National Fettuccine Alfredo Day - Feb. 7th; Chef Carla Hall

Chef Carla Hall
Carla Hall co-hosts The Chew (a foodie talk show), was a competitor on Top Chef, and is the owner of the artisan cookie company Alchemy by Carla Hall. She's a Tennessee native, and her cooking combines classic French training with her southern roots. She has a CPA and worked as a model in Europe before switching to cooking.

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February 7th is Fettuccine Alfredo Day! It is somewhat notorious for being an unhealthy dish, with the sauce made of butter, cream and melted Parmesan. People have become much more health-conscious than previous generations, so when you come across some recipes that call for rich and fatty ingredients, why not note alternatives that you have learned, or that are suggested by your submitters?

For cases like those, have the original recipe listed as-is, then as recipe notes, list the substitutions or techniques that may help make the dish a little healthier. In some recipes, for instance, applesauce can be substituted for some or all of the oil/fat if done properly. For fettuccine alfredo, using 2% milk instead of cream will take out some of the fat. I would caution you to do this only if you (or your submitter) has tried it and know that it works well. De-fatting the alfredo sauce is only worth it if the finished product tastes good!

Available at Amazon.

February is Cherry Month; Chef Ron Duprat

Chef Ron Duprat
Duprat is a restauranteur, cookbook author and humanitarian. He was born in Haiti, and cooks with a French-Asian fusion flair. You may know him from his appearance on Top Chef. His humanitarian causes include Haiti disaster relief, ending childhood obesity and the Black Culinary Alliance. His cookbook is My Journey of Cooking.

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Celebrate February with cherries! (Because of the story of Washington chopping down a cherry tree?) However it came to be, cherries are a delicious and healthy fruit, rich in antioxidants. They probably become a bit less healthy once you put them in desserts. (But we'll pretend we don't know that.)

One of the recipes that was in my paternal grandmother's recipe box was for "Dump Cake." I've recently seen ads for a dump cake cookbook, and had to laugh at this "new" way of making cake because Mabel's recipe for it is an old one. Because this recipe has been around for such a long time, it's one of the ones you make get more than one of when you call out for recipes. One way to make sure everyone is acknowledged for their contributions is to include a contributor's index. For instance, if you have a contributor's index, and you get 3 recipes that are all the same (or maybe have slight variations), your index could read:

Dump Cake: Johnson, Nancy; Smith, Mary; Smith, John -- 32

And then with the recipe itself, if there's a variation to the ingredients, add it as a recipe note with whose variation it is.

Dump Cake

Ingredients:

1 can cherry pie filling
1 can pineapple chunks, drained

1 box yellow cake mix

1 C. melted butter or margarine

1 C. flaked coconut

1 C. chopped walnuts

Directions: Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spread pie filling evenly in the bottom of a greased 9x13" pan. Arrange the pineapple chunks over the cherries. Sprinkle with the cake mix. Pour melted butter over the cake mix, and top with coconut and nuts. Bake for 1 hour or until done.
Notes: John Smith's version of this recipe uses pecans instead of walnuts.

From my dad's mom's box. Note the use of "oleo." How many young people today would know what that is?
Be sure to include a "translation" for younger generations.

Available at Amazon.

 

World Nutella Day - February 5th; Chef Edna Lewis

Chef Edna Lewis
Lewis was the granddaughter of an emancipated slave, and grew up in Freetown, Virginia. She was a politically active woman, an accomplished seamstress, and gifted chef who received a number of awards and honors in her lifetime and beyond. (She was an African American Trailblazers in Virginia honoree in 2009, after her death in 2006.) She had several cookbooks published, including The Edna Lewis Cookbook, The Taste of Country Cooking, and In Pursuit of Flavor.

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February 5th is World Nutella Day! "Nutella is more than just a 'chocolaty hazelnut spread,' it is a way of life." 

When you're compiling your cookbook, recipes that have name-brand ingredients should be changed, unless the ingredient is specific and unique to the recipe. If the recipe calls for spraying a pan with Pam®, you should write is as "cooking spray." If a recipe is for Coke Ham, and you're me, it needs to stay Coca-Cola® because Coke's flavor is specific and unique. Recipes that call for Nutella® used to be specific and unique, but now more manufacturers are making chocolate hazelnut spread. However, some cooks think their recipe is best with specific ingredients, so you should note with those recipes, for example: "Nutella hazelnut spread (no substitutions)."

Why should you do this? My intellectual property attorney (who's also my hubby) has this to say: If you're going to use a trademarked item in your recipe, you should also include the generic appellation "Pam cooking spray" instead of just "Pam," or "Nutella hazelnut spread" instead of just "Nutella." As he puts it, the manufacturers of these goods don't want you not to use and name their products, they just don't want you to use them improperly.

Available at Amazon.

