Northeastern University Dining Services Blog

Friday, December 19, 2014

2014 Recap, Part 4: September & October

A look back at 2014 and the events that made it special.

- - September & October - -

Man Made Meals by Steven Raichlen

To kick off our 10th anniversary season the Xhibition Kitchen welcomed master griller Steven Raichlen to campus. He captivated the audience with his professional talent for cooking and demonstrating how to cook. Steven made use of our magic oven and fridge joking that these wings only took four minutes and they multiplied in quantity! The audience’s mouths and eyes watered with excitement for a chance to taste Raichlen’s famous Fire eater chicken wings. Only those willingly to “man up” tried these spicy spicy wings, tackling a feat of strength. Steven’s Lemon soy London broil was a huge hit, these perfectly cooked juicy pieces of lean meat were decadent and beautiful to boot. The audience was left wanting more. Inspired by the display of local produce on the counter Steven decided to showcase a simple recipe from his other cookbook, asparagus rafts; taking toothpicks to hold the asparagus together and “grilling” them, making an attractive and tasty treat. Belgian beer brownies were the parting dish – students snacked and chatted with Steven while they waiting patiently in line to get their books signed. Five lucky students in the audience won a personally signed cookbook. This was only the first of ten events in our semester-long celebration featuring ten cooking events with ten celebrated chefs & authors.


Fall Food Fest 2014

A perfect New England fall day with free food fun and giveaways kicked our semester off right at our Annual Fall Food Fest outside of Stetson East. Every year we invite some of our food vendors to campus so that students are able to directly interact with the companies that provide us with the food we serve them every day. For two hours the crowds enjoyed our free fun food extravaganza by trying samples from our local food vendors including Monster Energy, Hormel fire braised chicken, Deep River snacks and much more. No one walk away empty handed! Northeastern Dining had a table of free refillable coffee mugs, 18 of which had a prize inside – a pair of Red Sox tickets to tomorrow night’s game!! Another successful event, we are already looking forward to next.

One-Hour Cheese by Claudia Lucero

A rainy day in Boston was brightened up by Claudia Lucero, whose inviting presence which filled the Xhibition Kitchen with warmth and the sweet smells of fall. She welcomed the crowd proclaiming “Do It Yourself cheese is a great rainy day activity”. Claudia is the entrepreneur behind UrbanCheesecraft.com and DIY Cheese Kits, which she used as inspiration for her cookbook. Claudia demonstrated Chevre French Kisses, infused with Herbes de Provence this cheese is layered with flavor. She taught us how easy it can be to be creative noting “Cheese makers are creative people, there is a lot to discover by accident. Many of my accidents ended up being some of my best recipes”. Claudia never imagined that she would be the one to write the ideal cheese book, which five lucky audience members won.

Seriously Delish by Jessica Merchant

The creator of the wildly popular blog How Sweet It Is, Jessica Merchant, was welcomed to the Xhibition Kitchen by her large following of "invisible internet friends." By the huge crowd in attendance, it was clear her friends were quite real and not invisible. Jessica showed the audience how to prepare two incredible recipes: Whipped Goat Cheese with Warm Vanilla Berries; Amaretto Butternut Squash Soup. These recipes are featured in Seriously Delish along with 148 other imaginative recipes that are tasty and original and bring readers to a place where cooking becomes adventurous and food becomes fun. Five lucky audience members won signed copies after correctly answering what recipe Jessica posted in her blog the previous day. The audience enjoyed Jessica’s White Cheddar Apple Crisp while waiting in a line that wrapped around the room, all just to get their book personally signed. Jessica certainly made our Friday "Seriously Delish!"

Ultimate Dining Hall Hacks by Priya Krishna

Before becoming the "DDS Detective" in a recurring Dartmouth College campus newspaper article, Priya Krishna was a typical Dartmouth student stuck with the very limited dining options available in Hanover, NH. Instead of sinking into a pattern of boring meals, Priya became creative and began to piece together different ingredients and menu items in her dining hall into seemingly complex composed dishes. This led to her popular newspaper column and, eventually, her new cookbook Ultimate Dining Hall Hacks. She emphasized that being creative was the key to maximizing her meal plan and the cookbook sets out to provide guidelines for current college students to do the same. In the Xhibition Kitchen, Priya demonstrated how salad bar vegetables and a few condiments could become a delicious panzanella while sliced grilled chicken, cucumbers, and yogurt make a versatile tzatziki chicken salad. The audience then sampled bruschetta made simply with sliced tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and lemon wedges on slices of toast. It was a great bite to end on and hopefully will inspire those in attendance to get creative in the dining halls!


Truly Texas Mexican by Adán Medrano

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month Northeastern Dining and The Latino/a Student Cultural Center welcomed Chef and food writer Adán Medrano to the Xhibition Kitchen for our semiannual Cocinar con Gusto (Cooking with Pleasure). Upon arrival Chef Medrano proclaimed via twitter “Hello, Boston! brought my Molcajete for the cooking demo & book signing!” In a celebration of Latin cuisine, Chef Medrano demonstrated his intellectually delicious recipes; Gorditas with Cactus and Shrimp bathed in red chile and Watermelon Canapes with Serrano, Avocado & Grapes. When asked what his first memory of cooking was, after some thought Chef Medrano responded “I have memories of eating my mother’s cooking”. Chef Medrano knowledge on Culinary Arts and History came together for a view and tasting of his people's culinary heritage. Ten lucky audience members won signed copies of Truly Texas Mexican.

14th Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest

The annual Pumpkin Carving Contest occurs each October in the days before Halloween. This annual contest pitted thirty-four teams of two students against each other to carve, scrape, and decorate a pumpkin worthy of the Northeastern community’s votes. While we provide the students with the hollowed out pumpkins and carving utensils, some teams bring their own props for an added level of uniqueness.

The finished pumpkins are displayed the next day in the Xhibition Kitchen, where the Northeastern community casts their votes on their favorite pumpkins. Online voting via Facebook and Twitter also allows friends and family at home to take part in the voting. The prizes consisted of $100 for first place, $75 for second and $50 for third. This year’s contest featured many creative designs including R2D2, "Frozen", and even a President Aoun pumpkin.

First place: Katherine Liu & Preema Patel Pumpkin Number 1 "Mike Wazowski"
Second place: James Gonsalves & Sophia Tsanotelis Pumpkin Number 11 "BEDO - BEDO -BEDO!"
Third place: David Solomon & James M Pumpkin Number 10 "Leonardo"


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