Watching Reason TV? I hadn't either but if this piece is anything like the norm, it is something to definately add to your regular watching/feed list.



Don't think that beer and wine aren't on this same agenda he speaks about.

According to this article is losing one of it's biggest stars Mario Batali. While they have made him, frankly I don't think he needs them as much they do him. Anthony Bourdain has proven you can have a food related TV career without the network. But I think there is a real possibility here for something more interesting. Mario has to be on the go, between his restaurants in New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. So I think an interesting and innovate idea is a weekly or perhaps daily video podcast. Part cooking show, part travel show, all Mario, the podcast network that signs him should give him total creative control and respectable share of the profits. A savy group would pick up the cost of the camera and handle the web-side of distribution as part of their buy-in. Even a couple years ago I am not sure a video podcast would work, but due to the success of TikibarTV, Ask A Ninja, and most recently the Webb Alert there is an opportunity here. As a regular podcast listener/viewer I think the success of online video tells me the time may be right.

Is the Podcasting world up to the challenge?

Dear Food Network,

Huge fan of network, if you walk into my house and the TV set is one chances are your channel is on, but you got some problems as a fan and friend.

Next Food Network Star, just turned it off, like Alton said in last weeks show can we get rid of them all, just don't care if any of them get a show. Previous shows this far in I had a favorite chef, not this time. I blame the way you structured the show. In the past you had them do cooking demos early and you started to get, according to what the job is what is, to see what they will be actually doing. This time you have eliminated half the field and still hadn't had them do an alone demo, more team based than cook based. That was your mistake, this isn't a team game, at the end of the day you have lost people who weren't the best team players, but probably had the cook chops, now we will never know. So I turned off your show tonight and started to watch DVDs.

Bring back the old favorites, even if rerun. Original Iron Chef, Jamie Oliver, heck loved Anthony Bourdain's work, even if he didn't like you and it's mutual.

Expand the base, you need to get into new regions. The channel needs an Indian Emeril or Jiada they have over a billion people according to wikipedia and many immigrants here, plus a popular style of restaurants. Exploring their style of cooking and the rest of Southeast Asia would be a great topic.

Likewise taking a Food Network host and let them spend 6-8 weeks teaching a regional cuisine. Start simple maybe Polish or Nicarguan. But cover the globe, find the best local chefs and have them work with the host to show their best regional foods. Cuban, South African, heck even a month in depth of Minnesota local traditions might make a good segment. It's a wide world of food and who better to show us.

Travel and eating, sucks. But travel and teaching? I tune in to learn more cooking methods and ideas. If I just want a travel show there is a whole network for it.

A Concerned Fan

So I was at Farmers Market Sundayday and picked up some lemon infused pasta, pricey but what the hey. They said it would go well with shrimp so here is what I am thinking.

Saute the following in Olive Oil one large bulb shallot, one diced red bell pepper, one clove, okay 2, who am I kidding, of garlic, and dash of thyme.

Boil lemon infused pasta for 5 minutes (normal 4, but at 7,000ft have a to add a bit)

Saute shrimp briefly, then add white wine and lid to steam/braise shrimp.

When shrimp done add portion flat leaf parsley then toss with pasta.

Top with light dusting of parmigiana cheese.

Enjoy, very impressive pasta.

I am on Splendid Table's weekly email list, once a week we get a recipe and I keep a good portion of them. Last week we got a recipe for seafood that looked good. I tried it tonight but typical to my form I changed it a bit. You could say I get it from my father but I never take a recipe at face value and I always personalize it. Tonight I didn't even realize I did it until afterwards. Here's what I did...

Ingredient list - Theirs
* Good tasting extra-virgin olive oil
* 1-1/2 pounds fresh striped bass, wild salmon, or Pacific halibut filet frozen and thawed white ruffy (I live in AZ, frozen is my best option)
* 1 medium to large red onion, cut into thin slivers
* 1 jalapeno chile, seeded and cut into thin strips
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 2 teaspoons sugar, divided
* 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, divided
* 2 tight-packed tablespoons fresh basil leaves, torn (dried)
* 3 canned tomatoes, just a can of diced tomatoes
I added
* garlic clove diced
* a glass or two of white wine
* two spoonfuls of capers

The recipe was saute the onions and peppers, add fish. Cook the fish, then remove. Next take the sugar and vinegar to make a sweet and sour sauce. Not bad at all, but here's what I did:

Onions and jalapeno peppers diced and in the pan with olive oil. Drop in the fish on top of onions and peppers. Cook fish on high for a bit then flip. Should have added garlic in pan here and sauted briefly. Then added diced tomatoes. This is when I added garlic,
but not quite as good as it could have been. Then add a glass or two of white wine. Add the basil, I only had dried, as directed and capers.

When at a simmer cover and drop the heat. Simmer in the wine-tomato mixture for 10-15 minutes. Serve, Yum!

