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Aspen Photos: First Up, Top Chef Fabio Viviani!

And I’m back from the 2009 Food and Wine Classic in Aspen! The experience was amazing to say the least, and I feel so thankful to have been a part of the premier culinary event of the year along with Average Betty. Thank you once again to Plum Tv and Food and Wine Magazine! We’ve so many savory stories, delicious photos and interviews to share, and here is the first palate pleaser: Tasty Top Chef Fabio Viviani photos!

The Italian Top chef charmer showed up on our radar Saturday, and in true Fabio form was spotted chatting, hugging, and story telling with chef comrades throughout the afternoon. Feast on this:

Fabio reunites with former competitor and Top Chef New York winner Hosea Rosenberg under the tasting tent. Wouldn’t you like to know what sweet nothings he’s whispering into Hosea’s ears?

Fabio sharing smiles with Chef Bobby Flay!

Italy and France unite! Top Chef Fabio Viviani continues sharing his love with the legendary chef Jacques Pépin.

Coming Soon: Chef interviews on dealing with the pinches of today’s economy, musings on Michael Chiarello and his farm to fork philosophy, off the grid after hours fun with food writers, and several top 10 lists. And of course, we will be returning to the chef recipe videos soon with some fresh talent that may surprise you. Stay tuned!

Italian Recipes

Spherical Olives and Top Chef Fabio’s Beef Carpaccio Recipe!

Fully obsessed with Season 5 of Bravo’s Top Chef, tonight we became equally fully obsessed with Fabio’s “Spherical Olives”. What are they and what gives them their outside shell and liquid center? After a quick visit with Google, we found this video from the genius chemist and chef Ferran Adria from El Bulli restaurant in Spain, where he demonstrates to Mark Bittman his special science using a recipe of calcium + alginate to create the magical olives.

Chef Fabio Viviani recreated these mysterious gems in his Top Chef winning beef carpaccio recipe, and Lee Anne from the French Culinary Institute in NYC shows us his technique in this video.

We also found an interesting post here from the chefs at the Ideas in Food blog, where they discuss encapsulation, play with chemicals, and create yogurt orbs. Is this type of food preparation natural? Not really. Is it fun and incredibly creative? Absolutely!

Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio with Arugula, Roasted Pine Nuts, Aged Parmesan Cheese, Spherical Kalamata Olives and Aged Balsamic Vinegar
Chef Fabio Viviani

Prep Time: About 2 hours
Serves: 3-4

Directions:Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio:
1. Slice the meat.
2. Display and season the arugula, shaved cheese, toast the pine nuts.

Kalamata Olives:
1. Mix first three ingredients together, let rest for three hours.
2. Mix water and algimate together, let rest for 3 hours.
3. Scoop first mixture into second mixture.
4. Let rest 3 minutes.

Note: Xanthan gum is not strictly necessary, but it can be used as a thickener. You can also use a thicker puree and it will work as well. Without the gum you will have to keep the olive in the solution for longer, around 5-6 minutes.

1 lb. tenderloin.
4 oz. parmesan, aged 5 years
6 balsamic vinegar, aged 6 years
8 oz. arugula
8 oz. pine nuts
olive oil
salt and pepper
kalamata olives

Spherical Kalamata Olives:
400 grams olive puree
1.8 grams Calcic Acid
1.3 grams Xanthan Gum
1.5 liters water
7.5 grams Sodium Alginate or Algin

Chefs Speak

Chefs Speak: Ferran Adrià on His New Beer, Inedit

From the brilliant Chef chemist and molecular gastronomy mastermind Ferran Adrià, creator of Spain’s El Bulli, frozen chocolate air, edible flower paper and spherical olives, a beer? Yes it’s true. While the talk has been online for over a year, Chef Adrià’s new brew Inedit is now making an official appearance on restaurant menus.

From the Estrella Damm website, Inedit is described as “”a unique coupage of barley malt and wheat, flavored with coriander, orange peel and liquorice”, (it is) “the first beer specifically created to accompany food. It is born from the conviction that a beer that could be paired with the utmost respect to the best cuisine was necessary. That is its aim and its virtue, and that is what makes Inedit different, special and unique.”

Priced at $10-30 per 25 ounce bottle, this is not your average Joe’s Saturday football drinking brew. Inedit is intended to be chilled and served at a temperature from 4 to 8 degrees Celsius or 39 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit, in a white wine glass filled to one third. Where to find it? In NYC, it is available here, and you may purchase it online here as well as other venues.

