divalasvegas

I second that bavila. I've eaten Popeye's fried chicken many times and there's just no way that I wouldn't have been able to taste all that gack going on, especially since all of that "seasoning" is for only FOUR POUNDS OF CHICKEN! Blech!!! Not to mention that in addition to the amount of sodium present in the Italian salad dressing mix, the onion soup mix AND the spaghetti sauce mix, we're supposed to believe that one would add three tablespoons of seasoning salt on top of that? Double blech!!! BTW, while Popeye's is okay, the king/queen of fast food fried chicken for me is still Church's. Edited for grammar.

Sounds perfectly disgusting to me... ← Funny, I didn't know that Popeye's got it's secret seasoning recipe from FTV's Sandra Lee.

That was one of the best battles on ICA ever. You're so right eje, they both did seem to pour their hearts into it and Mario indeed looked quite spent (and sweat soaked) at the end. The resultant dishes looked delicious although I also wondered about how much could they do with that particular ingredient, tasty though it may be. I actually thought Besh may have gone too far at the end with his andouille beignets, but I'd have definitely sampled them if I was lucky enough to be a judge. One point. I believe that one of the judges is a journalist named Lester Holt. I have seen comments by some here that don't seem to care for anyone judging on ICA unless they have some type of food related career. However, I thought his comments were extremely helpful in understanding why he thought a dish worked, how the components came together, and why a dish just didn't work for him.

I guess I have to be the official wet blanket here, but I say that if you're driving you eat NOTHING while driving. While watching a recent program regarding the autobahn--construction, rules of the road, etc.--I remember that German drivers were asked what the difference between them and American drivers. Their response: cupholders. Too many American drivers seem to feel that paying attention to their driving 100% would be too inconvenient and not fit into their multi-tasking lifestyles, to which I say bullshit. I have on various occasions almost been run over by: a) Mr. Mercedes with cell phone (ran through stop sign in pedestrian crossing that I was using; a few more steps and I would have been his rather attractive but messy hood ornament and b) Ms. Lincoln Continental who almost swerved and ran over me because she had her toy dog on the steering wheel 'cause I guess it looked so darned adorable helping her drive, as well as almost in a major wreck because of c) Mr. I Can Too Have Reading Material on My Steering Wheel and Drive a Monster Pickup who almost ran the cab I was riding in off the road (actually this took place on a local highway, even scarier). That last one is so common in these parts that it's not funny. For me eating while driving falls into the same category. So IMHO if you must nosh, please pull over to a rest stop or try to have something filling before you leave home. Whether the food being consumed is greasy or hot or very liquid is irrelevant. I really don't think that there's any such thing as a "safe" food to eat while driving. I think it's very hard to overcome the reflex to try to catch something that's dropping from your fingers or to take your eyes from the road for "just a sec" to reach over and grab that next nibble. Edited for Grammar.

Battle andouille sounds great, but please don't give away the winner yet since I (and I assume many others) haven't seen it yet, okay?

I couldn't agree more Mrs. Jenner. Probably one of the absolute worst in this regard was Keith Famie. Talk about milking your 15 minutes of fame, this guy was a chef and a former unsuccessful contestant on Survivor. FTV went on to give him his own show "Keith Famie's Adventures" I think it was called, one of those never-been-done-before FTV shows where they send someone to different places and the host samples their food and responds to how well they like it. Being a chef you would think he of all people could find a multitude of ways to describe what he was eating but no. It was pretty much always the same response: "Uh (expressed in a kind of grunting manner), oooh, wow, this is really, really good!" as he bobbed his head up and down. Over and over and over again.

Have we had this conversation before, Ms. Diva? About that being one of my all-time favorite sandwiches too? My nickname for it is the Stinkbomb Special. ← Yes maybe we have had this conversation before mizducky. However, I'll see your Stinkbomb Special and raise it by adding egg salad, (homemade, of course) with or without the havarti. Extra stinky but yummy!

