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?

Yes, it is a fork, literally. Celebrity chef Tyler Florence has been operating a cookware store for about a year now in Mill Valley. Dubbed the Tyler Florence Shop (no mistaking who owns this store!), the shop has had a signature fork as its storefront symbol. There is nothing ordinary about this fixture – it weighs a hefty 50 pounds!

Early this month, the police received a report that the 50-pound fork was missing. This was on the 10th of June, although the employees already noticed that it was missing about two days prior to the report. (Well it would be kinda hard NOT to notice a missing fork that big, don’t you think?) Anyhow, they thought that it might have been a school prank so they didn’t think much of it in the beginning.

Now, the missing fork is causing quite a stir, with celebrity chef Tyler Florence himself appealing to people over Twitter. He even offered a reward to whoever finds it and returns it!

The celebrity chef, as much as he might be missing his fork, is not so dense as not to see the humor in the situation, though. Together with his wife, Tyler continues his search for his fork but also welcomes the laughter that it occasionally brings. Indeed, where else have you heard about such an online buzz about a missing fork?

So, if any of you have heard about or seen this fork, let the chef know. You’ll make him happy AND get a reward for it too!

Photo courtesy of Food Network

Who is your favorite celebrity chef? I bet that I would get tons of different answers from each of you. More so, I bet that all of them would be at least 30 years old. I would even go as far as to say that no one would be less than 20 years old, much less someone who is 5 years old.

But yes, there is a celebrity chef who is aged 5! His name is Julian Kreusser and boy, is he cute! At this very young age, Julian says that he has always dreamt of having his own cooking show, well, at least since he was four years old. Now that he is five, his dreams have come true. Talk about getting your wish!

Julian is the host of The Big Kitchen With Food, a TV program that is shown over the Portland Community Media. True, it is not The Food Network or some other big cable channel, but hey, how many 5-year-olds can say that they have their own cooking show?

I have never seen his show, but Sylvia McDaniel, the executive director of Portland Community Media, says that viewers are loving Julian and his show. She says that in spite of his age (did I mention that Julian is only 5?), he actually understands what he is doing and is not simply following orders.

What can I say? I have to see this show. Heck, I can’t even trust my 8-year-old brother to make me a scrambled egg yet!

Now that sounds rather fun, doesn’t it? Food fight? Heck, count me in! So what is this all about? TV channel 4 in the UK has gotten together 4 of the most popular celebrity chefs in the country. Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall – these are the 4 heavyweights that will battle it out over the 2 weeks that the show will be aired.

So what will the platform be? Would we be seeing something similar to Iron Chef? As much as I love that show, I find the idea of this food fight quite interesting as well. The platform is such that each of the celebrity chefs would have his own program and his own challenge. Let’s meet the challengers.

Heston “The Geek” Blumenthal
His challenge? To turn Little Chef restaurants into something of a success. Currently, these restaurants do not have the best reputation. The Geek has £350,000 and 6 months to do his job.

Gordon “Raging Bull” Ramsay
His challenge is to “force” the locals to eat out at restaurants. It could be a tough one since people are cutting back on extra expenses.

Jamie “The Kid” Oliver
The pretty boy chef is going on a campaign to rescue British pork. He needs to encourage the people to buy locally grown pork products as opposed to cheaper imported ones.

Hugh “The Squire” Fearnley-Whittingstall
If Jamie is to take on the case of pork, The Squire is going to take up for chicken.

Now the variety in the challenges is sure to present interesting episodes, isn’t it?

Who is the sexiest chef on TV today? If you were to ask the women in UK, they would probably say Gordon Ramsay. At least, that’s what the polls have shown. One Poll carried out the research last month and announced the results late in November. In The News has this report:

The F Word host and richest chef in the world topped a poll of TVcooks voted for by more than 4,000 women.

Though tabloid reports recently emerged claiming Ramsay has been cheating on his wife for seven years, his alleged infidelity seems not to have dented his sex appeal among female fans.

A spokesman for www.OnePoll.com, which carried out the research, said: “We weren’t surprised that Gordon came out on top.

“Women go for bad boys all the time. The fact he’s rumoured to be cheating on his wife for years only adds to his appeal.

“It makes him more obtainable for everyday women on the street.”

Hell’s Kitchen’s Jean-Christophe Novelli, 47, was voted second while Marco-Pierre White, Ramsay’s former mentor, came in third.

Saturday Kitchen host James Martin came fourth while Jamie Oliver rounded off the top five.

A spokesman for www.OnePoll.com added: “Most of the men in this poll aren’t purely chefs. Most of them are highly successful restaurateurs, broadcasters and TV personalities.

I do not agree with the results – I think that Jamie Olivier has more sex appeal than Gordon Ramsay but then that is just me talking. Who is the sexiest chef for you?

Christmas is definitely in the air, so what better time to start baking cookies? If you have children, this simple action can turn into a wonderful holiday tradition! These Linzer cookies from Ina Garten are festive and elegant enough to also serve at holiday get-togethers, and also make fabulous presents to give away.

Linzer Cookies

3/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup good raspberry preserves
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/4-inch thick and cut 2 3/4-inch rounds with a plain or fluted cutter. With 1/2 of the rounds, cut a hole from the middle of each round with a heart or spade shaped cutter. Place all the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and chill for 15 minutes.

Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature. Spread raspberry preserves on the flat side of each solid cookie. Dust the top of the cut-out cookies with confectioners’ sugar and press the flat sides together, with the raspberry preserves in the middle and the confectioners’ sugar on the top.

