Starving Artist

There’s just something about seeing celebrities in person that is just so unreal. Of course I’m the weirdo who would jump at a chance to meet a celebrity chef over half of the actors in Hollywood any day. So obviously when I saw that world reknowned chef Eric Ripert was going to be holding a lecture at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, I had a momentary freak out (luckily no one else was around to witness) and immediately called to order two tickets. I then texted (and tweeted… as I said, I was excited…) Neha to make sure she reserved the date.

Well a month has passed (where on earth does the time go lately?) and the lecture was tonight. We claimed our seats in the front row in direct eyeshot of the podium (and wondered why on earth others were settling for the middle or back… did Chef Ripert wear an offending cologne that we weren’t aware of? Or did the fish smell follow him all the way from Le Bernardin?).

The night began with a video clip from Eric’s new TV series, Avec Eric, that featured hilarious outtakes that we were told were being burned after this showing (Eric unsuccessfully trying to hoist himself onto a boat, hunting bison in the rain, and pretty much showing he’s an actual human being behind all of the culinary genius).

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Episode 1 of Avec Eric

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I was amazed at how great of a speaker Eric was. Not that I expected anything less, but the ease in which he spoke, and the clever humor were completely enjoyable. He took us through his early years breaking into the industry (how he received “zeros” in all of his classes, so they shipped him off to cooking school), to working for Joel Robuchon, to writing his new cookbooks and everyday life at Le Bernadin. He said that the best piece of advice that he received from a former boss was “I want you to cook with your guts, and have the guts to be creative”. I feel like that was such an inspiring quote, and doesn’t only relate to cooking.

He talked about 2 of his new books, one especially that I am dying to read, called A Return to Cooking. Chef Ripert, an artist friend, and a photographer friend set out to capture cuisine in each of the four seasons. They lived in Vermont for the Fall, California for the Spring, Long Island for the Summer, and Puerto Rico for the Winter (clearly). During that time, they created food and art that was inspired by the season and the location. The book captures each of these seasons, and the work that came out of each. I can’t wait to read it:

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I’m sorry for the extremely long post, but it was just such an amazing experience that it had to be documented. Chef Ripert seems like the nicest, most humble and down to earth “celebrity” chef, and I cannot wait to make a trip soon to NYC to dine at Le Bernardin.

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When I was younger, the mere utterance of the word “brussel sprouts” would cause me to hide under the kitchen table. Now that I’m past the age of being petrified of vegetables, I really don’t understand why they get such a bad wrap. How are they any worse then peas or (shudder) cauliflower? As my taste buds began to change and my palate expanded, I began to really love the little green gems (now I’m on to discriminating against cauliflower… go figure).

Trader Joe’s had beautiful fresh brussel sprouts, so I picked up a package when I was there this weekend. Three minutes in the microwave and they were good to go. Quick and easy, and they still had a crisp bite to them (not at all mushy).

For lunch today, I made an impromptu brussel sprout salad. I toasted up cubes of the Cranberry Almond Cornbread that I baked yesterday to make croutons, and tossed the 2 ingredients with the Apple Cranberry Chutney from TJ’s. Yum.

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For dinner, I took the leftover sprouts and sauteed them with a basic margarine, salt and pepper mix. To accompany the leafy greens, I cooked up a simple weeknight shrimp scampi. So tasty, and done in the time it takes to cook the pasta! I put some whole wheat penne on the stove to cook, and in the meantime sauteed some shrimp, along with the following:

• 2 tbsp of light margarine
• 3 tbsp of lemon juice
• 1 tsp white wine
• a pinch of parsley, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

I took the shrimp off the heat and stirred in 1 tbsp of fat free half and half. I drained the pasta, and then added it to the pan along with the shrimp and sauce.

A sprinkling of Parmesan shavings (well, more than a sprinkling… we all know I’m obsessed with Parm), and dinner was served!

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Time to watch Hell’s Kitchen and get a little work done. Tennille and Suzanne really need to go!! I go back and forth between Kevin and Dave for the win… gotta love Dave’s monotone voice. Do you watch? Who’s your favorite for winning?

Going to see Eric Ripert tomorrow at the MFA! I can’t wait… getting slightly giddy :)

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I just heard from the team over at Foodbuzz that my recipe for Cranberry Almond Cornbread (below post) will be featured on their homepage on October 12!

Wooot :)

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Taking a lunch break from some work, I decided to make a quick cornbread to go along with the leftover Apple Butternut Squash Soup that I made the other day. Feeling a little semi-homemade today, I remembered that I had a random package of cornbread mix in the cupboard (courtesy of one of my mom’s many special-deliveries). Plain cornbread can be kind of blah, so I decided it needed to be jazzed up a bit.

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Here’s the recipe:

Cranberry Almond Cornbread

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Cornbread mix (I had Betty Crocker on hand)
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp applesauce
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup of corn
• 1/4 cup of dried cranberries (I used orange flavored from TJ’s)
• 1/8 cup of almonds
• Cinnamon

Directions:

1. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl (except for the cinnamon).
2. Lightly grease a bread pan with cooking spray, and pour in the mixture.
3. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon.
4. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
5. Cool, cut, and serve!

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I had quite the amazing weekend, but unfortunately woke up this morning not feeling so hot. Maybe it was all the walking in the rain yesterday? I decided I’d be more productive working from home today, since I have so much to get done.

Some Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spice Granola and strong coffee should get me going…

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