"cat cora" news and stories

We couldn't launch the Hottest Men in the Food Industry without taking a look at the ladies. Whether they've made their mark in restaurants, on blogs or TV, or as cookbook authors, these women not only sizzle in the kitchen, they're leaders in their field.

With more than 50% of the vote, there was no competing with your number-one pick this year...

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• Getting the big O -- Cat Cora has a new TV show in the works.
• Shocking, we know: an onion dip recipe that's better than anything from a packet.
• These facts are fizzy.
• Pork is always in season and pairs perfectly with rosemary when grilled.
• Selecting wedding wines doesn't have to be as painful as the post-nuptial hangover.
• Say fuggedaboutit with cherry esplanade, an Absolut Brooklyn cocktail.

Still casting about for vacation plans this summer? Well, here's something to consider: the Food Network has teamed up with Celebrity Cruises to offer what we desperately want to picture as a mash-up between The Love Boat and Iron Chef. The seven-night eastern Caribbean voyage sets sail from Ft. Lauderdale on August 22.

The Food Network calls the cruise a "unique opportunity," which we hope means that they'll be trying to dazzle high-seas gourmands with more than just the cascading mounds of all-you-can-eat shrimp and rambling breakfast buffets that have become de rigueur on most cruise ships. Details, however, remain oddly sketchy.

Here's what we do know: the Food Network's Cat Cora, former host of Melting Pot and the first (and only) woman to be anointed Iron Chef, and Aarón Sánchez, co-star of Chef vs. City, will be aboard. They will be leading "enriching culinary demonstrations," whatever that means. Equally tantalizing (or perplexing, take your pick) is the promised "dine around" event "featuring favorite Food Network recipes," which sounds suspiciously like a dressed-up buffet, or a game of musical chairs with food. (Break out the Dramamine!)

It's been a few weeks since we checked in with the bizarre ritual/quite-possibly-rigged competition that is Iron Chef America. In that time, not only has the intermittently gaunt Alton Brown gained a little more color to his complexion, but also -- wonder of wonders! -- reigning Iron Chef Cat Cora was upset by Holly Smith in a grape face-off.

It was the first true Iron Chef loss this season, not counting the White House special where Bobby Flay and Mario Batali went head-to-head with non-Ironers. Would lightening strike twice? Would the Food Network judges reaffirm our faith that they're not, shall we say, stacking the decks?

Don't crack open the champagne -- or rather, the prosecco -- just yet. We mention the sparkling beverage because, in a fit of hubris, that's literally what this week's challenger did. Demonstrating a trick we've never attempted, venerable NYC chef Geoffrey Zakarian opened his prosecco with a few quick slashes of a chef's knife -- shattering the neck of the bottle while he was at it.

If there's one thing we can count on in an Iron Chef challenge, it's the secret ingredient. The opposition might be woefully mismatched, the sous-chefs can be fumbling their utensils all over the place, and Alton Brown could be peddling staler puns than your late grandpa -- but still, we get to watch talented pros tackle proteins we'd never try at home (offal, mackerel) or let loose their most complex, impressive techniques on your everyday household avocado or cherry.

But despite the promise of this week's installment being "ladies' night" -- ultra-imposing defending champ Cat Cora versus New York's chef laureate of Mexican cuisine, Julieta Ballesteros -- and despite the usual fanfare from Brown and the chairman (beamed in via satellite), we have to say we were a little let down by the surprise guest.

Ricotta? Really? The Body Snatcher of cheeses -- creamy white stuff that's usually so bland it takes on the personality of any other ingredient it touches? We suppose it could've been worse -- they've been tacky and chosen eggs or milk or something, you know, "womanly" -- but it wasn't a great start to the face-off.