Kamikaze Chef Comes to Grow Local Kitchen

March 10, 2012 at 6:00 PM

Colleen Egan is a home chef who likes to entertain friends and family with tried and true recipes as well as experiment with unique flavor combinations. With no formal training, she's learned everything she knows from experimentation and watching the Food Network. She found herself getting inspired by programs to make new dishes with what she had in her pantry and fridge, but then ended up with full meals and no one to eat them! Now she cook for friends, family and  new faces in her home or in a host kitchen many times a year.

Colleen says...

I came up with this idea after watching years of the Food Network, trying my own recipes and hosting friends for dinner as often as possible. I wanted to turn it into something fun, something new and came up with The Kamikaze Chef.

Here’s how it works: my guests sign up to bring one item listed in the invitation, plus 1 beverage to share, and I promise a delicious meal and good company.

The items in the invitation are just food groups (i.e. protein, starch, vegetable, dairy, etc), so I don’t know exactly what they are bringing. I take their offerings and make a full meal, using all of the ingredients they bring, plus anything I have in my pantry or refrigerator. I get to plan one vegetarian entree and 2 appetizers, but I have to use everything they bring for the other courses and dessert.

We start the night early so I can figure out the menu while my guests start on beverages, appetizers and connect with old friends or make new ones. Guests can get very creative and the mystery ingredients range from the everyday rice and garden tomatoes to haddock filets and Japanese sweet potatoes.

I also get to pick a theme (Italian, Mexican, etc) before hand, but I don’t tell my guests what that theme is. That allows me to stock my pantry/fridge with the mandatory spices/aromatics I know I will need for that theme. One of my friends usually steps up to help serve as my sous chef and, as of right now, I have access to resources on the internet. If someone shows up with something I’m not familiar with, they’ll WANT me to find out how to prepare it.

This event is RSVP only, a fee-based event, and space is limited.  Contact http://thekamikazechef.com/  to get more info & sign up for these monthly dinners.