Chef Bobo's Blog

Good Morning!  We are getting so close to the end of the school year.  Can you believe that after today there are only 3 lunches left!  It’s gone soooo fast. 

For these final lunches we have been looking back at some of the more popular foods we have served during the year  and today’s lunch ranks very high on the list.

We’re making delicious Red Bean Soup, (too hot for soup? Actually a hot soup cools you down!), a Beet & Goat Cheese sandwich on Ciabatta bread, and our entrée is Barbecued Salmon!  The salmon will be served with sautéed spinach and rice. 

Tomorrow I will be headed down to Washington, DC, to visit the White House at the invitation of Mrs. Obama.  I am excited about this but even more so considering that Chef Jose has also been invited and is going with me along with Chef Rose Walker (who worked with us for 4 years) from Rockland Country Day School, and Chef Bennett Fins (who worked with us for 3 ½ years) from the Family Life Academy Charter School.  There are also other chefs from across the country who I have mentored as they have built lunch programs in their schools that are similar to ours.  And, newly appointed Calhoun Board Member, Calhoun parent Chef Marc Murphy is going.  They’ll all be there!  We will be among 1,000 chefs from across the country who are signing a pledge to join the "Chef Moves to Schools" campaign, a school-based offshoot of the White House health initiative, “Let’s Move”.  The program partners chefs with schools across the country to teach children about healthier eating.  It’s going to be an amazing event with a powerful message of support for change in school lunch programs.  I’ll tell you all about it next week. 

I look forward to seeing you all at lunch and I hope you have a great day.

Good Morning

 Today’s lunch is going to be a mixture of Indian and Middle Eastern cuisines. Recipes for the soup, sandwich, roasted lamb and vegetables are strictly Indian in origin, while the Bulgur wheat with dried fruit is more North African or Middle Eastern. 

The Tomato Soup is our regular Tomato Basil soup that everybody loves but it is seasoned differently.  To give it more of an Indian flavor we add mustard seeds, cumin and turmeric and instead of basil we add cilantro.  It’s delicious and my favorite way to eat tomato soup.  The sandwich is “Crudites” in a pita with a yogurt sauce.  Crudites, in French, means raw vegetables.  While the veggies in our sandwich are mostly raw (cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers and onions, we are also adding carrots which have been blanched to make them easier to eat.  Added to the sandwich will be a light yogurt sauce, much like the Raita you eat in Indian restaurants, seasoned with cumin, garlic and chopped mint.

Our entrée today is Tandoori roasted Leg of Lamb that has been marinating overnight in yogurt and aromatic Indian spices.  The marinade is one used for tandoori dishes in Indian restaurants. It is then roasted in tandoori ovens.  Of course we don’t have tandoori ovens in which to roast our tandoori lamb so we will use our convection ovens. Tandoor ovens are made of clay that will withstand very high temperatures.  I’ve included a photo of one below so you can see what it looks like.  You can often see tandoor ovens in Indian restaurants.  They not only cook meat, chicken and fish in them (on long metal skewers) but also their wonderful, slightly charred, breads which bake by sticking to the hot walls of the oven. (You can actually see bread baking in the photo below.)  We will start the lamb roasting in our convection ovens at 500ºF for about 30 minutes to sear the outside of the meat and seal in the juices.  Then we will turn the heat down to about 350ºF and let it roast more slowly.  We have done this dish before and kids, some of whom were not very anxious to eat lamb, were coming back and asking for second and third helpings. With all of its spices the final result is not about all the flavors used for seasoning but about bringing the true flavor and sweetness of lamb to full bloom.  It’s not spicy and peppery but rather mild and satisfying.  The vegetable being served is a combination of Broccoli and Cauliflower.  

