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Emeril Lagasse shares his experiences in cooking for the military and 'Jon & Kate Plus 8'
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Emeril Lagasse
Emeril Lagasse is taking his healthy approach to cuisine on the road to military bases, to rural Virginia for some "down home" cooking and to the wine mecca of Napa Valley in California. The celebrity chef hosts the TV series "Emeril Green" on Planet Green, which tapes mainly at Whole Foods Market locations. But in four special episodes that will be televised beginning June 29, Lagasse is visiting different locations for a change of pace.
Lagasse meets with military personnel in "Operation Emeril" and "Emeril Salutes the Military," which premiere June 29 at 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific Time and 8:30 p.m. Eastern/Pacific Time, respectively. Next up is "Grillin’ With Emeril" (airing August 31 at 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific Time), which has Lagasse going to the Virigina countryside for a barbecue-themed episode. Then in September at a date to be announced, Lagasse heads to California’s Napa Valley for a show about the region’s finest wine and food. In a recent telephone conference call with journalists, Lagasse chatted about his special military visits, what it was like to make a guest appearance on "Jon & Kate Plus 8" and what are the secrets of some of his favorite recipes.
Can you give some more details about your specials "Operation Emeril" and "Emeril Salutes the Military"?
We chose Fort Lee [in Richmond, Virginia] because of the proximity to where we generally shoot "Emeril Green," which is in Fairfax, Virginia. We have a great relationship with the military over the years that started many, many years ago with me visiting various bases, doing various things with the military. A couple of months ago, we did a fun challenge with MREs [meals ready to eat], so the idea of Fort Lee came for a couple of reasons.
Fort Lee has one of the most powerful culinary training facilities, where they train a lot of future chefs and cooks for the military — all various branches. Number two, it’s a new training ground for their new portable kitchen called the CK3. These kitchens literally can be dropped out of an airplane or on a ship or a truck or whatever into the field. It’s a portable kitchen that they use — the new one for field cooking. This particular CK can feed about 800 soldiers. It’s totally self-contained and totally "green," meaning that it has a recyclable infiltration system for the water as well as the oil. The burners that you cook on are actually run by jet fuel — which, when you think about the military, really makes a lot of sense.
And, actually, to make it even more real with the culinary soldiers that I work with, we actually went into their hole, and their meal rations — breakfast, lunch and dinner — come into a number for that particular day. I was given number four, which is a list of breakfast, lunch and dinner ingredients that could be canned, Cryovaced, fresh-Cryovaced or dehydrated. With these soldiers that are in training, I did a whole meal with them, with their rations that they would get and then cooked and fed for 150 soldiers.
The other special is an inside look at the culinary training … So with their instructors, we built — based on what they’re teaching and also what they’re given, as far as food products — we put together a meal to feed about 150, 200 new soldiers that were just beginning the program.
Emeril Lagasse in "Emeril Green"
With the economy the way it is, there's a lot of people who are looking to save money when they barbecue. What are your inexpensive barbecue tips?
I have a brand-new book that’s out called "Emeril at the Grill," and there’s whole section … called "Things With Wings." So there are a lot of creative things to do with chicken wings, chicken thighs, chicken breasts, whole chicken — and even turkey, which people don’t think about barbecuing.
Are there any inexpensive barbecue recipes that stand out for you?
One that comes to mine, which is so simple, is a Brazilian-style [recipe], which is sort of a combination of using tomato and vinegar, with maybe about six ingredients. It’s a very simple seasoning … marinate in vinegar the thighs, and there’s a quick salsa that you make that you can grill in a grill pan — perfect for summer barbecuing.
Emeril Lagasse with military personnel Clint Morgan and Heather Womack
Now that there are more women in the military, do you see a difference in how you have to cook for the troops?
The military has so much restrictions. There are so many different rules and regulations that I don’t it matters if [the cooking is for] male or female. While I was there, it was strictly from a culinary experience. Basically, I was very impressed with the products they are now getting in the field. Two of the dishes that I made — they have a contract with a really good chicken producer — and basically, these fresh chickens that were rotisseried came Cryovaced. I had some of the soldiers separate the white meat from the dark meat, and the dark meat was a Mexican rice mixture that was in their rations, with a sausage product that I had available that day to me. We made a jambalaya with the white meat. With the biscuit rations that they had, a little bit of bacon in their gravy and their canned vegetables, we made a chicken pot pie.
What kind of spices do they have on the military bases?
Because of weather conditions, they have these very, very small spice packets. So they basically have — instead of what you and I normally have as a basic kitchen — butter to salt to pepper to various types of spices like parsley, cilantro. They have these spice rations.
In your opinion, how well are the troops being fed?
The troops are being fed really, really well. Their ingredients are great. This new CK kitchen is state-of-the-art. I want to buy one myself that I can just take with me and hook up to the back of my car. I was super-impressed with the quality and the culinary training that’s going on in the military right now.
What’s the hardest challenge in cooking for the U.S. military in Iraq?
The hardest part is when they’re on active duty in the field and you just never know when you’re going to pull out, so a lot of time things are rushed because of some secret assignments. A lot of the locations can change, so the biggest challenge is getting the product to them complete. I think that there are some new systems being developed right now. I think we’ve learned and are learning about the conditions over there in Iraq. They’re changing a lot of the meal plans as we speak right now. I feel very strongly that [the food conditions for the military] will continually keep getting better. It’s definitely a challenge.
It’s one thing when you can drop one of these CKs in the middle of the desert in the States. It’s another thing when you’ve got to drop one of those things in the desert in Iraq and you’re counting on planes brining in the cargos and the food to prepare for the troops. It’s a huge challenge.
