INTERVIEW WITH CHEF RIC from Town School News: PA News Fall 2011
By Ellie Wehlen
What is the most popular meal at the Town cafeteria?
The most popular meal is pasta; we usually serve about 100-110 pounds of pasta when we do a pasta bar. We also make fresh pesto, using 8 pounds of fresh basil and five pounds of grated Parmesan. In addition to the pesto, we make approximately 10 gallons of delicious organic marinara sauce. I get a little bothered when I see the young boys just putting plain pasta with cheese on their plates, but I am getting the kindergarteners to try the sauces, so there is hope. We have also added some new menu items to our rotation this year; Fish and Chips (oven “fried” of course) and Buffalo
Wings are also popular.
What has been your biggest surprise in terms of what the children were willing to eat?
I am surprised, and thrilled, by the amount of vegetables these boys eat! The salad bar has to be constantly restocked throughout all three lunch periods and not just with the basic carrots and boiled eggs. Sautéed greens also surprise
me as we ran out of the Swiss Chard earlier this year and I got in the same amount that we used to eat last year. I think the roof top garden and the classes working with planting, growing and harvesting food are really getting everyone to connect more with what they are eating. The amount of produce that we are eating this year is up from the last two years, so something is working!
What was your biggest surprise in what they wouldn’t eat?
Mac & Cheese, and it baffles me. The young boys don’t eat as much as I would expect. One theory is that we don’t use yellow cheese. I have heard that some boys think our version is “too cheesy,” which I did not know was possible. I am constantly trying to tweak this recipe to find the right balance of cheese and creaminess to get them to like it more. But we do serve about 3 cases of broccoli that day so I am not too bothered by it!
How many choices do they have each day?
We have the main entrée, which most of the time is a hot meal (with the occasional Caesar Salad Entree) accompanied by sautéed or roasted veggies, composed salads and the appropriate condiments. In addition, every day we have a full salad bar with 16 different items. We always have lettuce, carrots, hardboiled eggs and we fill out the rest of the bar with fresh seasonal items. We make our own balsamic dressing but offer up two other Annie’s Dressings on the side, plus oils and vinegars to make your own. There are always two choices of soup – one chicken based, either with noodles or with rice, and the other is always vegetarian and is made fresh daily. Thanks to the parent volunteers we have a sandwich bar that always has two types of cheese, and turkey and ham. Occasionally we will offer roast beef or tuna or other choices here as well. As for dessert we offer up fruit four days a week and on Fridays we make a special baked dessert. So variety and choice are strengths of Acre Gourmet; and to make it easier for the boys, I post the next day’s menu the day before, so they can plan accordingly.
(**Note to parents: You can also find the menu posted in two easy places online! At www.townschool.com, click on the Quicklinks menu in the upper right hand corner, and “Lunch Menu” is one option. Or, you can find the menu at www.insidetownschool.com, under the Downloads channel>Inside Town School information.)
If you had to choose your last meal, what would it be?
There is a wonderful book called “My Last Supper” that came out in 2007 where they interview 50 famous chefs and ask them this very question. Several of my friends and I all pondered and emailed our answers, and the responses varied widely. I would have to agree with Jacques Pepin when he said a fresh baked loaf of bread and butter would be just perfect. I would need nothing else.
What is your favorite fall vegetable?
I love squash a great deal in the fall. They are so many varieties and each has such a different texture and taste that I can eat them all the time and not grow tired. My favorite fall vegetable has to be the Delicata Squash. The skin is so thin it’s edible, which makes it easy to prepare. When you roast it the flesh aramelizes and gets sweet and nutty, making it great to pair with almost any protein.
What do you consider the most misunderstood vegetable?
! e potato! Which is mostly considered a starch but is more nutritious than most of us realize. One medium potato has 45% of the vitamin C and 21% of the potassium our bodies need every day. Potatoes are also a great source of fiber. Just one serving of potatoes has 12% of the fiber we need daily. I try to keep the skins on as the potato skins contain fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, zinc, phosphorus and B vitamins. Sweet potatoes are even higher than regular potatoes and that is the reason we serve them almost as often.
Do you see any difference in the children’s moods after any certain food/menu?
My time with the students is very limited so I don’t get to see how the food really affects them. However I do hear about it. Some of the teachers have told me that after we have the big pasta bar, students complained they were so full and tired that it felt like Thanksgiving. I am sure there are students who don’t get enough to eat sometimes or choose to eat less as they are still full from breakfast (or that is what they tell me), and I am sure that affects their performance in the classroom and after school. All we can do is keep reminding them that it is important to eat to fuel the mind and body. I think that we offer enough choices that they can ” nd some way to nourish their bodies till they eat again. Eating smaller meals more often is healthy and if they eat a good snack after school before dinner that is actually a smart thing for young developing boys to do.
What is on the menu for Thanksgiving at your house?
Thanksgiving is one of my most favorite holidays as it brings my large family together (usually only this one time a year) and we celebrate how fortunate we are to have each other, our health, and good food. This year my younger brother is hosting Thanksgiving in St. Louis. He has worked a deal with some friends who own a restaurant near his house and since they will be closed for Thanksgiving, I am going to use that kitchen and dining room to cook and serve dinner in. At the moment we will only be 25 sitting down to dinner, but a couple of my siblings have not booked flights yet so I hope to see closer to 30.
The menu is basic: roast turkey with a special stuffing based on the “turducken”; it has chorizo, duck and chicken in it! Garlic mashed potatoes, roasted root veggies, sautéed kale, green beans, creamed onions, cranberry sauce, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, brownies and cookies. It’s a working vacation, but thankfully most of my family members can do something in the kitchen other than get in the way so I put them to work and get caught up at the same time. Once again I will be giving thanks for my job at Town School as each day fills me with much happiness. Wishing everyone a very Happy and Safe Thanksgiving.
CHICKEN STOCK AND CHICKEN SOUP
By Chef Ric
Chicken Stock
2 Onions (medium size) cut into med. dice
2 Carrots cut into med. size dice
3 Celery sticks cut into med. size dice
3 Garlic Cloves
1 3-4 pound chicken whole (rinsed)
3 Bay Leaves
1 tbls Whole peppercorns
Half a bunch of parsley
Fresh thyme is nice if you have some growing as well
Heat a large pot or dutch oven and add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Then add the onions. Cook for 3 minutes.
Add the carrots and celery and cook for an additional three minutes or till all the veggies begin to get soft and release their own liquids.
Then add the chicken to the pot and cover with water.
Add the bay leaf, peppercorns and any herbs you want. Once this comes to a boil turn
it down to a simmer and cook for about 35 minutes or til the chicken gets above 165 degrees.
Using tongs and a meat fork remove the chicken from the poaching liquid and allow it to cool to the touch. You can leave the heat on the liquid while you wait; it will reduce slightly which is fi ne.
Once the chicken has cooled you want to separate the skin (which can be discarded), breaking the chicken down to the smaller pieces. I remove and set aside the meat and return all the bones back to the pot. I don’t bother removing the meat from the wings or backbone, as I know that they will flavor the stock.
Once all the bones are back in the stock you can add more water if needed and again bring it back to a boil.
Reduce the heat and cook for two to three hours on a low simmer. When we do this we cook it overnight but we also start with 10 chickens.
Strain all the solids out of the liquid and discard, reserving the stock for any use or making the chicken soup recipe that follows.
It all starts with the stock – we make our own chicken stock, which gives us the best flavor. The recipe below describes how to do this at home but feel free to use store bought if you are in a hurry.