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Chef Graham Elliot Lends A Hand With Thanksgiving Dinner At The Ag School

By Howard Ludwig | November 26, 2014 7:10am
 Celebrity chef Graham Elliot helped students at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences prepare a Thanksgiving meal for 350 senior citizens on Tuesday. Elliot also encouraged the students at the Mount Greenwood school to continue pursuing food-related careers.
Graham Elliot At The Ag School
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MOUNT GREENWOOD — Imagine cooking Thanksgiving dinner with celebrity chef Graham Elliot standing over your shoulder.

The students at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences on Tuesday didn't seem to mind. Elliot is a celebrity judge on Fox's "MasterChef" and "MasterChef Junior." He's also the owner of Graham Elliot Bistro at 841 W. Randolph St. in West Town.

None of that stopped Elliot from lending a hand dressing pumpkin pies or encouraging students at the Mount Greenwood school to continue pursuing food-related careers.

"I went to three different high schools: Maryland, Virginia and Hawaii. We had nothing like this," Elliot said. He seemed in awe of the Southwest Side high school that prepares students for careers in agriculture, food management and other related occupations.

 Donald Barnes, 17, of Morgan Park is studying food science at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences in Mount Greenwood. On Tuesday, he helped prepare pumpkin pies for the annual Senior Citizen Thanksgiving Dinner. Barnes helped convert the pumpkins raised at the Ag School into the puree used to make the pies. He also made a pumpkin-flavored coffee creamer.
Donald Barnes, 17, of Morgan Park is studying food science at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences in Mount Greenwood. On Tuesday, he helped prepare pumpkin pies for the annual Senior Citizen Thanksgiving Dinner. Barnes helped convert the pumpkins raised at the Ag School into the puree used to make the pies. He also made a pumpkin-flavored coffee creamer.
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DNAinfo/Howard A. Ludwig

Meanwhile, upperclassmen in hair nets and cooking smocks were busy preparing for the second annual Senior Citizen Thanksgiving Dinner. Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th) coordinated the event, which was expected to draw some 350 seniors.

Seven turkeys were raised ahead of the meal in the high school's barn at 3857 W. 111th St. in Mount Greenwood. And many of the fruits and vegetables used to make the side dishes and desserts sprouted in the greenhouse or the surrounding fields.

Elliot believes students develop a unique relationship to food as a result of this farm-to-table approach.

"If you raise something and you see it go from egg to chick to turkey, you aren't going to leave it the oven to burn," he said.

Joseph Dionne, 17, of Mount Greenwood is studying horticulture at the Ag School. He started the onions used in the pre-Thanksgiving meal in the greenhouse and later moved them outside to finish growing. He also helped grow the mums used as centerpieces for the meal.

"We got those [mums] as plugs — which are baby plants — back in July," Dionne said.

He and Elliot chatted about Dionne's upcoming trip to South Korea, where he'll be studying at a similar agricultural high school for two weeks.

The famous chef urged Dionne to try all different types of food while abroad. He also had some advice for those cooking a Thanksgiving meal.

"For me, it's about getting things done as early as possible," Elliot said.

Elliot will host 17 people at his Morgan Park home on Thursday. In order to prepare for such a large group, he tries to pre-slice and pre-cook as many dishes as possible.

Then, he strategically maps out a plan to put the finishing touches on all the dishes, including a brussels sprout medley that includes bacon and several other tasty additions.

"It doesn't matter where you live. Everybody's house has four burners on the stove ... I have four burners with 12 pots ready to go," Elliot said.

O'Shea thanked Elliot for lending a hand in the kitchen as well as sharing his story with the students. He hopes Ag School Principal William Hook will offer to host the event again next year.

If so, Elliot has said he'd like a hand in the advance menu planning. This will let students know what type of crops to raise ahead of the meal.

"If you talk to these kids, they are tripping over themselves to get involved with this," O'Shea said.

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