Archived from Friday, November 20, 2009
Join world-renowned chef, restaurateur, and host of the Emmy-nominated show “Lidia’s Italy” for a live chat about holiday cooking. Lidia brings her signature family-style cooking tips just in time for Thanksgiving.
Archived Chat
Hello and welcome to the Engage Live Chat Series. Today we welcome world renowned chef and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich. Thank you for joining us today Lidia. Let's get started with the first question.
Megan Santos, Tampa, FL:
Do you recommend brining a turkey? Why or why not?
Lidia Maticchio Bastianich:
Hi Megan,
I do recommend brining a turkey, it makes the turkey more flavorful and retains the moisture. We all look for a juicy end result when cooking the turkey and brining it will give you those results.Enjoy and Buon appetito.
I do recommend brining a turkey, it makes the turkey more flavorful and retains the moisture. We all look for a juicy end result when cooking the turkey and brining it will give you those results.Enjoy and Buon appetito.
Amanda L:
Do you have any tips on how to time a bunch of dishes so everything is ready for dinner?
Lidia Maticchio Bastianich:
Ah yes, bringing all the dishes at the table nice and hot and perfectly cooked is a challenge we face at the restaurants every night but all it take is a bit of planning of the menu.
One good option to keep in mind is to use the oven as much as you can, while the oven is hot for the turkey use it to finish the vegetable dishes as well. Prepare the vegetables before ..par boil...steam...or saute them ,then set them in a gratin dish and top them with bread crumbs seasoned with olive oil ,butter, grated cheese (Grana Padano), some chopped thyme or other favorite herbs. Set it in the hot oven while you are carving the turkey and the vegetables will be bubbling hot and crispy...which everyone loves....you can do this to potatoes, yams, string beans... any vegetable of your choice.
One good option to keep in mind is to use the oven as much as you can, while the oven is hot for the turkey use it to finish the vegetable dishes as well. Prepare the vegetables before ..par boil...steam...or saute them ,then set them in a gratin dish and top them with bread crumbs seasoned with olive oil ,butter, grated cheese (Grana Padano), some chopped thyme or other favorite herbs. Set it in the hot oven while you are carving the turkey and the vegetables will be bubbling hot and crispy...which everyone loves....you can do this to potatoes, yams, string beans... any vegetable of your choice.
Jesica Retzleff, Phelps, WI:
I have Celiac Disease and am on a strict gluten free diet. Any suggestions for dishes to try for the upcoming holidays?
Lidia Maticchio Bastianich:
Hi Jesica,
There are many delicious dishes without gluten and if we are talking about pasta and the like then there is the whole world of rice...a nice risotto with squash now in season, there is also rice flour pasta that you can dress with any of my pasta recipes. Also polenta, corn meal is a good option some delicious steaming polenta topped with some fontina cheese and topped with a poached egg is simply delicious of course if you have some white truffles to shave on top it could be your Christmas meal....but there is also corn flour pasta, buckwheat pasta....so much for you to discover and cook with.
Enjoy
There are many delicious dishes without gluten and if we are talking about pasta and the like then there is the whole world of rice...a nice risotto with squash now in season, there is also rice flour pasta that you can dress with any of my pasta recipes. Also polenta, corn meal is a good option some delicious steaming polenta topped with some fontina cheese and topped with a poached egg is simply delicious of course if you have some white truffles to shave on top it could be your Christmas meal....but there is also corn flour pasta, buckwheat pasta....so much for you to discover and cook with.
Enjoy
Donna Stannard, Schaghticoke, NY:
American Grana--is it the real thing? Is Grana (Padana) a type of cheese processing and not a geographical location? *
Lidia Maticchio Bastianich:
Grana Padana is a true traditional Italian product , it has been produced in Italy for more than 1200 years and it has a uniquely distinct flavor complexity and texture. It is produced in a specific geographical location in Italy..in the Valle Padana that is the valley that runs along the Po river. The American version is not the real thing and is quite different that the traditional Italian. When you cook Italian or for that matter the food on any culture , the surest way to capture the true flavors of that culture is to use traditional products.
Dana Viglietta, Columbus, OH:
Can you recommend a very mild white fish for Christmas Eve? Do you have a nice, simple white fish recipe?
Lidia Maticchio Bastianich:
A mild but delicious fish that will cook well but not fall apart on you is "filets of monkfish". Monkfish is dubbed as the poor man's lobster because it is sweet and firm. I would recommend a simple Livornese sauce.....some chopped onions, garlic cooked in olive oil 'till wilted add some crushed canned San Marzano tomatoes...salt ..red pepper flakes..a few capers and a few olives...bring to a boil . In the meantime salt and flour your fish filet , in a separate pan saute in olive oil "till golden on both sides. Drain and add to bubbling tomato sauce cook all together for 10 minutes and you got yourself a delicious dish...enjoy
Germaine via Twitter:
Have you directly influenced the Menus of Esca,Del Posto or any of the other restaurants that you invest in?
