Chef Matsuhisa began as a Shinjuku Sushi Chef in Japan. A customer invited him to open a restaurant in Peru and the chef took the risk. He later decided to give up Peru and move to Alaska were misfortune caused his restaurant to burn after a mere 50 days. Not one to give up easily, Chef Matsuhisa opened another restaurant. California was his chosen venue this time and the first Matsuhisa was born.

Currently, Chef Matsuhisa has 17 restaurants spread out across the world. They can be found in California, Colorado, London, Milan, New York, Tokyo, Las Vegas, Greece and Hong Kong. Each Nobu and Matsuhisa restaurant has wonderful food made from the heart and excellent service – factors that are a requirement for this chef.

Chef Matsuhisa is a very unassuming person. He doesn’t grandstand but he is considered by many the master of Nouveau Nipponese food. If you love Japanese food, you will definitely want to go to the nearest Nobu or Matsuhisa. Be sure to make your reservations as early as possible.

TV has a hundred and one tricks to make cooking look really fast and easy. This includes making some of the dishes before the show starts or having the make up of the celebrity chefs constantly retouched so that they don’t look like they sweat while they cook – like the cooks truly do.

This is why the shows of Bobby Flay and Rachael Ray are so popular. Almost all the dishes that they feature on their shows really are prepared within the time allotted by the network. Add that the food really comes out delicious, as well as beautiful to look at, is it any wonder that their fan base keep growing?

Here’s an easy recipe from Chef Bobby Flay (Throwdown With Bobby Flay) that is really great. Try this Philly Cheese Steak for yourself:

Ingredients:

• 2 to 2 1/2 pound strip loin, trimmed
• Olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Soft hoagie rolls, split 3/4 open
• Provolone Sauce, recipe follows
• Sauteed Mushrooms, recipe follows
• Caramelized Onions, recipe follows
• Sauteed Peppers, recipe follows

Directions:

Place steak in freezer for 30 to 45 minutes; this makes it easier to slice the meat. Remove the meat from the freezer and slice very thinly.

Heat griddle or grill pan over high heat. Brush steak slices with oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 45 to 60 seconds per side.

Place several slices of the meat on the bottom half of the roll, spoon some of the cheese sauce over the meat, and top with the mushrooms, onions, and peppers.

Provolone Sauce:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk, heated
1 cup grated aged provolone cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the warm milk, and cook, whisking constantly until thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and whisk in the provolone and Parmesan until combined; season with the salt and pepper.

Sauteed Mushrooms:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds mushrooms (cremini and shiitake), coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil and butter in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are golden brown. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Caramelized Onions:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoons canola oil
3 large Spanish onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat butter and oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook slowly until golden brown and caramelized, stirring occasionally, approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

Sauteed Peppers:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 poblano peppers, thinly sliced
2 Cubano peppers, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in medium saute pan over high heat. Add the peppers and cook until soft. Season with salt and pepper.

Although today she has won numerous accolades for being a fabulous pastry chef, Gale’s first claim to fame was a photograph taken for Life magazine when she was 6 years old, as she was making mud pies.

She’s the executive pastry chef at Tru, a fancy Chigago restaurant popular with connoisseurs, and holds the same position at Cenitare restaurants, LLC, and is polularly known as the lady who makes the best desserts in the city.

Aside from her tv show, Gale has been writing cookbooks since 1997, her sixth and latest one, entitled “Chocolate and Vanilla” is due out in bookstores later this year. Her awards are many and too long to mention, but needless to say, the unassuming Gale has won the praise and respect in the culinary world for her simple talent – creating the most dreamy desserts.
Next time you’re in Chicago, drop into her casual and scrumptuous pastry/coffee bar, simply called “Gale’s Coffee Bar”, and you may bump into Gale herself in another role she loves, this time as Mom with her son Gio and 2-year-old fraternal twin girls, Ella Nora and Ruby Grace. Those lucky kids are bound to be the hit at their future school bake sales.

