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 page, and cast your vote. Thanks!!

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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 brown during the baking time, and will come out just as nicely.

This recipe is part of a series of eight snack videos I did for Kellogg's Snackpicks.com. When you click on the video player below, you'll be taken to their great snack-filled website to view the video and get the written instructions. If you have questions or comments, please come on back and post them here. Thanks, and enjoy!

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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, "Easy Weeknight Dinner" recipe lists, but this fits that description perfectly.

It's also a great random chicken recipe generator. You could make this same dish every Thursday night for a year, and by switching up the flavorings and spices, never have the exact same recipe twice. You can also recklessly rotate the starchy, gravy-absorbing side dishes, as this shines with any manner of rice, pasta, or potatoes.

Anyway, enjoy the rest of your holiday, don't eat too many leftover Easter eggs, and the next time you're looking for an easy weeknight dinner, give this chicken and gravy recipe a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

3/4 cup chicken broth, or as needed to adjust thickness

1/2 teaspoon chipotle, or to taste

2 tablespoons minced green onions

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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 Lamb

Toasted Sesame and Root Beer Glazed Lamb

Grilled Lamb Chops with Orange and Fresh Mint Sauce

Jinx-Proof Braised Lamb Shanks

Grilled Lamb Steaks with Minted Honey Sherry Vinaigrette

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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, and this is one of my favorites. Enjoy!

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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 classic sandwiches, he also showed off a couple neat twists, like adding mayonnaise to the olive relish for an extra creamy muffaletta, and replacing the traditional sauerkraut in the Rueben with fresh coleslaw.

My favorite trick was something that I'll be demonstrating in an upcoming Club Sandwich post, regarding a very cool way to slice a sandwich. It's basically cutting the sandwich at an angle and on a bias, but it will but much easier to show than explain.

Other key sandwich making commandments include spreading your mayo and other condiments on both slices of bread; and being sure to cover the entire slice all the way to the edges. By the way, if you happen have any secret sandwich making tips or tricks of your own, don't be holding out on us.

After the demo, we got to create our own signature sandwich, and as you'll see in the video, I was very happy with how mine came out. I really think the "Mitzeflaywich" could become a bona fide sandwich sensation. Not only is it delicious and easy to make, but the name is super catchy! 

Stay tuned for upcoming posts dedicated to helping you build your perfect sandwich. Speaking of which, be sure to head over to the Hellmann's website to enter the Build Your Perfect Sandwich Sweepstakes where you can win a $5,000 grocery gift card.

Disclosure: This post was created in connection with my appointment as an Ambassador in Hellmann’s Club Sandwich Program. I'd like to thank Bobby Flay and Hellmann's for such a fun and informative trip to New York City, and for making this post and video possible. 

I hope you enjoy the video!

For more great sandwich-making tips and tricks check out these links from my fellow Hellmann's Club Sandwich members: Amanda Bottoms Kevin and Amanda, Shaina Olmanson of Food For My Family, Katja Presnal of Skimbaco Lifestyle,  Caryn Bailey of Rockin’Mama, Liz Latham of Hoosier Homemade, Kim Vetrano of She Scribes, Sarah Caron of Sarah’s Cucina Bella, and Daniel Garcia of Consumer Queen.

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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 tuned!

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