Anthony Bourdain takes on the Food Network and leaves no prisoners. While his Chef driven viewpoint has been heard in the past online, what I liked most about this time was not just the smackdown but that he took time to give respect as well. Food Network if you guys were really smart you give him a show, a film crew, and leave him alone I suspect we would all be amazed by what he showed us. Of course it would probably have to air after 9pm due to adult content, but I would be okay with that.

I have been making Butternut Squash soup for the last few years at Thanksgiving. It’s pretty simple, but I never have written it down. I took a recipe we found a while back and just wing it. The downside to this was this year I couldn’t find the base recipe so I forgot a key ingredient and had to run to the store Thanksgiving morning.

So this is partially so I have the recipe written down somewhere and share a great soup.

4 Butternut Squash
4-5 of broth (veggie, preferable but chicken works too)
2-3 Leeks
4-5 cloves of garlic
Olive Oil
Salt
Nutmeg
White Pepper

Slice the squash in half and remove seeds, a grapefruit spoon is perfect for the task. Olive oil and salt the halves of squash and put on cookie sheets. Roast the squash in an oven at 400 degrees for an hour.

They should look like this…






Let the squash cool.

Half the leeks, clean them and dice finely. Crush and mince the garlic. Sauté the leeks with a bit of olive oil in the soup pot. Keep the temperature low, no need to brown, just lightly sauté. As the leeks are close to finishing add the garlic for brief sauté. When the garlic becomes fragrant add the broth to warm.

Scoop out the squash meat into a blender add broth and leek mixture. Blend. It may take two or three times to fit all the squash. A thick cream or a bit thicker is the constancy you are looking for the soup. Pour the mixture back into the soup pot and simmer.




Add a dash of nutmeg, salt and white pepper to taste. Becareful with the white pepper, it’s easy to over season.

Serve and enjoy!

Last month we had the Stormhoek lunch I have been meaning to blog about it, but between computer crashing and other issues life got in the way. You can see the photos here. I wish more photos had turned out. It was fun but rushed affair because we were off to Made in the Shade festival afterwards. The kabobs were great along with my potato salad and other dishes. Everyone enjoyed the wines and found the idea that they were trying for marketing interesting. And now you can even get the Stormhoek in the Arizona evidently though not up in Flagstaff as yet.

First the forest closes and then I have friends either get sick or get called into work in the last 12 hours. I have lost half the party. So I am rescheduling the party to July 22nd as a pre-Made in Shade tasting. It will hopefully make it a little easier on folks. I wanted to do this when we first heard about the forest closing but since the date was set I hated to reschedule. In the end if I kept the date today the turn out would be unimpressive and I'd rather it be a success than a flop.

That said the guest list is open, I have enough wine from our friends at Stormhoek it shouldn't be a problem. Sheskabob will be on the menu and it will be a light hearted start to a day of tasting, first wine and food, then at Made in the Shade beer. So if you are in the area drop me a line and come to the party.

On Marketplace today they were talking about how Gardenburger is having problems as a company, can't compete with big names, and doesn't have much of an marketing budget. But based on Hugh's recent marketing experience with Stormhoek. I can't help but wonder if they offered to host Carnival of Recipes or began a conversation with the internet how long this problem would continue. Frankly, I doubt long.

I would offer to blog for them but...
1 - Not a Vegetarian (and to think of it finding a Vegan blogger couldn't be that tough could it?)
2 - Never eat their product without bacon and cheese
3 - Don't think the company is smart enough to try the idea.

Beer is good food. I always suspected the Incas were smart people this proves it.

I was asked for the recipe so it just makes more sense to type it once and share with all. It is based on the black bean dish in the Southwestern Grill a great little cookbook, but with a few chef influenced changes.

Two cans of black beans, well rinsed Half an onion (red) 1 tablespoon Cumin (to taste though really) Jalapeno pepper 2 garlic cloves 1 Chipotle pepper salt and pepper 1 beer (lager works well, but a pale ale might be nice too) 2-3 strips of bacon (okay you got 4 use it) Directions In a large skillet cook the bacon well, rendering out all the grease, you want the bacon well done, but not burnt. Dice onions. Finely mince garlic and half jalapeno (also remove the seeds from the pepper, the beans will have plenty of flavor). By the time you are done with the onions and everything else your bacon should be finished. Remove the bacon for now, saute the onion, garlic, and jalapeno in the bacon grease, allow the onion to get tender, even carmelize a bit. Add half to three quarters of your cumin. Add the beans and half a beer to the mixture. (Yes you can have a slug of the beer if you like, but if your pan is like mine you can probably only add half the beer at one time). Break the bacon into fine bits, like at a salad bar and add back into the pan. Dice and add the chipotle pepper. Stir regularly, cook at medium heat covered, but with the lid cracked to allow steam to vent for 30 minutes or until beer is gone. Add salt and pepper. Mix. Taste then season as necessary. Enjoy! Note: I bought the canned chipotles in adobe sauce a while back, a little can goes a long way with a lot of peppers in it and sometimes there are no or few seeds in some of the peppers, again remove seeds as you like.