– Sesame Street’s Elmo Makes a Special Appearance to Help Celebrate the Holidays –

(Silver Spring, Md.) – Chef Emeril Lagasse is adding a little more green to this holiday season during a new, one-hour episode of Planet Green’s EMERIL GREEN.  In addition to Whole Foods Market friends and food experts, special guest Elmo, from the celebrated children’s program Sesame Street, will join Chef Lagasse in Whole Foods for a fun holiday celebration.  EMERIL GREEN’s “Home for the Holidays” episode premieres Monday, December 1, 2008, at 8 PM (ET) on Planet Green.

EMERIL GREEN’s “Home for the Holidays” is all about helping viewers live greener from holiday meal recipes to charming decorations.  With input and cooking help from Whole Foods Market experts and other food specialists EMERIL GREEN viewers have met throughout the year, Chef Lagasse uses fresh, organic ingredients to prepare a delicious, elegant holiday meal with relative ease for his Whole Foods Market friends.  April Zetah, cheese expert at the Whole Foods Market where EMERIL GREEN is filmed, helps Chef choose cheeses, two from a nearby dairy farm in Virginia, for the first course – a creamy, delightful truffle fondue.  Whole Foods Market fishmonger Kiren Cross lends his knowledge of fish to create an appetizing bouillabaisse using clams out of Chesapeake Bay, Va., sea scallops from New Jersey, fresh shrimp from North Carolina, Rock Fish from Virginia and various other ingredients from the sea.

For the main course, Mark “Coach” Smallwood, a local food expert, chooses several different, in season, root vegetables with Chef Lagasse for two vegetable side dishes and helps create one exceptional horseradish crusted tenderloin.  Chef Lagasse enlists the help of Whole Foods Market’s Italian foods expert at the store, Sal Passalacqua, as they choose ingredients for a light, creamy tiramisu; creating each part of the dessert from scratch including the cakes main elements – a génoise and sabayon.

While Chef Lagasse and the food experts are busy in the kitchen, Sesame Street’s Elmo helps to create a festive atmosphere decorating the tree.  Elmo – red on the outside but green at heart – and Chef Lagasse demonstrate how to create eco-friendly holiday ornaments from recycled aluminum cans and plastic bottles, and helps decorate the main table before joining children at the “kids table” for dinner.

In EMERIL GREEN Chef Lagasse shares his philosophy for fresh, organic, locally grown foods with viewers – a practice he has used in his restaurants and personal kitchen for more than 30 years.  With many Americans unsure about the best ways to cook with organic and locally grown foods, Chef Lagasse inspires consumers by using high-quality produce, seafood and meats to solve their food dilemmas.  Set in Whole Foods Market, Lagasse enrolls the store’s knowledgeable team and other food experts to help real-life cooking-challenged individuals learn about and hand-pick the best foods.  After shopping with each individual Chef Lagasse prepares a meal with each individual that demonstrates the convenience and ease of using fresh ingredients in everyday meals.  EMERIL GREEN airs regularly Monday through Friday at 8 PM and 8:30 PM (ET).

Filed Under: Press Releases