Chefs Make Change
© David Gallent / Jeneée Taylor
As one of the extraordinary members of F&W’s Chefs Make Change coalition, New Orleans chef Emeril Lagasse helps at-risk young people through his Emeril Lagasse Foundation. One of Lagasse’s favorite partnerships is with the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), where he recently challenged culinary students to create a recipe with regional flavors for his “Dish That Makes a Difference” contest. This year’s winner is Janeé Taylor, an 18-year-old NOCCA graduate currently enrolled as a freshman at Johnson & Wales University. Her “Louisiana Surf and Turf” made with grilled rib eye, seafood mashed potatoes and Cajun asparagus will be featured on the menu at Lagasse’s restaurants in New Orleans, Las Vegas and Orlando throughout the month. Raising awareness for the programs, $5 from every dish will be donated back to the Emeril Lagasse Foundation. Here, Taylor talks about inspiration and plans for the future >
Restaurants
BY
Kate Krader
| POSTED FEBRUARY 10, 2012 AT 5:32PM EST
© Alexander Jorgensen
First Look at the Batali Pang at Num Pang.
By now you must know that F&W loves when
chefs work to change the world through charity programs. We also happen to love
Mario Batali. And sandwiches. Add that all up, and here’s what you’ve got: Batali creating a limited-edition sandwich for charity at the excellent Cambodian sandwich shop
Num Pang in Manhattan’s East Village. It’s the inaugural sandwich for Num Pang’s Guest Chefs Give Back. The program was created by Num Pang owners Ben Daitz and
Ratha Chaupoly; look for new big-name cooks and their sandwiches in the coming month.
First up, the Batali Pang. It’s an awesome combo of Brooklyn-made cotecchino sausage, balsamic pickled onions and sheep’s milk cheese, mixed with more traditional Num Pang ingredients (homemade chili mayo, pickled carrots, cucumber, cilantro), served on a toasted semolina baguette. On sale from February 15-March 15, it’s going for $9.75; proceeds will be split between
The Food Bank for New York City (one of my personal favorites) and
The Cambodian Children’s Fund.
For more details and a cute pic of the principal players, go to
Midtownlunch.com.
News
While
Food & Wine is busy helping phenomenal chefs like
Mario Batali and
Rick Bayless make change and
save the world, some other notable people are doing their part, too.
Leonardo DiCaprio is partnering with outstanding coffee producer
La Colombe Torrefaction to create a special blend called
Lyon. All net profits will go to environmental projects supported by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. (The foundation works with, among others, the
National Resource Defense Council and the
World Wildlife Fund on one of my favorite initiatives,
SaveTigersNow.org). "Leonardo has an acute understanding of the challenges we all face," says Todd Carmichael, Torrecfaction's co-founder. "Particularly those people in the developing world, which incidentally, are also coffee growing countries."
The new eco coffee Lyon, has Leonardo DiCaprio's name all over it.
And here’s more on Lyon coffee. It’s a blend of, no surprise, sustainably raised beans from Haiti, Peru, Ethiopia and Brazil. It’s available at Williams-Sonoma and select Whole Foods, plus at La Colombe cafés. You won’t see DiCpario acting as barista at La Colombe any time soon, unfortunately; he’s in Australia filming
The Great Gatsby.
Chefs Make Change
© WireImage/J.McCarthy
The knives will come out on GMA.
On Thursday, February 2,
Good Morning America will host Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse for a fierce cook-off to raise money for their charities, featured in
Food & Wine’s
Chefs Make Change coalition. Before the superstars go head-to-head,
GMA wants Facebook fans to
vote on the main ingredient, which could very well end up as bacon. This is not Batali’s first drastic measure to draw attention to the
Mario Batali Foundation—if you donate to his cause before February 7, the world will be one step closer to a
red-ponytail-free Batali. That also means there’s a lot riding on Lagasse to drive funds to the
Emeril Lagasse Foundation. The charities both help underprivileged kids. Show love to your favorite chef by
donating now for
BATALI vs.
LAGASSE.