In this video from Estrella, Chef Ferran discusses the beer and it’s serving suggestions. “I am sure it is going to be imitated” the chef remarks. What do you think? Would you consider stepping out of the box and serve Ferran’s beer to dinner guests?

We have not tried Inedit yet, but if you have, give us a shout and let us know your thoughts in the comments. For more mainstream beer drinkers, be sure to check our beer and food pairing charts. Cheers!

Culinary Tips

11 Fabulous Foodie Iphone Apps for under $3

Verizon had the big announcement today regarding their Iphone launch, and it truly wasn’t such a big announcement at all, as the news has been leaked on the web for weeks. Financial analysts are predicting a huge number, of 9 to 15 million new Iphone users for 2011 with the expansion. On that note, we thought we’d mention a few must have Iphone apps for chefs, cooks, and foodies. Make that cheap frugal chefs cooks and foodies, as each of these apps are less than $3.00. (Hey we need to spend our money on food!) We’ll get you started with our favorites, with a brief description of why they are loved.

Mario Batali Cooks!, $2.99

Once again the gingerly shorts wearing chef wins our hearts. This elegant app features over 60 of Mario Batali‘s signature Italian recipes with deliciously clear videos and simple instructions. The recipes can be searched by Italian region, by course, by season, kid friendliness, by category, or by quickness. Browsing by region will give you a short food history lesson of the geographical area with gorgeous photos, and each recipe includes a regional wine pairing selection. Grazie mille Mario!

Fromage, $2.99

This is a recent addition for us and we are finding it well worth the money spent. The app includes over 700 cheeses, which you can find via search, by texture, by region or country, or by milk type. Cheese info includes suggested wine pairings and a photo, which you tap for a detailed description of the origin and history of the cheese as well as a flavor profile. You may also make a favorites list, and add personal notes and ratings to each cheese.

Epicurious, Free for recipes, $1.99 to to synch your recipe box

Of all the recipes sites and apps out there, Epi is our favorite for its uber large database, simple navigation, gorgeous photos and most of all recipe reviews by users. The beautiful thing about the reviews here is that they are often quite detailed, and users mention recipe tweaks and substitutions that were helpful for them. A small fee of $1.99 allows you to sign in and access your personal recipe box and shopping list.

Global Eater Food Dictionary, $0.99

Barron’s Food Lovers Companion is huge, has a cringe inducing $11.99 price tag, and poor user reviews which pushed us far away. We’re more than pleased with the Global Eater Food Dictionary. Over 1100 food terms found on restaurant menus are defined, and are found by a country search or world search in seconds. Now when you order Spotted Dick or Sweet Breads you’ll be fully informed of your plate contents.

Yelp, Free

Yes, there are a few grumpy and fake reviewers out there, but in general we find this app to be an essential Iphone resource. We especially love the click to call phone numbers, maps and “restaurants nearby” features. It’s no Zagat, but hey it’s free. Zagat to Go‘s app is $9.99, which may well indeed be worth it, however it misses our thrifty “under $3.00” criteria.

FoodSpotting, Free

While not an essential app, it’s a free and fun way to pass time and induce hunger. Foodspotting finds your location, or you can enter another one, and shows you user photos of restaurant food nearby. The photo quality varies widely, but it’s nice to discover whats out there. You can search for foods, places, or people. It has a twitterilike and facebookish feel, as you can “follow” people, “nom” or “want” their photos. Smaller regions are a bit sparse for photos compared to larger metro city areas, but we think this app will rock the rural areas too as the community continues to grow. A bonus: In December they released an Android beta app.

Seafood Watch, Free
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s sustainable seafood guide is a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of the best environmentally and nutritionally safe fish. It also includes a sushi guide and a “super green” guide, as well as “Project Fishmap”, a location based store and restaurant sustainable seafood finder. Because noone wants to eat the last fish in the sea.

The New York Times, Free

Simply hit the “more” button on the bottom right and scroll to the Food and Dining section for updates on deliciously current food news.

NPR News, Food, Free

On the bottom menu, hit “programs”, then “topics”, then “food”. Voilà, all of the most recent foodie podcasts shows for your listening pleasure, perfect for passing time on the way to work.