Our starch today is Bulgur Wheat.  We had a cold version of bulgur wheat in Allison’s tabbouleh salad a couple of weeks ago.  Today’s will be hot and will have chopped dried apricots and pears in it to give it a hint of sweetness.  Bulgur wheat is rich in “B” vitamins, iron, phosphorous and manganese (good for learning), it complements the protein profile of legumes,  and it’s “B” vitamins also complement the folate in vegetables such as spinach, asparagus, broccoli and brussels sprouts.  As a whole grain it is rich in dietary fiber and has lots of energy boosting nutrition. The grain itself has a nutty taste.  Bulgur is widely eaten in African, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries as well as in Indian where it is often cooked as a substitute for rice pilaf. 

It’s a really good lunch today and I look forward to seeing you down here at lunchtime.

Good Morning!  Do you realize that this is our last long, holiday weekend of the school year?  It certainly has gone fast! 

For today’s lunch we have a very nice treat.  Chef Jose came to me and told me that if it was possible for him to have another menu day he would like to make a dish from his country that we haven’t had before.  Of course he could have another menu day! I think everybody loves Chef Jose’s cooking, especially when he cooks the food of his country, the Dominican Republic.  Today’s entrée is called “Pastelón”.  It is compared to British shepherd’s pie or sometimes Italian lasagna and maybe even Greek moussaka. Here’s why, it’s like a pie with the tops and bottoms being made with sweet, mature plantains mashed and spread out in the pan. On top of the plantains Jose will spread a layer of picadillo (a chopped beef preparation which is sauteed using his delicious sofrito for seasoning).  On top of the meat he’ll sprinkle a little mozzarella cheese. The dish will be topped with another layer of the mashed, sweet plantains and another sprinkling of cheese and then baked in the oven until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown.  Now you can understand why it is compared with those British, Italian and Greek dishes.  I wonder if other regions of the world have a similar way of using chopped meat.  Anybody know of any?  I’ll bet there are hundreds of them.  Our Pastelón today will be served with a side vegetable of roasted green beans. For our vegetarians we will have roasted tofu, which will be seasoned with Jose’s sofrito, on top of the sweet plantain mash. 

Our soup today is Black Bean Soup and our sandwich is ALT Wrap (Avocado, Lettuce and Tomato). 

I finished my sugar fast last night and feel really good.  However, today I will eat sugar for the first time in over a week in the form of the dessert which Chef Jose has made for us.  It’s a good one.  Our dessert today, keeping with his Caribbean menu, is Coconut Flan!  A delicious egg custard with the flavor of coconut topped with the sweet caramel sauce in which it was baked.  Oh my! 

You may have noticed the 2 women who have been working with us during the past few weeks.  Alesha Gillespie (the blond) and Michelle Rooks (the brunette) are graduate students from Columbia Teacher’s College performing a 180 hour internship with us.  They are delightful to work with and highly interested in what we are doing in our lunch program at Calhoun.  Not only are they learning a lot about our lunch program but they are also teaching us a lot about basic nutrition and dealing with food allergies.  They have fit in so well with our kitchen team that it feels like they have always worked with us.  We’re happy they are here.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!  Summer is just about here!

See you at lunch

It’s going to be summertime today!  The 6^th grade is going to a farm today.  What a perfect day to be learning and enjoying the outdoors! 

It’s day #6 of the sugar free people and I’m finding it’s getting easier.  However, I must admit that last night was a real test for me.  We had an event down at 74^th Street with lots of food set up all over the building for parents to enjoy while visiting the Lower School.  In each room that had food in it, we had a chef there to keep the food fresh and well stocked and to interact with people regarding our food at 81 Street.  It worked really well.  However, can you guess which refreshments were in the room which I was supervising?  If you guessed chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, brownies and blondies, you are correct.  I even had to arrange the various platters they were on.  Everytime I came across a broken cookie I wanted to eat it!  But my commitment prevailed and I didn’t taste any of them!  We have one more day to go. 

