Food Wishes is a Finalist in the 2011 Saveur Magazine Best Food Blog Awards!

It is with much pride and happiness that I announce Food Wishes has been chosen as a video category finalist for the 2011 Saveur Magazine Best Food Blog Awards! Thank you to everyone who took the time to nominate us! This is an extra special honor since the finalists were actually chosen by a panel of live human editors, and not simply by most online votes. Speaking of which, this final round IS done by popular vote. You've all been so supportive in the past regarding various awards and recognitions, and I'm sure I can count on you again! Please go to the 2011 Saveur Magazine Best Food Blog Awards...

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My Snackpicks' No-Bake Macaroni & Cheese with Crunchy Cheez-It Gratin

One thing a cook never stops searching for is the perfect macaroni and cheese topping. If it's crunchy, or has the potential to be crunchy, we'll try it as a topping. This time, a handful of Cheez-It crackers, toasted in butter, are taking their turn, deliciously covering this creamy, no-bake mac and cheese. By the way, just because I'm using this on a no-bake recipe, doesn't mean you can't use this in the traditional way. If you want to try this cheesy topping for a regular macaroni and cheese, just toss the crumbs and Parmesan in melted butter, but don't crisp it up in the pan. The topping will...

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Chicken with Chipotle and Green Onion Gravy - Practice Makes Pan Sauces Perfect

I know it's Easter Sunday, but the show must go on. I was going to wait until tomorrow to post this delicious chicken with chipotle and green onion gravy recipe, but this week is so insanely busy, I wanted to get it up as soon as it was ready. Nothing groundbreaking this time, just a simple exercise in pan gravy perfection. If I only had one day to teach someone how to cook, you better believe this archetypal sauce recipe would be one of the first things I'd demonstrate. This entire procedure takes about 20 minutes, and the basic technique can be adapted countless ways. I usually avoid those yawn-inspiring,...

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Some Happy Easter Lamb Ideas

I want to wish everyone who celebrates, a Happy Easter tomorrow! No fresh new holiday-appropriate video to post today, but since lamb is such a classic Easter dish, I wanted to share some of my favorite lamb recipes from posts past.All of these would make for a lovely Easter dinner tomorrow. For dessert I'd go with hollow chocolate rabbits and marshmallow peeps. Enjoy!Pistachio Crusted Rack of LambToasted Sesame and Root Beer Glazed LambGrilled Lamb Chops with Orange and Fresh Mint SauceJinx-Proof Braised Lamb ShanksGrilled Lamb Steaks with Minted Honey Sherry Vinaigre...

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Melty Butter Sizzle Slide

I just filmed a tasty chicken with chipotle/green onion pan gravy video, but I won't be able to finish editing it until this weekend. It was a short and crazy week, with returning from the Club Sandwich event in NYC, and getting ready for our humongous wine and food pairing event in Sonoma (stay tuned for details). So, I was just happy I had time to film a new dish. With that said, I give you another installment of random food porn. This is "Melty Butter Sizzle Slide," and comes fresh from the aforementioned video recipe. There are so many great visual meditations that happen while you're cooking,...

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Throwing Down with Bobby Flay at Hellmann's Club Sandwich

No, it wasn't actually a throwdown, but this is as close as I'm ever going to get. Here's a little video recap of my Hellmann's Club Sandwich experience, where I joined eight other food bloggers for a private sandwich-making demonstration by the one and only, Bobby Flay.Getting advice on how to make a sandwich from a star chef like Bobby Flay may seem like a little bit of overkill; kind of like having Michael Phelps help you with your treading water skills, but as the Iron Chef told us in his intro, making a great sandwich is not as easy as it looks.In addition to some great adaptations to three...

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Heading Home from Club Sandwich

Just a quick note to say I'll be flying back to San Francisco today after a fun, and quite delicious three days in New York City. I'll be back in the office tomorrow and I'll try and catch-up on the comments and emails ("try" being the key word). The Hellmann's Club Sandwich event went very well, and I learned a couple cool tricks from Iron Chef Bobby Flay, which I can't wait to share. Stay tun...

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Prick Your Tongue with Chicken Piccata

As with any old recipe, there are numerous theories as to how the dish came to be named. The one I subscribe to claims it's an Italian adaptation of the French word "piquer," which means to prick or poke with something sharp. This makes absolutely no sense, until you taste it.The "to prick" is apparently a metaphor for the sharp, intensely flavored sauce. Thanks to lots of lemon, capers, and wine, this sauce is about as subtle as a right hook (apologies to non-boxing fans for the reference).Here, I've demonstrated a very basic version of a recipe that begs for variation. I'll sometimes add minced...

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Hello from New York City – The Sandwich Capital of the World!

I just arrived in New York City to take part in a very exciting campaign called, "Club Sandwich." Hellmann's invited me, along with eight other food bloggers, to be brand ambassadors, and we'll be sharing our favorite recipes, construction tips, and other sandwich-related esoterica.The campaign officially kicks-off on Monday, and will feature a demonstration by Bobby Flay. I don't think it's going to be a sandwich "throwdown," but nevertheless, I will have to make my own creation in front of the Iron Chef. Should be a lot of fun! Stay tuned for more information, and I invite you to follow along...

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What's Green, Misunderstood, and Full of Hot Air? Asparagus Souffle!

