Ancient Chinese Secret?

October 25, 2006

No, actually China is the only region we aren’t working with in this episode, with sushi from Japan and a Korean and Vietnamese Cultural Event. Before I get to chatting about week two of TC, I wanna talk about my trip to NY where I met the newbies fact-to-face.

I flew out to attend an event on the eve before TC2 premiered to have dinner at Craft, but with food prepared by Harold Dieterle from Season 1. Craft is a beautiful space and Tom has done a great job with the entire look and feel, it’s very well designed and a cool place to hang out. While nibbling on some of Harold’s new creations, several of the gals from TC2 came up to say “hello.” I met Josie, Suyai, Elia and Marisa. They were all very friendly and fun and had many questions for me about what’s happening now, how do you get an agent, what do I do next, etc.

One of the things that I mentioned to them is one of my philosophies that I carry still to this day, which is to have no attachment or expectation to the show and its outcome. If you live each day with this in mind, you will have nothing to worry or stress out about. It will all happen organically if it is really meant to be for you, you have no control of what may manifest itself. Just be true to yourself and your convictions and good things will hopefully come your way. And for all of those who care to know about the latest on me, I will have a really exciting updated blog here soon about some of the great meetings I had in NY the week of the TC2 premiere.

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From the Bleachers: Top Chef 2

October 18, 2006

Hello everyone, and welcome back to TC kitchen stadium. It’s time for a whole new set of faces, attitudes and of course a spattering of drama. I just had the opportunity to take a look at the new cast for Top Chef, Season 2. Very interesting stuff. P.S. Where’s Tiffany? I thought she might be brought back to prove to everyone she isn’t as mean as she appeared to be. But no such luck. The good news is there is one familiar face on Episode 1 and that is of our fearless leader, Harold Dieterle.

Another face missing from the pack is that true sweetheart of a gal, Katie Lee. I actually caught up with her and Lee Anne Wong (Season 1) last night at a favorite Italian hotspot of Katie’s. (Ballato’s on E. Houston in New York -- you gotta go all the pastas are made by hand, yum.) The food was fantastic and we had three solid courses and it was really fun hanging with Katie off set and chatting about food and what’s been going on with the three of us since the run of show. All of us have so many great things happening as a result of the show and it’s success. Katie truly has a big heart and unfortunately no one really got to see that side of her from Season 1, so keep your eyes peeled because she has some great things coming down the line.

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Emmys And More. . .

October 02, 2006

Where am I now? It’s hard to keep track. I have been so crazed with catering all over town for everyone from former clients to new fans from the show. It’s been so great and I am so thankful to all of you for the continued support.

Alright, time to get caught up. When we last spoke, I had finished up with New Orleans and Ohio. In the last couple of weeks, I have done everything from participate as a speaker at the L.A. Food and Wine Expo, perform demos and classes at three of the highest volume Williams-Sonoma stores in the country and served as guest chef at restaurants in of all places, The OC (my former stomping ground).

My summer and fall programs for Williams-Sonoma featured several fun recipes that I’m happy to share with you here.

Try to get the Grilled Summer Corn Salad in before it’s too cold, and you can serve up my tasty Artichoke and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and pita crisps.

Grilled Summer Corn Salad
Serves 6-8 guests

6 Ears of Sweet Corn or the best corn you can find, grilled and cut off the cob

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted to basted the corn while grilling

½ medium size Red onion, chopped small dice
½ bunch of Cilantro, just the tops
2 Red bell pepper, small dice
2 Poblano chilies, small dice
4 Roma tomatoes, small dice
1 Tbsp. Kosher salt
2 tsp. Black pepper
2 tsp. Sugar

Vinaigrette:

12 cloves of Roasted garlic, method from Dave or your own, chopped fine or mashed
½ cup of Champagne vinegar
¼ cup of Orange or clover honey
one cup of Fresh squeezed OJ
½ cup of mango juice
2 Limes, juiced
2 Tbsp. hazelnut or your favorite nut oil, but not sesame

Method:
Grill Corn and paint with melted butter or not. Let corn cool off, then remove kernels from corn and set aside. Make the vinaigrette using a whisk or hand or tabletop blender and taste for seasoning , if you like more tang add more champagne vinegar. Place all ingredients in the salad in a large bowl and dress with vinaigrette, adjust for seasoning , if needed. Serve along side a grilled tri-tip or your favorite chicken or straight-up on it’s own.

Artichoke and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

2 (15 oz) cans of garbanzo beans (drained)
½ cup of fire roasted garlic
1 cup of artichoke hearts (packed in water or oil and liquid removed)
1 cup fire roasted red peppers
1 Tbls. Lemon juice
1 Tbls. Extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbls. Kosher salt
2 tsp. black pepper

Method:
Blend all ingredients in food processor and then mix in large bowl to integrate all ingredients, if needed. Adjust seasoning accordingly, it should not tasted like blended garbanzo beans. Serve with the homemade pita crisps(see below).

Pita Crisps (also can be used for Crostini and croutons)

1 pkg of pita bread (your favorite brand and type)
½ cup butter
½ cup olive oil
2 tsp black pepper
½ cup Parmesan cheese

tools…
sheet tray or cookie sheet
pastry brush
scissors

Method:
Using kitchen shears cut each pita in half and then cut each half into 3 pieces and carefully separate the bread at the crease to yield 12 triangles from each pita.

Melt butter and oil together in pan and add pepper and Parmesan in a bowl along with the butter. You will brush this mixture onto the pitas and you may sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese and pepper to taste. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake very carefully and keep an eye on the oven as these guys because they will burn easily. Bake until crispy and cheese has color usually about 5-8 minutes. These can be stored in Ziploc bags when cooled for up to one week.

** The same method can be applied to making crostini and croutons (using French ,sourdough bread or other).

Now, time for Emmy events and a look into the world of celebrity swag.

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