Top Chef Foodie Fight, Free

Because sometimes a free silly brainless game is exactly what you need. And whacking Fabio Viviani in the head with a pie is fun! Ok we have issues, but you know that already. 🙂

Oysterpedia, $1.99

It’s the little oyster app that could. From the The Mermaid Inn restaurants in NYC, this gem of a resource helps you demystify ordering oysters while eating out. It allows you to choose from over 200 East coast or West Coast oysters, and features photos, harvesting information, flavor profiles, and an option to add a personal rating for future reference.

Most of these apps should be available for the Ipod Touch or Ipad in addition to the Iphone, however some will require wifi for access.

Did you know? There are over 300,000 Iphone apps in existence. Surely we missed a few foodie app must haves?? Let us know your suggestions in the comments!

Random Musings

Top Chef All Stars, Are You Ready?

Via our PR friends from Bravo Tv, here’s the scoop!

“They’re back and they’re ready for redemption!”

It’s a dream team of 18 cheftestants who almost won. Airing December 1 at 10 pm EST look forward to “Top Chef All-Stars”, including the following judges:

Anthony Bourdain
Padma Lakshmi
Tom Colicchio
Gail Simmons

Judging these chef’testants:

* Elia Aboumrad; Season two, final four
* Stephen Asprinio; Season one, top five
* Richard Blais; Season four finalist
* Jennifer Carroll; Season six, final four
* Tiffany Derry; Season seven, top five
* Tiffani Faison; Season one finalist
* Carla Hall; Season five finalist
* Mike Isabella; Season six, top seven
* Jamie Lauren; Season five, top seven
* Dale Levitski; Season three finalist
* Antonia Lofaso; Season four, final four
* Spike Mendelsohn; Season four, top five
* Angelo Sosa; Season seven finalist
* Dale Talde; Season four, top six
* Casey Thompson; Season three finalist and fan favorite
* Marcel Vigneron; Season two finalist
* Fabio Viviani; Season five final four and fan favorite
* Tre Wilcox; Season three, top eight

Yum! Be still our heart, and we promise to deliver and send you the seasons best delicious Top Chef All Star recipes as soon as they are sent to us.

Our votes: Richard, Fabio, and Tre. Who are yours? Let us know in the comments!

xoxo

Appetizer Recipes Chicken Recipes

Top Chef Vegas Chicken Wings

This just in! Via our friend Chef Fabio Viviani on Facebook, he has recreated the winning Chicken Wings with a Celery Root Puree and Blue Cheese Dressing recipe from Top Chef Michael Voltaggio on the episode 10, season 6 Elimination Challenge. In this video recipe, Fabio teams up with Chef Adam Sobel of RM Seafood in Las Vegas. Note: for those of us mere mortals who do not have NO2 (nitrous dioxide) canisters in our kitchen arsenals, simply chilling the sauce should be sufficient. Grazie Fabio!

P.S. Craving a shortcut, and wish to skip the pre cooking butchering step? Check out Chef John’s tip on how to eat chicken wings, and simply remove the bones from your chicken wings while you eat them.

Boneless Chicken Wing Confit with Curry and Blue Cheese Disc
Chef Michael Voltaggio
Serves 12

Ingredients
For Wings:

* 12 chicken wings
* 1 Spanish onion, thinly sliced
* ¼ cup fresh thyme
* 1 L chicken stock
* 1 cup heavy cream
* Curry powder
* Salt to taste
* Flour, for dusting

For Hot Sauce:

* 500g fresh bell pepper juice
* 100g red wine vinegar
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 7g xanthan gum
* ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 100g Franks red hot sauce

For Frozen Blue Cheese:

* 100g Maytag blue cheese
* 400g sour cream
* 1g xanthan gum
* Black pepper to taste

For Celery Puree:

* 1 celery root, peeled and chopped
* 2 cup heavy cream
* ½ cup parsley leaves
* ½ cup celery leaves
* Salt to taste

Directions

1. Using a cleaver, chop off each end joint off the wings. Season chicken with salt and curry powder. Place wings in a single layer inside a shallow pot. Add onion, thyme, stock, and cream. Simmer over low heat until bones can be removed without tearing the flesh. Remove from heat and strain liquid. Carefully remove bones from each wing. Place de-boned wings between two sheets trays and press for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

2. For hot sauce, blend all ingredients in a saucepan with an immersion hand blender until smooth. Bring mixture to a boil and then blend again. Allow to cool to room temperature.

3. For frozen blue cheese, blend all ingredients until smooth. Load into an iSi cream whipper canister and charge two times with NO2. Dispense onto anti-griddle to freeze.

4. For celery puree, place celery root in a pot and cover with cream. Simmer until celery root is tender and season with salt. Pour into a blender and puree with parsley and celery leaves. Cool immediately.

