Zoe Cuisine

Cooking with Jody Adams

This week I had the honor of cooking with Jody Adams, head chef and owner of Rialto restaurant in Cambridge, for four consecutive nights. Jody is one of those amazing career women whom I truly admire for being able to juggle a successful and demanding business with a family life. Jody opened Rialto in the Charles Hotel in 1994 and immediately won many accolades for her cuisine, including a James Beard award, a 4 star rating from the Boston Globe and being named one of the top 10 best chefs in America by Food and Wine magazine. You would think that a woman with a bio like this would be very intimidating to work with, but she is honestly one of the coolest chefs I have met. Don't get me wrong, she likes things to be done her way, such as a precise 45 degree angle on the celery slices for the salad course. But you know that a chef like Jody has a reason for that kind of specific direction and you just want to please her so you do it. 

Jody was at BU this week to teach an enormous group of law interns (sent by their head office as a perk) how to cook a Mediterranean meal. Four culinary program graduates, including myself, assisted Jody by executing each one of her recipes with a group of 8-10 students. I was on chicken duty for the four nights, which meant that I had to instruct the group of novice cooks on how to prepare Jody's braised chicken thighs with garlic, mustard and mascarpone. I showed them everything from how to trim the fat off the chicken to how to peel ginger with a spoon, to how to dice garlic and how to know when chicken is ready to be flipped in the saute pan. Many of these students had never cooked before so it was a bit of a challenge but they all rose to the occasion and were able to pull off this pretty complex recipe night after night. You might think that cooking the same dish for four nights would get a little boring, and it might have if this chicken hadn't been SO delicious. Everyone raved that it was their favorite dish out of the six that were made at every class. The sauce is so rich with flavor from the ginger, garlic, dijon mustard, vinegar, tomato paste and creamy mascarpone cheese. The sauce is an explosion of taste that you can't help mopping up with lots of crusty french bread. I don't even have a picture of it to post because it got gobbled up so fast every night. I promise to make it at home soon and post pictures and the recipe. Besides the chicken, the other dishes that Jody had the team make were pan seared squid over spicy chickpea puree, curried carrots, fregola with ginger and lemon, seven herb salad and blueberry peach crostada. I really enjoyed all of Jody's recipes, many of which are on the menu at Rialto. She loves to play with unexpected flavor contrasts, such as the use of ginger with mascarpone in the chicken which I would never have thought to put together. If you haven't made it out to Jody's restaurant, put it on the top of your list. It is definitely on mine!

Blueberry Peach Crostada

Vive La France! A Visit from Jacques & Jean-Claude

 

Me and Jacques

This week my class got a visit from a chef we had been waiting for all semester - the legendary Jacques Pépin! Jacques and Julia Child are the co-founders of the Culinary Arts program as well as the Masters in Gastronomy at Boston University. Every year Jacques comes to teach the students in my program for a few coveted days. Although we were excited to meet him, I was also a little apprehensive of being around such a legend. Although I have learned a lot in these past few months, I have about as much cooking knowledge as Jacques has in one fingernail! I was praying to avoid embarrassing myself at all costs. There was no reason to worry as Jacques put us all at ease with his easy manner and detailed instruction. Jacques has cooked for heads of state, royalty and celebrities, he has owned restaurants, started schools, written numerous cookbooks, had multiple TV shows and basically knows every single person who is anyone in the world of food. He began his illustrious career in restaurants at the age of 13 as an apprentice in France, and is still cooking up a storm today at age 74. His memoir, "The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen", is an amazing and inspirational story of food, friends, family, immigration to America, hard work and success. There are even some great recipes scattered throughout. I highly recommend reading this even if you aren't a major foodie.

Jacques came to teach us with his best friend and fellow chef, Jean-Claude Szurdak. Jacques and Jean-Claude met over 50 years ago when they were the private chefs for the French Prime Minister and then for President Charles de Gaulle. They moved to America around the same time and have stayed close friends and confidants ever since. Jean-Claude has had an equally prestigious career in the catering business in New York City cooking for dignitaries and politicians. The two of them are so entertaining to watch, they could have their own comedy/cooking show. They banter back and forth like brothers in English and in French. They always make sure the other has a full wine glass. There was no reason to be nervous around them in the kitchen. They gave each of us such personalized attention (although they often have opposite opinions on how to perform the same task, such as chopping an onion), especially when teaching us how to bone an entire chicken while leaving the meat and skin intact. This is not an easy task, let me tell you! But the finished product, when stuffed and trussed, is quite impressive. Under their instruction we cooked an "economical" feast for about 70 guests. The menu featured 4 courses using relatively low cost ingredients and simple techniques that any home cook can prepare. The menu consisted of assorted canapés, white bean and vegetable soup, braised chicken thighs in a mushroom sauce and an apricot galette. My favorite dish was the galette which was made using a store bought flour tortilla, canned fruit, a little sugar and butter. It doesn't get much easier than that and it was so delicious I had to help myself to multiple slices. The recipe is from Jacques' book "More Fast Food My Way" which I will be posting as soon as I try to recreate it at home. Overall it was a memorable three days spent with two funny, warm, intelligent men who have such a passion for life and food (and lots of wine!!). They made me very proud to be French. 

Me and Jean-Claude in the kitchen

Sara Moulton

This past week we had a very special guest chef at school, Sara Moulton. This was extremely exciting for me because I have been a fan of hers for years. Her show Cooking Live on the Food Network was one of the shows that really got me hooked on cooking for myself in college. If you are not familiar with who Sara is, here is a little bio that I copied off of her website:

Sara Moulton
Chef, Cookbook Author, Television Personality

One of the hardest-working women in the food biz, Sara Moulton has been juggling multiple jobs for years.  Admired by millions as the host of Cooking Live, Cooking Live Primetime, and Sara’s Secrets, Moulton was one of the Food Network’s defining personalities during the outlet’s first decade.  In addition to her work on the Food Network, the energetic Moulton has been the Executive Chef of Gourmet Magazine for the last twenty-three years.  She is also the Food Editor of ABC-TV’s Good Morning America, and the author of Sara’s Secrets for Weeknight Meals(Broadway Books, 2005) and Sara Moulton Cooks at Home(Broadway Books, 2002).  In April of 2008, Moulton launched a new 20-episode television series on public television, entitled Sara’s Weeknight Meals. 

As you can see, Sara has had an amazing career. She actually started her culinary journey in Boston as the chef at Harvest restaurant in Cambridge. Somehow she even found time to have a marriage and two kids! She really is the epitome of a strong, modern woman that is able to do it all and do it all well. The best part about Sara is that she is as nice and down to earth in person as she is on TV. Although she's tiny (she is barely 5'!), she has a huge personality and a great sense of humor.  I had the best time being around her for a day. One thing I learned from her was how to tell how fresh an egg is. Put the egg in a bowl full of water so that it is completely submerged. If the egg sinks, it is really fresh. If it floats, chances are it is old. This is because as eggs age air leaks into the shell and forms pockets. So if you end up with a bunch of old eggs, the best way to use them is to hard boil them because the air pockets make them easier to peel. I bought one of her cookbooks, Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals, so I hope to share some of the recipes as I make them. I will also be posting one of the recipes I made with her at school. Watch out for her new TV show that airs on Saturdays at 12:30pm on WGBH (starting April 19th). I know you will become a Sara fan too!