July 26th, 2008
image: www.freeimages.co.uk
I would love to do some foodie travel. The planets are not yet aligned for me to have the opportunity, but the chance may be greater if someone else was flipping the bill.
Bon Appetit and The Next Food Network Star our sponsoring the A Bite of the Big Apple Foodie Tour Sweepstakes. The grand prize winner wins a 3 day/2 night stay in NYC along with a $2500 Visa gift card to taste your way around the city.
The winner will be chosen on or around July 28th, so you still have a chance to win. You can enter on-line once daily.
Read more about the rules and enter to win.
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By Tracey Thompson -- 1 comment
July 26th, 2008
If you think you have what it takes, the powers that be over at the Food Network our beginning their search for season 5’s cast of the Next Food Network Star.
Currently they do not seem to be requesting videos yet, just an email with your name, contact information and a blurb on why you think that you should considered for the Season 5 Next Food Network Star competition.
The information is located on the NFNS website and their email is NFNS5@foodnetwork.com.
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By Tracey Thompson -- 3 comments
July 25th, 2008
image: Amazon.com
Paula Deen has written cookbooks, her autobiography and now that Ms. Deen is a grandma, she has written a cookbook for the little ones in your life.
The spiral bound, Paula Deen’s My First Cookbook is not out yet, but will be released on October 7, 2008…just in time for Christmas. You can place a pre-order with Amazon and save about $5.
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By Tracey Thompson -- 0 comments
July 25th, 2008
Each season of Top Chef has brought us to varying locales. They have been in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago. So, where do you think they have chosen to go to this season? Brooklyn. Yes, Brooklyn, New York.
Here is the scoop from Allison Waldman from the TV Squad:
BROOKLYN! No, I’m not kidding. The new season of Top Chef will reportedly be set in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — hometown of Barbra Streisand. (She grew up at the corner of Newkirk and Nostrand Avenue, if you want to be precise.) Also Barbara Stanwyck, Mae West and the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Seriously, this isn’t as bizarre as you might think. Brooklyn is New York. It’s one of the five boroughs and it’s quite trendy and gentrified, as they say in NYC.
According to Allison there are a lot of great chefs and restaurants int he Metropolitan area of Brooklyn. It will be interesting to see what kinds of challenges they offer up during this season. Any ideas?
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By Tracey Thompson -- 0 comments
July 25th, 2008
During the Summer, Martha Stewart has had a couple of weeks of new shows with a lot of recipes, crafts and good things to help keep your Summer doldrums in check.
Yesterday one of her staff members shared a recipe for Amish Friendship Bread. This is basically a chain letter for bakers. You create a starter, help it “grow” for a few days and then bake with it and share it with some pals. It was funny watching Martha’s staff try to explain this concept to her. The whole idea can get a little confusing and I don’t think that her staff was really prepared to explain it. Funny thing is that is seems that this has nothing to do with the Amish.
Now, I did a little bit of surfing to see if I could find out more information and ended up getting just about as confused as many of the commenters on Martha’s site. Just about every recipe I found had you begin with yeast; the one from Martha’s show did not. One person said that the mix ends up fermenting and creating its own yeast, so it is not needed, but all the recipes I discovered on-line had you begin with yeast. A lot of bakeries use this technique and use some sort of yeast to start. A recipe posted back in the 1990’s from a Girl Scout troop has you begin with 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk and 1 package of yeast. If you are someone who receives the mixture already started, then you just add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour and knead or stir every few days.
My Sister’s Kitchen had a Amish Friendship Bread post with a great deal of comments. The Sister’s Kitchen said that you don’t HAVE to add yeast to the starter, that “wild” yeasts will grow, but the taste will be more sour and have a different “personality”. Their bread posts have some great information along with over 100 comments that will probably answer any question you may have.
A couple of things that are important, no matter what version you try…you can freeze the mixture at certain intervals to slow down the process, do not use any metal bowls or utensils and the mix needs occasional air. Now, I don’t know all the whys..how about you? Is anyone had any experience with Amish Friendship Bread?
