Kitchen Chat

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all who celebrate as a dad, granddad, or as someone who is a father influence in another person's life.

For this week's celebration of Father's Day, I am spotlighting James Beard Award winner, Chef Bradford Thompson. He has a special tradition with his children to engage them in the appreciation of food preparation and fine dining. From a very young age, his children have understood how families connect in the kitchen. His daughter videotapes him creating recipes. For back to school celebrations, Chef Bradford and his daughter have a special tradition of going to fine restaurants and creating opportunities for her to appreciate the choreography of the dining and hospitality experience.

My father always tried to get me interested in the meal preparation at home, but I never had a keen interest in participating. However, I treasure the memoriesof his taking me to The Club, one of very few fine dining options in Birmingham, Alabama during the 1970s. He exemplified table etiquette with the proper placement of silverware and the ceremony of white-gloved servers placings linen napkins on the lap. And after dinner, we waltzed across the floor dancing to the live orchestra. I am sure that my feet stepped on his shoes several times.

"If you make a syrup for a sorbet or souffle, take jasmine flowers and infuse them into a passionfruit base. Coax the flavor out from what already exists. Be intimate with your ingredients." - Chef Sherry Yard.

Let's celebrate flavors with Chef Sherry Yard, James Beard Award winning Outstanding Pastry Chef and a host of The Great American Baking Show. As a creator of the legendary Spago Beverly Hills' chocolate "Oscars" at The Governors Ball and as a mentor on The Great American Baking Show, Chef Sherry exudes and shares her passion for creating sweet and memorable moments through flavor with Kitchen Chat's co-hosts Margaret McSweeney and Chef Jaime Laurita.

On this special podcast, Chef Sherry has some great advice for aspiring "cheftesants" for The Great American Baking Show. In addition, she highlights a great memory with Julia Child and gives a lesson on ganache from her first cookbook, The Secrets of Baking: Simple Techniques for Sophisticated Desserts and spotlights her favorites in Desserts by the Yard: From Brooklyn to Beverly Hills: Recipes from the Sweetest Life Ever.

Let's celebrate Chef Jeremiah Tower's culinary past, present and future. Considered to be the first Celebrity Chef and a creator of California cuisine, Chef Tower's creative genius continues to influence chefs around the world and across generations. During this special Kitchen Chat, he shares delightful stories about Julia Child, James Beard and Anthony Bourdain with Chef Jaime Laurita and me. Chef Tower also touches upon the music in the kitchen at Chez Panisse and shares why he left Stars, his famous restaurant in San Francisco. He explains, "At the very top, you step off. That's why I left and went to the beach. It was time to go fishing. Only Anthony Bourdain understood it. Nobody else did." Anthony Bourdain featured Chef Tower in a CNN documentary, "Chef Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent" which is available on Netflix.

Chef Tower lives in Mexico now and is working on a new book about his experiences of eating food from around the world. In addition, he is partnering with a prestigious institute in Mexico on "la busqueda de la authentic cocina Mexicana" to create a full documentation in every way of the regions of Mexico and their cooking of the hearth in homes and to present new versions that keep the original flavors and tastes.

He remains passionate about focusing on ingredients. Chef Tower truly defines and lives life with exquisite taste and style: "Style has to come from within and it's what you're working with. The real style is finding the perfect fish, knowing how to take care of it, knowing how to cook it and knowing in what ambiance to serve it to your paying customers. Simplicity of food is the real style. Just like the little black dress in fashion."

Chef Jeremiah Tower shares his top three tips for the home cook:

1. Empty out your spice drawer that's got 40 bottles of two year old spices and throw them away. Buy spices in small quantities on the day or week that you plan to cook with them.
2. Healthful eating is more important than ever. Eat healthy food, invite your friends to your home and cook for them. It's all about the ingredients.
3. Don't be afraid to cook. You can always make scrambled eggs if your dish doesn't turn out.

A milestone moment of my culinary journey was sitting down with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse for a Kitchen Chat while sipping fresh mint water. How special for Chef Jaime Laurita and me to recently interview Alice Waters' daughter, Fanny Singer about her new book, Always Home: A Daughter's Recipes & Stories. This book reflects upon Fanny's childhood memories of life with her parents and of Chez Panisse. Fanny Singer is an accomplished editor, writer, and co-founder of the design brand Permanent Collection. Singer also earned a PhD.

