Sara Moulton

Every day at Gourmet is different for me which is why I love the job so much. I started the job as the chef of the executive dining room which meant that 3 or 4 times a week I cooked a meal out of the pages of the magazine for clients, aka advertisers. I would, "make the magazine come alive" I would make 2 hor d'oeuvres, a first course, a main course with sides and a dessert. We would serve beautiful wines (= ply the poor unsuspecting clients with alcohol, not really) and then hit them up for the big advertising dollars. If my job was still just that I probably would have moved on. Now I develop and test recipes for clients, teach cooking classes, consult, do cooking demos and much more. Sometimes I get to travel and stay in very deluxe places. Now I have a sous chef who is fabulous and does most of the prep and work in the kitchen. Cooking lunch is still a highlight. We are forced to make new recipes every day because we have to represent the current issue. It keeps me out of the culinary doldrums. The really good news is that because there is no food cost and no surprises (every meal is planned way ahead), I am making the best food of my career.

Katie, I have plenty of off days, usually when I have been making the same recipes over and over again so what I do is pull out a cookbook with the kind of food I am not so familiar with (Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Puerto Rican) and then I just make a new recipe. I try to follow it exactly the first time. This ALWAYS makes me happy. It is like a new kindergarten art project.

Actually, I have proposed a similar show and been rejected over and over with the explanation that nobody is interested in old people!!!! Maybe I should try Scorcese and start with his adorable aunt.

Judy, I would do another live show complete with cook along in a heartbeat if someone offered me the opportunity and was willing to fund it. Again, it was the food network's choice, not mine. They said it was too expensive and the production values were too sloppy. I also think they didn't like all the random stuff (I dropped it, I burned it, we got a dirty phone call) that I thought made it real reality tv. I think the cook along was a great way to learn. Even though I wasn't physically in the viewer's home, we were cooking together. They could see what I did.

Susan, Let me tell you something you probably didn't realize. I have nothing to do with editorial. I have been part of the advertising team since 1987. I started in gourmet in the test kitchen in the mid 80's when I decided I couldn't work a million hours a week in restaurants and still have kids. So I am sure some of my old recipes pop up every so often in book or magazine retrospectives (before Ruth we were not given credit for our recipes, we were all just one anonymous team) but I am not privy to how they put the magazine together today. I still have buddies in the test kitchen and I check in with them when I have a question about a recipe or if I want a recommendation about something extra special to serve in my dining room. If you or anyone else has questions about that issue, I could certainly find out the answer and I will check out that thread to see the comments.

Just about any recipe can be fixed. There are only 2 exceptions that I know of - 1. you burned it and 2. You pureed the mashed potatoes in a food processor (= wall paper glue) Sooo, Having said that I would need to know the specifics of what went wrong or general problems you have had. Why don't you get back to me with an example?

Sandy, The choice was theirs not mine. The new president came in with her agenda which included getting rid of some of the old guard. Their new demagraphic is something like 15 to 35 year old males and their goal now is to appeal to that segment of the population. They want talent that is for the most part young, telegenic and very entertaining. I have a producer friend that tried to pitch some shows and was told, "No chefs please, and nobody with training." I don't understand it but I am not a 15 year old male. I will say I was on there for quite a while, almost 10 years if they keep airing my shows until April 2, and every show has a life. Maybe my time was up. I am a teacher, not an entertainer and so I couldn't have changed my style anyway. I really do belong on PBS and all of my favorite teachers are there - Jacques, Lydia, Martin, Mary Anne. What so you look for in a tv food show?

