In uncertain times, we count on simple pleasures: Home cooking, unemployment checks and the heady mix of ego, chutzpah and alcohol-fueled drama we have come to anticipate from "Top Chef."

So when Bravo announced that "Top Chef Masters," the show's latest iteration (hosted by Kelly Choi, right), would be given over to established culinary superstars, fans had reason to worry: Would decorum and professionalism win out over brash experimentation? Would upstart bickering be replaced by upper-crust camaraderie? Would the fauxhawk go the way of the dodo?

The answer after the inaugural hour is a qualified "yes." But what "Top Chef Masters" loses in amateur hour enthusiasm it gains in hyper-astute commentary. It is a knowing look at what it means to be a celebrity chef in an era when celebrity chefs are often made overnight on cable TV. Every week, by stripping four different "masters" of their sous chefs, sommeliers and Cuisinarts -- in one instance forcing them to make do with nothing more than a dorm room's toaster oven, microwave and hot plate -- it resets the bar for gourmet ingenuity.

Read on to learn about the Girl Scout mafia's dessert tastes and prosciutto-popcorn risotto.

Every now and then I get a hankering for something truly decadent. The past few days I was lamenting the loss of Tim Love's Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in NYC. I first met Tim on the set of Iron Chef America and he invited Joe Distefano and me back to his restaurant after the show.

We sat down at the bar and had a quick shot of icy Tuaca liqueur (one of Tim and his crew's favorite tipples that they had done shots of every 15 minutes during the filming of the 60 minute contest part of the show) and ordered Jalapeno Margarita's and Prairie Butter. Prairie Butter is Tim's take on roasted marrow bones. He takes Buffalo marrow bones, sprinkles them with a mix of South-Western spices, roasts them, and serves them with flatbread and a roasted pepper chutney.

Well, the restaurant is closed now, and Tim is back to Texas at his original Lonesome Dove Bistro, but I am stuck craving those marrow bones. I don't know what spices he used so I have come up with my own recipe. Every few months I buy a bunch of bones and get set for a truly great meal.

Here's my recipe for South-Western Roasted Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad.

Start Recipe

Way back last October I had the distinct privilege of attending a taping of Iron Chef America with my fellow blogger, Jonathan. The challenger that day in Kitchen Stadium was cowboy chef, Tim Love. This was well before Chef Love was ridden out of Manhattan on a rail out after a wave of negative reviews of his restaurant, Lonesome Dove. Frank Bruni slammed the New York City outpost of Chef Love's much acclaimed restaurant in Fort Worth. The Brunster didn't even dole out any stars. He was reduced to a kindergarten sort of rating system, citing the Dove as "satisfactory."

In the interest of fairness, I must admit that I never ate any of the dishes such as "bony, dry antelope ribs," which caused my man Frank such dismay. I did, however, get to sample the Prairie Butter, which caused the Village Voice's Sietsema to wax rhapsodic. After what seemed like an eternity watching the taping, this signature appetizer proved quite the pick-me-up when Jonathan and I chowed down on it afterwards at Lonesome Dove. The jalapeño margarita and ice-cold shot of Tuaca, and Italian liqueur flavored with vanilla and citrus, also helped shake off the fatigue and the remnants of a raging hangover. I'm not quite sure what Tuaca has to do with cowboy cuisine, but Love seems to like it quite a bit. And just what is Prairie Butter? Well let's just say that any cowboy who gets city folk to belly up to the bar and chow down on split buffalo femurs and the gloriously greasy marrow therein can't be all bad.

But enough of the trials and tribulations of the New York City restaurant scene, as they say in Kitchen Stadium, "Allez cuisine!" By now you're probably wondering why this is being written so far after the actual battle took place. Two reasons: It just aired last week, and more important, due to ICA's strict privacy restrictions no one can reveal the secret ingredient or winner of the battle until after the episode airs. So if you haven't seen Morimoto vs. Love, I advise you not to read the jump.

Given the mixed reviews I've heard about the food at Lonesome Dove, the recently opened New York City outpost of cowboy chef Tim Love's acclaimed Fort Worth restaurant, I'll reserve judgment until I eat there. The one specialty at the Dove that does whet my appetite is the jalapeño margarita that I read about in The New York Times yesterday.
The Times piece begins with an account of adverse effects, including passing out, that have been caused by what I think should be labeled extreme cocktails that are served at elsewhere on the East Coast. These include martinis made with habañero-infused Absolut, you get the idea. I'm not exactly lining up to try such libations, but I'm pretty sure that the worst I'd suffer from is a burning mouth and lips, perhaps a runny nose.

Back to Chef Love's cocktail creation. Since hot spice and margaritas are such perfect mates, he wanted to embody that combination in a drink. So he decided to a muddle a jalapeño along with the traditional margarita ingredients. I can't wait to try it. I just hope it's not made with the milder TAM variety that's hit the market in recent years. No, word as to whether the fiery cocktial was used as a palate cleanser at the jalapeño eating contest held yesterday at the State Fair of Texas.