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 Katie MacphersonIf you’ve got a grill parked out back all covered up for the winter, it might just have one more use in it for the year. Grilled turkeys are a big-time favorite of Elizabeth Karmel, America’s female grilling expert. She was on call for the Thanksgiving Hotline, helping out listeners like Angela in Michigan. Angela is making two turkeys this year --way too much for her oven to handle. The answer? Throw one on the grill! Listen to the clip to find out more.
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 TiradoWe usually field calls from listeners who want expert advice from all the top chefs manning our Thanksgiving Hotline. But occasionally the boss lady, Martha Stewart calls the radio channel. Today Martha called the hotline and excitedly chatted with Pierre Schaedelin, executive chef at Alain Ducasse’s Benoit and her former personal chef. "Pierre worked with me for 2 years in Bedford. I miss you so much! I LOVE that you're participating in our hotline. All this information is so valuable to our listeners. Each and every one of you great chefs that are on today are so generous with your information and I really, really appreciate it," said Martha. Tune in to her phone call below.
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 Katie MacphersonDo you have a convection oven at home? Our caller Cheryl from Boston wanted to know whether she should use her convection oven to cook her 20 lb. turkey. Chef Anita Lo, owner of annisa Restaurant and Rickshaw Dumpling Bar in NYC (you might know her from Top Chef Masters!) told Cheryl that she’d be better off cooking her turkey with her regular oven because a convection oven might overcook that big of a bird. Listen below!
Posted by Alexis TiradoThe lovely Nigella Lawson, who's latest cookbook is called, "Christmas: Food Family Friends Festivities,"stopped by our radio studios for the Thanksgiving Hotline. She talked about a dundee cake which is like a boiled fruitcake. What makes this cake stand out? "The never changing feature of a dundee cake is that it has a concentric circle, a hole on the top. That's what makes it a dundee cake," explains Nigella. Listen to the mp3 below to learn more about this cool cake.
Image courtesy of Delia online.
Posted by Alexis TiradoA listener's 15-year old son wants to be in charge of the turkey and he wants to use a browning bag. The listener wants to know where to place the meat thermometer, amongst other things. Michael Lomonaco, executive chef and co-partner at Porter House New York in New York City, explains the basics behind turkey in a bag.
