What you need:
1/2 to 3/4 lb angel hair pasta
1 bag frozen broccoli florets
2 medium to large boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 small bottle italian salad dressing
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts
1/4 cup margarine or butter
Dried italian seasonings

What you do:
First while still slightly frozen, cut the chicken breasts into bite sized chunks. Place them into a dish and marinate in the entire bottle of italian dressing. Don’t forget, you only need a small bottle. Let that marinate for at least a couple hours, although overnight is best.

Once you are ready to start cooking, start your water first, of course salting it generously. Get a skillet nice and hot, and pour the entire marinade and chicken concoction into the pan. Lower the heat to medium high, and let the chicken cook thoroughly stirring occasionally. Once the chicken is almost done, pour the entire jar of artichoke hearts into it, marinade and all. You may want to cut the artichoke hearts into smaller chunks though.

Put the pasta into the boiling water, along with the frozen broccoli. Cook them together and they should finish at about the same time. Drain the pasta and the water and put back into the hot pot. Pour the chicken and artichokes into the pasta along with 1/8 - 1/4 cup butter or margarine. Mix well and add italian seasonings, salt & pepper to taste.

It’s yummy, I swear.

Tell me if you try it, and how you like it.

The Feasting on Asphalt Book Tour is in full swing with Alton traveling up the route of the River Run stopping at bookstores along the way. He has done signings so far in Chicago & New York City, just to name a couple. Unfortunately I am not on the River Run Route, so I have yet to have my opportunity to meet this fine gentleman, but I am hoping the day will come that he decides to visit Sin City and do a lecture on the Fine Art of Buffet Food or something.

Food Network is premiering a new show called Cooking For Real with Sunny Anderson. It will premiere on April 6th at 10:30 am, so set your DVR’s, I know I have. The first episode will be Noshin in N’Awlins, where Sunny will be covering snack-ish type foods from the Big Easy. Tune in to find out how to make pot pie with a different twist, a spicy/sweet shrimp pot pie! And don’t forget the Sazarak Cocktail. It seems Sandra Lee isn’t the only one who thinks a cocktail is a good thing!!! By the by, according to Dictionary.com Sazerak is a cocktail made with rye or bourbon, bitters, Pernod, and sugar, stirred or shaken with ice, strained and served with a twist of lemon rind. Sounds yummy and potent to me, somebody pass the Bourbon will ya?

Chefography Week is coming back to the Food Network, with new shows airing April 7-13. The new episodes will feature biographies of such renowned food personalities as Julia Child and Wolfgang Puck. There will also be an episode about the entire Ace of Cakes Crew, and one on the Food Network itself. I can’t wait for that one!!! Chefography has already showcased Food Network Stars, Bobby Flay, Rachael Ray, Tyler Florence, Paula Deen, Sandra Lee, and more. It’s great to be able to look into the lives of those people that we know and love from TV and see how they became the people they are.

Well that’s about it for now friends. Drop me a comment and let me know what show is your favorite, or if there are any recipes you would like posted. I am happy to do it for you!!!

Now, there is one reason I have not yet blogged about Ultimate Recipe Showdown. That reason is that I really want to like the show. I really REALLY want to like it. I mean it has all the elements that would make for a really good show. It is hosted by Marc Summers and Guy Fieri. I have loved Marc Summers since WAAAAY back in his Double Dare days. And my loyal reader would know how I feel about Guy Fieri.

The concept of the show, too, is really good. Thousands of Food Network Viewers sent in their recipes for several different types of food. The FN Test Kitchens tried out thousands of recipes and brought the best out to the Ultimate Recipe Showdown Kitchens to make their product in front of a live audience. Each style of food has three different categories, for example in the cookie competition there was a category for chocolate chip cookies, spice cookies and bar cookies. No silly, not the kind of cookies you eat at the bar, things like lemon bars and fudge bars… After the cooks are finished they are brought into the blind judging room where they are judged by a panel of food experts. The winner is announced and the next category commences. After all three are done, the winners of each category get up on the stage and Guy reads out their scores resulting in the final winner. The winner gets $25,000 and the runners up get a set of Food Network Cookware. Sounds like a great show, right?

It irritates me. The entire show irritates me. The commentary is trying to be as exciting as a football game, but there’s really only so much you can say. “Look Mark, now she’s folding in flour!!!” “Wow Guy! That’s AMAZING!!!!” I don’t blame the hosts, but this is not Iron Chef America, it’s three regular people each making one recipe. There’s just not enough going on to have 2 announcers. The judging is good, but a bit repetitive. “mmm, this is a good cookie,” “Yup that’s a darn good cookie, I could use some milk though” “Yeah, milk would be good with this cookie…” The worst part though is the part where the winner of each category is announced. Instead of announcing a winner by name they stand all three contestants in their kitchens and “turn out the lights” on the losers. Literally turning off the spotlight and turning on red lights from behind the winners. It’s all very “huh, what, did my light, wait, I’m still on, oh but so is she, well what about … ooh I won!” And then when they are standing there with the final winner and guy reads out the scores, they’re absolutely excessive. Really, two contestants got a 98 and one got a 99? WOW!!! The judging is too easy. I find it very difficultto believe that all these recipes are THAT close to perfect.

