Monday- Chef Kevin
How did you kick off your Monday this week? Ours started off with a familiar kitchen guest, dried ancho chiles, and enough melted cheese to win over the hearts and minds of our summer students. Chef Kevin Villalovos, from neighboring restaurant, Cure, made his second appearance in our Chinatown kitchen, this time for a workshop on Mexican food. Under his guidance, students dutifully chopped their way through piles of cilantro, de-seeded handfuls of leathery ancho chile pods, and kept a watchful eye on whole chickens simmering away in a fragrant bath of water, onion, cumin, and bay leaves.
It was a very themed week at Brainfood's Summer Institute! Everyday was different, and out students embraced the changes beautifully.
Monday was Thanksgiving day, and students made many of the classic holiday dishes. There were staples like dinner rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, apple pie, and two types of collard greens. Instead of a turkey, Brainfood students seasoned and roasted a chicken.
It was quite the busy week at Brainfood! Each day was jam-packed with new and exciting learning experiences, and of course, delicious food!
Monday kicked off the week with a build your own semi freddo day, including a huge variety of mix-ins. From bananas to Butterfingers to brownies, each student enjoyed their own tasty creation!
Tuesday brought a change of pace as the class explored the value of community service and prepared spinach and mushroom lasagnas for the women’s dinner program at Thrive DC. Students were able to consider ways in which they could become more involved in their communities and brainstorm important issues that they feel need to be addressed in DC.
Brainfood’s Summer Institute students had a busy third week, full of new skills and foods!
Monday’s focus was on the most important meal of the day: breakfast! Students made chocolate chip coconut pancakes, working on a griddle for the first time, as well as asparagus and spinach quiche, and turkey sausage patties. Students also learned about cross contamination, since they were working with raw turkey, and how to prevent food borne illness when working with such items.
Although it was a short week due to the Fourth of July holiday, Brainfood students encountered many new and exciting experiences!
We began the week learning knife skills and knife safety in the kitchen. The students practiced a batonette, a dice, and a mince while preparing ingredients for ratatouille and minestrone soup.
The next day, students delved further into knife skills by learning how to julienne and brunoise. These cuts were practiced while making an Asian noodle salad and a creamy fruit salad.
This past week Brainfood participants had the opportunity to visit the White House, learn from the White House chefs, and help prepare food for the 4th of July picnic. Over the 2 days, our participants seared chicken, grilled portobello mushrooms, cut tomatoes & cucumbers, prepped hamburgers & hamburger buns, skewered corn, cut fruit for jam, and scooped cookie dough.
Here is what the rest of them had to say about their visit:
This past week Brainfood participants had the opportunity to visit the White House, learn from the White House chefs, and help prepare food for the 4th of July picnic. Over the 2 days, our participants seared chicken, grilled portobello mushrooms, cut tomatoes & cucumbers, prepped hamburgers & hamburger buns, skewered corn, cut fruit for jam, and scooped cookie dough.
Here is what some of them had to say about their visit:
Last week was one busy week here at Brainfood! Not only did we bring a group of Brainfood program graduates to the White House but we also started our 6-week Brainfood Summer Institute on Monday June 28th. This year’s summer program is a bit different than previous summers. We decided to have our program in the afternoon to help accommodate youth who may have other commitments or responsibilities in the morning. Youth will attend Brainfood from 1pm - 4pm each afternoon and our curriculum will have a similar design to our after school program – lots of hands-on cooking and experiential learning!
After many weeks of planning our summer staff were so excited to meet our 19 high school aged students on Monday afternoon. We started our program with a BANG! On Day 1, we set our group expectations - the key to Brainfood's success, learned how to measure the "Brainfood way" and how to read a recipe. Our participants picked up all the new skills and vocabulary really quickly and by the end of the afternoon we had made dozens of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (a Brainfood first day tradition).
From Guest Blogger Kate Essex, weekly volunteer at our Columbia Heights site...
