Korean Kalbi with Tofu and Oyster Mushrooms. Photo: Special*Dark, Flickr.

• The ins and outs of harvesting cranberries: the history, the pros, how the good ones "bounce," plus a cranberry time line.
• Animal Farm's Jersey Cow butter hits hot spots like French Laundry and Per Se.
• Weymouth's Dunkin Donuts is one of the few in the country that take the "time to make the donuts" slogan to heart, by making the breakfast treats fresh.
• Taking a few steps into the past with a look at Tilly & Salvy's Bacon Street Farm -- a grocery store dating back to 1938.
• Chef Ming Tsai writes about Tokyo's exotic street eats while visiting the city for his dad's 80th birthday.
• The Stork Club will try to bring life back to the corner that used to hold Bob's Southern Bistro.
• A Q&A with Patricia Yeo of Ginger Park.
• Partially prepared foods allow the busy to cook at home under time constraints.
• "The Gastrokid Cookbook" says you shouldn't "cook down" to kids.
• Twenty-six years later, India Quality is traditional fare without the fusion confusion of many new digs.
• Taste Coffee House brings high coffee culture to the Boston area.
• Woo Jung Restaurant serves up Korean food with a homey and familial feel.
• Recipes: Locro, Garlic Ramen Noodles, Beef and Veggie Stir-Fry, Chicken Caesar Salad, Vegetable Curry, Accidental Agrodolce Chicken.

On last night's episode of Top Chef, Spike confirmed his maybe-sexist tendencies, Richard was all up in my Slashfood post, and contestants couldn't distinguish between low-quality and high-quality butter.

Let's backtrack. The theme of the episode was "taste," and Blue Ginger's Ming Tsai guest judged. At first, I thought the theme seemed a bit lame for a show that obviously centers around taste during every episode, but I was quickly swayed when the show revealed my favorite Quickfire Challenge ever: the taste test. The theme also led to some of that heated Top Chef drama that I love. We'll get to that in a bit.

Today's Burger of the Day comes from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association of all places. As you can tell by the name, this quarter-pound burger is meant to fall into the realm of fusion. I don't think Ming Tsai created the recipe, though.

Before we get into the burger itself, I have a wee bone to pick with the ad copy. While I realize that the tag line is about lean ground beef, it still rankles me. Calling beef fat is a compliment as far as I'm concerned. Evidently, the NCBA is not promoting beef brisket or other luscious cuts that form the backbone of Texas barbecue with this campaign.

Now that my rant's over, let's get back to the burger. It's certainly one of the most healthful specimens that we've written about this month. And with a spicy sesame-soy mayonnaise and Asian slaw dressing the peppery burger it's probably quite tasty. So far, I understand the East part of this burger. I guess the West part refers to the beef itself since there's nothing particularly Western about any of the other ingredients.

Seems like I always miss the fun stuff whenever I'm out of town. Case in point: the gigantic cranberry bog that Ocean Spray brought to New York City's Rockefeller Center from November 1 to November 3. The 1,500-square-foot cranberry sea was constructed as part of the company's Bogs Across America campaign. I imagine the campaign is an effort to remind people not to forget to serve cranberries at Thanksgiving.

Celebrity chef Ming Tsai was on hand at Rock Center for a cooking demo that included sweet-and-sour cranberry chutney. No word yet as to whether any rowdy Gothamites decided to jump into what Ocean Spray dubbed its Big Apple Bog.

The cranberry campaign touched down in Chicago today with the Windy City Bog, which will remain at the Chicago Tribune Tower until November 9. And if you happen to live in Los Angeles, you too can view a ridiculous amount of cranberries. The Red Carpet Bog will be at the city's Hollywood & Highland Center from November 14 to November 16. [via: Grub Street]

There was a time in my life when I used to love the Food Network. In fact, I liked it so much, that when I walked in the door after work, I turned on the TV, which was already programmed to the Food Network from the night before. I would leave it on all evening until I went to sleep. I wasn't always watching very carefully what was happening on the screen, and sometimes, I even had the sound on mute, but it was comforting to know that someone inside the little flickering box in my living room was cooking something delicious. Back then, I even liked watching Emeril Lagasse, though I have to admit that I was watching his old show, The Essence of Emeril, in which a young Emeril was somewhat awkwardly, but very earnestly, cooking something. Hell, even in the early days of Emeril Live, I thought "Bam!" was kind of cute.

It looks like Jamie Oliver isn't the only chef to be launching his own podcast. Chef Ming Tsai, who has starred in a number of televised cooking shows, has just recently launched one titled Simply Ming. As you might guess if you watch his shows on public television, the podcast is essentially a rebroadcast of the existing shows, though in a form that is much more convenient for some people to view. This does mean that, unlike Jamie's show, the content of the program is not exactly original.

In the podcast, which is being released via the Culinary Podcast Network, Tsai will be tackling basic cooking problems - such as hot to prepare fresh ginger - and demonstrating more advanced techniques - like how to execute a perfect pan toss without loosing the contents of the pan. It still sounds like it's worth checking out, as Tsai is highly skilled and fun to watch. And repeats or not, the show is definitely a step above some of the content that is currently on the Food Network.

iTunes users can download the show here.

[Thanks, Dave!]

Zagat doesn't survey only diners anymore. To see what industry insiders, including chefs and restaurant owners, wanted to see and wanted to stop seeing in food in the next year, Zagat went straight to the source.
From Anthony Bourdain to Rick Bayless, they want to see:

• Artisanal cheeses and organic foods; more innovation and less repetition; authentic Vietnamese, tapas, Mexican and Japanese; customers who ask for advice; an increase in passion in both service and food

From Gordon Ramsey to Ming Tsai, they could do without:

• Truffle oil; electronic distractions; overly detailed menus; "concept" and formula restaurants

On the fringes of the survey, Tony Bourdain is asking for more smoking sections and Mark Furstenberg (owner of BreadLine in DC) wants more butterscotch pudding, but it seems that at least some food trends are headed in the direction that chefs want. Organic foods are used more than ever and there is an increasing emphasis on regional, "authentic" cooking, but only time will tell what the New Year will bring.