Other than that though, I love the show…

First let me focus on the amazing duo from Cake Girls. They have worked on two cakes already in the Challenge kitchens, and won both times. Both with the Simpson’s cake and the Disney Princess cake. Their main pastry chef, Mary is absolutely fantastic. She took the Cat in the Hat and absolutely brought him to life. From hand sculpting the Fish to lovingly crafting Thing 1 and Thing 2, her cake looked like a page out of a pop-up book.

Next, lets take a look at our 4 time competitor. (My apologies, I don’t remember the names of any of the competitors except Mary from Cake Girls.) He has not yet won a FN Challenge, and I think the reason for that is that his work, as compared to the others, is a bit amateur-ish. Now don’t get me wrong, I think he’s great. He has a good attitude, and he does things with cakes and other pastry working ingredients that I will die without ever being able to achieve. But his work is inferior to that of the other contestants on the Challenges. For example, his Horton, while absolutely fantastic, was not very true to the Seussian style. He did have the opportunity to look both at the new movie, Horton Hears a Who, as well as the original book, and I think that may have put him at a bit of a disadvantage. After all, the new CGI film, is also not very pen and ink Seuss style. His elephant was good, but the legs were awful. They were nothing like an elephants legs, and honestly, I think most people made better elephant legs with playdough in elementary school. How difficult is it to make stumps with wrinkles for knees and half moon toenails? Really?

Next up we have rookie #1. She was charged with creating The Grinch, and representing how he stole Christmas. Her sous chef worked well with her. Really well, considering that they lived on opposite sides of the country and worked through phone calls and e-mails to practice for the competition. She created the Grinch sitting atop his sleigh upon the Mt. Crumpet with presents falling over the edge, and poor litte Max being dragged along. It was an incredibly cute cake, but the perspective (according to the judges) was all wrong. The Grinch, while impeccably sculpted and colored was far too large in comparison to the rest of the cake. It did look fantastic though.

Rookie #2 was charged with making the ever popular Sam I Am with the Green Eggs & Ham Cake. I have to say that she did an excellent job. Sam was exquisitely sculpted and while the green was slightly off color as compared to the books, it made a striking cake. While the scene itself was not specifically out of the book she did an excellent job of creating a Seussian situation for him to be in. With his head sticking out of the top of a tower of green eggs balanced precariously on the green ham and a hand on a cable holding onto the platter this particular cake hit the spot for me. The judges, however, were missing Sam’s friend.

That being said, the winner, and undefeated champion on FN Challenge was again Mary and her sister of Cake Girls. Congrat’s Girls! You did a GREAT job!!!

Dinner: Impossible, for those of you who are not familiar, is one of those new reality type shows that are becoming so darn popular on the food network these days. Chef Robert Irvine is dropped into a strange situation wherein he is required to make a themed meal for upwards of 200 people in less than a day. He has to do everything from finding equipment, to ingredients before he is even able to start cooking. The food he makes looks tasty and I am continoously amazed at how well he is able to adapt the menu to everyone’s needs.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of Dinner Impossible, and loved the episode at the NY Circus. I really like the show in general, and kind of hope that the Food Network changes their mind, but when it comes down to it, he shouldn’t have lied. Especially about things that are so easily verifiable… Food Network has stated that they may review their decision at the end of the season, which he is being allowed to finish, but that for now they are looking for a replacement host.

Battle Ham was indeed a good battle pitting Chef Cora against Chef Hillson, seeing who can make the better array of dishes featuring Ham. Thank goodness neither of them decided to try a dessert with the Secret ingredient. Several of the dishes did peature pureed ham in some way though, which puts me in mind of the ham baby foods I have given my son. Therefore it seemed kind of icky to me. The challenger made a twice baked souffle that actually looked pretty good, and a ham carpaccio with fresh pasta. The interactive way that he had the judges break the yolk to mix with the ham and pasta was really inspired, as we all know that the ICA judges love interactive food. My personal favorite though was a ham & cheese concoction that was like a sandwich, but instead of bread was wrapped in a puff pastry and baked…. mmmmmmmm…

Chef Cora prepared five exciting dishes as well, including the obligatory Seuss inspired dish. Instead of Green Eggs and Ham however, she did a Green Ham and Eggs, with a lovely poached egg with a piece of hamsteak upon it covered in a green sauce that looked like blended grass but apparently tasted pretty darn good.