Recently, Brainfood’s Columbia Heights Tuesday class spent an afternoon transporting ourselves to Greece, one of the cuisines nominated by the students for our International Foods unit. After first learning a bit about the food culture and history of the country, we divided into groups and began to tackle some traditional Greek recipes.
Before too long, the kitchen was filled with the happy buzz of students experimenting with new recipes and ingredients, and of course sumptuous smells. Working with phyllo was one of the afternoon’s biggest challenges (and highlights). One group learned the technique of making spanakopita—carefully keeping the delicate layers of phyllo moist with a damp towel, they quickly mastered the art of filling and folding the pastries. Before we knew it, the spanakopita was in the oven, baking to a golden, buttery brown. Phyllo was also the star at the baklava table, where students carefully prepared the nutty filling and sweet syrup, and assembled and cut finished product for the rest of the class to enjoy in bite-sized pieces. At another table, keftedes (meatballs) were being mixed, formed, and fried in skillets of oil on the stove, filling the kitchen with the smell of sizzling meat. And last but definitely not least, a few students worked on the kolokythokeftedes (zucchini and feta fritters), forming them into small patties and frying them up on the stove. Along with all of this, the students also prepared a cucumber-yogurt sauce to serve as a cool topping for the fried meatballs.
Submitted by Amy Brady on Thursday, March 25, 2010
You're probably thinking...weird combination, right? Well not for Brainfood! Over 2 exciting weeks in March the Brainfood Columbia Heights kitchen was filled with guest chefs bringing new ingredients, new skills and a ton of new food knowledge for our youth.
A BIG Brainfood thank you to Mike Clements (Executive Chef of Social), Lynnette Jackson (Owner/Chef of Lynnette's Cakes and Catering), and Dean Gold (Owner/Chef of Dino)!
First up was Mike Clements from Social in Columbia Heights. Mike's passion for cooking started when he was very young but blossomed when he moved to New Orleans. It's his love for cooking and for all things New Orleans (especially his beloved Saints) inspired his Brainfood menu. Mike brought all the fixings to make Red Beans and Rice (with Andouille sausage) and Gumbo. The class divided up into 2 teams, put on our Social hats, and worked diligently chopping & dicing. One brave student took on the task of stirring & stiring to make the roux the perfect bronze color. After some good teamwork we got a chance to dig in and enjoy! Mmm it was delicious! After a lively discussion about which dish they enjoyed more I noticed two things were universal – empty bowls and smiling faces! Thanks Mike!
.jpg)
Last week was one busy week here at Brainfood! Not only did we bring a group of Brainfood program graduates to the White House but we also started our 6-week Brainfood Summer Institute on Monday June 28th. This year’s summer program is a bit different than previous summers. We decided to have our program in the afternoon to help accommodate youth who may have other commitments or responsibilities in the morning. Youth will attend Brainfood from 1pm - 4pm each afternoon and our curriculum will have a similar design to our after school program – lots of hands-on cooking and experiential learning!
Before too long, the kitchen was filled with the happy buzz of students experimenting with new recipes and ingredients, and of course sumptuous smells. Working with phyllo was one of the afternoon’s biggest challenges (and highlights). One group learned the technique of making spanakopita—carefully keeping the delicate layers of phyllo moist with a damp towel, they quickly mastered the art of filling and folding the pastries. Before we knew it, the spanakopita was in the oven, baking to a golden, buttery brown. Phyllo was also the star at the baklava table, where students carefully prepared the nutty filling and sweet syrup, and assembled and cut finished product for the rest of the class to enjoy in bite-sized 
pieces. At another table, keftedes (meatballs) were being mixed, formed, and fried in skillets of oil on the stove, filling the kitchen with the smell of sizzling meat. And last but definitely not least, a few students worked on the kolokythokeftedes (zucchini and feta fritters), forming them into small patties and frying them up on the stove. Along with all of this, the students also prepared a cucumber-yogurt sauce to serve as a cool topping for the fried meatballs.
First up was Mike Clements from 