On November 8, Chef Jaime Laurita and I will emcee the Celebrity Chef Ball for Meals on Wheels Chicago. It's extra special this year as the organization will be honoring the legendary Ina Pinkney. Ina is a dear friend and mentor. Her experience as a restaurateur, cookbook author, brand ambassador, a polio survivor and a woman entrepreneur is impactful. Ina's passion to share her knowledge with others is her hallmark. On a personal note, Ina has been a constant source of encouragement during my recovery process post broken knee - all while she is recovering from a broken leg! Chef Thai Dang will be one of the celebrity chefs featured at the event. He is the Executive Chef of Haisous, a highly acclaimed Vietnamese restaurant in Chicago. Ina has been a mentor and friend to Chef Dang during his culinary journey. And how fascinating to learn about banana blossoms!

Do you want to be a hero in your kitchen? Marge Perry and David Bonom share the tips and recipes for one pan meals that will expand the palates with even more flavor for your family. Recently, I stopped by Read it and Eat in Chicago where this dynamic duo was preparing Ooey Gooey Mac and Cheese from their new cookbook Hero Dinners: One-pan Meals that will Save the Day. Their recipes will make you rethink everything you thought about meal preparation. My friendship with Dave and Marge began at IACP, a wonderful organization you should check out. They have been mentors and encouragers along my culinary journey. What are your favorite ways to introduce new flavors to your friends and family?

“If you preserve the food, you preserve who your family is.” This poignant quote by Joan Nathan, an award winning author of eleven cookbooks including her latest King Solomon’s Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from  Around the World, truly captures the essence of why recipes matter. It was an honor to meet Joan Nathan at Les Dames d’Escoffier conference in Washington, D.C. and discuss the importance of preserving foodways. Not until Nathan was married did she fully appreciate the influence Jewish foodways had on her family.Her mother-in-law was a Holocaust survivor from Poland who remembered all the food and recipes from this country in such a beautiful way.  “It made me realize that I wanted to preserve them,” Nathan explains. After meeting a Yiddish folklore professor who also wanted to share his recipes and stories, Nathan embarked on her own ethnic foodways journey to discover  and preserve beloved Jewish recipes. Joan Nathan shares her firsthand  experience of the power of how food brings people to the table and breaks down barriers.  While working for Teddy Kollek, the former mayor of Jerusalem, they visited an Arab village for a meeting, and everyone connected over Joan’s favorite chicken dish called  Musakhan (Palestinian Sumac chicken with sautéed onions). Whole Foods is teaming with Joan Nathan to offer prepared dishes and recipes for customers during the Jewish High Holidays.  The five recipes all featured in her latest cookbook Solomon’s Table: Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking form Around the World include: Cod with Tomatoes, Plumbs, Apples, Onions and Pine Nuts; Slightly Sweet and Sour Cabbage; Seven Sacred Species Salad with Wheat Berries, Barley, Olives, Figs, Dates, Grapes and Pomegranate; Sweet and Crunchy Noodle Kugel; and Tahina Cookies.

"If you preserve the food, you preserve who your family is."
This poignant quote by Joan Nathan (http://joannathan.com), an award winning author of eleven cookbooks including her latest King Solomon's Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from  Around the World, (http://amzn.to/2xyOAfZ) truly captures the essence of why recipes matter. >

It was an honor to meet Joan Nathan at Les Dames d'Escoffier (http://www.ldei.org)conference in Washington, D.C.  and discuss the importance of preserving foodways.  Not until Nathan was married did she fully appreciate the influence Jewish foodways had on her family.  Her mother-in-law was a Holocaust survivor from Poland who remembered all the food and recipes from this country in such a beautiful way.  "It made me realize that I wanted to preserve them," Nathan explains. After meeting a Yiddish folklore professor who also wanted to share his recipes and stories, Nathan embarked on her own ethnic foodways journey to discover  and preserve beloved Jewish recipes.

Joan Nathan shares her firsthand  experience of the power of how food brings people to the table and breaks down barriers.  While working for Teddy Kollek, the former mayor of Jerusalem, they visited an Arab village for a meeting, and everyone connected over Joan's favorite chicken dish called  Musakhan (Palestinian Sumac chicken with sautéed onions).

