Eating Well On Tyler's Turf

Tyler's Ultimate with Tyler Florence

Roasted Tenderloin of Beef with Spicy Crab Salad
The Ultimate Stuffed Potato

To get the recipes:
Click here

Tyler tells us his favorite rhyme as a kid wasn't from a book, but from a menu - Surf and Turf. That's sweet. Oh, they're showing the final product at the beginning of the show. It's a plate filled with glorious looking food spinning around on a turntable. That's not Surf and Turf...That's ART!!!

At the top of his list of celebration foods is Surf and Turf. "It's a one-two punch of juicy steak and succulent seafood that guarantees a knock-out meal."

His version consists of a pan seared filet mignon topped with a flavorful crab salad. Served alongside is a baked potato with a mammoth filling of bacon and broccoli in a mornay sauce.

He gets the baked potatoes in the oven. He's using russet potatoes. He tells us to "fork" them (HE said it), which lets the steam out, so they don't explode in the oven. Good plan. He rubs some olive oil on and sprinkles over Kosher salt. The oil and salt will give the potatoes a nice crust. They go into a 400 degree oven for one hour.

As Tyler starts on the crab salad, he tells us that this is actually one of the greatest dishes he's ever come up with. I like his confidence. He picks through a pint of really good pasteurized "which means cooked" crabmeat - bluefin from Maryland. He mixes up mayo, cilantro and sambal. (That IS different.) The sambal is Asian Chili Paste with Garlic. He "rakes" the crabmeat into the dressing. He adds salt and pepper and gives it a quick mix. "DONE!" with its "fresh, clean, explosive flavors." He puts it in the fridge, covering it with plastic wrap pushed right down on top of it to keep it fresh.

For the stuffed potatoes, he cuts the bacon into thin strips and puts them in a preheated pan.

He cuts the broccoli into bite-sized pieces.

Tyler exclaims "It smells fantastic...like bacon always does." He readies a pot of water with a hit of Kosher salt and blanches the broccoli for 3 to 4 minutes. His Dad used to have a baked potato night and put out all kinds of fillings "almost like a little potato bar." Cool dad. Bacon gets drained on paper towels.

Tyler adds oil to the cast iron frying pan that he absolutely loves. It's almost 100 years old! AND it looks in great shape. He brings the oil to smoking temperature. He ties up each filet with a piece of string, so that it will hold its shape AND cook evenly. (Do yourself a favor and tie it up BEFORE you start heating the oil.) He holds the tied-up filet up to the camera. Just beautiful.

He salts and peppers the filet. (Remember Michael's tip to always season both sides evenly?) He likes to do this on a plate, so he can go back through one last time to use all the salt up. I like a guy who knows how to conserve.

He "drops' the filets in the HOT pan and sears them. He's "caramelizing the protein in the beef" as he reminds us that "color is flavor." I like that saying. I have to remember to use it.

He pulls out the broccoli from the simmering water with a skimmer. Giada does that alot too. I wonder why. I think that risks the broccoli staying in the hot water longer than it should. I like to pour the whole mess into a colander. I guess it helps that I love my colander.

He goes on to the bechamel sauce. He melts a half a stick of butter in a pan and sprinkles in a couple tablespoonfuls of flour. He stirs it with a wooden spoon. Don't color the roux at all. He tells us that we must use whole milk, because 2% will make the sauce split after it comes to a boil. Sorry, Tyler, I have to differ. I've made bechamel sauce with 1% milk HUNDREDS of times and it has never split. It's true that it doesn't get as thick, but then I can either add a bit MORE flour or a bit LESS milk. I have no objection to whole milk...it will be a lot more luscious, but you may use 1 or 2 % and it'll be fine.

Anyway...he adds the milk slowly and beats until smooth. Then he bungs in the cheese. Hold on a second...It takes a lot longer to cook a bechamel that THAT. I know he has to get the show on the road. But he needs to indicate that, without the miracle of television, it can take 10 minutes to thicken that sauce BEFORE you add the cheese. He adds the broccoli pieces, chives and bacon.

Wow, that does look absolutely "adequate", as my aunts would say when faced with something of unparalleled lavishness.

The filet mignons are searing away. After they've colored beautifully - remember what COLOR is?* - he adds cherry tomatoes, still on the vine, to the pan with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Then he puts the pan in a 400 degree oven for 8 minutes to cook the steak rare.

The baked potatoes come out. He "cracks through the crust, which creates a vessel" for the great filling. He ladles all that good cheese sauce stuff over and in. Interesting, he doesn't scoop out any of the potato and chop it up and add it to the topping. He puts a bit more cheese on top and it goes back in the oven. That is really something. It's a gorgeous huge hunk of creamy savoriness.

