Let us pause now to reflect upon Jeffrey Steingarten, award-winning writer, fearless gastronomist and utterly irascible judge of "The Next Iron Chef." Every cooking competition show needs its Simon Cowell, after all, a grumpy, hard-to-please, perpetually underwhelmed quipster whose general lack of enthusiasm makes for great, nasty sound bites. But Steingarten is in another class entirely: He's so disaffected, it's hard to tell if he's got a pulse half of the time.
Week after week, Steingarten regards the Iron Chef hopefuls in the same way a crusty professor might deal with a snot-nosed student who happened to stop by his office outside of office hours. The man may certainly have his cheerful side, but by now we've gotten the feeling that every week, the "TNIC" editors decide to save up and splice together all of his best "You got me out of bed for this?" looks, and parse them out over the course of the last 15 minutes of each show.
When in doubt, they zoom in on one of his particularly befuddled stares -- no doubt there are plenty to choose from -- and try to give it some sort of significance, as if the man can't believe what he's hearing. You imagine that a Steingarten comment like "my flan is a little curdled" was probably delivered politely, gingerly to chef Jose Garces -- but when the tribal drums of failure are added to the soundtrack, man, does it take on a sting.
Friday night's Blue Moon Burger Bash hosted by Food Network star-turned-one woman empire, Rachael Ray, heated the festival up. Where there weren't burgers, the Food Network and food world entourage filled in.
A brief roll call included: the aforementioned Rachael Ray, Tyler Florence, Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Ann Burrell, Art Smith, Jacques Torres, Rocco DiSpirito, Martha Stewart, Duff Goldman, Katie Lee (last year's Burger Bash champion), Ellie Krieger, Giada De Laurentiis...
New York's top eateries, including Minetta Tavern, Shake Shack, The Spotted Pig and Wollensky's, fired up their grills so they could claim the judges' favorite and the People's Choice Award. Check out our festival photos and more after the jump!
Can't make it to this weekend's Food Network's New York City Wine & Food Festival? Convinced that Slashfood can get a better peek at Guy Fieri's frosted tips and potential Paula Deen pants mishaps than you can?
Follow our every nibble, sip and celeb chef sighting via the handy widget above -- starting with tonight's Chelsea Market After Dark all the way through the Grand Tasting and Burger Bash to Sunday night's Meatball Madness with Giada De Laurentiis, or just follow us on Twitter as @slashfood.
It's not unusual for TV chefs to be loved by anyone. But we had no idea the avid fan base for Guy Fieri of the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" had reached Tom Jones proportions.
At a cooking demo held Sept. 19 at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y., Fieri was stunned when someone threw a bra onto the cooking stage. "I don't even know what to say," he said. "I thought it was going to get a little out of control."
He managed to uncover the "mystery fan" with an offer of Fieri swag. An older and younger woman approached the stage, and Fieri seemed more than a little stunned to learn who the bra belonged to -- the older woman.
"It's your mom's?" he said with a laugh. "I have seen it all ladies and gentlemen."
We should've known better. You can't expect a figure skater to lay off the sparkles forever, and sure enough, our man Brian Boitano was back to his old tricks this week: goofy skits, crudely animated fantasy sequences and laughing at his own jokes.
But while his aesthetics are regressing, at least his cooking is maturing, from the fussy appetizers of the first two shows to something resembling a real meal.
The fabricated meal-making scenario this time followed an eager Brian ready to impress his handyman in order to gain acceptance into an "international dinner club" -- cue many references to the Wonder Bread-ish Brian's Italian heritage.
For the moment, we'll ignore the incongruous fantasy of a dashing, 40-something French handyman willing to whip up his mother's coq au vin recipe for a bachelor client. (And is it just us, or do the shots of Brian's spacious, garden-facing kitchen and his narrow San Francisco living quarters seem a little... lacking in continuity?)
'Robin Rescues Dinner' By Robin Miller Photographs by Ben Fink Clarkson Potter -- 2009 Buy it on Amazon
In the desolate land of "quick fix" cookbooks, recipes tend to be uninspired, trading flavor for time. Food Network "Quick Fix Meals" and "Robin to the Rescue" hostess Robin Miller seeks to change that stereotype with low-fuss, high-flavor cooking in her newest book, "Robin Rescues Dinner."
Featuring 52 weeks of seasonally appropriate recipes, the lexicon crams in some 350 formulas for delicious eating. As a bonus, it includes major timesavers, like bulk (cooking ahead) tricks and corner-cutting tips.
Though perhaps erring on the side of conservatism rather than that of innovation, Robin turns out excellently executed staple dishes with remarkably low-overhead ingredients, either involving surprisingly short grocery lists or relying heavily on pantry staples.
See what we tested and whether it's worth buying after the jump.
So pop culture has come to this: A former figure skater perhaps best known for being a goofily ironic punchline to a "South Park" song has his own show -- and it's a cooking show. Die-hard foodies, take note: "What Would Brian Boitano Make?" is not for you.
This is not to say it operates at Sandra Lee levels of non-cooking: At no point does Brian (whom we interviewed) crack open a packet of supermarket taco seasoning for some zing or create a lush tablescape out of freshly raked autumn leaves. But it is, shall we say, a little on the frothy side for anyone wanting to learn the proper way to braise a quail. (Though the guy sure knows how to strain his juices for a mango-tini.)
