Black celebrity Chef Richard Ingraham shares last-minute Thanksgiving prep tips and recipes

Chef Richard Ingraham might be a personal chef to celebrity clients including basketball star Dwyane Wade, but this holiday season he is offering his culinary expertise to all. The Miami native — who studied his craft at the Art Institute of Atlanta — is offering up tips honed over his fifteen years of perfecting his skills in the kitchen. Chef Ingraham wants to make sure you have a  ‘mishap-free’ Thanksgiving. Here are his top tips.

You probably have your Thanksgiving dinner all planned out — but as any host or hostess can tell you, anything can still go wrong. One common issue Chef Ingraham thinks you may encounter is loading up on main courses — and forgetting sweet treats to complete your offerings.

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“If you have your turkey, you’ve got everything that you need, and then you look around, and you think, ‘oh my God, I forgot dessert,’ or ‘I don’t have enough dessert,'” the celebrity chef recommends, “you can easily do something like a no-bake type of a dessert, like a chocolate mousse. And as a matter of fact, I just developed a chocolate mousse recipe along with Wal-mart. I came up with a really nice mousse that’s a no-bake dessert that someone can make in about 15 minutes. Because that’s really all the time you have when you mess up. You only have a small window of time to try to make up for it. It’s a very easy recipe, and something that’s very easy for the kids to come in and help you make as well.” (Check out the recipe for this quick and easy treat below.)

As you prep to serve your guests tomorrow, the chef also has a few professional pieces of advice you may want to consider. First, try to collect and arrange all the ingredients you plan to use in one place before you start cooking.

“One of the major things is just to get your recipes and plan them out. Get all of your ingredients together. It makes it so much easier when you know that you have a cup of sugar here, you have a teaspoon of salt there, so you don’t have to go back and forth to the cupboard,” he said. “You kind of lose your way sometimes. Especially with a bunch of people in the kitchen, kids running around, you have people from out of town — you have to engage them as well. So, it’s always great to have all of your ingredients out.”

And of course, with all those bodies flowing in and out of your cooking space, safety will be an issue. Ingraham insists on taking this extra precaution.

“Another great tip as well is to always treat pots and pans like they’re hot,” the food expert suggested. “You always want to grab pots and pans with towels or potholders just in case, so you don’t end up burning yourself. Because one thing that always happens is somebody slips, or gets hurt, because of carelessness in the kitchen. Safety is always the best thing.”

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In terms of laying your table, Chef Ingraham offers an innovative method of turkey presentation.

“One of the things I have implemented as of last year is not to carve the turkey in front of everybody. Have the turkey out, let it be presented, say grace, then take the turkey back into the kitchen and carve it up, then bring it out,” he emphasized. “It eliminates the long lines while everybody is waiting for the turkey to be carved. It’s nice for everyone to see the turkey carved correctly, instead of a big carcass, which is the old school way, where you had all the meat being picked off the bones. That’s not too pleasing to the eye. It’s really all about presentation.”

After slicing the meat, garnishing it with an orange slice for decoration can further enhance your serving style.

In addition to cooking and serving, Chef Ingraham insists that the most important thing to remember this holiday season is to take the time to engage with your guests, something a harried cook might forget. Ironically, the acts of chopping, slicing and baking might be just the perfect last-minute activities that help you bond with loved ones before you chow down around the holiday table.

“Engage your guests in helping in the meal as well. It strikes up extra conversation,” the chef told theGrio. “You may be able to pair up with the aunt you haven’t talked to in a long time, and catch up while you’re preparing some things, sharing recipes with each other — all of that comes in.”

These tips can also be applied to your Christmas and even New Year’s gatherings. What’s Chef Ingraham’s favorite holiday dish this season?

“My favorite Thanksgiving dish would have to be my mother’s candied yams. Those right now are my favorite,” he mused. “What I’ve done with the candied yams is added Grand Marnier or brandy, and given it another little flair. Or even some orange zest at times, just to try to take it up a little. There’s not really much I can do to my mom’s recipe to make it any better. Yet, being a chef, you want to be creative so… I try to put my own flair to it. But she still holds the title.” (Click below for the instructions, then try the chef’s take on his mom’s masterpiece.)

Chef Richard Ingraham’s star as a celebrity chef is certainly rising. In addition to working with Wal-mart, he will continue working with high profile clients in the new year — and is ready for wherever 2013 will take him.

“Right now, I’m working with some major league baseball players, designing meals for them during the off season,” he stated about his next steps, “getting Dwyane healthy, so that we can bring another championship back to Miami, and just spending time with my children and my family hopefully throughout the holidays. Whatever God has next for me, I’m ready.”

Check out Chef Richard Ingraham’s recipes for No-Bake Chocolate Mousse and his mother’s Candied Yams below. Will you be adopting his last-minute Thanksgiving tips and recipe ideas?

No-Bake Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

6 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
3 large eggs, separated
1⁄2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1⁄4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1⁄2 cup heavy cream, cold
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
Cool Whip Whipped Topping and strawberries (optional) for garnish

Directions

Place chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pot containing about 1-inch of barely simmering water.

Stir with a plastic spatula until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

Remove bowl from the heat and let cool. Next, whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in 1/4 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

In a chilled bowl, beat the heavy cream until it begins to thicken up. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and vanilla and continue beating until the cream holds soft peaks.

Gently fold the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture. Then, fold in the whipped cream, taking care not to overwork.

Cover and chill for several hours. Garnish with strawberries and Cool Whip Whipped Topping if desired.

NEXT: Candied Yams 

Candied Yams

Ingredients

4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces 1 1⁄2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1⁄2 cup granulated sugar

4 tablespoons ground cinnamon 3 tablespoons ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons lemon zest 1⁄2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Combine sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, flour, zest and salt in a medium bowl. Place a layer of potatoes in 13x9x2” glass baking dish. Generously sprinkle sugar mixture over sweet potatoes and pour 2 tablespoons butter over sugar mixture. Continue the process until there are about 4-5 layers. Completely cover dish with foil.

Bake for 50 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until potatoes are tender and syrup thickens (basting occasionally), about 20 minutes.

Follow Alexis Garrett Stodghill on Twitter at @lexisb.

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