What's cooking this week? 

SMASHBURGER #5 OPENS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28 IN SANDY SPRINGS

Your New Year's resolution to bite into a "better burger" will become easily achievable this coming year if you're in the Sandy Springs area.  Smashburger is opening its fifth Atlanta-area Smashburger location on Wednesday, December 28 at 6080 Roswell Road. Sandy Springs will boast the area's first free-standing store, and Phil Wilkins, Atlanta-area Smashburger franchise owner, assures there will be plenty of parking.  On their own, Smashburger's juicy burgers are bites to behold...and that's not even counting the regional menu, mouthwatering sides and those thick Häagen-Dazs shakes. Incredible! Smashburgers all begin with 100 percent fresh, never-frozen Certified Angus Beef smashed on a 400 degree flat grill to sear in flavorful juices. The regional Atlanta Smashburger is topped with peach BBQ sauce, Wicked® Pimena cheese, grilled jalapeños and Vidalia coleslaw and served on an artisan egg bun. Its cohort, the Atlanta Smashdog, comes topped with Wicked® Pimena cheese, grilled jalapeños and Vidalia coleslaw. Guests will find much more than just burgers to fill their plates: tender, marinated grilled or crispy chicken sandwiches, grilled and split hot dogs, freshly tossed signature salads, irresistible sides including Smashfries tossed with rosemary and garlic, fried pickles, haystack onions and veggie frites (flash-fried and seasoned asparagus spears, carrot sticks and green beans). To go with, there's a tempting selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages including local beers, wine, hand-spun Häagen-Dazs shakes and IBC root beer floats in frosted mugs.

Smashburger - Sandy Springs:  6080 Roswell Road; 404-257-1557.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF BOWL GAME -- JUSTIN BALMES TACKLES CHEF STAND AT NEW YEAR'S DAY FALCON'S GAME

Rushing? Holding? Extra points? As a "Next Food Network Star" chef-testant on the Food Network, Justin Balmes is familiar with the pressure of executing winning plays and the nerve-wracking analysis that follows. On New Year's Day, he'll leave all of that stress to the Atlanta Falcons as they kick off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 1 p.m. in the Georgia Dome. 

Balmes will tackle the chef stand at 2View Restaurant in the east end zone on the executive concourse (near the suites). Sample fare, talk "Next Food Network Star" shop and keep an eye on the game via large screens.

ATLANTA RESTAURANTS HAVE EXTRA HELPINGS... OF HELPING OTHERS

From Etsy: GraceyMay

Cooking and serving. Atlanta restaurants are tops at doing both, although admittedly we do tend to focus on what's cooking and going on inside the dining room and don't always relay how they cook up ways to serve the community. Looking back on 2011, we've uncovered some modest morsels we have to share. It's so heartwarming to be a part of it all. Pass another helping of high fives!

A few days before the big St. Patrick's Day festivities each year, Fadó Irish Pub & Restaurant in Buckhead and its sister pubs across the U.S. host St. Baldrick's Foundation charity events. These events have raised money and awareness for the fight against childhood cancer for the past 11 years. This year, a total of nine pubs nationwide and 788 participants raised more than $787,466! This puts the total of funds raised since 2003 at more than $4 million, which makes Fadó Pubs Inc. the largest contributor to the St. Baldrick's Foundation among any restaurant or pub. The Atlanta location of Fadó alone raised $92,212 for St. Baldrick's this year.

Fifth Group Restaurants employees set off on Atlanta's spring Hunger Walk/Run (HWR2011) and raised $23,000 for the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Sixty employees participated in the walk in 2011, and the company hopes to be the top corporate fundraiser for a third year in a row in 2012.  With a goal of $25,000 for next year, we're definitely rooting for them!

Killer tomatoes took over Atlanta's Westside in July when JCT. Kitchen & Bar hosted the Third Annual Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, which raised more than $40,000 for Georgia Organics. More than 1,000 guests joined in to taste tomato-based dishes and cocktails dreamed up by some of the city's best chefs and mixologists. (Psst. Event founder Ford Fry, who also is JCT. owner/executive chef and No. 246 partner, has peeled away calendar pages to reveal July 22, 2012 as the date of the Fourth Annual Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.)

