I just got an email for Food Network about a sale they are having on DVD collections. The prices are really pretty good. You can get some 3 disc sets of some of the more popular shows for as low as $15. They have Ina, Paula, Rachael, Alton, Ellie and others on sale right now. They also have a special offer on shipping for cookbooks. If you order $25 or more in cookbooks, then the shipping is free.
So…if you are jonesing for some Food Network nows the time to buy.
Here’s a link to the sale - http://www.foodnetworkstore.com/c-0+4294940030-DVD-Sale.aspx
If you are a foodie, then it is probably your dream to talk with your favorite chef. Well, Adam Roberts is the lucky man that Food Network picked to do interviews for a new web segment “The FN Dish”. I know that I would love the opportunity to do these segments. So far he’s spoken with all kinds of people, including Rachael Ray, Mario Batali, and Giada De Laurentiis, among others.
So far the segments are a little uncomfortable, but you need to give the guy a break! He’s meeting his favorite celebrities, it’s hard not to get tongue tied. I am sure as he does more segments he will get more comfortable and will develop a “method” for talking to the Food Network stars. It’s kind of fun to watch these segments and imagine yourself in this position.
With the holidays fast approaching I am working on my menus. This year is the first year I get to host the whole family for Thanksgiving. I am excited beyond words and not a bit nervous. I can’t wait! Lately, I have been testing out Cranberry sauce recipes. This week I tested Ina Garten’s Fruit Conserve and I loved it. My husband even loved it and he doesn’t really go for whole berry sauces. I think the secret is lots of sugar, okay so it’s not the healthiest choice, but it is delicious. I really enjoyed the addition of apples and lemon and orange zest.
Here’s the recipe in case you are interested in adding it to your Thanksgiving table.
Ina’s Cranberry Fruit Conserve
1 (12-ounce) bag of fresh cranberries, cleaned
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 orange, zest grated and juiced
1 lemon, zest grated and juiced
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Cook the cranberries, sugar, and 1 cup of water in a saucepan over low heat for about 5 minutes, or until the skins pop open. Add the apple, zests, and juices and cook for 15 more minutes. Remove from the heat and add the raisins and nuts. Let cool, and serve chilled.
I can’t tell you how much I am enjoying The Next Iron Chef. I have been catching up with the latest episodes online. That’s right if you miss any episode - no worries - you can catch it on Food Network’s website. I guess one of the reasons I really like this show is I can finally put faces and personalities with some of the most famous chefs in the country. I have to say from the start I have always favored Besh and Symon. I have liked Symon and his fabulous personality since I read Rhulman’s book.
I had a secret hope that they would have the other Iron Chefs be the judges in this contest. How great would it be to hear Morimoto say something through an interpreter. I think Mario would have had a great sense of humor about the whole thing. It would have been a really great twist.
The show overall is fun and interesting and if you missed it check it out online.
This weekend I caught my first Dinner Impossible. I don’t usually watch reality television, but I caught two great shows this weekend. One was this Dinner Impossible episode and the other was the Next Iron Chef Show. I really enjoyed Dinner Impossible, I think Guy was a great challenger to Robert Irvine and made the show so much more fun. Guy’s light heartedness was a great counterbalance to Robert’s more austere personality. The challenge was cooking camp food for 500 campers. Each chef had to make a chicken dish, a pizza, a pasta dish, a salad and a dessert. Guy and Robert really gave it to each other throughout the show. At one point Guy turned off Robert’s ovens and it really was funny to see Robert get all hot and bothered about it.
Guy wound up winning the challenge and the funniest thing was Robert attributed it to Guy’s making more kid friendly food that was “less gourmet”. I think each took plenty of shortcuts, but the food came out with relatively the same skill level. I don’t think Guy dumbed it down too much for the kids. He definitely had a much easier time with the kids then Robert.
If all the shows are as funny as this one it is definitely worth your time.
