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Lucy Lean

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in Kids Cooking· Pasta· RECIPES· salad/vinaigrette

Rachou/Bastianich – Chefs of the Future?

A couple of weeks ago we entertained Ethan Bastianich (youngest son of Joe Bastianich) – or rather this ten year old not only entertained us but fed us as, very well. Whilst Joe was on set with Gordon Ramsay and Graham Elliot shooting season 3 of Masterchef we rescued Ethan from the boredom of sitting in his father’s dressing room watching endless cartoons.

Joe Bastianich’s new book Restaurant Man was released yesterday. This fascinating, funny and fast paced read is a must for anyone interested in restaurants – if you’ve ever dreamed of opening your own place one day this may make you think again – it will definitely give you lots of valuable advice and the all important Restaurant Math. I loved reading about Joe’s life growing up in Queens with immigrant parents – there are so many similarities with my own husband’s childhood, who almost ended up at Fordham Prep, although my Frenchman would never have worn white Capezio dance shooes – REALLY? And then I loved the behind the scenes look at what it’s really like running a restaurant – his book takes you in the back door with deliveries, into the walk-in, down to the cellar, on to the line and then through the swing doors and out into the dining room. This brought back so many memories of what I experienced behind the scenes at La Cote Basque when I first moved to America. You will look at any restaurant dining experience with new eyes.

Towards the end of this coming of age story Joe wonders what his kids will do and if, because they’ve had such a privileged upbringing, he has spoilt them. Having spent time with all his kids I’d say the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree. The first time I met Ethan and Miles, a couple of years ago, they set up a camp in our backyard with Minty and Rémy – but it wasn’t any old camp – it was a restaurant and they served and dined on pasta! Obviously! I’ll never forget Miles balancing two dishes on each arm and somehow managing to climb the steep hill up to the table and chairs.

Given their culinary genes – Joe is Ethan’s father, however let’s not forget his grandmother is chef/restaurateur Lidia Bastianich of many great Italian restaurants including Felidia, Becco, Esca, Del Posto and Eataly and Minty’s grandfather is chef/restaurateur Jean-Jacques Rachou of the late grande dame La Cote Basque in New York – I was intrigued to see what these grand kids would come up with. This meeting of France and Italy, of two young cooks born less than a year apart, produced much laughter, friendship, goofiness and from genuine culinary skills a delicious, easy family meal. Nonna Bastianich and Papounet Rachou would have been really proud.

Here is a series of photos from their evening cooking supper – just the two of them, together in the kitchen having fun and putting together a full menu: salad, pasta with buffala mozzarella and tomatoes and a strawberry smoothie:

Minty took charge of making a green salad with baby arugula, baby kale, diced cucumber, diced green apple and yellow pepper. Ethan focused on making a tomato sauce, first he chopped an onion, cooked it in a generous amount of olive oil over a medium to high heat until it was translucent and then added the chopped tomatoes (Pomi). This was seasoned and left to reduce down into a rich flavorful tomato sauce.

The giant pasta shells were cooked in salty water – Minty had picked them out at the supermarket with plans of stuffing them with shrimp, but we never got round to this and so Ethan and Minty eagerly chose to cook them up.

Whilst the tomato sauce was simmering away and the pasta shells were cooking they made a vinaigrette with olive oil from Provence, clover honey, tarragon Dijon mustard and Champagne vinegar.

Teamwork to get the cork stopper out of the olive oil bottle.

Teamwork to pour just enough and not too much olive oil into the bowl.

A lot of mixing and seasoning with fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper.

And lots of tasting and intense discussions to get the balance of acid, sweetness, salt and pepper just right. This was a great vinaigrette.

Meanwhile the pasta shells were done – just shy of al dente. After draining off the water they spread them into a large pyrex dish and  placed the buffala di mozzarella on top.
Muscles and height helped when it came to pouring the tomato sauce over the pasta. The dish was sprinkled with some chopped basil, lots of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and then baked in the preheated oven for  about 15 minutes, until the cheese had melted and was bubbling.

Team work to pour the dressing over the salad.

Teamwork to toss the salad.
And for dessert? A last minute team decision to whip up a fresh strawberry smoothie – berries, ice, ice cream and yogurt was blended together and then served in sundae glasses with drinking straws.

Bon appetit or buon appetito!

Filed Under: Kids Cooking, Pasta, RECIPES, salad/vinaigrette Tagged With: Becco, Bufala di mozzarella, Chefs of the Future, Del Posto, Eataly, Ethan Bastianich, Felidia, French vinaigrette, Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot, Jean-Jacques Rachou, Joe Bastianich, La Cote Basque, Lidia Bastianich, Lucy Lean, MasterChef, Miles Bastianich, Minty and Ethan make dinner, Minty and Rémy, Pasta Shells with Tomato Sauce, Rachou/Bastianich - Chefs of the Future, Restaurant Man, Restaurant Math, Tomato Sauce

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Comments

  1. Kristina Vanni says

    May 3, 2012 at 7:47 am

    This is precious! What an amazing pair.
    I am reading Restaurant Man right now and hope to finish on a flight later today. Such a page turner!

  2. Deliciously Organic says

    May 3, 2012 at 9:14 am

    What a lovely post! I love seeing the kids in the kitchen. Thank you for letting us know about Joe’s new book. It will make the perfect Mother’s Day gift for my mom (and I think I’ll grab a copy for myself too).

    • Lucy says

      May 3, 2012 at 10:10 am

      There’s a lot of cursing – think Anthony Bourdain style –

  3. Krissy Lefebvre says

    May 3, 2012 at 2:19 pm

    That is a power couple in the making. Start documenting EVERYTHING immediately.

    • Lucy says

      May 3, 2012 at 2:32 pm

      Wish I had taken more video footage – how long until we can pimp your kids?!

  4. susan says

    May 3, 2012 at 7:17 pm

    that’s perfectly adorable. love seeing kids creativity come out in the kitchen!

  5. aida mollenkamp says

    May 4, 2012 at 12:02 pm

    Such a cute post, Lucy! I would love to have been a fly on the wall while those two were cooking!

    • Lucy says

      May 4, 2012 at 12:29 pm

      They had a blast – and did everything from start to finish themselves – very impressive duo

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Anxiety levels have been high these last few weeks Anxiety levels have been high these last few weeks and just when you think it can’t get any worse it does - Covid levels rising and hospitals dealing with record numbers of very unwell patients, a third lockdown and schools going online and exams cancelled, then there was the runoff in Georgia 💙 overshadowed by the insurrection in D.C. which led to the swift impeachment (again), there’s the excitement of Joe Biden’s inauguration that is being sucked away by the pandemic, the rise of white supremacy with troops guarding the Capitol and ever present fear.  But through it all we have to have hope - for the vaccine, for the teachers helping our kids learn online, for the nurses and doctors working against the odds, for M&S and Ocado deliveries,for a new administration, for arrests of violent rioters, for congress doing its job and for decency to be about to be sworn in.  It’s a lot and we all struggle daily to keep our heads above water.  On a personal level I find painting helps, as do walks in nature and family suppers, I’m wearing pretty dresses, silk underwear and wrapping myself in soft cashmere and yes I’m consuming more champagne than I usually do - if not now then when?  #Lockdown #Stayhome #staysafe #EnglishCountryHouse #EnglishCountryside
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