Amateurs with Knives

I’m not opposed to a last-minute change of dinner plans, due to being swept up and away by an exciting new recipe. What can I say, I like the adventure. That’s why I put the epicurious.com “Recipe of the Day” in my reader. Every day, a new contender for my kitchen appears. While some of them can seem a little too outlandish for a weeknight dinner, once in a while, a gem arises.

Yesterday’s recipe did that to me, and I rushed out to the store to pick up the ingredients.

Oreccchiette with Salsa Cruda and Ricotta - photo courtesy of Epicurious

We’re nearing the end of the summer - it’s far too warm and I’m feeling far too lazy to cook up an elaborate meal that sticks to your ribs. If you have tomato plants and you’re looking for something to do with them, this is it.

Orecchiette with Salsa Cruda and Ricotta
1 medium shallot, minced
2 small garlic cloves, forced through a garlic press
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, chopped
1/4 teaspoon hot red-pepper flakes
1/3 cup coarsely chopped basil
1 pound dried orecchiette
3/4 cup ricotta (preferably fresh)

The term “salsa cruda” is claimed by both Mexican and Italian cooking and means, to both cuisines, “uncooked sauce.” Beyond that, they couldn’t be more different. For Mexican cuisine, it is pico de gallo. In Italian cuisine, it is uncooked sauce that is served over pasta. The only part of the dish that is actually cooked is the pasta itself.

Stir together all ingredients except pasta and ricotta in a large bowl with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Let stand, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.

Couldn’t be simpler. Or maybe it could if you threw some tomatoes at the wall with a handful of salt and went at it a la Willy Wonka’s lickable wallpaper. If you’re looking for something cleaner that requires a fork to eat, try the salsa cruda instead. Here’s a shot of the loveliness:

Back in the spring, Citizen Chef and I were both debating whether or not to buy some tomato plants. I didn’t, but the whole time I was making the salsa cruda, I wish I had. You’re looking at Tomatoes on the Vine in the bowl, and they were delicious, don’t get me wrong - but fresh tomatoes would have made this out of sight. If you’re growing tomatoes, pick a few and get chopping.

Now, you may think that this sounds like a boring topping, but let me assure you while the flavors of the garlic, basil, shallots, etc. are mingling together for 20-some minutes, something very special is happening. Even after 10 minutes you can stick your fork in there and get a taste of what’s going on - the flavors are melding together in a fresh array. It’s divine.

Meanwhile, cook orecchiette in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 qt water) until al dente.

Alton Brown sometimes refers to the little pastas that are shaped like an ear - the orecchiette is it. “Orecchio” literally means “ear” in Italian. They do look a little like ears, don’t they?

I had a hard time finding orecchiette. I guess I thought it odd because I hear it mentioned so much on food shows, so I assumed it was a little more common. If you needed, you could use pasta shells, but they are hardly the same consistency as the orecchiette. The orecchiette are thicker, and don’t have that ultra sleek and smooth processed consistency that a pasta shell has. Still, if you can find it, great, if not, use whatever you can get.

Drain pasta and toss with tomato salsa. Season with salt and pepper and dollop with ricotta.

Serve with a small loaf of bread and a side of garlic butter. Bon Appetito!

Orli Ninjamaster is still trying to butter us up so that we’ll post all news of Iron Chef Japan. And I hate to say it, but it’s working.

If you recall from our first contact with Orli, we first suspected that he was a lowly paid intern, forced to surf the vast tubes of the internet in order to market Iron Chef Japan episodes. Later, he assured me this isn’t the case at all. He’s emailed a couple of times since then (as well as one of his coworkers - look out, he’s sending a vast marketing ninja army!), but I wasn’t able to post their stuff in time (sorry, guys). There’s something about the 360i Ninjamaster that I just like, so as long as he’s continuing to butter me up, I’m going to continue to post his pseudo-news alerts.

This coming week on the Fine Living Network, it’s Sea Monster Week on Iron Chef Japan!

Here’s why you should be excited about this: Aside from the Japanese Iron Chefs being certified culinary badasses, what makes the show even more interesting to the western world is their use of ingredients we would find tremendously bizarre. Forget yogurt, chocolate, and rabbit. Let’s hear it for OCTOPUS!

