Last week I wrote my first post about The Next Food Network Star, having never seen it before. Thanks to those of you who gave me a heads up about show details and juice from past seasons. My plan is to just enjoy the show for what it is, and to try not to harp on the contestants too much. I'll admit that I'm easily entertained (I do sometimes watch old Sesame Street videos on YouTube), but I find the show pretty funny, and it's not like I have better things to do than watch TV and write about it. So join me in celebrating the absurdity of it all -- it could be fun.Posts with tag FoodNetwork
TNFNS: Let's be nice, now
Last week I wrote my first post about The Next Food Network Star, having never seen it before. Thanks to those of you who gave me a heads up about show details and juice from past seasons. My plan is to just enjoy the show for what it is, and to try not to harp on the contestants too much. I'll admit that I'm easily entertained (I do sometimes watch old Sesame Street videos on YouTube), but I find the show pretty funny, and it's not like I have better things to do than watch TV and write about it. So join me in celebrating the absurdity of it all -- it could be fun.Ted Allen: Food Detective
Y'know what I love about Ted Allen? Everything. His carefully sculpted coiff, his evasion of the Queer Eye curse, his smug yet disarming way of knowing so much more about everything than I ever will. And now, as if I needed another reason to worship the damn man, he is hosting the genius new Food Network series Food Detectives. As if granting my TV prayers, Food Detectives is described as the epicurean answer to Mythbusters. The upcoming primetime show, debuting on July 29th, will feature Allen working with a team of culinary and technical scientists to verify or debunk famous food myths. Slated thusfar: the five-second rule, the gestation of gum digestion, and an apple-a-day's effect on doctors.
Additionally, viewers can submit their own culinary queries. First on my list: Can eating too many carrots turn your skin orange? 'Cause I'd sure like to see Ted all tannined. Which food fables would you like to see tested?
Food blogger heading toward the small screen
We've heard of food blogs being turned into books, movies and Food Network web shows. But we haven't seen much in the way of food bloggers making the leap to our living room screen. Well, apparently, that may be changing soon.
Remember that blog that I raved about last summer? You know, the one where you take one Mike Bloomburg-crushing, Washington, D.C. area, adventurous foodie and mix her with a copy of the French Laundry Cookbook. Well, it seems that I wasn't the only one smitten with blogger Carol Blymire's food attitude.
According to Ted from E's! The Awful Truth, Carol the blogger behind the very fun French Laundry at Home, may soon be coming out from behind her computer and straight onto her own show on the Food Network. I do believe she is just the woman to shake things up over there.
Good luck Carol!
Your 15 minutes of foodie fame
Have a bizarre or touching food-related story to tell? Tell Uncle Al all about it.Al Roker and the Food Network are compilling a collection of stories about how food changed people's lives (or...something) that they can fit into a yet-unnamed new show.
The press release that Phoodie posted listed the examples: going from homeless to being a restaurant-owner, only eating one food, or making art from food.
I could give them several ideas (see: man who makes bubble gum sculptures, girl who eats nothing but french fries...)
If you want to be casted, e-mail a brief description of your story with contact info and a photo of yourself to michaelraptis@alroker.com, or call (646) 732-9848 to be considered.
Do you think Robert Irvine should keep his job?
Robert Irvine has gotten himself into a lot of trouble lately. In case you haven't been paying attention to the food blogs, the host of Food Network's "Dinner: Impossible" was caught either lying about or exaggerating his resume (depending on who you ask). He has gotten hos bio pulled from Food Network's website and has been fired from the show.Well, he must be pretty popular in some sectors, because there is a campaign going on to save hos job. A group called Save Robert Irvine has sprung up and they want you to help keep the chef as host of "Dinner: Impossible). The website suggests going to the Food Network.com's comments section and let them know how much you love Mr Irvine. You can help even more by signing the online petition.
If you think that Robert Irvine is the best host for "Dinner: Impossible" and what he did isn't that bad, then maybe you'd like to help. You can sign the petition today.
[Via Serious Eats]
Rachael Ray's show might get thrown into the garbage bowl
Unfortunately, it's only her syndicated daytime show on ABC, not all 9,832 of Rachael Ray's other shows on the Food Network. According to an "impeccable" source to New York Post's Page Six, "They are seriously talking about taking her off the air." Is her grin too scary? Too much Yum-o? Apparently, it's her ratings, which was a meager 2.2 when the show debuted two years ago, and has dropped down to a measly 2.0. Yikes.
Food Network contestant wins with chicken and yucca
Roasted chicken with fried yucca root was the obvious winner for judges at the Food Network's Ultimate Recipe: Chicken Showdown (just so we're clear, the contestants were battling it out, not the chickens). Grand Prize Winner Amparo Alam of Syracuse, Utah, swept the competition, winning 99 out of a possible 100 points for her original dish.
The recipe, listed here, uses ajies (Peruvian chilies) and huacatay (a Peruvian herb) to enhance the flavors of both the bird and the veggie.
Other category winners included Eboni Williams' Battered Chicken Wings with Pomegranate and Mango BBQ Sauce and Lauren Wyler's Chicken, Tasso, and Andouille Gumbo.
What do you think? Do these recipes sound good to you? Or could you do better? Put your money where your mouth is and submit your recipe by March 31 for the next competition.
Food Network Star's book featured online for free
In a strategic move to boost sales, HarperCollins is putting the entire contents of a handful of its new books online for anyone to read. And one of these books just happens to be Robert Irvine's Mission: Cook!: My Life, My Recipes, and Making the Impossible Easy. Irvine is formerly a chef for the Royal Family,and star of the Food Network show Dinner: Impossible.
The book is pretty much what it sounds like: a collection of Irvine's recipes, anecdotes, and nostalgia. And while he is quite accomplished, this often comes across as arrogance. Here's a sample from the introduction: "I am a bit of an anomaly in the cooking trade...Not unlike the freelancers of medieval European chivalry or cowboys for hire on the open range in the American West, I have preferred to follow my own path, my own internal compass..."
And as soon as you think he has settled into one particular writing style, Irvine will describe a recipe and throw in a really astute, carefully thought-out phrase, such as "Fingerlicking good!!!" at its conclusion. (And yes, all three exclamation points were printed in the book).
Despite this particular book's drawbacks, and the tiny, pale-colored type on the screen (the site is still in its beta version, so its appearance will most likely improve), here's hoping that this project will expand and develop into a huge cookbook database for chefs everywhere.
Food Network's top 100 recipes of 2007
I know that people like to complain about the Food Network, but for the most part I tend to enjoy their programming. I often find myself turning to their website when I'm searching for particular recipes or inspiration for a specific ingredient. I spotted their 100 Top Recipes Feature a couple of days ago and I've been seeing mention of it on several other food blogs (this is my way of saying that I'm a few days late to the party in mentioning this, but it's still good stuff nonetheless).
The pictures are terrific and it's fun to browse through and see the types of foods that made the list. I think that it's interesting that of the top ten recipes, seven are decidedly comfort foods. Of the remaining three, two are desserts and one is a breakfast dish. Head over and dig around, there's something in that Top 100 for just about everyone.
Iron Chef America: Morimoto vs. Love
Way back last October I had the distinct privilege of attending a taping of Iron Chef America with my fellow blogger, Jonathan. The challenger that day in Kitchen Stadium was cowboy chef, Tim Love. This was well before Chef Love was ridden out of Manhattan on a rail out after a wave of negative reviews of his restaurant, Lonesome Dove. Frank Bruni slammed the New York City outpost of Chef Love's much acclaimed restaurant in Fort Worth. The Brunster didn't even dole out any stars. He was reduced to a kindergarten sort of rating system, citing the Dove as "satisfactory." In the interest of fairness, I must admit that I never ate any of the dishes such as "bony, dry antelope ribs," which caused my man Frank such dismay. I did, however, get to sample the Prairie Butter, which caused the Village Voice's Sietsema to wax rhapsodic. After what seemed like an eternity watching the taping, this signature appetizer proved quite the pick-me-up when Jonathan and I chowed down on it afterwards at Lonesome Dove. The jalapeño margarita and ice-cold shot of Tuaca, and Italian liqueur flavored with vanilla and citrus, also helped shake off the fatigue and the remnants of a raging hangover. I'm not quite sure what Tuaca has to do with cowboy cuisine, but Love seems to like it quite a bit. And just what is Prairie Butter? Well let's just say that any cowboy who gets city folk to belly up to the bar and chow down on split buffalo femurs and the gloriously greasy marrow therein can't be all bad.
But enough of the trials and tribulations of the New York City restaurant scene, as they say in Kitchen Stadium, "Allez cuisine!" By now you're probably wondering why this is being written so far after the actual battle took place. Two reasons: It just aired last week, and more important, due to ICA's strict privacy restrictions no one can reveal the secret ingredient or winner of the battle until after the episode airs. So if you haven't seen Morimoto vs. Love, I advise you not to read the jump.
