Oui, Chef

No Kid Hungry

 

 

I had the good fortune to attend Share Our Strength's Annual Leadership Conference last weekend in Baltimore, and I'd like to share a little bit about my experience there with you.  The conference gathers most of the corporate and regional staff from each of the organization's divisions,  along with some front-line volunteers (like me) in order that we can all meet, share best practices, learn more about the broader vision and efforts of the organization, and generally get inspired as hell.

As many of you know, I've been working with Share Our Strength's Cooking Matters program in Massachusetts as a chef instructor, teaching at-risk Moms (and a few Dads) how to shop for and cook healthy meals for their families, all on a limited budget.  I love my work with these folks, and am so proud of the changes I see in them even over the short six week time horizon of each class.  These souls are motivated to change and we provide them the tools to start their journey, it is awesome and rewarding work.

As great as Cooking Matters (CM) is however, it is only one of the initiatives championed by Share Our Strength.  Along with CM, Share our Strength runs a number of fund raising events that are not only great fun, but a wonderful way to support the mission of SOS which is to end childhood hunger in the United States by 2015.  Events such as Taste of the Nation, The Great American Bake Sale, Dine Out-No Kid Hungry, and A Tasteful Pursuit help the organization raise the money to support their Cooking Matters programs, as well as many other efforts aimed at combating childhood hunger.

Don't think you know a kid who struggles with hunger?  Given the statistics listed below, I bet you do, and you don't even know it.

• 1 in 5 children in America, more than 16 million, struggle with hunger.
• Almost 15.7 million children in America live in poverty, and many of those who do live everyday with the threat of food insecurity.
• 18.6 million children benefit from SNAP (food stamps).
• Over 20 million children get a free or reduced-price school lunch on an average school day.
• Only 10.5 million children get a free or reduced-price school breakfast on an average school day.
• 6 out of 7 children do not get the free summer meals they are eligible for.
• Less than half of eligible children get free or reduced-price school breakfast.

Perhaps the most interesting thing I learned over the course of the conference I heard from a gentleman by the name of Bill Ludwig, who is the USDA Food and Nutrition Service Regional Administrator for the Southwestern US.  In his presentation, Bill stated unequivocally that the problem is not a lack of food in this country, nor a lack of commitment at the Federal level earmarking enough of this food for our kids.  The biggest problem, he said, is getting the food to the kids that need it.  

When I heard him say that, a little speech bubble appeared over my head and in it was a picture of that old bumper-sticker that reads "Think Global, Act Local".  You see, as with many seemingly impossible challenges, the key to making a real difference lies in local action.  Hearing this, and understanding it in relation to the problem of childhood hunger in this country was a revelation, and had me feeling (dare I say it) optimistic, emboldened even, about our collective ability to eradicate the menace that is childhood hunger.

Knowing that getting more people involved in local initiatives is the real  key to connecting our kids in need with nutritious food that is there for the taking, made the whole problem feel much more personal and manageable to me.  Every person who engages in their local fight to end hunger, and every child that benefits from these efforts put us one step closer to our goal of "No Kid Hungry".  For those of you willing to join the battle, I urge you to click HERE and see how your local Share Our Strength office is active in your community.  Perhaps you've got the time and the skill set to help teach a Cooking Matters class like I do.  Maybe your local SOS office will connect you with a local Food Bank or Community Kitchen that could use a pair of helping hands.  Don't have time to volunteer, but are anxious to support the great work of this organization, then click HERE to take the "No Kid Hungry" pledge, learn more about childhood hunger in our country, and make a donation to do your part to end it.

Working together, and working locally, we can put an end to childhood hunger in the US.  Please join me in making this fight a priority in your life so that one day soon we can say that at least here, in the wealthiest nation on the planet, there is No Kid Hungry. 

Thanks so much - Steve

Cooking Matters!

As many of you know, for the past couple of years I've been volunteering some time as a chef instructor of Share Our Strength's "Cooking Matters" classes in and around Boston.  Over the years I've told you a little about what this organization means to me, but today I thought I'd dedicate an entire post to the incredible people who make Cooking Matters (CM) work, and to perhaps encourage a few of you out there to think about volunteering with CM yourselves.

