Stephanie Izard
Chef/owner, Girl & the Goat, Chicago, IL
Age: 35
Hometown: Evanston, Illinois
Fans of Top Chef will recognize Izard as the much-loved Season 4 winner. She opened her second restaurant (the first, Scylla, was open prior to the show), the Girl & the Goat, in July 2010, to great anticipation. As her Best New Chef win attests, she hasn’t lost her edge. Learn more about Stephanie in her new cookbook, Girl in the Kitchen: How a Top Chef Cooks, Thinks, Shops, Eats, and Drinks (Chronicle Books).

culture: I hear you’re a bit cheese obsessed.

Stephanie Izard: I love cheese. I have to remind myself that not everyone loves it the way I do; I used to put 16 different kinds on my cheese plate until my food cost got out of hand. I also like to do cheese pairings when we put on wine, beer, or spirit dinners (a recent favorite pairing: W. L. Weller 12-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon with Rogue Creamery Smokey Blue). It’s great that cheese is now being sold with the same thought as a wine list: something to be paired with.

culture: Where did this obsession come from?

Stephanie Izard: Well, I grew up in Connecticut, and there was this strip mall with a toy store and a cheese shop. And I always just wanted to go to the cheese shop. I was raised in a food family. My mom would plan the menu for the week, and she, my sister, and I would shop and cook together.

culture: So what would we find on your cheese plate now that you’ve gotten a grip?

Serves 8
2 cups heavy cream (not ultrapasteurized)
6 ounces Rogue Creamery Smokey Blue (or another mild, slightly sweet, creamy blue), chopped
½ teaspoon chili flakes
½ teaspoon brown sugar
1½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus pinch for sweet potatoes and as needed to taste
2½ pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced on a mandolin or vegetable slicer
7 ounces crispy fried onions (the kind you buy in a can, or you can make your own)

Stephanie Izard: It’s four constantly rotating domestic) or have them delivered. I use Prairie Fruits Farm (Illinois), Capriole (Indiana), and Nordic Creamery (Wisconsin). We make special accoutrements for each. In winter you might find things like Little Boy Blue from Hook’s Cheese Co. (Wisconsin), Bleu Mont Dairy Bandaged Cheddar (Wisconsin), and Frère Fumant from 3-Corner Field Farm (New York).

culture: What would I find in your cheese drawer at home?

Stephanie Izard: (laughs): Um, Laughing Cow cheese, string cheese...when I get home from work, I just want to eat some generic cheese, because my palate is so fatigued. But I also have Parmigiano that I steal from the restaurant.

Sweet Potato Gratin with Smokey Blue

This gratin is a wonderful addition to a family-style holiday meal and pairs well with any kind of roast meat. Izard suggests substituting Brie if you don’t care for blue cheese.

In a saucepan with a heavy bottom, bring the cream almost to a simmer over medium heat. Slowly add the cheese while whisking until just incorporated. Whisk in the chili flakes, brown sugar, and salt to make the cheese sauce. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Heat the oven to 300°F. Toss the sweet potato slices with a pinch of salt. Lay one-third of the potatoes down on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch casserole dish and top with one-third of the cheese sauce. Sprinkle with one-fourth of the onions. Repeat the process to form three layers, reserving enough onions for garnish.

Cover with aluminum foil or a lid, and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the covering, and bake an additional 15 minutes or until the cream has reduced and thickened, and the gratin is set. Remove from the oven and garnish with the remaining onions.

Written by Laurel Miller
Portraits by Barry Gutierrez
Food photography by Matt Armendariz