Food TV

Paula Deen. Tyler Florence. Cat Cora. Robert Irvine. Sugar. All together in kitchen stadium. Could we ask for a better episode of ICA? Sugar, of all colors and textures.

The good works starts immediately with elf outfits, and a lemon chiffon that promises to be a Bouche De Noel. (Othewise known as a Yule Log Cake.) And a whole lot of trash talk. Soon we see some beautiful fudge balls rolling right out of Paula’s loving hands, but mad with “processed cheese”? There’s not enough chocolate and sugar in the world to make Velveeta edible, in my opinion… But if anyone can pull it off, it’s Paula. There is a whole lot going on in Kitchen Stadium, but I’m not sure a whole lot of it is cooking. It’s fun to watch though. The Sous chefs seem to be the only one’s really doing much work. There are cookies baking and syrups simmering… The hour works down and the men-folk seem to be falling behind. While the ladies are putting out dish after dish, most of them laced with alcohol of one kind or another. That’s the way to do it Ladies!!! Both teams made an attempt at an Eggnog Ice Cream. On the ladies side it came out lovely, but for some reason, the men’s attempt came out looking a bit like scrambled eggs and NOTHING like ice cream. Their Bouche De Noel, as well, is a disaster. Chef Florence cooled the cake while it was still lying flat. Even I know (from my thanksgiving Pumpking Roll Cake) that if you are going to roll a cake you must first roll it while it’s warm, and then let it cool. After it has cooled you unroll it, fill it, and roll it again. Instead, his, cracked into thirds and he ended with a Yule Plank rather than a log. Still I’m sure it was really tasty.

So on the ladies side there were seven dishes in the end, with an enormous Tart Tropezian, that looked like a big ol’ strawberry shortcake. There was a candy cane cocktail, spiked milk, with cookies for Santa, Chocolate Pudding Cake, that Cheese Fudge, which Paula covered in caramel and white chocolate, and so much more sugary goodness. Robert and Tyler had their Bouche De Noel-ish … Cranberry Clofoutie (basically cranberries and egg custard), a spiced ginger cake with sugared cranberries and something else that they put sugared cranberries on. You would think that cranberries were the secret ingredient with these guys. They did have to total of five dishes, and while it all looked really good, I do have to say that it came as no surprise to me when the winners were announced, and it should come as no surprise to you, when I tell you that the winners were…

Cat Cora and Paula Deen. Proving once again that at the holiday time, you cannot beat a grandma making desserts.

Now, go check outthe project going on over at the Hogwarts Herald. I think it’s really cool…

I know, it’s taken me forever to get these out to you. I promise I’m not just trying to build suspense. I am still trying to find a routine. I swear these will be coming out more quickly in the future. So, on to the sweet stuff huh?

Tyler’s Ultimate Caramel Apple Pie. What can I say? I bought a mandolin, and I actually used it. The pie itself? Well I’m sure if I had actually thoroughly read the directions, rather than skimmed them, I would have realized that I skipped two very important steps. I forgot to put the butter under the top crust, and I forgot to cover the pie with foil before I baked it. And so what I served up so proudly on Thanksgiving evening was a beautiful pie, with very undercooked apples in it. No worries though. I just covered the pie in foil after all, popped it back in the oven for about 45 additional minutes. After that it was awesome. What I made, in the end, was a pie that was good to be baked a couple days in advance and reheated really well on the day of serving. What did the family think? Well they just cut into the pumpkin pie that I HAAAAD to buy “just in case”… yesterday. And only because the Apple was all gone. So I guess, even after a couple pretty major mistakes, I did good.

Paula’s Pumpkin Roll Cake? Even better. That was quick, super easy to make, and contained rum in the whipped cream. It doesn’t really get much better than that. My guests and family all loved it, and it was actually completely gone before the end of the evening. It had everything we were looking for, the traditional tastes of pumpkin pie, a different texture with the cake and crunched up toffee. And the caramel sauce on top completed it perfectly. Tonight food Network showed their Holiday party, and Paula and Rachael Ray made the same Pumpkin Roll Cake. And if I do say so myself, mine looked better. Although maybe that’s because I topped it with Autumn Cupcake Sprinkles in addition to the caramel sauce.

What can I say folks? My desserts turned out as good as the rest of the meal. I was never a “recipe maker” in the past, but I guarantee you this. For all of my special events in the future, it is going to be my friends from the food network, and foodnetwork.com that inspire and instruct me on what my friends and family eat.