Technorati Tags: Christmas, Holidays, Christmas recipe, linzer cookies, Ina Garten

With Thanksgiving barely over and leftovers still smouldering in the fridge, theres no better time to start thinking and planning for the next big day ahead – Christmas!!

Ok, call me a bit of a sadist, but unlike Thanksgiving which really only involves a singular meal (maybe you were even lucky this year and played guest and not chef) , Christmas is so much more, especially so if you have a family with little children.

You know what I’m talking about – stockings, tree, decorations, outfits, parties, pantomimes and presents – to a list which seems to get longer every year! So yes, early preparations for this particular holiday does make good sense.

And since this blog is about chefs and therefore food, I’ll be posting about some of my favourite celeb chefs’ Christmas menus. Depending on your mood, gathering and needs this year, you can decide early on what tickles your fancy most. After all, Christmas is the season for celebration, joy, and splashing out indulgently – as Nigella so rightly reminds us in her Christmas Menu below.

“I think the mistake people make most when entertaining is to get too fancy with the food. No one is ever too sophisticated for the basic pleasures of home cooking, and there is something about those old favorites that makes everyone feel a little leap of joy in the heart………The whole point of a feast is that it is unnecessarily abundant”
Nigella Lawson

Crab Cocktail
Seasonal Breeze
Perfect Roast Potatoes
Petits Pois � la Fran�aise
Green Bean and Lemon Casserole
Standing Rib Roast
Chestnut Cheesecake

For recipes, start HERE.

Technorati Tags: Christmas, Holidays, Christmas dinner, Nigella Lawson

Forget the gingerbread house. Your holiday dessert should be simple to prepare, so you can spend more time with your family (that is what Christmas is about, right?). Here’s a quick chocoalte mousse recipe from Nigella Lawson’s cookbook, Nigella Express: 130 Recipes for Good Food, Fast.

Nigella says that most mousses need to be made the day before, to allow the egg yolk to set. Here’s her “instant” alternative. She does away with eggs, which not only saves time but allows you to safely feed it to young children.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) soft butter
9 oz best-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1/4 cup hot water from a recently boiled kettle
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Pour the marshmallows, butter, chocolate, and water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2. Melt over gentle heat, stirring occassionally. Remove from heat and let cool.
3 Whip the cream with the vanilla until it’s got a thick consistency. Fold it into the cooled chocolate mixture.
4. Pour into individual dishes or cups and chill until ready to serve.

Watch Nigella’s regular TV show, Nigella Express on the BBC Channel for more recipes and tips.

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. It’s a time of gathering and renewing family ties. It is about giving and sharing our blessings. It’s also about sitting in front of the fire and talking all night, sharing stories of christmases past and the visits of Santa.

Of course if you are going to be awake all night and talking all night long, while hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa, you can’t do it with a dry throat. This calls for a drink that is meant to be savored with friends while gathered around the tree watching the kids play. It is one of the best nights of the year.

Try Emeril Lagasse’s Chocolatey Christmas Cafe Au Lait. Though cafe au lait is normally a breakfast drink, this drink is perfect even if you drink this before your first meal of the day.

Have a merry christmas everyone!

Emeril’s Chocolate-y Christmas Cafe Au Lait

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 ( 2-inch) cinnamon sticks
1 strip orange peel, about 1/2 inch by 3 inches
10 whole cloves
2 to 2 1/2 cups hot brewed strong coffee

1/4 cup cold heavy cream
Ground cinnamon, for garnish
Cocoa, for garnish

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the milk, 2/3 cup of the sugar, and cocoa until smooth. Add the cinnamon sticks, orange peel and cloves and bring to a simmer, stirring, to dissolve the sugar and prevent the cocoa from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whip the cream with the remaining 1 teaspoon sugar until thick and frothy, and peaks form. Set aside.

Strain the milk mixture into a coffee pot or carafe and add 2 cups of the hot coffee (2 1/2 cups for stronger coffee flavor, to taste). Pour into cups or small mugs and top each with a dollop of the sweetened whipped cream.

Serve immediately.

While watching the holiday-appropriate “Turkey Challenge” episode of Iron Chef America, in which the contestants were each given the Thanksgiving bird to get creative within the show’s time slot, I watched half-interested as to who was challenging Bobby Flay (yet again) with Alton’s semi-sarcastic drawl in the background.

When I saw that it wasn’t Mario and that it was two affable ladies – a blonde in bright pink and a diminutive brunette with funky glasses, it got my attention. I realized after a while, that it was the Two Hot Tamales, also known as Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger.

The most interesting dish of the show by far was the Hot Tamales turkey (yes, turkey) ice cream, which used the bourbon Wild Turkey, and (regretfully) turkey stock. As one of the judges aptly put it, high marks for originality, low marks for the proteiny taste. Much as I like Mary Sue and Susan, I have to say that they reached a little too much here – who on earth would eat a poultry-flavoured ice cream? I must say that the presentation was beautiful though, a chocolate ball crust in a chocolate turkey-shaped basket.

Their other dishes beat Mr.Flay’s multi-turkey breast renditions (all the same, different sauce) by a mile I thought, with things like turkey meatball soup and a scotch egg which looked absolutely scrummy. You don’t get to see of the humble scotch egg on television much, and I have to say that the last time I saw one was at a garage shop in a UK motorway.

Sadly, it was a tie (the injustice!!), and even if Alton said that that was “rare” for the show, I should really email them and say that the last time I watched it was also a tie.

But anyway, one good thing was that I got to see the Two Hot Tamales again, who I hadn’t seen in years and had actually forgotten about in the sea of the new breed of Celeb Chefs (or dare I say media whores?). Now you know who I’ll be blogging about next.

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving, Two Hot Tamales, Iron Chef America