Stephani

e Izard became the first woman to win Top Chef, impressing judges with her consistent performance (even if the dessert she made for the finals was disappointing).

“I won Top Chef—holy s–t! This is the biggest thing that has happened in my life. My life’s about to change, it’s going to be absolutely insane.”

Stephanie said that after surviving the pressure and the nerves, the win affirms that “this is what I’m supposed to do with my life.”

Especially when she cooks masterpieces like the lamb with olives, braised pistachios and berries. Yum.

TV celebrity chefs congregated at the James Beard awards, where — among the cocktail chitchat — a group of them started talking about their favorite food movies. Here’s what they said.

Tom Colicchio of Top Chef said he loved the risotto scene in “Big Night” and thought “Like Water for Chocolate” was really sexy. Curtis stone of Take Home Chef liked “Ratatouille” and “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.” Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto liked “Tampopo” while Top Chef runner up Marcel Vigneron found the most realistic food movie to be “Dinner Rush.” He says, “It’s all one night and the food critic comes in, and one of the line cooks has problems with gambling, somebody gets capped in the the restaurant.”

Gordon Ramsay supposedly ate the thumb of one of his contestants in Hell’s Kitchen.

Eeeeow.

Apparently Matt, 35, accidentally cut off the tip of his thumb while preparing pancetta stuffing for a quail. He ran off to get first aid, leaving his team mates to finish the dish. Unfortunately, they fried the thumb with the rest of the meat.

Gordon Ramsay saw what happened, but said, “Carry on.” Then he tasted it!

Bobby Flay takes on a chili queen (her recipe’s won several awards from around the world!). Their chili showdown leads to a taste test. Who do you think you’ll win? Tune in on one of the “hottest” debates in this celebrity chef’s new show. You can get the schedule, and a collection of chili recipes, here

Ellie Krieger, a celebrity chef who specializes in healthy, nutritious meals, shares this delicious recipe for Grilled Chicken Caesar. This is just one of the many recipes she demonstrates on her show on the Food Network — a must for any person embarking on the seemingly hopeless task of getting a bikini ready body in the next few weeks. Get more ideas from her website, Healthy Living with Ellie Krieger.

Ingredients

1/4 cup pasteurized egg product
1 clove of garlic, minced (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1 1/2 teaspoons anchovy paste
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups coarsely torn romaine lettuce
2 cups of baby spinach leaves
2 cups of whole-grain croutons
4 grilled chicken breast halves (about 4 ounces each), sliced

Steps

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg product, garlic, anchovy paste, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice. Slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream, whisking the whole time. Stir in the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, toss the dressing with the lettuce and spinach until well coated. Add the croutons and toss to combine. Divide the salad onto 4 plates and top each plate with grilled chicken slices.

Looks like someone’s really mad at celebrity chefs, from the looks of this video. You need a couple of anger management courses there. Or at least, a big slice of pie.

Bobby Flay is launching a new show — and he’s taking viewer participation to a new level. With
“Grill It! with bobby Flay” people can post videos and then join the celebrity chef, who’ll share recipes and tips. The show will air in July, the start of barbecue season.

Wylie Dufresne is known in the culinary world for his unique approach to cooking (”molecular gastronomy”) that combinies the science and art of making a perfect meal. Fascinating factoid: he was actually a philosophy major!

He recently guested on Top Chef, and granted an excellent one on one interview with his comments on each Top Chef contestant.

Anthony Bourdain shares this recipe for Steak Tartare in Les Halles Cookbook. “Les Halles, the restaurant, was pretty much created to serve this dish,” he says. “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.”

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks
2 tbsp Dijon mustard (28 g)
4 anchovy filets, finely chopped
2 tsp ketchup (10 g)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (5 g)
Tabasco sauce, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup salad (i.e., corn or soy) oil (56 ml)
1 oz Cognac (28 ml)
1 small onion, freshly and finely chopped
2 oz capers, rinsed (56 g)
2 oz cornichons, finely chopped (56 g)
4 sprigs of flat parsley, finely chopped
1 1/4 lb. fresh sirloin, finely chopped (560 g)
French fries, optional
4 slices fine quality white bread, toasted, quartered, for toast points

Directions:

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.

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.

TV chef Mario Batali shares this excellent bolognese recipe. It originally appeared in the magazine, Bon Appetit.

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cups chopped celery
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 lb ground veal
1 lb ground pork
4 ounces pancetta or bacon, finely chopped
2 (14.5 ounce) cans whole tomatoes, in juice
1 (14.5 ounce) can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup whole milk
5 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or
2 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
12 ounces fettuccine
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions, celery and garlic an saute until vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to high; add veal, pork, pancetta or bacon and saute until meat is brown, breaking up meat with the back of a fork, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juices, 1 3/4 cups chicken broth, milk and thyme. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 1 hour 15 minutes, breaking up tomatoes with the back of a spoon, adding more chicken broth if mixture is too thick and stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook fettuccine in large pot of boiling water just until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Add fettuccine to pot with ragu and toss to blend. Transfer to large bowl. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan.