Are pretzels a "healthy" snack? Probably depends on what you mean by "healthy." They're certainly better than chips and they're low-fat, but they're also carb-heavy and have a lot of salt.

But if there's one day you should go crazy and eat lots of pretzels, let it be this one. It's National Pretzel Day! I like all kinds of pretzels. When I was a kid I loved the little pretzel sticks, and then when I got older I liked the pretzel rods (you can put them in your mouth like a cigar!). I like the twists too, and all the incredible flavored pretzels (mustard

Here's a recipe for Soft Pretzels from Alton Brown, and here's one for New York Pretzels, from Gourmet. If you like your pretzels sweet, here are recipes for Pretzel Turtles, from Rachael Ray, and one for Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Stuffed Pretzels from RecipeZaar.

It's official folks, Nintendo is releasing Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine for the Wii and DS systems. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of details available. Added to that, the promotion video doesn't have any game playing. We're left with very little information.

Some people are speculating that you'll be able to play as the Iron Chefs, but I don't know. I would think you'd be playing against the Iron Chefs and try to take their titles. As long as Alton Brown does the play by play I would be happy.

[via Serious Eats]

Today I'm featuring a book that isn't even out yet, so I don't actually have my hands on it and can't tell you about my personal experience with it. But I am really excited for it to arrive, mostly because I LOVED the show that it is accompanying. Have you figured it out yet (as if the title of this post and the picture to the right didn't already tip you off). I'm talking about Alton Brown's Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run.

What excites me so much is that this book will contain not just the recipes from the trip, but also lots of images of the towns they stopped in, the food they ate, the people they met and the mighty Mississippi that they road along for the entire trip. I love cookbooks that tell stories and I'm even more thrilled if those stories are accompanied by lots of vivid images and so I know that I'm going to love this book.

I don't normally ask questions in the Cookbook of the Day post, but I'm curious. Is there, or has there ever been, a cookbook that you've found yourself really looking forward to?

One of my goals this year is to eat more oatmeal, so I'd like to thank the Official Food Holiday Naming Gods for making the very first month of the year National Oatmeal Month.

Quaker has a bunch of great recipes, including Banana Bread Oatmeal and Berry Almond Crumble. Alton Brown has a couple of recipes, Steel Cut Oatmeal and Overnight Oatmeal. Or how about trying this Crockpot Apple Oatmeal?

Of course, you could put the oatmeal in cookies, as in these Black and White Oatmeal Cookies, these Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies, and The Best Cookies in the Galaxy.

To repeat an often used phrase, soup is good food. Especially this time of year, when soup warms the body, soul, and can be good if you're watching what you eat too.

January is National Soup Month, so that's a good opportunity to link to some great soup recipes, like this one for Chicken Noodle Soup over at Yahoo (though I never put onion in mine!). Food & Wine has this recipe for Sausage and Mushroom Soup, and Alton Brown has this one for Garden Vegetable Soup. Of course, there are so many soup recipes that there are usually entire sections devoted to soup, including this one over at AllRecipes.

And yes, Hobo Soup is real.

I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to Food Network's Iron Chef America. I never got into the original show. I didn't know any of the chefs, the translation of the narration was odd, and they cooked way too much fish, octopus, and other seafood (not a big fan). But I like the U.S. version. It has Mario Batali and Cat Cora and is hosted by Alton Brown and has Jeffrey Steingarten as a judge, so what's not to like?

Tonight is a big show, as Jamie Oliver appears for the first time and goes up against veteran Batali. It airs at 10pm Eastern and is followed by the premiere of Oliver's new show Jamie At Home.

It is my opinion that Alton Brown is one of the best things about the Food Network these days. Rachael Ray jumped the shark when she teamed up with Oprah and I can not deal with the train wreck that is Sandra Lee. But Alton continually provides great programming that expertly pairs education and entertainment.

He'll continue to produce his fun and informative content for another three years, as today he signed a new contract that will keep him emceeing Iron Chef America and manning the stove at Good Eats. Additionally, he'll be taking his "Feasting on Asphalt" concept to the water with a program called "Feasting on Waves" that will air this summer. In this show, he'll explore the waterways of the Caribbean, eating, joking and exploring in his trademark way. I can't wait!

[via Food Network Addict]

I have never deep fried a turkey. I've never even gotten a chance to taste a turkey that has been deep fried. However, ever since I heard it was possible, I've been hugely intrigued by the process. The first time it aired, I was totally glued to Alton Brown's show (the clip above is from that show) on the best way to fry a bird. Some day, when I actually have outdoor space, I hope to try it. Until then, I will just have to content myself with watching others do it.

