The Washington Post
Food television pioneer Graham Kerr of Warm Beach recently joined The Washington Post staff to answer questions about all things edible. Here are edited excerpts from that chat.
Q: I bought some nutritional yeast to use in a salad dressing, but now am at a loss for how to use the rest. Can it be used like regular yeast to make bread/pizza dough/etc.?
A: No, “nootch” doesn’t have any leavening power left, because it has been deactivated. It’s delicious on popcorn, can be good in sauces, especially vegan ones, or anywhere you would normally use Parmesan cheese. — Joe Yonan
Q: The first dish I ever cooked by myself and served my parents was a “Galloping Gourmet” dish, but for which I could never find a written recipe or even the proper spelling of its title. On your show, it sounded like “chicken Poh-LAY-zee.” It was bone-in, skin-on chicken breast browned in clarified butter and cooked, covered, over a bed of tomato wedges. Each breast got a slice of cheese (mozzarella, I think), a couple of anchovy fillets. My folks gave it, and me, rave reviews, and I gave you all the credit. It’s obviously a very fond memory for me. A lot of time has passed, I know, and there have been a lot of dishes — but do you remember this recipe, and anything I may be forgetting?
A: The dish concerned is chicken polese. You’re right in the pronunciation. It was named after the owner of a restaurant in Sydney. It’s very simple: It’s a chicken breast saute with a slice of mozzarella cheese that covers the breast and a crisscrossing of anchovy fillets embedded in the mozzarella and a few capers sprinkled over the top. It’s salty and fatty and fine, and it’s got that little sprinkle of acidity in it. The tomato wedges might have been a garnish. A saute of tomatoes never goes wrong, so long as it has a little basil in it. — Graham Kerr
Q: I’m heading to Paris for the first time, and I’d like to bring back small gifts for a few chef friends — the kinds of things you can only get in France. I’ve already nixed Maldon salt, since it’s pretty widely available here. Any suggestions?
A: I just returned from France. You have all sorts of options when buying gifts for chefs, depending on how much you want to spend. For example, you could buy a bottle of chartreuse (one not already available in the States) and make a chef very happy. Or you could go to the Printemps Haussmann department store and find a wide assortment of candies, jams, salts, whatever your heart desires. If you can’t find something there for a chef, you’re not trying hard enough. — Tim Carman
Q: I bought a whole watermelon, but I already know that there’s no way my husband and I can eat all of it before it goes bad (happens every time, and I still do it). I was thinking I could make sangria out of it somehow. What’s the best way to go here — leave it in chunks and toss it in as I would other fruit? Blend it? Blend it with other stuff? Cook it down into a syrup? And any suggestions on the best alcohols to go with it? Or, any other suggestion on what to do with too much watermelon?
A: It really depends on what you want out of the drink. You could cut some of it into pieces and juice the rest, or go all juice. Maybe supplement the watermelon slices with some lime wheels. I’d look to blanc vermouth and some gin as a nice way to boozify it — vodka, of course, pairs easily with everything, but it doesn’t add much flavor. I wouldn’t recommend cooking it down, I don’t think — my experience with watermelon is that heating really changes the flavor a bit, possibly in ways you wouldn’t want for a drink. Also: I discovered a while ago that watermelon goes really beautifully with chartreuse. — Carrie Allan
Q: I am seriously considering becoming a vegetarian. Currently I eat fish and the occasional piece of chicken. I have eaten vegetarian chili and found it tasty. I am concerned about getting enough protein. What book can you recommend that would answer basic questions like the proteins found in legumes, grains and nuts?
A: I really like the little book “Stuff Every Vegetarian Should Know” by Katherine McGuire. She packs a lot in there, including a great protein chapter. — J.Y.
Q: I have a baking question. If a recipe doesn’t specify salted or unsalted butter, which do you use? I would normally use unsalted, except this recipe doesn’t call for salt otherwise, and it’s a U.K. recipe so not sure if the butter expectations are different. Or should I use unsalted butter as usual but add salt? Specifically, it’s Mary Berry’s fruit scone recipe.
A: I’d say use salted butter. — J.Y.
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