Okay, so it’s pretty clear that baking is my favorite hobby. The good news is my husband loves treats, especially treats that can be disguised as breakfast items. One of his all-time favorites is cinnamon rolls. I already make pecan sticky buns, but cinnamon rolls are a slightly different creature, although they share a lot of the same ingredients. The dough for cinnamon rolls is very easy to make, it’s the waiting for the dough to rise that gets most people. This recipe has a lot of rising time, but it’s definitely worth the wait. The texture of these rolls is out of this world, chewy, slightly sweet, and absolutely delicious. This is a great recipe for those of us who are afraid of yeast. It really highlights the basics of yeast and clearly shows you the process of the dough rising and you learn about punching dough down. It is an easy to follow recipe. My husband gives these cinnamon rolls two-thumbs up.
If you want to give this recipe a try and I highly suggest you do - it’s listed below (the same way I found it on Food Network’s website - the link is provided after the recipe). A good rule of thumb is to start early in the day and allow the dough to sit in the fridge over night. You will want to get the dough out early the next morning, as it needs time to rise one last time.
These sweet buns are way easier than you’d think. This is the perfect recipe for a weekend brunch.
Dough:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup whole milk
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1/4 ounce package)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the bowl
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (13 ounces)
1/4 cup sugar (1 3/4 ounces)
3/4 teaspoon fine salt (1/8 ounce)
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Filling:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, very soft, plus more for coating the pan
Glaze:
2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
3 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Combine the water and milk in a medium saucepan and warm over low heat until it is about 100 degrees F (but no more than 110 degrees). Remove from heat and sprinkle the yeast over the surface over the liquid. Sprinkle a pinch of the sugar over the top and set aside without stirring, until foamy, about 5 minutes.
Whisk the butter, egg yolk and vanilla into the yeast mixture.
Whisk the flour, the sugar, salt and nutmeg in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and stir in the yeast mixture with a wooden spoon to make a thick and slightly sticky dough. Turn dough onto a floured work surface and knead until soft and elastic, about 6 minutes. Shape into a ball.
Brush the inside of a large bowl with butter. Put dough in the buttered bowl, turning to coat lightly with butter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, trace a circle the size of the dough on the plastic, and note the time. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
Turn dough out of the bowl and knead briefly to release excess air; reform into a ball and return to the bowl. Lightly butter a large piece of plastic wrap and lay it on the dough. Cover the entire bowl tightly with plastic and proof in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.
To fill and form the rolls: Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Whisk the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Turn prepared dough onto a floured work surface and press, then roll into 10-by-18-inch rectangle, with a long edge facing you. Spread the softened butter evenly over the surface of the dough, leaving about an inch border on the side opposite you. Evenly scatter the cinnamon-sugar over the butter. Starting from the long side facing you, roll the dough up into a tight cylinder. Lightly brush the clean edge of the dough with water. Press the open long edge to the dough to seal the cylinder.
Slip a long taut piece of string or dental floss under the roll, about 1 1/2 inches from the end. Lift and cross the string ends over the roll, then pull the ends tightly in opposite directions to cut a single roll. Repeat, cutting every 1 1/2 inches, to make 12 rolls. Place the rolls cut-side-down in the prepared pan, leaving 1 inch of space between them. Cover the rolls loosely with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place to rise until rolls double in size, about 1 hour 10 minutes.
Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
Bake buns until golden brown and the tops of the buns spring back when pressed lightly, about 30 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
To make the glaze: Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl. Whisk in the condensed milk, butter, and lemon juice to make a smooth, slightly loose icing. Add the vanilla and cinnamon. Drizzle the icing over warm buns. Serve.
*Cook’s Note: These may be refrigerated or frozen after forming. If refrigerated overnight, allow buns to come to room temperature for about 1/2 hour, then proof fully (until doubled in size) before baking, about 2 hours. If frozen, allow buns to come to room temperature, about 1 hour, and then proof fully (until doubled in size) before baking, about 2 hours.
Storage: Though the buns are best eaten on the day they are baked, they will keep, covered, for a day. They freeze well.
