Organic Baby Food

Eric Ripert, head chef at New York’s Le Bernardin, dropped by with these great baby food suggestions:

Sumner's Surprise

1st Recipe

(Makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 peach

1/4 cup blueberries, plus 16 blueberries

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon sugar

Special equipment: baby blender

Method:

Steam peach for 20 minutes or until tender

Meanwhile, place ¼ cup blueberries, water and sugar in a baby blender. Blend until smooth, approximately one minute.

To serve, slice peach into 16 slices. Arrange 4 slices per plate in a circular pattern. Sprinkle each plate with blueberries, 4 per plate. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon sauce and serve.

Extra tips:

Cut bananas at last minute so they stay fresh

Kiwi should be soft to the touch. Discard the center if it is hard

Choose blueberries with fine white dust still on them. It means they're fresher the deep blue ones.

Don't put potatoes in baby blender or they'll become sticky. Mash them with a fork instead.

2nd Recipe

(Makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 kiwi

1 banana

1/2 cup raspberries, plus 4 additional raspberries

1/4 cup yogurt

2 teaspoons sugar

Special equipment: baby blender and 1-inch ring mold

Method:

Place the ¼ cup raspberries, yogurt and sugar in a baby blender. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Set aside.

Peel kiwi and cut into small dice. Peel the banana and cut into small pieces.

Thoroughly combine kiwi and banana in a bowl.

To serve, place ¼ of the fruit mixture into the ring mold. Top with one raspberry. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the yogurt sauce around the fruit.

3rd Recipe

(Makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 medium size potato, yukon gold preferred

1/4 cup whole milk, warmed

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon water

1/2 cup diced chicken

Salt and finely ground white pepper to taste

Method:

Boil potato with skin on until tender

Remove potato from pan and peel. In a bowl, add milk to the potato, lightly mash with fork and season with salt and pepper

In another pan, add the butter and water and warm until butter melts over medium heat.

Add ham and lightly warm

To serve, place 3 tablespoons of the mashed potatoes in a mold on a plate. Add 1/4 of the diced chicken to the top of the potatoes. Remove mold and serve.