Thanksgiving was a success. Bewteen Alton Brown’s brined turkey, and stuffing (granted with a few modifications)and Garlic Mashers, Paula Deen’s Pumpkin Roll Cake, Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Apple Pie, Broccoli, Cauliflower Carrots, with Parmesan Bread crumbs, and a plain old fashioned Turkey Pan Gravy, we had more than enough to eat. Especially adding in the frozen pumpkin & Pecan pies, brown & serve rolls, and of course, Ocean Spray Cranberry Jelly… Oh yeah, and the ham and yams that the Hubby made. Wow, that’s a lot of food. I know that I said all of the recipes would be from Good Eats, but as it turns out, the show didn’t provide the full variety of dishes that I wanted to serve, but the Food Network Website has an amazing selection of dishes, and a wonderful recipe box feature. Each of the recipes were put together in one place, easy to find, and follow…

So, how easy were the recipes to prepare? And how did they turn out? And most importantly, what did the family think? Well, here’s a recipe by recipe review, of all of the savory dishes, and the review or the desserts is next!!!

Of course, we’ll start with the brined Turkey. The brine itself was really easy to prepare, although I’m sure I didn’t use enough salt. The recipe called for a callon of vegetable stock, but I used water instead and forgot to compensate for the sodium in the stock. Nonetheless, the turkey came out really moist and delicious, and here even 2 days later is still tender and flavorful. Once I got it out of the brine and rinsed, I got to put in the stuffing.

The stuffing that Alton made on Good Eats, when he finally conceded that stuffing, perhaps, is not evil, looked pretty good, so I used that as the base for my recipe. I did make a couple adjustments though. Mushrooms creep me out, and nobody in my house is a fan of bell peppers, so I replaced them. The mushrooms were easily replaced by the heart, liver, and neck meat of the turkey. And instead of a traditional “trinity” with the bell peppers, I switched it up to a mirepoix, using carrots instead. As for the bread, the recipe called for Challah bread, but I couldn’t find that, and my whole family loves sourdough, so I used that instead. For stuffing, I have to sat it turned out pretty darn good. Although I am not a super huge fan of stuffing, the whole soggy bread thing grosses me out. But those in my family that are fans of stuffing loved it. They said it was the best stufing they had ever had, and that’s saying a lot…

The roasting of the turkey couldn’t have been easier. Although I did place the probe of my new, fantastic, probe thermometer a bit too close to the surface and it claimed it was done after only an hour and a half. I proclaimed it a liar, and put it in deeper into the breast meat. A more reasonable couple hours later and it was really done. And while it was resting I put in the veggies.

The broccoli/cauliflower/carrots with parmesan bread crumbs was really easy to make. It only took a couple minutes to brown up the bread crumbs and cheese, and put it all on the veggies that were all nice and steamed. Even better, I forgot about them in the oven and left them in for at least 10 minutes longer than I should have, and they didn’t burn or overcook or anything. It’s almost like the crumbs worked as a protectant for the veggies. Hooray!!!

The Garlic Mashers were AWESOME!!! Although, next time I make them I am going to crush the garlic first. Whilst I really enjoyed munching on whloe cloves of garlic, I can’t say the same was true of the rest of my family. Plus the act of crushing the garlic will release a lot of it’s flavor. The gravy, on the other hand didn’t turn out really well at all. Well, the flavor was awesome, but I didn’t follow through on the directions. Turns out it REALLY IS necessary to seperate out the grease from the drippings. So instead of gravy, I got a really tasty turkey oil soup… It still went well on the potatoes, as I said the flavor was fantastic, but it was by no means gravy. Heehee, live and learn, I suppose.

So, how did the family like it? My mom has crowned me the Queen of Thanksgiving. My dad said the turkey was better than any he had ever made. I was showered in compliments all evening long. I couldn’t have wished for it to turn out better. Next year though, Dad and I will be working together. Now that my family has the confidence that I can do more than peel potatoes, Dad and I can put out a feast to end all feasts next year!!!

