How2Heroes - Blog

Is August the most incredible month for farm fresh ingredients or what? We feel obliged to stuff ourselves with blueberries, corn on the cob, squash, tomatoes - whatever we can get our hands on that’s fresh off the vine. Because, as we all know, this wonderful window of time is sadly short-lived.

The question is…what do you do with all these wonderful farm fresh ingredients? The answer is…not much. Simple preparation is all it takes to heighten the flavors of your fruit, produce and even farm fresh milk and cream.

We are thrilled to bring you some great ideas from two talented heroes: this year’s Best of Boston Personal Chef JJ Gonson as well as Veteran Personal Chef and Nutritionist Polly Crowninshield.

JJ helps you get started by walking you through the Farmers’ Market and showing you what to look for when Buying Squash and when Selecting Your Stone Fruits (plums, peaches, etc.). She then treats you to some recipes and techniques you’ll carry with you from here on out - Kosher Dill Pickles, Simple Squash Sauté, a lesson on How to Freeze Blueberries (so you can make heavenly blueberry pancakes in the middle of winter), and Roasted Tomatoes for your pizzas, pastas, or whatever!

In the dairy category, we are proud to bring you Polly Crowninshield who shows you how easy it is to make your own Yogurt and Creme Fraiche. If you’ve never tried Creme Fraiche, you are truly missing out on something special. And since it only takes 2 ingredients to make, we suggest you get thee to a dairy or the supermarket to get yourself some quality cream and buttermilk so you can make and experience your first heavenly batch. Thanks to Polly for her hospitality, for teaching us something new and healthy, and for showing us her wonderful backyard goldfish pond.

We would like to thank our new best friend, Chris Crandall, from In Season for introducing us to Polly. Chris is working with farms all over New England to bring their produce, eggs, dairy and pastas to city folk like ourselves. To us, it’s like Christmas getting a delivery from In Season. Doorbell rings, you run down, nothing there but a bag of goodies. You can expect to see some more great hook-ups from Chris. We don’t want to give anything away but make sure you come back to the site often to see what we bring you from the farms!

We would also like to thank the Central Square Farmers’ Market for all the farms who let us bother them with our endless questions. We encourage you to support your local farmers! Doesn’t get any fresher than what they bring you - unless you grow your own.

Savor the summer and all its sun-kissed fruit and produce, my friends!

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It was quite a challenge but we ate our way through New York City so we could bring you some of the best recipes the city has to offer!

We started like every true food lover should - with dessert! We met Jansen Chan, a Le Cordon Bleu trained Pastry Chef with a former life in architecture. Some of you may have seen both these worlds work in harmony when he built his award-winning chocolate Eiffel Tower in a Food Network competition. Jansen is a great guy with a lot of energy. He has a fantastic handwritten sketch book (see his Mochi Cake sketch in the video) with recipes and sketches of his creations. I wanted to pocket it but I figured he might miss it. He was kind enough to whip up 2 desserts for us - a simple Flourless Chocolate Cake and one of his signature desserts currently on the Oceana Restaurant menu, Blueberry Mochi Cake with Coconut Tapioca. Both desserts are killer and you must make them!

With a sugar high, we cabbed it downtown to meet Ethan Kelley, Beverage Director and Spirits Sommelier (great title!) at The Brandy Library in Tribeca. There, Ethan was the consummate host and gave a great Whiskey 101 lecture for us and shared a fabulous unique cocktail recipe called The Full Blonde Aperitif. With a slight buzz on and some tasty gougeres cheese snacks in our tummies, we called it a night in preparation for NYC, Day 2.

As we all know (even though we may not want to admit it), New York makes some of the best pizza on the planet and Roberta’s Pizza in Brooklyn makes its borough proud. Learn how to make the dough, the sauce & the toppings with some of the hippest people you will ever meet. Seriously they should have a reality show like the Ace of Cakes dudes.

