Food Lush

Pete Wells vs. Guy Fieri: A New Kind of Food Review?

By Dani

By now, you've probably read about Pete Wells' takedown of Guy Fieri's Times Square restaurant in the New York Times. If you haven't read it yet, you definitely should - it's a one-sided Socratic debate that will make you want to be a food snob:

"Did you notice that the menu was an unreliable predictor of what actually came to the table? Were the 'bourbon butter crunch chips' missing from your Almond Joy cocktail, too? Was your deep-fried 'boulder' of ice cream the size of a standard scoop?"

In my opinion, it was easily the most awesome restaurant review I've ever read. Heartily honest, brutal and hilarious - a far cry from the typical "atmosphere - service - food" formula we've come to expect from most critics. However, Fieri is an easy target, so I'm not sure that this really spells a revolution in food critique. He's so over-the-top that he's a caricature of himself, and it's not surprising that the New York Times isn't impressed by his far-from-intellectual approach to cuisine. Nor is it particularly daring to make fun of someone who makes a living eating ungodly amounts of fried food and hollering about it's awesomeness. 

Nonetheless, the war that's emerged (well, really, the entertainment, as Fieri is simply floundering to pin a conspiracy theory on Wells) is pretty fun to watch. SNL even got in on the action with this great unaired sketch:

So, what do you think? Is this a new era of clever, brutally honest reviews or simply a chance to bully an easy target? Did you laugh at the review, or do you like Guy Fieri? More importantly, do you wear sunglasses on the back of your head?

Pantry Staple: Canned (and Dried) Lentils

Editor's note: Welcome to the lovely Sarah Anne, who is joining Food Lush's ranks. You can learn more about her at Fear No Food and on Twitter, too. 

***

by Sarah Anne

Hey folks! I'm Sarah, a new addition to Food Lush, and I'm pretty excited to be able to talk to yet MORE people about food. Consider yourself warned!

As someone really keyed into not only the enjoyment of food, but also true nourishment, I tend to be a bit obsessive about making sure that we eat a well-rounded diet with plenty of fiber, protein, and other nutrients. It helps that I am constantly looking up nutritional stats of most foods, but it also helps that I keep my pantry and freezer well-stocked. Out of the many foods I keep on hand, which hopefully I'll go through in time, one of my most favourite pantry staples is a can or bag of lentils.

They are a great source of cholesterol-reducing fiber, vegetarian protein along with a couple B vitamins, folate, iron, manganese and a host of other vitamins and minerals. Not to mention, lentils are low calorie and nearly free of fat. As a vegetarian, I'd say they're a pretty good staple to have on hand, and we eat them a few times a week. 

There are several different types of lentils – brown/green, french or puy lentils, split red lentils, each of which has their use; I use brown or green lentils most often, with split red lentils coming a close second in the wintertime.

Canned lentils can be a great quick fix, and are wonderful in the summertime when you don't want to heat up the kitchen, as I rarely do in my 500sq ft apartment. Toss the rinsed lentils with chopped veggies and prepared vinaigrette for a nutritious and filling salad. Add a whole grain for even more oomph. Do the same in the fall or winter, but saute the vegetables and add the rinsed lentils toward the end, toss with dressing or sauce and you have a hearty, belly-warming meal. Our favourite this past summer was to add quinoa and canned lentils to Greek salad for a complete and super easy meal.

A bag of dried lentils can be just as useful, and even less expensive, but requires a bit more planning and prep time just to rinse and cook. It's still worth the effort to me! Here are a few of my recent favourites that used dried lentils. I've made each of these and have LOVED them. As an aside – so has my husband who is usually the test of a good, people-pleasing recipe.

Dreena Burton's “No-Fu” Love Loaf

(Source: Hannah Kaminsky & Plant Powered Kitchen)

Veggie Balls from Huffington Post

(Source) 

 

French Lentils with Walnuts and Goat Cheese from Laura Calder, Food Network Canada

(Source)

Lentils are such a versatile ingredient and a great option for meat eaters and vegetarians alike and are cheap to boot! From lentil loaves to indian style curries, everyone can get on board with something about lentils. Do you cook with lentils often? What kind? Do you have a favourite recipe that uses them? I'd love to find some new ones!

