Who knew goat-milk caramel would be delicious on steak and add so much festive flavor to a grand opening celebration?

Apparently Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard did. And she was kind enough to share that knowledge with us at the grand opening of the new Kenmore Live Studio at 678 North Wells St. in Chicago.

Now, goat-milk caramel is enough of a selling point for me to begin with, but add in the chance to hose down a mime with colored water and a performance of the world’s first laundry-based soap opera, “Dirty Laundry,” and I’m more than sold. I’ll live in the place.

Unfortunately, signals were crossed and there’s no futon set up for me in the Studio. But good times were indeed had by all, as should be quite evident in our Facebook pics. The crowd chowed down on amazing food that ranged from artichoke and Gorgonzola fritters to the aforementioned goat-milk caramel steak while watching “Dirty Laundry” (my review to be posted later). A few notable bloggers made appearances too – ChicagoBites was in the house snapping pics, and My Vegetable Blog stopped in for a bite.

Overall, the night was a spectacular kickoff for the Kenmore Live Studio. And even better – the entire thing streamed live and is archived on the Live Studio tab on the Kenmore Facebook page. So even if you’re not in Chicago, or just too lazy to leave the apartment, you can watch everything going on as if you were right there!

And if you couldn’t be a part of the launch of the Kenmore Studio, here’s just a taste – the recipe for Stephanie Izard’s Salted Goat Milk Caramel!

1 qt goat milk
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp baking soda dissolved in ½ tsp warm water
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sambal
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a thick-bottomed sauce pot, combine milk and sugar. Bring slowly to a bol over medium high heat.
2. Whisk in baking soda mixture. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer, stirring often with whisk until mixture reduces and begins to thicken and turn a light caramel color – about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
3. As caramel begins to darken, reduce heat and continue to stir constantly with whisk, making sure caramel does not burn and stick to the bottom of the pot.
4. Continue to cook and whisk constantly, about another 20 minutes, until caramel darkens and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Mixture will have reduced to about ½ cup when finished.
5. Strain caramel through mesh sieve into a small pot. Add in fish sauce, sambal, soy sauce, mustard and season to taste with salt and pepper. Caramel can be made ahead up to three days and reheated when ready to serve.

Note:
*Three Crabs Brand® fish sauce is the preferred brand.
**Sambal is a chili based sauce generally used as a condiment. It is typically made from a variety of peppers and can be extremely spicy. They are popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the southern Philippines and Sri Lanka. They are available at exotic food markets or gourmet departments in supermarkets.