Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream are renaming one of their flavors - butter pecan - to “Yes Pecan” in honor of president-elect Barack Obama taking office on the 20th. I assume they’re using the “pee-can” pronunciation, otherwise it doesn’t make much sense!
And speaking of ice cream, Baskin-Robbins are launching a line of “healthier” ice creams starting January 15th. Called BRight Choices, the alternative ice cream will be marked with a pink star. They’ll come in fat free, dairy free, no sugar added, and light flavors.
Adding to their already huge (and admittedly, somewhat obnoxious) food challenge shows, Food Network is adding a Top Chef-esque competition of their own this month.
“Passion and expertise rule the kitchen on the fast-paced new series, Chopped.
“Hosted by Ted Allen (Food Detectives), the series challenges four up-and-coming chefs to turn a selection of everyday ingredients into an extraordinary three-course meal. After each course, a contestant gets “chopped” until the last man or woman left standing claims victory.
“Each week, a rotating panel of culinary elite judges including Alex Guarnaschelli, Aaron Sanchez, and Geoffrey Zakarian will decide whose dishes shine the brightest and award the winner $10,000.”
“Chopped” will premiere January 13 at 10:00 pm and air weekly after that.
Stuffed shells are one of my most favorite meals to make. They’re simple, you can use pretty much anything on hand, and everyone loves them!
I’ve been making this particular recipe for about eight years now. You can use all beef or all turkey, but having tried both I prefer the combination. You can also use homemade pasta sauce, which works really well, but if you don’t have it on hand the jarred kind can be tasty too.
The recipe below makes about 30 shells - or two casserole dishes worth. My family of five gets through about a pan and a half, and the rest go in the fridge for yummy leftovers. If you don’t have that many people to feed it halves very easily.
Ultimate Recipe Showdown, which hit Food Network scene a year ago, is premiering its second season tomorrow night, January 4 at 9:00pm on Food Network.
Hosted by Guy Fieri and Marc Summers, the show features amateur cooks from around the country competing with their own recipes against three other contestants.
There are six categories total: burgers, chicken, comfort foods, pasta, cakes and cookies. The ultimate winner takes home a prize of $25,000 and gets their dish featured on the T.G.I. Friday’s menu.
I’ve been looking forward to this for months! Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” premieres its fifth season this Monday, January 5 at 10:00pm ET on the Travel Channel.
This season kicks off with Tony in Mexico and Venice, then Washington DC, Azores, Chicago, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
And for those hardcore Anthony Bourdain fans, a friend of mine sent me the following link to a very, uh, revealing picture of Tony (not completely nude but darn near close enough!). Warning: not safe for work, and not safe for little eyes! Do not click here if you are easily offended!
I’ve never really given much thought to cooking with champagne, though I’m not sure why. Food Network has put together a list of 100 Champagne Recipes, and if I think about it next time (and can find it at a reasonable price) I might try making my pork chopswith champagne next time!
The majority of the recipes are really just easy add-ins (strawberries, apricot nectar, etc), but I like the ones that offer a little more creativity, like Jacques Torres’ Champagne Truffles or Giada’s Champagne Risotto.
(Due to the nature of the dish, it just doesn’t take a good picture. I apologize in advance. :)
Pork Chop Casserole is a dish from my husband’s childhood that he requested I try to recreate. I’d never had it and only had a few basic ingredients and instructions to go by: thinly sliced potatoes, cream of mushroom soup and pork chops.
It didn’t sound terribly appealing to me at first but I did a little research online and managed to throw something together.
Pork Chop Casserole
8 thin-cut boneless pork chops
Salt and pepper
4 potatoes, thinly sliced
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c. milk
1/2 tsp onion powder
Season pork chops with salt and pepper. Layer potatoes in 9 x 13″ casserole dish. Combine mushroom soup, onion powder and milk and pour about half over the potatoes. Put chops on top and pour remaining mushroom soup mixture over all. Cover with foil and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour, remove foil and continue cooking for 20 more minutes.
The first time I made it I browned the chops first after dusting them in a little bit of flour. Unfortunately because they’re so thin they overcooked and became tough. I also added in some diced onions which, after more than an hour of cooking, didn’t soften and overpowered the dish.
The second time I made it I just added in some onion powder with the milk and soup and didn’t brown the chops. It turned out much better!
It’s not gourmet, but it’s comfort food and sometimes that’s all that matters!
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(Due to the nature of the dish, it just doesn’t take a good picture. I apologize in advance. :)
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