Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell are the farmers and innovators behind Beekman 1802, a 200-year-old estate and farm in upstate New York. We'll be running recipes, photos and tales from the farm as their crops come into season. Catch them on the Farm to Table episode of 'Rachael's Vacation' on the Food Network.
We had a bounty crop of carrots this year. We sliced them and diced them every which way we knew how and still they kept coming. It seems like you can open almost any refrigerator in America and find a neglected bag of carrots. You use one or two in a salad and then get stumped as to what to do with the rest.
We turned to our friend Sandy Gluck who always helps us out with our overstock. The result is a sweet and spicy carrot dish that will definitely clear up crisper space in refrigerators across the nation.
Find the recipe for Sicilian Glazed Carrots after the jump...
There was nothing Yum-O about the cockroach that dropped in on Rachael Ray's lunch earlier this week.
The Food Network star was serving up some "sizzling soft tacos" to a group of sixth graders at New York City's Public School 89 when the uninvited guest crashed the party. A reporter for the New York Daily News noticed the six-legged bug scrambling across the table, and then watched as Charlie Dougiello, Ray's publicist, swatted the vermin away.
Ray, who was at the school to introduce her new healthy lunch menu, told the Daily News that she missed the whole thing. "I did not see that. It's unfortunate if there was [a bug]. I think that these schools strive to be the best across the board; I'm sure that includes cleanliness."
Professional chefs prepare and enjoy a huge variety of different foods, some familiar to the rest of us, some beyond our usual pantry options, unless you're prone to stocking huitalacoche ( aka corn fungus), beef cheeks and tomato foam.
But even though they possess adventurous palates and have the opportunity to try ingredients and dishes from far and wide, that doesn't mean they like everything they eat. They all have one or two foods that just don't do it for them, their own personal food Kryptonite.
Slashfood asked some of the country's top chefs which edibles top their "thanks, but no thanks" list.
Rachael Ray
The ubiquitous Rachael Ray is famous for transforming all kinds of foods into 30-minute meals, but she has a serious aversion to mayonnaise. "Mayo is a four-letter word to me and I avoid using it when I can. It's all about that texture. I even make a no-mayonnaise potato salad is perfect for picnics since you don't have to worry about spoiling."
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!
Anthony Bourdain.
Photo: New York City
Wine & Food Festival.
When we got our hands on a coveted ticket to the Frank Bruni/Anthony Bourdain TimesTalks event, we were psyched to attend. What could be more fun than witnessing the outgoing New York Times restaurant critic participating in a culinary spar with the preeminent enfant terrible of the chef world?
Not surprisingly, Bourdain is a natural and answered practically every Bruni question with a clever, brutally honest quip. Bruni began by inquiring about one of the more unusual things he had seen Bourdain eat on his Travel Channel show, "No Reservations." The delicacy in question was a warthog's rectum. After firing off a few expletives, Bourdain admitted that while he was eating the warthog delicacy, he knew he was "in trouble," adding he humbly tries to eat everything that people around the globe offer him.
"Where we're going is based on directors we like and want to dupe," Bourdain said of the show. "We want to make something along the lines of films we admire." Of course, he capped the exchange off with a self-mocking, "But, it's all about me in the end."
Dr. Mehmet Oz and Rachael Ray. Photo: Jennifer Lawinski
Even presidents know it's hard to get kids to eat their vegetables.
Former President Bill Clinton told parents a gymnasium full of parents in Harlem Saturday that he shared their struggles with finding and committing to healthy eating. Getting kids to eat fruits and vegetables is hard, he said. "Especially in Harlem, where I can say we have a lot of other options and they all taste good."
The talk was part of the the New York City Wine and Food Festival's Weight Watcher's Fun and Fit in the City event, targeted at combating childhood obesity and promoting healthy eating for the city's kids. The ex-president's foundation is headquartered in Harlem, and its top priority in the U.S. is the fight against childhood obesity.
Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell are the farmers and innovators behind Beekman 1802, a 200-year-old estate and farm in upstate New York. We'll be running recipes, gorgeous photos and tales from the farm as their crops come into season.
Native daughterRachael Ray has a profound appreciation for the farmlands of upstate New York, and just paid a visit to Beekman 1802 to learn more about our farm-to-table project with The American Hotel.
What does one make when Rachael Ray comes to dinner? We knew it had to be 1) delicious, 2) simple, and 3) easy. So we traipsed out to the garden for inspiration and found a few tender new green beans just ready for the picking. These are sometimes referred to by their French name, haricot vert, which translates to, you guessed it, "green bean."