This is great to use at home and share with friends. A lot of commenters also suggested variations of the bread. You can used different types of pudding mix and fruits. Substitute the vanilla pudding for chocolate and the nuts for chocolate chips. The combinations are actually quite endless. I even discovered ways to use it for waffles and pancakes. The nice thing with this, is that you can experiment with it and if it doesn’t work out…there is always more mixture. The only danger is the great possibility of weight gain.
Read more about bread starters and Amish Friendship Bread. There are a couple of other sites, Armchair and Allrecipes that have recipes for the starter and ideas of how to use it.
The version they shared on the Martha Stewart show is below:
Amish Friendship Bread
Ingredients
Makes 2 loaves and 3 starters
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 3/4 cups sugar
- 3 1/2 cups milk
- 1 cup vegetable oil or 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1/2 cup applesauce
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
Directions
- To prepare starter: Place 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk in a 1-gallon resealable plastic bag. Seal bag and knead mixture until well combined. Let stand at room temperature overnight.
- For the next 4 days, continue kneading mixture once a day; keep at room temperature. On the sixth day add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk to bag. Seal and knead to combine; let stand at room temperature overnight.
- For the next 3 days, knead mixture twice a day. On the 10th day, transfer mixture to a large bowl. Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk; mix until well combined. Measure 1 cup of the mixture into each of 3 resealable plastic bags. Seal plastic bags and give each bag of starter mixture to a friend to make their own friendship bread.
- To make bread: Preheat oven to 330 degrees. Add oil to bowl with remaining starter mixture along with eggs, remaining 1/2 cup milk, and vanilla extract. Stir until well combined; set aside.
- In another large bowl, mix together remaining 2 cups flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, salt, baking soda, pudding, and nuts, if desired. Add dry ingredients to starter mixture and stir until well combined. Divide batter evenly between two 8-by-4-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pans.
- In a small bowl, mix together remaining 3/4 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over batter. Transfer to oven and bake for 1 hour. Let cool 15 minutes before removing from the pan.
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By Tracey Thompson -- 3 comments
July 22nd, 2008
This is one of those bizarre stories that you think just can’t be true, but appears may be.
A gentleman by the name of Aaron Ferguson has filed a one million dollar lawsuit for unfairly being fired due to mistreatment and his complaints. Ferguson was an accountant for the show and suffers from anorexia. He claims that various employees said derogatory remarks regarding his condition and when he complained to hire-ups he was forced out of his job.
Rachael Ray had no contact with Ferguson and is not listed as a defendant. CBS Corp, CBSTD Inc, and three employees are listed as defendants in the lawsuit.
Read more details.
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By Tracey Thompson -- 0 comments
July 22nd, 2008
image: www.freeimages.co.uk
I love technology….I suppose that is obvious while I sit here surfing and pounding out on my computer while my kids watch DVRd shows and I listen to my iTunes. I admit there are some inventions I think lame, but the iPhone…a device I yearn as my own…is an incredible invention with amazing possibilities.
I am impressed with marketers who come up with great technology applications, and those at Bravo and Top Chef have embraced one smart idea.
You will soon be able to access Top Chef recipes on your iPhone. From the PR News Channel:
Viewers will be able to browse by key ingredients, their favorite chef’testant or even by specific episodes to find the recipes they want. Fans can also easily access shopping lists at the supermarket or browse recipes and bookmark them for a later date.
How great would it be to simply access a shopping list and recipes while you are in the store? For fans of the show, whose demographics are young and wireless, this is a great application. Learn more about this iPhone feature from their site.
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By Tracey Thompson -- 0 comments
July 22nd, 2008
image: www.freeimages.co.uk
This week’s episode of the Next Food Network Star was meant to widdle our contestants down to two, but with disagreements among the judges and a draw among our final three the judges decided to cop-out and let America decide.
The first task was the promo challenge. Each were given a different Vegas themed promo spot. Aaron knocked it out of the park, Adam did well sandwiched in between two beautiful showgirls and Lisa bombed being subjected to terrifying memories of school days gone wrong. Lisa had to remember and deliver lines while shooting up a cable next to a wine tower. She by far had the most difficult challenge, but I think she psyched herself out and would have probably bombed no matter what the promo scenario.
