Award-winning author Jessica Theroux kicks off our show this week.  Jessica was on the show last year talking about her book, Cooking with Italian Grandmothers.  In May the book won the coveted International Association of Culinary Professionals 2010 Judge's Choice Award.

This month Jessica is featured in Food and Wine magazine (September issue).  The article, Healthy Dinner in an Hour, includes a quick seasonal menu.  Also, on August 27 to commemorate Chez Panisse's 40th anniversary and raise money for Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard Project, Jessica was one of many chefs who participated in ten benefit dinners in different locations around Berkeley, California.

Plus, the studio was buzzing with the new class of culinary students at Indian Hills (after all, it is the third Wednesday when we feature the program directed by Chef Gordon Rader).  It was a real thrill for me to meet and talk with the students on Monday in their Studio restaurant on the IHCC campus.  The energy in that room was sizzling.  I can't wait for all of you to meet them.

It's almost Spring so it's time to eat baby artichokes that make their way here from California.  The best I've found are grown organically by T & D Willey Farms in Madera.  We've had them in soup, pasta, risotto, and braised.  Every day is artichoke day; at least for a short while.  Before we know it asparagus will arrive, and the flood that follows that amazing stalk.  That reminds me I still haven't ordered seeds for a number of plants.  Hmmm, better get on that.

SHOW INFO

What tastes better than luscious, ripe summer tomatoes made into a cool tomato soup with crusty croutons?  That was a rhetorical question.  The better question is what does that soup have to do with this week's edition of GREAT TASTE?  Nothing, except one of our guests, Charlie Schiller, is bringing in some heirloom beauties from his garden.

Charlie and David van Riet, both culinary students at Indian Hills will give us a peek into the stress of the current quarterly finals week.  Also, we'll discuss what it's like to look for culinary internships, the movement to put farms and schools together so our kids not only eat well, but understand where their food comes from, and a restaurant report from my latest trip to Las Vegas.  Of course, we'll fire up the burners in the KRUU studio kitchen and have something fresh to serve you when you drop by.

A new chapter gets underway this week in the weekly culinary adventures on GREAT TASTE.  We're going to highlight Ottumwa's best kept secret, the students attending Indian Hills Community College's Culinary program.  Starting this week and continuing the third Wednesday of each month students in the program will cook "live" in the studio and share their culinary knowledge and passion with us.

Every time I hang out with these kids I come away from the experience elated and energized.  Their enthusiasm fills the air plus I always learn many things listening to their discussions.  Oh yes, the food they make is really delicious.