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Would You Rather Attend Aspen or South Beach?

partysugar — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:30:53 -0700

I've been lucky enough to attend the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen twice now, but I've never been to the Food Network's annual bash in Miami's South Beach. One's in the mountains, and the other is at the beach: if you could attend only one festival, which would you prefer?

Ming Tsai Makes Tempura - and Many a Joke

YumSugar — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:00:55 -0700

When public television chef Ming Tsai spoke at last year's Classic, I learned that he was wildly hilarious. Thus, at this year's festival, I couldn't wait to catch some more laughs. Ming shared tips for East-West cuisine while making blue cheese burgers and bacon potstickers, a ginger margarita, and a tempura shrimp cocktail. In addition to offering up lots of advice to home cooks, the Blue Ginger chef and owner also shared his thoughts on everything from eating at Alinea ("I thought it'd be gimmicky, but it was unbelievably sexy, delicious food") to his approach to dining out ("When I walk into a restaurant, I only want to see locals"). Get more of his cooking tips after the break

A Look at the Food & Wine Classic Quickfire

partysugar — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:00:39 -0700

The final event at the Food & Wine Classic features the current winner of Top Chef on Sunday morning. Normally it's a cook-off between the cheftestant and an acclaimed chef like Jacques Pepin. However, this year they decided to do something different and pit two Top Chefs, Stephanie Izard and Hosea Rosenberg, against each other. The chefs were given 25 minutes to create a gourmet breakfast for Gail Simmons, Tom Colicchio, Dana Cowin, and a lucky audience-member who bid $15,000 to act as a guest judge. Want to know what went down at the quickfire? Keep reading

Jacques Pepin on the Perfect Boiled Egg

YumSugar — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:00:34 -0700

One of my favorite seminars at this year's Classic was a cooking demo performed by French luminary Jacques Pépin along with his daughter, Claudine. On this sunny Saturday in Aspen, you'd never have guessed that Jacques, who's cooked for Charles de Gaulle and with Julia Child, turns 74 this year: the ebullient chef and his witty daughter exchanged lots of lively banter, and managed to make a whopping six tomato dishes in 45 minutes!

Although I can't wait to make the pair's appetizing tomato dishes, the most useful facts were his tips on boiling eggs, which they used in a harlequin tomato salad. "Just cooking an egg white is like a big deal for me," Jacques said. To see how the world's most blissful boiled egg is made, read on

Giada Loves Cooking With Her Family

partysugar — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:15:03 -0700

Although her demonstration at the Food & Wine Classic was first thing on Saturday morning, Giada de Laurentiis was full of bubbly energy. In front of a huge audience she cooked three dishes - fregola salad with citrus and red onion, prosciutto lamb burgers, and a ricotta cappuccino dessert - while answering questions from the crowd. Now that she's a mother, it's very clear that Giada is all about her family. Her husband, aunt Raffi, sister, and nephew sat in the front row cheering her on, and she even invited them up on the stage! To learn how Giada set an example for mothers everywhere, read more.

Giada's young nephew, Julian, was eager to get in the kitchen. She promptly found him a stool, and although he couldn't have been 5 years old, she put him to work. "This is how I learned to cook, by being in the kitchen with my mom and grandfather."
The best way to teach kids to cook is by letting them do things hands-on. When Raffi was making the lamb burgers, Julian started to roll small pieces of prosciutto into the shape of a burger. Giada cooked Julian's tiny burgers next to the normal ones.
Don't get mad at children if they don't understand how to cook. Julian started to throw chopped parsley into her dessert and Giada calmly replied, "Thanks Julian. Parsley will be just lovely in that." It was touching to see her not care that the dish was practically ruined.
By adding a lot of fresh flavors, Giada attempts to cut out fat. She advises taking baby steps (like removing the buns from a burger) to obtain a better diet.
Her show shoots 20 episodes per season. She films the cooking segments together, then shoots the party segments and introductions later. It takes two 14-hour days to film one episode.
Like Tom Colicchio and Michael Symon, she uses regular olive oil most of the time and reserves the extra-virgin stuff for finishing dishes and vinaigrettes. Her favorite brand of olive oil is Lucini.

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The Best Bites at the Food & Wine Classic

partysugar — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:50:00 -0700

Yum wasn't the only one to eat her way through Aspen last weekend, I was right there beside her! While I enjoyed some of her favorite bites, I had an entire selection of my own memorable dishes. Here you'll find the best of the best that the Food & Wine Classic had to offer.

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Ray Isle on Rosé

partysugar — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:15:18 -0700

Each month when Food & Wine magazine arrives at my desk, I look forward to reading Ray Isle's latest article. As the deputy wine editor for the glossy, Isle writes interesting wine-related stories, recommends affordable pours, and pairs each of the recipes with an excellent variety. In short, he's incredibly knowledge in the world of wine. What I like best about Ray is his kind approachability: he doesn't have an ounce of wine snob in him. I was lucky enough to sit down with Ray on a warm afternoon at the Classic in Aspen and chat about one of the wine industry's hottest trends: Rosé.

To find out what Ray had to say about the pink wines you should be drinking, read more.

Before we could get started, Ray explained that there are two ways to make Rose. The traditional French method, known as saignée, employs red grapes. The juice soaks in the skins, but before the liquid turns into red wine, it is bled off. This pink juice is turned into Rosé. The second technique makes Rosé by simply mixing already-made red and white wines.

PartySugar: What happened to Rosé? How come it has such a bad rap?
Ray Isle: White zinfandel killed the image of dry Rosés. People didn't like the overly sweet white zin and any pink wine got lumped in with it.