Orli gives us the lowdown:

Sea Monster Week starts off with Battle Octopus on Monday 8/18, then brings you Battle King Crab, Battle Giant Eel, and Battle Squid, before the formidable Battle Ashura Oyster on Friday 8/22 — every night on Fine Living at 8pm.

Now that I’ve been watching Iron Chef America for so long, going back and watching Iron Chef Japan is so bizarre. I had forgotten how different ICA is from the predecessor. First of all, I had forgotten that the commentator sits up with the judges, who talk all during the battle. That never bothered me until ICA tailored the commenting down to just Alton Brown and Kevin Brauch. ICA judges are known chefs, restaurateurs and foodies, with the occasional pseudo-celebrity thrown in for fun. What I had forgotten is that Iron Chef Japan had this panel of people who didn’t seem to have anything to do with food - they were all models, actors, palm readers, etc. There’s one particular actress on Iron Chef Japan that they keep inviting back, and I don’t know why they let her open her mouth. Some of the tasty tidbits she will say during a battle will be along the lines of, “Oh, what are they doing… I think they’re going to cook it!” Also, she pretty much repeats whatever the previous person said. Verbatim.

What I do love about the original show is that the battles were so intense, the ingredients were so off the wall, and it was just so very Japanese. I mean, check out that photo above. They could be a cabaret… or possibly the Village People. Also, it’s Masaharu Morimoto as a budding chef.

Oh and, speaking of Morimoto, he appeared recently on Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” trip to Japan. I’d recommend that one for your DVR as well. So there you go, the latest on Iron Chef Japan.

Thanks for the news, Orli. If you really want to keep buttering us up, send some readers our way who will see your shameless plugs.

Allez! Cuisine!

Recently I had a shindig to attend, and I wanted to bring a little something to share. I opted for something out of this month’s magazine selection, Tastes of Italia. It was met with overall acceptance: Those who love the pungent flavor of Gorgonzola loved it, while those who weren’t sure what they were getting into were a bit conflicted.

I was surprised at how many people had never eaten Gorgonzola cheese before. In case you happen to be one of them, let’s get nerdy with some Gorgonzola cheese facts from Wikipedia.

Gorgonzola is a veined Italian blue cheese, made from unskimmed cow’s milk. It can be buttery or firm, crumbly and quite salty, with a ‘bite’ from its blue veining. It has been made since the early Middle Ages, but only became marbled with greenish-blue mold in the eleventh century. It is frequently used in Italian cooking. The name comes from Gorgonzola, a small town near Milan, Italy, where the cheese was reportedly first made in 879; however, this claim of geographical origin is disputed by other towns.

If you live in a town that avidly disputes the origin of a cheese, you’re hard up for a good time. Anyway, it’s like a creamy blue cheese except a bit more pungent in your mouth. If you enjoy that sort of a tart flavor, you’re in for a treat with Gorgonzola. If you aren’t a big fan, then this probably isn’t for you - grab another cheese that is good with walnuts and sundried tomatoes and use that instead.

First, we have to start out with the dough.

You didn’t think we were going to buy that in a grocery store did you?

That’s good. This is one of the easier pizza doughs I’ve ever had to make, not to mention it’s also the quickest and most forgiving dough I’ve made.

Basic Pizza Dough
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups lukewarm water, divided
3 1/2 cups flour, plus additional for handling
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

In a large bowl, combine yeast, sugar and 1/2 cup of water. Stir with a fork until mixed. Cover with a dry towel and let sit for 30 minutes. If the yeast is foamy (like the picture above) continue; if not, throw out the mixture and start over.

Add the salt, olive oil and remaining water. Stir in flour 1/2 cup at a time. Dust your hands with flour and knead the dough 5 - 7 minutes or until dough is no longer sticky.

