Graham Elliot: Cooking Like a Master Chef

Do you want to cook like a Master Chef?

 

Chef Graham Elliot shares recipes, tips and techniques to make you rock in your kitchen.  His new cookbook Cooking Like A Master Chef: 100 Recipes to Make the Everyday Extraordinary will become your favorite inspiration.  I recently met with Chef Graham at his Chicago restaurant Graham Elliot Bistro for a kitchen chat.  The cookbook and Graham Elliot Bistro are truly reflections of this chef’s authenticity. This cookbook doesn’t release until October 27th, so you will get a sneak peek through this kitchen chat.

A photo with Chef Graham Elliot at his Chicago restaurant (photo credit Chrissie Mena)

A photo with Chef Graham Elliot at his Chicago restaurant

Music is at the heart of Chef Graham Elliot‘s life and food.  As a former member of a band, the chef chose cooking instead of punkrocking as his career.  However, guests in his restaurant have the unexpected pleasure of listening to the chef’s own recordings that sneak onto his playlist during the meal.  Hopefully, these tunes will be available for download in the future.  Meanwhile, Chef Graham Elliot incorporates his love of music and food as the culinary director for Lollapalooza and Kidzapalozza.  Chef Graham Elliot plans to add farming, food and cooking demos to next year’s Kidzapalooza given the high interest that the younger generation has in cooking.  MasterChef Junior on Fox highlights this phenomenal trend of kids cooking.  Chef Graham Elliot notes that “Instead of taking piano lessons, many children today take online cooking classes or have a chef come into their home to teach cooking.” He commends these young chefs on the show as being “equally as good as the adults.”  He says these young chefs understand that “food is a beautiful, fun and a creative outlet and that it’s a good way to bond with the family over the dinner table.”

As co-host of MasterChef with Chef Gordon Ramsay, Chef Graham Elliot humbly says, “I feel like a back-up dancer to his Beyonce.”  He has great respect for Gordon Ramsay who has been a mentor and friend to Chef Graham Elliot for many years and even wrote the forward to Cooking Like A Master Chef. “It’s great to have a big brother like Gordon,” he says.  Chef Graham Elliot is excited about the new judge on MasterChef, Christina Tosi, the chef owner and founder of Milk Bar, one of the most highly acclaimed bakeries in the United States.

As a highly acclaimed James Beard award winning chef, Graham Elliot is pleased that Chicago has become a culinary destination. He credits Mayor Rahm Emanuel in bringing the James Beard Awards, Chicago Food and Wine, Chicago Gourmet and the Michelin Guide to the city.  This year was the first time ever that the James Beard Awards were held outside of New York City, and Chicago will host them for the next two years.  For more information about James Beard Awards, please tune into my podcast with Susan Ungaro, president of the James Beard Foundation.  This year also marked the launch of Chicago Food and Wine Festival, and that’s where I recently met Chef Graham Elliot.

Margaret McSweeney Graham Elliot

A photo with Chef Graham Elliot at the first Chicago Food and Wine Festival

Chef Graham Elliot also tributes Chef Charlie Trotter for having the greatest impact on his culinary career.

In addition to being a great chef, Graham Elliot is a great person who has a heart for charity.  Last year he ran in the Chicago Marathon to raise money for Smile Train  This organization that puts smiles on children across the globe has a special meaning for Chef Graham Elliot.  His son,  Conrad, was born with a cleft.  Chef Graham and his wife have helped Conrad through several surgeries, and he is doing great.  This experience opened the family’s heart to helping other families and their children.  You, too can help by clicking here to donate to Smile Train.

I hope you enjoy my kitchen chat with Chef Graham Elliot.  Below is a link for you to pre-order your copy of his new cookbook.  Savor the day!


 

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