Tyler dresses arugula to use as a garnish. (Remember what I've said about ever-present arugula? I guess Tyler got the memo from the Food Network.) He seasons it up with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

He pulls the the filets and cherry tomatoes out of the oven. He cuts off the strings. (Do you have kitchen shears? They're very handy for all kinds of jobs.) TF plates the filets and drops the cherry tomatoes in between the filets. There's "a nice little sauce in the bottom of the pan." He pours it in between the steaks.

He puts a big scoop of crab salad on each filet and garnishes them with arugula. "This is a modern approach to surf and turf." He gets the "ultimate side dish" out of the oven and places the stuffed potatoes on the dish.

He serves himself a filet, cherry tomatoes and some arugula. He tops the plate off with a hot potato. He grabs some silverware and says "I'm going in deep." He doesn't know what to go for first. I approve of his choice - a bite of filet and crab. Pretty fabulous, just like the chef.

*Color is FLAVOR, of course.

Men Are From The Acme...Women Are From Shoprite

I came to the rather disheartening conclusion that the more things change the more they stay the same, after reading about a study on Men in Grocery Stores. It's kind of pathetic that the results sound as if they could have been from the 1950's as much as the year 2007. The study found:

• Men don't like to ask for directions in a store.

Well, what a surprise! NOT!

Some believe that this entire ask-for-directions/don't-ask-for-directions thing is an actual function of men and women's brain chemistry. I choose to go with that theory as my husband is literally driving us miles and miles out of our way, rather than ask for directions. I am blessed, though, to have a partner with an extraordinarily strong sense of direction. Occasionally, he will ask me which way to go. Then he goes the opposite way, which, for the most part, works quite well. (I actually have to hold maps upside down and sideways to use them.)

This is all just to say that I have no problems asking where something is in a grocery store. As a matter of fact, as Deborah Tannen wrote about in "You Just Don't Understand", I look upon such an exchange as an opportunity to reach out and establish a connection with another person. A man looks at it as an admission of weakness and giving someone else the upper hand.

• A man would rather go to a lousy store with a convenient layout than a nicer one that's confusing.

Apparently, men have no patience with taking a moment to get the lay of the land. They need to see everything instantly and get right there. Of course, as experienced shoppers know, that goes against every grocery store credo. The more space you have to go through to get where you have to go, the more opportunity there is for you to buy more of what you don't need or want.

• This is funny - Top items bought by men shopping on their own are beer/wine. Cleaning products land at the bottom of the men's list.

Now if that's not sadly stereotypical, I don't know what is.

• A man will tell his wife the store was out of an item, rather than admit he couldn't find it.

How funny is that? Why do I think if it were a product a man really needed or wanted, he'd have no problem searching for it?

That's not to say that there aren't plenty of men who perform admirably in the supermarket - I even know one or two myself. But they would do well to bring a few things with them as they go down the aisles: their patience, a really good map of the store and a cellphone with a strong signal, so they can call their better halves when they really get stuck.

Tyler - Chef Daddy

Congratulations to Tyler Florence and his wife Tolan on the birth of their son, Hayden, last week. To see the adorable baby, a spitting image of his father, click here.

Michael Chiarello, My Favorite Bike-Riding Chef

Biking Picnic
Spring Vegetable Rice Salad (Insalata di Riso)
Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Grilled Mushroom Vinaigrette
Napa 'Road' Mix

To get the recipes:
Click here

Michael is packing a meal to go. He's serving "a movable picnic on a bike ride in the Napa Valley." Being a cyclist, he tells us, you can eat anything you want. Oh, THAT'S how he stays so trim.

He's making one of his "favorite sandwiches of all time". Did he just say "Che-vatta"? Yes, he did. Have I been mispronouncing Ciabatta all this time? He slices the however-you-pronounce-it bread in half crosswise and drizzles over olive oil. Then he sprinkles on salt and pepper and toasts it. I thought he told us always to drizzle with oil AFTER toasting. I guess that's just for bruschetta.

He takes shitake mushrooms and mixes them with 1/2 cup olive oil (remember HE'S cycling, if we're not, perhaps we should cut that oil by a bit.) He adds garlic, which has been Choppy-Chopped, thyme, salt and pepper. "Mushrooms are 90% water, so I like a nice hot grill" to cook them on. Listen to the chef. Always cook your mushrooms over high heat. In fact, I can't think of a case where you shouldn't.

Michael seasons the chicken breasts before grilling them. He salts and peppers them liberally and then adds a little olive oil. Then he turns them over and seasons the second side in exactly the same way. That's a good lesson, because, admit it, don't you sometimes skimp on the seasoning on the second side? The chicken goes on a medium grill to cook for a few minutes.

