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Hail to the Chef

Some of the world's most powerful leaders have sent their personal cooks to Washington for a chef summit. Walter Scheib is the president of an organization of chefs to the world’s heads of state -- and the White House chef. He'll oversee this evening's proceedings and the recipe swapping.

Guests:

Walter Scheib,chef to the president of the United States

Rosaleen Mcbride, chef to the president of the Republic of Ireland

Emmanuel Kiriakidis, chef to the Sultan of Saudi Arabia

Here are two of the chefs' favorite recipes.

Traditional Irish Stew

From Rosaleen McBride

16 to 18 pounds of leg of lamb cut in chunks

Thyme

40 in-season carrots

Parsley

40 onions

Mint

5 pounds of potatoes

Salt and pepper

Bone meat from leg of lamb and cut into chunks. Render down fat and reserve. Make lamb stock from the bones and water. Peel onions and thinly peel carrots. Cut the carrots and onions into large chunks. Cut some of the potatoes into chunks and leave some whole.

Sauté the meat in rendered fat and drain off any excess fat. Sauté the carrots and onions. Place meat at the bottom of a casserole and layer with carrots and onions and a few chopped potatoes -- season each layer with salt, pepper and thyme. DO NOT over fill casserole -- leave room for the rest of the potatoes, they will be added before stew has finished cooking. Stew is beset if cooked in oven for 1 1/4 hour at 350 degrees. Stew will thicken after cooking -- add chopped mint.

Stew is best served in the dish it was cooked in along with soda bread or buttermilk scones.

Midnight Sun Berry Ice Cream

From Sirrka Ruottinen, chef of the President of the Republic of Finland

(Ice Cream mixture for all flavors)

33 oz single cream

500 ml of milk

12 egg yolks

1 pound of castor sugar

0.5 ounces of alcohol (Kosenkorva or berry liqueu -- alcohol can be omitted when using an ice cream maker)

(For the flavors)

3.4 fl oz strawberry puree - sieved

3.4 fl oz blueberry puree - sieved

3.4 fl oz cloudberry puree - sieved

Heat cream in a large saucepan. Mix egg yolks and sugar together. Pour hot cream into egg mixture and then return it to saucepan. Stir continuously over gentle heat until thickened. Cool rapidly by immersing the pan in cold water. Divide ice cream mixture into three and flavor each with the different berry purees. If desired, you may also add 1 tbsp of a berry liqueur of your choice. Prepare the ice creams in an ice cream maker, one by one; allow each to stand in the freezer. These can also be prepared in the freezer. Beat each ice cream occasionally until frozen (Strong alcohol usage will prevent the ice cream from freezing solid.) This presentation is served with sugar-glazed sponge cake with almond flakes.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Neal Conan
Award winning journalist Neal Conan was the final host of Talk of the Nation, which broadcast its final show on June 27, 2013.
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