I have a great time with all three of them. They are really nice and really down to earth people which you can't say of all tv hosts (believe me I have had to work with some real jerks). I especially love working with Charlie because he and I go way back. I started in the kitchen there in '81 working with Julia Child and he arrived several years later. On the first day he made a point of introducing himself to me, the little person in the kitchen, and then he always asked me questions about myself whenever I saw him after that. We also had a mutual adoration for Julia who had a huge crush on him. When I interviewed her for the special we did on food network and asked her about Charlie she get all dreamy and said something like, "He is a lovely man..." Food preferences -- I don't remember as well as I did when I did all the prep for the chefs (on and off from '81 to '94) but let me see - charlie loves cookies, most melty cheesey things (fattening things) and hates goat cheese and cream cheese. I think he is not a fan of mushrooms. Diane loves crispy items - every year when we cover the fancy food show we try to find a chip for her. She also likes to eat healthy. Robin is a good eater too but I found out the other day that she cannot eat mac and cheese. As a child she had some that made her sick! When we did a mac and cheese tasting we had to get a little girl to do Robin's tasting for her.

I learned how to cook chicken this way when I worked in restaurants. It was one of the items we prepared often for staff meal which we had around 5pm before service. In many restaurants the ovens are turned to one temperature during service - high (500 F) and you don't touch that dial. So we would get these little chickens, season them up, rub them with oil and just throw them in the oven, no trussing, no fussing, no basting and they came out beautifully crispy. However one vey important thing to rememeber (besides starting with a clean oven): They must rest, sit on the counter covered loosely with foil, for 15 minutes before carving because the juices need to redistribute before you carve the chickens. I think that is one of the biggest problems at thanksgiving - people pull that big bird out of the oven and immediately start hacking away at it which means that all the juices come streaming out and you have a dry bird.

What a nice place to start - with Aunt Fanny! I loved her too. She was so feisty (and that is hard at a head shorter than me). One of the rules I had on the live show was - be nice to the caller - but Aunt Fanny ignored that. Someone would call in and say something like, "Don't you brown your meatballs first?" and Aunt Fanny would look dead in the camera with disdain and say, "no, why would you do that?" I saw her last summer in new jersey when I was doing a demo at a mall. She surprised me. She sat in the front row with her feet dangling (chair too high) and I made sure to ask her lots of questions while I was doing my demo so she would feel special. It is my plan to have her on my new PBS series and I am sure she will be delighted. She was on my food network shows about 10 times and began to feel a bit like a movie star. Good question, Sara Moulton

Chris, This is the most exhaustive review I have ever seen. Wow!!! Thanks! You have busted me on one issue - the times. When my sous chef did a last testing of 50 recipes that I was not %100 happy with, her comment was often that my times were off, meaning that it took longer than I said. It was hard for me to do a quick and easy book, I will admit it. Which is why there is a slow cooking chapter (foods to make ahead on weekends). As for the supermarket chapter, at least I don't have mushroom soup in a can as sauce....

Creamy Baked Polenta Serves 4 as Side. Hands-on time: 5 minutes Total preparation time: 55 minutes The corn meal mush known as polenta, one of the national dishes of Italy, emerged in its original form as the field ration of the Roman soldier. Although pulmentum was made of millet or spelt (cornmeal was unknown to the ancient Romans), it boasted the same versatility that we love in polenta today -- you can cook it up and serve it immediately while it is still creamy, or let it set up like a cake that can be sliced and sauteed. Cooking polenta on the stove requires a lot of hands-on time -- and not a little care. It is hot and sticky and bubbles up and out in a Vesuvius-like way. Here I cook the polenta in the oven, which drastically decreases the hands on time. This recipe can do double duty as a great weeknight side dish or a vegetarian main dish topped with Porcini Mushroom Sauce (page 263) or some chopped canned tomatoes sauteed with onions and garlic, and a few bottled artichokes added at the end. A green salad would be a nice addition if you turn it into an entree. 1 c yellow cornmeal or regular (not instant) coarse polenta 2 T unsalted butter, thinly sliced 1 tsp Kosher salt 1/2 tsp freshly milled black pepper 2 oz provolone cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup) 2 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated (about 2/3 cup; see grating information, page 10) 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine 4 cups water, the cornmeal, butter, salt, and pepper in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Bake, uncovered, on the top shelf of the oven for 40 minutes. 2. Remove the polenta from the oven, give it a stir, and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove it from the oven; stir in the provolone and salt and pepper to taste; let stand 5 minutes before serving. Serve topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Excerpted from Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals, published by Broadway Books and reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2005 by Sara Moulton. Pages referenced in this recipe are from the book. Keywords: Side, Vegetarian, Easy, Dinner, Italian ( RG1578 )