The mushrooms are done - they took about 7 or 8 minutes. Mike turns off the grill and leaves them there to cook all the way through.

He moves on to a vinaigrette. He minces shallots, 2 teaspoons of thyme - one for now, one for later - and roughly chops Italian parsley. He adds olive oil, sherry vinegar, salt and pepper.

Michael turns the chicken and, again, he turns off the heat to allow them finish cooking slowly on the second side. Smart.

He slices the mushrooms - do it anyway you wish - and adds them to the vinaigrette. He packs it up happily. He's quite pleased.

He pulls the chicken off the grill. He lets it cool and THEN slices it, so he doesn't lose all the juices. He cuts them at a 45 degree angle, which he says keeps them a little more tender.

Then he asks one of those questions perplexing humankind for eons..."How do you take greens on a bike ride?" I have asked myself that countless times and my answer has always been the same..."very carefully". But Michael comes up with another answer. He spritzes them with water and wraps them in a paper towel. He spritzes THAT with water and places the whole thing in a ziplock bag. He puts that in another bag with a cold pack. Then MC does something inexplicable. He packs a little container of "store bought vinaigrette."

Michael, why would be watching you if we wanted to use salad dressing out of a bottle??? We can do that ourselves WITHOUT watching you. I get that you want to get on the road and get moving. But why can't those beautiful mushrooms, dressed in that nice vinaigrette, get mixed with the greens? Or bring a bit of balsamic vinegar to toss them in...

Probably sensing my discomfort, he moves on quickly to a "one of (his) favorite salads of all time - a little spring rice salad." He's featuring a lot of favorites today. He has an interesting method for cooking Arborio rice. He uses LOTS of water "to keep the rice moving around." He brings it to the boil and simmers for 15 to 20 minutes.

To add to the rice salad, Michael cuts asparagus on an angle. As soon as he feels a little resistance to his knife, he makes one more cut and then discards the stems. He blanches the asparagus with peas for a minute and a half. Meanwhile he gives the rice a nice stir, so it doesn't stick. He takes out the asparagus and peas and lays them out on a paper towel.

Next he blanches fava beans for 3 minutes. He cools and peels them and adds them to the other vegetables. Use Lima beans if you can't find fava beans. Now here's what interesting to me. He's PEELING fava beans, for goodness sake, but he's using store-bought vinaigrette. It doesn't compute.

We come back after a break to Michael getting his bike ready for the road. I'm sure it's some kind of awesome bike, but I don't know a Schwinn from one that's handmade of titanium. I'm just hoping we get to see him in those tight biker shorts.

He explains that our bodies can only store about 1 1/2 to 2 hours worth of energy and after that you have to refuel, so it's important to take along a good lunch.

He dices some ham to add protein to the rice salad. He adds diced cubes of pecorino as well. He drains the rice and puts it out on a cookie sheet to cool. He zests a lemon on top of the rice. He also chops basil and parsley. For the dressing, he juices lemons and adds salt and pepper. The salt sort of melts in the lemon juice. He adds olive oil and containerizes the dressing separately. The rice, veggies, ham and cheese are in another container. Why isn't he putting at least a little of the dressing on the rice now? And why is he using a rather small spatula to mix it, which could mush the rice? He needs a big fork to do the job.

He starts on the trail mix. He mixes dried pears, dried nectarines and dried figs. He's juliennes the pears and nectarines. "Having a hard time finding a date?", he asks us. "No problem, I got a handful right here." Good one. I just LOVE dried fruit humor.

He adds dried cherries, and toasted hazelnuts, almonds and pumpkin seeds. He adds a few little Asian sesame snacks and bags them up for his friends.

He packs up everything in his backpack. 3 frozen water bottles will keep everything cold.

We come back to Mike and his friends cycling. I don't see any helmets. Mike, we don't want another Corzine episode, do we?

They pull off the road and Michael's 2 friends wait for him to assemble lunch. He puts the mushroom mixture on top of the bread, then adds the chicken and then the citrus vinaigrette. He dresses the arugula in its bag and that goes on top. "Big old Dagwood." He adds the vinaigrette on top of the rice. I'm sorry but he absolutely could have dressed the rice salad at home.

He serves the guys and they talk about what else? The food, of course. I love it. Just 3 guys in shorts, off their bikes and talking food. What could be better?

Have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend...