Lidia Maticchio Bastianich:
Yes we have input in all of the restaurants we own but each restaurant is a lot about the chef, the talents that he or she bring to the table and I as a chef do not want to stifle those talents but rather add , energize and enhance what the chef is all about....David at Esca loves fish and he would rather be fishing that cooking ..but is a great chef and we bring to him the Italian way which he incorporates in his dishes. Mark Ladner at Del Posto is tremendous chef with brilliant ideas and we collaborate on...for example I love Roasted Stinco..veal shank and in Trieste they roasted with rosemary and onions....he will add to that a myriad of vegetables seasoned with cinnamon, cloves and more so the whole dish is traditional and cutting edge at the same time...While Fortunato Nicotra at Felidia is a Italian ....a Sicilian Italian while I hail from the North soo we do a lot combined regional dishes....in Becco..Lidia's KC ...Lidia"s Pittsburgh..I go periodically and we cook together and develop new menus.
Matt, Silver Spring, MD:
What is an underrated, overlooked side dish that I can use to wow my guests at Thanksgiving?
Lidia Maticchio Bastianich:
I have quite a few, but here are some ideas....roasted butternut squash topped with toasted almonds and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.....spinach peatzles with nutmeg......savoy cabbage and potatoes rocky mash....barley vegetable risotto....I know you will wonder how about the recipes but the chat is a small window but you could find some of these recipes on my web site www.lidiasitaly.com.
Yvonne Maffei, chicago, IL:
Can you give me some more ideas to make our Thanksgiving dinner have more variety, but a real Italian flair? (no pork dishes, please)
Lidia Maticchio Bastianich:
Yvonne, I think you can begin by putting our a great antipasto spread...prosciutto di Parma....grana Padano with a drizzle of balsamico tradizionale...rome mozzarella di buffalo with roasted peppers...some cured olives and great Italian bread. Keep in mind that if you get all of these traditional product on your table you will be in Italy at the start...instead of lasagna make some tortellini in brodo...a good chicken turkey stock with some tortellini..store bought tortellini will be fine and for the main course with the turkey make some Italian vegetables like escarole garlic and oil or braised broccoli di rape...and of course good Italian wine....for some Bastianich wine look into www.bastianich.com, that is what we will be drinking for Thanksgiving...Buon Appetitio
Nikki Gilbert, Herndon, VA:
My fresh pasta always comes out so chewy. Any suggestions for improvement? Thanks so much.
Lidia Maticchio Bastianich:
I assume you are not using an extruder, those tend to make pasta tough and chewy...but if you are rolling your pasta make sure that when you make the dough it is soft and malleable...kneed it well..then roll it a few times through the rollers as you are decreasing the thickness of the pasta. Cook it properly in abundant amount of salted water and do not over cook it but cook it enough.
Stasia, WI:
Sauteing in silk blouses? How does one stay tidy while cooking in holiday attire? *
Lidia Maticchio Bastianich:
Get a blouse with lots of print and flowers..... I guess the best is to start your cooking in a house dress and then switch over to fancy as the guests are about to arrive ....or a smock which you remove when guests arrive...a full frontal wide apron is always good, then you can fold the bib under and turn it into half an apron as you join the guests.....
Thank you for joining us today everyone. You can continue the conversation in the archived chat section. Simply refresh your browser. Feeling saucy? Enter the Book Studio giveaway for a chance to win Lidia's new cookbook "Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes."
Starred (*) questions have been edited by PBS editors for brevity and/or clarity. The original, unedited question can be found to the right under Audience Questions.
chat
I loved all the different ideas that are mentioned in her chat. i especially love the Christmas Eve fish. Lidia is my favorite cook. She brings personality to the food she makes. Being Italian, I also like her authenticity.
Gluten Free Discussion and questions
Lidia, I would like to hear about your discussion on Celiac Disease and need reciepes for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have not been diagnosed with this disease but have most of the symptoms. I cannot find a GI specialist in Wisconsin that will diagnose me with this. Though one did put me on a gluten free diet a month ago. I am not getting any better yet. The symptoms are getting worse. Could I also have some lactose intolerance with this. Any suggestions about this.
Can you find any cheeses an dother products that contain milk without lactose in them?. Debbie Kaemmerling
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