For Carla Hall, comfort food is a global passion

She may have enjoyed a glamorous life as a high-fashion model in Europe and a career on TV. But the Nashville., Tenn., native, “Top Chef” finalist and co-host of ABC’s “The Chew” can still picture her grandma cooking cornbread in an iron skillet. She remembers the exact sound of the batter hitting the hot grease: the way edges of the dough would sizzle, curl up and begin the transformation into something crispy, crunchy …

And comforting.

In her new book, “Carla’s Comfort Foods: Favorite Dishes From Around the World” (Atria Books, $29.95), the perky, theatrical and well-traveled chef uses her Tennessee roots as a foundation for exploring a highly personal, wildly flavorful global spice kitchen.

“I’m from the South,” says Hall, who will sign books April 18 at Empire State South, the Atlanta restaurant of Hugh Acheson, also a “Top Chef” star. “I’m African-American or black or whatever you want to call me. I love comfort food. But when I say I like comfort food, people naturally go to the Southern region, which is fine. I love that food, but I also love other types of comfort food. I define comfort food as those foods you will have at home in a home kitchen, prepared by not a chef but your family. It’s the food that makes us feel good. So this is an exploration of all of those dishes I like.”

Often her approach with these 130 recipes is to take something familiar — and give it an exotic twist.

She fries chicken in a skillet like her grandma would have. But first she marinates it in an aromatic, Thai-influenced blend of lemongrass, ginger, cilantro and lime juice. “It is so good,” enthuses the tall, energetic TV personality. “I think everybody can relate to fried chicken.” (She also includes a Hot Fried Chicken that’s a tribute to Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack in her hometown of Nashville. Prince’s famously pioneered the craze for red-hot chicken; Hall’s version calls for brining in hot sauce and finishing the fried bird with a cayenne-and-paprika-infused oil.)

While Americans often stick to a couple of tried-and-true ways of eating corn, Hall slathers grilled corn with habanero-and-lime-spiked butter — or turns it into an oregano-scented saute topped with Mexican crema and crumbled cotija cheese. Both are riffs on the ears of corn she nibbled on the streets of Mexico, doused with mayo, cheese, spices and lime.

As a corn connoisseur and tea drinker, Hall came up with a section on corn desserts (Blueberry Corn Waffles, Pure Corn Pudding, Quince Corn Cake) and cookies using tea as an ingredient (Chocolate Chai Sandwich Cookies, Lemon Citrus Tea Cookies).

And while classic peach cobbler generally calls for fresh sliced peaches, Hall cooks her fruit into a kind of compote, scented with cinnamon, nutmeg, amaretto and lemon. And bakes it like a pie — with a crust on top and bottom.

In an interview, Hall says she wasn’t always a cook. After high school, she wanted to study theater but ended up taking a degree in accounting from Howard University in Washington. After that, it was a slow journey to find her culinary groove.

While working as a model in Paris, she discovered a passion for the table; yet even then, she remembers making comforting, homestyle food like macaroni and cheese and chicken wings with her expatriate friends. Back in D.C., she happened to take a picnic basket full of goodies to a friend’s office. It was a gesture of kindness, but the response was so positive that she turned it into a delivered-lunch business — on the spot. Next came culinary school and a catering company.

Eventually, “Top Chef” called. Hall became a fan favorite with her trademark expression, “Hootie Hoo!” — and even got to prepare Jacques Pepin’s “ideal last supper.” Pepin said her dish of simple buttered tarragon peas would make him die a happy man. (The recipe is included in the book, alongside Hall’s Mushy Minty Peas and a super-easy Chile, Pea and Coconut Chutney, pepped up with toasted mustard seeds and serrano peppers.) After winning “fan favorite” on “Top Chef All-Stars,” she says, she got called in for “The Chew.”

Hall, who chatted from her Amtrak “office” while taking the train from her home in D.C. back to her work perch in New York, says the most important thing a cook should do is share food they love. If you do that, she says, “it will always touch somebody’s heart. That’s what your grandparents did. And that’s what your parents do when they cook for you.”

She may appear on “The Chew” with celebrity chef Mario Batali. But she still loves her Aunt Bessie’s Tangy Chow Chow Pickles on a hot dog. She believes you will, too.

Recipes

From heady Lemongrass-Ginger Fried Chicken to a wonderful Salted Peanut Shortbread cookie, here are three recipes from “Carla’s Comfort Foods: Favorite Dishes From Around the World” (Atria Books, $29.95).

Lemongrass-Ginger Fried Chicken

Hands on: 45 minutes

Total time: 1 hour, 45 minutes (includes 1-hour marinade time)

Serves: 4

A light coating of cornstarch gives this chicken a flaky, paper-thin crust. Just remember to dust the chicken right before frying so it won’t get soggy. You can also roast or grill the bird. I like this with coconut rice and perhaps slaw. (Hall recommends her Cucumber-Carrot Slaw with Crunchy Noodles, from the book.)

