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Soup's On: Easy White Bean Soup

partysugar — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:52:40 -0800

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Amy and Meryl Take Julie and Julia to NYC

PopSugar — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:20:39 -0700

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Top Chef 4 Star All Stars Recap

YumSugar — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 12:20:59 -0700

Last night Top Chef kicked off its new season with an All Star battle that pitted season one chefs against season two. On the season one team we had Harold, Stephen (oh how I missed his condescending smug attitude), Tiffani and Dave - surprisingly absent was Leanne, but she couldn't participate because she is now Bravo TV's food producer). The season two team consisted of fan favorite Sam, Elia, Marcel and Ilan. The two teams were going head to head and the team with the most wins contributed $20,000 to their favorite charity.

Overall it was a bit lackluster - there was no drama unfolding, as no one was getting kicked off, and all the food looked delicious - however it was fun to see my favorite contestants back in the kitchen. It was definitely a great tease (or should I say amuse-bouche) to lead into season three. There were a few good quotes and I'm sure you guys want to know about the food, and see some pictures. So let's get started, just read more

First of all, I can't get on with any of the recapping without pointing out three things. (1) Marcel rapped, again... (2) was that the Brooklyn bridge carved into Ilan's hair? I'm pretty sure it was and (3) the immersion blender in Ilan's mouth looked a bit... wrong? Oh my, now on to the recap!

The challenge started off with Padma and Chef Tom telling the former contestants that each team needed a team captain. Initially I thought it would be the two winners, but I should have known better! Instead of having the teams pick captains, the captains were chosen by a quickfire challenge! They were presented with two eggs and a large oven mitt. The oven mitt was for them to wear, because Padma tells them that they will be cooking eggs with one hand behind their back. They then cut to Stephen who says, "If you can't cook eggs, you're probably better off not being in the kitchen." I guess no one told those folks in Hell's Kitchen that.

In the end, Stephen wins with a "perfect omelette" and is chosen captain of season one - competing for the Susan G. Komen foundation. And even though his dish was topped with a dollop of saffron foam, Marcel is the runner-up and is chosen as captain for season two - competing for Share Our Strength.

The teams are then told that they're making a four course meal consisting of scallops, lobster, duck and kobe beef. Each team member chooses an ingredient and they will go head-to-head against the other season's chef. The team with the most winning dishes will be the victors.

Up first: Dave vs Elia with scallops - Elia produces two versions both paired with a marmalade, Dave produces a smoked scallop with a tapenade. In the end Elia's wins, although I must admit, I was rooting for Dave.

Next up: Stephen vs Marcel with lobster - Marcel's dish includes both a gelee and a foam (served tableside even!), both of which begin to deflate in the hot Miami heat. Stephen's is immaculately plated and consisted of beautiful saffron tones. Winner? Stephen.

Third course: Harold vs. Ilan with duck - The showdown is on! Season one winner vs season two winner, should be impressive, no? Actually turned out that the judges didn't really love either of them. Harold's was "incomplete" and Ilan's was a mess. In the end incomplete wins over a mess, and I say hurray, because well it's no secret, I heart Harold.

Last up: Tiffani vs Sam with kobe beef: Both dishes looked great, but Tiffani's was the winner. Chef Tom even mentions how nice it is to have her food again.

With a vote of 3-1, season 1 is declared the victor!

If you missed the show, you can check it out later this week (check the Bravo schedule) or stream it over the internet. Also, for a few hysterical comments on last night's show, visit our pals at We Cook, They Dish.

Now for a few of my favorite quotes:

"If the bitch can cook, let him cook!" - Dave about Marcel

"I have way too many people at home watching, I can't go home against this guy." - Harold about Marcel

"I'm so weeded right now." - Marcel

"I don't want to prove myself to these guys anymore." - Dave

"He's KIND OF cute?!?" - Ted Allen about Sam

"Don't read the blogs because you'll find shit on there that you don't want to know about yourself. Stuff that you probably didn't even know about yourself." - Sam

Oh Sam, was it something we said?

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2007 James Beard Award Winners

YumSugar — Tue, 08 May 2007 13:15:12 -0700

Last night the who's who of the food world all came out for the James Beard Foundation Awards. If you're not sure what that is, let me just say that it's sort of like the Oscars of the food world. They give awards to several categories of cookbooks, journalism, chefs, media, and more (including humanitarian & lifetime achievement awards). The "They" is a group of Awards Committees consisting of food-industry professionals. The judges are chosen by the committees and choose the winners by reviewing all entries and voting via secret ballot. Oh and just to be fair, if you're a judge, you can't enter to win in that category.