“Chris’s illness made me realize that floating on foie gras and bathing in butter might not be in the best interest of my customers.”

This was back in 1994, and since then, Nischan has revolutionized cooking, creating a cuisine where the dishes are not just good for you and taste fantastic, but more imporatntly, the ingredients used are purely organic products.

A farmer’s son, Nischan was raised on the land, which laid the foundations for his organic understanding about food:

“I was raised to understand that the soul of a vegetable comes from the soil, and the rain is its life-blood…The food we grow and eat in the place we call home defines who we are and what we care about.” He says.

His career flourished through several successful restaurants in the Mid-west, until he shot to stardom when he introduced his new concepts of organic eating at the Heartbeat restuarant at the W Hotel in New York City in 1997.

Since then, Nischan has authored two groundbreakingcookbooks on the subject of organic eating – Homegrown Pure and Simple: Great Healthy Food from Garden to Table (2005) and Taste Pure and Simple: Irresistible Recipes for Good Food and Good Health (2003), which went on the New York Times Bestseller lists as well as win James Beard Foundation awards.

His clear vision, talent and know-how on organic eating has caught the attention of people everywhere, and Nischan has been a busy man indeed, making numerous television appearances, writing for newspapers and magazines, serving as board member for Harvard Medical School’s Center for Health and The Global Environment, is one of the key organizers of the New American Farmers Initiative (NAFI), and he takes part in helping major food companies work on their issues on sustainable food systems. He also served as host chef for a dinner for the Dalai Lama.

More recently, Nischan has opened a retaurant with another organic food advocate, Paul Newman, “The Dressing Room – A Homegrown Restaurant” in Westport, Connecticut.

If there ever was a celebrity chef to remember for the 21st century, it would be Michel Nischan.

Directions:

1. Place the egg yolks in a large stainless-steel bowl and add the mustard and anchovies. Mix well, then add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and pepper and mix well again. Slowly whisk in the oil, then add the Cognac and mix again. Fold in the onion, capers, cornichons, and parsley.

2. Add the chopped meat to the bowl and mix well using a spoon or your hands. Divide the meat evenly among the six chilled dinner plates and, using a ring mold or spatula, form it into disks on the plates. Serve immediately with French fries and toasted bread points.

Some words of steak tartare wisdom from Tony:

“Les Halles, the restaurant, was pretty much created to serve this dish. The key to a successful steak tartare is fresh beef, freshly hand-chopped at the very last minute and mixed tableside. A home meat grinder with a fairly wide mesh blade is nice to have, but you can and should use a very sharp knife and simply chop and chop and chop until fine. The texture will be superior. And do not dare use a food processor on this dish – you?ll utterly destroy it.”

*note: my sister and I like to temper the acidity by adding a little cream or milk during the last whisk at the end. Also, it is well worth the effort to pound the breasts as much as possible before cooking.

Giada’s Chicken Piccata

2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and give it a shake to remove excess.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil.

When butter and oil start to sizzle, add 2 pieces of chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate.

Melt 2 more tablespoons butter and add another 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the other 2 pieces of chicken and brown both sides in same manner.

Remove pan from heat and add chicken to the plate.

Into the pan add the lemon juice, stock and capers. Return to stove and bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Check for seasoning. Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk vigorously. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley.

There is nothing as important as feeding our children. Yet food for kids isn’t exactly something that you see on TV everyday. In fact there are only a few people writing about it.

Enter Annabel Karmel. She is a household name in the UK. She is an inspirig person. She is not just a cook, she is also a mother which is why each of her recipes have been carefully tested against the best possible guage: her own kids.

Annabel Karmel studied at the Cordon Bleu school. It was the loss of her first child, Natasha, that she began to write. She believes that the one element that any parent can control that will help determine their health is what they eat. She began to create recipes that her son would enjoy eating yet still meet his dietary needs. The result: her first published book in 1991 titled The Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner.

