Stirring Up Change In a Community Near You

Teen Battle Chef, is a program of FamilyCook Productions in over 75 schools and community sites across the U.S. Over half are sponsored in high schools by HealthCorps. This blog began in summer 2010 when FamilyCook invited NYC Teen Battle Chefs to participate in internships working with chefs in restaurants, teaching younger children cooking, growing food in food deserts, and cooking in farmers markets across 5 boroughs. In fall 2010, our program continues and thanks to Robin Quivers, her run in the NYC Marathon in November, will provide critical funding so our Teen Battle Chef programs in CT and in HealthCorps schools in NJ can experience these transformational internships as well.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Recipe of the week! Panzanella

Every week, each of us working at Youthmarkets, a program of GrowNYC, or doing a cooking demonstration will prepare the recipe of the week, and we want to share it with you! So stay tuned once a week to learn what the recipe of the week was, see some delicious pictures, and learn a few nutrition facts relating to the dish! This weeks recipe is the:

PANZANELLA - Italian Bread Salad
Photo by Jessica Gubankova

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 4 full or 10 tasting servings

Ingredients:
1 loaf Day old (hard & dry), whole grain or Italian Bread
2 Large Ripe Tomatoes or 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes
1 Cucumber
1/2 Red Onion (or white onion, or scallions)
1/3 cup Pitted Italian Olives (or other olives)
4 sprigs Thyme or Oregano (or other herb)
10 sprigs Parsley
1/4 cup Olive Oil
2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar10 Basil leaves for garnish (optional)
Kosher Salt (to taste)
Fresh ground Pepper (to taste)

Directions:
1. Cut up the bread into 1inch cubes and place into a salad bowl.
2. Cut the tomato and cucumber slices into bite-sized pieces. Place in the bowl.
3. Dice the onion and add to bowl.
4. Slice the olives in half and add.
5. Remove the thyme, oregano and parsley leaves from their stems, and chop the leaves. Add all chopped herbs. Toss well with clean hands.
6. Add the oil and vinegar and stir. Taste the salad and season to taste.
7. Add basil leaves and sliced olives to garnish and serve.


Tip: if cucumbers are not available or in season, you can use Summer Squash instead!

Nutritional highlights on Italian Herbs:
Basil
is a good source of dietary fiber, and many vitamins and minerals. Basil is said to improve the immune, digestive, and cardiovascular systems. It even relieves the itchy feeling from bug bites if you rub it on your skin! And for vegetarians - its a great source of protein!

Parsley contains the antioxidants Vitamin C and A, and is a good source for iron and beta carotene.


"Eddy and I have a blast at the Marble Hill Youthmarket on 225th and Broadway in the Bronx. The people there our so nice and teaching others about health and cooking is such a great thing to do. I enjoy helping others become healthier. People sometimes stick around to listen to everything we have to say, sometimes not. I look forward to every Thursday and going back to work at the youth market. Come visit us every Thursday!" – Daniel Vladimirsky

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Reflections from week 1 of my restaurant internship!

Kristie is interning with the delicious vegan restaurant, Candle Cafe. "I am not a vegan. I love meat and always will. Working in a vegan restaurant is interesting. I like the freshness of the food and drinks. I'm also learning how difficult running a restaurant really is. I like doing both sides to a restaurant, the cooking and the paper work." - Kristie


"Hey, it’s me Henfry, and Friday July 16th, was my first day working at Jimmy’s 43, located at 43 East 7th Street. The people at the restaurant are really nice, everyone gets along with each other, and knows what they are doing. They began to teach me how the restaurant is run, how they get their supply in order, and where the knives, pots and pans belong for quick and easy use. On my first day I learned a new way of holding the knife and the way to keep your hands secure from any danger of cutting yourself. I minced onions for the summer bean salad (which people really love to order). I got my hands dirty combining potatoes with creme fraiche, it was fun. It was like making dough, but everything all soft and slippery. And at the end of the day, my shirt was dirty and I smelled like all different types of food. I know I did a good job because I got right down to work and had fun with it and I’ll keep on learning how to run a restaurant and get information on picking a good college with the help of my chef and boss. So readers, pass by and check out this really nice restaurant you won’t be disappointed =)"

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Meatopia: Sustainable and healthy meat for all!

