Archive for the 'Cooking and Food Tips' Category
June 15th, 2009
Last week, we learned that catering a party for 75 people in five hours was not an easy task for anyone. No surprise. This week, we witnessed how difficult it is to prepare a recipe for the male readers of Esquire magazine and present that recipe on camera. Not easy either. Even more difficult is to be assigned a holiday and have to design a meal around that holiday and present it to be the selection committee and reps from Good Housekeeping. What could be worse on the nerves? Having Giada De Laurentiis as a guest judge. She is nasty! Giada’s attitude is getting bigger than certain other parts of her body.
Luckily, Brett’s food was not really good and he bombed on the presentation so it was his time to go. But it was not soon enough. Brett and Teddy manage to throw Melissa under the bus by blabbing to the judges that they helped Melissa plate her dishes. What nerve! They offered to help her, she did not ask. Due to creative editing, the viewer could not really get a good idea to what extent they helped Melissa, but it was probably only less than a minute. They both could have just kept their mouths shut. I think Brett knew he was on the way out and thought that by making Melissa look bad, it would help his chance of survival. Guess not Brett.
One final note about last night’s show. I am still up in the air about who I think will win, but at this point my top picks are Jeffrey, Michael or Jamika. Creepy is the only word that I can think of to describe Eddie and I think that Debbie is prasied too much, she will eventually fall. What do you think about who got voted off?
April 6th, 2009
Last Sunday, I went to the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show again and attended the Paula Deen VIP supper and book signing. This event was sold out.
I have to say, I was excited to see Paula and I had high expectations after the Bobby Flay cooking demo the day before. Unfortunately, the “supper” was disappointing.
The Menu was as follows:
Georgia Cracker Salad
Chicken Boudine
Vidalia Onion Cornbread
Wilmington Island Marsh Mud Cake
Sounds good right? Well, it was not. I know that all of the recipes were Paula’s, but I am sure, if she had made them, they would have turned out quite differently.
Let me begin by saying the “supper” was $110.00 per person, so it was not cheap. (I put “supper” in quotes because it was at 4:15 p.m., not exactly supper.) All we had to drink was tap water. Not even ice tea, soda, etc. The room itself was terrible and not appropriate for a VIP lunch.
The meal itself was just awful. The salad was already on our plates and it tastes like a glob of warm mayonnaise with saltine crackers mixed in it. The chicken was cut into little pieces and mixed with dried out pasta. The whole thing was overcooked and drowned in bad cheese. Then, on to dessert It sounded promising. Who doesn’t like mud pie? However, this one was just a bad brownie with some chocolate sauce. Needless to say, the whole experience was disappointing. It was like being at a really, really bad wedding.
I know Paula did not cook the meal, but her name was on it. People drover for hours to attend and paid alot of money. Her people should make sure that whoever is catering a lunch for her should meet much higher standards.
Eventually, Paula came in with Michael and sat a table in the front and starting signing books. We were rushed up table by table and allowed to have 2 books signed while her bodyguard took a picture.
I actually had her sign a copy of my favorite Paula Deen recipe, Is it really better than sex cake? If you have never tried this cake, go immediately to the Food Network website and download it. You have to make this cake. It is a simple boxed vanilla cake batter and then pineapple, pudding, whipped cream and toasted coconut is added. It is delicious!
So, basically, my husband and I paid $220.00 for a signed Paula Deen book and a picture. Oh well, at least I got to meet Paula and Michael! Lesson learned: Attend cooking demos and not a lunch or dinner catered by the Metropolitian Cooking and Entertaining Show.
January 21st, 2009
One of my favorite new shows is Ted Allen?s Chopped, which debuted last week. I think it is really interesting to watch what different chefs can do with the same ingredients.
On the first episode, in the appetizer round, one of the ingredients that the inspiring chefs had to use in the dish was octopus. This is a very difficult ingredient to cook. I have been cooking octopus for a few years now because my husband loves cold Italian seafood salad. I am going to offer my tips for dealing with this unusual ingredient.
I typically boil the octopus for about 20-25 minutes. Then, I like to cut off all of the tentacles and purple skin because it is rather tough. On Chopped, the octopus looked smaller than the pieces I normally use for my recipe. So, just make sure to boil it until it is tender if you buy larger pieces. When making the seafood salad, however, I find that the octopus holds the flavor of the marinade better and becomes more tender without the purple skin.