So, who won? I guess you’ll have to tune in to find out. Battle Ham is showing on the Food Network again March 6th at 9pm.

A friend of mine from the Good Eats Fan Page came into town, and since I still hadn’t given her her gifts from the Christmas gift exchange, we decided to meet up for dinner. I bundled my baby up, grabbed the Hubby and off we were. When we arrived at the Ellis Island, I quickly discovered that perhaps this should have been a night to leave the Little Dude at home. The casino itself is very smally, and the area with the BBQ is not seperated from the casino area. We dragged some chairs over to where we were waiting for our table, so as not to be breaking the underage kids in a casino laws, and took a seat. In the hour or so wait for a table, my friend opened her Christmas gifts.

Finally our name was called, and we got to a table. It was much more quiet there, and we had opportunity to actually sit. The menu consisted of bbq chicken & ribs. You could get a half rack, full rack, half chicken, or half rack & half chicken. Every plate comes with the same sides. Baked Beans, coleslaw, 2 corn on the cobbettes and “garlic” bread.

While the chicken I had was really good, and the sauce was awesome, I did not care at all for the sides. The beans were ok, as was the coleslaw, the corn had been left on the steamer waaaay too long and was somewhat wilted. The reason I put the garlic in quotes is that I didn’t taste it at all in the bread. The bread did have a strange taste though as though it had been burnt, although it was hardly toasted at all. Hubby says the ribs were awesome, and he also says that you don’t go to a place like that for the sides. Personally, I won’t be back, but he might. It was good, but I’ve had much better, for about the same amount of money, with much better service. That’s just my opinion though. The place was PACKED and people were saying that they had been there 4 times that week. I guess it’s just not my kind of place.

Tonight the stars will shine in Hollywood once again. With the writers strike over, we can look forward to the typical stars forgetting how to read the witty, and sometimes cheesy lines laid out for them on a teleprompter, and long winded acceptance speeches. Someday, instead of playing the music louder to drown them out, I think that they should actually come and drag them kicking and screaming off the stage. Especially the winners of “Best Special Effects in a Movie Filmed in a Foriegn Country with fewer than 25 Lines of Dialogue…” Nobody CARES!!! I do like to see the women’s dresses though, especially those that confuse sexy with slutty and come in wearing completely transparent clothing. It’s always fun to see them expose themselves in some embarrassing way or trip over the 25 foot train that was ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to complete the outfit. It makes me feel better about myself to know that they are indeed not perfect.

My favorite way to watch the Oscars is with a lot of booze, (hence the above opinions) and some really good food. The Food Network website has decided to give us a helping hand with this, providing a plethora of tasty fare for tonights festivities. Offering everythign from Wolfgang’s Post Award’s Party menu, full of fancy foods, much too sophisticated for my pedestrian palate, to cinema snacks including several sweet treats, a bunch of popcorn recipes, and severald variations on hotdogs. There are also several drink recommendations, which is always a good thing.

When it comes to hot dogs, well frankly, I can’t stand them. But I do have a huge love for Corn Dogs. I know, I know. They are the same thing. I understand that, but there’s something about them being wrapped in cornbread and then either baked or fried to crispy golden deliciousness that I cannot resist. And I am a mustard person, no ketchup please. Even on the rare occasion that I do use ketchup, it must be mixed with my mustard for my corn dogs.

Popcorn on the other hand is a must when watching anything movie related. And I’m not that particular about my popcorn. Cheesy corn, caramel, toffee, buttery, salty, it’s all yummy to me! So without further ado, I give you my Acadamy Award Winning Recipes…

Corn Dogs Recipe courtesy Scott Leibfried
Show: Party Starters
Episode: Movie Night

25 (2 packages) mini hot dogs (can be found in the hot dog section of the grocery store)
25 (8-inch) wooden skewers to accommodate the hot dogs
1 box corn muffin mix (mix according to the directions)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Skewer the hot dogs on the sticks. Make sure the sharp part of the skewers are not sticking out of the dogs. Prepare the corn batter according to the recipe on the box. Coat the dogs with the muffin mix and place on a nonstick baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan. Use a spatula to lift the corn dogs.

