"secret ingredient" news and stories

When it comes to making a tuna, potato or other creamy salad, most of us know the standard ingredients by heart. You've got your main attraction, along with a little chopped hard boiled egg (if you don't have a hater amongst your diners), maybe some pickle (sweet or dill), a bit of minced or grated onion (I prefer red), mayo to hold it all together and always, a little chopped celery for unassuming crunch. This is the formula that has served salad makers for years, and for the most part, it is reliable and tasty.

But sometimes, you, want to take your salad to another, unexpected level. That's where I believe the sugar snap pea comes it. Chopped into small, bite-sized bits, it adds sweetness and crunch and often leaves your tasters pondering that delicious addition to the salad (and reaching for more). These peas can be eaten whole (inside and outside alike) and will be showing up in grocery stores and farmers markets more and more over the next couple of months. They are also easy to grow, so take yourself over to your local garden center for a packet of seeds and get growing.

A few weeks ago, we managed to find out that an upcoming episode of Iron Chef America would feature both Rachael Ray and Giada de Laurentiis, pairing Rachael with Mario Batali and Giada with Bobby Flay. Even the wordsmith host of the show thinks that this battle will be one for the record books, saying “The only way this battle could be better for the Food Network would be for them to have Emeril Lagasse as the secret ingredient” in an article in the Ithaca Journal.

The episode was actually filmed in January, but it is scheduled to air sometime in November, which means that Rachael and Giada have already done their thing in Kitchen Stadium – and both report that it was one of their most challenging experiences. Interestingly enough, the article also gives confirmation that the chefs learn about the ingredients in advance, as before the taping the ingredient was revealed to them: cranberries. Given the ingredient, the episode will most likely air in mid-November or around Thanksgiving, but we’ll have to wait until then to see how well the celebrity chef pairings worked together and to find out whose cuisine reigned supreme.

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I am a big fan of the Iron Chef shows, both the American version and the original, Japanese version. The shows are a culinary competition between two outstanding and acclaimed chefs. One, of course, is an "Iron Chef" - a standing competitor and always the favorite, rather like the home team in sports. The challenger is a restaurateur or chef that cooks against one of the Iron Chefs to see "whose cuisine reigns supreme." The dishes must feature a theme ingredient that is revealed to competitors at the beginning of the show, though I have heard that they are presented with several potential ingredients in advance. During the "battle", which lasts one hour, the chefs must prepare 5 dishes, which are almost always unusual, innovative and elaborately plated. Once the battle has come to an end, the dishes are tasted and judged on taste, creativity and presentation by a panel of judges, which can include a variety of critics, writers and actors.

Bobby Flay is one of the American Iron Chefs. He also updates his own site fairly frequently, announcing various news items and when they are filming new episodes of the Iron Chef. Recently, he mentioned that this season will feature a battle including some of the other Food Network celebrity chefs, namely Giada deLaurentiis and Rachael Ray. They will be pairing up with Bobby and Mario Batali, respectively. I would be inclined to think that Bobby has the advantage with Giada, who formerly worked at Spago, on his side, but perhaps Rachael will surprise us. She certainly has a knack for quickly-cooked meals. There is no known air date for this celebrity chef battle, yet.

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