Interview with Chef Alex Guarnaschelli

By Nora

To say I was excited to have the opportunity to interview Alex Guarnaschelli is an understatement. As any good foodie does, I watch the Food Network regularly, and Alex is one of the chefs whose shows I truly love watching. Whether it’s on The Cooking Loft or Alex’s Day Off, I can’t help but admire how she seems to have a real reverence for her ingredients. Her love for cooking is infectious. Have you ever heard Alex describe how she feels about bacon? You will never be the same.

Can you describe your recipe creation process? Where does inspiration strike for you?

Honestly, I grew up in a house with a lot of cooking and I’ve been doing nothing but cooking for over 20 years, so I guess it’s really just about whatever mood I’m seeking to create with the dishes I choose, and then what ingredients are seasonal. Those are my two driving forces. But I couldn’t give you a time frame for creating my recipes—it doesn’t work that way for me. I think for some chefs it does, but you know sometimes I won’t make anything for a week and then I’ll make five things in one day. It’s not regimented, how my recipes come to be. Does that make sense?

Absolutely. You said you cook seasonally--do you have a preferred season for cooking, based on the ingredients that are available?

I really enjoy every season because by the time one season is ending and another is beginning, I’m looking forward to those ingredients. Of course, summer is kind of amazing, let’s face it. But my favorite time of year is August through November because it ranges from tomatoes to corn to squash to Brussels sprouts. That’s probably my favorite--end of summer, beginning of fall.

Okay, here’s a tough one. If you could spend a day in the kitchen with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

The problem with the question you ask is that I already spend the days in the kitchen with the people I would choose! I have such an amazing kitchen staff at my restaurants (Butter and The Darby in NYC) and I’m so blessed. While I guess the logical answer to that question would be Julia Child or James Beard, I’m so happy and lucky to be surrounded by a great staff, that they’re my first pick.

Since the holidays are approaching, I have to ask: What’s your favorite holiday dish, either to cook and/or eat?

My favorite holiday food is cranberry sauce, to be honest. I love taking something bitter and inedible in raw form and watching it transform on the stove with spices and sugar and orange into something that’s so delicious. And I don’t think there’s a condiment that goes better with its partner than turkey with a dollop of cranberry. I find that really rewarding. It’s my favorite thing. And I have to say that the faster I answer these questions, the longer the answer has been true for me. I am kind of obsessed with cranberry sauce.

Does that mean you’re opposed to the cranberry sauce in a can?

No! My mother made fresh every year, and we also put a can out. You gotta have both.

So, let’s say it’s a busy weeknight. What’s your go-to recipe?

I cook whatever strikes me. I go to the store, I buy stuff, and I make different things all the time. You know, when you’ve cooked for so long, so intensively, I would say that it’s almost as if I don’t have a repertoire—but I do have the ingredients that I prefer. And it also depends on who I’m cooking for. If I’m making something for my daughter it’s one thing, if it’s cooking with or for a friend, it’s another. I have a pastry chef friend who doesn’t like to eat dessert! Totally depends on who I’m hanging out with—does that make sense? I would love to say, oh here it is, my perfect recipe, but that’s too complex for my brain.

Having been a judge on Chopped and a contestant on Iron Chef (and soon to be on The Next Iron Chef: Redemption), which position do you think is tougher---to judge someone’s food, or cook in a high-pressure situation and have your food judged?

You know, when you’re a judge you have the responsibility of honoring the person who cooked the food, and taking them through the judging process with as much integrity as possible. So that’s very hard emotionally. When you’re cooking and you’re being judged, it’s almost harder physically, because you’re pushing through and you’re trying to use your skills and experience to get things done. And you’re working against the clock. I’d say one is more draining mentally and emotionally, and one is more draining physically. But I think the choice really comes when you decide which you actually find more tiring. When you’re physically depleted and you’re brain is somewhat functioning--or the other way around. So they’re very different things, but equally stressful in their own ways. Like an orange and an apple—they’re both fruit but they couldn’t be more different.