Sunday morning we headed over to Kids Cook! in Brooklyn Heights where the fabulous Jane Ziegelman teaches kids social studies through recipes. Watch Buster (10) and Alice (12) make Fresh Pasta like they’ve been doing it for years. Jane is the greatest teacher. We wish there had been a Kids Cook! school when we were growing up.

We ended with Chef Chris Wyman blinding us with science. He showed us how to combine traditional cooking methods with Molecular Gastronomy techniques to make an absolutely beautiful and unusual entree. Check out his Avocado-Wrapped Ceviche with Tomato Pearls and Lemon/Lime Air video.

We can’t thank everyone enough who took the time out of their busy schedules to share their expertise with the how2heroes community. Much appreciated!

For more great photos from these shoots and others, check out our Photo Gallery.

Watch our hero Poppy Tooker (see her Calas video on how2heroes) on the Food Network’s “Throwdown with Bobby Flay“! She shows Bobby how Gumbo is done the right way! Tune in and watch her in action. She’s fantastic! Times: Jul 19, 2008 4:00 PM ET/PT, Aug 31, 2008 10:00 PM ET/PT and Aug 31, 2008 1:00 AM ET/PT. You can also learn more about Poppy by watching her how2heroes profile video.

JUST ADDED!! Stuffed Clams, Venezuelan Arepas, Tres Leches Cake.

Nothing says summer more than Paul O’Connell’s Stuffed Clams. Paul, Chef/Owner of Chez Henri in Cambridge puts a Cuban twist on this New England classic. Serve them after a day at the beach, at a roofdeck party or whenever the mood strikes you.

Join our spicy Venezuelan mother and daughter team, Anamelia and Carla, as they share their family recipe for Arepas as well as classic Latin dessert, Tres Leches. And don’t forget to watch their profile. It’s our first bilingual profile!

Coming soon - Tomatoes 3 Ways, BBQ Dave’s Baked Beans and Grilled Mushrooms, Peruvian Ceviche, and a whole slew of how-to surprises from our trip to New York - we’re leaving tomorrow!

Thanks to everyone for visiting how2heroes.com and for all the great comments and e-mails you’ve been sending. Keep it coming. And tell your friends!

Our trip to New Orleans started out as a vacation. Then we thought, “How could we possibly go to New Orleans, one of the greatest food cities in America, and not shoot some how2heroes videos there?” The answer was clear. We couldn’t. So we began our search for some heroes in New Orleans (of which there are many) who would be interested in sharing some great Cajun and Creole recipes with us.

Finding the Chefs
We truly scored with the chefs we found. We turned to the wonderful folks at the New Orleans Cooking Experience who welcomed us with open arms and introduced us to our heroes, Boo Macomber, Poppy Tooker and Chiqui Collier. Makes you want to have a cool nickname, doesn’t it?

The New Orleans Cooking Experience offers classes to anyone who’s interested in learning about authentic New Orleans cuisine. It’s located in an Inn - the House on Bayou Road, part of a former Creole plantation compound. If you really want to steep yourself in New Orleans culture, I HIGHLY recommend you take a class here. We took one with award-winning New Orleans chef, Frank Brigsten, of Brigsten’s restaurant. It was truly one of the most fun things we’ve ever done. Frank actually hugged us when we left. Only in New Orleans.

We had exchanged several e-mails and some phone calls to schedule our shoots at the New Orleans Cooking Experience so we started to get an idea that we are in for a treat. Each of these women has their own unique personality, inspirations and philosophy on food. They all chipped in like a family scheduling a family reunion to discuss who would make what and what order they wanted to cook in. Boo had to travel from 2 hours out of New Orleans so she wanted to go last. Besides, she had to catch her own fresh crawfish that morning so she needed some time for that.

