Eye | Chef Marcus Samuelsson Is A Man for All Seasons

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Red Rooster’s Marcus Samuelsson

NPR interviews Harlem’s Ethiopian-born, Top Chef: Masters winner and James Beard Award-winning celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, author of a new memoir Yes, Chef.

Yes, Chef chronicles Marcus Samuelsson’s remarkable journey from Helga’s humble kitchen to some of the most demanding and cutthroat restaurants in Switzerland and France, from his grueling stints on cruise ships to his arrival in New York City, where his outsize talent and ambition finally come together at Aquavit, earning him a coveted New York Times three-star rating at the age of twenty-four. But Samuelsson’s career of  “chasing flavors,” as he calls it, had only just begun—in the intervening years, there have been White House state dinners, career crises, reality show triumphs and, most important, the opening of the beloved Red Rooster in Harlem. At Red Rooster, Samuelsson has fufilled his dream of creating a truly diverse, multiracial dining room—a place where presidents and prime ministers rub elbows with jazz musicians, aspiring artists, bus drivers, and nurses. It is a place where an orphan from Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, living in America, can feel at home.

Samuelsson and his sister Linda grew up in Sweden, adopted as orphans after their mother died of tuberculosis in Ethiopia. All three family members were infected as they walked from their village — Marcus as a three-year-old — to the capital of Addis Ababa at night, unable to take the heat of day.

“And [my mother] knew if she could just get us to the city, she could also then have somebody that could take us to a hospital,” he says. “And we got to the Black Lion Hospital, but she sadly passed away, and me and my sister, Linda, survived.”

Food and Politics

In March 2011, President Obama raised $1.5 million for the Democratic National Committee at Red Rooster. And Bill and Hillary Clinton dined there with friends in February. The former president was at Red Rooster Harlem in May 2011, according to Samuelsson’s website.

In the photo above introducing the article, Mrs. Obama invited Marcus Samuelsson into the Kids’ Kitchen at the 2012 White House Easter Egg Roll, where she joined him in cooking a quick and easy shrimp and vegetable tacos. NBC Today show’s Al Roker joins the festivities, recorded on Obama Foodorama.

Coming to Harlem, Samuelsson says he knew his fried chicken had to be better than everybody else’s. His unique recipe contains Ethiopian spices and coconut milk, plus different cooking temperatures.Red Rooster has a unique menu that combines his Stockholm staples like gravlax and Swedish meatballs with Southern favorites like mac and cheese.

Here the former chef of New York’s Aquavit, shares how to make succulent fried chicken at home. As we read the recipe, it’s best prepared on vacation or working from home. It’s complicated but presumably worth the effort, given Red Rooster’s superb reputation.

Food and politics have long been soulmates, and Anne is capitalizing on that reality.

Spittin’ Out the Pitts Facebook Campaign To Unseat Joe Pitts in PA 16th District

If you like food mixed with politics, then you’ll love Anne’s new Spittin Out the Pitts Facebook page mixing women’s rights news with recipes in almost every post. Rules are that every recipe should have one ingredient minimum that has pit(t)s for spittin’.

SOTP was created to raise the candidacy of Democrat Aryanna Strader in her race to unseat ultra-conservative Republican incumbent Joe Pitts in PA’s 16th district. Strader has a major endorsement coming tomorrow and Anne has an in-depth essay being published nationally on Tuesday June 27th on why the 16th district should unseat Joe Pitts, author of HR 358, the “Let Women Die” bill.

The Spittin’ Sisters are forming a team across America to fundraise for Aryanna, with a cookbook is in the making. Want to join us spinning those shiny objects called women rights issues in the kitchen? Contact Anne.

Oven Roasted Bass with Avocado Butter

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
  • 1/2 teaspoon Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
  • 2 avocados, pitted and finely diced
  • coarse kosher salt or sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 whole farm-raised striped bass or trout (about 1 pound each), gutted, cleaned, top fin cut off
  • juice from 3 limes
  • 2 tablespoons chopped basil
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • SPICE MIX:
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

    • Directions

    To make avocado butter, whisk butter, juice concentrate, vinegar, and avocado in small saucepan to blend. Season butter to taste with coarse salt and pepper. Cover and chill (can be made 2 days ahead).

    Using small sharp knife cut diagonal slits on both sides of fish at 1-inch intervals. Arrange fish on rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle spice mix, basil and salt into slits and cavities of fish. Cover loosely and let stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.

    Heat large skillet on medium high heat and canola oil. Add fish and cook about 4 minutes on each side. Add fresh lime juice directly to the pan. Add whole squeezed limes to the pan and butter to finish. Transfer to plates.

    Place saucepan with avocado butter on low heat stirring occasionally. Serve with fish.

    http://www.kitchendaily.com/recipe/oven-roasted-bass-with-avocado-butter-142677

    We last checked into the Red Rooster when Ali Hewson and husband Bono headed there after Edun’s Spring 2012 Show.