Korean Style Beef with Spicy Cabbage Serves 4 as Main Dish. Hands-on time: 25 minutes Total preparation time: 25 minutes Skirt steak is one of those ingredients you would have to be very talented to mess up. It is a well-marbled (a butcher's way of saying significant fat runs through it), tough cut of meat that should be cooked rare to medium-rare and sliced thin across the grain. Skirt steak is the full-flavored cut of beef usually used for fajitas, and it takes very nicely to this Asian preparation. If you have time, make double the sauce and marinate the meat in half of it for an hour. I chose napa cabbage because it is more delicate than regular cabbage and provides the perfect crisp backdrop to the beef. Serve with Simple Boiled Rice (page 40). 3 T soy sauce 2 scallions (white and green parts), thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup) 2 T rice vinegar 1 T dark brown sugar 2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger (use a Microplane) 1-1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil 1 garlic clove, minced (about 1 teaspoon) 1 lb skirt steak Kosher salt and freshly milled black pepper 4 T vegetable oil 4 c thinly shredded napa cabbage (about 1 pound) 1/4 lb snow peas, halved diagonally 1 tsp red pepper flakes 1. Whisk together the soy sauce, scallions, vinegar, brown sugar, ginger, sesame oil, and garlic and set aside. Season the steak with salt and black pepper on both sides. Cut into pieces if necessary, in order to fit all of it into the skillet. 2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over high heat until hot; add the meat. Sear the steak on both sides, 4 to 6 minutes total for medium-rare. 3. Transfer the meat to a platter, cover loosely with foil, and let rest while you cook the cabbage. Discard the fat in the skillet; heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in the same skillet over high heat until hot. Reduce the heat to medium and add the cabbae and snow peas. Saute for 3 minutes or until the cabbage is crisp tender. Add the snow peas, red pepper flakes and salt to taste; saute just until the peas are hot, about 30 seconds. 4. To serve, slice the steak thin, against the grain, at an angle. Add any juices from the platter to the soy sauce mixture and toss the meat with the sauce in a bowl. Arrange a mound of cabbage on four plates; top with the meat and sauce. Excerpted from Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals, published by Broadway Books and reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2005 by Sara Moulton. Pages referenced in this recipe are from the book. Keywords: Main Dish, Korean, Easy, Beef, Dinner ( RG1577 )

Oven Baked Chowder Serves 4 as Main Dish. Servings: 4 as a main dish Hands-on time: 15 minutes Total preparation time: 1 1/4 hours I was born and bred in New York, but my roots are in New England, so you might say that chowder is in my blood. My family has always made it by starting with whole cod or haddock on the bone, because the bones are the key to big, big flavor. On a weeknight in the twenty-first century, however, I know most of us just don't have the time. So here's a simpler version. (OK, this recipe requires and hour and a quarter from start to finish, but only fifteen minutes of that is actual hands-on time.) And because all the ingredients are tightly sealed in one casserole, you can't boil off the flavor. It'll all be there to smack you in the face the instant you sit down to your bowl. Serve with crackers and Cole Slaw (page 38). 1 c canned chicken broth or Chicken Stock (page 32) 1/3 c white wine 2 medium boiling or Yukon Gold potatoes (about 12 ounces), peeled and sliced thinly 1 medium onion thinly sliced (about 1 cup) 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced 8 thin slices Canadian bacon (about 6 ounces), chopped 1 tsp rinsed and dried fresh thyme or 1/3 teaspoon dried Kosher salt and freshly milled black pepper 2 T unsalted butter, thinly sliced and quartered 1 Turkish bay leaf 1-1/2 lb cod, scrod, or halibut filet 1/2 c half-and-half 1/4 tsp paprika 1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spay a shallow 2-quart baking dish with vegetable cooking spray. Bring the broth and wine to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. 2. Layer the potatoes, onion, celery, and bacon in the baking dish, seasoning with thyme, salt, and pepper between the layers. Pour the hot broth mixture over all, dot with butter, add the bay leaf, and cover tightly with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. 3. Remove the bay leaf from the potato mixture; add the fish and bake, covered, until the fish is just cooked through, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, gently heat the half and half. 4. To serve, drizzle the hot half-and-half over the fish. Spoon the chowder into bowls, breaking the fish into flakes with the spoon; sprinkle each serving with some paprika. Excerpted from Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals, published by Broadway Books and reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2005 by Sara Moulton. Pages referenced in this recipe are from the book. Keywords: Soup, American, Easy, Fish, Dinner ( RG1576 )