What's very close and may seem very tempting is Casablanca Restaurant, but for goodness' sake DON'T GO THERE! I remember eating there many years ago (about 10 years or so) and loved the food at lunch. You could purchase a lunch salad plate with something like seven/eight different salads: eggplant, beet, zucchini, chopped salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and parsley), potato, carrot, green bean, lentil, plus you could also order anything else from the menu. Later they added a buffet which had a lot of tasty items on it--couscous, a chicken dish, a vegetable dish, rice for a really good price. Also brought to the table was loaves of Moroccan bread, mint tea (or you could choose to have coffee, soda, water, beer/wine was offered as well I think), butter and, when requested, harissa. Then I and my friend/co-worker noticed that things seemed to change; more Middle-Eastern (which I love) appetizers like hummus, tabbouleah, etc. and less Moroccan style apps, and the main dish items seemed to slip a bit. The staff was always so nice and helpful at that time as well, very nice people. I always liked dining there. After a job change which took me away from that area several years later a good friend whose tastes I really trust, told me that her experience was not a good one: mediocre food, limited choices, etc., unhelpful/rude staff which falls in line with recent online reviews of the place, such as these: Casablanca Restaurant Reviews Note that one of the reviews is very recent one commenting on a 2006 Valentines' Day dinner. As was mentioned upthread, I've always liked Joe Thiesmann's, especially their burgers, French onion soup, mashed potatoes (complete with lumps) and their thick, juicy pork chops have always been delectable (I'd skip the so-called cajun seasoned pork chops and just get the regularly seasoned ones). Good eating. Edited for grammar and additional comments.

Beautiful liv4fud, great pictorial (wish I had some right now)! BTW, what is bhatore?

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Okay, fess up tommy: you've actually tasted that stuff, haven't you?

I have two: They used to have a flavor called Totally Nuts. Well I'd like them to take a rich vanilla ice cream, swirled with dulce de leche, stir in the same nuts used for Totally Nuts and some pieces of the bacon brittle a la Daniel pictured below, post #49. Daniel's Bacon Brittle Also how about a five flavored/five layered spumoni concoction? Top layer chocolate with dark chocolate shavings, then pistachio, then cherry (both Bing and tart cherries), then either rum raisin or amaretto, finally capuccino. Whew! A real party in your mouth.

My Stinky Feet Favorites: Stinky Feet Sandwich: Really good liverwurst (cheese optional, but I like havarti), raw onions, strong brown mustard, black bread. Yum. Liver in general. Piggie innards aka chitlins/maws. Strong stinky bleu cheeses of course. Canned smoked oysters.

Good points JohnL. I too miss the movie house matrons except where I grew up they were usually guys (what exactly is the male form of the word "matron?"). I agree that folks can get carried away sometimes. I remember on many occasions being pretty grossed out by stepping/sliding on someone's discarded chicken bones as I was getting a seat. Disgusting. One answer would be for theatres to offer regular and "dining" theatres in the same locations. Thank goodness we at least have this in our area: Arlington Cinema 'N' Draft House Wine Night, Bring Your Babies Night, Oscar Night................. Ah, civilization.

Eating lunch and trying not to spew all over my keyboard after reading this one! BTW JohnL did you get their names? Possibly Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty, Pebbles and BamBam? "bones hitting the floor" Oh My Gawd, too funny. Mostly I like to sneak in humongous bags or boxes of candy and maybe a canned beverage. I love raisinettes, but that ever shrinking box of them (I wonder if some company produces teeny tiny versions of candy just for theatres?) is absolutely not worth $1.50. So I'll spend the same amount or maybe just a buck more for a reasonable amount of candy. Also, I would love to buy their popcorn, but I like REAL BUTTER and not that awful butter flavored oil product.

I figured the apostrophe would get you to post here Sandy! *** Note to self: would pay good money to see Sandy actually don stilettos and a bustier; though I adore Alton Brown, him dressed as such would be just too weird *** Please get back to us after you've pitched your "Chippendale Cuisine" idea to FTV! And Rebecca263 it's obvious that I really need to be hangin' out with you since at the drop of a hat you're able to............ As for you saying that you'd like "solid cooking with your frills," I think FTV is attempting to do this with Rachel Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, and Tyler Florence each of whom (especially Rachel Ray) has made for some very vigorous debate on several eG threads. I don't know that I share your optimism--though I hope you're right--about the future of tv programming when you say "dumbing down can only go so far" since just when I think tv execs in general can't sink any lower, they usually do.