My cold Italian seafood recipe is as follows:
pound octopus cut into pieces
pound shrimp
pound calamari
3 celery stalks
Juice of 2 lemons
Olive oil
1 tbsp. black peppercorns
5 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper
Fresh parsley
Fill a pot with water and add salt, peppercorns, 3 garlic cloves, and celery. Bring to a boil.
When water is boiling, add shrimp. Boil for about 3 minutes. Remove shrimp and put into a large bowl to cool.
Add calamari and boil for about 3-4 minutes. Remove and add to the bowl with the shrimp.
Last, add the octopus and boil for 20-25 minutes until tender. Remove and clean the purple outer later and tentacles as described above. Add to the bowl with the rest of the seafood.
Next I like to drain the water and remove the celery because I like to add it to the seafood salad.
Once the seafood has cooled, add juicy of 2 lemons, cup olive oil, salt and chopped fresh parsley.
Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours, preferably 24 hours. The longer the better.
This salad is really delicious and healthy. This is may favorite way to make it, but there are many different versions and you can add any seafood that you like and any other herbs you like.
Enjoy!
January 13th, 2009
There are plenty of other blogs where you can read about what happened on Food Network shows and read gossip about the hosts. So, I have decided to focus on the food. I will be talking about the food featured on my favorite shows and offering information and tips. I will be trying some of the recipes and will share how they turn out.
Recently, there have been a few shows that have caught my attention. I am a Ted Allen fan and I have to say I did not think Food Detectives would be good in the beginning but is quirky and amusing. However, his new show Chopped, starting tonight, looks promising. The show is going to feature challenges in which 4 new chefs must take ordinary ingredients and turn them into an exceptional 3 course meals. I also really like Anne Burrell’s show, The Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. She offers great tips and manages to make everything look easy. I am going to try her Pasta Bolognese this weekend and I will let you know how it turns out. (It really looked great when she made it.)
Sunny Anderson’s Cooking for Real, is a great show for people who want simple, affordable recipes that are easy to do. Sunny really loves her food and that makes you want to try her recipes.
Guy Fieri is like the new Emeril.(he may not like that analogy). He has several shows on the Network, as well as a best selling book. He is the new “star”. My favorite is the Ultimate Recipe Showdown. I love to see how home cooks from all over the country come up with these great receipes.
And…..last but not least, Iron Chef is still my favorite show. Every episode is full of information about all different types of food and it is always interesting to see how the chefs utilize the secret ingredient. I will recap Alton Brown’s amazing Food tidbits, as well as try to replicate some if my favorite dishes. Every time I watch Iron Chef, I think, “I should write that down” or “I need to rememeber that.” So, that is what I am going to do.
The Food Network has come along way and has gone through many changes lately. There are many new shows and new hosts on the horizon. I would be very interested to hear what shows are your favorite and who is your favorite new Food Network host???
Please stay tuned for more…..
June 19th, 2008
This is my recipe for Cashew Shrimp and Vegetable Pad Thai.
1 tbsp. Peanut butter
2 tbsp peanut oil
1 tsp. rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
? medium onion, chopped
1 tsp. garlic, finely chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
? cup cashew nuts, chopped
? cup frozen peas, thawed
? cup broccoli
1 lb. shrimp
1 lb. angel hair pasta
1 tsp. sesame oil
Mix 1 tbsp. of peanut oil with the peanut butter, rice wine vinegar and soy sauce in a bowl until well blended and set aside.
Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta.
Heat the remaining tablespoon of peanut oil in a wok or large saute pan. Add the onions, garlic and ginger. Saute about 3 minutes until soft and fragrant.
While onions, garlic and ginger are cooking, bring the water to a boil for the pasta.
Then, add the broccoli and peas and cook for about 3-4 minutes. The add the shrimp and cook about the whole mixture for about 5 minutes or until shrimp is opaque.
When water comes to a boil, add some salt and then the pasta. Cook until al dente.
At this point, when I add the shrimp, I add a little more soy sauce. When shrimp is cooked, drain noodles and add to the wok. Take the wok off the heat and pour prepared sauce over the hot noodles and toss until thoroughly mixed. Then add the sesame oil over the top, along with the cashew nuts and it is ready to eat!
