Less the weather, last week was an epic food week for me beginning always with cooking for my clients. It is so much fun doing what I love and knowing I am helping people to feed their families, big and small.
My favorite dish I made last week was braised lamb meatballs with aromatics, herbs, spices, Greek feta and I snuck in some blue kale (for the chil’rens). After searing them off I made a rich jus to finish the process. I impressed myself.
Thursday night was a dinner for New York African Restaurant Week. Festival creator Akin Akinsanya invited me down to one of the AfroEatz dinners at Colors Restaurant on the Lower East Side to sample food from a couple of chefs participating in the festival. My good friend Angie of Experience Harlem was in tow for the evening.
Akin welcomed us to sit at the bar and catch up on what chefs Nadege Fleurimond and Alain Lemaire were throwing down in the exposed kitchen. We started with Guinness-braised beef cheeks with shallot marmalade and cassava chips; jute leaves and chicken over white rice; and chicken fritter with epis crema. However, my mind was blown with chef Fleurimond’s challah bread pudding with Guinness and rum sauce. I am not a bread pudding fan. Alas, this one…winner!
I was sad to miss the African Restaurant Week festival at Mist Saturday because I had to work teaching some young women of Jack & Jill how to cook. These brilliant, smart and fun girls were down for our plan to prepare a three-course meal and, along the way, to learn how to help their parents prep and cook for their families.
We started with a shaved vegetable salad with homemade dressing, learning how to wash, dry and store salad greens and making a blend of non-leaf ingredients to macerate before tossing with the greens at the table. I think we converted some salad haters with that one.
For the main course I wanted to teach a couple of techniques on cooking different cuts of chicken—pan searing boneless skinless chicken breasts (a staple) and roasting bone-in, skin-on breasts and thighs. The sides also taught braising (broccoli), steaming and sautéing (string beans and mushrooms, spinach) and roasting (yams).
While not my strong suit, dessert was a lesson in finding a recipe online and following directions, as well as, timing. Our apple berry crumble needed to be prepped and into the oven first. A little watery in the end…I might need some lessons!
These young women did it all with great aplomb! I salute you and my week!
Honorable mentions: drinking and eating with friends at NYCWFF, gifted a black truffle, making Sunday brunch of smoked trout cakes with crispy rice and sunnyside up eggs.
Happy eating and thanks for reading!
Kysha Harris is a food writer and editor, culinary producer, consultant and owner of SCHOP!, a personalized food service in NYC for more than 15 years. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram, @SCHOPgirl, on Facebook, /SCHOPnyc, and her blog, www.talkingSCHOP.wordpress.com. Questions? Comments? Requests? Feedback? Invitations! Email AmNewsFOOD at AmNewsFOOD@SCHOPnyc.com. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @NYAmNewsFOOD and tag us with #SoAmNewsFOOD with your food finds!