When it came down to the buffet poor Aaron bombed, Lisa was able to save herself from disaster and Adam smoked his way to victory. They had to make a buffet for an array of Vegas performers and Wynn chefs. They not only had to serve up some tasty dishes they had 3 minutes to entertain and explain their buffet. Adam surprisingly kept it low-key, which the judges gave him a hard time about. He hasn’t discovered that happy medium. Lisa knocked it out of the park with a belty jingle. Frankly, I am not surprised she had a voice. She was a beauty queen. It was either a voice, a piano concerto or a baton exhibition. Now, I had to begin fast forwarding through Aaron’s tragic presentation. The look on every one’s face in the room. The uncomfortable silence. The smell of stinking up the room….poor Aaron.
In the end, the judges had a hard time making a decision. Aaron had one bad week, Lisa was right down the middle and Adam did great…this once. Bob Tuschman was honestly saddened with how Aaron choked. I thought he was going to start crying. In his blog he wrote about Bobby Flay’s reaction when he was given the news that Adam’s food was the hit:
Bobby goes back to his hotel room before the audience rating cards were tallied. When we send him a text message to tell him that Adam’s dishes were both the crowd’s and Wynn chef’s favorites, Bobby’s reply is instantaneous: “Don’t even go there.” Let’s just say Bobby has not been Adam’s biggest fan.
I know Flay’s issue, Adam did great smoking and doing what he knows, but the minute you take him out of his comfort zone he fails. I agree with Bobby that the Food Network expects a lot from their on-line talent and one of these expectations is being able to adapt and cook out of your comfort zone. Adam has failed to do this every time.
So, with no one being able to decide on who should go, they are bringing all three to NYC for the fans to decide. We are now down to the popularity contest. Who do you want to win, and who do you think will win? I am torn between Lisa and Aaron. I am really anxious to see how they do on this final challenge.
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By Tracey Thompson -- 1 comment
July 19th, 2008
Not too long ago Anthony Bourdain and his producers (something tells me that this was more of a producers idea) sent out a casting call to all the No Reservations fans for videos of places they would wish to take Tony. Well, a winner was declared and this Monday night he and Fan-atic winner Danya Alhamrani visit Saudia Arabia.
This should be an intriguing show. I have no doubt he will be introduced to culturally significant food and the lack of alcohol should prove interesting. It isn’t like he has never been to a country that thinks of women lower than the sand they walk…but this is a country that once jailed some American contractors for watching episodes of Baywatch on their own TV’s. At this writing I am attempting to read Bourdain’s blog along with a Crew Blog from female producer Amy Teuteberg but their website is having issues.
Watch a video of Danya asking the “ultimate travel question”. Bourdain always speaks about being a traveler not a tourist, but she brings up a point I think many of us would have…Nice theory, but how does the average person, without a crew, handlers, travel show budget and location managers experience countries the way Bourdain does? Have any answers?
The No Reservations: Saudia Arabia airs Monday night on the Travel Channel, check your local listings.
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By Tracey Thompson -- 0 comments
July 18th, 2008
image: www.freeimages.co.uk
Jared Willig from Asylum did a cheesy segment on the Today Show sharing pizzas from around the world. They titled it the World’s Weirdest Pizzas, but I say weird is in the eye of the beholder. My husband lived in Okinawa for a few years and said that he had a few of these. Personally I think that you can get away with a lot of different types of pizzas. The dough is just a blank canvas for whatever your heart desires and with Americans eating 46 slices or 23 lbs. of pizza a year, trying something a little different just might be a little fun.
Japan has a squid ink pizza, Nino Bellissima has created the most expensive pizza in the world–a $1000 for lobster, creme fraiche and 6 types of caviar. Iron Chef Morimoto has a Tuna Tartar pizza at his restaurant and then Max Brenner (the Chocolate Man in NYC) has created a smores pizza…yum.
Read more including a grape and pickle pizza with port wine and Gorgonzola cheese…hey, it actually looks tasty.
Admittedly, the “edgiest” pizza I ever ate had kalamata olives and eggplant. Have you ever tried what many may consider as a “weird” pizza?
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By Tracey Thompson -- 0 comments
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