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This is the First Meal Cameron Diaz Cooked for Benji Madden
published about 4 hours ago
Two of Charlie’s Angels found themselves taking on a new mission together this week, as actress Cameron Diaz joined bestie and talk show host, Drew Barrymore, on Wednesday’s episode of the latter’s eponymous daytime talk show. Channeling true “besties in the kitchen” energy, the pair gave us a peek at their relationship and revealed Diaz’s most coveted kitchen recipe — which happened to be the special addition to the first meal she made for her now-husband (and Good Charlotte guitarist /vocalist), Benji Madden.
The entire back and forth of giggling through Hollywood-normal memories took place while Diaz demonstrated her recipe for what she calls “Shallot Gold,” a dish which Barrymore noted was pretty much the only reason she and Diaz’s friends ever came over to visit. “She’s going to show us how to make literally something that none of us ever want to come over to the house without it being prepared,” Barrymore said.
But let you get your hopes up for some new recipe that will knock Alison Roman’s shallot pasta off its throne, shallot gold is quite literally just caramelized shallots. Sure, Diaz gives a few tips — like adding a bit of salt to your shallots as they cook down to drive off more of the allium’s water content and coax out the sugars — but at the end of the day, the true key to shallot gold is time.
As evidenced by Diaz reaching for a pan of previously caramelized shallots to put over the roast chicken that miraculously appeared on set (TV magic!), the only way to make shallot gold is to sit there and let those shallots cook down. Caramelization is a wonderful process that does not comply with the time constraints of a television cooking segment. At the end of the day, though, the true treasure in Diaz’s shallot gold might just be the chance to reminisce with a friend during the time it takes for those shallots to transform into caramelized perfection.
So what about that dish she made for her current husband on their first date? Lamb chops, of course. “Mediterranean lamb chops, some couscous, and some broccoli and sautéed zucchini,” Diaz told the audience after Barrymore urged her to reveal the meal. And in case you’re wondering, the shallot gold was mixed in with the couscous.
The entire segment, however, is one to watch, with the pair discussing everything from Gwyneth Paltrow’s disappointment in Barrymore’s previous home’s oven to dual diving experiences — both sky and scuba, the latter of which took place in Tahiti with curious sharks. Much in the vein of other celebrity friends cooking together for television (think: Ina and Faith Hill), the two icons give viewers a show to remember with personal touches that will make anyone feel at home.
Doctors Agree: Why People Who Drink This In The Morning Struggle To Lose Weight
Are you a coffee lover who is working to lose weight? If you’re noticing that your hard work and efforts are being stalled, the answer may lie in how you take your coffee, health experts explain. For many of us, plain black coffee really isn’t our thing, and we might stir in some creamer or sugar to help sweeten it.
Sipping on heavily sweetened, sugary and high-calorie ingredients every morning could contribute to weight gain, and we reached out to doctors, dietitians and nutritionists to learn more about this. Read on for tips, suggestions and insights from Dr. Daniel Boyer, MD, health and nutrition expert at Farr Institute, Dana Ellis Hunnes, PhD, MPH, RD, senior dietitian at UCLA medical center, Trista Best, MPH, RD, LD, registered dietitian at Balance One Supplements, and Lisa Richards, registered nutritionist and creator of The Candida Diet.
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How Heavily Sweetened Coffee Can Stall Weight Loss
Many coffee consumers have a specific way they like their coffee and don’t often veer from that, Best says. “Unfortunately, for those wanting to lose weight, these coffee habits might be stalling their efforts,” he adds. Full-fat dairy creamer and refined sugar are the two coffee habits that are detrimental to weight loss, “especially for those who consume more than 1 cup a day,” she continues. These two ingredients used to lighten and sweeten coffee are “high in calories, fat, carbohydrates and are quite inflammatory.” Not only will the calories add to weight issues, she warns, but the “inflammation they cause or exacerbate can make weight loss more difficult as well.”
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Boyer concurs, and also warns that “processed coffee drinks that may hinder weight loss are creamers and those mixed with artificial sweeteners.” Caffeine with added sweeteners contains a “significant amount of artificial sugars,” he points out, and may “lead to extra calories when taken in excess.” Generally, he notes that coffee creamers also contain calories and saturated fats (2 grams of saturated fat in 1 tablespoon). “Saturated fats are linked to an increased body weight, according to research by the US National Library of medicine, particularly when mixed with added sugars,” he says.
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Hunnes agrees, stressing that many bottled, processed coffee drinks have “added sugars, sweeteners, and fats in them.” (She says to think the creams, syrups, flavors, and colorings such as caramel coloring in a bottled frappuccino, for example). “When you go to your favorite coffee shop, many of the syrups they are added contain a lot of sugar, and that can add a lot of extra calories,” he goes on, saying that you might not even realize how many extra calories a coffee drink can have “A black coffee on its own is zero calories,” Hunnes notes, but the “syrups and creams that are used, and any whipped toppings can make this zero-calorie beverage now closer to 300 or 400 calories,” she adds. “That’s practically a meal,” she says. (Yikes!)