Whole Foods is teaming with Joan Nathan to offer prepared dishes and recipes for customers during the Jewish High Holidays. (https://www.specialtyfood.com/news/article/whole-foods-teams-james-beard-award-winner-high-holiday-dishes/)  The five recipes all featured in her latest cookbook Solomon's Table: Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking form Around the World (http://amzn.to/2fmdrsH)include: Cod with Tomatoes, Plumbs, Apples, Onions and Pine Nuts; Slightly Sweet and Sour Cabbage; Seven Sacred Species Salad with Wheat Berries, Barley, Olives, Figs, Dates, Grapes and Pomegranate; Sweet and Crunchy Noodle Kugel; and Tahina Cookies.

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Excerpted from KING SOLOMON’S TABLE by Joan Nathan. Copyright © 2017 by Random House. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Hummus with Preserved Lemon and Cumin

At mealtime, Boaz said to her [Ruth], “Come over here and partake of the meal, and dip your morsel in the vinegar.”

--Ruth 2:14

Yield: about 4 cups, or 6-8 servings

2 cups (400 grams) dried chickpeas (or 4 cups canned or presoaked chickpeas; see page 10)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (225 ml) tahina

1 whole preserved lemon, seeds removed (see page 11)

3 tablespoons preserved lemon liquid from jar

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste

2 cloves garlic, or to taste

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

1 teaspoon ground cumin, or to taste

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons pine nuts Dash of paprika or sumac

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or cilantro

The use of the word “vinegar” may be misleading in the above mention of hummus, from the book of Ruth, written almost three thousand years ago. Most translations interpret the word chamootz to mean “vinegar” (as it does in contemporary Hebrew). However, according to the Israeli author Meir Shalev, the Hebrew letters chet, mem, and zadek are the root letters of both the words chamootz and chimtza, which in biblical Hebrew means “chickpeas.”

“In biblical Hebrew, there were no vowels, so words were more confusing,” Meir told me, and added, “Anyway, if Boaz served his workers pita dipped in vinegar instead of something more substantial like hummus, they wouldn’t have been very happy.”

Do your New Year's resolutions include eating healthy?  If so, you will enjoy my kitchen chat with Chef Dave Choi (https://www.linkedin.com/in/plant-base-chef-dave-choi-76936349)who has a passion for a plant based lifestyle.  He encourages us to consider a three day challenge of eating meals without sugar, yeast, dairy and animal protein which he explains are the sources of inflammation.  He says, "After three days ask yourself, do I feel better?"



His message to eat what is grounded to the earth is truly his life choice.  Chef Choi opened the first vegan restaurant in Chicago, Amitabul (http://www.amitabulvegan.com).  He explains that in a plant based lifestyle, one only eats what grows from the ground.  He also stresses that vegetables should be steamed since eating them raw requires a larger amount of probiotics for digestion. Chef Choi also shares some insightful sources of natural probiotics including spices such as ginger, garlic, tumeric kale, oregano and basil. In addition to advocating nutrition for the body, Chef Choi also encourages nourishment for the soul with his Just Bee Meditation. (http://www.meetup.com/Just-Bee-Meditation/)



His son continues Chef Choi's traditions of healthy eating through his company Healthful Habits, Inc (http://gathanis.wix.com/healthful-habits)  His son works with corporations to help curate and create a healthier lifestyle for employees.



As Chef Choi says, "Take one  meal at a time to be more conscious about what you eat."



Savor the day!

Chef Dave Choi has a passion for a plant based lifestyle. He encourages us to consider a three day challenge of eating meals without sugar, yeast, dairy and animal protein which he explains are the sources of inflammation. He says, “After three days ask yourself, do I feel better?” His message to eat what is grounded to the earth is truly his life choice. Chef Choi opened the first vegan restaurant in Chicago, Amitabul. He explains that in a plant based lifestyle, one only eats what grows from the ground. He also stresses that vegetables should be steamed since eating them raw requires a larger amount of probiotics for digestion. Chef Choi also shares some insightful sources of natural probiotics including spices such as ginger, garlic, tueric kale, oregano and basil. In addition to advocating nutrition for the body, Chef Choi also encourages nourishment for the soul with his Just Bee Meditation. His son continues Chef Choi’s traditions of healthy eating through his company Healthful Habits, Inc. His son works with corporations to help curate and create a healthier lifestyle for employees. As Chef Choi says, “Take one meal at a time to be more conscious about what you eat.”