Learn more about Chefs Make Change
Recipes
© Con Poulos
Italian Sweet-and-Sour Chicken
Mario Batali, one of the 10 superstar chefs committed to F&W’s Chefs Make Change coalition, chatted with co-hosts on The Chew last week about his pledge to cut off his famous red ponytail if The Mario Batali Foundation can raise $500,000 by February 7. The new online clip also reveals what Batali won't give up, so donate to Chefs Make Change for a rare chance to see this chef change his ways. Batali's program helps feed, educate and inspire kids. One new program is the Community CookShop, which teaches families how to cook with ingredients found in food pantries. Inspired by food-bank staples, Batali created this tangy Italian take on sweet-and-sour chicken for a delicious home-cooked meal.
Related: More Recipes from Mario Batali
Healthy Italian Dishes
Pantry Ingredient Essentials
Recipes
© Con Poulos
Sauteed Radishes
Emeril Lagasse is a busy man. Along with his restaurant empire, his multitude of cookbooks and his TV spots—he’s a regular judge on this season’s Top Chef—the New Orleans–based chef runs his own charity for underprivileged kids. One recent success of the Emeril Lagasse Foundation is a culinary arts program for New Orleans high-school students. The foundation is also setting up a community farm in New Orleans. One possible crop: radishes. “Radishes grow just about anywhere,”Lagasse says in our February issue. “People think, ‘Oh it’s just a radish.’ But radishes are delicious, and people don’t think of cooking them.” For a quick and versatile side dish, Lagasse sautés radishes and their greens with tangy orange butter and crispy bacon. You can help the Emeril Lagasse Foundation and other inspiring chef-run organizations featured in Chefs Make Change by visiting foodandwine.com/donate.
Related: More Recipes from Emeril Lagasse
Delicious Radish Recipes
Quick and Tasty Side Dishes
Recipes
© Con Poulos
Roast Chicken Thighs with Lentils
Spanish chef José Andrés stops by F&W’s Facebook wall at 2 p.m. ET to chat live with fans for our January Iconversations series. Aside from his inspired cooking, TV spots and multiple restaurants—from Washington, DC’s Jaleo to China Poblano in Vegas—Andrés is also committed to charity and is one of 10 superstarsheadlining F&W’s Chefs Make Change coalition. His organization, World Central Kitchen, helps developing countries in crisis by building kitchens and feeding the hungry using ingredients bought from local purveyors. For F&W’s February issue, Andrés shared a homey dish of crisp roast chicken thighs with a pimentón-spiked lentil stew. "This is the sort of simple, humble food I have at home with my family on Friday night," says Andrés. Visit foodandwine.com/donate to donate to World Central Kitchen and to other brilliant chef-run organizations.
Related: More Recipes from José Andrés
Terrific Lentil Recipes
Great Recipes for Chicken Thighs
Recipes
© Constantine Poulos
Latin-Spiced Chicken
Today, we spotlight another member of F&W’s Chefs Make Change coalition. Chef Bill Telepan works with Wellness in the Schools to put healthier food in public schools. One exemplary program is Cook for Kids, which assigns culinary-school grads to cafeterias where they create cooked-from-scratch menus—meaning no more mystery-meat Mondays. There is one thing that hasn't changed: Kids still love chicken. Chicken day is one of the most successful days on the weekly calendar, Telepan admits in F&W’s February issue. To keep things interesting, he created a citrusy marinade for this fresh and colorful recipe, Latin-Spiced Chicken in Lettuce Cups. You can help chef Telepan’s cause, and other chef-run organizations, by visiting foodandwine.com/donate.
Related: More Latin American-Inspired Recipes
Chefs' Chicken Recipes Made Easy
School Lunch, Reinvented
Recipes
© Constantine Poulos
Turkey-and-Pinto-Bean Chili
Our coverage of the Chefs Make Change coalition continues today with a spotlight on Art Smith’s charity Common Threads, which teaches kids about nutrition and cultural diversity through after-school cooking programs. Smith shared a recipe in the February issue for Turkey-and-Pinto-Bean Chili, a favorite of Oprah’s that also appeals to his charity's target demographic. "It's got some spice, which I think kids love as much as adults do," he explains. Currently, Common Threads operates in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and Washington, DC, and Smith hopes to expand to New York soon. You can donate to Common Threads and other chef-run charities by visiting foodandwine.com/donate.
Related: More Hearty Chili Recipes
Healthy Kid-Friendly Dishes
Great Recipes for Beans
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