Granola - My Way

Nigella's Raspberry Swirl

made with My Granola

I was thinking about Nigella's Granola. I have what I think is a less sweet and even more delicious alternative. It's made in the microwave, which is good and bad. It's good because it's easy and quick. It's bad, because, as with all things microwaved, increasing the recipe is tricky. And once you try this, you'll want to make GOBS of it. What I do in my prime granola making season - Christmastime - is to get two batches ready at once in two different glass 9" by 13" dishes, so that when one comes out, the second can go in immediately.

Sue's Best Granola

2 cups rolled oats, not instant
2/3 cup chopped nuts - walnuts, almonds, pecans, cashews, hazelnuts
1/3 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup raisins, dried cranberries or dried cherries

In a large glass bowl or dish, mix oats, nuts, wheat germ and brown sugar together. Stir in honey. (Warm it for 10 seconds in the microwave, WITHOUT LID, to make it easier to pour.)

Cook on high for 3 minutes. Stir well. Cook on high for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes longer. Cool slightly. Add raisins and/or dried cranberries or cherries.

Store in jar or zip lock bags.

Notes: My microwave is fairly old, so your microwave may be a lot more powerful. Watch cooking times carefully, so granola doesn't scorch.

If I'm making 2 batches, one right after the other, I add all walnuts to one batch and all almonds, for example, to the second. Then when I mix them together, my granola has a variety of nuts. I do the same with raisins and dried cranberries and/or cherries.

The almonds can be in any form whatsoever - slivered, sliced, whole, skinned or unskinned. You can save yourself any chopping by using slivered or sliced almonds.

As with so many things, the better the honey you use, the better the granola.

Two Chefs, Two Chickens And A Fight Between A Robust Spice Blend And A Rockin' Vinaigrette

Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello

The Best Roast Chicken in the World Contest
Michael's Brined and Spiced Chicken Cooked in Butter with Sherry Vinegar Sauce
Jan Birnbaum's Roasted Chicken on Summer Greens with Corn
Olive Oil Braised Potatoes

To get the recipes:
Click here

"I'm taking you down." says Jan Birnbaum. We see the boys playing with ceramic chickens. Today's cook-off between the two chefs is Roasted Chicken definitely taken up a few notches. Michael defines the battle as being between the "Italian Stallion and Ragin' Cajun...dukin' it out."

Michael starts by brining his chicken to get a head start on the flavor. He's going to make a brine and then add ice to it, to bring the temperature down quickly. To a 1/2 gallon of water, he adds 7 cups (!) of kosher salt, peppercorns, 2 tbls. juniper berries (available in any supermarket), brown sugar, and bay leaves. He brings the mixture up to the boil, adds the ice to chill the mixture quickly and sets aside to cool.

Now MC is mixing up a potent spice mix - fennel, coriander seed and white peppercorns. He roasts the spices because he wants a "cooked spice flavor." Remember what I'm always saying about stirring the spices over heat before you add the other ingredients of your dish? Well, he's getting the cooking done beforehand to deepen the flavor and get rid of the raw taste. He turns the heat off and adds cinnamon, chili flakes, sugar, chili powder and salt.

"The brine must be cold" before you add the chicken. He puts the chicken in the brine and tells us to refrigerate it for 4 to 8 hours.

After spices have cooled, he grinds them in a food processor.

After the break, we come back to a beautiful farm setting. Jan joins Michael in the kitchen. Michael cuts up his chicken and dries it off really well. He rubs in the spice mixture very thoroughly to both sides. He's treating his chicken " Peking style", which is to leave it in the refrigerator overnight uncovered to dry it out.

We're on to Jan's bird. Michael remarks how yellow it is. Jan makes a potion of salt, paprika, black pepper, cumin, coriander and dry mustard. He rubs it all over the chicken. To add even more flavor, he makes a vinaigrette of champagne and balsamic vinegars, garlic, shallots, lemon juice, olive oil, tarragon (he lost me with that) AND BACON FAT. Whooeee!!! He puts the marinade in a bag and adds the chicken. Michael points out that by marinading in a bag, you can use a lot less than if you were doing it in a bowl. They finish up for the day and Michael utters his standard refrain, "That's all she wrote."

The next day dawns. Michael melts butter in a sauté pan and places the chicken in skin side down. He makes sure to add more spice to any bare places. He bastes with butter and chicken juices and puts the pan in a 400 deg. F oven for 20 minutes.

Jan is up now and he adds more flavor

by stuffing his chicken with cut up lemons, small pieces of onion (WITH the skin on), plus garlic, nutmeg, peppercorns and...why not?...a bit of olive oil. He ties up the chicken, spices it up real good and sits it on a bed of mirepoix (instead of a rack) and roasts it at 400 deg F for 40 minutes. Then he lets it sit in the turned off oven.

