Archive for the 'Bobby Flay' Category
July 1st, 2010
I am just not sure there is a “star” waiting to be born on this season of the NFNS. It appears that most of the contestants have both good and bad qualities, and a few can even cook, however, who would you really want to watch every week?
Brad can cook, but is boring to watch, Paul can not cook and is annoying, Brianna is way too full of herself, Herb really blew it last week with his meltdown and Aria should have a children’s cooking show. Aarti, I am still up in the air about, she needs to hang out with Brianna more. Serena and Tom are both very likeable, but I do not think they have that “star” quality.
Wait to see what happens next week……..
April 6th, 2009
Last weekend I attended the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show in West Palm Beach. On Saturday, I went to Bobby Flay’s cooking demo. He started with a Grilled Lobster Cocktail with coconut milk dressing. He gave a lot of great tips on how to grill lobster without overcooking it. The dish looked delicious. Then, he made a Spanish spiced ribeye with sherry vinaigrette and ended with a homemade butterscotch pudding.
Not only is Bobby Flay a terrific chef, but he is really funny. His presentation was not only informative, but very entertaining. After seeing him in person, it is easy to see why he is so popular. The chefs on the Food Network not only have to cook well, they have to be able to entertain an audience.
He also shared some juicy tidbits about Iron Chef. Someone in the audience asked him when he really finds out the secret ingredient and he said right when you see it on TV, as the lid is lifted. He did say, however, that they have about 5 minutes until everything is ready and they start cooking so they have time to make a game plan. That is something that I was always curious about because on TV, once the secret ingredient is revealed, it appears that both teams start cooking immediately. I always wondered how all the sous chefs knew what to do.
I sat in the sixth row for Bobby’s cooking demo so I had a great seat. I could really watch him cook and I could even smell the food. Unfortunately, I was not one of the lucky ones that got to taste it.
Then after the demo, I had tickets to his book signing. Let me tell you, he is really cute in person. I have never attended a book signing before and they really have it down to a science. You wait in line forever only to have about 5 seconds to get a book signed and take a picture. I know, some people would probably stand there all day so they have to keep the line moving. But, it was great because I did get to meet Bobby.
I highly recommend his latest book, Grill It. The receipes for the dishes above are in the book. His new book, Burgers, Shakes and Fries comes out in a few weeks. I will be looking forward to it.
February 26th, 2009
The Sunday night episode of Iron Chef this week was one of my favorites. I just got a chance to watch it last night and I was pleasantly surprised. Challenger Amanda Freitag took on Iron Chef Bobby Flay in battle Alaskan king crab. Bobby Flay is always great to watch and I LOVE Alaskan king crab. It is such a great ingredient; I was really interested to see how each of the chefs would handle it without overpowering the crab itself.
After Alton got Amanda Freitag to be quiet (I am sure she is a great chef but her constant comments were rather annoying), the battle began.
I did think Chef Freitag had a couple great looking dishes. The play on green eggs and ham with the crab pancake was very clever and looked delicious. I would have loved to try her spaghetti and crab with the fennel, leek tomato sauce. That is one dish that I am going to try to replicate. I really love the combination of crab and pasta. If anyone has a good recipe, please let me know.
However, Iron Chef Flay certainly did not disappoint. His crab cake with the pinot noir poached egg in a hazelnut butter sauce looked amazing and his crab gumbo with the fried okra looked like a great twist on a classic.
I was slightly worried because the judges had very favorable comments about Amanda Freitag’s dishes and were more critical of Chef Flay. In the end the Iron Chef prevailed, but only by one point. I predict that Chef Freitag will be back for a rematch.
Also, check out Chef Freitag on Chopped this week. This time she appears as a judge.
June 9th, 2008
I skipped last week’s opening episode of the Next Food Network Star. I am sure everyone knows that Cory went home, so I will move on.
This week’s episode features the new Food Network outcast, Chef Robert Irvine. He woke the contestants at 3 a.m. and they had to work through a series of challenges in order to obtain their ingredients for the main challenge.
The contestants were split into 3 groups and they had to cook a meal aboard a moving train for 30 passengers, including the selection committee.
In the end, Lisa and Aaron won the challenge and that left everyone else up for elimination.
The surprise: Nipa broke down and left the elimination room. She went upstairs and spent several minutes questioning if she could handle the criticism and wondered if she really wanted to be there.
After several minutes of showing the shock on the faces of the contestants and the judges, the show moved on. Eventually Nipa came back and apologized. She then proceeded to recall her summers in India and she told the judges that she really wanted to teach people about Indian food.
Give me a break!!! Last week she made potatoes with curry. That is it; potaotes and curry. She followed that up this week with an overly spiced lamb for brunch. Combine that with two bad presentations in front of the ” selection” committee: Am I missing something?
In the end Kevin was eliminated. Admittedly, I do not see the romance in crostini with figs. However, all I know is this; if I would have ever walked out of a job interview, I do not think I would have been hired or even given another chance.
June 9th, 2008
In Sunday night’s episode of Iron Chef, Bobby Flay was challenged by Chef Marcus Samuelsson. The secret ingredient: corn.
Right away, I knew Chef Bobby Flay would have an advantage. Corn was one of his favorite ingredients. However, corn is typically used as a garnish or a side, so to make it a main ingredient was a challenge.
Interestingly enough, both Chefs used a combination of a corn and sea urchin. Chef Samuelsson made a sea urchin flan with corn ice cream and Iron Chef Flay made a corn and sea urchin custard with roasted corn and sea urchin relish. Who knew that sea urchin went so well with corn?????
In the end Iron Chef Bobby Flay won over the judges with his corn and curry coconut chowder topped with salmon roe (looked delicious) and his fresh corn tamale with lobster and roasted garlic. The ultimate: a corn waffle with corn butter and blueberries, topped with a bourbon caramel sauce. Does that not sound amazing?!!! Well, apparently the judges thought so too and Iron Chef Bobby Flay won this battle by far
June 1st, 2008
Last Sunday’s episode of Iron Chef America was the first new battle in what seems like forever. Iron Chef Booby Flay was challenged by Iron Chef Bob Iacovene. The secret ingredient: Lagostine. Very interesting. This battle was really challenging because the secret ingredient itself is rather rare and not often found on a typical menu. Every judge observed that this would be a battle of restraint, rather than indulgence.
Bobby Flay created the one dish that really appeals to the true flavor of the lagostine; simply grilled with olive oil and lemon. In the end, I think this is why Iron Chef Flay won in a clear victory over Chef Iacovene.
A few nights after this episode of Iron Chef, I went to dinner at an Italian restaurant in Coral Gables; Caffe Abbracci and to my surprise I found grill lagostine on the menu! I dine out quite frequently and have never seen this on a menu before. Well, of course I had to try it. They served about five lagostines, split and grilled with olive oil and lemon. They were delicious. I think the key is that they were perfectly cooked. The meat was very tender, juicy and had so much flavor that the simple preparation was perfect. If you are ever dine out and see lagostine on the menu, please try it.
This Sunday is another new Iron Chef and then the Next Food Network Star premieres so please stay tuned for more………..