No, this is one of those "lifestyle" shows the Food Network is so adept at churning out -- more tailored to the host's persona and his or her niche than anything else. And to judge by the first episode, Brian's self-professed niche would be San Franciscan guys who like to entertain their single girlfriends, prepare fussy little crudités and "ride bikes on rainbows!"
Brian Boitano is renowned for his 1988 Olympic gold medal in figure skating and infamous for a song from 1999's "South Park" movie. But now the professional skater is working a different arena -- the cooking show.
On Sunday, Boitano makes his Food Network debut with "What Would Brian Boitano Make?" Quite possibly one of the campiest cooking shows to hit TV, it follows the Olympian as he makes meals for the likes of a bachelor friend, a handyman, a new mom and roller derby girls, all from the comforts of his real-life kitchen.
Boitano spoke with Slashfood about his cooking-show debut, being a "clean eater," his "South Park" song and the one kitchen gadget he can't live without (Slap Chop anyone?).
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.
To much of the country, charismatic Food Network star and restaurateur Emeril Lagasse has become, well, just another household name. But in Bethlehem, Pa., tucked in the foothills of the state's Pocono Mountains, Emeril has become a culinary heartthrob whose embrace has sent the locals into a frenzy.
For the residents of this overhauled steel town already gaga over the coming of its first casino, the addition of Emeril's Chophouse side-by-side with the slots is a coup. After all, the Yankee (he hails from Fall River, Mass.) bypassed New York City (where he has a second home) and Boston (an hour from his birthplace) for "Christmas City" to house his first northeast eatery.
The Bam! man was on hand Tuesday for a media luncheon, and is currently in Bethlehem overseeing a test run of his 230-seat restaurant for its sold-out Friday opening. Located inside an old steel mill building, the restaurant is fittingly outfitted with cast-iron steel flourishes and a menu combining Emeril's bayou style with the no nonsense meat and potato sensibilities of the region: "We are very sensitive to the market no matter where we are," he told us.
Love her or hate her, Sandra Lee can stretch a dollar.
For her latest Food Network show, the queen of "semi-homemade" cuisine is teaching her viewers "Money Saving Meals" with tips on how to make dishes like this French toast without breaking the bank.
"This show is like Suze Orman meets Julia Child," she told Slashfood Thursday in the Food Network test kitchens.
Get her three tips on how to save at the grocery store and the French toast recipe after the jump.
By Pervaiz Shallwani We're big proponents of buying local when possible and just spied some curious data about 5,500 iPhone users buying a $3 Locavore app (created by a Slashfood friend) in a mere month. It tells iPhone addicts what's in season, what's en route and where nearby farmers' markets are located.
Whoa. We wondered what other yummy things we could do if we got with the times and finally embraced an iPhone for our foodie needs. Boy, were we shocked. There are hundreds of free and paid downloads including one for beer, one for soda and a fast-food meal calorie counter.
Not only are food nerd darlings Serious Eats, Food Network and Yelp at our fingertips, so is the FDA with food recall news (though their freebie Twitter also works), a guide to finding cheap or free kids' meals at nearby eateries and Twecipe, which matches the dregs of those fridge contents to a recipe.
All this edible ammo available at the touch of a button makes us wonder whether Googling our munching needs is becoming just so 2008 and whether we should cave to the iFeed – er, iPhone -- trend. Have you?
At the intersection of "South Park," the Food Network and professional figure skating there comes this news flash: Brian Boitano is apparently a foodie.
The gold-medal-winning Olympian who spent a career on the ice has decided to heat things up with a Food Network show. Beginning in August, "What Would Brian Boitano Make?" will follow the skater reality-TV style as he whips up "amazing food for a new event in each episode," according to the network.
We are as surprised at this development as we were when we learned of the culinary prowess of the late Danny Kaye (thanks Ruth!). Boitano's sport is known for a jump called the Salchow. Will he dare to go to triple sow-cow territory? Will he cook skate? We'll have to wait and see.
The Tasting Table announced today that the Food Network will be offering behind-the-scenes tours of its Chelsea Market studios and test kitchens in New York City starting this week. So why now are they opening their doors to the public? Could the recession be hitting them hard? Or are they just trying to be nice? Either way, if you have relatives coming in from out of town this holiday season, with tickets priced at just $20, it's actually not a bad idea to take them on a tour of their favorite Food Network Show. Who knows? Maybe you'll be lucky enough to run into Bobby Flay. If anything, it's better than taking them on a tour of Times Square!
Tours will be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays through January 15; tickets can be purchased at Chelsea Market Baskets or by calling 646-336-3736.
Last February, Chef Robert Irvine was removed from his Food Network show, Dinner: Impossible, after it came to light that he had falsified his resume to make his work experience more impressive. Chef Michael Symon was brought in to replace Irvine on the show and the scandal quietly faded away.
Now, in a surprising move, the Food Network has announced that they plan on bringing Irvine back to the show and will be filming six new episodes featured him that will begin airing in March 2009. He says of his return, "I am very excited to continue taping more episodes of 'Dinner: Impossible. I am thrilled to further my relationship with the network and embark on more challenging episodes of this popular series."
To much of the country, charismatic Food Network star and 
Last February, Chef Robert Irvine was removed
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