Curtis Stone
Born in Melbourne, Australia, Curtis was inspired to cook by his mother’s baking skills and his grandmother’s famous fudge. Halfway through business school, he decided the suit-and-tie world wasn’t for him and went on to work for the Savoy Hotel in Melbourne before shipping off to London, where he honed his culinary skills under chef Marco Pierre White. He’s appeared in several cooking programs across the UK and U.S., including his stint as the host of Top Chef Masters on The Food Network and his starring role on Around the World in 80 Plates on Bravo.

Mario Batali
Raised in Seattle, WA, Mario studied Spanish theatre before taking a culinary apprenticeship with chef Marco Pierre White. He went through three demanding years of training in the northern Italian village of Borgo Capanne before returning to the U.S. and opening his flagship restaurant, Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca in Greenwich Village. Today, you know him as the host of two programs on The Food Network, Molto Mario and Ciao America, and for his role on Iron Chef America.

Wolfgang Puck
Hailing from Austria, Wolfgang began cooking by his mother’s side as a child. With her encouragement, he began formal culinary training at age 14 and then decided to leave Europe for America at the age of 24. He settled into his life in Los Angeles and soon became a noted chef at Ma Maison in West Hollywood. He then went on to create his first restaurant, Spago, and later formed his own catering company, Wolfgang Puck Catering. In 2000, his Emmy award–winning television series, Wolfgang Puck, debuted on The Food Network.

Our Favorite Celeb Chefs: Signature Cookware Boutique opens Monday, January 21, at 11AM ET.

Instructions

1. In a thick-bottomed pot, cook the pumpkin, carrot, apple, onion, garlic, and thyme in the butter for approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the white wine and cook until it has all evaporated.
2. Add the chicken stock and simmer until all the vegetables are soft, approximately 30 minutes. Blend the soup and strain it. Add the cream and season to taste with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
3. Sear the seasoned scallops in hot olive oil on both sides until golden.
4. Place the seared diver-harvested scallops in a soup plate, cover with the velvety soup.
5. Garnish the soup with some whipped cream, flavored with a little five-spice powder.
6. Sprinkle the top of the soup with some crisp fried ginger strips.

Rue La La: Let’s talk side dishes. What’s your personal favorite holiday dish?
Jonathan Cartwright: Brussels sprouts blanched then cooked with shallots and butter.

Rue La La:  Sounds delicious! You cook for lots of people all the time. What’s the trick to cooking for a big bunch?
Jonathan Cartwright: It helps to be organized and do the preparations in advance.  Also teach your children to help and ask family to make sides or dessert!

Rue La La: Thanksgiving is just a few days away – is there a secret to cooking a really great turkey?
Jonathan Cartwright: Moisture is the key.  Brine the bird beforehand or add a couple cups of water to the roasting pan and baste often. I usually fill the neck cavity with apples and cover the breast with soft butter before placing it in a medium preheated oven.

Rue La La: And what suggestions do you have for leftovers?
Jonathan Cartwright: I love turkey-and-vegetable stew or soup. Turkey potpie, or even turkey and stuffing fried together. And of course, a great cold turkey-and-cranberry sandwich.

Rue La La:  That all sounds so good. Do you have any wine pairing suggestions for Thanksgiving dinner and dessert?
Jonathan Cartwright: I love a red from Burgundy with my turkey but any Pinot Noir is nice. For dessert wines, I like a Banyuls or even a glass of champagne or sparkling wine.

Rue La La: You’re from England – are there any English traditions that rival Thanksgiving?
Jonathan Cartwright: We don’t have Thanksgiving but helped start it back in the day! Perhaps Easter is similar for us where family gathers and we cook larger than normal amounts of food and baked items. Christmas is traditionally Turkey Day for us in the UK.

Rue La La: We have to ask, what is your perfect holiday meal?
Jonathan Cartwright: Turkey with sage-and-onion stuffing, brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes with a nice gravy, and a little bit of cranberry sauce.

By Brianna Lapolla, Staff Writer

Our Vanderbilt Grace Hotel – Newport, RI Boutique opens Monday, November 19, at 11AM ET.

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While I haven’t cooked anything more complicated than oatmeal since, well, Britney debuted (it was during one pasta session that TRL premiered “…Baby One More Time”), this is the one single recipe I can confidently say I’d still be able to pull off without a single hitch. It’s just that impossible to screw up.

THE Pasta

Ingredients:*
4–5 medium Roma tomatoes, chopped
4 cloves chopped garlic
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 can chicken broth
1/2 c heavy cream
1/2 container any store-bought refrigerated pesto sauce (like BUITONI®)
1 bag fresh baby spinach
1 package sweet Italian sausage, casings removed, cooked and crumbled
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1 package sliced baby bella mushrooms
1 16oz package linguine
Pecorino cheese
Fresh basil
Toasted pine nuts
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cook linguine according to package directions for al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water to add to finished pasta.

Heat olive oil in a large sauté skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant.

Add tomatoes and stir, mixing with garlic. Simmer tomatoes, allowing them to break down a bit. (Sometimes my mom adds a touch more olive oil while they’re simmering.) Add mushrooms, spinach, and chicken broth, covering the pan to allow spinach to wilt. When spinach is reduced and mushrooms tender, stir in pesto sauce, artichoke hearts, and cooked sausage and simmer on low heat for a few minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream, adding pasta water to blend. Put back on the heat for one minute, stirring together.

Add cooked pasta to the sauce and blend. Pour mixture into large pasta serving dish and top with grated Pecorino, chopped fresh basil, and toasted pine nuts.