This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results

Cheddar Cheese Popcorn Recipe courtesy Gale Gand
Show: Sweet Dreams
Episode: Crunchtime Munchies

3 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup cheddar cheese powder, plus 1 tablespoon
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 cups popped popcorn
Salt and pepper

In a large bowl, combine the butter, cheddar cheese powder, mustard powder, cayenne pepper and the popcorn. Season with salt and pepper, to taste and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches Recipe adapted from Gourmet Magazine
Show: Sara’s Secrets
Episode: You Can Please Everyone

1/2 cup chopped English toffee candy bar (Recommended: Heath Bar)
1 pint vanilla ice cream, slightly softened in the microwave
16 chocolate chip cookies
Multi-colored candy sprinkles

Mix the candy into the ice cream.
Using an ice cream scoop, divide the ice cream among the flat sides of 8 of the cookies. Top the ice cream with the remaining cookies, flat sides down, and press down gently. Roll the edges of the sandwiches in the candy sprinkles. Freeze the ice-cream sandwiches, covered, for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Lava Flow Recipe courtesy Old Lahaina Luau
Show: Emeril Live
Episode: Emeril’s Hawaiian Luau

1 ounces light rum
2 ounces pineapple juice
6 ounces pina colada mix (coconut cream and pineapple juice)
1 ounce strawberry puree
1 small chunk pineapple, for garnish

Blend rum, pineapple juice, and pina colada mix with 1 cup of ice. Next, take a glass and coat the inside with strawberry puree. Pour in colada blend. Finally, use a spoon to drag the strawberry puree up through the colada drink, creating a pink stripe. Garnish with a pineapple chunk, and serve.

I hope y’all have as good as time as I will!!!

P.S. Did you hear? Universal Studios Orlando is Opening a Harry Potter Theme Park!!!!!

I attempted to set out a schedule for myself, so that I would know what I would be writing every day. That has backfired, because on the couple times I have felt I had something I wanted to write about, I have decided to hold it off for “the proper day” and then forgot about it before that day came. So I am throwing that system out. From now on, it will be what I feel like writing about, as soon as I am able to write.

That being said, on to an actual blog.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m not a huge fan of Guy Fieri’s actual cooking show. Guy’s Big Bite doesn’t quite strike me as the same caliber as other cooking shows on the network. I think it’s the set up of the kitchen that bothers me, but honestly, I’m not sure.

His other show, however, I love!!!!! I can’t get enough of Diners, Drive In’s & Dives. I like how each show has a theme, and how Guy actually goes into these kitchens and learns to cook what they are making. He eats some of EVERYTHING, and always compliments the cooks and chefs.

The other day there was an episode featuring “unique foods”. I think this was my favorite episode so far. There were foods featured that I would never eat, but the show made them seem very appealing to me. Everything from fried clam with bellies to gizzards. The best thing, I think, about the episode was that he made sure to showcase the “regular” food as well as whatever “unique” item that particular restaurant featured. So, for example, the clam belly place also had amazing looking fish and chips. Things like that. I really like Guy’s personality in this show, he is outgoing and funny. I personally think that he works a lot better with people, rather than all by himself.

P.S. I’m now writing another blog, over at the Hogwarts Herald. Go check it out!!!

“The Wing and I” opened with Alton Brown tending bar and discussing the varieties of fare that can be found in bars and pubs across America. Everything from fried cheese to the infamous nacho platter. But none hold the same place in the hearts of pubcrawlers everywhere, as the humble buffalo wing. Apparently first made by a bar owner in Buffalo NY who needed to feed her hungry college going son and his friends, the buffalo wing has become a standard of culinary comfort. The show then focuses on cooking the wings without actively deep frying them, and without setting off every smoke detector in your city. It seems, according to AB, the secret is to first steam the wings to reduce the fat content while keeping them moist. Then bake them to crisp the skin. Don’t forget to toss with the ever important sauce while the wings are still piping hot. This makes sure that the flavor gets infused into the entire skin without losing the crisp skin that you have worked so hard to get…

So, friends, go get a party pack of chicken wings, about 2 steamers, and a bunch of hot sauce!!! It’s going to be worth it!!!

Buffalo Wings Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2007
Show: Good Eats
Episode: The Wing and I

12 whole chicken wings
3 ounces unsalted butter
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Place a 6-quart saucepan with a steamer basket and 1-inch of water in the bottom, over high heat, cover and bring to a boil.
Remove the tips of the wings and discard or save for making stock. Using kitchen shears, or a knife, separate the wings at the joint. Place the wings into the steamer basket, cover, reduce the heat to medium and steam for 10 minutes. Remove the wings from the basket and carefully pat dry. Lay the wings out on a cooling rack set in a half sheet pan lined with paper towels and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Replace the paper towels with parchment paper. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and cook another 20 minutes or until meat is cooked through and the skin is golden brown.

While the chicken is roasting, melt the butter in a small bowl along with the garlic. Pour this along with hot sauce and salt into a bowl large enough to hold all of the chicken and stir to combine.

Remove the wings from the oven and transfer to the bowl and toss with the sauce. Serve warm.