I'm particularly excited to tell you more about CM today because I had the good fortune a few months back to be one of the instructors that were featured in eight new vidoes created as training resources for new recruits and existing volunteer instructors.  Each video highlights a facet of the teaching philosophy espoused by the organization, and shows real volunteers demonstrating "best practices" in a classroom setting.  For all of the times I've thought of adding videos to this blog, this was my first time in front of a camera.  Please try not to laugh.

 

Asian Short Rib Tacos

In our continuing effort to rid the freezer of winter's bounty, a few nights ago we made these really fantastic short rib tacos.  The ribs we had in the deep freeze were a variation on the ones I normally make, Daniel Boulud's classic French ribs braised in red wine.  They were an Asian variant that I whipped up as a change of pace, the recipe for the ribs can be found here.  We ended up reheating and devouring a bunch of them after skiing last weekend, but still had a few that made the trip home in the cooler, and that were crying out to be put to creative use.

Chop Chops Cocoa Banana Bread

I had the good fortune a few weeks back to meet Sally Sampson, a woman I've admired for some time. Sally has worked for years as a cookbook writer, and as such, brought a number of my favorite cookbooks to market.  Some of my most worn volumes were written by Sally, including Todd English's The Olives Table,  The Olives Dessert Table, and the first book of his I ever owned, The Figs Table. Sally is also the author of my most used cookbook (if its physical disrepair is any indication), the terrific Party Nuts!, from which we've pulled many recipes for the nut mixes we give friends and family in our annual holiday gift baskets.

Chocolate Tofu Pudding!

No...... your eyes are not deceiving you, the title of this post is "Chocolate Tofu Pudding".

Yes.....you are visiting "Oui, Chef", the VERY last place where you would expect to see tofu at all, let alone in a dessert!

For those of you who's jaws have dropped to the floor, we'll pause here a moment for you to pull yourself together.  

Feeling better now?  OK, let's proceed.

Future Chefs

 

A couple of weeks ago I had the good fortune to join chef Jody Adams at a benefit for an organization she has been involved with for a few years now, Future Chefs.  The event was fashioned as a “Tour Around the World” where Future Chefs students cooked delicious treats from eight different countries, and served them to eager partygoers at stations placed throughout the beautiful Brookline home of the event’s hosts.  If I could choose one word to describe both the event, and the Future Chefs students I had the pleasure of meeting that night, it would be.....Impressive.

PFB #1 - Wagamama's Ebi Yakatori

 

This post marks my first entry in Foodbuzz’s  Project Food Blog contest. The contest is a 10 part challenge to determine the “Next Food Blog Star”, with some bloggers eliminated after each qualifying round.  This post is meant to satisfy the first challenge of the competition which is for me to define for my readers “who I am” as a food blogger. Now I'm not much of a grandstander, and don't have it in me to try to SELL you on why I should be voted a "star", but I absolutely believe in the mission of my blog, and hope that the brief introduction and post below give you a good sense for what we're all about here at "Oui, Chef".  You can learn more about me and Project Food Blog by clicking on the contest widget to the right of this post.  Voting for the 1st round entries starts on Monday, September 20^th, and I’ll be writing a follow-up post in a few days describing how you can follow the competition, and vote me through to subsequent rounds if wish. Thanks!

 

Those of you who have been with us for a while here at “Oui, Chef” have gotten to know what we’re all about, but for those of you new to our little site, the story behind this post provides me an excellent opportunity to share with you our raison d’être. 

 

The idea behind “Oui, Chef” came to me after I had read an article by Jamie Oliver on his efforts to improve the school lunch programs in his native England.   As I contemplated his efforts, I started spending some time thinking about what it was that I wanted to teach MY kids about food, cooking, and how to feed themselves well in an environmentally responsible way, and the seeds for “Oui, Chef” were sewn. 

I started to wonder why, among all the things we work so hard to teach our kids, cooking isn’t even on most people’s radar screen.  We teach them to dress themselves, clean their rooms, wash behind their ears, and say no to drugs, but how many of us really take the time to teach our kids how to cook, and how to make responsible choices about what it is they put in their bodies?   Now I’m not talking about “cooking” microwave popcorn or pre-packaged mac and cheese here, I know a boat load of kids that have microwave skills light years beyond mine.  I’m talking about cooking real food, understanding where this food comes from, its effect on their health, and how the way it is grown and brought to market impacts our planet.