I think the judging of people’s food would be the hardest for me. I watched the episode recently where the teen chefs competed. They were incredible.

They were amazing. It’s absolutely awful to have to tell someone they’re not going to win. I don’t enjoy that because I see how hard these chefs work on their dishes. I think it’s a show that looks very easy when you watch it at home on TV, but it’s so hard when you’re doing it for real.

Can we expect a cookbook from you in the future?

Oh, yes! Thank you for asking. My own cookbook will be coming out next fall. I’m publishing my first cookbook with Clarkson Potter. It’ll be a home-cook cookbook, using French techniques and American ingredients.

Okay, one last question that I have to ask. What’s your most indulgent guilty food pleasure?

You know, every day is an indulgent food pleasure for me. But Haagen Daaz Ice Cream, definitely.

And you’ve actually contributed to an eBook that Haagen Daaz has recently released, right?

Yes, and I’m really excited to work with them in this particular way. They created an eBook called Ode to Summer, which includes 50 favorite summer moments to help sustain us through the gloomy winter. The other thing that’s genuinely cool about it is that for every download of the book--which is free, by the way--Haagen Daaz is donating $5 to honey bee research, to protect honey bee colonies. And I didn’t know this before I starting working with them on it, but honey bees are responsible for pollenating a third of the world’s natural food supply. I think we think of bees as being pretty cool, but they are also critical for our food supply. So, as a chef, the fact that I can eat ice cream and think about summer moments and help sustain something so essential to our food supply is kind of amazing. All you have to do is download something for free, and honey bee research gets $5. It’s easy to get behind something like that. I love it.

Well, I’ll be downloading the Ode to Summer eBook right after I talk to you.

And I will be eating the Haagen Daaz. It’s such a rough life.

Download the free Ode to Summer eBook!

Google Play

Amazon

iTunes

Kitchen Tip: Fresh Ginger

by Maura

I often avoid recipes that include specialty ingredients, like fresh herbs and fresh ginger, because I cannot buy small amounts economically. Although this is not what you would call a first world problem, I am always looking for ways to extend the life of my ingredients and increase the number of recipes in my repetoire. 

{image credit: wikihow.com}

A few days ago I was watching the Food Network and Melissa D'Arabian's show, Ten Dollar Dinners. She was making a recipe that called for fresh ginger and gave a tip that I see myself using. Ms. D'Arabian suggested keeping peeled, fresh ginger in the freezer and taking it out when you need it for a recipe. She said that it is actually even easier to grate with a microplane grater when it is frozen. What a great idea! I don't usually watch this show, but I am glad I was tuned in when she shared this helpful tip.

Do you have any tips for storing infrequently used ingredients? Have you heard about a particularly good tip lately? 

Sweet and Spicy Salmon

by Maura

I wasn't exaggerating when I said we eat salmon a few times a month. Although I found a good recipe that Will and I both like, I won't rest until I find the PERFECT salmon recipe.

I'm kidding. I just get bored making the same things over and over.

This time I started looking for a spice rub for salmon. I came across this recipe from Ellie Krieger on the Food Network website and gave it a try. This recipe appealed to me because it had ingredients I already have in my pantry and included two of my favorite spices: chili and cumin. I am not a fan of sweet-savory combinations, but I thought that this might be okay since I have made spice rubs with brown sugar before.

[Imagine that there is a pretty picture of salmon with all the ingredients here. Pretend that I didn't accidentally delete it off my camera.]

I halved the recipe and still had plenty of spice, so I put it in a baggie with a little reminder of what it is.

Since I don't have a grill pan, I cooked the salmon, spice side down, for about 3-4 minutes in a teaspoon of olive oil. I flipped it when it started to look cooked, and finished it off on the other side for an additional minute, sort of like cooking an over-easy egg. I served with roasted broccoli (tossed with salt, pepper, EVOO and garlic powder) and corn on the cob.

