Roasted Fillet of Beef rolled in Herbs and Porcini and wrapped in Prosciutto & Spinach w Procini, Rosemary and Lemon

I couldn't find anywhere in my neighborhood to buy dried porcini mushrooms, so I decided to use shiitake mushrooms instead. Jamie told me to saute the mushrooms with a pat of butter and a bit of water. Once that cooked down, I had to add some lemon juice and more butter. And let me tell you, I could eat nothing but those mushrooms for the rest of my life and die happy. Luckily, needed to be used for both the meat and spinach dishes! Towards the end of the recipe, Jamie casually mentions that you could add some fresh greens and roasted potatoes to this dish. Without actually telling you how to cook them.  Which is why I took it upon myself to find one of his spinach recipes, and use that. As for the potatoes, seeing as I didn't know I was going to need them for this recipe, I decided to use a can of Shop Rite sliced white potatoes. I usually make them saluted with onions and butter....usually as a breakfast potato. My wife is a sucker for them! 

The idea of this meal just seemed so lovely. Rare, seasoned beef, surrounded by the most deliciously buttered mushrooms, rolled up in something resembling bacon. I'm drooling just thinking about it. The reality of it however did not live up to my expectations. This was definitely all of my fault though. My ability to cook beef to its correct temperature is always a little tricky for me. My wife prefers her steak medium, but really closer to well done, Whereas I prefer mine to still be mooing. She always tells me to take it out when it is the right temperature for me, and if anything, she could always put hers back into the oven for a bit. But when I cook, I have this overwhelming sense of needing everything to be perfect.Which, lets face it, is completely ridiculous because that almost never happens. But if I am purposely serving my wife under cooked steak, it makes me feel really bad. Which is why making steak usually causes me a bit of anxiety. And this case was no different. I wound up keeping the meat in the oven for little longer then necessary and of course I overcooked it! Because of this though, the end result was definitely not as pretty as Jamie's. And I'm not gonna lie, I wound up having a bit of a panic attack while trying to take a picture for you all! 

In the end, although it was not cooked to perfection, it was still pretty tasty! My wife would;t stop telling me just how flavorful it was and how she definitely would not mind me cooking it again. So that's a win in my book! 

I wanted you to see what it looked like still wrapped in the proscuitto 

Jamie's Minestrone Soup & Basic Bread

Firstly I would like to fill everyone in on why it has been so long since my last post. I know I mentioned wanting to do one of Jamie's recipes at least twice a week, meaning I would mainly be doing my cooking on the weekends. These last few weeks have been pretty exhausting to say the least. I worked six days in a row, and decided that I really needed to take the seventh day to rest. We ordered pizza for dinner. Not my favorite thing to do, but it was definitely easier then sweating over the stove. 

The following weekend, I realized I really had to get my act together and make up for not cooking before, which is why I decided to GO BIG OR GO HOME and try to bake bread from scratch!I am pretty sure that I have done this before in Culinary school, although for some reason, most of the things I made back then have escaped my mind. I will defiantly remember it this time around. I have to say, that kneading bread dough truly requires some crazy upper body strength, which is something that I don't have much of. After about 30 seconds of mushing and punching and kneading the dough, my arms felt as if they were going to fall off. Luckily, arm strength is something my wife is not lacking in. All those years of being a personal trainer have definitely paid off. Thanks babe!

I have to say, for being a basic bread recipe, it was kind of confusing. Actually, if I'm being completely honest, a lot of Jamie's recipes in this first cookbook tend to confuse me. I feel as if he hadn't quite learned out how to explain a recipe properly just yet. I decided to take a look at the bread chapter in another one of his Naked Chef cookbooks, Happy Days with the Naked Chef. This recipe seemed pretty much the same, except that it excluded the use of honey and semolina flour and that it was actually written out in layman's terms... I didn't have to decipher what he meant.  For my bread, I did wind up adding a spoonful of honey, because I thought the sweetness would add a little something extra. And although I did buy that special semolina flour, I didn't end up using it. 