This is where I started to have problems. Earlier I said this is the most “forgiving” dough I’ve made - let me explain. While I was putting this together, I was doing other stuff at the same time. So I thought I had counted my 1/2 cups, but even though I swear I put 3 cups in, the dough was still extremely sticky - so much that kneading it wasn’t going to help. I don’t know how much more flour I added, but it had to be like another cup or cup and a half. When it was somewhat less tacky, I then stuck even more flour on the board, floured up my hands and started to knead. It never became non-sticky as the instructions say, so when I could at least handle it without half of it being stuck to my hands in a goopy mess, I called it good and moved on to the next step. Regardless of this, the dough still came out amazing, so I’m not really sure what happened there.

Form the dough into a ball and coat it with olive oil. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with a towel and set it in a warm place. Let the dough rise for 1 hour or longer.

After the dough rises, dust your hands with flour and re-knead the dough for about 2 minutes. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and, using your hands, shape each into a flat disk. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.

Using flour-covered hands, flatten disk further by pressing outward until you reach your desired thickness and circumference.

At this point, the dough will be really pliable and somewhat delicate. When you start to roll it out, it will firm up and become more difficult to shape. I had a hard time getting this to go into the shape I wanted. After my first attempt it was too hard to reshape, so I stuck it back into the bowl and let it rise again. After it had another 30 minutes to rise, it was back to the delicateness it was when I took it out of the bowl the first time.

Unfortunately, even after my second attempt, I was unable to shape it into a circle, so I made it oblong… sort of.

So with my awesome oblong-inspired pizza crust completed, I moved on to the actual pizza.

Pizza with Gorgonzola, Sundried Tomatoes, and Walnuts
Cornmeal or parchment paper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of Kosher Salt
4 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup walnuts
1/3 cup sliced sundried tomatoes
Black Pepper, to taste
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

Preheat oven to 500-degrees F. Place pizza crust on baking sheet lightly covered in cornmeal or covered in parchment paper. Brush olive oil over pizza crust. Add salt, then cheese, walnuts and tomatoes. Add pepper and parsley and bake for 7 - 8 minutes. Remove and serve.

Because my pizza was an odd shape, I disguised it by cutting it into rectangles. The weird corners were eaten by me. I liked this a lot, as did other Gorgonzola lovers. It was gone by the end of the night.

Scroll back to the top if you wanted to see the finished product on the cover of the Tastes of Italia magazine.

As promised, we are going to kick off this month’s Magazine of the Month, the August ‘08 edition of Tastes of Italia, with Chocolate Almond Gelato.

“Gelato?” You say. “That’s just ice cream, right?”

Oh, no. And I wouldn’t say that out loud either because among certain circles you’re bound to stir up trouble. Gelato connoisseurs feel just as strongly about the dessert as New Yorkers feel about the Yankees: It’s a religion unto itself.

Gelato, the Italian version of ice cream, is different. Made with the basics of milk and sugar, just like our beloved ice cream, gelato typically calls for more egg yolks and is lower in fat. It also has a lot less air, making it much more dense than ice cream. Gelato needs to be served at a warmer temperature, so it can soften for scooping. Here’s a blurb from the World of Ice Cream comparing gelato and ice cream (their misspellings are fixed for your reading satisfaction):

GELATO: less fat + no air added = richer, creamier taste

Premium ice creams are made with fresh cream (not condensed or powdered milk), real eggs, and natural flavorings. Quality ingredients aside, lesser ice creams also have more air whipped in. As much as half the carton may be air, in fact. More air–or “overrun”–means softer ice cream that scoops more easily and melts more quickly. Premium ice creams have very little air added; gelato has no air added at all. (There’s a minimal amount of air that’s incorporated naturally because of the churning process.)

Gelato and some premium ice creams are so dense that they require a slightly higher serving temperature, a perfect point where your scoop is firm but not hard and not so soft that it melts immediately. Gelato recipes usually include more egg yolks, more milk and less cream. It actually has less fat than regular ice cream, but gelato’s low overrun makes for an extremely dense, rich and creamy treat.

Anyway, so there you have it. Gelato, the lesser fat, creamier and tastier version of ice cream. You know, for a website that’s all about ice cream, they sound pretty sold on gelato being superior. Maybe they should change their name to World of Gelato.

But I digress.