Greens were the foundation of another 2011 benefit -- Marlow's Tavern 13th Annual Golf Classic that raised a tournament record of $47,127.30 for Special Olympics Georgia (SOGA). Additionally, each new Marlow's Tavern location opens with a fundraiser to benefit SOGA. All together, between golf and opening parties, Marlow's Taverns donated close to $300,000 to SOGA this year. Marlow's Tavern and Aqua blue invited guests to join in September's Dine Out for No Kid Hungry and donate $1 or more to the cause. Each guest who participated received a $5 bounce-back card for their next visit.

Giving adults a reason to see what's new in the toy department, Market Street Cafe and Bistro 191 gave a free lunch to each guest who brought in a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots.

In October, Alpharetta, Buckhead and Johns Creek Smashburger restaurants donated a portion of sales proceeds to the Susan G. Komen Foundation in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The cause lies close to the heart of Atlanta Franchise Owner Phil Wilkins because his mother was a breast cancer survivor for many years. December 7 brought the opening of the Smashburger in Kennesaw, and a portion of sales at all four area Smashburgers went to DreamWeavers of Georgia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to benefit Georgia's foster children.

Throughout the year, Ray's at Killer Creek has held various fundraisers for the Primus Sanders Foundation. Sanders, a six-year employee, experienced a tragic fall earlier in the year that put him in a wheelchair. An October car wash and yard sale and a December teddy bear raffle are just a few examples of ways the Alpharetta restaurant and patrons pitched in to help Sanders.

Ray's Restaurants again served as the title sponsor for the 10th Annual Derek Rackley Golf Classic held at Bears Best Atlanta in October. Benefitting from the tournament are the Fragile Kids Foundation (FKF) and the R.A.C.K. Foundation (Rallying Athletes to Care about Kids). FKF provides critical rehabilitation equipment (not covered by insurance) for children diagnosed with cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, genetic disorders and traumatic injuries. The R.A.C.K. Foundation provides two $5,000 scholarships annually to deserving student-athletes from former NFL player Derek Rackley's alma mater Apple Valley High School.  And all three Ray's Restaurants locations served as drop-off points for Toys for Tots this year. Guests who brought in a toy for the collection received a free appetizer with their meal.

RA SUSHI SKINNY COCKTAILS SPORT LESS THAN 200 CALORIES EACH. RESOLVE TO TRY ONE OR TWO

Oh, RA Sushi, we love you!  Now we can eat your delicious and healthy sushi AND have a cocktail or two.  The energizing Midtown hub for Asian-fusion specialties is introducing three "Skinny Cocktails" at $8 each with, most importantly, fewer than 200 calories apiece. The Lychee-teenie gives the traditional martini cause to quiver, delivering Voli Vodka with the lightly sweet addition of Asian lychee fruit and Monin agave nectar. The Skinny Ninja sneaks in a stealth punch with Voli Lyte Vodka mixed with fresh flavors of yuzu, pink grapefruit, Monin agave nectar and shiso, a basil-minty Japanese herb. For berry gingery goodness, order the Thin Ginger, which muddles fresh strawberries, citrus and ginger with Voli Lemon Vodka and Monin agave nectar.  Act quickly because these "Skinny Cocktails" are only available January 1 through February 29.

RA Sushi:  1080 Peachtree Street at 1010 Midtown; 404-267-0114.

