Grab the Good Life with Rocco DiSpirito
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October 14, 2005 - WOR 10/14/05
WOR 10/14/05
***IMPORTANT***
Rocco's Cookware has RETURNED to QVC! Please go to:
ROCCO'S KITCHEN
Grab The Good Life on a Friday everyone! We have a great great show lined up for you today! Today we have Melissa Clark, NY Times columnist and author of her new book: "Chef Interrupted"!
Plus we have John Magazino, the Truffle Barron here to talk about the new crop of white truffles that are now in the States!
And of course, like every Friday, Momma is here!
And YOU! The show would not be anything without you all at 800-321-0710!
Rocco: I want to tell you guys about a few things that I made last night. I made some regular pesto and boiled some lemon skins and pureed them with the pesto. Then I took some anchioves (saved in chili olive oil) and pureed them and put them in more olive oil and they dissolved. Then I added the pesto I made to this and let it cook. I then added some lemon skin to the pasta I was making, the angel hair linguini. Then I tossed the lemon pesto with the pasta and it came out so good. So try it out and let me know how it goes!
Let's welcome Melissa Clark to the show!
Rocco: So Melissa it is great to have you hear, congrats on your new book Chef Interrupted.
Melissa Clark: Yeah sorry I was a little late today but I brought you a belgian butter cake to try!
Rocco: Oh that is so sweet, thank you! What is in it?
Melissa: 2 cups of flour, half a cup of sugar plus 2 table spoons, and 3/4 a cup of butter. You mush it all together, fit it in a pie pan and bake it in an oven at 350 for 25 minutes!
Rocco: So how did you get started in writing food?
Melissa: I have a degree in Woman Studies at Barnard. But I started out like any other kid not knowing what they wanted to do in college.
Rocco: I knew what I wanted to do, I went to be a chef! Plus Momma wouldn;t give me a raise in my allowance.
Melissa: Really?
Momma: He started working when he was 13! He wanted to work!
Rocco: So what happened after college?
Melissa: Well I wanted to be a chef when I was 16 but realized that it was really hard and phyiscally challenging - plus the industry is very male dominated so it was challenging to me. So i decided to go to Barnard and read books cause I was a little intimidated.
Rocco: So this is your 17th book?
Melissa: Well I co-wrote a lot of them with other chefs.
Rocco: Such a show off...but so great!
Melissa: A girl has to make a living!
Rocco: Well are you gonna be anywhere we can meet and see you?
Melissa: Yes, on November 6th I am doing "An Evening with Melissa Clark" at the The Stone Barns.
Rocco: Excellent, well hang out cause John Magazino is here and he has truffles! Let's take a couple of calls first.
Melissa: Excellent!
Blue Hills Stone
630 Bedford Road
Pocantico NY
914-366-9600
www.bluehillstones.com
Carol in Long Island: Do you have a good recipe for Creme Brule?
Melissa: The secret to Creme Brule is more creme than milk if you like it thicker. So one egg yolk per four ounce ramican, 3/4 cream to 1/4 milk, a pinch of salt, two tea spoons of sugar per servings. Then make an easy custard, strain it into your ramicans, put the ramicans in a roasting pan and create a water bath for them. Cover it all with foil, pop it in the oven at 325 for about 40 minutes. After they are done, chill them in the fridge and lightly pour sugar on them!
Rocco: Now I have found if you have a food saver, you can vaccum seal the custard in the ramican and simmer it in 180 degree water then it comes out perfect! Now do you have a blow torch?
Carol: No!
Melissa: A broiler will do fine Rocco, no home cook has a blow torch around their kitchen!
Rocco: Well they should!
Mikey in Brooklyn: Hello Rocco, Melissa, you sound hot!
Melissa: Why thank you Mikey!
Mikey: You're grabbing the good life, you're on the Rocco show. Momma, I want to sing you a song!
Momma: OK Mikey!
Mikey: Oh Momma, Momma!!! (song songy)
Rocco: Mikey do you actually have a culinary question today?
Mikey: Yeah I need some barbecue sauce for chicken!
Rocco: Here is a great one. Go get some fish sauce. Then add: 2/3 tomatoe paste, little bit of fish sauce, a little bit of sugar, lime juice, and green onions. Let your chicken broil in that mixture and let it burn and get crispy.
Momma: Try this too. Lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic and oregano. Soak the chicken for one hour and then cook it on up, my mother used to make that!
Let's welcome John magazino to the show!
Rocco: John, the air smells so intoxicating! These white truffles are unreal!
John Magazino: I know, they really are Rocco!
Rocco: So you have 30 thousand dollars worth of truffles and they look awesome!
John: It has been a tremendous season so far!
Rocco: The rain has been perfect and Melissa Clark and I went truffle hunting in Croatia last year which was fun.
Melissa: The new frontier for truffles! I think you should just shave them onto your tongue and eat them with someone. Forget toast or risotto!
Rocco: Oh boy! So these truffles, the white ones are really only available for short time.
John: Yes, my year is from October to january and that's it. We count on brokers who buy from the local people who pick them.
Rocco: I have seen that before and it's a very covert operation.
John: very cloak and dagger, yes...It is a highly secretive process. Mushroom hunting and truffle hunting is a past time in Europe.
Rocco: Can you demistify it, how is it done?
John: Sure, the myth or legend is a pigs find the truffles, but pigs want to eat them when they find them so over the last 40 years we have turn to dogs who would rather a piece of sausage than a truffle. Training a truffle dog is about 25 thousans dollars.
Rocco: What are some easy ways to serve these white truffles?
John: My favotite is a sunnyside egg up with a shaving of truffles!
Joy Browne: You know Rocco, I can smell the truffles down the hall!
Rocco: Is the aromatic treatment good for people?
Joy: They do say that Vanilla candles and hot apple pie smells do help lower anxiety.
Rocco: Well thank you Joy!
Marie from the Bronx: Let me just say, John Magazino is a truffle Barron and he came back with the truffles late last night and he was massaging them and and fondling them! It's all truffles all the time!
Rocco: Apparently you know him marie!
Marie: And I know you too Rocco, you're the def chef! I share an office with him!
John: You USED to share an office with me, wait till I get back!
Dave in New Jersey: I use that D'Artagnan Truffle Butter and for 7 bucks, a little goes a long way! So what is the rarest you can eat a hamburger without getting sick?
Rocco: You can it it raw, E-coli is just an accident that is a hit or miss. E-coli is found in ground beef never in whole beef. E-coli gets killed at 160 degrees. So, if you're worried buy whole pieces of beef and grind it up yourself.
You worried about this?
Dave: Nah I made a big hamburger and the outside was charred but the inside was cold and pink. But I still ate it. So I was just curious.
Bernice in New Jersey: I LOVE Momma and you guys are the best. I heard you talking about a wine tasting event.
That's all for today, Grab The Good, have a great weekend and see you all Monday!