Chocolate Almond Gelato
3 cups milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup ultrafine sugar
1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds (reserved for topping)

Overall I was really shocked at how fast this dessert came together. First that quick and snazzy Granita, now this! The Italians are on to something here…

I started off toasting the almonds. Years ago I would have been way too lazy to do this, and then in the end I would have been terribly disappointed: Toasted almonds change in texture to a version that is softer in nature, even after they are refrozen in the final product. When you bite down on the toasted version, I don’t get a sense of “crunch” so much as I do a “pop” and then a spongy feel that goes really well with the gelato. An untoasted crunch would be way too distracting and unsettling - as if there was something in your gelato that should not be.

So toast them.

Place milk, eggs, chocolate, sugar and 1/4 cup of toasted almonds in a saucepan and whisk until the sugar and chocolate dissolves. Simmer until mixture thickens and begins to boil.

You will note in the picture below we aren’t getting a full boil as you would with water. It’s more like the molten effect of a chocolaty hot tub.

Once it boils, remove from the burner and add vanilla. Place in refrigerator for 2 hours or until completely cold. If the mixture thickens too much in the refrigerator, thin with a little milk to get a looser consistency before pouring this into the ice cream machine.

Place in a frozen dessert machine and make according to instructions. Top with remaining almonds.

Unfortunately I don’t have any personal finished product pictures, as I couldn’t stop eating it while it was churning around in the ice cream maker.

My bad.

To wrap up AwK’s BBQ month, I was going to share another submission from the Build A Better Burger Book. The final was a winner of a creative award and looked really interesting. So, the burger was made. I had photos. I had materials. I was ready.

Photo courtesy of Build a Better Burger

Then I got busy and forgot from fighting terrorism, blowing up small villages and getting to da choppa with Arnold Swartzenegger. The AwK BBQ month has officially ended, but I’m still going to share this quirky little burger.

As I already said, this burger is the winner of the creativity award in 1996. Most of the creativity award burgers are just that - very creative. When you take your first bite, it’s hard to know what to expect, so keep an open mind. I was looking for something very different when I made it, so I was prepared.

Patties
1 1/3 pounds ground lamb
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne, or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt

I want to give you a glowing review, but because it’s the creativity award burger, you know it was a little weird. If you walked into an authentic Indian restaurant and asked them to make you a hamburger, this is exactly what it would taste like. Since I enjoy Indian food, I did like the taste - it was just odd having it as a hamburger.

To make the burgers, just take the ingredients and mix them together. Handle the meat as little as possible to avoid compacting it. Grill, turning once until done to preference - 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare.

The burger is to be accompanied by a banana-yogurt sauce called “raita.” Before you get weirded out, just keep in mind that Indian food usually contains a lot of sweet flavors and is usually yogurt or tomato sauce based. The raita, while sounding odd on top of a hamburger, makes sense from an Indian cuisine standpoint.

Grilled Banana Raita
Vegetable oil for brushing on the grill rack
2 very firm bananas, peeled
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

After reading through the ingredient list, you see right away this is going to be very sweet. Most people associate Indian food with 5-alarm spicy, but that isn’t always the case. A lot of their food has a lot of sweet, fresh flavors to balance that out, similarly to what you’re seeing with the raita.

To make the raita, brush the grill rack with vegetable oil. Place the bananas on the grill and cook, turning carefully, until lightly browned all over. The book says it should take 1 - 2 minutes, but on a skillet, it took a little longer. At first I was worried the banana would turn to mush over the fire, but the inside stayed firm. As soon as it turned a little brown, I flipped it over. Any longer than that and it would have been destroyed - so keep watching it while you’re cooking it.

While the bananas are cooking, place 1 teaspoon garam masala and the cumin in a fireproof container and toast on the grill for about 1 minute. Since I was using the Foreman, I didn’t do this part.

Dice up the banana into small cubes and mix with the rest of the raita ingredients. Stir well and set aside until the burgers are finished cooking.

To assemble: On each bun bottom, place 4 cucumber slices, a tomato slice, a patty and an equal portion of the raita. Add the bun tops and serve.

Here’s a shot of my finished burger as I was serving.

This concludes the Build A Better Burger series. If you liked what you saw, go pick up a copy!

August is here and we’re kicking off another Magazine of the Month adventure with Tastes of Italia!

