"Americas Test Kitchen" news and stories

The Daytime Emmy Award nominees were announced yesterday, with four shows in the "Outstanding Culinary Programming" category: America's Test Kitchen and Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth, both PBS series, followed by two Food Network mainstays: Giada De Laurentiis's Giada at Home and Tyler Florence's Tyler's Ultimate.

In 2009, Giada at Home won an Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Lifestyle/Culinary Program.

Of the programs nominated, Gourmet's Adventures of Ruth is the new kid on the block, debuting in October 2009. It's also a coup for Gourmet magazine, as the show is one of the last extensions of the brand. The show follows Ruth Reichl's culinary exploits around the world, exploring traditional cuisine with famous actors. Not a bad way to make a living. Besides being Gourmet's former Editor-in-Chief, Reichl has also worked recently as a producer on Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie.

In the "Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Host" category, the usual suspects are up for Emmy's: Bobby Flay for Grill It! With Bobby Flay, Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics, Paula Deen for Paula's Best Dishes, Giada De Laurentiis for Giada at Home and Martha Stewart for The Martha Stewart Show.

The Daytime Emmy Awards are scheduled to broadcast live on June 27 via CBS.

Yesterday, when I was reading through the Philly Inquirer food section, I noticed a recipe for roasted broccoli tucked in, down at the end of the article about the year's best cookbooks. I think roasting veggies is a great way to prepare them, as it allows all those natural sugars to caramelize and develop maximum flavor. However, I've always struggled when it comes to roasting broccoli, because by the time the stalks cook to tender, the flowers are burnt to a crisp.

The recipe (from the Best of America's Test Kitchen cookbook) is fairly basic (olive oil, salt, a pinch of sugar and pepper) except for one thing. It has you preheat the roasting pan in a 500 degree oven while you prep the broccoli, so that when it comes time to lay the broccoli out on the pan, it gets a cooking boost by the hot pan.

I tried it out last night and was a revelation. The broccoli came out perfectly crisp-tender, but without the acrid flavor that comes when the flower tips get too brown. This one is a winner and I think would be great for a variety of other vegetables. I can't wait to try it with asparagus come spring!

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Last Sunday was Mother's Day and there were any number of ways you could have celebrated your mom (I sent a card to my 3,000 miles away mama and had brunch with my aunt). Bear Silber chose to make this triple layer Strawberry Cream Cake (the recipe is from America's Test Kitchen) for his mother. Looks and sounds like a winner to me!

Thanks Bear, for adding your image to the Slashfood Flickr pool!

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