Celeb chef Graham Elliot guides home cooks to 'MasterChef' status

With his signature white-rimmed glasses, wild bow ties and colorful forearm tattoos, celebrity chef Graham Elliot calls himself “the fun one” on Fox TV's popular reality cooking shows, “MasterChef” and its kids' counterpart, “MasterChef Junior.”

“I'm the nice one, the Paula Abdul of the judging panel,” says Elliot, who shares the spotlight on the shows as co-host and judge with fellow chef and longtime friend, Gordon Ramsey.

Elliot is the creative force behind his new Food Network show, “Craziest Restaurants in America,” in which he travels around the country looking for unusual eateries. Featured restaurants have included Pirate's Dinner Adventure in Orlando, where guests watch swashbucklers and aerial and trampoline acts perform as they enjoy their three-course meal; Catfish Plantation in Waxahachie, Texas, where eerie paranormal activity seems to support claims that the place is haunted, and Tommy's Gun Garage in Chicago, a throwback 1920s speakeasy with flappers, tap dancers and gangsters.

“This one's super fun,” says Elliot of “Craziest Restaurants.” “We look at hot, trendy restaurants and focus on the decor as much as the food.”

He runs his contemporary American restaurant, Graham Elliot's Bistro, in his hometown of Chicago, where he is the culinary director for Lollapalooza, one of the country's largest music festivals held in the city's Grant Park. Elliot, who once played in a rock band, has a passion for music and treats his restaurant patrons to his recorded music as they dine.

He says music and cooking share a common bond: Each requires ingredients that come together to create a finished dish or a completed song, “but getting there is half the fun.”

Somewhere in between creating restaurant menus and taping TV shows, he found time to write his first cookbook.

Elliot will be signing copies of his new book, “Cooking like a Master Chef: 100 Recipes to Make the Everyday Extraordinary” (Atria Books, $30), on Dec. 7 at Market District stores in Bethel Park and Robinson.

The cookbook features favorite kitchen-tested recipes, which follow what Elliot calls his “culinary manifesto” — his three core beliefs about food:

• Eat fruits, vegetables and herbs when they're in season and local.

• Realize there is no “right or wrong” when it comes to creativity in the kitchen.

• Don't allow the same old recipes to become boring.

“When cooking becomes a comfortable dance, we need to change the music to infuse our time in the kitchen with excitement and new energy,” he writes.

For Elliot, that means spicing up basic meatballs and tomato sauce with smoky Spanish chorizo sausages, or topping a simple pan-fried flounder fillet with raisin-black currant chutney, or achieving a twist on the traditional rice cereal and marshmallow dessert by adding spices like ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg to his Spiced Krispies Treats.

One of his favorite recipes in his cookbook is a beef stroganoff he says “is really close to me because it captures the essence of what I'm trying to get across in the book — and my mom made it for me growing up.”

His version of Mom's stroganoff uses braised short ribs instead of ground beef, and a wild mushroom and sour cream sauce replaces the cream of mushroom soup she used. The meat and sauce is spooned over homemade spaetzl and garnished with black trumpet mushrooms and marmalade.

Elliot, who was born in Seattle, grew up sampling a variety of regional cuisine with his family as a “Navy brat,” living in Hawaii, California, the Philippines and Maryland. He attended 10 different schools from age 4 to 14.�

He feels it is “super important” for his and wife Allie's three sons — Mylo, 8, Conrad, 5, and Jedediah, 3 — to experience new foods and learn about different cultures.

“It's what makes life exciting,” he says.

While he's in the Pittsburgh area for his Market District appearances, Elliot plans to spend some time with his brother, John, and his family, who live in Cranberry.

Candy Williams is a contributing writer for Trib Total Media.

Recipes from “Cooking like a Master Chef: 100 Recipes to Make the Everyday Extraordinary”

Cheddar Cheese Risotto

This is a fun rice dish that was inspired by a road trip through Wisconsin. “We all know and love classic risotto made with parmesan cheese,” writes Graham Elliot, “and so I thought, ‘Hey! Let's celebrate the Midwest by using Wisconsin cheddar instead.' It was a good idea. I dress it up a little with bacon ‘powder,' some glazed onions, and apples and chives. The bacon and the onions require some advance planning, but once you get them out of the way, the risotto is easy.”

Prep time: About 35 minutes, plus drying and resting

Cooking time: About 1 hour

For the bacon powder:

4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped into small pieces

For the apple garnish:

2 Gala or similar firm, sweet apples, peeled, cored and julienned (reserve the apple peelings)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Water

1 cup grenadine

¹⁄₂ cup apple-cider vinegar

¹⁄₄ cup packed brown sugar

For the glazed onions:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups peeled pearl onions

3 tablespoons hard cider

For the risotto:

Water

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup minced onions

2 cups arborio rice

3 cups dry white wine

4 ounces Wisconsin cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)

2 ounces mascarpone (about ¹⁄₄ cup)

Salt and coarsely ground black pepper, to taste

1 bunch chives, finely chopped, for garnish

To prepare the bacon powder: In a small frying pan, slowly cook the bacon over medium-low heat. Spoon the fat off and discard as the bacon cooks. When the bacon browns, use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a fine-mesh sieve or chinois to drain a little more. Spread the bacon pieces on paper towels and allow the bacon to air-dry for 2 to 3 hours.

