Birthday Brunch by Chef Vicky

My dad turned 60 at the end of last year and as you would expect, we wanted to do something special!  My sister came up with the genius idea to hire a private chef to cook a birthday brunch right in our home kitchen.  Even better, I just happen to know a private chef, my friend Chef Vicky who runs the blog Tha Fat Girl Food Chronicles.   We quickly linked with her and planned a Birthday Brunch by Chef Vicky.   Keep reading for all of the fun details!

How it Works

Vicky is a fabulous formally trained chef in the Houston area creating “date nights” for clients that feature brunch or dinner menus.   For the date nights, Vicky prepares a three course meal right in your kitchen.  She literally brings a full kitchen with her from the dishes, silverware, pots, pans and even her own soap to clean.

Vicky also let me in on a little secret.  “People want you to cook in their house, but they really don’t want you to cook.”  Meaning, they like to see the dishes made at their humble abode, but draw the line at the true amount of time it takes to cook these dishes.  Plus, the full on smells of frying food etc.  So with that in mind, Vicky preps a good portion of the food beforehand.  Even still the “chef magic” comes together before your eyes!  Of course I played paparazzi the whole time while she cooked because it was so fun to watch!

The Food

An apple mimosa topped with spices!

These experiences that Vicky curates are top notch.  Her creativity in the kitchen is amazing to me.  I cook the same 3 things every week so I am always impressed when someone can create a new fabulous dish.

For the first dish, Vicky created a crispy boudin fried crepes with a sweet and spicy sauce.  In many ways it reminded me of a cajun egg roll in the shape of a hot pocket, but better of course.  The spice from the boudin was perfect and the sauce provided a nice contrast.  Given that she fried these up in front of us, they were served hot and perfect!

Crispy Boudin fried crepes with a sweet and spicy sauce.

Next up, sweet potato stuffed french toast with bourbon apples fresh chantilly cream and sweet croutons.  So if that was not enough, she even used brioche (the best bread ever) for the french toast.   This is what I mean when I speak about creativity.  When I think french toast, I think bread, eggs, milk and syrup.  Vicky thinks at a higher level.  In this case,  there were several flavors and textures at play with the apples, sweet potato and croutons.   They all came together well.

French Toast from another angle.

French Toast

My dad was ready to pack it up after that dish, but there was MORE! Vicky ended with a crowd pleaser, sticky braised short ribs over a truffle mash with cajun gravy.  My mother generally refuses to eat mashed potatoes, but tried them because how often does a chef make them for you right?? She loved them! The short ribs were so tender they fell off the bone and that sauce? AMAZING!  Now, Chef Vicky shares a lots of recipes on her Instagram and is working on expanding her brand, but there are just some recipes that she will keep to herself.   I asked for this gravy recipe and she just smiled.

Braised short ribs!

The Takeaway

I should note that my dad was SUPER excited about all of this and told everyone who would listen about his birthday surprise.  Before Vicky showed up we were stalling him on heading to brunch, so this surprise was just perfect!  So the takeaway here is, if you are a foodie looking to do something different check out Vicky at ThaFatGirlFoodChronicles for your very own date night/brunch!