Al Dente

What to Cook this Weekend: Maple Scalloped Sweet Potatoes with Sage

I love sweet potatoes! The kind of love that could make me burst into song when I think about the possibility of these burnt orange beauties crossing my plate. Ok, ok, that's a bit much. But I do love sweet potatoes. I especially love them in this recipe developed by Seattle Times's culinary cover girl Kathy Casey. In fact last time I made this, it became my main course. If you're looking for a new holiday side dish this year, I heartily suggest this one. Even if you enjoy it half as much as I do, I think it'll be a hit.

Ingredients:
8 cups peeled and thinly sliced ( 1/4-inch) sweet potatoes (about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds)
Maple Cream:
3 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup real maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Topping:
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
3 tablespoons high-quality grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage leaves
Fresh sage leaves for garnish

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Spray a 3-quart casserole with vegetable cooking spray or lightly butter it. Then arrange sliced sweet potatoes in an even layer. In a large bowl whisk together the cream, maple syrup, nutmeg, thyme, sage, salt and pepper until well combined. Pour the maple cream over the sweet potatoes and push them down a bit to be sure they are coated in liquid.

3. Prepare the topping by combining bread crumbs, Parmesan, thyme, parsley and sage; set aside. 4. Bake casserole for 35 minutes and then sprinkle with topping and bake another 25 to 35 minutes or until topping is browned, potatoes are tender and liquid is thickened. 5. Garnish with a sprinkle of fresh sage leaves.

--Sous-chef-on-the-Run

Celebrity Chef Blog: Gift Ideas for Aspiring Chefs and More

In case you missed it, this week's celebrity chef blog featured a suggestion for your turkey leftovers courtesy of Chinese food expert Helen Chen. Former Le Cirque cook cum Henckels culinary relations manager and executive chef, Jeffrey Elliot offered excellent tips for selecting the right knives for your kitchen tasks. And, Table Fifty-Two owner and 2006 Chicagoan of the Year, Art Smith offered gift ideas, sharing his personal "favorite things".

For more gift ideas, check out Amazon.com's Holiday Gift Store. Happy Holidays!

--Sous-chef on the Run

The "Bam!" Heard 'Round the World

The writing seemed to be on the kitchen walls when the Food Network recently moved Emeril Live!, the network's once flagship show, to 7PM from its 8PM slot, and, as reported earlier this week, they've officially pulled the plug on the program, with the last episode taping on December 11. The show will live on in reruns and Emeril's studio-audience-free show Essence of Emeril will continue taping.  The Food Network's reasoning seems to be "that all good things come to end," but it's not a great sign of what's to come following the September news that Mario Batali's two shows wouldn't be renewed.

This is what Anthony Bourdain had to say about the Food Network when I interviewed him last year:

"It particularly pains me to see them slowly weed out the trained chefs--deliberately. They don't want them; they've said so. They got rid of Sara Moulton for god's sake--she helped build that network. Mario doesn't have a stand-up cooking show anymore. That's shameful. They're growing their own talent--like industry bands--out of Petri dishes, and teach them to cook, I think, then build brands around them. I understand the economics behind it, it works for them, but you look at some of the food... The Food Network's about food the way MTV is about music, which is to say, not at all anymore."

Both Emeril and Batali seem to be taking the network's decision in stride. In a message to his fans, Emeril says "It's been such an incredible ride…but there is much more to come." And during an appearance on The Martha Stewart Show this week Batali said, "Well, the Food Network has made the conscious decision to go a little more mass market than I would say that I appeal to. But I am still on Iron Chef and as a matter of fact, I am the number one Iron Chef!"

--BTP

Mutilate Your Thirst—Not Just a Dream Anymore

As read on the always sugary Junk Food Blog, fictional culinary (using that term super loosely) product, “Brawndo the Thirst Mutilator” is going to become a real live drink, starting December 15. First appearing in the film “Idiocracy,” this energy drink calls itself a "lemon-lime endurance supplement beverage" and is being brought to the world by Redux Beverages. So, warn your thirst about Brawndo (or, to follow the tagline of this, um, boastful beverage, let your plants know, as "it's got what plants crave"). Are there any other fictional food or drink products that you’d rather see actually brought to life? Maybe the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster? Crunchy Frogs? Duff Beer?

Scandal in Candyland

First, they try to change the composition of chocolate by petitioning the FDA to allow cocoa butter to be replaced by cheaper fats.  Now there are allegations of chocolate price fixing in Canada that may expand to other types of candy.  What in the world is happening to chocolate and what does this mean for chocolate's biggest season?
-flauersmartini

Happy Hour Drink Special: The Hugo Special

This combination of gin, sweet vermouth, and freshly muddled pineapple and orange slices may seem like it should be a summer drink (with the hints of tropical-ness and all). But I always like my Hugo Specials in winter, when they remind me of summer. Shake up a couple and take your mind off the cold.

--A.J. Rathbun

Winter Smoking: Chuck Roast

Forget leftovers. I'm moving on. It's not that I don't love turkey sandwiches with a touch of honey mustard, I just don't want it for lunch and dinner every day this week.