My tips: I use angel hair pasta, but you can use Chinese rice noodles if you like. Whatever type of thin noodle you have on hand would work well. I love the smell and flavor of fresh ginger, but if you do not have this at home, you can use a teaspoon of jarred ginger. But, I think it is worth it to buy fresh ginger. You can buy a large gingerroot and freeze what you do not use. It will keep in the freezer forever, so you can use it whenever you need it.
This is a great dish to use any veggies that you have left over. It can also be made with chicken or meat.
This is a delicious and healthy meal that is very easy to make. It is much better than take-out so enjoying!
April 6th, 2008
This past weekend, I made fresh pasta. It is the first time I have used the Imperia pasta machine that I bought at Williams Sonoma several months ago. It is not electric; it is the real Italian-grandmother-hand-crank machine!
I used a basic pasta dough recipe:
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour plus more for kneading
5 Large eggs
I mixed the egg yolks and flour together on the kitchen counter (I did not use a bowl, I was really trying to be authentic here) It did take me two attempts to actually mix the eggs and flour together on the counter. The first time, I forgot to beat the eggs before pouring them into the center of the flour. They were impossible to mix and spilled out over the flour all over the counter and onto the floor. The second time, I mixed the eggs in a bowl and then poured them into the middle of the flour mixture and gradually worked the eggs into the flour with a fork. Slowly, the dough came together.
After kneading it and letting it rest, (yes, you could use a mixer, but I was doing it the old-fashioned way), I started to put the dough through the pasta machine. I have to be honest: it was hard work! You have to roll it through the machine numerous times to get the right texture. After a few batches, I got the feel for when it was ready to be cut into shape. (Just follow the directions included with the pasta machine on how many times to roll the dough and at what setting.)
I made fettuccine and it is important to flour each piece as it comes out of the past machine. The hardest part was to prevent the pasta from sticking together. After cutting it into fettuccini, I let it rest on a floured baking sheet for a few minutes before cooking.
The pasta itself only needs to cook for a few minutes. Make sure you do not overcook it. After all the hard work, the pasta must be cooked perfectly. I made a simple marinara sauce because I really wanted to taste the pasta. Was it worth the time and effort? Definitely. The pasta was delicious! It had a completely different texture and taste than dried pasta. Would I do it every week?……. No. It is very time consuming, but if you love Italian food, like I do, this is a special meal that I would highly recommend.
January 22nd, 2008
Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto was challenged by Chef Fortunato Nicotra, the executive chef at Felidia in New York City.
This was a particularly interesting battle to watch because I have been to Felidia. I ate there three year ago, while visiting my family in New Jersey. I remember it as being excellent. However, after watching Chef Nicotra cook, I would like to go back now, for I think I would appreciate it even more now.
Anyway, back to the battle. The most important item on today’s menu; the secret ingredient: Kampachi. This is a type of yellow tail and it is extremely good for you. It has more Omega 3 fatty acids than salmon.
Chef Nicotra was extremely composed while cooking and starting plating very early. He created several dishes that looked very good. The only thing I question is the puree of mascarpone cheese and kampachi? (this did not appeal to me.)
Iron Chef Morimoto’s cooking was amazing, as usual. Chef Morimoto used a cooking technique that even Alton Brown did not see before. He took a whole Kampachi and dipped it in a bath of lemon and hot water. He then put it in Japanese simple syrup, made of millet and water. Then his sous chef seasoned the fish with a homemade five-spice powder and he hung it by hooks to cook in the convection oven. It looked amazing and a great way to really showcase the fish.
Although both Chefs made some great dishes, in the end Iron Chef Morimoto’s beautiful presentations, unique cooking, and unbelievable flavors won him battle Kampachi
May 6th, 2007
I started this blog because I love to cook and am a food enthusiast in general. I am by no means a professional chef, I have taught myself most of what I know. I was off to a good start because of my Italian grandmother, who was always in the kitchen. I am a small business owner, but the culinary world is my true passion. I always enjoyed writing so it made sense to combine the two things I love the most.
Food Network Fan has the latest Food Network news and much more. You will find information on a diversity of culinary interests. I will offer great receipes, fun food facts and resturant recommendations. So READ ON! !