And do this demographic actually buy anything besides downloads for their iPods, time for Xbox360, and concert/movie tickets? Hell, they can see all the ta-tas they want online. I've always had respect for the professional women out there who don't "strip to sell." There are just fewer of them, it seems. ← Exactly, FabulousFoodBabe. There's a glut of "entertainment" programming out there for this demographic already, I mean we are totally saturated with it, which brings me back to what I posted during Sara Moulton's visit to eG: They're probably working out the final details of a new show along the lines of what Project outlined above, except it will probably feature a set of hottie triplets named Sandee/Sandii/San'dy "dressed" in full stripper regalia, wearing 5-inch stilleto heels, complete with a web-cam on the set, so that their 15-35 demographic can make suggestions for what they'd like them to do in the kitchen. I can see it now: "Uh, could you please bend down and check the internal temperature of that rib roast AGAIN?"

I didn't think it was possible for me to be any more disappointed with or pissed off at the Food Network exec's aspirations for programming than when I read Sara Moulton's comments re: the 15 to 35 male target demographic and the network saying they wanted "no chefs and no one with training." I was wrong. Thanks Chad for supplying the link to the article highlighting the differences between PBS' and FTV's food programming. Especially after reading the remarks by FTV execs, I have to say that: 1) They have absolutely no respect, as in NONE, for their own target audience. Phrases spouted by their execs like those of Tuschman or their senior VP of prime-time programming, Kathleen Finch, saying: “At 9 p.m. you don't want to work. You want to put your feet up and be entertained.” The fact that it eludes her that you can be simultaneously enlightened/educated and entertained is rather disturbing. 2) Frankly, if their target audience is lapping up this crap at record numbers no less, the FTV execs are right: THEY DON’T DESERVE ANY RESPECT. 3) But I find this to be the most offensive: Again, from Tuschman, “There are a lot of types of cooking that people love to eat but they don't want to see every day,” “Asian, Latin food, that's not what we’re doing now.” So exactly who are the “people” he speaks of that don’t want to see that type of food each day? Perhaps someone should put him in touch with the U.S. Census Bureau as there has been rapid growth in the population of people from Asian countries as well as Spanish-speaking countries. Is it beyond him to understand that people from those countries/ethnic backgrounds are also watching from home and might enjoy seeing those cuisines more prominently featured? Or that there are plenty of folks, regardless of heritage who would enjoy that type of programming if only they would give it a chance? The truly wonderful “My Country, My Kitchen” which only lasted a few episodes on food network, comes to mind. His comments, while not exactly racist, are definitely in the realm of culturally ignorant, at least IMHO.

This show had me drooling as well bavila. It was so delicious looking and creative. I especially loved Mario's dish that he said was inspired by a trip to Vietnam. He took cooked crawfish tails and added sriracha, fish sauce, lime juice, basil, and mint. He may have added some sambal oolek as well. Then he made a base of "cucumber" spaghetti and honeydew strips and topped it with the crawfish mixture. The challenger's dishes looked scrumptuous as well. Her manicotti with a crawfish bechamel and her take on bisteeya using crawfish tails and duck confit were definitely mouth watering. I wish FTV would publish the recipes as well, but since they're becoming less and less interested in actually showing people how to cook I wouldn't hold my breath. And I agree moosnsqrl about some of the comments of the judges. I remember that one of them complained that the bisteeya dish prepared by the challenger didn't need the duck confit. Believe me, I will never complain about duck confit any time, any where. And her comeback that you mentioned, which she did with a lot of class, for one of the judges to tuck in to the other side of her dish, was indeed brilliant. Anyone else remember some of the components of the other dishes?

Hi Rochelle. Kudos on this great blog. Were there any comments by the students on the difference in taste between homemade stock and the dreck that's in commercial canned soups? The canned stuff usually tastes of very little chicken and mostly salt. I love your definition of a serious cook as opposed to a dabbler. Also back to your chocolate demo, I was wondering if there are cases where one may not like the taste of a chocolate on its own but it turns out to be delicious when used in a recipe? Can you predict how the chocolate will affect a recipe by whether or not you like/dislike it by sampling it beforehand? BTW, could you please bottle up some of that tremendous energy you have and share it with me?