Michael prepares grilled and braised potatoes. He slices the potatoes rather thickly. He oils them and sprinkles them with grey salt and pepper. He puts them on a hot grill outside to get good grill marks on them, but he doesn't want them cooked all the way through.

He puts them on a pan and adds more olive oil, thyme, grey salt and pepper. and puts them in a 325 deg F oven for 20 minutes. "The potatoes will drink up the olive oil."

For his garniture, Jan adds canola oil to a pot. (Remind me, someday, to tell you why I hate canola oil, but I appreciate the fact that it has a high smoking temperature, which is why he's using it here.) He dredges oysters in rice flour and deep fries them in the canola oil. In a new pan, he cooks butter and corn and roasted peppers. He adds some reserved marinade to the pan and turns off the heat. He adds scallions and parsley and finishes cooking the oysters.

We move on to the sun-glassed guests who seem to be getting ready for the judging by drinking plenty of wine. I'm not sure who that favors.

Michael finishes up the chicken by deglazing the pan juices with sherry vinegar, chicken broth and bit of water.

He arranges the potatoes in between tomatoes. (There's a confusing bit in the recipe, which tells us to use "some of the vinaigrette" to spoon over these tomatoes. But we haven't MADE a vinaigrette for Michael's dish, so I guess just rustle up one real quick or just sprinkle some balsamic vinegar over the tomatoes with a bit of salt.)

Jan plates his chicken with the fried oysters and tops with vinaigrette and the cooked corn. They show off their dishes to the kitchen gods.

The judges get down to work. It's close, really close, but Jan is the victor to whom go the spoils, which seem to be this kiss from Michael.

Lucky guy. Of course in a taste test between these two, there are no losers. It's only a friendly competition between these two chefs and their intensely flavorful styles of cooking.

Notes About Food Network Chefs

I caught Emeril on Regis and Kelly Lee (as Dave Letterman says). Apparently, they're spending some time in New Orleans to highlight all the progress that's been made. When asked how things are, Emeril replies, "Everyday gets a little bit better." From your lips...

Emeril tells them that he came to N'Orleans 25 years ago to take over
Commander's Palace from Paul Prudhomme and work with the Brennan family. I'm glad he mentioned all those folks. I want to believe that Emeril is as nice a guy as he appears. But I could be wrong, because he's obviously trying to do in Reege. He's making a Hot Crab and Crawfish Pasta with ONE AND A HALF CUPS OF HEAVY CREAM! Not exactly what the doctor ordered after heart surgery. Reege smiles weakly as he looks on, thinking...if I want to stay alive another year, I won't even LOOK at this. They come back after a break and, luckily, he doesn't even have a plate in front of him. Emeril talks about Cafe Reconcile and he does a bit about other restaurants in New Orleans.

Next on the Rachael Ray Show, she must have broken some record for talking about one's husband. Oh, he loves this or he loves that....He LOVES to shop...and so on. Rockin' Ray (I'm trying out new nicknames - but that one sounds like I approve of her cooking) must have mentioned him 30 times. I have no idea if this show was taped before all the stories about her husband, but if it was after, I have to say I kind of admire her strategy here. Rather than answering for the umpteenth time questions that are really no one else's business, she's decided to make it clear in a more subliminal way that things are fine and she's very much sticking with him.

Here's Rachael Ray counting the ways her husband is so wonderful:

Breakfast At Nigella's

Nigella Feasts with Nigella Lawson

Breakfast All Hours

Raspberry and Oatmeal Swirls
Boiled Egg and Toast
Chocolate and Peanut Granola
Cheesecakelets
Bacon and Tomato Hash

To get the recipes:

Click here

It's not a bad idea to have the closed-captioning on when watching Nigella. She is by far the most articulate and well-spoken of all of our television chef/hosts, but her rapid-fire patois is sometimes a bit challenging for a lowly American to follow.

This episode is not a particularly challenging one. In fact, it seems like it's bits and pieces of previous shows combined to come up with a "new" show. But with Nigella's overabundance of charm, she pulled it all together.
She begins by poetically explaining that whether breakfast is a quick snack or leisurely affair, "it is a celebration of being alive." With all the loss she's suffered, she certainly has a right to remind us of that.

Nigella's own favorite breakfast is a precisely cooked egg, served with soldiers of buttered toast. She starts with a room temperature organic egg. The recipe goes into great detail, including specifying its country of origin (Italian). The salt must be just so (Maldon) and the bread from Poilane. Well, if you start with ingredients like that, you're bound to get a perfect breakfast. I guess that's the point - use only the best and the outcome is fairly assured...EXCEPT, if you mis-cook the egg. As Nigella says, the only thing that comes close to the disappointment experienced by a badly cooked egg is a not-warm-enough bath.