I mentioned on the first day of being “sugar free” that one of our community who moved to Holland, Mascha, has been participating with us!  Last night I received this message from her in which she describes her experience and makes a further commitment that everyone may want to consider: 

 “How are you today on your day 6 of no sugar already!? For me it was surprisingly easy to skip sugars everywhere, even though we had a 3 day weekend (we 'celebrate' a 2nd day of Pentecost). My favorites are salads, especially arugula and beet leaves, lemon, olive oil, salt, greek yoghurt or some kind of cheese. Fruits and whatever organic sugarless non syrupy breakfast flakes are also nice. (non marinated) Carpaccio, pine nuts, home made cilantro pesto. I'm actually already quite excited about the results. Especially I find that I sleep better, wake up rather early and feel energetic enough to get up and go outside to walk/run the dog. I also feel a lot less stressed out - or was that the long weekend ;-) ? (that usually gets me more wound up than anything else, btw). 

I'm determined to keep an eye on my sugar intake after this and think I will implement one week per month of sugarfree foods and drinks.

This weekend I have a Black tie event and won't skip the bubbles that I like so much, but I'll definitely look at the menu more carefully.” 

Back to today’s lunch.  We are sticking with New Orleans cuisine for another day with a Cheese Muffaletta Sandwich, Cajun Catfish and Grits.  We’ve ordered braising greens for our vegetable but they didn’t come in and so we are going to prepare  a Cajun Maquechoux of corn, edamame and green peas with onions and peppers. Actually I like that better!   Our soup today is Chunky Vegetable Soup. 

Have a great day!  See you at lunch!

Good Morning

It’s Day 5 of our sugar fast.  I have to admit being at work makes it seem easier because, while at work, I have so much to do and less time to think about eating sugar.  Our apples which were delivered by our apple farm last week are Empire apples and I think they are the sweetest and juiciest apples I’ve had since last autumn when the season for Honey Crisp apples ended.  I wonder if they taste so sweet because I’ve become more sensitive to the natural sugars in food.  I like that possibility.

I’m still having cravings but now I understand it and I know how to handle it.  Sue, who joined the challenge on Friday only to give in to the cravings that evening sent this message yesterday that really shares a good strategy for handling sugar cravings, “Saturday I went to Fairway and bought good, delicious food, the kind that serves my energy needs and is satisfying. Yellow, red, and orange pepppers, grape tomatoes, delicious soups, and a fabulous challah (which borders the issue).   I find that when I'm prepared I don't fall to the cravings and when I'm eating well, and my system has what it needs, I don't experience the cravings.”   I love the support and sense of community and sharing that this challenge has inspired.  We’ve only 2 more days after day!  

Our soup today is a everybody’s favorite  Tomato Basil Soup, and the sandwich is Tuna Salad on a roll.  For our entrée we have a Baked Potato Bar and we’ll serve the potatoes  with or without butter and with sour cream if you want it.  On the Salad Bar there will also be shredded cheese and chives to put on your potato. Always good with a baked potato is Broccoli, our hot vegetable today.

Today’s lunch is simple, healthy and satisfying.  I’m looking forward to seeing you at lunch today!

Good Morning!  Another “icky” Monday morning.  I thought I could get to work on my bicycle before the rain.  WRONG!  

It was a most interesting weekend getting in touch with my “inner sugar cravings”.  Actually it was downright hard!  For me it was important to realize when those cravings are strongest.  The first real craving was after I got home from a rigorous workout at the gym.  I ate a  banana,  a grapefruit and an apple.  It got me through.  On Saturday night after finishing a really good pasta dinner from one of my favorite Italian restaurants, the taste of garlic and tomatoes and cheese still in my mouth, I craved something sweet.  I had some of those frozen bananas, that I mentioned on Friday,  in my freezer so I got them out and pureed them with some fresh strawberries I had in the refrigerator and it was an amazing take on ice cream.  Yesterday after going to a theater matinee and before dinner, those cravings became really strong again. I was hungry (didn’t eat lunch) and I wanted something sweet.  I resisted until after dinner. Then, after dinner,  it was frozen bananas again, this time with plain yogurt all pureed together to make a chunky banana ice cream. It was creamy, deliciuous and satisfying.  No sugar added!  I DID IT!  So, now it is day 4 and I’m feeling really good.  Chef Drew said he had a rough time too but made it through.  I wonder how our friends  Emily, Eric, Han hua, Sonja, Debbie, Margie, Jose, Natalie, Caterina, Mascha, Sue, Loren, Anna and Hamida have done over the weekend?  On Friday, Loren Luzmore joined us and offered this interesting information

“…eating eating carrots, beets and sweet potatoes at lunch will help to quell the sugar cravings that many of us with a sweet tooth get at the end of the day.”   Loren is a Health & Nutrition Counselor and one of our parents. 