Mahalo has put together a collection of video clips from all over the internet that all offer turkey-frying instruction and edification. They also have a helpful page of step-by-step instructions as to what you need to do it right, how to prepare the turkey and the equipment and how to best go about actually frying the bird. If you're looking for an account of how one family deep fries their turkey every year, look no further than the Goodyblog. They offer their recipe as well as pictures of the prep and process. And, oh my gosh, does their turkey look good.

Did you know that "Rarebit" also means "rabbit?" When I was a kid I used to joke around and call the meal "Welsh Rabbit." I had no idea I was actually right.

I also had no idea there were so many variations on the Welsh Rarebit recipe I see my roommate make all the time (and by "make" I mean "cook the frozen dinner version he bought at the supermarket"). A Buck Rarebit has a poached egg on top. The Irish Rarebit is topped with onions, vinegar, and pickles. And English Rarebit has red wine added before you melt the cheese.

Here's the recipe from Alton Brown's Good Eats show. And here's one from Cuisine du Monde. I don't think I've seen two Welsh Rarebit recipes that are the same.

I don't watch a whole lot of TV, but last summer I was totally glued to Alton Brown's summer road trip show, Feasting on Asphalt. So you'll understand just how thrilled I was to learn that he's done it again this summer, this time hitting the road in the Mississippi Gulf states. The Food Network is rerunning last summer's series all week, in order to get us fans all juiced up and ready for the new season. The first fresh episode premieres Saturday night at 9 pm and I believe that it will deliver all the grit, fried food and gorgeous views that I've come to expect from AB's forays into reality food television. I can't wait.

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.

Earlier today, Joanne gave you the results of the Food Network Awards, and now chef/writer/adventurer Anthony Bourdain gives his opinion of the ceremony.

Bourdain hasn't been shy in giving his opinion on what he thinks has become of the Food Network (too much focus on "star" chefs, bad food being cooked, an emphasis on too many things that have nothing to do with cooking, etc), and he has some choice words for the awards show:

As entertaining as Alton Brown is, I can't help but think of him as more of a cook than a baker. The reason for this is that he likes to play with science and although baking is certainly scientific, the methodology is not what is going to take your baking to the next level. Technique is important, but flavor may be more so.

That said, there is plenty of flavor to be found in AB's baking book, I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking, just not the extensive range of old and new combinations that you might find in a book from a professional pastry chef - and if you're not looking to emulate cutting-edge, five-star at home, you shouldn't have any problems here. Alton is precise, thorough and very accessible, due to a generous use of entertaining illustrations sprinkled throughout the text. His recipes and methodology are well explained and will provide the reader with a solid base of knowledge of the hows and whys of baking. On top of that, they always turn out good results (barring technical difficulties, of course), so you have a built-in way to reward yourself after learning a new lesson. Recipes include topics from scones and cakes to custards and candies.

At first I was going to title this post "2006 food and drink books I really enjoyed," but that would make it seem like I read a helluva lot of cookbooks last year.

The first book I have to mention is Amy Sedaris' I Like You. If you're a fan of cookbooks but you think this is some jokey tome and you don't want to get it, think again. There are a million recipes in here, and all of them are serious (Sedaris has said she hates jokey cookbooks). And if you like Sedaris but you're not into cooking that much, that doesn't matter either, because the book isn't just recipes, there are lots of funny essays in here too. A terrific book.

Alton Brown released an updated, Version 2.0 of I'm Just Here For The Food, and while the updates weren't all that exciting (cow fridge magnets??), it's still a great book to have on your shelf.

Cooking Up A Storm, by Sam Stern. I actually came across this book accidentally, and at first I thought, a cookbook for teens? What can that possible teach me? But it's a fantastic book, with lots of great basic recipes and some original ideas in there too, all presented well and easy to read. Stern is a 15 year-old who aspires to be the next Jamie Oliver, and he's well on his way.

I was watching Food Network on Saturday night (yes, I have a very thrilling social life) and I saw an ad for their All-Star Thanksgiving special that starts airing on November 18. Is that the special from last year or the year before and not a new special? I ask because Sara Moulton is featured on the show, and I'm not sure if this is a new special or a special from the last couple of years.

I used to love Cooking Live every night and think it was a bad move to cancel that show. Moulton went on to another show, Sara's Secrets.

Nicole reported last year that Moulton was leaving the network, so are these Sara Secrets episodes repeats? I can't tell from the schedule at the site. When I saw the ad for the Thanksgiving special, it made me cringe a bit, because I know that she's basically not doing much for the network anymore, unless the episodes of her show that are on every morning are new and not repeats? To be honest, I didn't even know the show was still on anymore, and I usually don't watch Food Network that early in the AM, so I'm not sure if they're new or repeats.