Culinary Trends: 10 Up and Coming Chefs

You won’t find these folks on Food Network any time soon. Today’s up and coming chefs focus on just a few simple, but key elements. Things like eating slow (as in the slow food movement, not the pace at which you masticate), eating local, and mastering basic techniques are all top priorities on these chefs’ lists. You’ll find creativity paired with the best ingredients–and people are taking notice. If you watch the restaurant and food industry, you’ll note that as far as a culinary career goes. . .it seems that stardom kind of kills it. While Rachel Ray is nowhere … Continue reading →

The Sneaky Mama’s Favorite Chef: Annabel Karmel

When it comes to creating tasty food that’s appealing to little ones, Annabel Karmel has cornered the market as far as I’m concerned. My first “introduction” to Annabel Karmel was when I started making foods for the twins. I just couldn’t stomach the idea of several dollars worth of jarred food flying off the shelves every day. So I got out my handy Braun hand blender and I started to whip up peas, carrots, and baby cereal. Then I got stuck. I was lacking in creativity for preparing my babies’ foods and they weren’t quite ready for roast beef and … Continue reading →

Ming Tsai – Combining East and West Into Something Great

About ten years ago, I was not in a good place. My then-boyfriend/now-husband was living in another city seven hours away. My stepmother had just died in a car wreck, leaving my 12-year-old sister and my father, already widowed once when my mother died. To add to all that, I had been living with my 80-year-old grandmother and right after my stepmother died, my grandmother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and had to have surgery. I was pretty much the only one left to try to hold the family together. All this and also trying to work forty hours a … Continue reading →

Come, Let Me Feed Your Soul

How do you feel when you cook for someone? Are you feeding their stomach? Are you serving a basic need to provide them with the nourishment necessary for survival? Or are you perhaps feeding their soul as well as their stomach? As you prepare your holiday table this season, why not let your soul guide your hands? As you prepare your famous stuffing or sweet potatoes or your amazing coca cola basted ham, are you thinking about how your guests will feel eating your food? Is the business of the day and the fact that everyone will soon arrive or … Continue reading →

Nigella Feasts—Are You Watching?

I caught Nigella Lawson’s new show on Food TV yesterday. I admit, I was intrigued to watch it. I’d seen her on other channels before, always deemed a sensual cook. I turned on her show yesterday and was pleased to find out she’s much the same as you and I. She doesn’t “do” cloth napkins and says she’d never entertain if she had to wash and iron everything before having friends over. She loves good food. She loves flavors, spices, aromas. And the clincher for me? When she goes to other countries, Nigella brings back…food. She is perhaps my souls … Continue reading →

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

I just finished the former New York Times restaurant critic’s book, Garlic and Sapphires, and found myself craving a fine dining experience. Although I’ll skip the foie gras, Reichl’s book had me pining for a three-hour, seven course tasting menu full of exotic foods. Reichl’s book is full of her dining experiences in New York, where she never judged a restaurant unless she visited it at least three times, usually more. Her gift for helping the reader experience a meal is unbeatable, and I appreciated her fair reviews of smaller, ethnic places ignored by her predecessor. The heat she took … Continue reading →

Throwdown! With Bobby Flay

If you enjoy watching the Food Network, you have probably seen one of America’s premiere chefs – Bobby Flay. He has been the star of six Food Network shows (Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay, Grillin & Chillin, FoodNation, Boy Meets Grill, BBQ with Bobby Flay, and Throwdown!) in addition to appearing on the Iron Chef America series. Bobby started his culinary career at a very young age. Working in Joe Allen’s New York City restaurant at age 17, Allen was so in awe of Bobby’s culinary skills that he paid Bobby’s tuition to the French Culinary Institute. Bobby … Continue reading →

Food–My Way to Say I Love You

What is food? Sure, it’s nourishment. Food is a basic necessity for survival. But food is so much more. Some people say food can heal. Some say it can prevent Cancer. Others say you are what you eat. To me, food has been my way of saying “I love you.” I fix meals for my family and wait to see the small smile of joy cross their faces when they take a bite. I cook to feed their bellies, to nourish their stomachs and their minds. I cook to make memories. Memories of us cooking together. Memories recreated from my … Continue reading →

Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto

If you ever watched Iron Chef or Iron Chef America on the Food Network, you may know of Masaharu Morimoto. Chef Morimoto was Iron Chef Japanese on the original Iron Chef show. However, he was the third Iron Chef Japanese – only Kenichi, Iron Chef Chinese, remained an original Iron Chef throughout the series. Morimoto was the only Iron Chef to make the crossover to Iron Chef America, the Americanized version of the show. He was my favorite of all the Iron Chefs (although Kenichi comes in a close second), so I am happy he is with the new show. … Continue reading →

Cajun Chef Justin Wilson

Even though he is no longer with us, Justin Wilson remains one of my all-time favorite chefs. I love how he combined great recipes with his down home humor. Among my favorite recipes of his is his hot cabbage slaw, bacon potato salad, and hushpuppies – makes my mouth water just thinking about them! Justin was born in Roseland, Louisiana in 1914. He was the son of Harry D. Wilson, the Commissioner of Agriculture for Louisiana. In his early career, Justin was a safety engineer. As he gave safety lectures, he learned the art of storytelling out of necessity. He … Continue reading →