Bits Of Dust

Archive for September, 2007

Chef John has an excellent Roast Chicken recipe up. He’s using the new blogger video upload for it, which is kewl, cuz now you all will have to visit his awesome blog to see the recipes rather than seeing a Youtube embed.

Speaking of chicken, this weekend my wife made some chicken stock (I think she was running out of other things to can, so she decided to make stock). I can hardly wait to make egg drop soup with it, yum…

Enjoy some avocado recipes! Yum!

So ABC has more news on Mario Batali’s departure from Food Network.

“Molto Mario” means “a lot of Mario,” but fans of the Italian-American master chef Mario Batali will be seeing much less of him on Food Network this season.

The network has decided to stop airing “Molto Mario,” the program Batali began hosting a decade ago but which despite regular reruns has not been in production for nearly three years, a Food Network spokeswoman told ABCNEWS.com. Batali will, however, continue to appear on “Iron Chef America.”

…

“There was an acknowledgement by both Food Network and Batali that they didn’t really need each other any more,” said Ben Leventhal, editor of the food blog “Eater.” “Batali is more than just a TV chef. He’s a personality who has written cookbooks, owns restaurants and has a deal with NASCAR. Food Network helped him get as big as he is, and he helped them get big too. … It is the right time for him to part ways with the Food Network. It is expensive to keep a guy like Batali, and while I can’t imagine he has poor ratings, it comes down to how much they can afford.”

Whatever.

The fact it wasn’t announced earlier so the fans could prepare, tells me there is more to the story than what they’re telling. Doesn’t matter to me much anyway.

I only watched Food Network for two reasons and one just left. I did notice however that they mentioned he would still be appearing on Iron Chef America. I bet that’s only until the episodes which are already taped have run out.

[Hat Tip: Serious Eats]

Chef Tom started a new social networking site on Ning.

It’s called Tons of Recipes. and looks like it’s going to be a ton of fun!

Head over and sign up, you know you want to join the party.

I couldn’t believe the news when I read it today.

Chef Mario Batali has been chopped from TV’s Food Network, the influential cooking channel that made him a household name.

Sources said that network executives told the spotlight-loving chef last month his multiple shows, which includes the long-running “Molto Mario,” would not be renewed and that he would no longer be competing in the popular “Iron Chef America” series.

“He said that if his shows weren’t going to be renewed, then he wasn’t going to do ‘Iron Chef,’ ” said a network insider. “And then they essentially said ‘ciao.’ ”

What the hell? Have the executives at Food Network lost their frickin minds?

There used to be a time when watching the Food Network was all about the food. The love of creating some of the most spectacular and delicious recipes could be seen in the hosts eyes. Mario Batali was one of those chefs. Oh sure, he loved to be in front of the camera and he was quite the showman, but when Mario cooked, the spotlight was always on the food.

No matter what reason Food Network will try to use for cancelling all of his shows at the same exact moment, the viewers are the ones who will be losing out. What will they run in place of his shows? More “Top 5″ shows? Oh I know, “unWrapped” Cough. Yeah, like that was culinarily stimulating television.

If I owned a television network, I would be offering Mario the moon to bring his shows to my network. Only a fool (or a group of them calling themselves Food Network) would let such a talented chef get away.

[Hat Tip: Chef Tom]

This weeks Chef of the Week is…

Chef John
Food Wishes

Chef John officially started his culinary career by enrolling at Paul Smith’s College, New York, in 1981. Two years later he graduated with an AAS Degree, with Honors, in Culinary Arts/Chef Training and was also awarded “Outstanding Chef Training Student.” Over the next 20 plus years, Chef John held just about every position possible in the food industry. After having seen, and done, it all in the food industry, Chef John went on to teach at the California Culinary Academy.

Chef John offers some of the best “down to earth” video recipes you will ever see. He has a way of explaining them, so even “wannabe’s” like me can understand what he is doing, and why.

In fact, several days ago, Chef John posted a recipe for Black Pepper Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Black Cherry Reduction. Sounds fancy and difficult right? Check out the video at that link and you’ll understand why Chef John is quickly becoming one of my all time favorite chefs.

The other day, Chef Tom had a great recipe for Spicy Breaded Potato Weges.

They were absolutely delicious, and the recipe was uber-simple to make. I was going to post a picture, but I forgot to take a picture before we devoured half the plate.

While the picture would have been inviting, I think the smell of them coming out of the oven would have knocked you over.

Go check out the recipe and tell Chef Tom to stop helping me gain weight. It took me too long to lose the weight in the first place.

Following along with the recipe idea from Chef Tom, I experimented with more chip ideas over the weekend.

First I tried simple “chili chips” using chili powder and such. They sucked.

Second, I tried “seasoned” chips with a variety of different flavors. They sucked.

Third, I tried “garlic tortilla chips”. They were tolerable, get very potent.

The last ones I tried were “greek” chips. Blech.

Needless to say, I think I will keep my chips plain and spice them up with a nice salsa or something special like that.

Yes, that means I will be posting some favorite salsa recipes later in the week.

While you’re out there enjoying your Labor Day holiday, cooking out on your grill, why not make this delicious recipe from ifood.tv?

I, for one, will be relaxing and enjoying as much of my day as I can. With a surprise party yesterday and a lot of running around today, I can hardly wait to just sit back, relax, and enjoy some peace and quiet.