On Sunday we caught a break from the usual Northwest gloom so I fired up my Weber Smoky Mountain. I was in the mood for the complete opposite of turkey and bought a 3 lb. chuck roast. Cheap and simple. I coated it with some garlic-infused olive oil and a dry rub. I used a standard smoking setup with the water pan a little about 3/4 full and kept the temperature around 220 degrees.

After the first hour, I mopped it with a mixture of dry rub, barbecue sauce and hot sauce. After 3.5 hours and three moppings, my hunk o' chuck was at 150 degrees and extremely tender. The cool weather made it hard to keep the smoker's temperature steady. In the end it required nearly half a bag of lump charcoal.

I wrapped the meat in foil and let it sit for about 20 minutes. Then I sliced it very thin and mixed it with some finishing sauce (my mop with more barbecue sauce, maple syrup, and Dijon mustard). With a little garlic butter and a toasted French roll, and I was in business.

--Spanno

"Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet": Padma's Passport to Flavors

In addition to her role as host of Bravo's Top Chef, Padma Lakshmi's résumé also includes work modeling, acting, and as the award-winning cookbook author of Easy Exotic: Low-Fat Recipes from Around the World. Her new book, Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet, is a personal scrapbook of recipes that serves as a culinary passport to a world of international flavors. Padma recently visited the Amazon offices during the Seattle stop of her book tour for a late afternoon coffee break with a few Amazonians at the Starbucks in our building. Graced with undeniable poise, and resplendent in a ready-for-the-runway white dress with matching go-go boots, Lakshmi turned heads as soon as she stepped off the elevator. Afterward she joined me in our podcast studio to talk about her book, Top Chef, the secret to her fried chicken recipe, and much more.

Some highlights from our talk are below. Read or listen to the  entire interview on this week's episode of Amazon Wire.

--BTP

Amazon.com: How do you envision a home cook approaching your book? What's the best way for them to dive in to it?

Lakshmi: That's a great question, Brad. I think the best way to do it, especially with the more complicated recipes--there are some really easy recipes. The easiest one being Chili Honey Butter--and it's exactly that. Probably the most--I would say, not difficult--but a bit intimidating recipe in the book is the Chicken Bisteeya--the curried Moroccan pie. And that dish is traditionally made with pigeon, but I thought I better do it with ground chicken--you can do it with ground lamb or ground turkey or whatever.

What I recommend for all these recipes is to do them when you have time on a Saturday. And think of it like a hobby, like you would with doing a crossword puzzle, or anything else. I would do your mise en place before you start. Mise en place is a French term meaning to chop all your vegetables and put them into place before you begin. That way you're not scrambling--you're doing yourself a favor. I do a mise en place for the week in my own home. I know I'm going to use onion, I know I'm going to use garlic, I know I'm going to need some chilies, I'm probably going to use some bell peppers... so I chop those things up, I put them in a plastic container, and I stick them in my fridge. Most of cooking is the labor of chopping. Give yourself a break. Pretend you're on a cooking show and have all your ingredients lined up for you. I learned this, actually, going on The Martha Stewart Show. Arrange the ingredients on your counter in the order that they appear in the recipe. So even when you're cooking and you're stirring and you don't want to burn yourself, the next thing that you're reaching for is the next full plate or bowl of ingredients. And don't use a different dish for every single ingredient. If you've got three ingredients that go in at the same time, put them all in the same plate. That way you have just one plate to dump in.

Amazon.com: Makes perfect sense. It sounds like a lot of work but in the long run it more than makes up for it.

Lakshmi: Yeah, once you do a recipe a couple of times like that, then you're not under the pressure of Oh my god, it's not going to come out well and then if it doesn't come out well what am I going to serve for dinner? Most of these recipes, except for maybe the fried recipes--but even the fried recipes--they are great as leftovers. There's not anything in my book that isn't great as leftovers. Probably the flautas, because they're fried and they're better eaten hot. Even the fried chicken is great cold.

Amazon.com: Cold fried chicken... that's the best.

Lakshmi:   Yeah.

Amazon.com: Speaking of fried chicken, you were raised a vegetarian, but was there a turning point when you became a full-time carnivore or did it sort of happen naturally?

Lakshmi: It happened very gradually. It started with the most heinous of things--pepperoni on pizza, bologna on sandwiches, hot dogs. Probably the first thing I ate was a hot dog on a New York street corner. Not exactly the Cordon Bleu method. Once I was a teenager and growing up in this country, I sort of got phased in that way. Kids can be cruel. I remember when I first came here and I was eating from Tupperware with curry and rice and vegetables. You know, it's very pungent. In the 80s India wasn't as groovy as it is now. India's had two groovy moments. Once when the Beatles went to India and now when Madonna has embraced yoga. Kids were mean and they'd be like, ewww, what is that? I wanted to fit in. And that's how it started really.

Amazon.com: And I guess your mouthwatering three-page tribute to bacon in the book officially seals the deal?

Lakshmi:   Yes! Yeah, it does.

Amazon.com: And as mentioned, you also throw your hat into the ring with a fried chicken recipe. As you say in your headnote, what's a girl from south India know about Southern fried chicken? Where did that recipe come from?