We both enjoyed the salmon, although it was a little too sweet for me. Next time, I'll cut back the brown sugar (or add more cumin and chili to the leftover seasoning mix). In all, though, this is a recipe I see myself making again.

Salmon for People Who Don't Love Salmon

Editor's note: Welcome Maura back to the Food Lush family! You might remember her from awesome Food Lush posts of the past, and we're thrilled to have her return. You can see her new bio on the staff page.

***

by Maura

Hi Food Lush! I'm really excited to be back here writing about all things food. Last week I came across a fantastic recipe for a food I do not care for all that much: salmon. Now, you may ask yourself why I make food I do not like. That is a very reasonable question! I happen to be dating a man who loves his salmon. (He's from Michigan and I'm pretty sure loving salmon is in the state constitution.) Because I love him, and he loves salmon, I make salmon. (Awwwww.)

Salmon is also a healthy source of protein, vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids, and I often find frozen, wild-caught salmon filets on sale at my local grocery store. For all of these reasons, but mostly because of the compliments I get for making it, we eat salmon a few times a month. I've tried a variety of cooking methods, including broiling, poaching, marinating and making salmon burgers, but it still has that distinctively fishy taste that does not do much for me. Finally, I found a recipe that I like.

This is Ina Garten's Roasted Salmon with Green Herbs, which I found on the Food Network website. My favorite feature of this recipe is that the salmon is juicy, flavorful and very mild tasting. The herbs, lemon juice, olive oil and white wine make a delightful, delicate broth that infuses the salmon with flavor. The second reason I like this recipe is that the ingredients are usually something I have lying around. I pullled dill out of the freezer and picked up some fresh parsley at the store, but I usually have green onions, lemon, olive oil and white wine on hand.

Although the recipe calls for marinating the salmon for fifteen minutes, resulting in 47-minutes of total prep time, I marinated the salmon for just as long as it took me to prepare the other parts of the meal. Aside from some prep I did earlier in the day for the side dish, I had everything on the table in 30 minutes. A meal in 30 minutes is a winner for me.

Check back next week for the story behind those cute zucchini fritters that we ate with the salmon!

Holy Crap, It's Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding

by Slynnro

I....don't like bread pudding. This has disappointed many people over the course of my life, but now that I have my whole gluten issue, at least I have a real legit excuse not to eat it. It's a texture thang.  

Anyway, I've tried numerous bread puddings -- at your mom's house, at a fancy restaurant. All were DISGUSTING to my palate....

UNTIL MY MOM MADE KRISPY KREME BREAD PUDDING.

image via Foodtv.com

For whatever reason, the texture of this bread pudding doesn't bother me, and well, it's freaking delicious y'all. And it would be great for a brunch, or a baby shower.  

And really, it's practically a diet food, as about 3 bites are sufficient to satisfy your sweet tooth. Much more is a recipe for sugar OD.

Memphis Beat Again: Uncle Lou's Friend Chicken

By Julie

We watch a lot of the Food Network around here, especially my husband, and especially Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. So when I figured out we’d be heading back through Memphis on our way home, I looked up all the area restaurants covered on the show and let my husband pick. He chose Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken.

I’m glad I did my research, because the place closed at 6 on the day we were going, and we would have missed it if I didn’t check. It wasn’t too difficult to find, but I’d have to say it definitely fits into the category of dive, but I mean that in the best way. There were bars on the windows after all.  But there’s a reason it was featured on a television show known for finding out of the way spots of deliciousness, so we didn’t let that deter us.

This is fried chicken unlike I’ve ever had before. Lou’s chicken is friend, then coated in a spicy sauce.   You are going to need that roll of paper towels on the table, no question. We got the mild version, thankfully, because it was fiery enough and I’m sure the hotter version would have made my face melt off, and I’m not a lightweight in the heat department. It was sweet and spicy and moist on the inside.  I’m more of a traditionalist when if comes to fried chicken, but this was mighty tasty. As for my husband? I think he wants to marry Lou. 