Sorry friends, I wrote this on Wednesday, but was unable to post it, because my computer crashed out… So it is a day late, but here it is…

Last night I spent several hours preparing everything for the recipes I am going to make today. I measured out all of the flours, spices, sugars, bread crumbs, and I cut the veggies and bread pieces. I am quite proud of myself actually. Since I began watching the Food Network I realized that everything the did looked so darn easy, since everything was already measured. Today I am making two deserts, and then this evening I will be putting the Turkey in the brine so that it can be made easily tomorrow. I just finished baking Paula’s Pumpkin Roll Cake. I know, I know, pumpkin pie is traditional, and we have one of those too (frozen :o| ) but this cake just looked so darn good, that I just had to have it. So far it’s been really easy, as I said, I had pre-measured everything, and now I’m just waiting for it to cool, and then I will fill it, wrap it in some plastic wrap, and I will garnish it tomorrow. Later this afternoon I am making Tyler’s Ultimate Caramel Apple Pie. Yummy!!!! Hubby LOOOOOOVES apple pie of any kind, so this will be a special treat for him. I am cheating a bit though, since I am usingper-made crust. I have a 2 year old, and making homemade pie crust is a bit too much like work… heehee. Here are the recipes for the desserts that I am making…

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So a couple days ago I told you I was going to make the Sweet Potato Waffles for my Hubby. And make them I did, and they turned out fantastic…eventually. This is the first recipe from the food network that I have acutally followed; and the lesson I learned? Always make sure that you have all of the ingredients BEFORE you start cooking. Here I am, egg whites warming to room temperature, waffle iron heating, sweet potatoes mashed, and searching frantically for flour. We always have flour. Why don’t we have flour!?!? And brown sugar, and baking powder, who knew you needed baking powder. Well I would have if I would have read the recipe again, and more carefully… So I ran off to the store and thankfully found everything and got back in time to make a lovely breakfast.

As I said the waffles were wonderful, after a little trial and error that is. While the recipe calls for the waffles to cook for 5-7 minutes or so, I found that with my cheap plastic waffle iron, they really needed a bit more cooking time. And at least a couple minutes between waffles to heat up the iron again. Those that were only cooked for 7 minutes came out very heavy and … sweet-potato-ish. Not the best tasting things in the world. But once I got the hang of it, well the Little Dude ate 2, and he doesn’t eat 2 of anything healthy… So yay!!! All in all this is definately a recipe I will be doing again, hopefully after I’ve gotten a better waffle iron.

We have officially entered into Let’s Talk Turkey Month on the Food Network. How can I tell you ask? Well besides the endless ad’s on the Network itself proclaiming it as such, every show I have watched in the last week has featured turkey. From Throwdown with Bobby Flay, who challenged a 20 year Butterball “call girl”, to Iron Chef America, where Too Hot Tamales challenged … Bobby Flay.

Thanksgiving is a Flay heavy time of year it seems to me. I like him and all, but good lord, his grinning mug was on virtually everything I saw. And Rachael … I loooooove Rachael, but good lord how many different thirty or maybe 60 minute Thanksgiving meals are there really? And are we going to see each and every one of them every single year?

I am really enjoying them though, even though I make fun. The Food Network All Star Thanksgiving Feast is always fun to watch, although I was disappointed at the absence of my favorite … say it with me now friends … Alton Brown!!! On the plus side we have the re-play of the very same Feast we have seen every year since 2005. I have seen people say that that particular feast was slightly awkward and weird, but you have to love Emeril hand feeding Paula Deen his Bruschetta… It was strange and slightly erotic in a really twisted kind of way. I love every minute of it.

I have been torturing my family with all of the random Good Eats episodes that have been on this month, featuring the things I will be serving in our home on Thanksgiving. Stuff It is a funny episode where Alton finally breaks down and admits that stuffing is perhaps, maybe, possibly, if done properly, not evil. And that is the stuffing I will be using for Thanksgiving, although not with mushrooms … cause Ick. Romancing the Bird features the finer points of brining the turkey, and The Bulb of the Night is humorous, as well as educational. Because who doesn’t love garlic, and we’ve all burned it, or overpowered a recipe at least once. Not anymore friends!!!

The new Iron Chef, Michael Symon, will be starring in an all new Thanksgiving Iron Chef America!!! Although, so far this week we have seen Battle Turkey, with Bobby Flay, and Battle Cranberry, which featured 2 Iron Chefs each competing with a special guest star. Giada DiLaurentiis and Rachael Ray guest starred in that episode, and it was an absolute BLAST!!! I am really looking forward to seeing Iron Chef Symon’s first battle, it should prove to be exciting!!!

OK, now I’m off to go to bed so that I can get up early and prepare this delicious recipe for my hubby in the morning!!!