FORD FRY UPDATES THE BLACK-EYED PEA TRADITION AND SHARES HIS RECIPE IN TIME FOR YOUR NEW YEAR'S CELEBRATION

It's a given that black-eyed peas will be somewhere on the Southern New Year's Day table. Legend has it that the Southern tradition has ties to the Civil War, when General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union troops carried off or destroyed all food, crops and livestock along their path, leaving only lowly, dried "field peas" behind because they were considered to be animal fodder. Guess they didn't count on Southern ingenuity, and luckily, folks found and cooked the dried peas to survive. The dried peas came to symbolize prosperity because they grew in size when cooked. Owner/Executive Chef Ford Fry of JCT. Kitchen & Bar loves everything about Southern regional food and takes the black-eyed pea tradition to a much tastier level. His recipe for deep-fried black-eyed peas with candied, crispy lemon makes a delish snack for the midnight hour on New Year's Eve.

Deep-Fried Black-Eyed Peas with Candied, Crispy Lemon

Serves 24 small portions

Ingredients

1 lb. dried black-eyed peas

1 stalk celery (cut in half)

1 carrot (peeled and cut in half)

½ yellow onion (peeled)

1 bay leaf

4 lemons

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp. kosher salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tbsp. Italian parsley (finely chopped)

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Method

Peas:

Soak the peas overnight in water. Strain the peas, place in appropriate-sized pot and cover with water by two inches. Add the carrot, celery, onion, and bay leaf. Simmer slowly until just cooked. Strain and chill. Discard the carrot, celery, onion and bay leaf.

Lemon:

With a peeler or small knife, peel off the yellow portion of the peel. Trim away any of the white. Slice into thin strips. Using a small pot, place in the water, sugar, salt and lemon strips. Simmer slowly for five minutes. Strain and chill.

Fry:

Set up your fryer at 350 degrees. If using a pot, fill half way with canola oil (or pork fat if you like). Place a candy thermometer into it to monitor the temperature. Start by frying the peas as is for one to two minutes or until crispy then place in a mixing bowl and season to taste with kosher salt. For the lemon, toss the strips in the flour and dust off excess flour. Fry lemon for 20-30 seconds. Add to the bowl of crispy peas with the parsley and toss. Fill small cups for individual servings and stick a tiny spoon into the peas.

LEARN SOMETHING NEW IN THE NEW YEAR.  THE COOK'S WAREHOUSE HAS MORE THAN 200 CLASSES SCHEDULED THIS WINTER

Given the record number of classes offered in The Cook's Warehouse 2012 winter Class Schedule, it will be a cinch to broaden one's culinary horizons. From "Knife Skills 101 Hands On" to advanced, hands-on classes with local chefs, there are more than 220 classes to pick from and one for every age level and interest at The Cook's Warehouse stores in Midtown, Decatur, Brookhaven and East Cobb. The shortlist shows:  two visiting chefs from Italy, chef-authors, local chefs, Simple Abundance cooking classes to help out the Atlanta Community Food Bank along with topics from international and holiday cooking to super foods and cooking for allergy restrictions to grilling on those Big Green Eggs that may have been hiding under Christmas trees. The newest store, in East Cobb, will offer intense three-day "immersion" classes for new cooks. Although most classes include wine after cooking demonstrations, there are strictly "Wine" and "Wine and Cheese Pairings" classes as well. Kids are covered, too. Our space here is limited, preventing us from listing all, and class space is limited as well so take a look and book soon! The Cook's Warehouse truly gives you "Every Excuse to Cook."  With four Atlanta-area locations, there's a Cook's Warehouse near you. 

EAT IT AND TWEEP: JEFFREY GARDNER'S JUST A MISSISSIPPI BOY LIVING A DELICIOUS DREAM, SERVING AS SOUS CHEF AT ALMA COCINA

He's had a crazy, busy month, but he doesn't care. He's living his culinary dream. Jeffrey Gardner, known on Twitter as CheffreyG, is the sous chef at Alma Cocina in downtown Atlanta's 191 Peachtree Building. 

Gardner tweets (@CheffreyG) that this is the place for modern Mexican and Latin flavors -- and we concur. Between bites, dabble with his Cheffrey Eats Out blog.

Sample Tweet:  Alma Cocina is now open to everyone! Come on down to the 191 Peachtree Bldg for a modern taste of Mexican and Latin flavors!