The holiday season is a time when we are thinking of rich dishes, quality products and amazing baked treats. It is also when we try new things or break out the oldies but goodies when it comes to our recipes. And at least for us during the holidays, it is when we buy more dairy products, and especially cream, than ever.
Hood Cream is at the top of our shopping list and it turns out that it is also at the top of Chef Karen Akunowicz's list as well. When it comes to high quality and delicious dairy products, Hood is the gold standard. Their freshness and flavor is incomparable. And we were lucky enough to get a chance to char with Chef Karen about her partnership with Hood Cream for the holidays.
If you are a fan of Top Chef, then Chef Karen Akunowicz needs no introduction. And if you live in New England, New York, and quite a few other states, Hood Cream also needs no introduction. For many of us, Hood is our go-to dairy brand. So we were excited to learn that Chef Karen had partnered with Hood to give us some excellent recipes and recipe ideas that all utilize the magic of Hood Cream.
So what exactly did Chef Karen have to say about Hood Cream for the holidays?
Guilty Eats chats with Chef Karen Akunowicz about her partnership with Hood Cream
Guilty Eats: What made you want to partner with Hood for the holiday season?
Karen Akunowicz: "So for me, any brand that I work with, just to be completely honest, it's got to be something that I use and that I love and makes sense, and that I use in my cooking and I use in my restaurants. And for me, Hood is synonymous with cream in New England. Working with local brands and local companies is important to me. And why would I use anything else?
GE: Would you have any suggestions for people on how they can incorporate cream into some of their cooking, that maybe they don't do already?
KA: "I think that people, when they think about cream, there's a few things, one, they think about desserts, which, of course, it makes a lot of sense. They think about putting cream in their coffee. And I think there's also this misconception that if you're using cream in something, that it's going to be heavy. We're saying, 'Oh, it's heavy cream we're adding, it's going to be so rich.' And I think that that is a misconception, because I think what cream does in adding it to dishes, I think it enlivens the dish. I think it adds a touch of luxury, a touch of richness, like a velvetiness that you can't get from anything else.
I mean, I love butter. I'm an Italian chef, so I'm olive oil all the way. But we always use, I always say it's a thumbnail, we'll use a thumbnail of butter. But even butter as a dairy product does not give you that luxuriousness that even a little bit of cream gives you. And I think that especially for this season, we are making dishes that are richer, right? Especially in New England, it's cold, it's already cold, it's already dark. We want warm, hearty, comforting dishes, but we don't want to feel weighed down by them. We want something that feels delicious and satisfying and comforting, but we also we want to be able to feel good afterwards. And I think that, like when you're adding cream to finish a dish, to add a little bit of richness, I think that that's what it does. And I think you're also adding that like restaurant quality."
GE: I wanted to know what's it like for you to be a competitive TV chef?
KA: "I always say competition cooking is completely different than regular cooking, than home cooking, than restaurant cooking. I would love to think, and I do think that when I am in competition, that my cooking reflects myself as a chef and who I am in my style of cooking. But it's a completely different animal. You have to know the tricks. You have to know how to get things done and really build and layer flavor in like the shortest amount of time, and the longer you do the competition circuit, or the longer you compete in different arenas, because it's all really helpful. It's kind of like picking up shells or stones on the beach and putting them in your pockets, like, oh, that's how you can get this done in 20 minutes. That's a really great trick. That's something that will tenderize, that will add flavor. This is an ingredient that you can use that is rich or spicy or whatever it is, and it adds multitude of flavor or layers in, like a single ingredient, and it's a sport competition. Cooking is a sport."
GE: Obviously, we are called Guilty Eats, so I have to ask, what is your guilty eat?
KA: "Okay, so I'll preface it by saying I don't feel there are any guilty foods. I feel like all foods are fine and good and so on and so forth. But, I can make anything into nachos. I will literally, like, it does not matter what I have in my fridge. I'm like, 'what can I make into nachos?' Like whatever kind of chips or thing that you have. You don't have chips, but you have pita. I can toast that. I can make that into nachos. What kind of cheese you have? You have feta cheese, you have cheddar cheese. You have whatever it is. Girl, I can turn, like, literally anything into nachos. I would say that's like, my favorite guilty eats."
If you want to channel your own inner Top Chef and find inspiration with Hood Cream and Chef Karen Akunowicz, check out the Hood recipes page. I know I am excited to try this Chef Karen curated recipe with Hood, the Spaghetti al Limone. (Maybe this can be part of the holiday meal planning.)
If you haven't tried Hood Cream in your holiday cooking, now might be the perfect time to try something new.