Video: Swiss Spaghetti Harvest of 1957
Posted on 1 April 2008 under Food In The News, Food on TV, Video | 3 Comments
Food News Roundup, April 1, 2008
Posted on 1 April 2008 under Food In The News, Food on TV | No Comments
Starbucks announced this morning they’ll soon be offering a hot beverage made entirely of ground brown jelly beans. “We figured customers were putting enough sugary crap in their coffees we may as well go all the way”, said Will Beaner, owner of twelve franchises in Colon, Michigan. “Now all we have to do is figure out how to keep all these patrons awake.”
KFC will be changing the way they cook their chicken. Renaming the organization to Kold Frozen Chickparts, restaurant kitchens will be purchasing frozen pre-deep-fried “chicken” pieces from their local grocer and microwaving them before serving. Service will be kept to a minimum time, and the “chicken” will turn out almost as though an overly-busy mom “made” it at home.
Toledo 13abc’s Rebecca Regnier will be presenting a cooking segment during the weekday morning news show from 5 a.m. - 7 a.m. Dubbed “LEGO My Wok” the segment will feature a specialized wok stove made entirely of plastic blocks, from which Rebecca will make dishes from restaurants featured in the station’s “Restaurant Report Card” segment in the evening news, complete with all health violations included.
Luna Pier Cook will open the city’s newest restaurant, the NoseBleed Café. With it’s deep-red decor the restaurant will specialize in dishes such as Black Pudding (aka “Blood Pudding“), Steak Tartare, Haggis, and Bloody Marys. (This is a “Towel optional” restaurant.)
And finally, Jaden Hair of the popular Steamy Kitchen blog has announced her second cookbook project. Calling it “Asian Cuisine Meets American Fast Food”, the book will highlight recipes made with commonly-available ingredients, such as a Spicy White Castle Cheeseburger Shrimp, a Stir-Fried Sweet-and-Sour Big Mac Dim Sum, and a General Tso’s Taco Bell Seven-Layer Firecracker Burrito with Duck Tongue Sauce.
Oh, and Happy April Fool’s Day! 
Video: ‘Alter O’Brown’ on Chef Robert Irvine and Food Network
Posted on 6 March 2008 under Chefs, Food on TV, Video | No Comments
From “Alter O’Brown” comes this (somewhat!) entertaining commentary on the Chef Robert Irvine debacle. The George W. Bush comment was the one that really got me laughing … 
Thanks, Alter!
Revisiting the Tomato-Mozzarella-Mushroom Appetizer
Posted on 25 February 2008 under Canadian Food, Chefs, Corrections, Food on TV, Recipes | 5 Comments
One of the more popular recent posts here on Luna Pier Cook has been Eat This Blog: Tomato-Mozzarella-Mushroom Appetizer. If you look back at that post this morning you’ll find Chef Daniele Palanca, who’d made the dish on an episode of The Great Canadian Food Show I’d seen, has left a comment offering a couple corrections to how I’d made the dish:
The only correction to the recipe you posted was the mushroom component. I don’t place mushrooms but instead thinly sliced fresh truffles. I also place basil under the buffalo mozzarella.
Thank you, Chef! While I could probably locate decent truffles around here somewhere, I’m not so sure buffalo mozzarella would be so easy to locate! Fresh basil is also simple to find, at Ciolino’s over on Lewis Ave., so that’s not an issue. I’d have to likely contact someone at the Michigan Bison Association to find out if buffalo mozzarella is available in Michigan but it doesn’t seem that way. For now, I’ll stick with John Aylward’s handmade mozzarella from the Boulevard Market over in Tecumseh.
Mary’s visited Leamington, Ontario once, and I’ve always loved visiting the province. I think this summer she and I need to head over there for a visit of the city of Leamington together. It seems to be a rather excellent idea.
Chef Robert Irvine, from “Dinner: Impossible!”; Guilty About His History?
Posted on 20 February 2008 under Chefs, Food on TV | 65 Comments
Over on Serious Eats the story is unfolding. Chef Robert Irvine of “Dinner: Impossible!” on the Food Network is apparently a fraud. A copy of his book I have here, an autobiography titled “Mission: Cook!”, is apparently full of lies and fabricated truths about his life, his training, and who knows what else.I’ve gotten involved on Serious Eats myself, pointing out that the About Us page on Irvine’s own web site is now blank. The page now reads, “This page is under construction. Please check back later for an updated version.”An admission of guilt? It sure looks that way from here.Still, I’m kinda torn as to what to think about the man himself.If he’s lied to Food Network, if the book is a sham, if his resume isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, those things certainly need to be dealt with. If the show is suddenly and immediately cancelled, such a thing would be perfectly understandable.But there’s something else that’s eating away at these thoughts.Chef Robert Irvine is one of the better cooks, in fact, one of the better “personalities” Food Network has backed as of late.In three seasons of “The Next Food Network Star” they’ve gotten one real star in Guy Fieri. The others, even the recent winner, are largely forgettable.Looking around at the network’s schedule, there are a few chefs and cooks left that are actually worth watching.”Dinner: Impossible!”’s basic concept, that of throwing Irvine into a situation where he had to cook for hundreds in a matter of 6 - 8 hours with zero notice of anything whatsoever, kinda punched things up a notch. I’ve found the show more than watchable, with the concept presenting a great level of intensity, tension and enthusiasm.Too many cooking shows don’t go there. They’re boring. “Dinner: Impossible!” isn’t boring whatsoever.Should Irvine come clean? Should he present a real portfolio and correct any wrongs? Should he take whatever consequences he’s given for any past transgressions?Absolutely.Would I still watch a show about his culinary skills in the future?At this point, I’ll have to say “Yes”.I’m not sure if there’s anything that would yet make me change my mind about that.We’ll just have to wait, and see how this turns out.
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