"Oui, Chef" now exists as an extension of my efforts to teach my kids a few things about cooking, and how their food choices over time effect not only their own health, but that of our local food communities and our planet at large.  By sharing some of our cooking experiences, I hope to inspire other families to start spending more time together in the kitchen, passing on established familial food traditions, and maybe starting some new ones.  My desire in the end is not just to enhance my young sous chefs’ culinary skills, but to advance their level of environmental awareness, and broaden their palates as well.

 

Each post you’ll find here on “Oui, Chef” touches on at least one of these points, either by introducing the kids to unfamiliar cuisines, teaching them a new cooking technique, or illuminating the nutritional and environmental consequences of our food choices; but I have to admit that it is a rare one that can tag all the bases. 

Every now and again however, the stars align, and fate tosses us the seeds of a post that does more than just offer the kids a chance to hone their cooking skills on a new recipe, but one that gets them to think about their connection to place, and what impact their food choices make on the planet at large......the girls enjoyed an adventure earlier this summer that did just that.

Oui, Chef's One Year Anniversary!

Only on this day are the kids "all-thumbs"!

It's hard for me to believe that a year has already past since writing my first post back in June of 2009. Wow.....where does the time go?  

No recipe to share today (boo), but rather a few words of thanks, and a moment for both reflecting on the year that was, and for looking forward to what lies ahead for those of us in the "Oui, Chef" kitchen.

First, a from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU for everyone who has visited our site and been a part, whether large of small, of our first year on-line.  We feel blessed to have grown such a wonderful and enthusiastic readership, and are thrilled with the growing group of regulars that somehow always find the time to check out our latest posts, and make a point to cheer us along at every step.  Your encouragement, warmth, and passion for what we do means a great deal to all of us here, and provides us great incentive to keep "Oui, Chef" moving forward, striving to  discover more tasty food, and fun lessons to share with you all.

Wine Braised Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives

This is a dish that I could eat a few times a week for the rest of my life and be quite happy indeed, thank you very much.  It is richly flavored and exciting, studded with garlic, olives, and capers, yet light and easy to toss together on the fly.  It is also one of those dishes that gets better with time, so definitely plan on making a large batch so that you can enjoy it again as left-overs a few days later.  In fact, the dish is so good the next day, that a few of the kids packed it cold for school lunch, and brought home nothing but a tupperware full of bones!

The Chef's Table - Peter McCarthy of EVOO Restaurant

I am excited to be writing today's post, because it marks the first installment of a new feature that I am calling “The Chef’s Table”.  In it, I will profile a real honest to goodness chef (not just someone who plays one on TV, like me) who is also a parent.  I’ll ask my guest to not only opine on their food philosophy, but also on how they bring that thinking home, and what important food lessons they hope to pass on to their kids. 

I recently had a chance to chat with Peter McCarthy, the award winning chef/owner of EVOO Restaurant in Somerville, MA..  EVOO, an acronym for Extra Virgin Olive Oil, serves eclectic, New American cuisine, and was named best Eclectic restaurant in Boston in the 2007/2008 Zagat Guide!

Peter graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in November, 1987 where he was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by his graduating class. Just out of CIA, Peter began working at the Bostonian Hotel, where he worked his way through the ranks and was promoted to Executive Chef in 1993, a post once held at various times by Jasper White, Lydia Shire, and Tony Ambrose....talk about big shoes to fill.  During his tenure, the restaurant received numerous awards and much acclaim, including a 1995 vote by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine as one of the Top Fifty Restaurants in America. In 1997, the James Beard Awards selected Peter as one of "America's Great Hotel Chefs." In 1997, he left the Bostonian to pursue his dream of opening his own restaurant. Peter and his wife Colleen opened EVOO ten months later.  In September, 2004, they opened their second restaurant, the very popular, Arlington-based Za, which offers an EVOO spin on pizza and salad.