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About our host
Chef Brian O’Malley grew up cooking, camping and carousing in Omaha, Nebraska. He followed passions for design and philosophy before becoming a dedicated food and beverage professional. O’Malley graduated with Distinction from the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont, and it was there that he first saw a local food system and fine dining operations come together through the “Vermont Fresh Network.” This relationship has affected his cuisine and disposition in irrecoverable ways. More…
O’Malley has also worked as a chef in Santorini, Greece; Vail, Colorado; and here in Nebraska. He is currently an impassioned chef-instructor at the Institute for the Culinary Arts at Metropolitan Community College where he focuses (perhaps pollutes) the minds of budding culinarians toward the pleasures of local, sustainable cuisine.
O’Malley serves as coach and mentor for the American Culinary Federation’s Student Culinary Team Nebraska, and participates on numerous local and national boards for the culinary, hospitality, and food industries. He was an active member of the steering committee and is now on the Board of Directors for the Nebraska Food Cooperative, as well as an integral member of the Alternative Growers Group in Washington County. This relationship has already led to a reorienting of I.C.A.’s food purchasing mentality toward local and sustainable products. As a member of Slow Food USA and the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society, Chef O’Malley is constantly reminded that in order to be relevant around the world, a personal and local commitment is required.
As such, O’Malley acts as the muse extraordinaire for Sage Student Bistro, the student-run restaurant located at the Institute for the Culinary Arts on Metropolitan Community College’s Fort Omaha Campus. All menus in the bistro are generated by students and must focus on artisan food products and ingredients from Nebraska. This real-time, guest-centered, hands-on learning environment is a perfect vehicle for exciting both future chefs and current clientele about the unbridled joy of local, from-scratch cookery.
Delicious, nutritious, and so easy on the budget!
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| Featuring Georgia Jones, Associate Professor in the Nutrition & Health Sciences Department at UNL |
We’re all just too busy, but Dr. Georgia Jones has many great tasting recipes that are as easy on the budget as they are simple to make. Her recipes make it possible to prepare nutritious home cooked foods in little time. (And, you don’t need expensive kitchen appliances to do it.) Get started by checking out her demonstration on making a delicious green salad. She performed demos at each of the six community events… and had plenty of takers when it came time to sample!
[UNL Faculty profile on Dr. Jones]
Cooking at home
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The cooks of Recipe Box share the time-saving
tricks they use in their own kitchens. |
Download 14 easy-to-make recipes pre-organized on recipe cards, plus handy tips for dining on a budget. |
Behind the scenes
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Meet the cooks and production crew in this
behind-the-scenes photo gallery. |
A whirlwind tour of what goes into making
a kitchen Recipe Box-ready. |
The story behind the story
It was just before noon and we had finished taping Jo Lamb’s interview for the Solomon Butcher documentary. Jo is descended from Custer country pioneers who were photographed by Butcher. She and her husband, Howard, are family farmers who still live on the land her ancestor’s homesteaded.
Our shooting schedule was full that day, and as I was about to extend my thanks and set off for our next location, Jo invited Brian Seifferlein, Dan Burger and me to join her and her husband for lunch. Now, I’m from a small rural town that was surrounded by a patchwork of crops, and both sets of my grandparents were farmers. My mom and dad are still living on what is left of my great-granddad’s homestead. So, I clearly understood that to decline Jo’s generous offer would be rude. Plus, it had been a long time since I’d had the pleasure of eating lunch – or rather dinner – on a working farm. Jo said she could have something on the table in short order and being my mother’s daughter, I offered to help. More…
There’s something wonderful about watching an experienced cook in her kitchen. Jo’s fingers flew from cupboard to refrigerator, from stove to table as she pulled lunch together. She reminded me of the women I knew from my childhood. Women like my mother who possessed all the necessary skills to manage a well-oiled household and took great pride in it. I was comfortable in Jo’s kitchen and was glad she welcomed me into her realm. As her work progressed, I noticed she pulled a quart jar filled with a dark amber liquid from her cupboard, but when she poured the contents into a pan on the stove, my curiosity exploded.
Immediately I asked her about the contents of the jar. It was then that I learned it was canned beef made from the cattle they raised on their farm. I was familiar with how my mom canned a variety of fruits and vegetables, but meat was new to me. As Jo suffered through my questions, I learned the process didn’t differ a great deal from what I saw my mother do when canning tomatoes or pickles. But, as I smelled the aroma of the beef as it warmed on the stove, combined with the scent of biscuits baking in the oven, I knew we were all in for a delightful treat.
The meal was delicious. It brought back all kinds of happy memories I had tucked away and long forgotten. As we ate I began to think about what fun it would be to go into the kitchens of home cooks and not only learn how they make their family’s favorite foods, but the story behind those recipes, too. It was the spark that ignited The Recipe Box.
This cookbook features all the recipes and the stories we received during the submission period (170 total), plus many more from NET staff members. Host Chef Brian O’Malley added some notes to the finalist’s recipes, too. There are many, many NET staff members who contributed their fine talents to this production, but Kristi Koser deserves special recognition for creating the whimsical and truly brilliant graphic treatment.
In the words of Julia Child – Bon Appetite!
Kay Hall
Producer, The Recipe Box |