A visit with Anne Willan in her kitchen.

Anne Willan (http://lavarenne.com/about-anne/)is an icon in the culinary world. As founder of Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne (http://www.lavarenne.com/) in Paris in 1975, she has trained some of today’s top chefs and people in the culinary industry. La Varenne was one of the first cooking schools in France to offer simultaneous instruction in French and English and accredited professional culinary degrees. Anne Willan received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). (http://www.iacp.com/)  She is an inductee into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame, (http://www.jamesbeard.org/) and she serves on the advisory council of the Julia Child Foundation. (http://www.juliachildfoundation.org/)

With over 30 books, Anne Willan is truly one of the world’s preeminent authorities on French cooking and she is one of the nicest and most gracious people you will ever meet.  I first met Anne at the International Association of Culinary Professionals (http://www.iacp.com/) conference in Chicago during 2014 at a book signing for her outstanding memoir Chef Jaime Laurita ( target=) and I enjoyed an afternoon tea in Anne’s kitchen.
(http://kitchenchat.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/FullSizeRender-29-300x270.jpg)A delightful afternoon tea with Anne Willan and Chef Jaime Laurita
In November 2015, I had the distinct honor of visiting with Anne Willan in her garden and in her kitchen to officially record a kitchen chat.  She graciously shared recipes and cooking tips from her new cookbook Julia Child. ( target=)
(http://kitchenchat.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IMG_3315-e14501122065041.jpg)Chatting in Anne Willan’s garden (photo credit: Louise Masin Sattler)
How exciting to explore Anne Willan’s extraordinary kitchen with her.  The traditional copper pots hanging from the ceiling look like a modern art exhibit. I almost cried when I saw a small copper pan similar to the one that my dad had in our kitchen to make Hollandaise sauce.
(http://kitchenchat.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IMG_3336-e14501344752401.jpg)Anne’s copper cookware
The arrangement of  utensils attached to a pegboard reminded me of Julia Child’s kitchen displayed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington DC.  Food is art, and Anne Willan is indeed a culinary artist and shares her artistry in her latest cookbook Secrets from the LaVarenne Kitchen: 50 Essential Recipes Every Cook Needs to Know. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1940611156/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1940611156&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwkitchenc07-20&linkId=SJTQ7L4XL6O2WA2I)  How fascinating that Anne said a home chef needs three main items: a good whisk, a copper pot and an excellent set of knives.
(http://kitchenchat.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IMG_3341-2-e14501344377151.jpg)A great way to store utensils
Another special moment with  Anne Willan was seeing her original Jacques Pepin painting (http://www.jacquespepinart.com/) of three fish displayed on the wall next to her container of homemade red wine vinegar.  This year has truly been a milestone in my culinary journey to honor my late father and to understand his joy of cooking.  What an honor to have kitchen chats with both Chef Jacques Pepin (http://kitchenchat.info/1414/chef-jacques-pepin-heart-and-soul-in-the-kitchen/) and Anne Willan!
(http://kitchenchat.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IMG_3330-e14501122375331.jpg)Beautiful artwork by Chef Jacques Pepin
Then, Anne surprised me!  She shared the “mother” of her red wine vinegar with me and placed it in a ball jar which I carefully packed for my trip back to Chicago!  How fitting to take a photo of the red wine vinegar I am now making in my kitchen next to a copy of Jacques Pepin’s flower bouquet lithograph.  This is truly a hug from heaven!

With over 30 books, Anne Willan is truly one of the world’s preeminent authorities on French cooking and she is one of the nicest and most gracious people you will ever meet. I first met Anne at the International Association of Culinary Professionals conference in Chicago during 2014 at a book signing for her outstanding memoir One Souffle at a Time. In February 2015, Chef Jaime Laurita and I enjoyed an afternoon tea in Anne’s kitchen.