We also would have accepted the answer, "Al Gore." This video recipe demonstrates my basic game plan for any savory, vegetable-based soufflé. Contrary to popular belief, soufflés are not very difficult, as long as you respect the laws of physics. The cartoon cliché of the housewife crying over a fallen soufflé (because her stupid husband slammed the door) has become an iconic scene of culinary incompetence. Well, I have some good news… these types of soufflés are supposed to fall down.If you're doing a big cheese soufflé for a dinner party, or the classic Grand Marnier soufflé for dessert, then...

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Coming Soon: Asparagus Souffle

You could see this later tonight, but it's more likely this lovely asparagus souffle will make its Food Wishes debut tomorrow. Things are a little hectic around here as I'm getting ready for a short, but exciting trip to New York City, where I'll be making sandwiches with Bobby Flay. Hang tight for more details on that, and stay tuned for th...

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Happy National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day!

I can't believe it's already National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day! April 12 seems to come faster and faster every year. Anyway, what better way to celebrate than with one of our famous Inside-Out Grilled Cheese Sandwiches? These crispy, cheesy works of art are not for everyday use, but today, they are not only appropriate, but necessary. Enjoy!Click here to go to the original Inside-Out Grilled Cheese Sandwich po...

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Mystery Noodle Experiment: Operation Crepenoodlespaetzlecini

This bizarre and quite possibly useless video recipe is what happens when I don't have the good sense to not film what I'm cooking. What started as some innocent experiments with semolina dumplings, somehow turned into a surreal crepes-pasta-spaetzle-noodle-chowmein hybrid.As I cooked and edited this freak of nature, I kept going back and forth between thinking this was a giant waste of time, to actually thinking we may be on to something. I think the basic idea of using a denser semolina crepe as noodles is worth exploring further, but not until I hear what you all think. By the way, some of...

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American Kobe

This short film about beef came about during some recent recipe testing. The magnificently marbled American-style Kobe beef is flat iron steak from Snake River Farms, and while this doesn't qualify as a video recipe (sorry, the cooking part is missing), I still wanted to share. Enj...

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Ditalini with Roasted Tomato Sauce, Oregano, and Goat Cheese - More Than Meets the Eye

At first glance, this roasted tomato sauce recipe may not seem like something that's worth the trouble. That is, until you realize it's actually less work, and about the same amount of time as a stove-top version. However, don't make this because of any procedural advantages, make it because it tastes awesome. What the hot oven does to the deep red San Marzano tomatoes is a wonder to behold, and produces a pasta sauce with some serious depth of flavor.After it's post-roast re-hydration, this sauce is ready to rock. This would be amazing for a chicken parmesan or beef pizzaiola, or even more simply...

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Coming Soon: Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

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Grilled Korean-Style Beef Short Ribs – It's So Flanken Good!

After weeks of damp and dreary weather, the sun is back in control of San Francisco's blue skies, and that means it's time to grill. This video recipe for grilled Korean-style beef short ribs is not so much about the specific recipe, as it is about this lesser-known cut of meat.It's most commonly sold as "flanken-style," and is nothing more than thin-sliced beef short ribs. We've done several beef short rib recipes on this blog, but all those were cooked low and slow, so the meat's considerable connective tissue has time to breakdown and become tender. Here, we are only grilling for a few minutes...

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Nominations are Open for Saveur's Best Food Blog Awards!

As many of you know, Food Wishes won Saveur Magazine's 1st Annual Best Food Blog Award for Most Innovative Video Content. Well, nominations are now open for this year's awards in case you want to help Chef John retain the crown.To nominate Food Wishes, simply go to the official 2nd Annual Best Food Blog Awards page, and enter the required site info. I've included a little guide video that I posted for my YouTube viewers today. As always, thank you for all the amazing support!Update: Some of you are asking if it has to be a nomination for the video category only. No! You can nominated me in whatever...

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Couscous Primavera – Because I Don't Get Enough Hate Mail from Morocco

Well, it started before I even posted the recipe. Here's a comment from the couscous primavera tease post I did yesterday:Soukaina said... "plz plz plzzzzzzzzzz !! I am begging you !! stop massacring couscous !! I'm a Moroccan ; been born there , lived there my entire life so I know what I'm talking about !! there's one way and one way only to make couscous , and yours is just not it !! but if you prefer changing some ingredients or adding some stuff to it? that's fine ! do as you wish !! just don't call it couscous."First of all, I'm only calling this couscous because the package says, "Couscous,"...

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I've Been Hacked! Please Help Me Find and Kill Those Responsible

"Hacker" by LuisoOkay, just kidding, I don't mean killed, but maybe hurt badly, or at least tied to a chair and forced to watch Hell's Kitchen. Someone has used my foodwishes@yahoo.com email address to send a whole bunch of spam, some of which you may have received. As much as I'd like to help you get a great deal on Viagra and/or mail-order brides from Thailand, I had nothing to do with these emails, and have taken measures to insure this doesn’t happen again.Speaking of which, besides changing my mail account password(s), should I be doing anything else? Sorry, and than...

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A Few Random Scenes from my All-Clad Demo at Macy's

I feel pretty good these days when I get two new recipe videos posted in a week, and I was hoping to sneak in a third one today, but due to tax preparation, the opening of baseball season, spring fever, and other forces beyond my control, you'll have to settle for this. Here's a little glimpse into the duck sous vide demo I did for All-Clad at Macy's in San Francisco. This is dedicated to all of you loyal, but possibly-misguided souls who keep emailing me, telling me I need to have my own show. Enjoy!A very special thanks to Lenny Ferreira, from Chezus.com, who filmed this segment! Also, a big...

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