2 stalks lemongrass, white and pale yellow parts only, smashed and sliced

1 (3-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

1 teaspoon chile flakes

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon dried shrimp (optional)

1 tablespoon light or dark brown sugar

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

3 pounds chicken thighs, wings or drumsticks

Canola oil, for frying

1/2 cup cornstarch

Kosher salt

Hot sauce, for serving (optional)

In a food processor, pulse the lemongrass, ginger, chile flakes, cilantro, scallions, dried shrimp (if using) and brown sugar until finely chopped. With the machine running, add the lime juice, fish sauce and soy sauce. Transfer to a gallon-size, resealable plastic bag. Add the chicken and massage the marinade into the meat. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

Add canola oil to a cast-iron or other heavy skillet so that it’s 1/2 inch deep. Heat over medium heat until it reaches 365 degrees, or when a little cornstarch dropped in bubbles and sizzles steadily.

Remove the chicken from the marinade, wiping off excess solids, which can burn while frying. Arrange in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Place the cornstarch in a fine-mesh sieve and, just before frying, dust both sides of the chicken with the cornstarch.

Carefully place a few pieces of the chicken in the hot oil, skin side down. Don’t crowd the pan. Keep adjusting the heat to keep a steady sizzle and to maintain about 340 to 350 degrees. Cook until browned on the bottom, about 4 minutes, then carefully turn each piece over. Cook until browned on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Then continue cooking and turning to evenly brown until cooked through, about 15 minutes total. Crumple up some paper towels and drain the chicken on them.

Repeat with the remaining chicken. Sprinkle with a little salt and serve hot, with hot sauce, if desired.

Adapted from “Carla’s Comfort Foods: Favorite Dishes From Around the World” (Atria Books, $29.95) by Carla Hall.

Per serving: 664 calories (percent of calories from fat, 60), 46 grams protein, 19 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 44 grams fat (9 grams saturated), 189 milligrams cholesterol, 340 milligrams sodium.

Chile, Pea and Coconut Chutney

Hands on: 10 minutes

Total time: 10 minutes

Serves: 6-8

Use fresh peas if you have them, but frozen legumes work wonderfully in this chutney mashup. Hall suggests serving the condiment with grilled shrimp or chicken or using it as a schmear on warm naan.

1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil

1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

2 cups cooked fresh peas or thawed frozen peas

2 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded and roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Set the skillet aside.

In a blender or food processor, pulse the peas, chiles, garlic, coconut, lime juice and salt until coarsely ground. Add the mustard seeds with the oil, and pulse until mixed in. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 day.

Adapted from “Carla’s Comfort Foods: Favorite Dishes From Around the World” (Atria Books, $29.95) by Carla Hall.

Per serving, based on 6: 62 calories (percent of calories from fat, 28), 3 grams protein, 8 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 2 grams fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 215 milligrams sodium.

Salted Peanut Shortbread

Hands on: 1 hour

Total time: 5 hours (includes 4-hour chill time)

Yield: About 5 dozen cookies

As the owner of a petite-cookie company, Hall’s signature is to cut her cookies into tiny bites. After a little experimenting, I decided I liked a bigger shortbread — sprinkled with chopped peanuts as well as sea salt. If you go for Hall’s bite-size nibbles, a fun idea would be to serve them in a bowl of salted peanuts. Do watch the bake time, though; they tend to brown very quickly.

2 cups roasted salted peanuts, divided, plus more to chop and use for sprinkling (if desired)

1 cup all-purpose flour, divided

3/4 teaspoon table salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Fleur de sel or other coarse salt, for sprinkling (optional)

In a food processor, pulse 3/4 cup of the peanuts with 1/4 cup of the flour and the salt until the peanuts are very finely ground. Transfer to a large bowl. Repeat with another 3/4 cup peanuts and 1/4 cup flour. Coarsely chop the remaining 1/2 cup peanuts and place them in another bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until creamy but still gritty, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the remaining 1/2 cup flour, then the peanut-flour mixture and finally the chopped peanuts.

Transfer the dough to a gallon-size heavy-duty resealable plastic bag and press it into a 1/2-inch-thick sheet, squeezing the dough all the way to the bottom and sides of the bag. Seal tightly and refrigerate until very firm, up to 1 day. (Or you may chill in the freezer for about 30 minutes.)

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut open the bag and peel off the dough. Cut the dough into squares. (Hall suggests 1/2-inch dice to make cookie bites. We based this recipe on a larger cookie — about 1 1/4- to 1 1/2-inch square.) Place on the baking sheets about 1/2 inch apart. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with a little fleur de sel and chopped peanuts if using. Bake until just golden, about 12 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Cool completely on the sheets on wire racks.

Adapted from “Carla’s Comfort Foods: Favorite Dishes From Around the World” (Atria Books, $29.95) by Carla Hall.

Per cookie: 60 calories (percent of calories from fat, 58), 1 gram protein, 5 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 4 grams fat (1 gram saturated), 8 milligrams cholesterol, 67 milligrams sodium.