Potato Pancakes with Smoked Salmon and Fried Eggs Serves 4 as Main Dish. Hands-on time: 25 minutes Total preparation time: 35 minutes I love smoked salmon with eggs. I love smoked salmon with potatoes and smoked salmon with horseradish. So I thought I would put it all together and garnish it with the perfect smoked salmon accompaniments, red onion and capers. I'm from New York -- I know about smoked salmon. Serve with Grated Carrot Salad (page 293) or Sauteed Beets with Balsamic Vinegar (page 305). 1—2 small baking potatoes (about 12 ounces) 1/4 c plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil Kosher salt and freshly milled black pepper 8 large eggs 4 oz thinly sliced smoked salmon 1 recipe Horseradish Sauce (page 316), optional Thinly sliced red onion and drained, bottled capers, optional 1. Peel the potato and grate it, preferably using the grating disc of a food processor (or the coarse side of a box grater). Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Sprinkle the potatoes into the pan to form 4 pancakes, about 4 inches in diameter and 1/3 inch thick. Press them down with a spatula and cook them for 5 to 6 minutes or until the underside is golden brown. Season the top side with salt and pepper, turn the pancakes over, and cook them for 5 to 6 minutes more or until golden. Season the second side with salt and pepper. 2. When the potato pancakes are almost done, fry the eggs. In a large skillet heat the remaining oil over medium-low heat until hot. Gently break the eggs into the skillet, keeping the yolks intact, and cook, covered, 5 minutes, or to desired doneness. Season with salt and pepper. 3. To serve, arrange 1 pancake on each of 4 plates; top with one-fourth of the salmon and 2 fried eggs. Spoon some of the Horseradish Sauce on top, if using, and garnish with red onion and capers. Excerpted from Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals, published by Broadway Books and reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2005 by Sara Moulton. Pages referenced in this recipe are from the book. Click here for a discussion of potato pancakes and a picture of this dish. Keywords: Main Dish, Lunch, Intermediate, Dinner, Potatoes, Fish, Brunch ( RG1574 )

Thank you all for your encouragement about PBS! It does sort of feel right considering that I started at WGBH in Boston doing prep and styling for Julia in 1978. What I meant by more people watch PBS is that overall it has a larger viewership than the food network. Of course in the food world the place most people want to be is on the food network since it was the first all food network. But it has changed and they would be the first to tell you they are not interested in education, just entertainment (call me silly but somehow I though you could do both). I have a producer friend who tried to pitch them some new shows and he was told, "no chefs please, nobody with any training" The only trouble is that things move very slowly on public television so it will be several months before we begin taping. I will let you know when I know the timing (and then I will tell you the topic, I am very excited about it) Meanwhile, oddly enough and maybe only for a few more weeks, I am still on the food network...

Chris, Smoked fish of any kind is just fine. Good idea. But actually, in terms of heat, medium is better because you need the potato pancake to crisp on the outside while cooking on the inside. The two pancakes and two eggs was because this is supposed to be dinner, breakfast for dinner and it needs to be substantial. Bacon grease is just fine with me by the way but if you want a lighter end product and with all those other good ingredients - crispy potatoes, smoked whatever salmon, makerel etc, fried egg, horseradish cream, I figure you are ok without the extra saturated fat but if you want to guild the lilly go ahead.