So where has he been all this time? Haven’t we seen him in the kitchen in the past several years? I know I have been watching him on TV cooking this whole time!

The matter of going back to the kitchen for Chef Mario Batali is as real as can be, though. He means actually cooking – for real – and not for a TV audience. As you may have heard from other chefs, TV cooking is not the same as actually making your own food in the kitchens of your restaurants. We’ve already heard so many critics lambasting celebrity chefs. They’re too busy cooking on air. They’re too busy running their restaurant empires. They’re not in touch with the real chef in them.

Well, Batali is not content to do that anymore. He wants to go back to his roots and is undertaking a gigantic project. Some time this year, he is set to launch six new restaurants for Eataly. Nice name, huh? But not as nice as what Batali is supposed to be cooking up. Time reports:

There will be a meat restaurant, a fish one, a pasta and pizza operation, a vegetable restaurant, a panino bar and a brewery-gastropub on the roof deck. It’s a giant undertaking, but Batali is a force of nature. He is creating all of the restaurants himself, after having spent years away from cooking. Whether he can pull it off remains to be seen. But he’s psyched to be even trying.

Well I am psyched for him, my favorite American Iron Chef!

Michelin stars are not easy to come by, and we all look at restaurants in a different light once they get these stars. IF they have 3 Michelin stars, that ups the game to a whole new level, doesn’t it? There isn’t any restaurateur in the entire world that would not want to earn those three stars, but chef Ferran Adria is one of the fortunate ones (and deserving as well) to have earned them.

His restaurant El Bulli has been hailed by many – professional and amateur foodies alike – to be the best in the world. I haven’t had the honor of dining there myself, but I would give an arm and a leg to do so. Unfortunately, the rumor is that the chef is closing El Bulli for good. Last month, he announced that he would be closing the restaurant for two years – 2012 and 2013. He did so at Madrid Fusion, a conference for Spanish chefs. Why he would want to do that, who knows.

More recently, chef Adria announced that the closure of El Bulli is going to be for good. He said that instead of running the restaurant, he would be running a culinary school – an advanced one at that. Apparently, he and his partner have been losing money (large amounts of it) steadily on the restaurant. Again, how this could have happened, I haven’t the slightest idea!

In any case, this closure is going to be a sad one for the hordes of foodies around the world – especially for those like me who have never had the chance to sample their fare.

Have you been missing Emeril? Honestly, I haven’t. Still, I find him interesting to watch every now and then. I cannot forget that home style beer clambake that he did one time (many years ago). Anyway, those of you who have been wanting to see more of the “bam!” will be thrilled to know that Emeril has partnered up with ION TV for a whole new TV show.

Dubbed “The Emeril Lagasse Show,” it will be aired on a weekly basis. The hour-long TV show will premiere on the 28th of March at 8pm and will be aired every Sunday. Here’s more information from the Press Release:

“The Emeril Lagasse Show” will feature one of America’s most popular chefs as he has never been seen before. Each week, Emeril will welcome celebrity guests, musicians and entertainers to break news and break bread as Emeril shares his world, his friends and his passions with the studio audience and viewers at home. A house band will be on set, playing live music and interacting with Emeril, guests and audience. The show also will include entertaining and surprising field pieces that will be shot in and around New York City where the show will be taped. TV veteran Karen Katzand After Five Productions, which executive produced Lagasse’s long-running Food Network series, “Emeril Live,” will be executive producer of “The Emeril Lagasse Show”.

Reading that, it sounds quite familiar, doesn’t it? Maybe it is NOT a groundbreaking show, but at least Emeril fans will get to see their favorite chef on TV regularly again.

Giada De Laurentiis is certainly one of the hottest celebrity chefs around. While I may not agree with the physical perception of many, there is no denying that she is one of the most popular chefs today. Retail giant Target seems to recognize that as well as they have partnered up with her to sell a line of cookware and food products.

Dubbed Giada De Laurentiis for Target, the cookware and food products selection is touted to be exclusive and yet affordable. According to Kathy Tesija, executive vice president of Target’s merchandising, their customers “want kitchen gear that makes their daily cooking easier and more enjoyable, and Giada’s collection delivers.” She also says that they “combined design expertise with Giada’s culinary background to create a product collection that pairs utility with great design and affordability.”

