Chef Jamie Oliver

April 15, 2010
    I have been following Jamie Oliver’s Food Fight TV series on Friday night. He is trying to change how schools feed their children in Huntington West Virginia. He has met a lot of non believers and angry “lunch ladies”. This comes as no surprise to me. My father was born and raised in Huntington. As a child I remember the gardens of fresh foods and the tables filled with a variety of vegetables and fruits. There always seemed to be plenty of comfort foods as well. Dad worked 18 hours a day and never had any health issues. As a child visiting we ate healthy and played and ran off most of those calories. Sadly over the years things changed and fast processed foods arrived. Schools lost their desire to cook so frozen and dehydrated foods started showing up in the school lunches. Unfortunately it got out of hand. It just seemed they found it easier to heat up food then actually cook it.
So along comes Jamie, who is doing the best he can to educate this town in West Virginia. So I thank you for all you are trying to do, Jamie Oliver.
If you get a chance please watch Food Revolution on ABC @ 9 Pacific Time. You can also catch up by going to ABC.com and view the past shows. Here is one of his recipes, and I will be publishing a few more of his healthy recipes he is sharing. 

Grilled Peach Salad with Bresaola and a Creamy Dressing
In Italy, fruit is often grilled. One of the best things Oliver had when he was there was simply grilled stone fruit sprinkled with vanilla sugar and served with ice cream. Peaches, pears, plums, apricots, even figs, are all good for grilling and don’t just have to be eaten as a dessert.
Here, grilled peaches are served with bresaola, which is very thinly sliced, cured, dried beef that you can get in Italian delis or good supermarkets. It’s salty, savory and goes with the peaches like a dream. This is Oliver's favorite little salad at the moment.

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 just-ripe peaches
A few fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper optional
Some woody herb stalks or branches (such as rosemary or thyme)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon natural yogurt or crème fraîche
16 slices of bresaola or Parma ham
A few sprigs of fresh tarragon, leaves picked
2 handfuls of arugula, washed and spun dry
3.5 ounces goat’s cheese, crumbled

Preparation
1. Preheat a barbecue or griddle pan until hot.
2. Cut the peaches in half, then twist them to remove the stones – don’t worry if they break up when you do this. Toss them in a bowl with chopped rosemary, a splash of olive oil and a little salt and pepper. If you’re cooking on a barbecue, throw some herb branches on to the coals if you like – this will give the peaches an herby, smoky flavor.

Recipe by Chef Jamie Oliver

Picture's by Lifescript

Thank you, Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver traveled from England to Huntington West Virginia, to help children and families change their eating habits. My father and his family were born and raised in this wonderful place. However Jamie was spot on. The food situation in this town has never changed. They ate biscuits, gravy, fried potatoes, creamed tomatoes etc. What has changed is that the residents are no longer working in the fields, mines or any hard labor as my father did. Daddy was slim because he worked 18 hours of hard labor every day, and worked off those calories. Most family’s had their own gardens and when they cooked, it was fresh with no preservatives of any kind. Over time the gardens dried up. Processed food found the way into kitchens and they became less interested in cooking or growing their own produce. When Jamie asked the children in their class room what vegetable he was holding up, they didn’t know. Sniff! Fast food they knew. Sniff! Sniff! Jamie came to Huntington to help with his love for our well being.
Thank you, Jamie. My dad would be so proud.