Why Fried Gnocchi is a Bad Idea

They say timing is everything, and that was certainly the case this morning. Due to a blur of licensing contracts, book proposals, travel arrangements, and other less-than-enjoyable administrative duties, I was in serious need of a chuckle. Well, this video sent to me via @mysticl on Twitter sure took care of that! I hope you love this guy's laugh as much as I did. This is from Webstaurantstore's YouTube channel. Enjoy!

How to Make Horseradish Sauce and Giving the Gift of Summer

You Curb Your Enthusiasm fans may find this post, "a little saucy." First up, we have a quick and dirty tutorial for making homemade horseradish sauce. It makes me a little sad when I see someone in the market buying a jar of horseradish sauce. 

You know I have nothing against the convenience of using the occasional prepared sauce, as a good jar of marinara or carton of organic broth can save hours in the kitchen.

However, a cold sauce like this only takes minutes, and the results will be noticeably superior to even the least picky. It will also include about 12 less ingredients. If you are doing a Prime Rib, or other roast beef, you may want to seriously consider whipping up a batch of this classic horseradish sauce.

As I mention in the video, sour cream is the standard base for this sauce, but if you can, I recommend trying some crème fraiche. Most big grocery stores will carry it, usually in the cheese department. It's basically the same thing as sour cream, but a little richer and slightly tangier. You can also make you own, which I demonstrated in this "How to Make Crème Fraiche" video.

I was fortunate enough to use a homemade batch created by my buddy Jesse, from Beer and Nosh. He was selling these at the New Taste Market, where Michele debuted her SFQ barbecue sauce (see next item). It was awesome, and reminded me just how great crème fraiche is. Enjoy!

Giving the Gift of Summer

This is your last chance to order some SFQ – The Original San Francisco-Style Barbecue Sauce. If you get your orders in by Saturday, Dec. 18th, Michele will be able to deliver your sauce before Christmas.

I know what you're thinking – sure, some of the world's best barbecue sauce would make a great gift during grilling season, but why give this to someone in the dead of winter? 

Because, it will make the recipient think of summer, and sun, and fun, and hey, I can't believe she's wearing that bikini, and put some more beer on ice, and who's up next in the horseshoe pit, and do we have time for another rib before the baseball game comes on, and…well, you get the idea.

Order some now!

How to Make Horseradish Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sour cream or crème fraiche

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

pinch of cayenne

2 teaspoon thinly sliced chives

2 tablespoons extra hot pure horseradish (not horseradish sauce)

Coming Soon: Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

Holiday Gift Idea: Homemade Herb Salt – Remember, You're Not Cheap, You're Creative!

Homemade, edible holiday gifts are kind of tricky. There is a fine line between giving a unique, thoughtful, carefully prepared gourmet goodie, and giving someone something that looks like it was just an easy way out. Hopefully, this beautiful looking and smelling fresh herb "finishing" salt will be seen as the former.

If this looks familiar, I did a similar version a few years ago for About.com, and since I needed a Holiday-themed gift idea to film for this year's YouTube Holiday Solution Center, I decided to give it another go.

As you'll see, I used rosemary and lemon thyme, but other hearty green herbs will also work. By "hearty," I mean herbs that are sturdy and resinous, like savory, oregano, and marjoram. Fragile herbs like dill, chervil, and cilantro, just don’t work as well.

Answers to a few common questions: Yes, the color will fade within a few weeks, but the herby flavor and aroma will remain intact for much longer. There is no shelf-life limit, and this can be kept indefinitely.

I described this as a "finishing salt," meaning it's used to season cooked food at the table; however, it can also be used in place of regular salt in any recipe preparation. So, if you're looking for a cool, creative foodie stocking stuffer, or, well, you're just cheap, I hope you give this a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients (makes about 1 1/2 cups):

1/2 cup packed fresh herb leaves (I used rosemary and lemon thyme)

1/2 cup course sea salt

1 cup regular sea salt, or a flaky kosher salt

Eight Great Christmas Appetizers

It's about time to plan your Christmas menu, and no matter how marvelous your main courses are, the appetizers need to be just as special. Here are eight of my favorite holiday entertaining ideas. Enjoy!

Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus

Savory Chocolate Crostini

Turkey Cocktail Meatballs

Artichoke Hearts Gratin

Candied Bacon Strips

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Clams Casino

Calabrese Lollipop

You're a Viewer and Have a Choice: Please Vote for Chef John in the Tasty Awards!

One problem I've always wanted is not being able to keep track of which online awards I'm up for, and which contests I should be asking people to vote in. Well, my wish has come true.

As many of you may know, I was nominated for a 2011 Tasty Award in the "Home Chef in a Series" category, but I forgot to inform everyone that there is also a Viewer's Choice Award, which quite frankly is my best shot at heading down to Hollywood and taking home a trophy. So, if you would like to help make my Tasty dreams come true, please click here to vote! It's the fifth category. Thank you so much!

Lamb Caldero – A Shank that Won't Break the Bank

This lovely Latin lamb shanks recipe is the result of a little experiment I just did with the help of my friends from Imusa. You all know how much I love my Le Creuset Dutch oven, but I realize the high cost puts it over the budgets of most home cooks. So, I was interested to see how this "caldero," which costs under $30 would perform.

The model they sent me looked like a Dutch oven, but was so incredibly light that I really wasn't sure how it would work. I assumed the caldero would be fine for the browning step, and it was. My main concern was would the ultra lightweight lid be heavy enough to keep in enough moisture?

To my surprise it did very well. As you'll see, we only add a cup of broth to braise the lamb, and it didn't even come close to drying out. So, if you are looking for a really light and inexpensive Dutch oven, this one performed well in regards to cooking the food. Of course, I can't give any opinions on the durability, and how this would stand up to normal wear and tear, but you can check online user reviews for those issues.
The recipe itself is very straightforward. You don't often see lamb cooked with these spices, and I'm not sure why, as they really work together wonderfully. The final plate ended up being a sort of North African/Central American fusion thing, with the fragrantly spiced meat and peppers resting on a simple bed of couscous.

Please note: I was using relatively small lamb shanks for this recipe. If you are using larger hind shanks, then you will need a longer braising time, probably 30 minutes more at least. Either way, I hope you give this comforting lamb recipe a try. Enjoy!

Disclosure: Imusa sent the caldero to me free of charge, and also contributed to the production costs of this video recipe. For more information on this product you can contact Imusa directly, or check out the product page here. Thanks!




Ingredients:
4 lamb shanks
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
vegetable oil as needed
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chicken broth, plus more as needed
3-4 large jalapeños, seeded, cut in strips
1 red bell pepper, seeded, cut in strips
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

View the complete recipe