What exactly are they selling? Pots and pans, ceramic containers for baking, pasta sauces, flavored coffee, and other kitchen tools. Also available are different varieties of pasta and dressings. One set that I find particularly interesting is the Tri Ply Clad cookset. The inclusions in the set:

• 2 saute pans, one is 8 inches and the other is 9.5 inches; both are open
• 3 sauce pans: 1 quart, 2 quarts, and 3 quarts; all have lids
• 1 Dutch oven with lid: 5 quarts

For $199.99, I think that it’s a pretty good deal.

The idea behind the line is to impart Giada’s cooking expertise and family traditions while at the same time to provide customers with Target quality.

Would you buy these products?

Something new is coming to American television and it will get the average joe cooking and competing with others of his own caliber! Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is reportedly bringing MasterChef to the US and he is excited about it. MasterChef, unlike other cooking shows, features amateurs. That is, the contestants will have no cooking background and will only bring their innate talent with them to the kitchen.

While the basic idea behind the show will be the same as the original MasterChef in the UK, Ramsay says he will do some things differently, and I am not in the least bit surprised. After all, Chef Ramsay has not risen to popularity because of conformity, has he?

He says that he will not stand for chefs (pros or amateurs) stuffing their faces when tasting their concoctions. Whether it is on or off camera, Ramsay says he will be tasting the food in little bits. He also admitted to having problems with vegetarian dishes and claims that he needs MEAT. That’s the way to go, chef!

So when will we be seeing MasterChef on American TV? I haven’t gotten the exact details but it should be anytime this year – preferably sooner than later. As we all know, however, Chef Ramsay is quite the busy bee. He has several shows in the US already (Cookalong Live, Hell’s Kitchen, and Kitchen Nightmares USA among others), not to mention his UK shows. Then there are his restaurants which are scattered all over.

We just have to wait and see, I guess.

Jamie Oliver has always been known for taking up causes close to his heart. As we start a new year, he is making the headlines yet again. The cause? Childhood obesity.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but children these days are leaning towards the big size. It could be because of the amount of food they’re consuming. It could also be due to the quality of the food. Then again, there could be other factors such as the level of physical activity that children engage in nowadays. I am quite sure, however, that all these play a role in the tendency to be unhealthy.

Some non-profit groups in the United Kingdom have banded together, and Jamie Oliver is taking part in their activities as well. He actually recently won $100,000 from TED due to his efforts. The money is intended to fund the celebrity chef’s campaign to improve school lunches in the United Kingdom in terms of their nutritional value. Dubbed “Feed Me Better,” this campaign has been going on for quite some time and has gained a lot of interest.

I wonder if other celebrity chefs will be interested in undertaking similar projects? Take a look around you, in the United States – children are even in more need of help in terms of eating healthily and avoiding all the complications that childhood obesity can bring about. Maybe the change does not need to stem from someone like Jamie Oliver. Maybe you and I can do something about it, even in our own little ways.

If you’re a chef, do you have an excuse to gain a few pounds here and there? The argument has been going on forever – “How can you be a chef who’s skinny?” While I certainly can see the point of that argument, anyone can also see that it has so many holes in it that if it were a person, it would die within the hour. Perhaps that is why the trend seems to be celebrity chefs losing weight.

Let’s start with Alton Brown, who has become quite popular courtesy of The Food Network. He said that his weight loss program all started due to him seeing himself on TV. The saying that TV adds 10 pounds has never been truer in this case, and he also noticed that his audience tended to be on the heavy side as well. This combination brought him to his senses and he has lost 50 pounds since March of this year – a remarkable feat considering his line of work.

Then there’s Mario Batali and Michael Psilakis. They’ve both shed unnecessary weight in the past year. The bottom line is that these people have realized that while they work with delectable concoctions day in and day out, they do not have to eat as much as they used to.

For some, like Brown, it was not that bad. For others, it is taking more effort. At the end of the day, their regimens have this in common: they stayed off fatty food and ate less. I think exercise was factored into the equation as well.

Yes, dietitians, nutritionists, and doctors – you were right all along. Less food intake plus some exercise equals weight loss. Do we need celebrity chefs to convince us?