Now on to lunch today.  Our meal today is New Orleans cuisine!  Delicious Red Bean Soup, Turkey Po’Boy Sandwich and Jambalaya!  Although we haven’t prepared it much this year, Jambalaya has always been a favorite of the Calhoun community.  It’s the Cajun interpretation of the Spanish dish, Paella.  However, our jambalaya will not have any seafood in it.  It’ll have rice, chicken, andouille sausage and vegetables.  For vegetarians there will be a vegetarian jambalaya.  Our side vegetable today is roasted Zucchini and Red Peppers.  I think today’s meal is going to be a nice counterbalance to the weather outside.

 We’ll see you when you come for lunch! 

Good Morning 

The first 24 hours of “sugar free” hasn’t been so bad.  However, I am eating a lot more fresh fruit.  That’s a good thing!  An amazing thing is happening, since my post yesterday announcing what Chef Drew and I are doing, 10 people have joined us in abstaining from sugar for 1 week.  Chef Jose has joined us along with Emily, Sonja, Han hua, Eric, Debbie, Margie, Natalie, Caterina (one of my friends from when I taught at the FCI), and even Mascha from Holland!  We are now an international challenge!  It really helps and feels great to have this kind of support.  Now the difficult part of the challenge is coming with the weekend. It’s going to be warm and ice cream is going to be a real temptation.  That means drinking a lot of cold water and fresh fruit juice and eating chilled watermelon! A good alternative to ice cream is a simple Banana Sorbet which is so easy to make. You just peel bananas, wrap them in plastic wrap or put them in a zipper bag and freeze them.  When they are fully frozen and you are ready to eat them, cut them up and puree them in a food processor or blender. We’ve made it here before.  It tastes as good as ice cream with the same sweetness, texture and creaminess. In a blind taste test you’d think it was ice cream.  A lot of students wanted to join in on the challenge but there are birthday parties this weekend and that’s pretty exciting.  I don’t blame them!  But I am very touched by their interest and their support.  Mascha’s daughter, Evie, who was here in the 3^rd grade last year, even voiced her support from Holland. There are 6 days left. 

For her final lunch today, Allison has designed a menu with an Asian slant.  There is Miso Soup, roasted Salmon with a soy glaze, Bok Choy and Quinoa.  The sandwich, billed as a Turkey Wrap, is more Asian than it sounds.  Remember the Banh Mi sandwich that we have done numerous times?  It’s always made on a baguette with some kind of meat or tofu, sriracha mayo, pickled carrots and daikon along with cucumbers and chopped cilantro.  We are deviating from that form of banh mi today and making it on a whole wheat wrap.  Same ingredients, different kind of bread.  I think this wrap will be a popular one.  

I hope you have a great weekend!  We’ll see you at lunch.

However, since we can’t do that, we do have a very nice lunch for you downstairs.  Our soup is Italian Wedding Soup!  We haven’t had this soup since Chef Rose left us.  Allison had the urge to make this soup (her favorite) and that’s how it came about to be on the menu today.  Italian Wedding soup is not from Italy, it’s more of an Italian American soup and it has nothing to do with weddings!  So why the name?  It is most probably a mistranslation of “minestra maritata” which refers to the marriage of greens and meatballs in a soup.  While the soup is usually made with beef, the meatballs in the soup today are made with ground chicken and it is served in chicken stock.  I guess you could say it is a bit like having matzo ball soup with the matzo balls being replaced by meatballs. I have a feeling this soup is going to be a big hit.  

The sandwich today is one that is often requested, Marinated Beets and Goat Cheese on Ciabatta Bread. 

