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And the Winner for "Best Home Chef in a Series" is… Food Wishes! [smattering of polite applause]

We did it! I'm proud to announce that I've returned from Hollywood, Tasty Awards trophy in hand! It was a very long, short two-day trip, so I'm going to keep this brief. I can't thank you all enough for taking the time to vote.

Every single time I've asked for support with a contest or award, you faithful foodwishers come through like champs. It's one of the oldest clichés in the business, but it's so true, without the audience, there is no show.

I met some amazing new people, and got to visit some dear old friends. Speaking of friends, I have to give a big shout out to my buddy Sara (aka Average Betty), who won the 2010 Home Chef award, and was nominated in more categories this year than any other show. Unfortunately, she was robbed, but it was an impressive showing nonetheless.

Los Angeles was a lot of fun, but I'm excited to be back and cooking in chilly, not-quite-as-glamorous San Francisco. Thanks again, and stay tuned for a bunch of new videos airing soon!
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Hello from Hollywood!

I'm in glamorous Hollywood, CA (pictured here is my glamorous hotel), for the Tasty Awards. You can read about exactly what that is here, but I wanted to post a quick note to let you know I'll be here until Friday, so please pardon me if I'm not able to respond to an email or comment.

A sincere thanks to all of you who helped me get this nomination. Wish me luck! (not to win the award, but to survive my stay! ;-)
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You Want Your Baby Back Ribs? Sure, Just Stop Singing that Song!

Why am I'm doing a baby back ribs video in the dead of winter. I love how they taste. Sorry I don't have a more interesting answer for you, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let the earth's periodical tilting away from the sun prevent me from enjoying these tasty pieces of pork.

I'll be the first to admit this is not the best technique for doing ribs. You just can't replace slowly roasting the meat over smoky coals, but, that said, this baked in the oven version is way beyond respectable.

I've always found baby back ribs a very user-friendly product. Unless you severely over or undercooked them, they're pretty hard to mess up. I know I'm going to get all kinds of tips and tricks for the ultimate rib – the plastic wrap, the steaming, the braising, the marinating – but quite frankly, I've never seen the need.

Maybe this summer I'll try some of the more interesting ideas, but for this early January, this will do just fine. Speaking of ideas, yes, those are chicharrones on the plate of ribs. You're welcome.

This works with literally any dry rub and barbecue sauce combo. I've posted a basic, all-purpose rub recipe below, in case you're interested. For the sauce, I've of course used Michele's SFQ, but any premium quality barbecue sauce will work.

Anyway, if you're in the mood for a little virtual trip into summer, I hope you give this technique a try. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 full rack of baby back ribs
1 cup barbecue sauce

Dry Rub Recipe (makes a lot extra)
1/4 cup salt
1/4 white sugar
1/4 raw sugar (turbino) or brown sugar
1/2 cup ancho chili powder
2 tbsps freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper
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Cotechino - Happy New Year All Over Again!

Cotechino is a large, Italian pork sausage traditionally served to celebrate the New Year. Indigenous to Modena (yes, that Modena – home to the great balsamic vinegar), its thick casing is pierced all over with a knife, after which it's gently braised in a pot of lentils until done. Sound good, right? But wait, there's more.

After the sausage is cooked, it's sliced into round "coins," which are then fried crisp in a pan, and used to garnish the lentils. Everything about this recipe sounds great, so when Michele and I happened upon a nice, fat cotechino in Chris Cosentino's Boccalone, in the San Francisco Ferry Building, I knew the cranberry bean and Swiss chard soup I was making that day was going to have a guest star.

As you'll hear me whine about in the video, a huge rainstorm hit the city right in the middle of the recipe, and I didn’t make the correct adjustments to the camera. I tried to lighten the film, but it still looked horrible, so most of the soup making part of this is not shown. Here's what you missed: I made bean soup, and wilted some Swiss chard in it.

That said, this post is not about the soup, it's about how to use the cotechino. The exact same procedure shown here in all its dimly lit glory, can be used for almost any vegetable or bean soup/stew. I loved it with this simple cranberry bean ragout, but will try it with the traditional lentils next time…even if I have to wait another year. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
1 cotechino
1 pot of simmering lentils or beans
My soup contained:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 chopped onion
1 pound cranberry beans
1 quart chicken broth
water as needed
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
small sprig rosemary and thyme
1 bunch Swiss chard, trimmed and torn
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
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I Want a Real Snow Cone

I grew up around snow. Actually, I didn't just grow up around it, I grew up in it, on it, and under it. So, when I saw this video from Chef Jason Hill on how to make snow ice cream, I was kind of upset I had never done it. I'm not usually one of these "blame your parents" people, but in this case, I really have no choice. Why didn't we make snow ice cream? Mom?

Anyway, I'd love to hear from anyone that's tried this dessert, and what your experiences were. Of course, I don't have to tell you (but will), this is not something we're doing downwind from the old tire factory! You'll need to find pristine, freshly falling snow to attempt this. Enjoy!

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Little Lamb Meatballs in a Spicy Eggplant Tomato Sauce – Please Come Out with Your Hands and Forks Up

There's one thing I learned a long time ago; if you add a little cinnamon to a savory recipe, you are allowed to describe it as "exotic." That's just the way it works. And really, who doesn't need a little more "exotic" in their lives?

As far as the easy part, well, that is a more relative term. There are no difficult techniques here, and after cutting up an eggplant and onion, most of your prep is done. The only step that one would describe as "not easy," would be the shaping of all those little meatballs.