Giada DeLaurentiis may not be my favorite celebrity chef, but this recipe of hers warms my heart – and stomach. Many of you are probably enjoying your beautiful surroundings, courtesy of the snow that has fallen everywhere, but I am also sure that you cannot help but dislike the cold that it brings with it. The next time you go out into that cold winter day, make sure that you have some of this soup ready for you when you get back – you’ll forget your irritation for sure.

Hearty tomato soup with lemon and rosemary
Giada DeLaurentiis
Makes 6 to 8 servings

INGREDIENTS
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 15-ounce can cannellini (white) beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• Zest of one lemon

DIRECTIONS
I made this for an après-ski menu on “Everyday Italian.” It is quite hearty and the beans give it nice body without making it too thick. The whipped cream garnish is beautiful and becomes even more fragrant as it slowly melts into the soup.

In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and garlic and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes, broth, bay leaf, 1 teaspoon rosemary, and red pepper flakes. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, covered.
Puree the soup in a blender in batches, being careful to remove and discard the bay leaf. Return the soup to a soup pot and keep warm over low heat.

Season with salt and pepper.

In a medium bowl, whip the cream to soft peaks. Fold in the lemon zest and the remaining teaspoon of rosemary. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and dollop each bowl with the lemon rosemary whipped cream. Serve immediately.

In the recipe provided by MSNBC, this soup is supposed to go excellently with panini. Visit the article for the panini recipe, or choose your own bread to go with the soup!

If I were to meet celebrity chef Jamie Oliver face to face (or even simply talk to him on the phone), that would be the question to ask. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but he is currently working on a new TV show, titled Jamie’s American Road Trip. The filming of the actual footages is over and done with, and some tidbits of information have been released.

The Telegraph recently published a feature on the 34-year-old chef, and they revealed what is perhaps the most exotic dish that Jamie Oliver has sampled to date. You guessed it – sheep’s penis. The new TV show revolves around Jamie’s trip all over the United States to sample local dishes. Of course, one would normally think of hamburgers and hotdogs; but the Naked Chef went out of his way – literally – to get a taste of the “real” America.

In Arizona, he bypassed famous American fast food chains and went deep into the desert instead. He paid a visit to an almost extinct American Indian tribe in a Navajo reservation. There, he was treated to a plethora of traditional dishes, many of which the tribe has been enjoying for more than a thousand years.

The highlight of the visit? Sheep penis and intestines. YUM! Jamie, like most hosts of foodie shows, has a strong stomach and an even stronger spirit when it comes to trying out new food. A source from the production team says, though, that the sheep’s penis was quite a test for Jamie.

So, Jamie, what was it like?

I have been trying to eat healthy in the past month, and I have to say that I think my efforts are paying off! First thing I did was to quit eating so much fried food – believe it or not, I used to eat fried something every single day. Another thing was to buy more chicken and fish and less beef and pork. Of course, looking for easy but good recipes was the next step.

In the course of my search, I ran across a recipe from Rocco DiSpirito. It combines three of my favorite ingredients – chicken, beans, and parmesan. It also makes use of spinach, but I am thinking that if I don’t feel like it, it can be removed from the recipe.

Buy
FRESH: Boneless, skinless chicken breasts; basil; baby spinach; Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
STAPLES: Crushed red pepper; low-sodium chicken broth; salt and pepper
PACKAGED: Pasta sauce; cannellini beans

Ingredients
3 14-ounce cans low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons tomato-and-basil pasta sauce
1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced thin
Salt and pepper
6 ounces prewashed baby spinach
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. In a Dutch oven, bring chicken broth, pasta sauce, cannellini beans, and crushed red pepper to a simmer. Turn heat to low.
2. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper; add to broth. Gently poach chicken, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes. (The broth should barely simmer.)
3. Stir in baby spinach. Continue cooking soup until spinach is wilted and chicken is just cooked through, about 2 minutes more.
4. Stir in basil; season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle soup into bowls, and top with grated cheese.

Nutrition facts per serving: 407 calories, 43g protein, 36g carbohydrate, 10g fat (3g saturated), 10g fiber.

Makes 4 servings.

Recipe adapted from Rocco Gets Real by Rocco DiSpirito, Meredith Books, 2008.

Let’s go try it!

Recipe courtesy of Fitness Magazine