Naked Nite @ TND

"No Way! It's not me, it's the food!"
- Jamie Oliver

Thursday Night Dinner (TND) has become an institution at the home of my good friends here in central MA. Each Thursday, they host family, friends, and neighbors at their home for a great meal and fun evening. A throwback from simpler times, TND gives us all the chance to get together, talk, laugh, and catch up on the week's happenings. With somewhere around 20 regulars and another 20 or so who stop by once in a while, it is always a full house - literally.

Recently, I teamed up with fellow TND regular Emilie to host what I called 'Naked Nite'. Okay, okay, get your mind out of the gutter! This was not a clothing optional evening. No birthday suits or skinny dipping. Only two visible cheeks allowed per person (above the waist, please). No, this was a celebration of self labeled "Naked Chef" Jamie Oliver's simple and delicious food. I know what some of you food snobs out there are thinking, but listen - Jamie's food is both easy to make and tastes fantastic. It is exactly the kind of food I enjoy making, and we all enjoy eating.

The 'Naked' monniker comes from the idea that Jamie's food is simple. The techniques he uses are 'stripped down' from the complicated restaurant methods so that anyone can make this food at home. The recipes are reduced to the 'bare essentials.'

I had the opportunity of meeting Jamie a few years ago while he was passing through Coral Gables on a book signing tour. But before the signing, there was a live cooking demo. In the bookstore courtyard, a couple hundred chairs were set in front of a touring cooking stage. Jamie came out, and wasted no time getting started. He mentioned that he was often asked if he cooks in the nude at home. He answered, in his typical Brit accent, "I don't reccomend that you actually cook naked. Aside from the whole hygene thing, you might burn yourself!" Yikes! I'll keep that in mind. **Fighting the urge to make the obvious inappropriate 'sausage' joke here**

Nice to meet you Jamie. Thanks for keeping your kit on.

Jamie's live performance was every bit as entertaining as I expected it to be. For his lamb curry dish, he put his cooking method to music, even stopping one point to play the drums while the tantalizing scent of sauteeing lamb and curry spice wafted through the courtyard. He prepared a dish with couscous and grilled veggies, his "Easiest, Sexiest Salad Ever" (a fantastic combo of fresh figs, mozzarella, and prosciutto - still one of my all time favorites), and finished up with a simple dish of cut pineapple with bashed up mint and sugar tossed on top. Not bad for a free show!

I left that night with some new ideas to try out, and a free box of couscous - which I still have to this day. Good thing pasta doesn't spoil.

So with this inspiration in mind, we sifted through his various books and websites, and chose the evening's menu:

World's Best Baked Onions
Summer Chickpea Salad
Baked Carrots with Cumin, Thyme, Butter and Chardonnay
Risotto with Goat Cheese and Prosciutto
Fantastic Roasted Chicken
Pukka Pineapple with Bashed-up Mint Sugar
Orange and Polenta Biscuits

With about 25 guests expected, we had a lot of cooking to do. Taking various ideas I had seen Jamie use, I prepared the chicken with chopped rosemary and strips of bacon draped over the top. The cavity was stuffed with lemon halves and some fresh herbs. The key to a perfect roasted chicken is simple - give it time. At 400F, expect a 4lb chicken to take at least an hour and 20 minutes. Let that outer skin get golden brown and crispy before you take that bird out, or else you'll be sorry. It would be like grabbing your clothes out of the dryer while they're still wet. Sure, you can wear them but...

Not quite there yet. Don't touch that chicken!

Getting naked in the kitchen... sort of.

While the chiken was cooking, I started to work on the risotto while Emilie made the onions. The combo of roasted onion with bacon, rosemary, and Parmigiano Reggiano totally earns the "World's Best" title. Some of the other dishes we made ahead of time, and others still were brought by gracious volunteers. This worked out pretty well, as we were easily able to pull together the entire dinner in about an hour and a half.

That is some 'pukka' poultry

Carrots, onions, and risotto

This chickpea salad is simply brilliant

Pineapple and polenta biscuits - just lovely

Dinner was served, and our labor of love was soon devoured. I think everyone really enjoyed the meal, which, let's face it, is the entire point. So, cheers Jamie, and thanks for the inspiration! I'm pretty sure there's a Naked Nite II in my future sometime soon.