Celebrity Chefs

3 Cooking Shows You Should Not Miss in 2013

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The first month of the new year is already over, but in case you were totally caught up in the frenzy of the holidays, and you have not had the chance to get your celebrity chef fix, then let me help you get started! There is a bunch – no, more than a bunch – of cooking shows that have been getting people excited even before the 2012 holiday season.

That’s really enough reason to make sure that you have a good cable or satellite TV provider so that you do not have to worry about gaining access to all the new (and returning) exciting cooking shows. Tip: check out GetDirectTV.org to surmount this issue.

Now, I know just how busy life can be, and you may not have the time to allot to all the fun cooking shows showing on TV these days. That’s why I’ve decided to limit this list to only three. If you have time for only a handful of cooking shows, let it be these!

Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery

Gordon Ramsay has sealed his fiery reputation, but what has made him very famous has also turned off quite some viewers. The great thing about his new cooking show is that old timers will still love watching the chef do his thing in the kitchen – minus the F bomb, while those who feel that he has been too abrasive on TV will see a softer side.

That being said, Ultimate Cookery does give you a good look at the kitchen and cooking techniques. Ramsay’s enthusiasm about the food really helps as well.

Chopped Champions

Chopped is a fast-paced cooking show which really demands a lot from the chef contestants. If you liked Chopped, then you will probably enjoy Chopped Champions, where the heads of 16 previous winners of Chopped will be put on the block. The prize? $50,000. That ought to make the competition even snappier.

The Taste

Anthony Bourdain for the women. Nigella Lawson for the men. (And women. What can I say? She is hot!)

The Taste was one of the most anticipated new cooking shows for 2013, but its two-hour premier did get the rough tongue of critics. Still, ratings show that the premier did “okay”. That’s better than bad, isn’t it?

Granted, the premier did not please critics. I think that the concept is still solid – The Voice for cooking, is what has been uttered in places – and that the show can still make it. Give it a go, is what I suggest.

Do you have your own must-see cooking shows this year? Share them with us!

Originally posted on February 4, 2013 @ 6:08 pm

4 Celebrity Chefs Who Love to Drink

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Everyone knows that a fine wine paired with a good meal can be the perfect end to any day. Relaxing with a drink on a Friday night with friends can also be an exquisite treat; but with all great things comes moderation. Some celebrity chefs take their love of alcohol to the screen and can often be seen getting drunk and raucous on television. Find out which chefs have taken it too far on-screen with this list of celebrity chefs who love to drink.

Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain

The cynical nature of television chef Anthony Bourdain has been both honored and criticized by many people throughout the years. Bourdain enjoys traveling and finding the weird and wonderful, all with a glass or bottle in his hand. In spite of his tv popularity, Bourdain seems to retain a deep disdain for all things cliched and touristy while bringing a dark perspective to his glamorous life of traveling and eating. [Read more…]

Originally posted on December 21, 2015 @ 1:31 pm

Anthony Bourdain and the Casa Nostra Chef

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Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain, the infamous traveling chef now on almost every lifestyle channel in existence- had quite a story to tell in one of his first bestselling books: “Kitchen Confidential“. Finally, after many trial and tribulations, he had found his sous-chef extraordinaire, Steven Tempel, for the Supper Club in New York, where Bourdain had just been made head chef. To say that Steven was eccentric was, according to Bourdain, putting it mildly…

Nevertheless, Bourdain reveals in the very frank and no nonsense book (as in how it really goes down in the restaurant business), Steven was somewhat of a genius. It turns out that Bourdain had recruited Steven from Casa Nostra Restaurant, in Northern California, where he had been working in the kitchen with “idiot savant” and “baking genius” Adam Real-Last-Name-Unknown!!

Kitchen Confidential is an excellent read and here at Celebrity Chefs we highly recommend it. As it turns out, the owner of Casa Nostra Restaurant (which was known for serving the best italian cuisine in town)- Joey Velardi, has recently opened up a branch in Manila, Philippines- where it is receiving rave reviews from the locals and in fact Bourdain recently visited for his show “No Reservations“.

Let’s hope Bourdain doesn’t steal the chef again 😉

Originally posted on November 4, 2011 @ 3:50 pm

Stoner Cuisine At Its Best

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Do chefs smoke pot? If celebrity Anthony Bourdain is to be believed – and he is highly credible – then, yes, many celebrity chefs depend on marijuana to keep going. According to the TV host, chef, and author, the long and often intense hours require chefs to blow off steam – and they do, one way or another. In his book, he chronicles how marijuana is often the “herb” of choice.

He says that even those people you would not imagine smoking weed actually do! The idea is that these chefs just need something to keep them calm and relaxed and get the job done. If other people smoke weed, why not them?

Of course, there is the issue that smoking weed and getting high in the kitchen can actually alter the results of their efforts. I am not sure that the results are as excellent as they normally are without the high that weed brings. In fact, many people question the practice not because of the illegal nature of the drug, but because the experience it brings might compromise the quality of the food. More so, can you imagine a frenetic kitchen preparing meals for hundreds of people with stoned chefs? It’s an accident waiting to happen.

Then again, despite what Anthony Bourdain says, we all know that there are kitchens whose staff do not need any chemical substances to function properly. Then again, if stoner cuisine is just as good as any other cuisine, who cares if the chefs get stoned?

Originally posted on May 19, 2010 @ 11:05 am

Anthony Bourdain’s Steak Tartare

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Anthony Bourdain shares this recipe for Steak Tartare in Les Halles Cookbook. “Les Halles, the restaurant, was pretty much created to serve this dish,” he says. “The key to a successful steak tartare is fresh beef, freshly hand-chopped at the very last minute and mixed tableside. A home meat grinder with a fairly wide mesh blade is nice to have, but you can and should use a very sharp knife and simply chop and chop and chop until fine. The texture will be superior. And do not dare use a food processor on this dish – you’ll utterly destroy it.”

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks
2 tbsp Dijon mustard (28 g)
4 anchovy filets, finely chopped
2 tsp ketchup (10 g)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (5 g)
Tabasco sauce, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup salad (i.e., corn or soy) oil (56 ml)
1 oz Cognac (28 ml)
1 small onion, freshly and finely chopped
2 oz capers, rinsed (56 g)
2 oz cornichons, finely chopped (56 g)
4 sprigs of flat parsley, finely chopped
1 1/4 lb. fresh sirloin, finely chopped (560 g)
French fries, optional
4 slices fine quality white bread, toasted, quartered, for toast points

Directions:

Place the egg yolks in a large stainless-steel bowl and add the mustard and anchovies. Mix well, then add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and pepper and mix well again. Slowly whisk in the oil, then add the Cognac and mix again. Fold in the onion, capers, cornichons, and parsley.

Add the chopped meat to the bowl and mix well using a spoon or your hands. Divide the meat evenly among the six chilled dinner plates and, using a ring mold or spatula, form it into disks on the plates. Serve immediately with French fries and toasted bread points.

Originally posted on March 20, 2008 @ 9:47 pm