So you think you're out playing hooky from work on the promise of a lovely Southern lunch stewed up by your favorite cookbook authors and then all of a sudden, in strides Bobby Flay.
Matt Lee and Ted Lee and the rest of the assembled had been lured to a barge on the Hudson River -- Matt's preferred canoeing channel -- on the premise that the brothers would be filming a segment for a Food Network special called "Lowcountry Lowdown." They'd filmed the first half in Charleston, S.C., and reportedly, the duel would have gone down on their home turf, had Chef Flay not fallen prey to the vagaries of air travel.
Read more about throwing down with the Country Captain after the jump.
Politicians are used to getting grilled, but when Bobby Flay dropped by the White House for a private lesson, the tables were turned. The chef schooled President Obama on his corn technique and the importance of not flipping positions on meaty matters.
Itching for pictures from the Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen? What's Mario wearing? Did Ilan Hall rock the Pee-Wee Herman tux again? We'll be posting red carpet and candid images throughout the festival, so bookmark, refresh and repeat as needed.
Couldn't swing a trip to Food & Wine Magazine's Classic in Aspen this year? S'okay -- we've got you covered. Kick back with a glass of bubbly and some schmancy nibbles, bookmark this post and keep on checking back for real-time Twitter coverage from the event. Keep up with pictures from the red carpet and around the festival here.
'Craig Claiborne's Southern Cooking' Craig Claiborne with foreword by John T. Edge and Georgeanna Milam University of Georgia Press -- 2007 (originally published in 1987 by Clamshell Productions, Ltd.) Buy it on Amazon
"It is not a question of chauvinism, but I have always averred that Southern cooking is by far the vastest and most varied of all traditional regional cooking in this country," wrote Craig Claiborne in the foreword to this pan-Southern paean to the cuisine of his childhood.
While Claiborne fled the physical South -- and his legendarily smothering mother, Miss Kathleen -- in favor of a stint in the Navy, hotel school in Switzerland and a multi-decade tenure as food editor of the New York Times, his palate remained staunchly attuned to the servant-cooked colloquial fare he'd enjoyed at his mother's boardinghouse.
What we tested and whether the book's worth buying after the jump.
Not in a "don't bogart that can, man" way. Just that if I'm going to go to all the trouble of stoking a hardwood lump charcoal fire, obsessively monitoring its low-'n-slow-ness for a goodly chunk of the day, feeding its greedy gut with beer-soaked mesquite and hickory chunks at half-hour intervals all for the sake of an albeit fabulous brisket or pork shoulder, I'm gonna want a bit more return on the investment.
Here's where foil pans of salt, cherries and lemons come in.
'Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It - And Other Cooking Projects' By Karen Solomon Photography by Jennifer Martine Ten Speed Press -- 2009 Buy it on Amazon
Recession? Schmecession! No matter the country's economic straits, Karen Solomon's guide to DIY kitchen staples and handmade gourmet gifts is a must for crafters, armchair chemists, budget-conscious chefs, curious kids (and their parents) and anyone who's ever popped open a jar of processed preserves, a tub of watery ricotta or a plastic tube of sausage and thought, "I could do better."
The book is jam-packed with simple, flawless instructions for making marshmallows, bacon, cheese, pickles, lard, smoked fish, ketchup, olives and several dozen other edible treasures, entirely worth the effort and for a fraction of the cost of their store-bought counterparts.
See what we tested and whether the book's worth buying after the jump.
Apologies to anyone dining in a marquee New York restaurant on Wednesday night -- we were hogging all your chefs and a restaurateur or 10 over at the Roseland Ballroom. And no, we won't apologize; it was all for a great cause.
Since 1988, the Share Our Strength organization has drawn together chefs, mixologists, volunteers and food fans in cities around the United States for Taste of the Nation events benefiting local food assistance organizations via funds generated by ticket sales, sponsorships and silent auctions. New York City's 2009 installment featured small-plate fare from more than 50 eateries and chefs, including newly minted James Beard Award winner Dan Barber's Blue Hill, Danny Meyer's entire armada of restaurants and the revitalized Oak Room as well as generously poured tipples from the likes of Audrey Saunders, Tony Abou-Ganim, Jim Meehan and many (many ... so, so, many ... ) more.
After the jump, read more about celeb spotting, volunteer opportunities and the best bite we had all night.
An "American Idol" host may be getting naked in a town near you.
Emmy award-nominated Ryan Seacrest is teaming up with British chef Jamie Oliver to make over the eating habits of America's fattest cities. ABC has ordered six episodes of an unscripted reality series in which Oliver will travel to the unhealthiest places in the United States and work with residents to use local resources to improve their diet.
For Oliver, who rose to prominence as the BBC's "Naked Chef" -- a reference he insists is to the simplicity of his recipes -- this is familiar television fare. In his 2005 four-part documentary series "Jamie's School Dinners," Oliver worked with school administrators and governmental officials to improve the quality of meals served to British students. In 2008, "Jamie's Ministry of Food" broadcast his efforts to teach the residents of Rotherham, South Yorkshire how to cook simple, healthy meals for themselves and pass the recipes on to others.
British chef Jamie Oliver and his wife Jules pose upon arriving to the "Pride of Britain" awards at the London Studios, London, October 9, 2007. The 'Pride of Britain' awards honour real life hero's from war veterans to people who risk their own lives to save others. It's the biggest national event of its kind in the United Kingdom.
