Every wondered what it would be like to have a Food Network winner prepare dinner for you? From the time Chef Ed Harris was young, his parents couldn’t keeping him out of the kitchen. In 2010, Chef Ed Harris was the winner on Chopped. Originally from the Caribbean, living in St. Lucia, Guyana, Grenada and Barbados, he later moved to New York to complete high school and get a culinary degree from the Art Institute. He then worked at several well-regarded restaurants in New York City.
After getting married and having a couple kids, Ed realized the restaurant business is too time-consuming and has now switched gears a little, going into restaurant consulting, catering private events and his once a month pop up dinners. Several food bloggers, myself included, were privy to have a private pop-up dinner prepared by the talented chef. I don’t think any of us were prepared for the feast we were about to enjoy. Not only was the food incredibly unique, but we loved Ed’s enthusiasm and willingness to share his knowledge with us.
Amuse Bouches: Dragon fruit and Salmon Tartare
A lovely dinner was prepared by Chef Ed Harris and his sous chef. They worked diligently on each course, while happily answering any of our questions on cooking and preparation. Here’s an overview of the EIGHT, yes, eight (2 courses pictured above) courses that we enjoyed during the evening at Chopped Winner Ed Harris’s pop up event.
Watermelon ginger soy mint
Yep – he topped the watermelon with Pop Rocks!
Hear the crackle with the addition of Pop Rocks
Boston lettuce topped with beef and tomatoes
I usually avoid lettuce wraps as they seem difficult to eat. Everything just seems to fall apart, but with these the beef was so tender it worked. And the tomatoes and vinegar were a perfect topping.
Ratatouille smoked tomato jam thai basil
What a colorful, tasty and healthy dish. Really love that several of the dishes of the evening were vegetarian.
XO tofu baby carrot cilantro
Chef Harris visited Hong Kong and fell in love with Chinese flavors. This dish is so overflowing with spice, you forget there’s no meat. The dried pineapple in this dish are especially appealing. Chef Harris said it was simple, just slice the pineapple and put in the oven for about 20-30 minutes at 250 degrees.
Lamb with juniper crumbs and ginger cous cous
Who doesn’t love ginger? And using in the cous cous was perfect, especially when paired with the juniper / crushed peas crumbs atop the lamb chops. Don’t expect to remain ladylike. We had to pick up our chops by the bone to get to the meat.
Banana earl grey orange mint
Dessert was not an afterthought with the slightly sweet dish with lovely textures and flavors of banana, orange and nuts for crunch.
Want to have a dinner like this or have Chef Ed Harris cater for you? You can hire him – just visit his site – Chef Life Consulting. Our meal with the Association of Food Bloggers was complimentary but the opinions expressed are my own.