And yes, that thing of beauty on the cover is Pizza with Gorzonzola, Sundried Tomatoes and Walnuts and we will be making it!

Our previous magazines all had websites where their recipes were published, however ToI does not, so be sure to run out to your local grocery store or bookstore and pick up a copy. The reason we went for this magazine is because there are a ton of amazing and diverse Italian recipes in here, and because Citizen Chef is a slacker and didn’t propose any magazines to review. So this month it’s my choice!

If you need more motivation, here’s a teaser of what we’ll be working on next week:

Photo courtesy of Tastes of Italia Magazine

We’ll be reviewing a variety of recipes including this Chocolate Almond Gelato you see above, and we’ll also be exploring risotto! For you vegetarians out there, you’re in luck as this mag usually has a lot of delicious and fun dishes that will suit you. Run out and pick up a copy this weekend!

That’s right, getting in just under the wire for our Magazine of the Month, it’s the cover recipe.  

Photo Courtesy of Bon Appetit

Not sure where the bullet went but I suppose when this is your 9 gazillionth BBQ issue, somebody tells the photographer to do whatever the hell they want, just get it on my desk by Friday.

Ingredients
Onions:
1 pound red onions, cut crosswise into 1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick rounds
Olive oil
3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Chipotle ketchup:
1 cup ketchup
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped chipotle chiles from canned chipotles in adobo* plus
2 tablespoons adobo sauce from can
2 teaspoons (or more) balsamic vinegar

Burgers:
2 1/4 pounds ground beef (15% to 20% fat)
Coarse kosher salt
6 thick slices sharp cheddar cheese
6 large English muffins or hamburger buns, split, cut sides grilled
6 tomato slices (optional)
2 cups fresh spinach leaves

Preparation

For onions:
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat): Arrange onion rounds on baking sheet. Brush with oil; sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt and pepper. Transfer onion rounds (still intact) to grill rack; close cover. Cook until grill marks appear, about 4 minutes per side. Reduce heat or move onions to cooler part of grill. Close cover; cook until onions are tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl. Toss with vinegar. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover; chill.

For chipotle ketchup: Mix ketchup, chiles, adobo sauce, and 2 teaspoons vinegar in small bowl. Season with salt and more vinegar, if desired. do a h e a d Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

For burgers: Shape beef into six 1/2-inch thick patties. Sprinkle patties on both sides with coarse salt and pepper.

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Place burgers on grill. Close cover; cook burgers until bottoms start to darken and juices rise to surface, about 3 minutes. Turn burgers; cook to desired doneness, about 3 minutes longer for medium-rare. Top with onions and cheese. Close cover; cook until cheese melts. Place muffin bottoms on plates; spread with ketchup. Top with burgers, tomatoes, if desired, spinach, and muffin tops. Serve, passing remaining ketchup separately.

*Dried, smoked jalapeños in a spicy tomato sauce called adobo; available at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Latin markets.

I’ll tip my hand a bit here and say this turned out almost really good.  Piece by piece then, the burger was a burger.  The cheddar could have been smoked because as it was it just was kinda there.  The spinach was fine and a nice contrast to the richness of the rest of it.  The chipotle ketchup, while making me cringe and want to babble about tablescapes, was really good.  I’m a sucker for adobo sauce, but as I was halfing the recipe and didn’t quite half the amount of chipotles I put in, it came out a little hot.  I also forgot that Mrs. Citizen Chef had sunburned lips.  Ahem.

The onions though, were awesome.  Nothing revolutionary in the prep here, but the dash of balsamic at the end really brought out the flavor.  And honestly, I haven’t found the food that doesn’t get better with a little balsamic.

The english muffin.  This is where it fell down a bit for me.  You know how in almost every sci fi movie, they run around with a different kind of flashlight?  Like it’s mounted on their hands, or their heads, or on their waist or something?  Like it must be the future because they’ve progressed so far beyond the antiquated hand-held flashlight.  That always bugs me because the future versions aren’t really any better than the normal version.  They are trying to improve something that doesn’t need improving just to be different.  The english muffin.  No I didn’t forget what I was talking about.  As you will see from the upcoming pic, I neglected to toast mine and that might have helped, but in the end the english muffin bun on this was just a flashlight tied to a small pony.