National Homemade Soup Day - February 4th; Chefs Gina & Pat Neely

Gina & Pat Neely
You may know these celebrity chefs from the Food Network, but they are also the owners of Neely's Barbecue Parlor in Manhattan. (Their Tennessee locations seem to have been closed permanently/indefinitely.) They have authored the cookbooks Down Home with the Neelys, The Neelys' Celebration Cookbook, and Back Home with the Neelys. The Neelys have also partnered with Kraft Foods in their Huddle to Fight Hunger campaign.

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Today is Homemade Soup Day, and for those of us living in the frozen north, it sure hits the spot! Here's my recipe for Carrot Soup:

Creamy Carrot Soup with Almonds
Ingredients:
2 1/2 C. sliced carrots

2 C. chicken broth

1/2 C. sliced almonds

2 Tbsp. butter

2 C. skim milk

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. almond extract

Directions: Steam carrots until tender. Puree carrots in a blender or food processor with 1 C. broth and the almond slices. Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add flour, stirring until bubbly. Add the milk, sugar, and ginger. Cook until thickened and bubbling, stirring constantly. Put carrot puree in the pot with the remaining broth. Simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add additional milk for consistency you like. Season additional ginger to taste. Serve in warmed soup bowls, and garnish with almond slices.

Comments: “This soup is really delicately flavored. As an accompaniment to a meal, it’s delicious. As the main course, it’s a little bland. This is similar to a soup we had at the Drake Hotel in Chicago.”

Available at Amazon.

National Carrot Cake Day - February 3rd; Chef Marcus Samuelsson

Chef Marcus Samuelsson
Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden, where his maternal grandmother taught him to cook. He has opened several restaurants, including Red Rooster Harlem, which hosted a fundraising dinner for the Democratic National Convention in 2011. He's written the cookbooks Aquavit and the New Scandinavian Cuisine, The Soul of a New Cuisine, and New American Table, as well as the memoir Yes, Chef. He and his wife are also the founders of the Three Goats Organization, a non-profit dedicated to providing sustainable resources to families in Ethiopia.

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February 3rd is National Carrot Cake Day, and I make the argument that cake containing vegetables doesn't count as dessert; it's clearly health food. Not to mention the workout you get grating all those carrots!

When we were newly married in our tiny apartment, I made a carrot cake for us. I love the stuff, but a 9x13" cake for just the two of us was kind of a lot. It's been 22 years since I made that cake, and I've never made another one. (It's probably time, don't you think?) If I had known I could freeze it, I probably would have done so. When you're compiling your cookbook, be sure to include any tips you're given, like "this freezes well," in the recipe notes.

Available at Amazon.

Crêpe Day - February 2nd; Chef Angela Medearis

Continuing my spotlight on African American chefs with

Chef Angela Medearis
Angela Shelf Medearis, "the kitchen diva," is a determined cook and author, with numerous children's books and several cookbooks under her belt, including The Kitchen Diva Cooks!, The Ethnic Vegetarian, The Kitchen Diva's Diabetic Cookbook, The African-American Kitchen, and The New African-American Kitchen. But her own words tell the best story:

"There is no race with food, if someone cooks something for you, you feel loved.  I have just passionately fallen in love with all things culinary.  I'm so glad I get an opportunity to introduce others to African and African American cuisine." (quoted from a PBS interview)

She also has a television program, The Kitchen Diva!, and a radio program.

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February 2nd is a hugely important day for me. Not because I am wildly fond of groundhogs, but because it's the day I met my husband. In fact, this year marks the silver anniversary of the day we met (and I told my roommate, who was his lab partner, "That's the man I'm gonna marry").

However, my sentimental attachment to the day has nothing to do with odd foodie holidays. For that, I give you Crêpe Day! Or if you're in France, la Chandeleur.

Available at Amazon.

National Baked Alaska Day - February 1st; Chef G. Garvin

Every day this month, I'm going to offer a brief biography of different chefs, and their books, restaurants, and relevant links. As pointed out by an article in the Chicago Tribune (March, 2012), African American chefs are underrepresented. I hope I can introduce you to someone new this month, maybe several someones. I'll continue with the fun foodie holidays, too, but I feel it's important to acknowledge these often-overlooked men and women.
 
Chef G. Garvin
Gerry (or simply "G.") Garvin is the author of Dining In, Make It Super Simple and Turn Up the Heat. He's hosted the tv shows Turn Up the Heat and Road Trip. He is also the founder of the One Bite at a Time Foundation. Garvin is a Georgia native, starting out his career in Atlanta, but also made a name for himself in California before opening his own restaurant, LowCountry, in the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, with another location in West LA in development.

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Today is Baked Alaska Day, and also Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day! Kill two birds with one stone, and have Baked Alaska (which has ice cream in it) for breakfast. Hey, January's over, and most of us have ditched the resolutions to eat better anyway, right?

Available at Amazon.