Chef Jeff Henderson, host of the new syndicated show Flip My Food (10 a.m. Monday through Friday on WTOL-TV, Channel 11), will be the featured speaker at Bowling Green State University’s “O2rdinary People, Extraordinary Stories” lecture Oct. 28.

But he’s not coming to speak about food, recipes, or even cooking in particular.

Instead, Mr. Henderson will talk about his life story, which is summarized in the subtitle of his 2007 autobiography, Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, from Cocaine to Foie Gras.

While Mr. Henderson doesn’t want to be known just as the chef who’s an ex-con -- a felon first and a television host only afterward -- his personal story of redemption and success after a 10 year prison sentence for drug dealing is inspirational. And this is precisely why the university invited him to be a part of its motivational lecture series, which also serves as a fundraiser for the library’s project to digitize, and make available online, a wide variety of materials.

“We’re very excited about him,” said Sara Bushong, Dean of the University Libraries at BGSU. She believes that Mr. Henderson “can inspire some folks to even change their lives.”

Mr. Henderson will speak at a students-only session during the afternoon. And he often takes time, while traveling for speaking engagements, to visit youth who are incarcerated, talking with them about his own experiences and offering his hard-earned wisdom for them to consider as they rebuild their lives.

The public is invited to purchase tickets for the “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories” program, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. with dinner in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom; this will be followed at 7:30 p.m. by Mr. Henderson’s talk and at 8:30 p.m. by a book signing.

Dishes from Mr. Henderson’s 2008 cookbook, Chef Jeff Cooks, will be showcased at the meal: Field Greens and Apple Salad, Garlic Herbed Marinated Chicken or Roasted Butternut Terrine, Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed String Beans, and Chocolate S’more Bread Pudding. BGSU alumnus Duane “DC” Crenshaw, a Chicago-area food and lifestyle expert, will be the emcee.

Kari Johnson, Manager of the University Libraries Administrative Services, says the school is hoping that “this event will appeal to a large audience, especially those with an interest in culinary arts, diversity, journalism and criminal justice.”

Mr. Henderson first found his love for cooking while serving his sentence. After eighteen months in prison, he was transferred to a unit that was “reserved for inmates who showed signs of rehabilitation and were on good behavior,” as he wrote in Cooked. Eight months later, he lost his job in a cleaning crew by neglecting his responsibilities while studying in the library, ultimately earning his G.E.D. He was told to report for kitchen duty at 6 o’clock the next morning.

“I couldn’t imagine washing pots and pans for 1,500 inmates three times a day. My idea of a kitchen was being at Grandma’s waiting to eat the food that I loved. Now I was going to be locked up in this massive industrial kitchen full of steam and grime. It never entered my hard head that any good could ever come of it.”

Mr. Henderson didn’t know anything “about mass production cooking, or restaurant cooking, or any noncrack cooking!” he wrote. “But I was anxious to learn and to prove myself.”

He worked his way up through the prison kitchen ranks -- first washing dishes, then learning to bake biscuits with a mix, and later taking over the commissary at Federal Prison Camp Nellis in Las Vegas when the previous supervisor had completed his sentence.

This discipline and dedication served Mr. Henderson well upon his release. Having initially been given a job as a dishwasher by Chef Robert Gadsby, Mr. Henderson moved on to master numerous kitchen stations in a variety of restaurants. He ultimately became the first African-American Chef de Cuisine at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, and was later named Executive Chef at Café Bellagio before leaving for his current projects.

In Cooked, Mr. Henderson wrote about the transformation that cooking helped him to achieve:

“I thanked God for delivering me to a point in my life where I saw hope and could feel real freedom .... And my time in the kitchen had given me direction. For the first time, I knew what I wanted to do with my life.”

What he wants to do is raise his children, be a family man, and work hard at being a creative chef.

And he wants to inspire others as an ordinary person with an extraordinary story, when he comes to Bowling Green to speak on Oct. 28.

The cost for the dinner, lecture, and book signing is $50 per person, with tickets available at bgsu.edu/library/about/ordinary-people-extraordinary-stories-.html. The deadline to make reservations is Oct. 20.

Contact Mary Bilyeu at mbilyeu@theblade.com or 419-724-6155 or on Twitter @foodfloozie.

RECIPES

Cakelike Cornbread

“The only way I like cornbread is moist and sweet like cake,” writes Chef Jeff Henderson, “but you don’t often find it made that way.”

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Whisk together the milk, eggs, and melted butter in a separate bowl.

Without overmixing, slowly pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients while stirring. Halfway through the mixing process, stop mixing and scrape the bowl, then continue mixing.

Pour the batter into a greased 9-inch skillet, baking pan, or muffin tins. Bake until a fork inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Source: Jeff Henderson, Chef Jeff Cooks: In the Kitchen with America’s Inspirational New Culinary Star 

Honey Butter

Whisk together the butter and honey until smooth, then place into a decorative serving cup. Serve right away, while very soft and spreadable, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set. Serve with the cornbread.

Yield: 1/2 cup

Source: Mary Bilyeu

First Published September 30, 2014, 4:00 a.m.