So now that all the rules and regulations are spelled out let's talk about the winners. The big "star" of the night was David Chang (pictured) of Momofuku in New York who won the award for Rising Star Chef of Year. Also noteworthy was Traci Des Jardins of Rubicon here in San Francisco, she was one of the few female chefs to win anything (she won the Pacific regional award for Best Chef).

For the list of winners and a gallery of folks on the red carpet, including: Martha Stewart, Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi with NY's Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Salman Rushdie and Bobby Flay (who was inducted into the Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America), read more

Winners list after the gallery. Check out the James Beard Foundation website for a full list of winners (including nominees).

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RESTAURANT AND CHEF AWARDS

Outstanding Restaurateur Award
Thomas Keller of The French Laundry
Outstanding Chef Award
Michel Richard of Michel Richard Citronelle
Outstanding Restaurant Award
Frontera Grill Chef/Owners: Rick and Deann Bayless
Best New Restaurant
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
Rising Star Chef Of The Year
David Chang of Momofuku Noodle Bar
Outstanding Pastry Chef Award
Michael Laskonis of Le Bernardin
Outstanding Wine Service Award
Michel Richard Citronelle - Wine Director: Mark Slater
Outstanding Wine And Spirits Professional Award
Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards
Outstanding Service Award
Tru Owners: Rick Tramonto, Gale Gand, and Richard Melman

BEST CHEFS IN AMERICA

Best Chef: Great Lakes
Grant Achatz Of Alinea

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic
R. J. Cooper III of Vidalia
Frank Ruta of Palena

Best Chef: Midwest
Celina Tio of The American Restaurant

Best Chef: New York City (Five Boroughs)
David Waltuck of Chanterelle

Best Chef: Northeast
Frank Mcclelland of L’espalier
Best Chef: Northwest
John Sundstrom of Lark

Best Chef: Pacific
Traci Des Jardins of Jardinière

Best Chef: Southeast
Scott Peacock of Watershed

Best Chef: Southwest
Nobuo Fukuda of Sea Saw

Best Chef: South
Donald Link of Herbsaint

AMERICA’S CLASSICS

Aunt Carrie’s Owner: Elsie Foy
Brookville Hotel Owners: Mark and Connie Martin
Doe’s Eat Place Owners: The Signa Family
The Pickwick Owner: Christopher Wisocki
Primanti Brothers President: Demetrios Patrinos
Weaver D’s Owner: Dexter Weaver

BOOK AWARDS

Cookbook of the Year
The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook
Matt Lee and Ted Lee
Cookbook Hall of Fame
Moosewood Cookbook
Mollie Katzen
Asian Cooking
Cradle of Flavor
James Oseland
Baking and Desserts
Baking: From My Home to Yours
Dorie Greenspan
Cooking from a Professional Point of View
Grand Livre de Cuisine: Alain Ducasse’s Desserts and Pastries
Alain Ducasse and Frédéric Robert
Entertaining and Special Occasions
The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking and Entertaining
Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison
Food of the Americas
The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook
Matt Lee and Ted Lee
General
Tasty: Get Great Food on the Table Every Day
Roy Finamore
Healthy Focus
Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way
Lorna Sass
International
The Soul of a New Cuisine
Marcus Samuelsson
Reference
What to Eat
Marion Nestle
Single Subject
The Essence of Chocolate
John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg
Wine and Spirits
Romancing the Vine
Alan Tardi
Writing on Food
The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Michael Pollan
Photography
Michael Mina
Photographer: Karl Petzke

HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR

Art Smith

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Barbara Kafka

WHO’S WHO OF FOOD & BEVERAGE IN AMERICA

José Andrés
Jim Clendenen
Bobby Flay
Dorie Greenspan
Michael Pollan

Full list of winners - including nominees

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Kim Cattrall and Pals Heat Things Up In The Kitchen

YumSugar — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 10:49:32 -0700

About a month ago, there was a hot new oven popping up all over the blogs. The oven, which is called the TurboChef Speed Oven, is a "high performance" oven that is a ridiculously fast oven that prepares meals 15 times faster than normal ovens. It's already in use in quick service restaurants (like Subway) but now you can take the oven into your own home. Price you'll have to pay to cook a properly roasted lamb in six minutes? Try around $8000.

To celebrate the launch of the TurboChef oven, Chicago's famed chef Charlie Trotter and his new pals - Kim Cattrall (hrmm... I have a hard time seeing Samantha cooking let alone endorsing an oven...), Cynthia Rowley, Ted Allen (who, in other news, has signed on to do more episodes of Top Chef), and chef Alan Wyse - were on hand to whip up a meal and have fun in the kitchen.

To check out more pictures of folks having fun with the super-fast TurboChef, read more

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