Kefir Goes Top Chef at Foodie Event
Mar
8Posted in [Miscellaneous], [Recipes] By LifeWayKefir LifeWayKefir
3/8/2011 4:27 PM
When Stephanie Izard of Top Chef fame hands you a plate of goat goulash sprinkled with crumbled potato chips and served over creamy, cool potato aioli, you don’t ask questions. Just grab a fork and dig into the comforting deliciousness that has propelled her Girl & The Goat restaurant to the kind of frenzied popularity that has Chicagoans waiting four months for an 8pm Saturday night reservation.
But glance down at Izard’s 11-year-old sidekick, Marley, a no-nonsense sixth grader with tiny dreadlocks and an apron, and you can’t help but ask, “What’s going on here?”
Marley and Izard hooked up through Common Threads,a nonprofit organization which teaches low-income children to cook wholesome, affordable meals. Co-founded by celebrity chef Art Smith (Oprah’s former chef) and currently offering programs in 16 different Chicago neighborhood locations, as well as Washington, D.C., Miami, and Los Angeles, Common Threads has a special interest in teaching kids to celebrate their cultural differences.
“I’ve wanted to be a chef since I was two, years old” Marley proclaims. “Ever since I saw Emeril on TV. I worked at Girl & The Goat over the summer, plating foods. I learned how to make mango lassi,” a cultured probiotic Indian drink.
Not only does Lifeway also make mango lassi,but we were a proud sponsor of Common Threads’ sixth annual World Festival 2011 event, held March 7 at Soldier Field in Chicago. More than 70 top chefs proffered mouthwatering dishes like Sous Vide Pork Belly with Blitva, Pag cheese and Paprika Sauce (Roy’s), Grilled Flank Steak with Corn Succotash and Mint Chimichurri (Sable Kitchen and Bar) and Deep Fried Mochi dusted with Sesame Seeds and Sugar(Chizakaya.) As hundreds of guests, each of whom paid $250+ (benefitting Common Threads), ambled from table to table and exchanged opinions and recommendations with each other, the event had a distinct Top Chef air (watching Anita Lo dish up hamachi sashimi didn’t hurt.)
Two pastry chefs featured Lifeway products in their dishes: Toni Roberts from the Wit Hotel concocted a Crispy Sweet Black Cherry Sochnicki with Lifeway Farmer Cheese, as well as Lemon Kefir Cake with Blood Oranges. Sarah Kosikowski from Trump Hotel created a Cherry Kefir Panna Cotta topped with 'Sweet and Sour' Cherries and Almond Oat Crumble.
The the real success can be seen in Common Threads statistics, like the fact that they’ll serve nearly 10,000 healthy meals to approximately 1,000 children in 2011, exposing them to a buffet of opportunities in the process. Lifeway helped Common Threads raise more than $352,000, enough to fund program expenses for nearly twenty-three 10-week sessions of hands-on cooking classes for low-income 8- to 12-year-olds, including instruction, ingredients, cooking class supplies, curriculum materials, volunteer recruitment, program coordination, cookbooks for the kids, and parent outreach sessions.
Can we get a “Bam!”
(Toni Roberts' delicious pastries made using Lifeway kefir!)
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