On Sunday, July 11th, we worked our first large-scale event, Meatopia, on Governors Island! This city-wide event was co-created by Jimmy Carbone, of Jimmy's 43, to support local farmers in the greater NY area, and celebrate the high quality of their sustainable meat! The chefs were asked to use animals from farms that were treated humanely and responsibly. We really could taste the difference in the grass-fed beef! Fun fact: not only does the local grass-fed meat taste must better, it is also much more nutritious, better for the environment, and stimulates the growth of local economies and local businesses. Click here, and/or here, (and if your really interested here), to learn more about the nutritional value of grass-fed beef.

In short, grass-fed beef is better for human health than grain-fed beef. It has lower total fat,
offers you more "good" fats, and are richer in antioxidants, including vitamins E, beta-carotene, and vitamin C. It is higher in B-vitamins, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Furthermore, they do not contain traces of added hormones, antibiotics or other drugs. (results found from a joint study between the USDA and Clemson University)

Each of us was paired with a famous chef running a booth at the event. For the whole day, we helped make sure the booth was running smoothly.

Here are some personal experiences and photos from the day:

"I got to work with Top Chef Masters, Jonathan Waxman at Meatopia. You know when teachers ask you when you go back to school what your favorite thing this summer was... meeting him made it the best summer ever!" - Jessica Pascullo

“My experience at Meatopia was very pleasurable. I enjoyed working with my Chef, Michael Lomonaco, and learned that he attended the same high school I attend right now. It was nice to talk to people if only for a minute and see how they loved the food I was handing out. I even explained to some people about TIC and how we bring health awareness! Working with the Porter House, I even discovered that my chef had his own TV show! Many people took pictures with him and his food display. Also, I envied the way he described his dish because it made the food sound so great. Since I've never worked at an event like this before, I was very enthusiastic and it was a lot of fun! Riding the ferry was nice because I'm a nature person and the view of the ocean was beautiful. Meatopia was a great opportunity that I was glad to have shared with my TIC crew!" - Sira

“Meatopia was an amazing event! Working with the chefs was really worthwhile. It was hectic but great. I tried new foods (one of TIC food goals)” - Kristie



"Meatopia was definitely an incredible experience. We helped out the chefs at their stands with various tasks and we got to discuss the culinary world with them. My chef's recipe for honey glazed baby back ribs was amazing and delicious. He was from The Hurricane Club which is opening in September. It's definitely a place to visit. My stand at Meatopia was so busy that I never got a break, but I had a lot of fun and am definitely going next year."

- Daniel


"MEATOPIA!! It’s was epic. It might sound kinda weird because I am a vegetarian but it was so much fun. I really bonded with some of the other chefs there and I got my friend to volunteer and he loved it too. Meatopia is awesome, it's the only place where you can find bacon ice cream :D" - Andrea




TIC Intern Training


The Teen Iron Chef Intern training day was a lot of fun! Everyone tried raw vegetables and we had to guess what the name of the vegetable was, in an exercise called Veggie ID - you should try it! A lot of the raw vegetables (even ones I had never tried before) were pretty good. I even had edible flowers! Further more, the TIC crew was able to come up with a mission statement that defined us together as a team. I also shared a sandwich with Hayden, one of the TIC mentors, that my mom made for me and I was happy that she enjoyed the new Pakistani food. =) More so, we also made recipes and I tried some new food of my own, like Panzanella (Italian bread, cucumber, tomato, and olive) salad! Even though the day was long, we ended our day with a "SALUD", cheering "to health" after each of us declared what we hoped to accomplish in the TIC internship. It was nice to meet everyone and my mentors (Hayden and Jessica) are really nice. This experience has been a lot of fun and had made me really excited to work and bring out health awareness to the world and show people what there missing! Remember, take care of your body so that it can take care of you!