Creole & Cajun Heaven
What ensued in this kitchen was pure bliss. Wonderful women sharing rich stories of New Orleans food and culture and cooking up an absolute storm. Incredible fragrances wafting through the place that made it hard for us to concentrate. And the reward of having the pleasure to sample the fruits of their labor - Boo’s Cajun Crawfish Boil & Etouffee, Poppy’s Calas (an old New Orleans street sweet she’s reviving) and Chiqui’s New Orleans-style BBQ Shrimp (not barbecued at all, go figure). The heart and soul of New Orleans is its food, culture and music. Everyone should experience it.

Chiqui was brave enough to go first. BBQ Shrimp is near and dear to her heart as it was something she grew up with. Watch her profile video to hear the whole story from her. She did a brilliant job and I think will be introducing many of you to a new recipe that will become part of your cooking repertoire. So delicious.

Poppy went second. Her name definitely sums her up. She pops – just full of life and energy. Her passion for bringing back the Calas (an old New Orleans treat similar to a Beignet but better) is infectious. As one of our editors, Conor, said, “I never thought of food as being an endangered species – until now.” Poppy has us all embracing and making Calas. We hope you give it a try too. She has provided both a sweet and savory recipe for you.

Boo was our final hero of the day. This was her first shoot ever and you will be shocked to know that after watching her video. Although she needed an Abida beer to help her relax (lol), she just settled right in and delivered her Crawfish Etouffee and Crawfish Boil recipes like she’s been doing this her whole life.

In search of an Absinthe expert
For an extra special cocktail video and some Absinthe lore, we had to go off the beaten path a bit to meet up with chemist and distiller Chris Keating at one of the greatest dives you’ll ever see - Snake and Jake’s Christmas Club Lounge.

The minute we met Chris in person, we knew this guy was the real deal. His passion for Absinthe is incredible. He knows every bit of history and lore about Absinthe and you can tell he loves sharing the story with everyone and helping to dispel the myths about Absinthe. It’s an exciting time for anyone interested in this anise-flavored wonder because it became legal again, thanks to the efforts of Absinthe champion Ted Breaux. It has been banned since 1912! Watch Chris’ video, Demystifying Absinthe, to find out the whole story. And for a refreshing cocktail idea (really good), watch his Absinthe Cocktail video. Chris hopes to release his own brand of Absinthe in the next year or so. We wish him all the luck in the world!

They want YOU to come visit
The one thing we heard everywhere we went in New Orleans was “thank you.” People actually thanked us for coming to New Orleans. When was the last time you went somewhere and people thanked you for coming? That’s New Orleans for you. They want people to come and enjoy the food and learn about their culture. And to spread the word. New Orleans is still struggling as you all know. But you cannot keep these people down. They need tourists. So get down there and eat! You’ll dream about it months after you return. Trust me. I’m craving a Crawfish Boil right now.

Hi everyone. Welcome to How2Heroes. We’re so happy to have you here and we hope you learn a great deal and share your expertise as well. Our goal is to teach you amazing recipes and introduce you to fascinating people you may never get to meet otherwise. Their stories along with their expertise are what makes these videos so fun, entertaining and, of course, educational.

Here are a few videos you might want to check out that introduce you to the range of topics we’ll be covering.
Bea’s Apple Pie - a classic, flawless 50-year old recipe from a wonderful 77-year old hero
Gnocchi Alla Genovese - learn how to make Gnocchi and pesto from scratch from Andrea, our hero from Italy
Classic Cosmopolitan - shake up a sexy Cosmo with Lino, our handsome hero from Upstairs on the Square

We hope you enjoy and look forward to your feedback. We also look forward to receiving your how-to videos. Please start sending them along! We’re running a Family Recipe Contest right now. If you submit a video on this topic and yours is selected as the best, you will win a very cool Flip Video camera that is the easiest most portable video camera we’ve ever seen. Cute as a button too

Thanks again for coming and we look forward to reporting from our exciting shoot in the Big Easy (that’s New Orleans, y’all) next week! Stay tuned!!