Grind the bacon pieces in a spice or coffee grinder. Spread the powder on paper towels and let it air-dry for at least 6 hours. The powder can be made up to 2 days ahead and stored in a lidded container at room temperature until ready to use.

To prepare the apple garnish: In a small bowl, toss the julienned apples with the lemon juice. Add some cold water to cover the apples and set aside for up to 4 hours.

In a small saucepan, combine the grenadine, vinegar and brown sugar with the reserved apple peelings. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the syrup has reduced to the consistency of honey. Transfer the syrup to a blender and puree until smooth. Set aside until needed.

To preparethe glazed onions: In a large saute pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. When hot, cook the pearl onions for about 15 minutes, or until browned and tender.

Add the hard cider, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for about 30 minutes longer, or until the onions are cooked through. Lift the onions from the cooking liquid and set aside, covered to keep warm, until needed.

To preparethe risotto: In a large saucepan, bring about 3 cups of water to a boil. Reduce the heat so that it's barely simmering but is very hot.

In a large, deep pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat and saute the minced onions for 4 to 5 minutes, or until translucent. Add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon to mix well with the onions. Cook for 5 minutes longer.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and add 1 cup of the wine, stirring the rice and wine continuously with the wooden spoon. When the first cup of wine has been absorbed by the rice, add another cup. Stir the rice and wine, and add the final cup of wine when the rice has absorbed the second cup. As you stir, the rice will release its natural starches, which help absorb the liquid.

Begin adding hot water in ¹⁄₄-cup increments, stirring all the while. When you have added about 1 cup of hot water, start tasting the rice and, when it's al dente and has a little toothiness, stop adding water. This entire process should take about 20 minutes. Keep the hot water on the stove.

Add the cheddar and mascarpone to the hot risotto. Stir to allow the cheese to melt into the rice. Gently stir in the glazed onions. Season with salt and pepper. (Make sure you use enough pepper, which helps cut through the flavors of the dish.)

Divide the risotto among 4 to 6 serving plates or shallow bowls. Drain and pat dry the julienned apples and garnish each serving with the apples, chives, and bacon powder. Spoon the pureed apple peelings around the outside of the dish.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Iceberg Wedge with Smoked Bacon and Roquefort Dressing

“When you put some lettuce underneath bacon and blue cheese, it's easier to rationalize eating those two rascals,” writes Graham Elliot. “And while arugula and field greens are more trendy, I like iceberg lettuce. It has great flavor and is super crisp, and deserves more love than being relegated to the space between the burger and the bun.”

Prep time: About 5 minutes

Cooking time: About 5 minutes

2 heads iceberg lettuce, outer leaves removed if necessary

8 ounces unsliced smoked bacon

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup mayonnaise

2 ounces Roquefort cheese, crumbled (about ½ cup), divided

Leaves from 2 sprigs tarragon

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 Roma (plum) tomatoes or other ripe tomatoes, very thinly sliced

Freshly cracked black pepper

Quarter the heads of lettuce from stem to tip.

Chop the bacon into 1-inch square pieces and saute in a skillet over medium heat until the fat has rendered. Using a slotted spoon, lift he bacon from the skillet and set aside on paper towels to cool and crisp up. Discard the fat.

In a small bowl, whisk the buttermilk, mayonnaise, ¹⁄₄ cup of the cheese and the tarragon. Season with salt and pepper.

Put 2 lettuce wedges on each of four salad plates. Arrange the tomato slices around the lettuce and scatter the bacon pieces over the lettuce and tomatoes. Drizzle the dressing over the lettuce and tomatoes. Finish with cracked black pepper and the remaining ¹⁄₄ cup cheese.

Makes 4 servings.

Chorizo Meatballs with Spicy Tomato Sauce

Prep time: About 20 minutes

Cooking time: 40 to 35 minutes

“Chorizo is spicy and smoky, two things that mankind has been drawn to for millennia,” Graham Elliot writes. “The tomato sauce isn't too hot and tends to balance well with the natural sweetness from the tomatoes themselves, but you can add or take away some of that heat, if you prefer. Making meatballs at home is fun and a good way to get the kids involved in the kitchen. Meatballs are also a perfect way to use up any leftover trimmings you have from beef, chicken, lamb or pork.”

