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!