the remaining spear as a template to cut the asparagus remaining in the bundle.Usually, you’ll be cutting 2-3 inches off your spears.After cutting, return your template asparagus spear to the bundle and center one rubber band on the bundle.
Bend the raw stalk until is snaps to remove the woody root portion.
The asparagus will be a pale green before boiling.
Get ready: You’ll need a pan with a large volume of well-salted water.Taste the water to test for saltiness.Proper salting now could season your asparagus enough so you don’t have to salt later.Bring the water to a rolling boil (212 degrees).
Blanch: In blanching, you want to unleash the beautiful green color of the asparagus.This process happens quickly, so have your tongs at hand.Gently place your rubber-banded asparagus in the boiling water.Leave in only one minute.It might take less if your stalks are thin.Once you see the brilliant green color, pull out the entire bundle with your tongs and place it on a paper towel or colander to drain.Snip the rubber band free, allowing each stalk to cool slightly.Serve.
Blanched asparagus can be used as a side dish with or without a sauce.If you plan on adding asparagus to a cold salad, take it directly from the boiling water into a bowl of ice water to cool quickly, which should take about 3 minutes.
Note the brilliant color change after boiling
Roundz News January / February 2011
In This Issue: Best Wishes to Roundz Newlyweds • Roundz at the SOUPer Bowl • Roundz in the Arts • Extra! Extra! • Featured Recipe: Chocolate Covered Strawberries for your Valentine
Best Wishes to Roundz Newlyweds! December was a beautiful month for weddings! Roundz wishes many years of happiness to Natanya & Lee; Jessica & Steve; and Erryn & Gene.
2010 SOUPer Bowl: Annapolis Alderman Fred Paone, Chef Pope, Maryland Speaker of the House Mike Busch
Roundz at the SOUPer Bowl: Chef Pope & the Roundz staff invite you to the 5th Annual SOUPer Bowl Luncheon benefiting the Light House Homeless Shelter on Sunday, February 6, 2011, from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM, at HeritageBaptistChurch (1740 Forest Drive, Annapolis). Chef Pope has a scrumptious menu planned: Baked Potato Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Chili, garden salad, yeast rolls, cake and cookies. Admission is free but monetary donations for the shelter are requested. Chef Pope is one of the founding organizers of this event which, since 2006, has raised thousands of dollars for the homeless in AnneArundelCounty. Come eat great food for a great cause!
Jennifer, Cameron and Chef Zachary Pope
Roundz in the Arts: Roundz is a proud sponsor of the Annapolis Shakespeare Company, catering their November opening of “Hamlet.” For more information on upcoming productions, see their website www.annapolisshakespeare.org
Valentine'sDay will be here soon, but why wait for February 14 to make something special for the one you love? A simple, beautiful gourmet expression of affection is the chocolate covered strawberry.
Ingredients: 1 Cup Milk Chocolate Morsels, Fresh Strawberries and optional embellishments such as colored crystal sugar sprinkles, chocolate shavings or powdered sugar.
You will need: A sauce pan and stainless steel bowl, wooden skewer, wax paper, cookie sheet or plate
Wash berries whole, being careful with the leaves. You'll need them in order to dip berries in melted chocolate.
Put chocolate morsels in stainless steel bowl.
Add 1 inch of water to your sauce pan and bring it to a simmer on medium heat. A note about using a double boiler: make sure the water in the sauce pan is not filled so that it comes in contact with the top bowl. That will drastically increase the cooking temperature. An inch or so of water will suffice.
Once the water in the sauce pan is simmering, place the stainless steel bowl containing the morsels on top of the sauce pan and turn off the burner. The residual heat from the simmering water is enough to melt the chocolate.
Wait 5 minutes before slowly stirring with a wooden skewer. The chocolate will stick to everything so the skewer works well as a mixer without removing too much chocolate.
When you've stirred the chocolate smooth (which takes about 5 minutes) grasp a berry by the leaves and gently roll it in the melted chocolate. Once it's covered, place it on a cookie sheet or plate covered with wax paper.
If you wish to embellish with sprinkles or chocolate shavings, do so now by sprinkling over cooling berries. If you prefer powdered sugar, wait until berries have completely cooled.
Berries will cool best in a cool room, such as your garage or even inside your car if it's parked outside on a cold day. The refrigerator cools them too quickly and causes condensation on the chocolate. You may leave them on the counter but they will need a cooler environment if they are not to be eaten soon.
Once berries are cooled and chocolate has hardened, remover the paper from the berries rather than the other way around to prevent damaging the finish. Enjoy!
