Cooking In Sandy Springs Les Marmitons Butternut Squash Soup

As you may know, I am the host of the Cooking With Madjon and Friends television show for ASTV95. Sometimes, I get a chance to wander off on other adventures with cooking, and in April, I was asked to join the Les Marmitons of Sandy Springs, located near Atlanta, to cook with about 20 male chefs and cooks at the Art Institute in Atlanta.

So, you may be left wondering exactly what a Les Marmitons is. Well, it’s a gentlemen’s  cooking club, and some of them may be chefs and some may just like to journey down the road for a wonderful gastronomic experience. The cooking club also is worldwide, and its name  is  French, meaning “kitchen boy, or chef’s helper.” This was not my first rodeo experience with the Les Marmitons. I also was invited last March to cook with the club from Canton, Ga.

Hello its MadJon again and hoping all is well in Web Land.  Today we will talking about cooking with the Les Marmitons Chef's at the Art Institute in Sandy Springs.  When we went to the check in desk the lady

says, I can't believe that they asked a women Chef to come in and cook, I've never seen that before.

The group not only is known for eating and drinking a lot of wine, but also for raising money for a plethora of charities. They ask top chefs to join them about eight times a year, and those chefs choose the menus. The group then chooses the types of wine to pair with the meals.

So, the night of the dinner, five dishes were served, and I drink about five glasses of wine by the time the night ended. I did, however, manage to get all the way to the end of dessert without falling over.

At this event, I chose roasted asparagus and avocado salad, squash soup, chicken Cordon Bleu, garlic mashed potatoes and raspberry German chocolate torte. It was nice having the event at the Art Institute of Atlanta because we had two other chefs joining in on the fun, plus five culinary art students helping.  Many thanks to the students  for plating 40 meals and providing the role of soue chefs.  I also want to thank the chefs on hand for all their hard work to make the event a great success.

It took about two hours of instruction, which included cooking the dishes to bring together this wonderful delicious experience, not to mention the fellowship and new friends made along the way. All and all, I don’t think I was too hard on them, because they asked me to come back next year, and I will jump at the chance. 

There were a few things they learned along the way, such as always reading your recipes first before you  begin. Make sure you have all your ingredients. Set up your stations with the pre-measured ingredients and it is always helpful to ask your chef if you have a  question.  Oh, and  I almost forgot, they also learned a new way to crack an egg and peel an avocado. 

They also learned to improvise whenever you are cooking, because what you start out with may not be what you end with, like how they went from a torte to a parfait for the dessert. But,  all’s well that ends well, I always say. 

The Les Marmitons of Sandy Springs are a great group of men, and I take my hat off to them. To all my foodies fans out there, thanks so much for reading and watching my show, and thanks for letting me share my love for you though food. I welcome any of you to sponsor the Cooking With MadJon and Friends TV show on  ASTV 95, and here’s to your gastronomy experience. 

Bona Y’ all!  Eileen Hutson, MadJon

 

 Butternut Squash Soup 

 

(2 to 3 pound) butternut squash, peeled and seeded

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic minced 

4 cups chicken stock

Nutmeg pinch

 1 tsp. Thyme

       Cinnamon Pinch

  2 Cups Half and Half

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Cut squash into 1-inch chunks. In large pot melt butter. Add onion and garlic cook until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add squash and stock. Add the pinch of thyme, nutmeg, and cinnamon to the mix. Bring to a simmer and cook until squash is tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove squash chunks and place in a blender and puree. Return blended squash to pot.  Then add your half and half and simmer serve with Cheese and Crisp Bacon on top.

Serves 6