Food Network: Ultimate Recipe Showdown
Are you a whiz in the kitchen? Do you have a favorite recipe that all your friends and family members constantly rave about? Well, it is Ultimate Recipe Showdown time over at The Food Network, and your original creation could win you a cool $10k. According to their official rules, fifty-four finalists (9 in each category) will be flown to Los Angeles to prepare their original recipes on camera and compete for the top prize in each category - $10,000 in cash. The categories include chicken, pasta, comfort foods, burgers, cookies, and cakes.
I've seen what some of you can do in the kitchen, and I'd love to hear that one of our readers / a fellow blogger won one of the prizes, so get your submissions in! You can view the full contest rules at the Food Network site.
The Next Iron Chef of America?
Not to leave any possible stone unturned, it seems that the Food Network has plans to expand their reality television horizons this fall as they conduct a search for The Next Iron Chef. Though details are very limited at this point, the show will apparently be hosted by Iron Chef's own Alton Brown, and the contestants will be culinary professionals hoping to become one of the shows celebrity Iron Chefs alongside the current roster of Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, Masaharu Morimoto, and Cat Cora. Though a number of old shows have been weeded out, The Food Network has enjoyed increased viewership over the past few years and are working on introducing even more new content to their regular line-up, including "America's Best Recipe" - where everyday cooks compete for best recipe in various categories, as well as "Food Dudes", which will follow two young "scruffy" chefs from Hollywood as they run their catering business.
It seems as though the days of one (highly trained) chef standing behind a counter preparing meals are definitely numbered.
Anthony Bourdain has some issues with the Food Network
Gust blogging at Ruhlman this week, Anthony Bourdain took the opportunity to take on the Food Network. Aside from a handful of comments here and there in the past, this is the first time that the popular bad-boy chef has taken on the network as a whole, giving readers his opinions on the network's popular celebrity chefs and the network as a whole. As you might imagine, it's not all positive as her describes the network as "[crumbling] like undercooked Bundt cake into a goo of Cheez Wiz." Check out the full post for more details, but here's a brief overview:
- Alton - Smart and chock full of good commentary. How did this guy "slip inside the wire--and stay there all these years?"
- Emeril - Nice guy, good cook and pretty much like Escoffier compared to some of the "bobbleheads" on the network now, though AB is not a fan of the show.
- Bobby Flay - "Throwdown" is cruel and a successful guy like Bobby doesn't need that kind of treatment from the network.
- Mario Batali - Completely wasted since Molto Mario was shot down.
- Giada - Totally robbed in her Iron Chef America battle with Rachael Ray. "Send her to Italy and let her cook. She's good at it."
- Rachael - "She's selling us satisfaction, the smug reassurance that mediocrity is quite enough." Depressing.
Find out what he thinks of Sandra Lee after the jump:
Continue reading Anthony Bourdain has some issues with the Food Network
International Space Station goes gourmet
It seems just about everyone has been transformed into a foodie thanks to such media phenomena as Top Chef and the Food Network. These days the gourmet brigade includes astronauts.USA Today reports that NASA has figured out how important food is to astronauts living on the International Space Station who spend six months at a time in an environment devoid of fresh air and flora. Not only has the space agency realized that eating unsatisfying grub can have detrimental effects on morale, it's allowing the astronauts a ration of treats. Crewmembers are allowed to have a shoebox filled with shelf-stable treats. USA Today reports that a Madrid-born astronaut brought a "special Spanish ham." Shoot, sign me up. I'd travel to outer space for some jamon pata negra.
In addition to their shoeboxes of treats, the astronauts have enjoyed meals created by celebrity chefs. Back in August the crew of the International Space Station enjoyed dishes created by Emeril Lagasse. Last week they dined on a menu created by Alain Ducasse. The bill of fare included such stellar fare as red tuna with candied Menton lemon (pictured) and quails roasted in wine. Just in case anyone from NASA is reading this, I am not at all prone to motion sickness or claustrophobia, for that matter.
Almond Crusted Chicken
Just yesterday I bought two big bags of almonds. I also bought cashews and semi-sweet chocolate chips to make a mix, but that's another post. I was thinking of making a dinner using the almonds, and I came across this recipe for Almond Crusted Chicken at the Food Network site. And the fact that it happens to coincide with our Nut Day, well, that's just a bonus.
And, no, I have no idea was Spanish pimenton is, so I'm going to use paprika.
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