Tamales can be traced as far back as the Incas and Aztecs in Mesoamerica centuries ago. As a food source, tamales were easily transported in either corn husks or banana leaves and provided valuable nutrition for hunters, travelers and warriors.

Tamales are made from a corn masa dough and can be filled with meats, cheeses, beans, vegetables and even dried fruits for sweet tamales. The tamales are steamed in their wrappers, which is then discarded. The original disposable container-all natural and biodegradable.

Found throughout Mexico, Central and South America, Cuba and of course now throughout the United States, each region has a particular preparation of this traditional dish. In Mexico, they are most commonly stuffed with pork or chicken and served with a mole sauce.  In the northern region of the country they are wrapped in corn husks whereas in southern Mexico where it is more tropical, banana leaves are used. In Central America the meat is often cooked in a tomato based sauce called recado. In some areas dried fruit and olives may be added to the meat.

Tamales are sold by street vendors, roadside stands, and food trucks. They are commonly made to celebrate festive occasions like weddings and holidays. Eaten at any time of day, they are inexpensive and enormously satisfying. They might even be considered the ultimate comfort food.

We just finished up working on recipes for a tamale show. As we work on the shows I try to take pictures in the kitchen to share on the web. I was able to get some great progress shots of the making of tamales. It is a long process but well worth it.

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I am counting down the days to the Eat Local Challenge. I have just 15 days to prepare.

Things to do:

1. clean out the pantry of all processed food
2. clean out the refrigerator
3. make a list of farmer’s markets and purveyors of local ingredients
4. check out what is in season
5. pull together recipes and dust off my cookbooks

Chef Chris Wilson has been crazy about these little green peppers for quite a while now and I thought would share them with you. Padron peppers originate in Padron, Spain in the Northwest region of the country. They are mild in flavor, for the most part. It seems to me a little like pepper roulette, you can eat a dozen of them without ever getting one that is hot and then you get zapped with a really hot one. They are grown from June to September and there is a festival devoted to them. It reminds me of Hatch chilies which also have a cult following. The Padron’s deserve their cult like status. I like peppers but would never snack on a jalapeno or munch on a bell pepper as if it were an apple but I can eat at least a dozen of these little babies. I was craving them today.

They are simply prepared by blistering them in a hot pan with a little bit of good Spanish olive oil and some sea salt.

We had some Padron seeds which I planted in our kitchen garden several months ago and they are starting to look great. Unfortunately, we lost quite a few plants due to inclement weather. The plants that are left are thriving and we even have a couple of peppers on them.

Chef Chris Wilson and Daphne Derven teamed up together and found an urban farmer to grow the plants for him so that he could use the peppers in some of Emeril’s restaurants here in New Orleans. Pam Broom has a small urban farm in Central City and she grows vegetables and herbs to sell to local restaurants. She has done a fabulous job with the peppers and brought us 3 pounds of peppers last week. We cooked them immediately. They are a little spicy but have a delicate flavor, every once in a while you get a really hot one. If you see these on a menu or if you happen to come across them in your local gourmet market, pick them up. They require very little preparation and make a great snack or could be part of tapas menu. I would love to experiment with them a bit more, maybe stuffing them and then roasting them or making a green chile stew. So many possibilities.

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I have decided to join the Eat Local Challenge in June! I am thrilled that it is being offered and I signed up today.

The Eat Local Challenge begins on June 1 and lasts 30 days. It promotes not only a healthy community but also a healthy lifestyle. I try to buy and eat as much local produce and products as I possible can but there are times that I sort of fall off the local truck and I think this may be a good way to get back on track.

There are so many reasons to eat locally, for me it is all about supporting my community and a healthy environment. Southeast Louisiana has always been proud of its heritage foods and to celebrate we have festivals honoring a single ingredient or dish. There are crawfish festivals, gumbo festivals and even frog festivals. We are blessed to have access to an enormous variety of seafood and wild game. Our climate supports a long growing season, I still have Swiss chard and beets in my garden alongside the tomatoes and cucumbers.

Urban farms have been popping up all over New Orleans, people are raising chickens in their backyards, interest in  bee keeping has increased and a kitchen garden is becoming a must. Restaurants advertise where they get their milk, meat, and produce proud to display a long list of regional farmers.

