Living a tasteful life

Friday, November 14, 2014

Cooking Demo with Chef Hugh Acheson

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a cooking demo at the Le Creuset L' Atelier with guest Chef Hugh Acheson. If you aren't familiar with Chef Acheson, let me catch you up real quick.

Hugh Acheson is the chef/partner of  Five & Ten, and The National in Athens, GA,  Empire State South in Atlanta, GA and The Florence in Savannah,GA. His first cookbook, A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen won the award for Best Cookbook in the field of “American Cooking” by the James Beard Foundation in 2012.

Some of his other recognition's include Best New Chef in 2002 by Food & Wine Magazine, and the award for Best Chef Southeast in 2012 by the James Beard Foundation. He has been in several publications including: Bon Appetit, the New York Times, Garden & Gun, Fine Living, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Southern Living, Saveur.  Hugh also competed in Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, Season 3 and starred as a judge on Top Chef, Seasons 9, 10, and 11.

Needless to say he has quite an impressive list of accomplishments, not to mention being a husband and father of two.

On the tasting menu last night, we started with a pickled shrimp and farro salad.


I can probably count on one hand the number of times that I've ever eaten farro. But after tasting this, I can't wait to go home and make this dish myself.  The flavors of the fresh herb marinated shrimp mixed with the slight nutty flavor and delicate chew of the farro made for a perfect combination.

Chef Hugh was very animated and did a wonderful job of entertaining the crowd while manning the kitchen. Below are a few action shots....

Assembling the farro salad

Coating the chicken with hot sauce



We finished off our tasting menu with Nashville style crispy hot fried chicken accompanied by sorghum bread and butter pickles.  I must say that this was the best fried chicken that I've ever had. It was nice and crispy but not too greasy. The chicken was breaded, fried, topped with a homemade hot sauce and finished off in the oven.  The skin really soaked up all the flavors of the seasoning,



Chef Hugh concentrates on fresh meals full of flavor, expressing the importance of supporting the community by eating and buying local. We all had the privilege of taking home a signed copy of his beautiful cook book.


I can't wait to take a shot at some of these recipes myself. I think I feel a dinner party coming on!























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