For the meatballs:

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 ounces ground pork shoulder

8 ounces lean ground beef

2 Spanish chorizo sausages, casings removed, sausage meat minced

2 large eggs

2 ounces parmesan cheese, grated (about ¹⁄₂ cup)

¹⁄₂ cup dried bread crumbs

¹⁄₄ cup red wine

1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons minced fresh chives

1 teaspoon piment d'Espelette, cayenne pepper or hot paprika

1 teaspoon ground sumac

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Salt, to taste

For the Spicy Tomato Sauce:

2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes, drained

1 can (14.5 ounces) piquillo peppers, drained

¹⁄₄ cup olive oil

3 garlic cloves, smashed

1 tablespoon harissa paste

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

Fresh lemon juice

Salt, to taste

For the garnish:

6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (about 1  ¹⁄₂ cups)

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons chopped mint leaves

To prepare the meatballs: In a large skillet, heat about 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat. When hot, saute the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent and softened. Set aside to cool.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix the pork, beef, sausage, eggs, parmesan, bread crumbs, wine, parsley, chives, piment d'Espelette, sumac, lemon zest, and a little salt. Add the cooled onion and garlic. Using your hands, work the mixture until the ingredients are well mixed. Season with salt.

Roll the meat between your palms to make 20 small meatballs, about the size of walnuts.

In another large skillet, heat the remaining oil. You need only a film of oil to coat the skillet. Brown the meatballs on all sides and transfer to a baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: In a blender, puree the tomatoes, peppers, oil, garlic and harissa. Transfer to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the sauce has reduced by about one-third. Stir in the vinegar and season with lemon juice and salt.

Put the meatballs in the sauce and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.

Garnish with the feta, parsley and mint, and serve.

Makes 6 to 8 servings, or about 20 meatballs.

Kung Pao Drumsticks with Ginger Honey and Toasted Peanuts

“I try to stay true to classic Kung Pao Chicken in this recipe,” writes Graham Elliot, “although I make it with legs rather than breasts because of the richer flavor of the dark meat. I spice it up with sambal chile sauce, which is nicely warm but not burning.”

To toast the peanuts, spread them in a dry skillet and cook over medium-high heat for about 1 minute, shaking the pan a few times, until lightly browned. Cool on a plate.

Prep time: 5 to 10 minutes

Cooking time: 23 to 30 minutes

¹⁄₂ cup honey

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger, divided

4 cups canola oil, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1 clove garlic, minced

1  ¹⁄₂ teaspoons rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon mirin

1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon hoisin

¹⁄₂ teaspoon sambal chile sauce

3 green onions, minced

¹⁄₂ cup chopped toasted salted peanuts

4 trimmed chicken drumsticks (legs)

Put the honey and 1 tablespoon of the ginger in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook gently for about 5 minutes to infuse the honey with the ginger. Strain the sauce through a chinois or fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover and set aside.

In another saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat. Saute the shallot, garlic and remaining 1 tablespoon ginger for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the shallot is translucent. Add the vinegar and mirin and bring to a rapid simmer. Cook for 30 seconds or until reduced by half. Add the soy sauce, hoisin and chile sauce and simmer for 5 minutes longer, or until the sauce begins to thicken. Strain the sauce into a shallow bowl.

In another bowl, toss the green onions with the peanuts.

In a heavy pot, heat the 4 cups oil until it registers 350 degrees on a deep-fry thermometer.

Using tongs, submerge the chicken legs in the hot oil. Do not crowd the pot (you might have to fry the chicken in two batches if the pot is not large). Fry for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the juices run clear when you remove a leg from the oil and pierce its meatiest section with a small, sharp knife. If not done, return the leg to the oil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer. When done, use tongs to remove the legs and set aside on a paper towel–lined plate.

Put the hot drumsticks in the bowl with the shallot-mirin sauce and toss to coat. Transfer to the bowl with the peanuts and green onions and roll to coat. Drizzle with the ginger sauce.

Makes 4 servings.

Truffled Popcorn

“Popcorn reminds me of the circus, carnivals and the movies — and of being a kid,” writes Graham Elliot. “I started putting it on the table at the restaurant instead of bread, and wow! Instant hit. It's less filling and sets the tone for the meal to come: ‘This is going to be fun!' I also get a kick out of pairing a food that costs about a nickel (popcorn) with one that can cost thousands of dollars a pound (truffles), and so this has become one of my signature dishes.

“At Chicago's Lollapalooza, we sell close to 10,000 bags of truffled popcorn in a single summer weekend. You can make this with melted truffle butter and save yourself a few bucks!”

Prep time: 5 to 7 minutes

Cooking time: 2 to 3 minutes

¹⁄₂ cup popcorn kernels

Corn oil, for stovetop popping (optional)

1  ¹⁄₂ tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon truffle oil

1 ounce parmesan cheese, finely grated, about ¹⁄₄ cup

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pop the corn kernels in a standard hot-air popper or in a covered deep saucepan with a little corn oil.

Transfer the warm popcorn to a large bowl and add the butter and truffle oil. Toss well to coat the popcorn with the butter and oil.

Add the parmesan, chives, salt and pepper. Toss well.

Transfer the popcorn to a brown paper bag or serving bowl. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.