A Cook and Her Books: emeril's culinary team

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

It's a Wrap, #SeriousSandwich

Olive salad. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

This is the finale of Emeril's #SeriousSandwich posts, and like the grand finale of the 4th of July fireworks, it ends with a booming blizzard of color. I've assembled pictures of all my sandwiches, and in a few days, when I have some spare time, I'll link back to the posts.

I want to say a big "Thank You" to Emeril Lagasse for creating such an exciting cookbook and for all the tweets, retweets, shares and pins. It sure does make your day when Emeril singles out your blog for a comment! And I really appreciate your taking time to answer my questions, especially offering your advice for young people considering the culinary profession.

Thanks to Tavia from Morrow Cookbooks for reading my stories and for choosing my blog to participate in the blogalong. This has been a learning experience for me, and a much-needed creative boost.

And speaking of education, thanks go out to Steven Freeman, the photographer for "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches," who talked with me about the cookbook shoot and offered constructive criticism of my pictures. (Just looking at my pictures here, from beginning to end, I can see a difference in how I approach the shot. I hope the results show!).

Thanks to Kamili Hemphill of Emeril's culinary team, for writing such inspiring words about the creative process of cookbook production, recipe writing, and cooking in general.

Thanks go out to my fellow #SeriousSandwich bloggers ~ I've had a great time exploring your blogs and making new friends.

Naan with cilantro-mint chutney. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

New style caldo verde and Eggplant Muffuletta. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Cheddar and green onion biscuits. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Egg salad supreme. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Smoked sausage sandwich with beer-braised onions. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Caprese. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Calzones. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

How to photograph sandwiches. Photo by Steven Freeman

Breakfast burrito with avocado crema. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

The Elvis. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Grilled smoky pimento cheese. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Chocolate wafers with peanut butter fudge. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Almond Poppy Seed cake with lemon Neufchatel. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

As for what's next, I need to tell a little story. In the second week of the blogalong, my family spent a few days in Orange Beach, Alabama, with incomparably beautiful weather (and an iffy wi-fi connection). One afternoon, I went out shopping, and as I usually do, I ended up in a bookstore where I bought a copy of Emeril's "There's a Chef in My World" for my seven year-old.

When I gave Lindsey Lou the book, she read completely through it and remarked on each recipe. She bookmarked a few, like the German Apple Pancake, and the Egg Drop Soup. When she finished reading through the cookbook, she looked at the cover, then she found the copy of "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches," and said that something looked familiar. I explained to her that the same chef wrote both books and his name was Emeril. She hugged both books to her chest and said,

"I just love Emerald."

We're just getting started on "There's a Chef in My World," ~ here's the German Apple Pancake, which was easy, fun and delicious. Thanks, Chef!

Emeril's German Apple Pancake. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

You may also want to visit my fellow #SeriousSandwich bloggers, all 21 of them:

It's been an absolute pleasure reading these new-to-me blogs and cooking through Emeril's new cookbook!

Disclosure: The views and opinions expressed on this blog are mine, based upon my personal experience. Morrow Cookbooks provided me with a Cookalong Kit including an advance copy of "Emeril’s Kicked-Up Sandwiches." In addition, upon completion of the #SeriousSandwich cookalong, all participants will receive a small grocery reimbursement and a complete library of Emeril's cookbooks.

This post is part of #SeriousSandwich, a blogalong sponsored by Morrow Books,
marking the publication of

Emeril’s Kicked-Up Sandwiches (Morrow, $24.99)

If you love cookbooks like I do, you gotta follow The Secret Ingredient Blog from Morrow Books.

with the exception of the book cover; that belongs to Morrow Books,

and Steven Freeman's photo from "How to Photograph Sandwiches."

The essence of good cooking, #SeriousSandwich


Almond poppy-seed pound cake with lemon neufchatel. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Chef Emeril Lagasse works with his culinary team to produce his cookbooks, like his newest, "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches," (Morrow, $24.99) When I ran into problems baking the Almond Poppy Seed Pound Cake with Lemon Neufchatel, Kamili Hemphill from Emeril's culinary team came to the rescue and I took the opportunity to ask her a few questions about creating the recipes for cookbooks like "Kicked-Up Sandwiches."