Our entrée today is a Vegetarian Lasagna made with sautéed mushrooms and artichokes.  It will be prepared with a béchamel sauce, almost like macaroni and cheese!  For those people who refrain from dairy in their diets we will have a version using tomato sauce with no cheese or other dairy.  The lasagna will be served with Spinach as the side vegetable. 

Now here’s the big news of the day!!!!.... 

Yesterday at the lovely Annual Tea hosted by the Parents Association, Chef Drew and I had each just finished eating a delicious cupcake when the conversation led us to how much sugar is in the American diet.  There is sugar in things that you don’t think of having sugar, we celebrate and reward with sugar, we drink sugar drinks and even some medications are prepared with sugar to make it taste better!  So, we, Chef Drew and I, have decided that we are giving up any form of sugar in our diets for a period of 7 days.  We started yesterday after eating those delicious cupcakes.  It’s not going to be easy.  In order to be strict about this we have to read the labels of everything we buy to eat to make sure there is no sugar in it.  Here’s a great example of why:  Last night Chef Drew got the munchies at a time when he would normally eat a few cookies, but he opted to buy a small bag of salted peanuts instead.  He opened it and started eating a few when he decided to read the label.  Sure enough,  there were  2 grams of sugar in that little bag of salted peanuts!!!  I find that appalling but motivates my determination! 

We’d love to have company in this project and we welcome anybody who would like to join us in giving up any form of sugar for 7 days.  Can you do it?  If you want to join us, let us know when you come through the lunch line today.  We’ll be eager to share stories of foods in which we are finding sugar where it doesn’t really belong.  It’s not easy but if there are of lot of us to support each other it can be a lot of fun! 

See you at lunch today!

Good Morning! 

Nice lunch today with delicious Roasted Chicken glazed with a Honey Mustard combination and served with Farro and Roasted Carrots. For our vegetarians and vegans (even though I always insist that our chickens are vegetarian – because they don’t eat meat, dairy or fish) we are making a Stewed Tofu in Marinara Sauce that will be delicious with the farro and carrots.  Our supply of that dish will be limited so it’s for vegetarians and vegans only! 

I love today’s sandwich. It’s a sort of Italian Hero with Salami and Provolone Cheese served on a baguette with Tomato and Onions and a little mustard.  The only thing missing will be the sesame seeds on the bread! 

Today’s soup has turned out to be one of your favorites, Potato & Leek Soup.  With it still being damp and chilly it seems like good timing for this soup to warm you up a bit. 

AND, we have Chocolate Pudding for dessert today!!!  Anyone who doesn’t like chocolate pudding please raise your hand!  Now keep it raised for the rest of the day! I’ll bet we don’t see many people at lunch with raised hands.  Well, maybe there will be a few raising their hands to ask for seconds! 

Have a great day and we’ll see you at lunch!

Good Morning!  

In the past 5 days of his menu plan Chef Akira has given us some delicious Asian meals which have included dishes from Korea and his native Japan.  Today he has planned a menu of Chinese food.  The entrée is from the Szechuan province of China.  Also spelled Sichuan, it is located in southwest China and is known as the “land of abundance”. This region is one of China’s major rice producers.  The cuisine of Szechuan is one of the eight great cuisines of China and today’s Twice Cooked Pork, is one of their great dishes.  The pork loin roast was poached in a liquid containing seasonings and whole scallions for about 2 hours on Friday.  It was then chilled and stored in its liquid over the weekend.  Today the pork will be sliced and sautéed in a stir fry along with vegetables.  It will be served with basmati rice.  For vegetarians we will are making a stir fried vegetable and tofu dish using the same seasonings we used in the pork.  I’ve had this dish many times at Chinese restaurants, it’s one of my favorites.  But today I am excited to understand how this dish is twice cooked. The Chinese name of the dish is Hui Guo Rou (pronounced hway-gwoh-row). 

Our soup today is Corn Soup and our sandwich is Summer Roll with various crunchy vegetables and hoisin sauce. 

Lunch is a good one today.  See you when you come check it out.