By no means though is she a homely, matronly looking mom. She may have 3 kids but she has kept physically active. She is a fun person who enjoys skiing, tennis and roller blading. She is also a musician and singer. In fact she has performed with Liberace, Denis Waterman, Queen Elizabeth and Boy George. The instrument she has performed on is the harp, though she also plays violin. She has also had a recording career.

To date she has several books under her belt. Her recipes are all kid friendly and are fun to make. If you have a fussy eater, try some of her recipes.

She has also been seen on TV as the Foodie Godmother on the Richard and Judy Show, BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen and BBC2’s Working Lunch.

Gary Rhodes first discovered a love for cooking at the age of thirteen. The delight of his family over the Sunday roast and steamed lemon pudding he prepared was the spark that lit his passion for the culinary art.

He trained at the Thanet technical college. After graduation he decided that he needed to expand his knowledge and increase his culinary skills, and figured the best way to do this was by travelling. He went off to Amsterdam where he worked as a commis chef at the Amsterdam Hilton.

He has worked as a sous chef at the Reform Club, Pall Mall, at the Capital Hotel in Knightsbridge and later in the Castle Hotel, Taunton in Somerset as the head chef. The Castle Hotel is where he truly began to make his mark, earning his first Michelin Star.

He moved to the Greenhouse Restaurant in Mayfair in 1990 where he earned his second Michelin Star. By this time his reputation was well established. He was already considered a master of the culinary art. He continued to bring a personal modern touch to classic traditional British favorite dishes.

Finally in 1997 he opened his own restaurant, City Rhodes and a year later Rhodes in the Square. Both establishments were awarded Michelin Stars. He later opened brasseries called Rhodes and Co. in Manchester, Edinburgh and Crawley. The first two were awarded the Michelin Bib – the award given to good moderately priced food.

His first appearance on TV was on the show Hot Chefs while he was 27. He has had numerous shows including Rhodes Around Britain and Gary’s Perfect Christamas. He has even hosted a show for kids with recipes based on Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes.
He also has several cookbooks to his name including Gary Rhodes’ Cookery Year: Spring into Summer and Gary Rhodes’ Cookery Year: Autumn into Winter.

So what’s in this drink?

Here’s what you need:

• LOTS of chocolate ice cream
• LOTS of peanut butter
• Heavy cream (LOTS, preferably)

Put these ingredients together and then blend. Yup, the mixture blends, and it blends well!

So what’s the problem with the drink? Think about it – you don’t need to be Sheldon Cooper to realize just how many calories are in this drink. To be exact, the drink has more than 12 percent butter-fat content. The total number of calories equals the amount that the average person needs in one day: 2,010!

If the numbers do not impress you, think about it more. The drink is equivalent to 68 rashers of bacon. If it’s sweet stuff that you like, think about 30 chocolate chip cookies. Baad but good!

So where can you get this drink? Head on over to a Cold Stone Creamery branch – you’ll be sure to find one of the 400 branches scattered all over the United States. Ask for the PB&C – just make sure you don’t eat anything else during the day. One drink is all you need to complete three meals.

Another reason that has got me thinking about watching the show – or at least getting the DVD set – is celebrity chef Tom Colichio’s appearance. In the Season 2 DVD, there are a lot of extras included – as one can expect of any DVD set. I am particularly interested in the segment where the chef makes a drink (blood, of course) for vampires.

The drink is for vampires who do not want to “eat” humans simply for ethical reasons. Yup, there are vampires who have given up this habit and stay clear of “free-range humans” as well. So, the chef, who has quite a few friends who are vampires, decided to come up with a solution to the dilemma.

If you want a taste of what the DVD has to offer, check out the video below. You’ll certainly want to see more after watching the chef showcase his talents. Oh yeah, did I mention that he’s kinda cute? Even if he’s not a vampire.