~Citizen Chef

I have a weakness: Orange Chicken from any Chinese restaurant. I don’t know what my problem is, but I see it on the menu and I must have it. It’s delicious and makes me happy. The downside to most orange chicken dishes is that they’re breaded, deep fried and have more sodium than Scrooge McDuck has money. So, for the past year, I have been on a search for orange chicken dishes that I can make at home and won’t eventually kill me.

If that wasn’t hard enough, it turns out our distinguished web admin does not like orange chicken. That’s unfortunate since I do all the cooking in our house so he has to eat whatever I make, like it or not. I try to do my best in finding a good compromise, but I’ve ended up serving him a variety of orange chicken dishes that he didn’t like. He prefers other, more savory dishes.

Last night, I cooked up the perfect compromise and, dare I say, we are now on a b0×0r r0xing alert. Consider yourselves warned.

The orange in this dish is not too strong, giving it just the hint of citrus that I was looking for. This was balanced nicely by a savory soy/sherry mixture that did not compete with the citrus. I originally found this recipe on Recipezaar about a year ago, and it sat in a pile that I recently went through. This is my version.

Orange Szechwan Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
4 green onions, diced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced and peeled
2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup jasmine rice

According to the recipezaar nutrition chart, this makes 4 servings. Each serving has 4.2 grams of fat, 159 calories, 32mg of cholesterol and 582mg of sodium. If you want to bring the sodium down even more, use low-sodium soy sauce and omit the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and still get tasty results. I think the serving size is wrong. Last night I served this on top of jasmine rice and did not serve it with sides. As a stand alone dish, it was 2 - 3 servings.

Now for the directions. As it is with all of my stir-fry dishes, get your rice going first. Follow the package directions.

In a medium bowl, mix chicken, soy sauce, sherry, green onions, red pepper flakes and ginger.

In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch, sugar, salt and orange juice. Cover and refrigerate.

Put the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Let the oil heat up for a few minutes before you put your chicken in there. If you aren’t sure whether or not it’s hot enough, carefully place a piece of chicken on the pan. If it sizzles right away, you know it’s ready. If not, then wait until the piece starts to sizzle. Add the chicken mixture to the pan and stir fry until the chicken is browned on all sides and is tender, about 4 - 5 minutes. Once it started to cook, the soy/sherry aroma wafted up and made my stomach grumble.

Whisk the orange juice mixture. I say whisk because getting cornstarch to break up and dissolve in liquid can be difficult with a fork. If you’re having trouble, whisk it. Add it to the chicken and cook until mixture is slightly thickened and coats the chicken, about 3 - 4 minutes. The faint citrus scent made my mouth water - I couldn’t wait to dish this up and try it.

This was delicious and light, and I couldn’t stop eating it. Even after I was full, I had to keep eating. The orange flavor was just a tease in my mouth, and went well with the soy and ginger. This is going in my dinner rotation and will be made until everyone is sick to death of it… and probably still after that.

If you like your chicken extra “orangy” then add 1 teaspoon of orange zest to the chicken and soy mixture before adding it to the frying pan. Overall this took me about 20 minutes to make, and that includes prep time. Not too shabby! Serve this over hot rice and dig in!

Today is Tuesday, so I hope by now you’ve caught up on the season finale of The Next Food Network Star. I’ve had a chance to skim a couple of other blogs and it seems that everyone has a different opinion, and there’s no real clear favorite - at least not in the internet food community.

In the episode prior to the finale, three contestants went to Vegas to shoot a short promo/teaser for their own television show. Aaron had Bobby Flay walking him through the whole thing, step by step, holding his hand. Adam had a choreographed number with Guy Fieri berating him the whole time. Lisa’s was the most difficult, but she had the scripted card in her hand the whole time to tell her what to say - and she still couldn’t do it. Not that it was easy to do with Guy Fieri behind her making snide remarks.

Afterward, each contestant had to put together a buffet for 50 people and do a short presentation. Even though Aaron’s absolutely appalling presentation was so uncomfortable I actually got up and left the room, I was too distracted by what I saw in the first challenge. After watching each contestant’s video promo, I was disappointed by all three. The judges must have felt the same way, because they could not make a decision on the final two, and brought all three back to compete in the last challenge.