PS: And why are we seeing a renaissance of Rosé now?
RI: Wine education is changing the way people drink wine. More and more people are becoming educated on wine. Before they didn't know that there was a category of really good dry Rosé, but now they do.

PS: Let's talk about the recent debate on Rosé production in Europe. Where do you stand?
RI: While it's typically cheaper for a wine maker to blend them, the quality of wine is inferior. They just don't taste as good as the wines made in the saignée method. I think the classical producers were right to stand up for their tradition.

PS: When shopping for Rosé what should one look for?
RI: First, don't spend more than $20. There are plenty of really great affordable Rosés out there. Look to a classic region like the South of France. The bottles don't have to say how the Rosé is made, so to ensure you get one made with the saignée method, it's best to look to a well-known region. For fruitier and richer Rosés select one from Spain or California. Etude's Pinot Noir Rosé is a great bottle and so is the Clos du Bois Rosé.

PS: Can one pair Rosé with food?
RI: Rosé is quite possibly the most food friendly variety of wine. Because it takes characteristics from both red (the fruit) and white (the acidity and lighter body) varieties, it's very easy to pair with food. Rosés cross both boundaries and can pair with anything from sushi to roast chicken. Remember Rosés are a great outdoor picnic or party wine. Serve it cool, like you would a white wine.

Gail and Tom Reveal Details From Top Chef Vegas

partysugar — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:50:41 -0700

At the beginning of every Top Chef episode, Padma Lakshmi reminds viewers that the winner will make a special appearance at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, so it's no surprise that much of the events at the festival are devoted to all things Top Chef. Take Gail Simmons and Tom Colicchio's demonstration, entitled "In the Kitchen with Top Chef," for example. The two culinary minds created dishes (her: a strawberry lychee cocktail and shrimp pea pasta; him a lobster pea ravioli), provided tips on how to cook more like a top chef, and best of all, revealed details from the upcoming season that recently finished filming in Las Vegas. To find out what Gail and Tom had to say, read more.

On cooking more like a top chef:

"Always use fresh lemon juice!" Gail said when mixing her cocktail, "never that gross stuff that comes in a plastic lemon."
Like Michael Symon said at his seminar, Tom recommends not using extra virgin olive oil for sautéing. "It's a waste of money," explaining that one should use regular olive oil for most things and extra-virgin for dressings and garnishes.
Be creative! Tom likes to take the same three ingredients - like tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella cheese - and see how many distinct dishes he can create with those simple items.

On Top Chef Vegas:

"I've never eaten better on and off the show." Gail openly praised the Las Vegas culinary scene and the next crop of cheftestants.
Tom agreed: "The chefs are more talented, more efficient cooks. Every season there's a surprise, especially Carla comes to mind, but this time there's lots of surprises."
Both Tom and Gail stood by the show's "only as good as your last dish" mantra. Gail explained, "That's the reason we have guest judges because they don't know the contestants like Tom and I do." Then Tom added his two cents, "Look at the Giants vs. the Patriots. Yes the Patriots were a better team, they went into the Super Bowl never loosing a game, but the Giants won fair and square. No one said, 'oh the Patriots win because they played a better season.' The show is the same way."
While Gail takes no part in the final cheftestant selection, Tom looks at the last 20 resumes to make sure none of the prospects previously worked in his kitchen.
The last thing Gail said was, "Season 6 is really amazing," and in an homage to Bravo, "You'll just have to watch what happens."

Hearing all of this are you excited for TC Vegas?

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Michael Symon Shares Tips on Flavor and Spice

YumSugar — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:30:31 -0700

"I like to do demos because they let me vent," Michael Symon admitted in Aspen. Which was fine by the crowd. It was only 10 a.m. on Friday, but the audience was roaring with laughter. At his In Praise of Pork seminar, the Iron Chef, who's set to release a book with Michael Ruhlman this November, showed that he's just like us. He accidentally lights up the wrong burners and secretly loves Miracle Whip (he buys a giant tub incognito and has to hide it in the back of the refrigerator). Still, the renowned chef had a lot of knowledge to impart on the audience when it came to seasoning and spices. Learn Symon's tips for enhancing food's flavor when you read more.

Michael admits he wants to "kill the guy who invented the garlic press." Always chop garlic by hand. A food processor makes garlic taste bitter and "hot."
Go Greek and put cinnamon - the world's most underrated spice - on everything from meatballs to lamb.
Buy spices in whole form, not ground. When you buy ground, it's impossible to know whether the spice was ground last week or four years ago.
Likewise, buy fresh herbs. When you buy dry herbs at the grocery store, you just don't know what you're getting.
Don't discard the stems of vegetables such as watercress; they contain much of the vegetable's flavor.
When zesting, only complete one pass, otherwise you'll hit pith, which imparts a bitter flavor.
For flavor without heat, remove the seeds - and ribs - in hot peppers. There's actually more heat in the rib than in the seed.
Don't cook with extra-virgin olive oil; blended olive oil is sufficient. For added flavor, cook with rendered animal fat.
Unlike Italian olive oil, which may contain olives from other regions or countries, Greek olive oil is required to contain olives from only that region. Greek extra-virgin olive oil is a great, affordable addition to your kitchen.

On my next attempt at meatballs, I'll be adding in a dash of cinnamon. I'm also surprised to hear him sing the praises of Greek olive oil. Do any of these tips come as news to you?

YumSugar's Best of the Tasting Tents: Food

YumSugar — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:30:15 -0700

The biggest event at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic is the Grand Tasting, which took place five times over the span of three days. Inside several vast tents, attendees could sample a wide variety of food, from Peruvian tiradito to Cypriot soutzouko. As delicious as the offerings tasted, half the fun was eating with my eyes. Keep reading to see my favorite foods of the tasting tents.

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