People who only eat local ingredients are called locavores. Locavores vary depending on how strict they want to be. Some people are able to go without spices, coffee and tea, sugar and flour. Others try their best to eat as much local and seasonal ingredients as possible but really need their morning coffee. That’s me! I love ice coffee and am not sure I can function without it. I will try to give up wheat products since we don’t grow wheat here but luckily Louisiana does grow its own sugar, there is no shortage of hot sauce and there are salt mines here as well. Instead of California or French wines I will switch to locally brewed beers.

I am both excited and a little nervous about this challenge. I will do my best and keep you up to date on my progress. Posting recipes and photos of local food stuffs. Wish me luck!

Here’s the link:
http://www.nolalocavore.org

When wandering through the Crescent City Farmer’s Market I usually pick up a pint of beet lemonade from Amanda’s juices. Two of my favorite things married together- beets and lemons! It might sound sort of weird at first but the two flavors work so well together. Beets have a sweet earthiness to them that somehow mellows the tartness of the lemons, add a little sugar or honey and voila!

It has become something of an obsession of mine. I haven’t been able to get to the farmer’s market much lately and I was really missing my weekly dose of beet lemonade. It just makes me feel healthy and happy.  I pretty much thought that Amanda’s Juices was the sole purveyor until I ended up at an adorable little juice bar and sandwich shop called Satsuma. It is in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans just down river from the French Quarter. The special juice of the day was beet lemonade, I bought two. The thing is that my lemonade cost more than my sandwich. So I figured I could definitely make this at home for less.

Since I don’t have a juicer, I figured I would have to juice or really puree the beets in the blender. I pulled about 5 pounds of beets out my garden two weeks ago and I thought I could spare a few for experimentation.  It works! I used some of the smaller baby beets, peeled and finely chopped them, placed them in the blender, added some freshly squeezed lemon juice and sugar and blended until smooth. The first batch I drank with the pulp and all. Not that great. The second batch I strained through a chinoise pushing as much juice out as possible and it worked very well. I just adjusted the lemon, sugar and water ratio and now I have beet lemonade on a daily basis. Almost.

I’m a huge football fan. Whether it’s a small family gathering at the house, or one of those big parking lot grill-outs before the game – it’s all about having fun!

Check out my collection of recipes – these are some of my favorite party snacks and tailgating classics like burgers, wings and dips. They’re perfect for game-time!

• EJ’s Simple Oven BBQ Ribs
• Totally Sloppy Joes
• Spicy Sausage, Bean and Cheese Nachos
• Chili-Rubbed Shrimp Wraps
• Grilled Fish Tacos with a Roasted Chile and Avocado Sauce
• Southwestern Turkey Sliders
• Grilled Vietnamese-style Chicken Wings
• Emeril’s Con Queso
• Kicked Up Spinach and Artichoke Dip
• French Bread Crostini

Today on Cooking with Emeril, we got a preview of what promises to be one of the biggest events at this year’s New York Wine & Food Festival: The Sandwich Showdown.

Read all about and more at The Radio Blog >>

The 2010 NFL season starts tonight, so Emeril kicked off his new season of Cooking with Emeril today by inviting Tribeca Grill Executive Chef Stephen Lewandowski and Birch&Barley/Churchkey Beer Director Greg Engert to talk about the best game day eats and the most interesting beers to pair with them.

Read the full article and view the photos over at the Radio Blog >>

Hey guys!

I know it’s been a while and apologize for the long interim. The Culinary Department here spent the last few weeks helping Chef Emeril with edits on the testing, writing and editing of his cookbooks and assisting him on the Home Shopping Network (amongst a couple of other things as well). Phew! But it’s been a good kind of busy.

Not until recently have I had a chance to enjoy my work days at a bit of a slower pace before tackling new and upcoming projects. I’ve also been able to conduct a couple of experiments as well: pickled watermelon rind and cabbage kim chi.

Read more »

Yesterday on Cooking with Emeril, Chef Michel Nischan joined us to talk about what’s on the menu at The Dressing Room, his latest work with the Wholesome Wave Foundation, and his beautiful new cookbook, Sustainably Delicious.

Read the all about it and listen to audio clips over at The Radio Blog.