"Food and Wine" news and stories

Have you ever dreamed of partaking in a massive food fight? Sliding down 250,000 pounds of smashed tomatoes? Or even attempting to ski with watermelons attached to your feet?

Well, there's a festival for that. Food & Wine put together a list of thirteen of the countries most insane food gatherings.

Head over to Food & Wine for the entire list of, as well as photographs of the World's Weirdest Food Festivals.

The impressive roster of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs was released yesterday and, according to Grub Street, they appropriately celebrated their newly distinguished honor with a party catered by Andrew Carmellini, Paul Liebrandt, and Daniel Humm.

2010 F&W Best New Chefs

Roy Choi Kogi - BBQ truck, Los Angeles
Matt Lightner - Castagna, Portland, OR
Clayton Miller - Trummer's on Main, Clifton, VA
Missy Robbins - A Voce, New York City
Jonathon Sawyer - The Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland, OH
Alex Seidel - Fruition, Denver
Mike Sheerin - Blackbird, Chicago
John Shields - Town House, Chilhowie, VA
Jason Stratton - Spinasse, Seattle, WA
James Syhabout - Commis, Oakland, CA

See all the winners and past winners on Food & Wine's site or their new iPhone app.

Photo: Amazon.com

'Quick From Scratch Italian Cookbook'
Recipes from Food & Wine Magazine
Photographs by Melanie Acevedo
Food & Wine Books -- 2009
Buy it on Amazon

Whether you're an avid subscriber to Food & Wine or you visit the website once in a while for a recipe, this is the book to add to your kitchen shelves. "Quick from Scratch Italian Cookbook" provides cooks of all levels with satisfying and healthy recipes. Classics are translated into practical weeknight meals with basic step-by-step instructions and there are recipes for every season.

And what would an Italian meal be without wine? There's a no-fuss wine-pairing recommendation for each and every recipe to take pressure off the cook.

Boasting everything from antipasti, soup and pasta, to fish, poultry and steak, recipes like linguine with cauliflower, garlic and bread crumbs and baked rigatoni with spinach, ricotta and Fontina will keep everyone at the table content. Finish the meal off with one of many tantalizing desserts such as honey-baked figs with ice cream or espresso granita with whipped cream.

See what we tested and find out whether the book's worth buying after the jump.

Photo: thebittenword.com, Flickr.

As cooler temperatures brighten the appeal of a toasty kitchen, gratins become increasingly enticing. We find ourselves plotting to spend afternoons by the oven creating warming dishes in anticipation of cold-weather weeks, since there's hardly anything more comforting than coming home to a ready-made meal that needs only to be popped into the oven.

And what could be more appropriate than this Root-Vegetable Gratin adapted by the bloggers at thebittenword.com. Clay and Zach boast that "the sweetness of the squash and sweet potatoes plays perfectly off the more earthy, turnip-y taste of the rutabaga." And yet as polished as this gratin may appear, the dish involves little more than the assembly and baking of mandoline-sliced vegetables, with the addition of heavy cream, chicken broth and a light panko topping. Check out Food & Wine's original recipe here and a plethora of gratin inspirations here.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

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.

Catch up on real time Twitter coverage here and see photos from last night's red carpet event after the jump.