New cookbook contains recipes from Harrah’s properties

Kathy Hickman, corporate director of lifestyles events for Harrah's Entertainment, travels to the company's properties across the country quite a lot -- which means she eats at the company's properties quite a lot. But she didn't think most people were aware of how many good restaurants Harrah's has nationwide.

Hickman said the idea came up during talks with a literary agent she'd worked with in the past: "We should do a cookbook. There's too many great restaurants in our company. We need to get them in one location, in one place."

Which is impossible, of course, except through the magic of print. What resulted is "The Seven Stars Cookbook," a collection of more than 125 recipes from restaurants at Harrah's casinos and nongaming properties.

Hickman said that during talks with the publisher, Chronicle Books, she stressed: "This is not a cookbook. This is not a book you will find in the kitchen in anyone's home. This is a coffee-table book," and indeed it is, large-format and weighty and a little difficult, maybe, to keep on the kitchen counter when you're cooking.

But Bradley Ogden, who has an eponymous restaurant at Caesars Palace and contributed to the book, said that what he likes about it is that it is, very much, a cookbook.

"It's not too elaborate," Ogden said. "People can actually pick it up and cook from it."

Ogden's own contribution, the recipe for his oft-requested blue corn muffins, is an example of the book's accessibility, he said.

"It's just a quick little wet and dry ingredients, toss them together and into the oven," he said.

Hickman conceded that she had just that usability in mind when the book was being put together.

"We worked directly with the chefs, in weekly conference calls," she said. "We probably have five cookbooks' worth of recipes that didn't make the book.

"We said it has to be user-friendly; they have to be able to fix it in their own kitchens. It had to represent something that somebody could actually cook themselves."

And she thinks the book succeeded on that count.

"I can cook only in the microwave, and I have cooked two of the recipes in that book and they didn't come out too bad," Hickman said.

There are other pluses, Ogden said.

"It's broader and more conventional than I thought it would be," he said. "They have their little chef tips for utensils and things," also acquired from the restaurants.

The numerous lists include the top 10 serving tips for the host or hostess, top 10 tips for preparing a multicourse meal, top 10 tips for choosing the right music for your dining event and -- sure to be a favorite with most home chefs -- top 10 gifts for your host or hostess.

There also are bits of trivia here and there. You may not have known, for example, that the jester statues on the exterior of Harrah's Las Vegas weigh 22,000 pounds, are 32 feet high and wear a size 43 shoe.

Or that TV chef Paula Deen, who wrote the book's forward, has a restaurant, the Paula Deen Buffet, at Harrah's Tunica. And as the page listing her recipe for Gooey Butter Cake points out, "Paula is the 'queen of butter.' So it's no surprise that the Paula Deen Buffet uses 200 pounds of butter every day."

You're on your own for the butter. But "The Seven Seas Cookbook," which retails for $45, is available at every Harrah's property and at www.Amazon.com. Supplies are starting to get low, Hickman said, and there are talks about a reprint and/or electronic version.

BRADLEY OGDEN'S BLUE CORN MUFFINS

6¼ cups all-purpose flour

3 cups sugar

3 tablespoons baking powder

5 tablespoons baking soda

4 cups blue corn flour

3 bunches dill, stemmed and minced

4 cups corn kernels (from 8 ears corn)

4 tablespoons salt

Pinch of ground pepper

2 pounds unsalted butter, at room temperature

8 cups sour cream

6 cups buttermilk

1 cup heavy cream

20 large eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 30 muffin cups.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients and stir with a whisk to blend. Add the dill, corn, salt and pepper. Cut in the butter. In another large bowl, mix together the sour cream, buttermilk, heavy cream and eggs and fold into the dry mixture until just mixed. Fill the prepared muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake for 6 minutes, then rotate them and bake for 6 more minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and unmold onto wire racks. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 30 muffins.

-- Recipe from Bradley Ogden, Caesars Palace

CAULIFLOWER GRATIN

2 heads cauliflower (about ½ pound each)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves, smashed

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon grated fresh horseradish

¼ cup milk

3 thyme sprigs

1 sage sprig

1 cup heavy cream

Freshly grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon curry powder

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese

¼ cup fresh bread crumbs

Trim the leaves and stems from the cauliflower. Cut them into ½-inch-long florets. Reserve all the trimmings. Finely chop all trimmings, including the leaves.

In a medium saute pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat and saute the garlic until the butter starts to foam. Add the florets and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a baking sheet and let cool. Transfer to the refrigerator.

In a medium saucepan, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the horseradish and a little salt. Saute for 1 minute. Add the chopped cauliflower trimmings, the milk, thyme and sage. Simmer over very low heat until the cauliflower is very soft and the milk has mostly evaporated, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the cream, nutmeg to taste and curry powder and simmer for 2 more minutes. Remove and discard the thyme and sage. In batches, puree the mixture until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Fold in the florets and Parmesan cheese.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 6-cup gratin dish. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish and top with the Swiss cheese, then the bread crumbs. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until browned and bubbling hot.

Serves 4 to 6.

-- Recipe from Le Village Buffet, Paris Las Vegas

MAC & CHEESE

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

¼ cup minced garlic

1 bay leaf

2 shallots, minced

3 cups heavy cream

2 cups shredded white cheddar cheese

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

6 ounces pipette pasta

1½ ounces sliced prosciutto, julienned

Toasted bread crumbs for garnish

For the sauce: In a large, heavy saute pan or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and saute the garlic, bay leaf and shallots until the shallots are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the cream and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and remove the bay leaf. Stir in the white cheddar and Parmesan cheeses until melted. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside and keep warm.

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta until al dente (firm to the bite). Do not overcook. Drain.

Add the drained pasta to the sauce. Add the prosciutto and cook over low heat until slightly thickened. Divide among serving bowls and garnish with the bread crumbs.

Serves 2.

-- Recipe from Nero's at Caesars Palace

PAULA DEEN'S GOOEY BUTTER CAKE

Cake:

1 18¼-ounce package yellow cake mix

1 large egg

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 16-ounce box confectioners' sugar, sifted

Ice cream for serving (optional)

For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cake mix, egg and butter. Mix well. Pat the mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.

For the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla and butter and beat until blended. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until blended.

Spread the filling evenly over the cake and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the edges are set but a toothpick inserted in the center comes out wet. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan on a wire rack. Let the cake set for 1 hour after coming out of the oven. To serve, cut into squares and top with ice cream, if desired.

Serves 15 to 20.

-- Recipe from Paula Deen's Buffet at Harrah's Tunica

Contact reporter Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0474.