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Last night was the season finale of Next Iron Chef. Now I know I didn’t update y’all on parts 4 and 5, I just couldn’t find it in me to re-cap it all. So in short… In part 4 the Chefs were asked to prepare a first class meal for a new airline in Munich. Chef’s Besh and Symon both fared pretty well, with chef Besh’s only criticism being that his Watermelon Consomme should have been crystal clear, rather than just clarified… Chef Symon was declared the winner of the challenge, leaving Chef’s Sanchez and Cosentino out in the cold. In the end Chef Sanchez was sent packing, and can I just say HOORAY!!!
Part 5 brought the top three Chef’s to Paris where they had to use the ingredients they could find in Paris, to create and All-American Feast. They were to feed 20 people at the American Embassy, including Host Alton Brown, all three judges, and the American Ambassador to France, along with several top Chefs and culinary type people. All three impressed, although in the end Chef Cosentino didn’t impress quite enough and he too, was sent on his way … looks like my early prediction was wrong indeed…

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The beautiful and feisty housewife of most men’s dreams, has just released a new book. Rather than a cookbook like her past releases were, however, it is an autobiography detailing the struggles that Sandra faced growing up. With an unabashed eye looking at everything from abuse and neglect as a child, to the fame and fortune she currently enjoys. This the 13th of Sandra Lee’s books, and I, for one, am really looking forward to reading it.

Now, I know that there are a lot of you out there who don’t really care for Sandra Lee. I on the other hand am a big fan of hers, because she does exactly what I do. She makes wonderful food in a really easy way. Time is a factor in most of our lives, and she helps make things fun and friendly for the busy mom. People make fun of the tablescapes, and “cocktail time”, but here’s a fact for you. The food she is making is not for everyday meals, it is almost always for a dinner party or something. And always themed. Frankly speaking, the exact right time for a fun tablescape and a cocktail that accentuates the rest of the meal. If I’m looking for a meal to serve my family on a Tuesday night after a long day at work I probably won’t turn to Sandra Lee, but for my next party you can guarantee that it’s going to be Semi-Homemade

Ok, here’s a little backstory about me. My mom was a cook, when she was still able to work, and a darn good one at that. Dad, a mechanic, and also a darn good one. Anyhow, most nights at home mom would cook. Except the holidays. You see my dad really enjoys cooking, but most nights didn’t have the energy, and so on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, Dad got to cook. And the food is always good, really good to me as it is what I grew up knowing. The turkey is beautiful, but perhaps not the glory of flavor and moistness that my family always raves about. In truth, I’ve had better. The potatoes, well they’re mashed potatoes, but made from real potatoes, which is really uncommon in our house. Well, my point is, everythign is good, but not great, and after 28 years, getting a little boring. So this year I talked my dad into letting me do Thanksgiving dinner. *Squeeeeee*

OK, so as you all know, I have a mild obsession with *ahem* fondness for Alton Brown and his show Good Eats. Watching this show last year I was fascinated with the concept of brining a turkey. I had never heard of anyone brining a meat before, although AB does it with quite a few of them. Everything he made on the show looked so stinking yummy that I just knew I had to make it. So, this year all of the food I make on Thanksgiving will be from Good Eats … probably, (some of those other shows have really good looking stuff too, I’m still working on my menu…)

So today I will give you AB’s brining solution and directions for a perfect roasted Turkey. Keep an eye out for the other recipes I will be featuring in my house on Thanksgiving. OOH, and let me know if you’re doing anything you’ve never done before for Thanksgiving. Or tell me about the first one you cooked all by yourself!!!

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Tonight Food Network Challenge is showcasing pies. They are also rerunning the Haunted Gingerbread Houses today. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I don’t care for the challenges that are just food, and not artistry. The chicken cookoffs, the burgers, pies… they really bore me. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that the people that are competing are super excited for it and all, but the entertainment just isn’t there. Honestly, if I wanted to watch a bunch of people putting strange stuff together, barbequeing it and calling it a gourmet burger, I’d go to a really fancy restaraunt, pay $25 and at least be able to eat it. The pastry challenges though, well that’s a different story all together! Those people are artists. They are literally making sculptures and paintings and well, art… out of chocolate, sugar, cake, etc… While watchign the show we are right there with them, feeling the excitement and drama. Screaming at the television, (why didn’t you practice this in a humid room BEFORE you came to Florida in JULY?!?!?!) Holding our collective breath while they are moving their masterpieces to the judging table. It is joy and tragedy, and drama and bold entertainment. Join me in begging the food network, no more Pies, no more burgers, no more chicken, give me art, give me suspense, give me a Challenge!!!

And for crying out loud, go read about the ultimate contest reality show!!!