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The Best Ways To Prepare Coffee For Weight Loss
Boyer advises that “taking black coffee—which doesn’t contain any calories—in moderation or with unsweetened plant-based sweeteners like almonds or quick oats” may be the best alternative if you are under a weight management plan. If you do want to sweeten your drink, Hunnes recommends using “non-dairy, unsweetened beverages such as soy or oat milk that are creamy but not sugary and then adding extracts like vanilla or almond and spices like cinnamon and clove.” All of these, she says, “pack a warmth and sweetness without much sugar or calories.” If you do decide to try your coffee “completely black,” Hunnes suggests a “light roast, and cold can help too.”
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Best concludes that rather than sweetening your coffee with full-fat dairy creamers and refined sugar that it’s essential to “opt for natural sweeteners and/or plant-based creamers.” Some plant-based creamers are still high in calories, fat and sugar, she demands, so it is “important to still pay attention to the nutrition label.” By opting for a plant-based creamer, you are removing dairy, which she says can lead to bloating and inflammation for many of us when consumed every morning. “Consider using honey or cinnamon to flavor your coffee rather than refined sugars,” Best recommends, similarly to Hunnes’ note. “These two ingredients are natural, anti-inflammatory, and cinnamon can help boost metabolism and stabilize blood sugar,” she says. “All of which,” Best adds, can improve “weight loss efforts and reduce bloating.” Noted!
New Orleans’s 2022 Eater Awards Winners for Best New Restaurant, Bar, and More
Today, Eater New Orleans announces its winners of the 2022 Eater Awards, celebrating the restaurants that have most impacted New Orleans’s dining scene this year (as well as in Eater’s other cities).
This year’s Eater Awards highlight five standouts that made a mark on New Orleans cuisine in late 2021 and throughout 2022: places that established Caribbean comfort food as an integral part of the city’s cuisine, took vegetables to new heights, and put forth unexpected, genre- expanding renditions of Indian street food, among others. Some of these winners began their journeys in the city’s dining scene as pop-ups; their new restaurants offer fresh confidence in the survival and growth of small, resourceful independent food businesses in New Orleans. Others serve to carry on the best of the city’s traditions, like a neighborhood gathering spot with a convivial but eccentric vibe and a fine dining den that demands celebration.
With that, please join us in celebrating the winners for Restaurant of the Year, Reinvention of the Year, Bar of the Year, Pop-Up-Turned-Restaurant of the Year, and Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year.
Restaurant of the Year
Queen Trini Lisa
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At a serene corner shop painted with familiar banana leaves in Mid City, Chef Lisa Nelson brings Trinbagonian soul food to what she, and others, call the Northernmost Caribbean city. It may be her first restaurant, but Nelson has been known to New Orleans for years for serving specialties from her native village of Hardbargain, Trinidad at food festivals and markets, as well as through her pop-up and chef collaborations. Nelson’s jerk and curry chicken, coco bread fried fish sandwich, and Caribbean-style spinach are standouts, becoming staples for many New Orleanians since Queen Trini Lisa opened in January. But the unquestionable star of the show is Nelson’s doubles, fried flatbreads spiced with turmeric topped with a curried chickpea filling (it’s vegan), which can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a second dinner.
Reinvention of the Year
Bar Brine
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Walk into Bar Brine and feel instantly invigorated by its subtle but warm multi-colored lighting elements, its high-ceilinged, intimate dining room, and a welcoming, vibrant bar — and then prepare to be six colored of the food and drinks. Bar Brine is the nighttime version of Sneaky Pickle, a longtime St. Claude Avenue favorite for vegetarian and vegan-friendly, picnic-style dishes. It was relocated in fall 2021 to a corner Bywater space that had long sat empty and added Bar Brine — a more upscale dinnertime restaurant that offers a notably different vibe from its daytime counterpart. The menu is as invigorating as the space, the beauty in its seeming simplicity — dishes of Hakurei turnips, spaghetti squash, or eggplant; fresh pasta like gnocchi with walnuts and blue cheese, squid ink with crab and daikon, or rice cakes paired with smoked squash and mapo tofu; and a few entrées, featuring products like tilefish, king trumpet mushrooms, or confit goose. A modern wine list of natural and orange varieties, savory and herb cocktails, a rotating frozen drink option that can change the common perceptions of frozen drinks, and some of the best non-alcoholic cocktails around have made it one of the most consistently hot destinations in New Orleans this past year.
Bar of the Year
Velveteen Lounge
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When the Bayou Road neighborhood bar Pirogues closed early on in the pandemic, it was the kind of loss that stirred up a sense of doom. But the new incarnation of the simple corner space, Velveteen Lounge and Restaurant, invoked the reverse — a sense of hope for new, sustainable opportunities in New Orleans’ restaurant landscape that also honors tradition and legacy. The 100 percent worker-owned Velveteen Lounge opened in May 2022, with an eclectic, vintage feel and walls in soothing colors displaying works by local artists — all available for purchase — and a unique bar program. Velveteen has a small menu of straightforward cocktails, but can do just about anything — depending on the drink, however, it might be made with a small spirit brand customers have never seen before. Beers all come in a can or bottle only, and wine options are unexpected for a neighborhood dive — small producers and natural options line the bar, though everything is reasonably priced, including the food: salads, tacos, quesadillas, empanadas, a burger, and more are all $12 and under. It all goes hand in hand with the name: “Velvet is a luxury material,” co-owner Brendan Gordon says. “Velveteen is a knockoff material. Because everyone should be able to have nice things