Twirl It Up

So if the whole teaching thing doesn't work out...

Or the whole acting thing...

Or the Next Food Network Star thing...

Or the Being Famous Just For Being Fabulous thing...

J and I will start our catering company.

I will call it Twirl.

Here is some of our handy work from tonight's Dash and Dine event.

Very Dramatique, no?

The Spread.

Shameless Plug

We interrupt our fascinating "Chicken Bonanza" series for this important, late-breaking news.

If'n you are in the Memphis area, like food, and want to support a fantastic theatre company (of which J is the Artistic Director), the check out Voices of the South's Dash and Dine event this Saturday 8/28.  Live music, amazing silent auction items, a groovy Backbeat Bus Tour, and an amazing spread of Southern inspired creations (a few of which will be prepared by yours truly, The Improvised Chef).  

Check out the menu! 

Kale and Mango Salad with honey vinaigrette

Blue Cheese Walnut Terrine with dried fruits

Homemade Pimento Cheese and baguette

Watermelon and Cucumber salad

Roasted Potato Salad with bacon

Black-eyed Pea Hummus with pita *IC creation

Mixed Bean and Corn Salad

with queso fresco and lime vinaigrette

Award-winning Memphis Barbeque on Rosemary Biscuits

with assorted condiments and pickled relishes *IC BBQ Sauce

Barbequed Gravlox with fresh peaches *IC creation

Homemade Strawberry Cake

Homemade Chess Squares

Featured Beverages include

Homemade Lemonade

And

Summer White Wine Sangria

So eat, drink, and be merry (or Mary as the case may be).  It's good and good for you (and tax deductible)!

For more information, check out their website.

Day 3: Lunch with GLOBO

I hear horror stories of working with absolutely insufferable people.  Fortunately, I work in an extremely collegial environment with folks who genuinely make me laugh and want to be a better teacher and person.

Such is the case with A, L, B, and A or, as I like to refer to them, GLOBO:  the Glamorous Ladies of the Business Office.

These ladies are good ol' Southern gals who occupy a tiny corner of the campus far, far away from my room.  In this magical place of business daring do, they deal with mysterious things like numbers and math all day and generally ensure the school keeps on keepin' on.  They are a delightful group of people who tend to travel in a pack and collectively have sunny and cheery dispositions.  Case in point:  they let me call them GLOBO without punching me in the throat.  Now that's sunny.

I enjoy having lunch with them because, for all of us, it's taking a trip somewhere strange.  For me it's interacting with business minded people.  For them, I assume, it's dealing with...well...the strange.  After all, if you whittle it down to its bare essence, I teach teens how to play make believe in front of people.

And I 'm a total spaz.

So we strike up conversations about bowling and Italy, the crazy antics of students and, of course, food laughing and spending our lunch (half) hour with lively chatter and good friends.  A couple of them even follow this blog (Hi, B and A!).  One of GLOBO, who has proclaimed that she "refuses to work with strange produce," has said that because of my blog she would even try jicama.

So, ladies, thanks for the sparkling conversation and company, and enjoy your jicama!

Spicy Slaw Wrap


Spicy Slaw with Jicama (see Feeling Famous)
1 perfectly cooked chicken breast
1 Sun Dried Tomato Flatout Flatbread

Slap on the slaw.  Lay down some sliced chicken.  Roll it up, and chow down!

Day 2: Spinach Love

The salad days of summer are over for this teacher and foodie.

Those bygone days of languishing in the kitchen, concocting delicious creations for friends and family are through.  Now is the time of angst, drama, homework, and stress.

And the kids have issues, too.

So my salad days have now turned into salads for lunch, simply because I have figured out the administration's evil plot to fatten up the faculty with donuts, cookies, and cakes:  one cannot make a break for it if one is schlepping around considerable heft.

Today I offer up a delightful spinach and arugula salad with chicken.  It satisfies and keeps you spry if, in the words of Ally Sheedy, "you gotta jam."

Enjoy.


Spinach and Arugula Salad

ummm...let's see...

Spinach
Arugula
1 delicious chicken breast
some sliced red onion
a few pistachios
some dried pomegranates
crumbled blue cheese
Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette, recipe follows


Dump all of that goodness into a Tupperware container, and toss with the dressing when it's chow time.


Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette


2 Tbl Dijon mustard
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dried basil
pinch of crushed red pepper
3/4 cup olive oil
salt/pepper


Combine mustard, vinegar, basil, red pepper, salt, and pepper in a bowl.  While whisking, slowly drizzle in oil.

Day 1: I Love Aarti

As stated earlier, I want to be the next Next Food Network Star.

In the meantime, I am truly thankful that our gal Aarti Sequeira has joined the ranks of the culinary superstars.  Or at least, the ranks of the televised superstars.  Aside from the fact that she makes Indian food sound safe and easy and that she is so gosh darn ah-dor-ah-blay you just want to slap on a sari and chow down on some palak paneer with her, she, like your dear Improvised Chef, is a fellow Northwestern Wildcat.  What's not to love?!

And you would be stupid not to try her Massaged Kale Salad from the debut episode of Aarti Party.  Super easy to make, this simple salad of kale and mangoes is full of flavor and simply screams out summertime goodness.  It's so tasty in fact that I turned my regular batch into a double as soon as I tasted it, serving it with last night's grilled salmon.  The remainder became my lunch with the addition of the grilled chicken.

I apologize for no food photo.  I got so excited about lunch that I forgot to take one.

Spice Up Your Life

One of the easiest ways to add a little flavah to your food is using infused oils.  They are simple to make and have roughly a gazillion uses.  Once you get the method down, have fun experimenting with different flavor infusions.  I make them as gifts during the holidays:  when one is low on resources one must be high in creativity and heart.

Chili Oil

I use a wine bottle to store the oil.  Pour oil into the wine bottle and then add it to the pan to ensure you have the right amount.

Olive Oil
2 Tbl crushed red pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper

In a large skillet over low heat, warm up oil, red peppers, and cayenne for roughly ten minutes.  Do not let it boil.  Allow to cool completely and funnel into a cruet or wine bottle.

A Teacher Prepares by Scottislavski

Stanislavski says "An Actor Prepares."

The Boy Scouts say "Be prepared."

And, Lettuce Entertain You, the restaurant conglomerate in Chicago tells its servers, "Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance."

Well, the same holds true for teachers...and their daily lunches.

When one thinks of cafeteria food, visions of rotund, ashen-faced, hairnet-clad ladies donning grey uniforms and white aprons scooping out globs of mystery substances onto sectioned trays dance in one's head.  Fortunately, this is not the case at my school.  These unsung heroes of culinary and nutritional fortitude are a vital part of our school community and genuinely enjoy working with our students.  Daily, they offer up a wide variety of choices of entrees with a wink and a smile.

That being said, like many institutions facing the challenge of feeding 600 plus people daily, they rely on a food service which provide many items semi-prepared or in ginormous bulk quantities.  They also have to stay within a budget.  It's fun to watch the progression of food throughout the week.  Inevitably Monday's grilled cheese sandwiches become Wednesday's croutons on the salad bar.  In college, I had to suffer through the strange journey from Sausage and Pepper Hoagies to Sausage Pizza Soup.

No offense to the Lunch Ladies, but in order to stay true to my creed, "Food is not Feed,"  I bring my lunch to school each day. This is wear the Scouts, Stanislavski, and Rich Melman come into play.

Each Sunday I set aside a couple of hours to do some prep work for the week, so that, when I finally return home from work 8:00, I am able to put together a tasty lunch that doesn't come out of a box or off a truck.  The menu changes weekly.  I usually make a dressing or two, or perhaps I'll make a pesto.  I may grill and marinate some veggies or make homemade beet chips as a slightly healthier option for my love of potato chips. But I always prepare chicken breasts to use throughout the week.

This week I will show you how to transform your regular ol' chicken breasts into tasty, mostly healthy lunches.

The Perfect Chicken Breast


8 chicken cutlets
Chili oil (recipe follows)
A boatload of paprika
Salt
Pepper

Heat oven to 400.  Drizzle chicken cutlets with oil and season with salt, pepper, and paprika.  Turn those suckers red!  Heat two oven safe skillets (I use a cast iron skillet and a grill pan) over medium high heat.  Once hot, place chicken seasoned side down. While chicken sears, generously season the other side.  After five minutes, flip chicken and transfer to the oven.  Roast in oven for 13 minutes.

Allow to cool and place in a container and refrigerate.

You now have chicken for the week.