*All measurements are approximate.

Our Rue Cooking School: Baking & Savory Boutique opens Friday, October 26, at 3PM ET.

 By Sarah Stanley, Staff Writer

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Don’t get me wrong. A good pumpkin pie is the king of autumn desserts. But compared to these dishes from our copy team’s pumpkin party? There’s no contest. Click on any (or all) of the savory and sweet titles or thumbnails below for a printable card you can add to your recipe box.

Pumpkin Mac & Cheese
Serves 8–10

Ingredients
1 pound dried cavatappi or penne rigate pasta
1 quart whole milk
1 stick butter, divided
1/2 cup flour
8 ounces apple-smoked Gruyère cheese, grated
8 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated
4 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola or blue cheese
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground mustard powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper (optional)
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

Directions
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta until just al dente. Drain, set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 375°F. Meanwhile, heat milk in a small saucepan over low heat, being careful not to let it boil or burn.
3. Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add flour and whisk constantly until combined, about 2–3 minutes. Add in the milk, whisking until smooth and thick, about 3–5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the Gruyère, Cheddar, and Gorgonzola cheeses, pumpkin puree, salt, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, ground mustard, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper.
4. Add the pasta and stir until evenly coated. Pour into one 10” x 14” baking dish, or use two slightly smaller ones.
5. Melt the remaining two tablespoons of butter in the microwave, then mix with the panko and Pecorino Romano. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top of the pasta and bake for 30–40 minutes, until top is golden brown and bubbly.

Puff Pastry-Wrapped Brie and Pumpkin Butter

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Brownies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Cups

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

By Jess Huckins, Staff Writer

Have a go-to pumpkin recipe of your own? Share it in the comments below or tweet us @ruelala.

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This weekend, we attended the James Beard Foundation’s Chefs & Champagne event at the Wölffer Estate Vineyard in the Hamptons. The James Beard Foundation has honored some of the greatest culinary icons of our time, including Julia Child and Wolfgang Puck, along with this year’s honoree, Martha Stewart. We asked two all-star media guests, Rome Neal, senior video producer at NYPOST.com and Ziggy Chau Neal, writer for Spired.com to come as our guests to the celebrity chef event. Watch our video below for a peek into the foodie fête.

Eating healthy is easier than you think. If you start with the freshest ingredients and use all the right tools, you’re well on your way to a better body for spring. Maybe I’ll cook for you during a Canyon Ranch stay (Boutique opens March 29). In the meantime, here are some easy-to-follow-tips from my kitchen at Canyon Ranch to yours.  

1. Buy local. At Canyon Ranch, we strive to purchase as much local product as we can. Shop your farmer’s market where you can focus on seasonal ingredients. Local produce is picked when it’s ripe, so it has more flavor and nutritional value. It’s a great opportunity to meet the farmer and “know the source” of your produce.

2. Can’t buy local? Buy organic where possible. Organic tastes better, has less of an impact on the environment, and is better for you, thanks to the absence of residual pesticides.

3. Prioritize your organic purchases. Concentrate on high-fat dairy and the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” (the twelve produce types with the highest amount of pesticide residue). We use resources like the Environmental Working Group, Consumer’s Union, and others to help keep us up-to-date on our organic purchases.

4. Switch to the healthiest fats. When it comes to liquid oil, use Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Expeller Pressed Canola Oil because they have the best profile of monounsaturated fat. Use the canola oil for high-heat cooking and the olive oil for low-heat applications or dressings.

5. When cooking with oil, “spray it” where you can. Pouring oil can lead to added calories, especially when sautéing. We only pour oil if we are following a recipe that calls for a specific amount.

6. Consider purchasing quality pots and pans. You will not need nearly as much oil when sautéing. Look for pans that have a thick bottom – they will conduct heat evenly and not stick as much as thin pans. Thin pans have hot spots and cold spots, causing foods to stick to the cooler spots. Our pans of choice are “induction ready,” which means they always have a thick bottom for even heat distribution. Even though the pans are designed for induction cooking, we use them on our natural gas ranges.

7. Buy a juicer. Not only does organic apple, tomato, or carrot juice made fresh to order taste absolutely amazing, but try playing with those and other juices in cooking. We use fresh juice in many preparations – we reduce fresh tomato juice with sage and lemon zest as a sauce for grass-fed beef tenderloin, and fresh pineapple juice cooked briefly with Thai Chili and a pinch of salt for Mahi Mahi.

8. Don’t skimp on a blender. A great commercial high-RPM blender will make your vegetable soups creamier and smoother (without adding lots of butter or cream), your homemade curry pastes zestier with less salt, and even allow you to grind your own grains into flour. We push our blenders to the limit. My Cream of Cauliflower Soup (without cream) wouldn’t work if I couldn’t get the simmered cauliflower smooth enough. I also wouldn’t be able to mill my gluten-free oats for our brand new recipe for gluten-free oat bread, or our gluten-free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Dried Cranberry Cookies.

9. Control your portions! Eat less – it really is a calorie game. Proteins should be 4 – 5 ounces (raw weight), and should be balanced with a high-quality carbohydrate (think long-grain brown rice, quinoa, sweet potato, etc.) and a vegetable. Eat slowly, allowing yourself to know when you’re full.

10. COOK WITH LOVE! You really can taste the difference! Nourish the ones you love, don’t just go through the motions. Cook at home and savor the experience, take in the smells, and enjoy the conversation and time with others.

Our Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts Boutique opens March 29 at 11AM.