To Serve:

1. Heat a sauté pan with oil. Dredge wings in flour and pan fry until golden.
2. Spread celery puree onto plate.
3. Place chicken wing on top of puree. Add a drop of hot sauce.
4. Arrange a frozen blue cheese slice leaning on chicken.

Vegetarian Recipes

Top Chefs Take on Tofu, The Recipes

After watching Top Chef Las Vegas Wednesday night, we began to think about tofu in a different light. Chef contestant Hector Santiago created a citrus ceviche with mango and cilantro mint pearls and tofu, a dish that impressed celebrity chef and judge Todd English, who called Hector’s tofu “beautiful”. (The recipe may be found here.) Several years ago we lived with a vegetarian who prepared tofu dishes almost nightly, and became quickly bored of the bland ingredient that parasitically relies on others for it’s flavor. Perhaps it’s time to give tofu a second look we were musing, and who better than professional chefs to turn to for inspiration?

Today’s hilarious video features another top chef contestant, Fabio Viviani, as he prepares a seared tofu with roasted zucchini, with walnuts in a balsamic Grand Mariner reduction for Ellen Degeneres on her show. We tried it and the layers of flavor are complex and delicious, and we are tofu fans once again. Even if you haven’t an interest in the recipe, watch the video for a guaranteed laugh!

[pro-player width=’550′ height=’353′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j3B_5kXM18[/pro-player]

Seared Tofu Carpaccio with Roasted Zucchini & Grand Marnier Toasted Almonds
Chef Fabio Viviani

INGREDIENTS:
Block of tofu
3 green zucchini
Salt (kosher) and fresh pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of Grand Marnier
1 cup of toasted almonds
3 handfuls of arugula salad
Lemon
3 cloves of garlic
Mint
Balsamic vinegar
1 cup of dark or light corn syrup

Slice the tofu thin, but not too thin, marinate with a little minced garlic and mint, extra virgin olive oil, salt and fresh black pepper, reduce the balsamic vinegar to 1/2 and mix with the corn syrup. Keep reducing it and then set aside and cool it down.

Slice the zucchini pretty thin and season with olive oil salt and pepper, let them cook in a hot sauté pan until they are nice and caramelized, take the zucchini out and sear the tofu until it gets a little brown on the sides

Roughly slice the almonds and let them toast in an aluminum pan, add about a tablespoon of the balsamic glaze using a squeeze bottle, flambé it with the Grand Marnier. Now you have a kind of little thick sauce with the balsamic and Grand Marnier sliced almond, season the arugula with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Place the zucchini on a plate, topped with the sliced tofu and add the salad on top, drizzle with the balsamic almond sauce and serve it.

For more Top Chef Tofu recipes, check out Fritz Sonnenschmidt’s Grilled Tofu with Wilted Spinach, and Carla Hall’s Tofu with a Pecan and Oats Crust.

Chicken Recipes

Julia Child’s Chicken, reinvented. Hungry?

The countdown begins, 4 more days until the movie Julie and Julia is released! In continuation with our Julia Child obsession/worshiping , we bring you this delicious chef video recipe from Chef John from Food Wishes, showing us how to make Julia’s famous and classic recipe of roasted chicken with garlic and lemon.

But first, you may be wondering, who is this Chef John, why does Savory Tv keep mentioning him, why was he in Aspen involved in a fashion shoot, does he have a 5 star restaurant in NYC? An underground secret venue such as Chef Todd in Vancouver perhaps? What is his last name?

We will spill a few beans, promise to remember that you heard it here first! His full name is John Mitzewich, although he loves it when we call him simply “Chef John”. Not just a food blogger, although he is a food blogger, he is the American Food expert for About.com. Besides his famous french onion soup recipe, he will soon be a star chef for an up and coming reality/food tv show, and his grassfed steakhouse recipe is frequently passed around as a recipe legend among secret foodie societies. And…he loves Julia, perhaps even more than we do if that’s possible! Via his blog he says “My decision to become a chef was a direct result of my childhood fixation with watching her cook on “The French Chef”. So, please read the post that belongs with the video (recipe here) ,and learn why Chef John would cook Roasted Lemon Garlic Chicken for Julia if given the chance. (And remember, you heard it here first, Chef John is the next Fabio!)