EDMOND TERAKOPIAN, AFP/Getty Images
In this photo released by CBS, actor Tom Cruise, left, watches as chef Jamie Oliver, center, prepares a dish as host David Letterman appears to have a drink from a bottle of seasoning on the set of The Late Show with David Letterman" in New York, Tuesday, May 2, 2006.
CBS / AP
A photo of Jamie Oliver from his new show "Jamie at Home" on The Food network.
AP Photo/The Food Network
British chef Jamie Oliver poses for the media prior to the opening of his new dinner show "Das Jamie Oliver Dinner Frankfurt" on January 14, 2009 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Ralph Orlowski, Getty Images
Chef Jamie Oliver visits "Late Show with David Letterman" at the Ed Sullivan Theater on November 10, 2008 in New York City.
Marcel Thomas, FilmMagic
Chef Jamie Oliver and his wife Jools arrive at The Orange British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) at the Royal Opera House on February 10, 2008 in London, England.
Dave Hogan, Getty Images
Jamie Oliver sign copies of 'Jamie's Ministry of Food: Anyone Can Learn To Cook in 24 Hours' at Waterstones on October 8, 2008 in London, England.
Fred Duval, FilmMagic
Jamie Oliver and wife Jools Oliver sighting on June 24, 2008 in London, England.
Fred Duval, FilmMagic
A photo provided by The Food Network shows Jamie Oliver from his new show "Jamie at Home" on The Food network.
AP Photo/The Food Network
When Slashfood caught up with Oliver at a live radio appearance last November, he told listeners, "When our kids go to school, they should get a half decent meal. They should learn how to batch cook, make a basic stew and love a salad. The most powerful thing is the basic life skill of taking care of yourself."
Oliver continued, "My job is to make agriculture look entertaining. We live in a time when most people don't know where their food comes from. If you give them credit and let them know they'll shop better. Small nuggets of information can change lives."
Seacrest, whose production company will film the as-yet-untitled series, credits his interest in the subject matter to his self-described chubby childhood. The Hollywood Reporter notes that a strong listener response to an episode of Seacrest's KISS-FM morning show spurred him to action. Said Seacrest, "I'm a firm believer that the fuel we put into our body results in a healthy lifestyle. Jamie's going to come over here, roll up his sleeves and use the resources of each town to help condition living habits to make it a better and healthier place."
While filming locations have not yet been announced, a 2009 report published in Men's Fitness cites the top fattest American cities in order as:
1. Miami 2. Oklahoma City 3. San Antonio 4. Las Vegas 5. New York 6. Houston 7. El Paso, Texas 8. Jacksonville, Fla. 9. Charlotte, N.C. 10. Louisville-Jefferson, Ky.
Perhaps at some point in the distant past, it was possible for a person under the age of 50 to whip up a mock apple pie, hold the irony. Now in an age wherein slowstainable locaheirganic produce is de rigueur in many circles (not mine, but then again, I pour cherry soda all over unsuspecting hams and eat brains from a can) it seems almost viciously retrograde to dump lemony simple syrup on top of a pile of mushed-up crackers and pass it off as fruit.
So don't do that. Just enjoy it for its bizarrely satisfying damp cracker heft. Use, I dunno, heirloom leaf lard in the crust or send a tithe to Michael Pollan if you feel you need to, but really, this pie is in no need of apology. Get the Ritz Mock Apple Pie recipe after the jump.
Whew! We're exhausted post Media Awards and Chefs Night Out Soiree and will be taking a brief nap before live-Twittering the results for Restaurants and Books on Monday evening as @slashfood. In the meantime, congrats to ...
Newspaper Feature Writing About Restaurants and/or Chefs
Katy McLaughlin The Wall Street Journal "Sushi Bullies"
We'll be live-Twittering tonight's James Beard Media Awards and Monday's Restaurant Awards, so follow along @slashfood. Meanwhile, snack on these links to the nominated articles, recipes, reviews, food sections, sites, blogs and books.
Journalism Awards
For articles published in English in 2008.
Newspaper Feature Writing About Restaurants And/Or Chefs
We're laying 2:1 odds that some pal of yours has been champing at the bit to trot out that chestnut ever since Big Brown galloped toward destiny last Derby Day. And sure, you hooted, hollered, maybe even donned a big, fancy hat and welled up a little but honestly, did you watch even one other horse race in '08? Chances are, you were there for the mint juleps.
If you are there -- as in Churchill Downs -- for the juleps, you'll be in the hands of of the track's Executive Chef Joseph "Jo-Jo" Doyle, and that ain't a bad place to be at all. The 34-year-old chef isn't a Kentuckian by birth, but tells Slashfood that the cuisine of his Mobile, AL and New Orleans upbringing prepped him for making traditional Bluegrass fare.
Hear more from Chef Doyle and get traditional Kentucky Benedictine and Bourbon Slush recipes after the jump.
Yeah, it's a teensy bit Inside Baseball for the fooderati, but we got a big kick out of seeing our favorite Gourmet staffers (Wuzzap, Terrebonne? Lookin' fresh, Knauer and Houghtaling!) in a cute 'n campy Gourmet.com video sending up Editor-In-Chief Ruth Reichl's '90s tenure as an undercover restaurant critic for the New York Times.
Reichl's penchant for wearing outlandish disguises to protect her dwindling anonymity was the underpinning of her 2005 memoir Garlic and Sapphires, but somehow we doubt even she would have the quenelles to stomp into the Four Seasons' Pool Room wearing quite this much codpiece.
We can change the way we make eggs -- scrambled, poached, fried -- but what about changing the eggs themselves? Mix up your scrambling routine with quail eggs.