Next we see her shopping for granola ingredients. Oats, natural peanuts, applesauce...Wait, can't she make her own applesauce? It takes literally 3 minutes to cook a few apples in the microwave with lots of cinnamon and no sugar. Oh well, it's Nigella and she's busy choosing fancy frocks and attending to her lustrous curls.

Back in the kitchen, she puts together a granola of many other interesting ingredients. She adds cocoa...I have never added cocoa to my granola, but it is an intriguing idea. Here are the other ingredients: sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, ground ginger and cinnamon, honey, sugar AND brown rice syrup (yes, she tells us with a heavy sigh, from a health food store.) She stirs everything together and bakes it until it turns into a kind of brittle. She fills it into a BIG jar and tells us that it lasts a good week.

Oh good, she's on to the cheesecakelets, even if they're not good, I just love the name. She's going to use cottage cheese, which reminds her of her Granny's cheesecake. She starts by macerating strawberries in a bit of balsamic vinegar and sugar - just a touch. She loves this mixture, which gives them "a burnished glow and ruby glaze". She separates 3 eggs and adds sugar to the yolks along with vanilla, the cottage cheese and flour. There are no other rising agents in the mixture, except the egg whites, she says.

She foams the eggs with a whisk. In a fairly self-deprecating aside, she says, "You wouldn't want to be doing this in a sleeveless dress, though". She folds the whites into the cottage cheese mixture. "Don't be afraid of egg whites, you're the boss." She puts spoonfuls of the batter on a hot griddle,

and cooks them for one minute on the first side and until browned on the second side. She "squidges" on a little of the macerated fruit and serves them. "Cheesecakelets for my little baby cakelets." She does love her young ones, our Nigella.

I'm not entirely sure why next she shows us individually wrapped sausages and bacon slices in the freezer. I guess she's proud of them.

For the next dish, she blends 2 cups of frozen raspberries in the blender. She tells us "frozen red confetti" is the result. She adds a bit of powdered sugar and blends again. She ends up with a luscious and vibrant raspberry sorbet looking mixture.

She bashes a few oatmeal cookies with a rolling pin. She spoons a bit of the raspberry puree in the bottom of tallish glasses,



then adds DELICIOUS Greek yogurt, which at 300 calories a cup SHOULD BE DELICIOUS, then a layer of cookie crumbs and so on. It looks pretty awesome, but why didn't she use that beautiful cocoa granola?

Next scene is Nigella waltzing into the kitchen in her ballgown.

She puts oil in pan...bacon goes in and earrings come off. It's time for serious cooking! She chops tomatoes and yes, she's still in her gown (but, to be fair, it IS black). She slices bread and chops parsley, a lot of parsley. She takes the bacon out and adds the tomatoes, which give off such a sizzle that they must have gotten her dress. Unperturbed, she throws in a bit of Worchestershire sauce, swirls it around, and adds back the bacon. She pours the whole thing on a plate, garnishes it with prodigious amounts of parsley, black pepper and chili sauce and dips her bread in very happily.

Now let's get real about WHY she presented this recipe. Number one it is obviously an often-made recipe necessary to mop up the excess alcohol in her system. Number Two, and I'm not saying the bacon didn't look good,

it gave her an excuse to appear in her gloriously glamorous ball gown. To be honest, would we really be interested in watching Marge Simpson sop up a plate of oily bacon and tomatoes? I don't think so.

Let's get real about Nigella's appeal. She is absolutely drop dead gorgeous. On top of that, she has such a turn of phrase that we lowly Americans could listen to her forever AND she's not a bad cook. We get all of that and so much more with Nigella.

In the same vein, I guess we should be grateful that Giada is such a darn good cook, because she really doesn't have to be. Does that make us shallow people? Maybe, but they say that even babies are attracted to pleasant faces, so I guess it's just instinct. And I'll keep watching, even if I already know how to boil an egg.

Tyler, My Little Chicken Sandwich, Give Me A Bite

Tyler's Ultimate with Tyler Florence
Ultimate Chicken Salad Sandwich

Chicken Salad and Cranberry Brie Toast
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

To get the recipes:

Click here

I like the entire premise of this series. Tyler takes a dish that has several components and shows us how to make each one properly. It's sort of the opposite of Sandra Lee, where each step is a bigger abomination than the one before. He layers more and more flavors into each part of the dish, so that when they come together as a whole, you get an explosion of taste.

That's why for this show, he takes the time to poach the chicken, not just in water, but in a broth of his own making, which will certainly enhance the natural sweetness of the chicken. This is as far from boneless chicken breast as you can get. Note that it's always better to cook chicken on the bone and with the skin and then skim off the fat and remove the skin later on.