Another thing with this bread recipe that I was not too fond of, was that at the point where he is supposed to tell us how long to bake the bread for and on what temperature, instead he tells us to turn the page and find the correct bread recipe we would like to use. The only problem with that is I did not want to make Focaccia bread or honey & banana bread... I just wanted to make a plain basic bread. So because of this, I was forced to decide on my own temperature and timing by comparing the basic bread recipe to the most similar one I could find. Honey & banana it was! 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes. By the end of the 25 minutes, the crust of my bread was starting to become very brown, but by sticking my finger into the center of the roll, I found out that it was still completely raw on the inside. After lowering the temperature to 350 degrees and continuing to cook it for 10 more minutes, ripping it apart, adding butter to the top of it and then cooking it for another 10 minutes, I promptly gave up. Betty Crocker I am not!

Basic Bead Fail

The soup was a lot easier. I left the leek out of this recipe. As I mentioned earlier, I will try any type of food once, but if I learn that its not for me, I stay away from it. Leeks are one of those foods.  Jamie's method of making soup differed in mine by the order in which he "threw things into the pot." I usually make sure that my broth is good and cooked before adding in all of the vegetables. In the end, the entire soup tastes like the broth. Jamie's method though was to salute all of the vegetables  in the pot first and then add the broth. Thus making the broth taste like the veggies and not the other way around. Its so simple, yet totally brilliant! 

Minestrone Soup

One thing I do have to say though about Mr. Oliver, is he seemed to have a slight obsession with rosemary in this first cookbook. Just about every recipe I've done so far asks for it. My wife and I were already not the biggest fans, and after giving it a fair shot I have decided to stop using it as much, Its way too over powering. 

Pappardelle w Mixed Mushroom Pasta & The Real Tomato Salad

Full disclosure, I am not actually a pasta eater. I like it enough, and if it has something good in it (seafood, mushrooms, etc) I might pick it off the menu at a restaurant, but it is hardly ever my first choice. I'm not sure what it is, I think it has something to do with how heavy it feels in my stomach and gives me the really full, really fast feeling. I am not a fan of that feeling. My wife however, is part Italian, which means that she could live off of pasta if need be. Once in a  while, if I'm feeling selfless, or have run out of ideas for dinner, there is one particular pasta dish that I will make --  Mushrooms, asparagus, garlic and lots of Parmesan cheese. That is why I decided to go for this particular Jamie Oliver recipe first. It reminded me a bit of that, minus the asparagus. And not as heavy on the Parmesan cheese.

Although I'm not a pasta fan per-se, I have one very strong memory of myself as a child sneaking into my mom's bowl of discarded and broken lasagna noodles and eating as many as I could. Something about the fact that they're always 10 times the size of a normal noodle made them just seem so delicious to me. Pappardelle remind me of just that, a discarded slice of a lasagna noodle. I didn't know that they made pasta that wide, but I think I am a little bit in love. One thing I do have to admit to though is that even though the directions specifically called for "flash frying" the mushrooms, I may have cooked them a little longer then that. OK, I definitely cooked them longer then that. I'm kind of particular about my mushrooms, the texture of them when raw weirds me out a bit, so I tend to over cook them in order to avoid that.  Because of this, I ended up with some wilted, sad looking & un-photogenic, although very tasty mushrooms. 

Pappardelle with Mixed wild Mushrooms

The tomato salad was basically a milder version of a caprice salad my wife makes sometimes. Jamie's version  used a lot less of everything. A sprinkle of chopped up garlic, a scattering of finely chopped up red onion, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar. In our home, we are flavor junkies. We pile on the herbs and spices, garlic usually being at the top of that list. Jamie's tomato salad made me realize that there is no need to be so heavy handed… It was definitely a much lighter taste then we are used to, but we gobbled up every single one of those tomatoes.

Tomato Salad

That weekend also happened to be our dog, Mamachita's 9 th birthday. So like every year, I made a dog friendly birthday cake of Jiffy's blueberry muffin mix & dog food, with a cream cheese "frosting." I figured since this was a food blog, I would share it with you as well!

Blueberry Doggie Cake

Happy Birthday Mamachita!!

Jamie's Perfect Roast Chicken & Pan-Cooked Artichokes w Lemon, Thyme and Garlic

Due to my completely chaotic schedule, I decide to start with what I believed to be one of the easier recipes. Easier because I've definitely made a few chickens in my day and because I knew it was something my wife would actually eat. I decided to prepare the artichokes first, and then let them sit while I prepared the chicken. To be honest, Jamie's instructions on working with artichokes kind of scared me a bit, and I wanted as much time to mess them up as possible. I had only ever eaten artichokes from a pre-made jar I bought from Trader Joe's, or by throwing them into a pot of boiling water and then dunking the tips of the leaves into butter. Not very creative and definitely did not require much work or skill on my part. 