Emeril Lagasse
Do you have any future plans to visit the U.S. military in Iraq?
There are discussions about me going there. That’s all I can tell you right now. I was in Pearl Harbor, where I did a couple of big events for the troops there, as well cooking. It’s a totally different experience there. We’re on a base as opposed to being in the field. But I believe that Fort Lee is doing a great job training soldiers for their mission.
If you could put together your ideal, quick Fourth of July lunch menu for military troops coming home, what would that menu include?
If they’re not vegetarian, they’re definitely missing some sort of ribs. I would say that would be a must. I would say some backyard grilled chicken, potato salad and grilled corn. And cucumber salad would be right up their alley.
You’ve been involved in training military personnel how to cook, but did you learn anything from them?
I always do. That’s why I love being around the soldiers in the various bases I’ve had the opportunity to be at. You always learn something. There are always challenges. Prior to this, I hadn’t really been to any of the bases and fields for a couple of years, and to see how it’s evolved in a couple of years, it was really, really impressive to see. The great thing about it was it wasn’t set up. It was really real. That’s all I can say.
Emeril Lagasse and military soldier Clint Morgan
The military is known for having a high-carbohydrate, high-protein diet, which can be burned off in active duty. But a lot of military personnel, after they’re discharged and come home, maintain that diet and gain a lot of weight as a result of not being as active. What diet advice would you have for any military people who are about to come home and lead a very different lifestyle than when they were in the military?
My understanding is that military is going to do a much better job coaching people when that switch happens … I think there’s a program right now — if not being in service then getting ready to — where they’re teaching people a lot more about the switch of diet and how important exercise is.
I think what happens is that they need to have a system and be taught how to transform being in duty and in the field to moving toward a more civilian life: One, being educated about calorie intake; two, the important of exercise and monitoring the calorie intake; and three, being re-educated about civilian products, farmer’s markets, farmer’s bazaars, specific grocery stores, seasonality. I think we need to do a better job getting that message out.
When you were cooking for the troops on the military bases, did you pick up any tips that can be applied in the civilian home?
The food is, no question, real. I think the combination of using some of the canned with what I call some of the fresh dehydrated, because there’s nothing really processed — a potato can be a potato, but it’s a real potato and it doesn’t have a bunch of junk to it — I think that’s one area where the military has done a great job. Also, they can get things out of this that can not only be made ahead of time but it can be a quantity for entertaining and maybe cook and make something else with it tomorrow.
Emeril Lagasse
Was there anything that surprised you about the culinary ingredients at these military bases?
I was very surprised by their Cryovaced rotisserie chicken. Their quality of canned goods is excellent. Whoever’s doing the testing on that stuff — and it is being tested — is doing a really great job. The array of spices, as I talked about earlier. And the quality of their dried ingredients. I used a Mexican rice for the spice in it, because I didn’t have trinity, to make a jambalaya. You would’ve thought that I had bell peppers and celery and onions simmering on the stove for an hour.
Was there a dish you prepared that was a big crowd favorite?
I have to confess that the New Orleans-styled bread pudding with caramel went over really big.
What message would you like to give soldiers and their families?
The biggest message I would like to say is, "Thank you. Thank you for your sacrifice, thank you for what you’re doing for the people in this country and our safety. Thank you."
Kate Gosselin, Emeril Lagasse and Jon Gosselin in "Jon & Kate Plus 8"
You were recently a guest on "Jon & Kate Plus 8." What was that experience like?
We had an absolute blast doing that. How that came about was a year ago, when we were launching Planet Green, I actually ran into them in an elevator on the way to an up-front party. And I was so intrigued by how they were with these kids and how cute these kids were. I have kids, I love kids, I’ve [written] three kids’ books. I’m all about kids eating better. I just jokingly said in the elevator, "Hey, I would love to come on the show one time and maybe teach you guys new dishes that you can cook for the kids."
So it took a while, and it sort of evolved, and finally it happened. I went to the [Jon and Kate Gosselin] home, [and] I was very pleased and honored to be part of it. The kids were a blast and they were great. We had a lot of fun and cooked a lot of great things. My point was to show them some easy, fresh ways to cook and do family meals … A lot of things were also discussed off-camera about what to do with leftovers and what you can do in substituting various types of sauces, how to introduce vegetables in kids’ lives without them going "Arrgh!" We had a lot of fun.
How receptive were the Gosselin kids to having a new person cook for them?
The kids were so receptive, it was incredible. When they came in, they actually had to put the kids in a different part of the house, because they were so excited. It was really cute.
Emeril Lagasse in "Emeril Green"
What non-perishable food items would you recommend that family and friends send to military people?
I just shipped a box [recently] to a couple of friends and it was simple stuff … a lot of my spices, which is what they wanted, a few jars of my pasta sauce, licorice — believe it or not, red and black licorice was one of the big requests — and hard candies. Bags of them, because that’s what they miss.
How can people in the military strike a balance between being "green" and being healthy when they don’t have much choice on what to eat?
I think being healthy is very important and that’s obviously very, very tough to do when you’re on a diet of MREs. So my only suggestion would be is that when you do have a chance — because occasionally they do give fresh produce and fresh fruits — try to east as much of that stuff as you can. And if you can’t, there are a lot of dried substitutes out there … vegetable chips and fruit chips that are slowly coming on board into the military program, because that’s what they’re craving and that’s what their bodies need. I think in the future, you’re going to see a lot more fruit juices [given to the military] as well, maybe from a concentrated [juice] perspective, but I think they want to do a more a lot with that.
Photo credits: Food Network, Planet Green, TLC
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