Tyler grabs a really big pot. He's adding lots of aromatic vegetables - turnips, celery and carrots, plus sprigs of thyme and rosemary. Now he gets a separate board for the chicken. Don't forget to do that. He looks it over and tells us he likes organic chickens. I don't blame him. He places the chicken in the pot and washes up. I hope that's second nature by now...that the minute you touch a chicken, or any raw meat or fish, you don't touch anything else until you've washed your hands...He fills the pot with water, so that it covers the chicken, then puts it on medium heat and brings it up to a slow simmer.

Onto dessert. Tyler tells us that the Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars are good enough for a bake sale. For the crust, he melts 1/2 stick of butter. He pulverizes "one big brick" of graham crackers in the food processor with 2 tablespoons of sugar, which will make the crust crisp. He adds the melted butter and cinnamon, which adds a great smell and processes until mixed.

Tyler is using a 9" by 9" baking dish and he is very proud of himself for his little truc in lining it. He butters the bottom of the dish and folds two sheets of parchment, so they're 9 inches wide.

He puts one in the pan, leaving the edges to stick straight up. he turns the dish and does the same with the second piece, so now he has "handles" to get the entire thing out of the dish.

I would have greased the top piece of parchment, but he doesn't. He presses the crumbs in with a little glass bowl. Good idea. He bakes the crust for 12 minutes at 325 deg. F to get it nice and crisp. When it comes out of the oven, he sets it aside to cool.

He cuts a really good looking loaf of sourdough bread in thick pieces. He likes the chewy texture and he explains that he's serving the sandwich open-faced like a tuna melt. Ok, now, I get what he's after now, I was wondering what the brie was for.

He toasts the bread at 325 deg. F for 10 minutes.

He places the walnuts in a heavy bottomed pan AFTER he chops them. Hmm, I've never done that before. He toasts them, "There you go...Walnut City."

"I've got a mixer here (as he grabs the food processor.)

"Are you taking notes?" He actually says that...YES I am, Tyler...I am. I'm hanging on your every broad shoulder word.

He adds 16 oz. of room temperature cream cheese to the "mixer" with 2 eggs - broken one-handed, natch, and the zest and juice of 2 lemons. He reminds us not to get the pith as we zest. Lastly, a half cup of sugar goes in and he processes quickly. He pours it into the crust, trying "not to disrupt" it. He sprinkles an entire pint of blueberries on top. Bake at 325 deg. F. for 30 to 35 minutes, until the centers jiggles just a bit.

Back to the chicken, "Pop chicken straight out of broth onto baking pan". Wow that looks good. Thank goodness my Comcast guide is wrong when it says I'm watching Ellie make energy bars.

He gets the bread out of the oven.

Now he's moving on to the dressing for the chicken. He chops 2 stalks of celery in a small dice. I'm noting that there are no trendy knives for him, just a standard LARGE chef's knife. He rolls up parsley into a cigar and chops it to add to the celery. He tells us that lemon juice "is king for fresh salads". That goes in with extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper. He gives it "a little stir." He adds the beautifully poached chicken. We didn't see him take it off the bone.

He butters the bread and adds a "creamy tangy layer of cranberries." He slices a granny smith apple and puts it on top. Then he puts on the chicken salad. (A LOT). He tops it off with a slice of Brie. He puts the whole enchilada (sorry that's another week) under the broiler.

The lemon cheesecakes thingies come out of the oven. Just as he promised, he grabbed the corners and the whole thing came out beautifully. Did he do that after it cooled? Yes, it seems like he did. So cool it first and then try his fancy trick. He dips the knife in warm water, so it goes "through the cheesecake like buttah." Finally, Tyler dusts it with powdered sugar. I think I might put the whole thing in the freezer before lifting it out of the pan and slicing it, to get really clean cuts.

Our chef uses a spatula to remove the sandwiches to a platter. They're so big, he could have used a shovel. He garnishes each one with a sprig of parsley. (I like REAL men that know their way around a delicate garnish.)

"Enjoy the sweet sound of the Ultimate Chicken Salad." He brings it to his mouth, takes a big bite. CRUNCH!!

Giada Sells Her Wares

Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis
Giada's Bake Sale

Mozzarella Pillows
Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Pine Nuts
Mascarpone Mini Cupcakes with Strawberry Glaze
Italian Ice

To get the recipes:

Click here

Giada is helping her friend's daughter, Daisy, with a bake sale. Apparently, the poor child just wants to go on a field trip and she has to raise the money herself by slaving in the kitchen to get the funds. Luckily, she has Giada to help.