Food Network link - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_37530,00.html
Today’s battle is mac and cheese. I tried Alton Brown’s Baked Mac and Cheese and Ina Garten’s Mac and Cheese. The only modification to these recipes was halfing them. All other ingredients and steps remain the same. Neither of these recipes was as delicious as my standby Smoked Gouda and Cheddar Mac and Cheese. Each had issues that I will discuss later in this post. Overall, Ina beat Alton hands down. Her dish won points for presentation, flavor and texture. Ina’s Mac and Cheese is beautiful to look at, the addition of sliced tomatoes was a delicious twist. The tomatoes also made the dish much more visually appealing. Her dish was a beautiful and homey version. The flavor beat out Alton as well, although I found the use of Gruyere a little too strong. Alton’s dish had the addition of an onion to the milk mixture. By introducing the onion into the milk sauce without precooking it gave the dish an overpowering onion flavor. The one piece of Alton’s dish I did like was the use of Panko breadcrumbs. I love Panko breadcrumbs, they give any dish a nice crisp texture. Ina’s cheese sauce was much creamier. If you are a gruyere lover, then Ina’s dish is just right for you. If you prefer something more subdued I suggest you check out my old post on mac and cheese.
Ina’s Mac and Cheese is today’s WINNER!
Well, you guessed it as the title suggests people miss the Food TV face-offs. So, this Friday the Food TV Face-off makes it’s comeback with battle mac and cheese. You’ll have to check in to see how Ina Garten fairs against Alton Brown in the ultimate mac and cheese showdown. Will Alton win with the classic Mac and Cheese or will Ina’s addition of Gruyere cheese take her to victory. Stay tuned to find out…
If you have suggestions for face-offs please email me or leave a comment for this post!
Yesterday, I did a little piece on a few of the Food TV stars fan and anti-fan sites. This is part two of that feature. If you know of any other fan or anti-fan sites for the cooks below, please leave a comment to share with others.
Rachael Ray - Well, the controversy of Rachael Ray is very evident in the blogosphere. The biggest fan site of them all is Everything Rachel Ray at http://rachaelrayblog.blogspot.com/. There is also a huge community of anti-fans for Rachael at the Rachel Ray sux community page - http://community.livejournal.com/rachael_ray_sux.
Emeril Lagasse - Emeril has a whole group of fan sites over at Yahoo, here’s the link http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Cultures___ Community/Food_and_Drink/Chefs/Lagasse,_Emeril
There are a few sites that say they don’t like Emeril, but I didn’t really find a well organized one.
Tyler Florence - Tyler’s biggest fan site is probably the myspace crowd over at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=115086916, well, unless you consider his own blog, ha ha. Tyler doesn’t really have a solid anti-fan club, but there are plenty of negative stores about him in the sphere. Here’s one of the funnier ones - http://www.eatdrinkonewoman.com/2006/05/tyler_florence_food_network_fa.php
Ina Garten - The Barefoot Contessa doesn’t have a large fan site, but she does have one over at http://community.livejournal.com/barefoot_ina. As for Ina detractors there are a few. The thing I find most interesting about her detractors is they have nothing to say about her food really, it seems much more personal. There aren’t any real anti-fan sites for her out there, just comments here or there.
One of the things that Food Network inspires is rabid devotion for their celebrity chefs. I think the funniest thing is it also inspires ire for those same chefs. Here’s a listing of some of the chefs with their fan sites and the anti-fan sites for your reading pleasure. I will do another post later on some of the other celebrity chefs. (Keep in mind none of these views are mine, but are the views of other bloggers out in the sphere)
Giada De Laurentiis - funny thing, I couldn’t really find any anti-Giada sites, that’s not to say that there are detractors on the web, they just aren’t determined to convince others I guess. The major fan site for Giada is http://giadafan.blogspot.com/.
Paula Deen - I couldn’t really find a web presence for Paula Deen. There is no major anti-Paula site either. I did find a funny post on how Paula is out to kill America with butter. Here’s the link http://blog.foodienyc.com/2006/03/paula_deen_chug.html.
Alton Brown - Has a wide fan base including men and women. The major site that comes up when you look for his fan club is The Good Eats Fan Page at http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/. Funny, but Alton detractors are hard to find.
Sandra Lee- Well, I have to say I was surprised, but there is a fan site for Sandra Lee. Here it is http://fansofsandra.proboards36.com/index.cgi. Sandra like Rachael really polarizes the people. Here’s the link to the Semi-Homemade Sux community - http://community.livejournal.com/semihomemadesux/.
Do you know of any other sites I have missed? Keep in mind these other sites do not reflect my views…
vs.