Honestly, I think the judges did that because Aaron was the favored contestant, and he completely blew it in the buffet presentation.

So now comes the season finale: All three contestants get to make a 4 minute television show. Each one comes up with what they want their show to be, and they present it to one of their top producers. This producer turns it into a show, and they film it on Rachel Ray’s 30-Minute Meals set.

Lisa comes up with “Beautiful Basics” - simple cooking that could easily be in a 5-star restaurant. That’s the part of Lisa that really interests me. She’s fashionable and elegant, and she can show you how to cook in the “spirit” of fine dining in a very simple way. That appeals to me. What doesn’t appeal to me is that she still gets a tad robotic in front of the camera, and her movements while she’s cooking is a whirlwind. It doesn’t look quite as fun as it should be, even though it’s interesting. Still, I would definitely cook her food.

Adam was just hilarious. He came up with “Always Hungry in Philadelphia” and he talks to viewers via the internet about recipes that they’re getting bored with, and gives them his exciting new version. It did come off a little like another show that’s already airing, but Adam is such an entertainer that I wanted to keep watching. Previously I was not an Adam fan, but after his show, I truly was. He did a “dancing roasted chicken” sitting on top of a beer can. There was a nice looking spice rub that went over the chicken, and some spices and garlic that went into the beer can to “faux” smoke the chicken. Overall he was really great, and his comedic value made me want to watch him all the time.

Aaron went last, in a segment called “Big Daddy’s Kitchen”. He cooked some steak with collard greens, topped with some fried plantains. When I watched the show, there was a lot more audience reaction shown with Aaron’s video of people laughing and really getting into the show. I’m wondering if they were watching the same segment I was, because I didn’t think Aaron was all that funny, engaging, or entertaining. I also didn’t think his food was that original. After the food was plated, Aaron said to the camera, “If you don’t think this looks good then you need your eyes checked!” Again, the cameras panned to the audience who were doubled over, laughing. I wasn’t laughing. I actually felt he was being condescending to the audience. It was like watching a “next notch up” Guy Fieri.

So here’s the end spoiler with a lot of my opinion involved. Read at your own risk.

In the end, Aaron was crowned the winner, but I think the judges had crowned him the winner a long time ago. They liked him from the start - that his food was consistently decent was the proverbial icing on the cake. After the buffet disaster in Vegas, I think it blew the judges’ confidence. They were afraid to give it to anyone other than Aaron, and brought all three back just in case. When Aaron proved he wouldn’t be a complete disaster in front of the camera he was crowned the winner. I do wish Aaron the best of luck and I hope he proves me wrong, but I don’t think his show will be one I watch. He wasn’t entertaining enough for me. I really wanted Lisa to do well, but I think she needs to work on softening her expressions and movements in front of a camera. My favorite at the end was Adam - not only would he appeal to the food masses, but he is someone you would want to watch just to be entertained. Then again, maybe I didn’t see the entire video clip so there was more going on than the home viewers were privy to. In any case, we wish Aaron the best of luck on his win.

I haven’t said anything about the latest two episodes of The Next Food Network Star, and I apologize for that. This morning I got online, fully intending to say something before this weekend’s finale, when I saw something quite surprising on the Food Network Addict’s (FNA) website:

The Food Network accidentally posted the finalists’ exit interviews and the winner’s video on their website.

It has since been pulled but… Whoops. What a shame that the struggling network continues to bungle things up. Last week’s Food Network Star episode garnered more ratings than Bravo’s darling “Project Runway” - and they botch the momentum with this. What a shame.

Here is the statement the Food Network released to FNA:

“FoodNetwork.com experienced technical difficulties last night. As our viewers have seen on The Next Food Network Star this season, many twists and turns have taken place during the show. We encourage all to tune in on Sunday at 10pm to see who will be the Next Food Network Star.”

They’re trying to salvage the wreckage, but the damage has been done.

For those of you who watch the show and don’t want the ending spoiled, have no fear - FNA has deleted all of the comments that would give the ending away, so you can go check out the info without fear.