A bit thumbs up to the corrupted carrots, which were a sweet and slightly spicy turn for a unique side dish that I will be trying to replicate my own kitchen. If this is any indication of how good the food showcased on this program is, I’ll be searching out my next dive immediately.

Saucy!

{Photo Credit: urbanspoon.com}

Turkey Club Casserole

By Ariel

I was complaining talking about how I was bored with all my usual recipes/fall-backs with my husband the other day and he blew me over by suggesting I make Emeril Lagasse's Turkey Club Casserole. This is really out of left field for one main reason: I had no idea he ever even glanced at the Food Network, let alone could rattle off a personality and a recipe right off the bat. He insisted it was on briefly after I was finished watching TV when he got home from work one night, but I now have suspicions I have a closet foodie on my hands.

Anyway, I was certainly curious after he described the sandwich casserole and found the recipe via Rachael Ray's website.

{Photo by me}

This dish was awesome and unexpected! It's one of those meals that fits in for any time of the day. I would lean more towards serving this for a group brunch, but you could also go to town the day after Thanksgiving or Christmas and impress family and guests with this great spin on leftovers. You can find the recipe here, but there are a few things I discovered while making this that the directions didn't really elaborate on.

Make sure you heed their warning about using extra thin bread. I couldn't find extra thin, so I cut a loaf of Italian bread as thin as I could and it worked out really well and was much cheaper.  A loaf of Italian bread is about $2 at my local grocery store, but the Pepperidge Farm's bread they suggested is about $4 a loaf. It's a little extra work but I'm cheap frugal. Another thing is that the recipe calls for a pound of bacon. I cooked a pound of bacon and it tells you to only put on one slice of bacon per sandwich. I disregarded that with the POUND of bacon they called for and put two full pieces (cut in half to fit the small sandwich) on. The other thing I noticed is the cooking time they gave was way low for me, this casserole was in the oven for at least an hour while I waited for the egg to firm.

Beyond those little things, this was a great meal. With the holidays right around the corner (it's November, so I can start talking about them, right?) consider using leftover turkey and ham from dinner, along with even a spread of mashed potatoes and leftover cranberry sauce in the sandwich filling for a unique twist on what to do with all the food you have the day after the festivities.

What do you do with your holiday leftovers?

Two new Food Network shows premiering this month make me both skeptical and excited

By Sarah

I recently saw a preview for The Best Thing I Ever Made on Food Network (premiering on Sunday, October 16th at 11:30am/10:30c.) The show is a spin-off of The Best Thing I Ever Ate, wherein Food Network celebchefs (new word! Alert Merriam and Webster!) talk about … you guessed it, the best thing they’ve ever eaten.

I was skeptical of that show at first, and truth be told, I’ve never really gotten into it, but I have caught an episode or two. From what I gathered, it’s kind of like Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives in that each chef profiles a specific dish at a specific restaurant, but without that annoying spikey-haired dude. So, local restaurants from around the nation get their props, which I always love.

The Best Thing I Ever Made however, seems a bit pretentious. Listen, I’ve made some kitchen winners myself. I can put my humble on hold and fully take credit for some awesome meals. But I’m not a chef.

A (great) chef’s job is to cook great food and these guys and gals has already proven they do that by getting their own shows on Food Network. If their recipe is great, then they should make it on their cooking show.

I don’t know, am I just being super judgmental about this?

Something I am absolutely not judgmental about, however, is The Next Iron Chef (premiering on Sunday, October 30th at 9pm/8c.) I normally don’t watch this show (although I love Iron Chef), but this season the chefs competing are CELEBCHEFS!

Vying for a spot as the next Iron Chef are (to name a few): Anne Burrell, Michael Chiarello, Spike Mendelsohn, and Marcus Samuelsson.

While I always like the idea of the lesser-known guy competing to win (see: Top Chef), I must say, I’m looking forward to rooting for people who I already “know.” Now, the difficult part will be deciding between Annie B. and Spike, who I love equally.

Decisions, decisions.

{I'm Sorry, I Had To Do It photo credit: foodnetwork.com}