Giada starts with mini-cupcakes. Whoa!!! Her cleavage is a good 3 inches lower than in the opening segment...

She's using a cake mix AGAIN?! This is becoming a pattern with her. It would be one thing if we were watching Sandra Sem-Eye Lee, but this is Giada. Anyway, she adds luscious marscapone to the bowl. She has to add something good to make them palatable. (I DO love her triple strand gold necklace, though).

She finishes the batter and uses a small ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into a mini-muffin pan that she's lined with little foil cups. Ok, really, her cleavage is ridiculous.

I would watch her just as much with a higher neckline, but I guess it's for those college boys. They go into the oven - the CUPCAKES, folks. She's topping them with a strawberry puree, which is a lovely idea. She's using frozen strawberries - thawed, which she likes because they have a lot of liquid. That mixes well with the confectioner's sugar. (Her cleavage has been adjusted somewhat...Oh wait, not in THAT shot.)

That does look terribly easy and good. She places the mini cupcakes on a rakes and spoons the glaze, somewhat messily, over them. They sit to firm up.

What bothers me is that I want her teaching America that it's really not THAT MUCH more work to make a cake from scratch. ANYONE can make one from a box and while she is jazzing it up nicely, I don't really think it's a great use of her viewers' valuable time to be showing us how to make a boxed mix. If people see HER using a cake mix, then they'll think it's ok and, really, it's not. It just isn't.

For the chocolate chocolate chunk cookies, she starts by beating 2 sticks of unsalted room temperature butter with powdered sugar. (I don't, as a rule, like powdered sugar in baked goods, except meringues where you're sort of forced to use it, so they're not gritty.) She adds in cocoa powder. WHY is she adding that now and not with the dry ingredients? Why is she using that dumb hand mixer? 11/2 cups flour goes in.

What happened to the eggs? THERE ARE NO EGGS IN THIS RECIPE, she tells us, so that cookie is really flaky. Is flaky a code word for dry? (Her cleavage is a little more under control.) She tells us again the dough is very "flaky" because of no eggs. That sounds fishy to me, who wants a "flaky" chocolate chip cookie, anyway?

She mixes in chocolate chunks, use chips if you wish, and chopped toasted pine nuts. Have you ever tried to chop pine nuts? It's not easy. Michael's Choppie-Chop would come in handy here. She's mixing the dough by hand and it does look a bit dry...She scoops the dough onto the parchment (foil would work fine) -1 or 1 1/2 inches apart - so that you don't get one big cookie. (That's funny, Giada, good one - I just love baking humor.)

She wants to bake one unique item for the bake sale and that's savory Mozzarella Pillows. She thinks it's a good idea to always have something savory with all the sweet things. She reduces store-bought tomato sauce (THAT'S ok) for 30 minutes and adds 1 cup of grated mozzarella and 2 slices of chopped prosciutto.

Giada rolls out a store-bought pie crust into a big square. She makes 3 long rectangles. She beats 2 eggs for an egg wash. No water? (Add 1 tablespoon of water per egg, no matter what she says.) She brushes each rectangle very well with the egg (remember yours will have a bit of water in it.) She puts a nice blob of filling towards the bottom of the rectangle. She didn't mention, but it's in the recipe, to cool the filling before using. She folds over the dough and presses down the sides to get all the air out. She cuts around with a scalloped ravioli cutter and brushes the pastries with egg and then sprinkles some Parmesan cheese over. Very attractive. Daisy is lucky to have her help.

But wait, she only gets THREE little pastries from one pie shell. Doesn't she have to make more than that? I consult the recipe. It says to use FOUR store-bought pie crusts, and to roll out the scraps, so you actually get 4 from each crust. That's still not a lot. I have absolutely no clue what they cost, because I have never bought one, but they must be a couple of bucks, right? That's kind of ridiculous. I guess that's what they do in Beverly Hills. They spend 25 dollars to make something to sell for 10 bucks...

Last thing to make is a sweet raspberry syrup for snow cones or Italian ices. Daisy zests lemons over a pitcher and squeezes the juice. Giada chops mint finely and adds it. (What kid wants THAT in his snow cone?) Daisy pours an entire bottle of syrup into the pitcher and they ready the crushed ice. Wow, that's a lot.

Daisy and Auntie Giada (my brother prayed for an aunt like that, when he was young...he probably still does) sit behind the lavishly arrayed table and sell their treats.

It goes very well, but we never find out if Daisy earned enough money for her field trip. I'm guessing that if she didn't, Auntie would have taken some extra scratch from her considerable bosom and supplemented the day's take.