- Sira Faizi

"Wow you can learn so much in one day. This meeting was so much fun and it was the first time we got to cook in front of each other. Well, I did learn new recipes but I mostly learned a lot from my fellow Teen Iron Chefs while they were explaining what they were cooking. I was laughing so hard when some people were scared to eat edible flowers. They looked terrified but they liked it once they tried. Meeting the people from the farmers market was really fun; they were really cool." - Andrea



Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Welcome to our blog!

Hi Readers!

Welcome to the very first Teen Iron Chef (TIC) blog! We are a group of teens from all around NYC who come from very different backgrounds, but come together by our love of cooking and healthy living! We are all participants in Teen Iron Chef programs at our high schools -- most of which are in HealthCorps schools. We were selected for a summer internship program where we are paid to conduct cooking classes and demos or otherwise cook with farm-fresh food at: Youthmarkets; summer camps for youngsters, gardens or CSAs, or restaurants. Through the skills we have acquired from TIC and our internships this summer, we hope to share the knowledge we gain with our friends, family, and YOU! We hope to use this blog as a space to share our experiences, fun facts about healthy living and eating, great recipes we've learned, get the word about how to make change for those around you!

We want to thank our program sponsors, Family Cook Production, HealthCorps, and Circulon. We really want to thank our summer partners who are employing us this summer!

My name is Henfry Alvarez. I’m 17 and go to George Washington High School. I am learning new things about health and meeting tons of new people through my TIC summer internship, and I want to learn everything I can about how to run a restaurant so I can fulfill this as my dream in the future (and make it the best in the world!)


Hey! I’m Jessica Gubankova. I’m a rising junior at Riverdale Kinsbridge Academy 141 in the Bronx. I love to sing—I taught myself the piano not too long ago, I dance, and I love to cook! I try to explore as many foods as I canand my favorite things to cook are: chicken, pasta, veggies, and other foods.


My name is Ayerine Corona. I’m 16 and a rising senior at University Heights High School in the Bronx. This summer I am interning at Murray Hill Youth Market in Manhattan, helping this community and others to bring locally grown produce into their reach. My goal is to spread awareness of healthy eating habits by providing fresh fruits and vegetables as well as cooking demonstrations.


Hey I'm Janeil, and I am a sophomore at Abraham Lincoln High School. WIth TIC I am able to spread the word about health. This is an amazing opportunity that I'm so excited about. I get to teach kids at local summer camps about healthy eating. GO TIC!


Hi, my name is Daniel Vladimirsky. I’m 16 and going to be a junior at the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy in the Bronx. I come from a cooking background and I am eager to raise awareness about eating habits and how to make my community healthier.


Hi, I am Kristie Polanco! I have always had an interest in food but only learned to cook when I joined Teen Iron Chef. I am now proud to be a TIC and am learning more than I could have imagined. I love working with food!


Hi! Im Sira Faizi. I’m 16 years old and I go to New Utrecht High School. My favorite hobbies are writing, poetry and dancing. I got involved in Teen Iron Chef internship program because I’ve been cooking since I was young and I like to bring new recipes to the table!


How do you do? My name is Eddy Diamantis. I am 16, live in the Bronx, and will be a junior at Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy. I have an interest in writing, cooking, debating and the arts. I like to cook because it provides me a chance to experience and explore new foods.


Hello, my name is Fatimah. My summer internship is teaching young kids how to cook and raising awareness about healthy snacks. I am showing young kids the importance of working in the kitchen. Come join my journey, wear comfortable sneakers, it’s going to get interesting.


Hey I'm Molly and I just finished my freshman year at MCSM. I love trying new things and meeting new people. Some say I'm a bit loud and crazy but hey, you can't change me! I love to eat, but who doesn't? Harry Potter is awesome. Oh and I almost forgot to mention, I'm a great cook!