Why yes, my classes are very different. Tonight's class is a one-off at Frederick, entitled "Chocolate for your Valentine." It had 9 students last time I checked enrollment...all my other FCC classes have filled at 15 students, but it being Valentine's Day I suppose lots of people have other plans. The students at FCC are mostly adult hobbyists who like to watch Food Network, plus a couple of them drag their kids or their spouse or their best friend along for the ride. Thursday's class is part of a 6-class series. There's one student in that class who is about 21 and works in her mom's restaurant and wants to get more of the science and practical skills behind her work. There are two married couples and then a few women who are just really interested in food and cooking...some are returning to cooking what they feel like after they become single or their kids leave the nest for college, others are just doing it for fun. The students on Thursday tend to be a little more driven, but that makes sense because they've committed to a series of 6 sessions instead of just a night out. There will be more details in this blog about these classes as they happen, of course. ← This is great Rochelle! Mmmm, short ribs. I'm still mentally re-eating those short ribs we had during DC restaurant week. I hadn't read your previous blogs on eG, but I will now and I'm so looking forward to following this one. Too bad you can't web-cam your cooking classes so we could all take a peek at you in action. As for a starchy side dish, how about grits. Yeah, yeah, I know, that might scare some folks off. If so, just call it the Basics of Polenta 101.

Of course, just PM me before you come to France, and I'll take you to a market when I have a chance. I'll show you how to spot a true maraîcher, a true small producer, and a true tourist trap (if we find one). ← Thanks for your response and clarifications Ptipois. You remind me of a man that sold fresh fish/shellfish from a truck in front of the office building where I used to work. I happened to see him one day as he was stepping out of his truck with several well wrapped packages and I said hello and looked up at his truck. Unfortunately I can't remember his name/name on the side of truck but it definitely had something to do with fish and seafood. We made some small talk and he let me know that several people in our building purchased seafood from him which he delivered. Of course, never known for keeping a secret, I ran upstairs and told all of my girlfriends about this guy. Consequently we began purchasing seafood from him off the back of his truck. He's such a nice person and as time went on we got to know him better and he began to bring produce with him from a small farm he and wife had as well: string beans, tomatoes, peaches, strawberries, squash, and more. Why your response reminded me of him was that, being a city girl raised by two people who were raised on farms, I learned to be able to taste the difference between mass produced, grocery store produce and the "real" thing. I'm telling you that this guy had the real thing. The best example of this were his strawberries which unlike the supermarket strawberries that one can find here all year round, these had such a deep berry flavor, were red through and through (our supermarket strawberries tend to be red on the outside, white and cottony on the inside) and so sweet and juicy that you almost needed a bib to eat them. His fish and seafood and all of the other produce he sold was delicious as well. All of the artiface in the world comes to a screeching halt for me as soon as I actually taste the food. Believe me the difference in taste between what he sold and what's being sold at our local Safeway is unmistakeable. Now, if only I could get someone here to sponsor my "research" trip to France.

Yum Jason! Umm, I'm inviting myself for dinner, so the directions to your house would be.................?

It's been so long ago Sugerella that you may be right and we both saw the same show. I don't seem to recall that program focusing on anyone in particular or following one set of people more closely than the other. What I do recall was the utter inhumanity of the people employing--and I use that term loosely--these people and just how desperate to survive one would have to be to do this kind of work and live under those conditions. It was indeed heartbreaking. I guess what I'm trying to say is that be it chocolate and child slaves or those poor souls in the Florida groves, how do we stop enabling them? Only eat what we grow ourselves, research every morsel of food we put into our mouths? I really don't know.

I appreciate your insights Ptipois since I have never been to France and would probably be spotted a mile away as a clueless American tourista. However, I must refer back to the original article posted by Jamie which deals at length with the fact that there are purveyors who purhase their goods from wholesalers who are quite adept at painting themselves as "real producers with real produce" when indeed they are creating the same types of displays of "their" produce you mention above--modest stalls and few produce--and going to quite elaborate lengths to achieve this. So would you say that even then one should be able to tell the difference between the real thing and the fakes? At any rate, if I ever get to go to France, I'll need all of the help and advice you can give.

Oh, admire them, if only because nobody plays the French card quite the way the French do. ← Thanks Jamie. A couple of things occurred to me regarding this topic. Does this mean that the French with their "superior" taste buds aren't so different from us Yanks, meaning that they can't tell the difference between a mass produced (FILL IN THE BLANK) from the artisnal product any better than many Americans? As for the products that come from the wholesalers, are they dumbed down versions of the real thing or are they able to recreate the genuine article, just en masse? Finally, here in the states we have a multitude of laws at the Federal and state levels governing truth in advertising and a very lawsuit-happy population (I have no idea what laws/penalties are out there that may address what purveyors at our farmers markets must say or advertise about their wares). What about the laws of France? I would assume that they probably have a much more casual approach than we do here.