The Art of the Plate: Chef Bob Waggoner Cooks with French Regional Class

Monday, February 22, 2010

Chef Bob Waggoner Cooks with French Regional Class

Friday, the students of Chef Carmel's French Regional class had the pleasure of cooking with Chef Bob Waggoner, the first American to have his own restaurant in France, Le Monte Cristo, in Moneteau, which received a Michelin Two-Star rating. Chef Waggoner trained with Chef Michael Roberts at Trumps Restaurant in Los Angeles and Chef Jacques Lameloise, Charles Barrier, Pierre Gagnaire, Jean-Luc Dauphin, Gerard Boyer and Mark Meneau. He was the Chef at Hotel de la Poste in Avellon and Chef de Cuisine at Le Vieux Moulin in Bouilland, France. Chef Waggoner currently hosts the PBS cooking series "UCook with Chef Bob."

The menu for the day was:

Soupe Savoyarde, Escargot Bourgeonne (tasting), Boeuf Bourguignon, La Râpée’ Morvandelle, Salade de Chou au Lard, and Poularde aux Écrevisses.

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What We're Reading

“Eating from the Ground Up”

Out just in time for the vegetables appearing at our farmers markets, Alana Chernila’s cookbook focuses on creatively using every root and leaf. While some of the recipes may be familiar concepts – think stuffed tomatoes – hers are packed with millet, basil, and parsley. Fried rice stars salmon, fennel, and Swiss chard stems. Roasted asparagus are sauced with a combo of butter, garlic, nutritional yeast, and tamari. Stone fruit, raw corn kernels, scallions, basil, and jalapeño make a cool salad for hot weather. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.

"Soul: A Chef's Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes"

“This book is my homage to the cuisine of my family,” Chef Todd Richards writes in his autobiographical collection of essays and recipes. “These are the ingredients of my people. This is my sermon about my Soul food.”

Bringing accolades for his stints at Atlanta’s Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons, James Beard nominations, and, of course, his prowess at Southern cooking, Richards seasons the pot with a powerful bouquet of flavors as he pays his heritage forward. Collards cooked with ham hocks are accented with piquant pickled collard stems. Blueberries are found in fried pies; strawberries are plated with champagne aspic, whipped cream, and honey. Grilled peaches pair with radishes on toast spread with pimiento cheese. Sweet potatoes are layered with cauliflower and crab in a lush gratin.

"Soul food," Richards tells us, "is the original cuisine of the South, born from an involuntary collision of cultures."
Published by Southern Living. $35.