There’s Nothing Like Having Bobby Flay Cook For You

Did you know that parents spend an average of six hours on preparing holiday dinners and when their kids were asked, they said that they would rather eat pizza, chicken fingers or mac and cheese?  When I first heard this statement, I was surprised.  Then I thought about what goes on in my house and realized that I shouldn’t be surprised.  I mean, I know that my kids would certainly rather eat the aforementioned kid staples at mealtime as opposed to anything else, so I guess the surprise part came in when I realized it’s not just my kids.

Hellmann’s invited me to take part in an event to launch their partnership with Bobby Flay and the “Real Holiday Helpings” program.  This program was designed to show real people how to easily prepare “real food” that not only tastes great but is made with super simple ingredients.  The goal of “real food” is for parents to cook one meal that the whole family can enjoy – including the kids.  The whole point of holiday meals is to come together as a family, eat good food and create memories that you can still talk about 20 years later.  Nothing is ever fun when kids are whining and crying because they would rather have a hot dog than what’s sitting on their plate in front of them.  Nearly 43% of parents actually prepare one dinner for guests and another for the kids.

So this afternoon, I showed up at this fantastic loft in the middle of Chelsea where a gourmet chef showed a group of us that you don’t have to be a gourmet chef to create delicious food.  Oh yes, Bobby Flay cooked for me. And I ate.  And it was incredibly delicious.  But Hellmann’s did get their point across – that even though Bobby Flay is  a super fantastic gourmet chef, even I might be able to truly anyone can cook food that they will feel good about serving to their family and tastes great.

I’ve never been a huge fan or follower of Bobby Flay, but I have eaten at one of his restaurants in Manhattan, Mesa Grill.  It was a super long time ago but I still remember that it was incredible.  Today, Bobby Flay was not a television personality nor was he chef running an uber-gourmet restaurant.  Instead he was a regular guy talking to a group of regular people about how to make delicious dishes using real ingredients.  He did though tell us that he hosts Thanksgiving every year for about 40 – 50 people and assigns his guests to bring certain dishes (pumpkin dessert, pecans, side dishes) or wine so that he doesn’t wind up with 10 people all bringing their version of a pumpkin pie.  Each year, Thanksgiving at his house always follows a theme, which this year is set to be New England style cooking.  Could you imagine (1) being invited to Bobby Flay’s house for Thanksgiving dinner, and (2) being asked to cook something to bring to Bobby Flay’s house for Thanksgiving? I would, for sure, be the one volunteering to bring the wine.

While he was cooking, Bobby gave us some tips for Thanksgiving that I will definitely keep in mind. First, hot chicken broth is key for holiday meals – it will help you bring all of your dishes to the table hot.  If you serve cold food, everyone will talk about you.  Forever.   He also told us how he makes his turkey – salt and pepper, pat dry, put it in the oven at 350 degrees with a good amount of chicken broth and a little butter underneath and baste it every 20 minutes until the meat temperature is 170 degrees.  Afterwards, let the cooked turkey sit for an hour before you carve it. Oh, and he doesn’t stuff the bird but instead makes the stuffing separate so the top comes out crunchy.  One last piece of advice – throw out your spices and buy new ones each time you change the batteries in your smoke detector.  Even if you’ve had the spice container for a year or two (or if you’re me since your wedding 9 years ago), before you bought it, it sat on the supermarket and warehouse shelves probably for about 29 years.  So change them.

In case you’re curious, Bobby had us sample the Tandoori-Style Roasted Whole Turkey Breast (pictured left), the Hot Italian Cheese Toasts, the Roasted Green Beans with Almond Aoili, and the Turkey Cuban Sandwich.  And every single one was 100% awesome.

Visit Hellmanns.com to watch some videos of Bobby cooking, get some great recipes, find some fantastic coupons and enter for a chance to win free groceries for a year.  And don’t forget to become a fan of Hellmann’s on Facebook to watch an exclusive behind-the-scenes interview with Bobby.

Disclosure: Hellmann’s invited me to this event and gave me a fantastic bag of Bobby Flay merchandise on my way out, plus a gift certificate for my time. And an autographed cookbook that I will look fantastic on my shelf.