"A lot of people think that baking is exacting. I challenge that. It's not really."

Chef Jim Dodge

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Chef Jim Dodge (http://www.chefjimdodge.com) has deep culinary and hospitality roots.  Chef Dodge's family has been in the hospitality business in the White Mountains of New Hampshire since 1794.  He worked in every department of his family's New Hampshire resorts.  Although he didn't stay in the family business, Chef Dodge continues the art of hospitality with his impressive pastry chef career.  I first met Chef Dodge at the very first Julia Child Foundation (https://juliachildfoundation.org) Awards honoring Chef Jacques Pepin. (http://www.pbs.org/food/chefs/jacques-pepin/)  What a delight to at last have a Kitchen Chat with him during the IACP conference (http://iacp.com) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  We sat at a table outside.  You will even hear the birds singing in the background.

Chef Jim Dodge has a true passion for baking and for teaching others the art of baking.  He has won several James Beard awards (https://www.jamesbeard.org) and is the Director of Specialty Culinary Programs at Bon Appetit Management Company. (http://www.bamco.com)  He has baked with and baked for the top culinary talent from around the world.  You will enjoy hearing his special stories about Julia Child.

Here are Chef Jim Dodge's top three tips for the home baker:

* It's okay to learn to bake by touch and feel. When you make a successful dough, pay attention to the way it feels. Don't over handle the dough;
* Bake your cakes and pies at a lower temperature around 325 degrees.  The cake will rise more evenly and it won't dome.  You'll get a more moist cake; and
* It's very important to cool a cake on a rack when you take it out of the oven so that it cools evenly.  If you put it on a flat surface, it creates a vacuum that puts a lot of moisture on the bottom and two things could happen: the cake could collapse or it makes the bottom of the cake soggy and compromises the texture of the cake.


Here is Chef Jim Dodge’s recipe for Apricot Tart


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Apricot Tart
Copyright © 2006 by Jim Dodge
All rights reserved under International Copyright
Tart Dough
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Blend together the dry ingredients in a food processor.  Cut butter into 1/2 inch chunks add to dry ingredients and blend until a coarse meal is reached.  Add cream and mix until dough comes together forming a ball.  Turn out the dough from the bowl to a table that has been lightly dusted with flour. With your hands, gently knead the dough with shallow strokes until dough is evenly textured throughout.  Be careful not to over handle the dough, which would make it tough.  Shape into a round pad and roll into an 12-inch circle using a wooden rolling pin and keeping the dough lightly dusted with flour at all times.  Line a 9-inch metal tart pan with the circle of dough with a minimum of extra lip of dough extending beyond the edge.
Gently but firmly press the dough into the bottom of the pan and then the edges. Fold the extra dough back inside the tart form a double thickness of dough around the edge, but not the bottom. You may have extra dough about the above the edge of the pan. Using your thumbs and index fingers gently press this double later of dough together so that they fuss. Trim away any extra dough for the edge. Cover and chill these pieces incase you need to patch the tart later. Chill the shell 2 hours.  
Adjust your oven rack to its lowest level and preheat to 350F°.
Pre-baking the tart:
Uncover tart and line the bottom and sides of the dough with heavy weight aluminum foil.

Chef Jim Dodge has deep culinary and hospitality roots.  Chef Dodge's family has been in the hospitality business in the White Mountains of New Hampshire since 1794.  He worked in every department of his family's New Hampshire resorts.  Although he didn't stay in the family business, Chef Dodge continues the art of hospitality with his impressive pastry chef career.   I first met Chef Dodge at the very first Julia Child Foundation Awards honoring Chef Jacques Pepin.  What a delight to at last have a Kitchen Chat with him during the IACP conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  We sat at a table outside.  You will even hear the birds singing in the background. Chef Jim Dodge has a true passion for baking and for teaching others the art of baking.  He has won several James Beard awards and is the Director of Specialty Culinary Programs at Bon Appetit Management Company.  He has baked with and baked for the top culinary talent from around the world.  You will enjoy hearing his special stories about Julia Child.