Lakshmi:   Years of tasting! I'm a sucker for fried chicken--I really love it. I'm a fan of all of Edna Lewis' recipes. I recently met the Lee Bros. who happen to be huge Top Chef fans--and gosh they are cute in person! I really love fried chicken. In a way that somebody else converts to Judaism or becomes a Hare Krishna, I belong to the church of fried chicken.

Amazon.com: You're a would-be Southerner...

Lakshmi:   I know, I really am.

Amazon.com: Your secret ingredient is Rice Krispies and a double brine...

Lakshmi: Yeah... there are two schools of fried chicken. One is brining in salted water and the other is soaking in either buttermilk or milk. I just combine the two. I basically use like a Maldon or coarse-grain sea salt and I do it in whole milk and I just cut the chicken up. I stir the salt until it actually dissolves into the milk. That's very important. I like sea salt rather than iodized salt because I think the mineral content adds a real briny, ocean flavor to it. I encourage people to layer flavors. I remember when we were editing this book on another recipe--I think a crumble recipe--one of the editors who was helping me with the measurements said, You have three kinds of sugars and Frosted Flakes and no serious chef will take you seriously. And I said You obviously don't have children in your house because if you have children in your house you have Frosted Flakes. And I'm using three types of sugars because that's what makes it taste the best. If you don't have three types of sugar then please, use just one.

Amazon.com: And like you said, even better the next day.

Lakshmi:   Oh, yeah! Absolutely better the next day.

Amazon.com: How has working on Top Chef altered your point of view on food?

Lakshmi:   It's made me much more omnivorous. I went to Top Chef very much a carnivore, but I had certainly never eaten frog legs and elk and bison and kangaroo and rattlesnake--often in the same meal together. It has broken every food inhibition that I could hope to even think of. I will eat anything, at least once. For better or worse.

Amazon.com: And how does the featured city on the show affect the vibe of each season?

Lakshmi: It affects it considerably. It's kind of a pain in the neck for us to pick up and move to a different city every time--a lot of us on the set grumble about it. But I do think for the show it's very useful. Each city has its own culinary landscape. For instance, Miami, which has already aired, has this wonderful blend of Caribbean culture and Latin American culture and Southern American culture (talking about fried chicken). All those combine to make for a very very interesting array of ingredients, restaurants, and the chefs that come there. It also has great seafood, not to mention the glorious citrus that's there. And all those things inform what you do--and they should. If any chef ever tells you they're not inspired equally by the truck-stop barbecue as they are by the four-star Michelin restaurant they are lying.

Amazon.com: I know you're sworn to secrecy, but any hint of a preview of what to expect in Chicago?

Lakshmi:   Yes, I am sworn to secrecy, but I can tell you there are a lot of strong women this season.

Amazon.com: And finally, Padma, of the four taste sensations in the title of your book, is there one you're drawn to over the others?

Lakshmi:   The "hot" (laughs).

Limited-Edition Seasonal Snacks

Just in time for the holiday season, Kellogg's announced their limited-edition Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Pop Tarts, and Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages has released a limited-edition Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr. Pepper. I haven't been down with Pop Tarts since I overdosed on them back in college, and I'm not the hugest fan of chocolate-covered cherries, but I suppose these are two items that need to be investigated. I have yet to actually see either of these in stores, so if anyone's been lucky enough to spot 'em and try them out, fill us in! If I beat you to it, I'll let you know the verdict.

--AndreaLeigh

Latest Kitchen Gadgetry: The Garlic Zoom by Chef'n

While you can already get this (relatively) new Garlic Zoom at some retailers, I thought I would take the opportunity to tell you about this  little gadget from the good people at Chef'n.

Last week, my cook's tools and cutlery team went to visit the Chef'n folks in their Seattle office--only a few blocks away from ours. They sat down with us to demo their latest and greatest gadgets coming very soon to kitchen retailers near you. And, while I was initially dubious about the effectiveness of the Garlic Zoom, my doubt proved to be completely wrong.

This little chopper is sharp. The Zoom is easier, more effective, and definitely more fun to use than other garlic tools on the market, e.g., the garlic twist, a garlic presses, etc. And, the kind folks at Chef'n indulged us when we got into a brainstorming about custom designed Garlic Zooms. Don't you think it would be fun if you could model the wheels and color of the body to match your favorite cuisine? A hamburger with a bun for wheels? Falafel with green cucumber wheels? Or, even cooler--like your favorite Hot Wheels design? The Zooms could become big time collectibles and develop a cult following, sort of like Zojirushi's Mr. Bento.

Anyway, we'd like to send a big "thank you" to the staff at Chef'n for humoring and entertaining us with their latest kitchen gadgetry. And, if you're looking for a quirky, yet highly effective kitchen gift for that special chef, don't pass up the Garlic Zoom!

--Sous-chef on the Run

PS. Amazon.com will be carrying these within a couple weeks!

PPS. Nov 27 Update: We now have these available for delivery within a few weeks! Tie one on a holiday gifts for the special chef on your list.