Also don’t miss this: visit the PBS site to watch the original Julia Child roasted garlic lemon and herb chicken show featuring Gordon Hamersley, in addition to classic videos from her multiple PBS shows: Cooking With Master Chefs, In Julia’s Kitchen, Baking with Julia, Julia Child and Jacques Pepin: Cooking In Concert, Julia Child and Jacques Pepin: More Cooking In Concert, and Julia Child and Graham Kerr: Cooking In Concert.

For more Julia Child love from Savory Tv visit our Julia Child Quotes page, and her perfect omelette recipe video, bon appetit!

Random Musings

Celebrity Chef and Foodie Expert? Prove It!

Think you know your chefs and foodies in the twitterverse? Take this quiz and show us! This is a silly post to test your skills, match the twitter tweet to the food personality! Famous celebrity chefs and foodies include restaurant critic Gael Greene, Top Chefs Fabio Viviani, Hosea Rosenberg, and Richard Blais, Top Chef Masters host Kelly Choi, Gordon Ramsey, Jamie Oliver and more!

Read on for the quiz: Continue Reading

Culinary Events

Food & Wine Classic 2009 Slideshow

Taste this! Only a handful of amazing visions to be seen at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen 2009, Average Betty and I have taken our best shots and embedded them into a slideshow. We schmoozed with the best of them: Celebrity chefs Michael Chiarello, Giada De Laurentiis, Mario Batali (and his clogs), Top Chefs Hosea Rosenberg, Stephanie Izard, Richard Blais, and Fabio Viviani, David Chang, Ming Tsai, Michael Symon, Jacques Pépin and his daughter Claudine Pépin, Joe Bastianich, José Andrés, Gail Simmons, Tom Colicchio, and several of the Best New Chefs. Here’s a just a tiny taste of the amazing experience. Enjoy!

[easyrotator]erf_80_1336980380/erc_16_1336988584[/easyrotator]

Pasta Recipes

Eureka! Hubert Keller’s Macaroni and Cheese

Thank you Bravo Tv! A winning dish from the premier episode of Top Chef Masters, Hubert Keller’s macaroni and cheese with prawns (or shrimp) and mushrooms recipe, prepared by charming Top Chef Fabio Viviani from Café Firenze and chef Michael Demers of Veloce Cibo restaurant.

So, here is the big question, what is the difference between shrimp and prawns? The answer is as clear as mud. For a thoroughly confusing explanation from a scientist (including college flashback terms such as arthropods, ecoskeletons and Malaconstracans) read this. Chowhound foodies discuss it with a bit more clarity here, and here is Wikipedia’s definition of prawns. So the short answer is yes, there is a scientific difference, and more importantly cultural differences regarding what are referred to as shrimp or prawns.

prawn

shrimp

The bottom line: can you use shrimp in this recipe? Yes! For more delicious Hubert Keller recipes, visit his restaurant site, Fleur de Lys. Select Secrets of a chef, and go to recipes.

Creamy Mac and Cheese with Prawns, Mushrooms and Fresh Herbs
Chef Hubert Keller
Top Chef Masters, Season 1, Episode 1, Elimination Challenge Winner
Ingredients

* 4 tablespoons butter
* 3 large carrots, diced
* 1 large onion, diced
* 1/2 quart cream
* 4 ounces half and half
* 1 cup white mushroom, sliced
* 1 1/2 cup Swiss cheese
* 2 pounds prawns, diced
* 1 pounds cooked pasta
* 1 cup whipped cream
* 5 tablespoons chopped parsley
* 6 egg yolks
* Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large pot, add butter, carrot, onion and sweat for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the cream, salt and pepper and simmer until it gets thicker (10 to 15 minutes). Add the mushroom and Swiss cheese, simmer for 5 minutes. Add the prawns and pasta and mix gently until very hot. Fold into the whipped cream the parsley and egg yolks. Season with salt.

Transfer Mac & Cheese into bowl and cover lip with the whip cream mix.
Hungry for more? Here is top Chef Alex Eusebio’s Macaroni and Cheese with white wine, bacon and 5 cheeses.

And last, but not least, we simply must mention Mario Batali, who we will see in Aspen! Here’s a quick clip of him with Gwyneth Paltrow discussing Mac and Cheese.

[pro-player width=’550′ height=’353′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkJDHK-W6Jg[/pro-player]

Hungry for baked pasta and cheese recipes from Mario Batali? Try these:
– Baked Ziti with Ricotta and Ham
– Baked Ziti with Mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano
– Baked Pasta Tubes, Casalinga Style: Cannelloni al Forno