Posted by Katie MacphersonChef Rick Bayless-- owner of three esteemed Chicago restaurants: the Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, and XOCO --helps out our listener, Diana, who wanted to know whether she should mix fresh and dried herbs for her turkey rub. Chef Rick is all about the fresh herb -- —and he suggests roasting garlic, mashing it up with butter and chopped herbs (like rosemary, sage and thyme) and rubbing it under the skin. Check it out below!
Posted by Katie MacphersonChef Joey Campanaro of the famed Little Owl restaurant in NYC came totally clean this afternoon. His favorite way to cook a turkey? The Martha Stewart way! Joey is all about the butter, white wine and cheesecloth method. Listen to him describe it in detail below.
Posted by Katie MacphersonOur caller Kate’s mother-in-law is making a standing rib roast for Thanksgiving this year. Kate’s in charge of the sides, and called in to ask Chef Paul Liebrandt of Corton in NYC what he would serve. He told her the secret to making “the best roasted potatoes you’ve ever eaten.” Um… yes please? Listen below!
Posted by Alexis TiradoListener Brenna called the hotline and told the great Mario Batali (who has a cameo in the new film, "Fantastic Mr. Fox") that he inspired her daughter to become a chef! She asked Mario for his suggestion for one amazing side dish that can accompany the turkey. His response?
"I think everyone loves sweet potatoes. I would take sweet potatoes, peel them, cut them into 1 1/2 - 2 inch. relatively large cubes. Blanche them in water for about 4 minutes. Boiling water -- not long enough to cook them all the way through but enough to get them to soften. Take them out. Get a cookie sheet, put extra virgin olive oil on there, a little bit of chopped sage, a couple pieces of chopped garlic, and mix that all around in the oil. Then put the sweet potatoes on top of that -- toss them. Season them with salt and pepper and bake them at 500 [degrees] for 25 minutes."
"They will get insanely crispy outside, they'll be soft like everyone's favorite memory of the smushy ones [on the inside]. Instead of putting marshmallow-y stuff on it, go to the grocery store and pick up a pomegranate and break the seeds out of that. Sprinkle that over [the sweet potatoes} after you put it in the bowl. It will blow people away."
Posted by Alexis TiradoOMG! Thanksgiving is less than 24 hours away! And luckily for you, we are still airing the Thanksgiving Hotline on Martha Stewart Living Radio! This morning, Franck Deletrain, executive chef of Cafe Centro answered Pam from Oklahoma call about the best way to cook pheasant. "Definitely in the oven. Just roast it in the oven. What I like to do with the pheasant is to wrap it with bacon, very thinly sliced apple smoke bacon. Season it, wrap it and put it in the oven at 350-375 [degrees]. About three quarters of the way [cooking] just remove the bacon. [It will leave] a nice color on the skin. I'd like to cook a pheasant meat medium- medium well, no more than that. Otherwise it's a dry piece of meat," he said. Tune in to hear hear him talk shop about Pheasant cooking and his wine suggestions to go with this game bird.
Posted by Alexis TiradoA listener was on the search for an AMAZING mashed potatoes and bacon recipe. "Something more interesting that basic mashed potatoes with bacon sprinkles on top," explained the listener. Chef and restaurateur Charlie Palmer shared his thoughts for an outstanding bac-and mash-dish, in the mp3 below. Betsy Karetnick, co-host of Everyday Food and Morning Living, also suggested Martha's mashed potatoes with bacon and cheddar.
Posted by Alexis TiradoA listener called in because she's making a cherry pie and she's using frozen cherries. Luckily for this listener, Johnny Iuzzini, executive pastry chef for Jean Georges and Nougatine, was on air to share his baking tips. Johnny prefers sour cherries for pies. He also told the listener: "Don't put [your pie] in the fridge overnight. People don't realize that pies can hold up overnight outside. The second you put them in the fridge they're going to take on the moisture and humidity in the fridge and that's when your pie shell gets gummy or moist." Listen to the audio clip below to get all of Johnny's tips on making a sweet cherry pie.
Posted by Alexis TiradoItalian chef Lidia Bastianich stopped by the studios to answer phone calls on the Thanksgiving Hotline. A listener asked Lydia about the best way to make clams casino. Lydia loves clams casino -- "they're one of my favorites," she said. She suggests shucking fresh clams (for easy shucking she says to put them in the freezer for 45 minutes before you shuck them). Post-shucking, she said to add a little of piece of roasted pepper, 2 pieces of bacon, a pinch of butter and some chopped parsley. Put clams on a baking pan, put a little olive oil and wine and bake for 375 degrees. It won't take long to cook. "[The clams will turn out] clean, beautiful and delicious. Clams with crisp bacon...who wouldn't like that?" said Lydia.
Posted by Mario BosquezOne of the big Thanksgiving dinner dilemmas is whether to serve bread, biscuits, or rolls. Recently on "Living Today's" Baking Day segment (it airs every Thursday) we had Jim Lahey, executive baker and owner of New York's Sullivan Street Bakery on air. He said to go the bread route and make it from scratch.
Jim has also written a cookbook, "My Bread: The Revolutionary No Work, No Knead Method" which outlines his concept for baking bread. Jim's concept includes the simplest of ingredients: bread flour, instant or other active dry yeast, and flour for additional dusting. Jim recommends using a 5 qt. cast-iron pot with an oven-proof lid for baking the bread. Although there is a required rising time of at least 12 hours there is only a brief additional rising time and then baking for about an hour! This unique recipe is called Jones Beach Bread and includes seawater! The recipe for Jones Beach Bread is listed below. I hope it inspires you to bake a fresh loaf of bread for the holidays.
Download Jones Beach Bread
Posted by Sandy GluckIf you need a couple of quick apps for your holiday dinner, you might think about a little bit of cheese. You'll find some good ideas for quick bites in Hallie Harron's book "Cheese Hors d' Oeuvres." Many of the tasty bites can be prepared ahead, making dinner that much easier. A few that caught my eye, and my appetite, are White Cheddar Gougere, puffy savory/cheesy cream puffs, Brie Bites, and Parmesan Biscotti. This little book is packed with 50 recipes, from creamy, to crispy with lots of stops along the way.
I decided to make the Parmesan Biscotti and while the original had almonds in it, I added a little pork product for Shavon my engineer. Hey, it's almost Thanksgiving, and I've got to show my appreciation. And thank you to Hallie for the inspiration.
Parmesan Biscotti
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled plus more for work surface
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup finely grated stravecchio (Wisconsin parm), or Parmesan
1/3 cup finely chopped dry spicy chorizo, pepperoni, or soppresata
3 tablespoons cold butter, cut up
4 large eggs
1/2 cup cold water
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line a large baking sheet with parchment.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, paprika, salt, and cheese. With a pastry blender or two knives scissors-fashion, cut the butter into the flour mixture until pea-size bits of coated butter remain. Stir in the chorizo.
3. In a glass measure, whisk together the water and 3 eggs until combined. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, add the egg mixture and with a fork, work gently until combined. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and with floured hands, knead gently until smooth, about 2 minutes. Divide in half, transfer to baking sheet and shape each into a log about 9 inches long. Beat the remaining egg and brush on the logs.
4. Bake until top slightly golden, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven, cool 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325. Cut each log on the diagonal into 1/4-inch thick slices. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until crisp. Cool on wire rack, then store in an airtight container up to 3 weeks.
