Aspen – While some chefs use food to impress, others go for comfort. Emeril Lagasse, the celebrity chef some love to hate and some just love, demonstrated potluck dishes to a packed St. Regis Hotel ballroom Friday and Saturday at the Aspen Food & Wine Magazine Classic.
The crowd oohed over brie, aahed over Parmiggiano-Reggiano and applauded wildly at his mention of “pork fat.”
“I really feel there’s a movement of people eating and cooking and sharing,” he told the crowd, plugging his new book, “Emeril’s Potluck,” which Food & Wine senior test kitchen associate Grace Parisi said “is full of practical recipes that test really well.”
Snooty foodies often say Lagasse doesn’t really know how to cook, but the Johnson and Wales University-trained restaurateur explained the why of each step in his comfort-food recipes.
When audience member Zein Nakash asked if he had forgotten the cream in the corn chowder, he called her up onto the brightly lit stage and made her taste it.
“There’s a reason to Mr. Lagasse’s madness here,” he said, explaining that the cream goes in last, and slowly, to thicken the soup.
A few “bams” and one “kick it up a notch” later, and the savory bread pudding and flourless chocolate cake were out of the oven. On Friday, Mario Batali poked his head in, and the two chefs auctioned dinner with them and a Kitchen-Aid mixer spattered with egg for $15,000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Saturday, Boston chef Ming Tsai pitched in to auction an apron, mixer, toaster oven, ceramic knives and dinner with him and Lagasse to raise $20,000.
After his Saturday cooking demo, Lagasse mopped his brow, unbuttoned his chef coat, sipped cold water and sat still for an interview about his four kids, his fame and his passions other than food.
He has two daughters, 27 and 23, from his first marriage, and a 26-month-old son and 6-month-old daughter with his second wife, Alden. Like many second-chance dads, Lagasse tries to spend more time with the little ones, so we talked about what they eat.
“It starts from the top,” said Lagasse, who cooks dinner at home and has not allowed his son to eat fast food. “E.J. eats real food. We have snapper, he has snapper. I make him chicken soup, pasta bolognese every week.”
So what does one do with a picky kid? “Get ’em cooking. Get ’em eating. Food should be fresh, food should be fun.”
He puts those words into action with the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, which supports developmental and educational opportunities for children.
“It’s deep with me, it’s not just B.S. We took over a school kitchen in Harlem. If you would have seen it, you would have cried. I think you have to give back to evolve.”
And when he’s done cooking, then what?
“I’d like to play more golf. When I retire, I’d like to get on the Senior Tour.”
Quotable Emeril
“I don’t think you can be great without being humble.”
On his chocolate cake: “You get a bite and the roof of your mouth just starts to sing.”
On brie: “You could put this on the bumper of a car and it would taste good.”
RECIPES FROM “EMERIL’S POTLUCK”
SOUTHERN STYLE CORN CHOWDER
Ingredients needed:
4 ounces bacon, chopped
1 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3/4 cup finely chopped red bell peppers
5 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 7 ears)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 quarts Chicken Stock or
canned low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled russet potatoes
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup heavy cream
Finely chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
Place an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat and cook the bacon until crispy, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon and drain on paper towels. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the bell peppers and corn to the pot and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. Sprinkle the flour into the pot and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Pour the Chicken Stock into the pot and stir to combine. Use a whisk if necessary to break up any lumps. Add the potatoes to the pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and continue to cook for 20 minutes. Season the chowder with the salt and cayenne and stir in the cream. Serve with the bacon and parsley as garnish.
Makes 3 quarts, 10 to 12 servings
COUNTRY CAPTAIN
Ingredients needed:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Two 3 1/2-pound chickens, cut into serving pieces
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups chopped yellow onions
2 cups chopped green bell peppers
1 cup chopped celery
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
6 cups canned whole peeled tomatoes, crushed with their juice
1 cup Chicken Stock, or canned low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 cup dried currants
Steamed white rice, for serving
6 ounces toasted slivered almonds, for garnish
Combine the flour, paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and the black pepper in a large shallow dish and stir to blend. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture, coating evenly. Shake off any excess. Set aside.
Heat the oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken, in batches, until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to paper towels to drain; set aside.
Add the remaining tablespoon butter to the saucepan and add the onions, bell peppers, celery, bay leaf, curry powder, thyme, and crushed red pepper. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the tomatoes, Chicken Stock, brown sugar, and the remaining teaspoon salt. Stir to blend, and then reduce the heat to medium. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender but not falling off the bones, about 50 minutes. Add the currants and cook 10 minutes longer. Serve hot over steamed white rice. Garnish with the almonds.
Makes 8 to 10 servings
FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE
Ingredients needed:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus
1/2 tablespoon, softened
1 pound semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup Kahlua
8 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
Confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder, for decoration
Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Using the 1/2 tablespoon butter, grease a 9-inch springform pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a parchment round. Tightly cover the pan underneath and along the outer sides with foil and set in a roasting pan. Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil.
Combine the chocolate, butter, and Kahlua in a metal bowl set over simmering water or in the top of a double boiler. Melt the chocolate, stirring constantly, until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes; reserve.
Meanwhile, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until frothy and almost doubled in volume, about 5 minutes. Fold one-third of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula. Repeat this process two more times-until all of the egg mixture has been folded into the chocolate.
Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and add enough boiling water to the roasting pan to come halfway up the side of the springform. Bake until the cake has risen slightly and the edges are just beginning to set, about 25 minutes. Remove the cake from the roasting pan and cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Remove the foil, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the cake from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving. Remove the springform side, invert the cake onto a large plate, and peel away the parchment paper from the bottom. Invert the cake onto another large plate or serving platter and garnish with confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder immediately before serving.
Makes one 9-inch cake, about 16 servings
SAVORY SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE BREAD PUDDING
Ingredients needed:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 pounds spinach, washed, stems removed
2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Emeril’s Italian Essence or other Italian seasoning blend
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
Three 8 1/2-ounce cans quartered artichoke hearts, tough outer leaves removed
6 large eggs
3 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
12 to 14 cups 1-inch cubes day-old French bread
1 pound Brie cheese, rind removed, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted, about 30 seconds. Drain and rinse with cold water. Once cool, squeeze as much water as possible from the spinach, then coarsely chop and reserve; you should have about 3 cups.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until golden brown and tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, 2 teaspoons of Italian Essence, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the artichokes and cook, stirring, another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve.
Combine the eggs, cream, milk, lemon juice, remaining 1 tablespoon Italian Essence, remaining 2 teaspoons salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the bread cubes, spinach, artichoke mixture, Brie, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and parsley and stir to combine. If the bread does not absorb all of the liquid immediately, then let rest until it does, about 20 minutes.
Pour the bread pudding mixture into the prepared dish, sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan over the top, and drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Bake until firm in the center and golden brown, about 1 hour. Serve warm.
Makes 10 to 12 servings