This recipe called for globe artichokes, Not only did I not know that there were more than one kind of artichoke out there in the world, but the pictures of Jamie's artichokes, compared to mine were shocking. His seemed to be the size of a small melon, very round and very colorful!. They went from a vibrant green, to yellow, to a white and then to a light pink in the very middle… Whereas mine just seemed to be a murky green color all the way through.   I also learned that like apples, artichokes are not fans of air! I spent quite a bit of time on the first one -- chopping off the top, peeling back the rougher leaves, cutting out the hairy bit in the middle -- only to realize that it was literally shrinking and browning in my hand. I made sure to drench the other three in lemon juice, but unfortunately, had to toss out the first one.  

Once they were fully cooked and seasoned with garlic, salt & pepper, lemon and butter, I was extremely proud of myself! They were absolutely delicious! So much better then just dunking the tips of the leaves in butter! I was definitely a little intimidated to try this new way, however now that I have done it I feel like I can take on the world! OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I definitely feel like I can take on a few more artichoke recipes. I definitely overestimated how cooked the leaves were going to get though, which is why Jamie clearly states to take off most of the brighter green leaves. There were times I had to spit out parts of the artichoke because of the toughness. Lesson learned.

Pan-Cooked Artichokes

                      

This particular chicken dish called for placing the seasonings and herbs underneath the skin of the chicken, which always seemed to make sense to me -- it gives the delicious flavors a chance to get up close and personal with the meat. One of my favorite all-time chicken recipes is to make a mixture of butter, bacon, lemon zest and garlic, squish it all together and shove it up under the skin. I've been doing this for as long as I can remember, and now I am realizing it is probably an Jamie Oliver classic. This one only called for oil, salt & pepper, basil, and parsley… But being that we are a garlic loving family and cannot really eat anything unless it is involved somewhere, I added two cloves of chopped garlic as well.

Once it was time to place the bird in the oven, I realized I was going to need a string to tie up the legs & "tuck in the wing tips." Luckily, I found some in the kitchen junk drawer, it was probably left over from some other obscure  cooking project I did years ago. I'm still not sure what tying up the chicken actually does to it, besides making it camera ready. 

Perfect Roast Chicken

In the end, my wife cleaned her plate and complained that there were no more artichokes. I would say that means these two dishes were definitely a success, considering that she is the Queen of Picky Eaters. 

About Me

About Me:

Hey Everyone!

I'm Megan and welcome to My Year With The Naked Chef. My two absolute favorite things to do are watch TV & movies and to cook. Which is probably why movies that involve Food Porn seem to constantly make their way into my life. Which is probably why Julie&Julia is one of my favorite movies. I've seen it about a million times and I've always thought it was such an interesting idea to try and complete every recipe in your favorite chef's cookbook, and so I decided to give it a try myself! Although I have the utmost respect for Julia Child, she was never quite my cup of tea. My tastes veer more towards that of Jamie Oliver. Nowadays he is known for trying to make the world a healthier place. He's had many TV shows, cookbooks, and even his own cookware line. But before he started his crusade to rid the world of unhealthy eating habits, he was just a floppy haired English guy cooking in a flat somewhere in London. Back when he was known simply as The Naked Chef.

The Story

Back in high school, a time before DVRs and streaming shows online, I would tape every episode I could catch of The Naked Chef onto blank VHS tapes. I would watch them over and over again, pausing every few minutes so that I could write down everything he was saying. It obviously made it a bit easier once he came out with his first cookbook.

As I got older, and as my cookbook collection started to grow, I found myself fascinated with all things English. Movies, books, their fashions, how they spoke, what they ate, I bought everything with the United Jack flag on it that I could find. At some point, I even became friends with quite a few Brits and was actually able to go over there for a visit. My fascination with cooking grew right along with it. I attended Culinary school from 2002-2005, and although I am not a world famous chef, or even a regular chef at a local restaurant, I did get the basics down and try to cook dinner at home as often as possible.