Our "yummo" recipe and a bit about our hills of heirloom beans, after the jump.
All those rumors of a foodie feud between TV's perky cooking-show hosts are false, according to a new report.
Giada De Laurentiis tells Redbook magazine that she and Rachael Ray get along, though they're not best friends.
"Do we hang out all the time? No. Are we best friends? No," De Laurentiis told the magazine for its June issue.
"We laugh about it," De Laurentiis said. "We do these festivals together, and she'll say to me, 'Oh, we'd better take a picture together and smile, because if we don't, God only knows what's going to get written about us.' She's a lovely person."
With thousands of cookbooks lining bookstore shelves (not to mention floating in the online stratosphere), where should a bride start? Many brides-to-be are utter novices in the kitchen.
In my case, I was lucky enough to grow up in a household with a perpetually-cooking mom always sharing her secrets to success, but for those not as lucky, where did you begin? Did you start with a straightforward Rachael Ray book and work your way up? Or did you dive right into Julia Child?
Please share your favorite starter cookbooks for basic culinary knowledge. Even better, those of you who know how to entertain like a pro without breaking a sweat (or bursting into tears), let me know what I can't live without. It seems that sometimes cooking is intimidating because nine times out of 10, we start with the wrong cookbooks.
After reading through your favorites, I'll gather up the best and showcase them on an upcoming Hungry Bride post -- which may include yours!
The video above is part of a promo for the "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on NBC. Fallon appears to "accidentally" light Rachael Ray on fire. Oops! The best part is at the end when Fallon states, "we'll be right back cooking lobsters with Rachael Ray," and Ray yells out, "scallops!" The promo is overall hilarious and makes me think that Fallon's show might have potential.
While I'm unhappy to see Conan O'Brien move down to the tonight show and to watch his time slot be replaced by Jimmy Fallon, I think there might be some hope for the "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." A hope inspired by an image of Rachael Ray set on fire and yelling "scallops!"
That's right! You're looking at a pasta mosaic of Rachael Ray created by artist Jason Mecier. Last Wednesday, the blog Entertainmentwise posted a story about the artist's most recent mosaics, including one of Mariah Carey made using "only beauty essentials like lipstick and eyeliner." We're so used to seeing food sculptures, like those cheese ones from last year. But, an actual portrait...
Pasta is not the only material Mecier uses in his mosaics. The gallery on his website reveals candy mosaics of celebrities, such as Dolly Parton and the Spice Girls. Then, there's the unforgettable portrait of Martha Stewart made with veggies! Check out his wacky gallery and let us know which ones are your favorites.
The irrepressible perksmiths at Every Day with Rachael Ray have cooked up a "Gift Away" Sweepstakes featuring $91,230,53 of items from their December/January double issue. While, yes, a certain percentage of that bounty consists of the titular chef's trademark Garbage Bowls and Nutrish dog food, are you really gonna turn up your muzzle at a Viking Stove (worth $4250), Weber Summit S-470 Grill (worth $2000) or Furnitureland South Marble Kitchen Island (worth $3200)? Thought not.
I've got my eye on the Electrolux European-style Wine Tower (worth nearly $3000). I like wine. And Europe. Heck --- towers, too.
Yes, proceeds from the sales of Nutrish will indeed go toward funding no-kill shelters and awareness campaigns, and it's not as if she's the first media-centric chef to go to the dogs -- or cats (remember Rocco DiSpirito's Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys?). Still, I'm continually shocked by the branding stretches some of these folks are making.
(Aaaannnd I've just run across Paula Deen's Butt Massage. I know it's likely a handy and delicious mix of herbs, spices and faerie dust, but still. Ew.)
Okay. I'm all for rabid celebrity fanaticism, and I enjoy the occasional portrait tattoo. But seriously?
Yep, a Rachael Ray extremist showed up at Borders Books in Syosset, New York for Monday's signing of Ray's new Yum-O: The Family Cookbook and proudly showed the chef her moderately-to-completely terrifying ink.
I can't help but wonder at what point in Rachael Ray's career trajectory this chick decided to indelibly inscribe her devotion. 'Cause honestly, if this is from 2002's $40-A-Day Ray, I can kinda get behind it, 'cause we all need a gentle a reminder to eat on a budget (even internationally!).
The irrepressible perksmiths at Every Day with Rachael Ray have cooked up a "Gift Away" Sweepstakes featuring $91,230,53 of items from their December/January double issue. While, yes, a certain percentage of that bounty consists of the titular chef's trademark 
In response to the unleashing of 
Okay. I'm all for rabid celebrity fanaticism, and I enjoy the occasional portrait tattoo. But seriously?
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