Obama's Personal Cook Family chef elevated to post as senior policy adviser

Dinners at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue might be a little greener these days: the new White House assistant chef, Sam Kass, is an environmentally conscious University of Chicago graduate who founded a home cooking service that focuses on ingredients from local farms.

Kass, 28, the Obama family's personal chef in Chicago, will assist White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford, a holdover from the Bush White House. Kass, who grew up in Chicago, trained at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Europe before going to work at Avec, a Chicago wine bar that specializes in Mediterranean food.

Avec chef-owner Paul Kahan has said, "The cool thing about Sam is that he's very active, very involved with issues that relate to food. His goal has always been to improve the world from a food standpoint."

After leaving Avec, Kass founded Inevitable Table, which according to the Web site promotes "a healthy lifestyle that focuses on the quality and flavor of food to encourage good eating habits."

Last year, Kass headed up the kitchen at Chicago's Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. The free weekly coffee klatches there are open to the public and serve soup, but no coffee. Chicago chef and food historian Barbara Kuck, a member of the American Culinary Federation, met Kass through the Hull House program. Kass often stood and ladled out his soups on Tuesdays to everyone who stopped in, she recalls.

"His cooking was very low key and down to earth and delicious," Kuck says. "It was amazing how you could just have this one bowl of soup and it was like nothing you had ever eaten. Sam would buy the ingredients from the farmers' market. He is very accessible and down to earth, very enthusiastic about organic food and all the food issues that we are facing."

Celeb chef Todd English - Olives is among his many restaurants here - says the appointment of Kass could be a a boost to the economy.

"The new administration's goal is to stimulate the economy, and a big part of it is the green initiative," English says. "Industries are dying and you need to create new ones. The benefits of having a chef in the White House who cares about local food and local farms are very obvious. Using local farmers is a great way of stimulating the economy and creating new jobs."

It's anyone's guess what Kass will be serving up, but here's a soup recipe from the Hull House Kitchen blog.

Beef and Barley Soup with Spring Vegetables

4 cups diced beef (stew meat)

2 cups chopped onions

1/4 cup chopped garlic

1/2 cups sliced green garlic

1 heaping teaspoon tomato paste

2 cups red wine

2 cups hulled barley

6 cups beef or chicken stock

Sachet (1 bay leaf, 2 sprigs thyme, 1 tablespoon peppercorns, 2 sprigs parsley stems)

Salt and pepper

Sear meat on high heat; remove the meat from pan when barely cooked. Lower the heat and add the onions, garlic and green garlic. Saute until light brown, scraping the bottom of the pan every time you stir.

Incorporate the tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes. Add red wine and reduce by three quarters. Add the stock, meat, sachet and barley and lightly simmer until barley and meat are tender. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/food/2009/01/29/2009-01-29_obamas_new_white_house_chef_sam_kass_wil-2.html#ixzz0ttO5ClzK