Me, Culinary School 2005

In 2003 I actually met him at a book signing for his cookbook, Jamie's kitchen, around the time that his television show of the same name was being aired here in the states. The signing was being held in the basement of a bookstore in Ridgewood, New Jersey, called Bookends. My aunt lived nearby and so she decided to take me. It was set up how you would imagine any New Jersey book signing to be set up: a plethora of folding chairs and a table with the authors book piled neatly on top. On the corner of each book was a bright red Food Network sticker. I had purchased my cookbook a few months earlier in Oxford, England and so my red sticker said Boarders  £14.99. My aunt and I waited for what seemed like forever and were then told to line up and given "The Rules." 1. No pushing. 2. Move along while at the table. 3. Give him your name and nothing else. 4. And if you don't already have a book, buy one now. And then, as though he were listening from the top of the stairs, which let's face it, he probably was, Jamie Oliver appeared. Every girl around me was cheering. I was having my first panic attack. My aunt decided to commemorate the moment by taking a picture of me trying to remember how to breathe. I had all of these things I wanted to tell him, about how I had been following him for years, and how I want to be a chef myself, and how I had bought his book in England before it was even brought here to the US… But despite The fact that I was having trouble remembering how to create words, I was also petrified that I would get penalized for breaking "The rules" ...  Which actually seemed to be working pretty well, considering the line was moving rather quickly. After a short wait, It was finally our turn. I couldn't believe it, there he was, Jamie Oliver! The Naked Chef himself! He was sitting 2 feet in front of me, smiling, waiting for me to give him my name and my cookbook. And what did I do? I'm not really sure, I can't remember! I do know that there was definitely some goofy smiling and staring going on. My aunt however, being on top of her game, must've realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment and I was blowing it. She decided to grab the reigns, and luckily for me, screwed the rules. I'm pretty sure she said something along the lines of;" this is my niece Megan, she absolutely loves you, she's been watching your show The Naked Chef for as long as I can remember, she's in culinary school right now as well, she loves England, and she actually just came back from there and that is where she got this cookbook". I remember him looking at the cover of the book and registering the red label that said "Boarders £14.99", looking back up at me & smiling, before signing the first page. At that point, one of his people asked if we wanted a picture, nodding at the cardboard disposable camera my aunt had in her hands. "I'll take it, I'll take it!!" She practically screamed. I think she was trying to acknowledge enough excitement for the both of us, seeing as I was still practically comatose. Jamie Oliver and I leaned toward each other, and that's when I noticed his hand on my back. His hand was on my back! Jamie Oliver's hand was touching the back of my sweater! I was never going to wash that sweater again! My eyes must have been revealing more of what was going on inside of head then I realized, because it was then when my aunt bugged out her eyes, and through her clenched teeth said "smile!"

Jamie Oliver's Autograph

Jamie Oliver & Me

The Project

I am going to do every recipe in Jamie Oliver's first cookbook, The Naked Chef. I've decided to give myself a year, 365 days, to complete this project. I am hoping that I'm not going to need that much time, but because I won't be able to cook every single day, I figured I might as well give myself a realistic goal. I was going to go chapter by chapter, but then I would basically be doing the soups for a month, pastas for a month, fish for a month so on and so on. What I am going to try to do is an appetizer and an entrée from each chapter per meal. And possibly a dessert.  Also, I work until very late 3, sometime 4 days a week, so most of my cooking is going to have to take place on my day off and over the weekends. At best this will be an every other day occurrence.

Another thing that may have to be modified is the portions. I am only cooking for 2 people, my wife and myself. My wife is actually an extremely picky eater. The only types of meat she'll eat are steak & chicken. And they both must be completely bone and fat free. She won't go near fish, and has weird sensory issues with many random foods. I will basically try anything once. My pallet is much more eclectic then hers. However, I do have a few foods that I have tried many times over, and still cannot force myself to eat. Which include: leeks, beets, fennel, any sort of blue vein or sharp cheese, and gnocchi (it is just way to heavy for my stomach). Therefore, I will be excluding these items from any recipes. But because there is an entire fish section, those will be reserved for nights that my in laws can come over for dinner. 

This might've started as a childhood crush, if not a mild obsession, but now, almost 15 years later I genuinely do just admire the man and appreciate his food. So let's see if I can do it!