Fanny explains how art and food are connected by the compulsion to create beauty in one's environment. Completed just before the pandemic, her book, Always Home, imparts an even deeper meaning during the quarantine. Fanny shares stories of her mother's tangible expression of love through creativity. Their relationship exudes joy, a shared respect for sustainability and an insatiable curiosity to keep learning.

Chef Alice Waters is a counterculture culinary hero who has helped pioneer the farm to table movement in the United States at her iconic restaurant Chez Panisse. At age four, she won a costume contest dressed as "Queen of the Garden" that featured produce from her parents' Victory Garden. This win was just a mere glimpse into her future as an award winning chef, cookbook author, philanthropist, activist and advocate for sustainability and freshly grown produce.

Recently, Chef Alice Waters graciously greeted me at her Chez Panisse office in Berkeley. A lovely glass teapot sat atop the small round table. She had filled the teapot with her favorite recipe from the garden -- fresh mint with hot water. We sipped and chatted about her latest book Coming to My Senses: The Making of A Counterculture Cook. She shared stories and lessons from her edible education including life changing moments in France when she discovered the incomparable tastes of the farmers markets, including les fraises des bois (strawberries from the woods). Chef Alice Waters brought back the literal and figurative seeds that would become the harvest of a delicious revolution. The actual seeds she planted in her backyard at Berkeley were the ingredients of a Mesclun Salad originating in Provence, France. Almost every dish at Chez Panisse has a little salad. Chef Waters explains, "A salad punctuates something that is rich and brings balance to the plate."

Are you ready to create a vital and bold flavor profile with the produce? Chef Rick Bayless, a Maestro of Mexican Cuisine, provides tips, techniques and recipes from his latest cookbook More Mexican Everyday that will delight your palate. Chef Bayless is an award winning chef, restaurateur, entrepreneur, cookbook author and philanthropist. Over the past decade, his Frontera Farmer Foundation has funded over $1.5 million in grants to help small midwestern family farms bring delicious produce to the marketplace. Chef Bayless is a Renaissance man and chef who savors the authentic flavors of Mexico and shares his expertise and passion with the home cook.

Do you want to learn how to debone a chicken in 18 seconds? Chef Martin Yan recently joined Margaret McSweeney and Chef Jaime Laurita in the Middleby Residential Showroom for an exciting Kitchen Chat on Viking Facebook Live.

Chef Yan welcomes us all into his kitchen with enthusiasm and encourages us with his motto: "If Yan can cook, so can you!" Chef Yan's multiple accolades include the distinction of Master Chef by American Culinary Federation, an Emmy award-winning television show, James Beard award-winning cookbook along with many other honors.

What is aquaculture? Have you ever tried sea grapes? Chef Andrew Zimmern shares his passion for solving the issues of feeding the planet. "Sea Vegetables are the new wave of eating, so delicious and so good for you," Andrew explains.

Family Dinner, Andrew's new show, will be premiering on Magnolia in 2021. Chef Jaime Laurita and I have had the honor of meeting Andrew twice on the James Beard Foundation Awards Red Carpet in Chicago in 2017 and 2018.

Andrew is delightful and knows how to savor the day.

"When a stir fry is cooked, it possesses "Wok Hei (hay)" which means life force. I like to call it the breath of a wok." Grace Young aka Stir Fry Guru.

Grace Young will teach you the insiders' secrets of seasoning your wok. Also known as Stir Fry Guru and a Wok Therapist, Young is a prolific cookbook author.

Grace Young has recently partnered with the James Beard Foundation to help #SaveChineseRestaurants through Instagram. Post a dish from your local Chinese restaurant and tag a friend along with James Beard Foundation on Instagram and use the hashtag #SaveChineseRestaurants. During this pandemic, we have lost over 30% of Chinese restaurants. Young is interviewing restaurant owners in NYC's Chinatown to provide insight into the impact on businesses.

Celebrating Women's Entrepreneurship Day 2020 with Cynthia Rowley.