Eating little lamb meatballs is fun, but it does take a while to portion them out. Happily, I've included a top-secret restaurant trick for making lots of small meatballs very quickly, by using your hand as a sort of extruding device. Spoiler alert: it's pretty vulgar (but highly efficient).

By the way, this lamb meatballs recipe video was done as part of a special feature my friends over at The Daily Meal are doing. Once a week they have something called "Recipe SWAT Team," where they tackle a new ingredient with one goal in mind: creating easy and delicious dishes.

This week it was "Recipe SWAT Team: Meatballs," and I was asked to throw on my bullet-proof vest, grow a mustache to look more like a cop, and bust through the door both barrels blazing. You can check out the entire feature here, and see some other great meatball recipes.

I hope you give this delicious lamb and eggplant recipe a try soon. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
For the sauce:
1 eggplant, cubed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup minced onion
red pepper flakes to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup marinara sauce
1½ cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chiffonade
For meatballs:
1 large egg
1½ tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs
1½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
4 cloves finely minced garlic
¼ cup finely minced onions
1 pound ground lamb
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Stovetop "Sous Vide" Episode 1: The Best Duck Breast Ever

If you watch any food television at all, you've undoubtedly seen the "sous vide" (French for "under vacuum") technique many, many times. What was once a very unique procedure is now about as rare as a hung-over line cook.

Not so long ago, only a handful of pros using state-of-the-art sous vide set-ups, costing thousands of dollars, got to play this game. Today, there are many options for home sous vide kits, most costing hundreds of dollars, but what about the home cook who just wants to try this once and a while, and doesn’t want to invest that kind of money and space?

How about a simple, almost foolproof, stovetop sous vide method that requires no special equipment? Too good to be true? Well, I'm happy to report it's so very true, and produced what Michele and I agreed was the best duck breast we've ever had.

The principles behind this sous vide duck breast's succulence is quite simple. Put the meat in a watertight, vacuum-sealed bag, and place it in a water bath held at a temperature exactly equal to the ideal desired internal temperature. After a certain amount of time, the meat reaches that temperature and stays there.

That's it. Not only is there no real danger of overcooking the meat, but it cooks so gently, in a vacuum, that virtually no moisture is lost. The only real difference with our stovetop sous vide and the professional set-up, is the vacuum part.

We're going very low tech here; simply pressing or sucking the air from a ziplock bag. It's not a perfect vacuum, but as you'll see, it doesn’t have to be. As long as your package sinks below the surface, and no water gets in, you're good to go.

After an hour in the 135 degree F. water, my duck breasts were picture perfect inside. I crisped-up the skin, drizzled over some sweet and sour peach sauce, and ate in stunned silence. I could not believe how amazing the texture was. I won't even waste time trying to find the adjectives, as most of the ones I need haven't been invented yet.

I've only done this with one other meat (a NY Strip steak, also very impressive) so I can’t give you any info on other recipes/times/temperatures just yet. I will, however, post the quick and easy peach sauce seen in this clip soon. Anyway, I really hope you give this spectacular sous vide duck a try. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
2 large duck breasts, boneless, skin-on
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
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Snackpicks' Deviled Shrimp Bites!

Some of you may remember my trip to Little Rock last October, where I filmed a series of eight snack videos for Kellogg's Snackpicks.com. It was a really fun trip, and I had a great time working with an amazing team of producers.

This quick and easy Deviled Shrimp Bites is the first recipe to air. The video is very straightforward, but I will offer one additional tip. Be sure to use the best shrimp possible. If you are buying them cooked, they need to be fresh and sweet! Better yet, buy raw shrimp and follow the poaching technique in this shrimp cocktail video.

Be sure to head over to Snackpicks.com, to get the written recipe with ingredient amounts, as well as many more great snack ideas. Enjoy!


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Coconut Milk Corned Beef and Cabbage - Irish-American/Thai Fusion is Going to be Huge in 2011!

Whenever I travel in Thailand, I always make it point to seek out each city's Irish-American neighborhoods so I can enjoy a steaming bowl of coconut milk corned beef and cabbage.

Okay, so I've never been Thailand, but if there are any Irish-American neighborhoods, and if they do have corned beef available, they may possibly make something vaguely similar to this. If not, that's fine, since I wasn't really trying to make a Thai dish anyway.

I was craving corned beef and cabbage recently, but the thought of doing the same old New England "boiled dinner" had me yawning. I tried to think of some new, interesting braising liquid, and that's when I remembered I've never had something stewed in coconut milk that I didn't like.

Since I had no previous experience to go on, I was pretty conservative with the ingredients in general, and the red curry in particular. That said, I was really happy with the results. The coconut milk gave the broth a subtle sweetness and richness not present in the classic brew.

It's my hope that those of you trying this will be sharing any additions the rest of us may find interesting. I think a little cilantro or basil would have worked, as would the addition of small eggplants, or bell peppers.

Now, how does a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich made with the leftovers sound? Enjoy!



4 pound corned beef brisket (do not add the spice packet to the recipe!)
1 (15-oz) can coconut milk
1-2 teaspoon red curry paste (I used a Taste of Thai brand red curry paste, and their products are found at most large grocery stores that stock an ethnic foods aisle.)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoon tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 quart water
1 onion
2 rib celery
2 carrots
1 pound potatoes
1/2 small green cabbage
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