Q. What is the process for selecting and testing the recipes for the book?

A. Well ,when Chef Emeril begins a project, he already has a list of new recipe ideas (or old favorites) that he wants to be a part of it. As the testing process goes along, some ideas will stay the same and make it into the book and some ideas will change into something better… and every now and again certain ideas or recipes will get dropped if they just don’t measure up to the others. Then, when he gets to a point where he can step back and look at the list of recipes that are completed, it is easy to see where the gaps are. He will then brainstorm with us, the culinary team, to come up with additional ideas to round out the collection.

It’s a very organic process and the book really kind of writes itself as we go along.

Testing involves actually cooking recipes as well as writing them several times and using ingredients we are able to gather from grocery stores or farmer’s markets. We stay away from getting ingredients from restaurant purveyors because the recipes are for the home cook. Once the recipes have been cooked, they are evaluated for taste and flavor, texture, authenticity, appropriateness for the project and visual appeal.

Almond poppy seed pound cake. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Q. Do you have any tips for getting the best out of Emeril's recipes?

Hmmmm, good question. That really depends on the recipe. You have to be able to understand which ingredients in the recipe contribute to its essence, no pun intended. Successful cooking relies heavily on technique, an understanding of ratios, and a bit of understanding in regards to chemistry.

The wonderful thing about a well-written recipe is that it should eliminate guesswork on the part of the cook by being able to describe to the cook what he or she should be looking for.

Descriptions that include how long certain steps may take, appropriate temperatures, measurements, size of pan, specific cooking tools, specific ingredients, etc. One of the most important pieces of advice I give to people who are cooking from a recipe is to read it through several times before beginning to make sure they can understand the recipe. A person should be able to imagine it.

Practice is essential when it comes to cooking. At its very core, it is a craft.

I would certainly recommend that a person cook a recipe as-is first before making substitutions. That way a person can judge from their own experience what can be successfully changed. It takes a very experienced cook to make that determination by just reading a recipe. Now, I’m sure you know there are a lot of bad recipes and badly written recipes out there. So really, you have to try them first, and then adjust.

Almond-poppy seed pound cake. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Q. I'm working on improving the pictures for my blog, do you have any tips for making food look better on the plate and page?

A. Well, good pictures are many times a matter of taste. Chef Emeril’s taste regarding food photos definitely involves authenticity. He likes pictures of his food to be as natural as possible and photographed while it’s still fresh, i.e. photographed immediately. You will notice that you might get a glimpse of steam, or see that the cheese is still melty, or recognize sheen from the olive oil, or you might notice the delicious beauty in food where every cut or dimension isn’t exact.

It should look real… and good enough to eat.

Close-up photos usually work well so that the viewer can focus in on the food and not be distracted by other things. Also, for you, since photography is an expression, think about which photos of food you like and why. Then incorporate those things into your own work. (They should be) your own expression.

[A note on baking the Almond Poppy Seed Pound Cake - this is a terrific cake, but it must be baked according to the directions. Use cake flour and sift it before measuring. It can be made without the poppy seeds, but it's much better with them. They're like freckles, and what kid isn't cuter with freckles?]

Kamili Hemphill on the shoot for "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches." by Steven Freeman.

Thanks, Kamili, for taking time to share your knowledge with my readers and me!

With the exceptions of Emeril's book cover, that belongs to Morrow Cookbooks, and the picture of Kamili Hemphill, provided by Steven Freeman.

Emeril’s Kicked-Up Sandwiches (Morrow, $24.99)

If you love cookbooks like I do, you gotta follow The Secret Ingredient Blog from Morrow Books.

This post is part of #SeriousSandwich, a cookalong to celebrate the publication

Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches.

For more great #SeriousSandwich posts, follow #SeriousSandwich on Twitter.