Celebrity Chefs

New Emeril Show To Launch In March

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Have you been missing Emeril? Honestly, I haven’t. Still, I find him interesting to watch every now and then. I cannot forget that home style beer clambake that he did one time (many years ago). Anyway, those of you who have been wanting to see more of the “bam!” will be thrilled to know that Emeril has partnered up with ION TV for a whole new TV show.

Dubbed “The Emeril Lagasse Show,” it will be aired on a weekly basis. The hour-long TV show will premiere on the 28th of March at 8pm and will be aired every Sunday. Here’s more information from the Press Release:

“The Emeril Lagasse Show” will feature one of America’s most popular chefs as he has never been seen before. Each week, Emeril will welcome celebrity guests, musicians and entertainers to break news and break bread as Emeril shares his world, his friends and his passions with the studio audience and viewers at home. A house band will be on set, playing live music and interacting with Emeril, guests and audience. The show also will include entertaining and surprising field pieces that will be shot in and around New York City where the show will be taped. TV veteran Karen Katzand After Five Productions, which executive produced Lagasse’s long-running Food Network series, “Emeril Live,” will be executive producer of “The Emeril Lagasse Show”.

Reading that, it sounds quite familiar, doesn’t it? Maybe it is NOT a groundbreaking show, but at least Emeril fans will get to see their favorite chef on TV regularly again.

Emeril’s Chocolate-y Christmas Cafe Au Lait

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Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. It’s a time of gathering and renewing family ties. It is about giving and sharing our blessings. It’s also about sitting in front of the fire and talking all night, sharing stories of christmases past and the visits of Santa.

Of course if you are going to be awake all night and talking all night long, while hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa, you can’t do it with a dry throat. This calls for a drink that is meant to be savored with friends while gathered around the tree watching the kids play. It is one of the best nights of the year.

Try Emeril Lagasse’s Chocolatey Christmas Cafe Au Lait. Though cafe au lait is normally a breakfast drink, this drink is perfect even if you drink this before your first meal of the day.

Have a merry christmas everyone!

Emeril’s Chocolate-y Christmas Cafe Au Lait

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 ( 2-inch) cinnamon sticks
1 strip orange peel, about 1/2 inch by 3 inches
10 whole cloves
2 to 2 1/2 cups hot brewed strong coffee

1/4 cup cold heavy cream
Ground cinnamon, for garnish
Cocoa, for garnish

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the milk, 2/3 cup of the sugar, and cocoa until smooth. Add the cinnamon sticks, orange peel and cloves and bring to a simmer, stirring, to dissolve the sugar and prevent the cocoa from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whip the cream with the remaining 1 teaspoon sugar until thick and frothy, and peaks form. Set aside.

Strain the milk mixture into a coffee pot or carafe and add 2 cups of the hot coffee (2 1/2 cups for stronger coffee flavor, to taste). Pour into cups or small mugs and top each with a dollop of the sweetened whipped cream.

Serve immediately.

The Phenomenon of the Celebrity Chef

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Michael Rulman’s book The Reach of a Chef is an interesting commentary on the rise of the “celebrity chef.” He talks about how the industry has changed since the chef became a brand, and cooking has become as much about “entertainment value” and “celebrity pull” as it is about flavor.

Ruhlman also discusses how the great celebrity chefs — including Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse and Anthony Bourdain — are so successful that they no longer have time to do what has made them successful in the first place.

The book also includes profiles some of the biggest influences on American cooking.

Emeril’s alternative life

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Did you know that Emeril Lagasse almost became a musician?

“I ended up turning down a full scholarship of music at the conservatory to pay to go to cooking school,” he said. “If you don’t follow your dream, who will?”

He still loves music, though. “Music is one of those things that is constantly going in my head all the time. It’s sort of like the evolution and creation of doing food, or my philosophy about wine. It’s always beating in my head, so it keeps the spirit moving.”