Iron Chef America (duh, duh, duhhhhhhh)

I admit it, I am a fan of the show, even though it isn't the same as the original and is way too easy now.  By easy I mean that instead of the chefs having no idea what the secret ingredient could be they have to think for anything and instead of making one dish of each kind in that hour time, they have to make enough dishes for each judge at that time.  It takes a lot more time to make 20 plates of food than to make 5 plates of food.  Also, they reveal that on Iron Chef America, the chefs are told that there are three possibilities for what the secret ingredient could be, so they prepare for all three.  I remember the old show having no clue as to what it could be.  I think one time the secret ingredient was cheese and one time it is wine and it was difficult.  I also hoped that Iron Chef America would have foods that are more native to the country.  But anyway, I could go off all day complaining about the show, even though I do watch it.

What I also watched was The Next Iron Chef: Redemption, where they took everyone who didn't make it to one of the Next Iron Chef shows and asked them to compete again for the prize of being the next Iron Chef.  The show was interesting as they had a theme for each episode and tried to make dishes tied to that theme, like invention or inspiration.  Anyhow, you start with a load of really good chefs and then weed it down to the chefs that will make good TV.  What you had was 10 really good chefs, all celebrity chefs, all owners of multiple restaurants and all probably doing well; financially.  Then you say, "hey, win this and you will have some extra work to do but will gain fame and some bonus bucks."  Then you have a "Top Chef" knock-off called the Next Iron Chef, where chefs can compete to be an Iron Chef.  Again, my main issue with this is: if you have 10 Iron Chefs, and you can find new ones every year, then the chefs really are not that good.  In the original series show, you had 4 chefs who beat everyone.  They didn't get a new chef each year, they stuck with these and they beat everyone.  Look it up: there are now 10 Iron Chefs for Iron Chef America.  That is a lot of chefs.  I guess at this point, in order to keep the franchise going, they will get a new chef every year forever.

So, Alex Guarnaschelli wins to the dismay of a lot of people and takes the mantle as Iron Chef.  Her first battle, is mortadella.  http://blog.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/2012/12/chef-guarnaschellis-first-iron-chef-america-showdown/   

Mortadella is a sausage, made from pork, with huge cubes of pork fat.  It is like a fatty bologna and has Italian origin.   The sausage was basically used by the ancient Romans, which indicates that it is an old recipe.  That picture is not of small people either.  The sausage links are huge.  I know this because on Friday, we went to a Schnucks and purchased some slices to make sandwiches.

Yes, this is real and not a fake ruler.  This is a slice of Mortadella, with pistachios, that is about 7 & 1/2 inches in diameter.  It is huge.  I was able to tear off a quarter and tried to fry it in a pan and treat it like a better bologna.

What you have here, is something that tastes like the best bologna, but with huge pieces of pork fat.  In this case, the fat squares that were white originally, had cooked and turned clear.   Then the sides and the fat started to render further and get crispy.  What finished was something that tastes like fried bologna with a slice of bacon on it.  I forget how much it was, for the quarter pound that we picked up, but so far, this is definitely worth it.  I recommend looking for this and eating this and buying this, if you can find it.

The Silver Spoon

Alright, I'm not doing a Julie to Julia thing here as 1) I don't have the time and 2) I don't have the money.  But I purchased this book, several months ago and it has just been sitting in my basement, where most of my books are.

Now, I think I'm a few years late, for as long as this book has been out, there have been hundreds and maybe even a thousand reviews of this book as of late.  It is a massive book, the kind of book that you find in the largest section of the Harry Potter world as the type of book that weighs over 10 pounds on its own. The mere mention of weight makes me wonder how many people have walked around the house with bruised foot tops or toes due to dropping this book.  Ouch.

The book is huge and that isn't a bad thing as it is filled with hundreds and hundreds of recipes from the Italy region.  The book was first published in 1950 and is the most successful cookbook in Italy.  This is real Italian cooking and while you would think I would say that the best part of the book is the pictures, you are wrong.  There are hardly any photos in the book.  What I like the best in the book is the way that it is organized.  Let's say that you open most other books and you have some radishes in your house that you want to cook and can't think of a good recipe.  If you have other books, you look in the back under an ingredient index, if there is one, or look elsewhere and try to find a recipe.  With this book, The Silver Spoon, you go to the "Radish" section and look at the 5-6 recipes starring radishes.  This book is organized by main ingredient which lets you plow through and see everything you want to find.

So, without further adieu, here are some things which I have made and taste really, really good.

This is Sausage Crostini.  This was done by making my own "sausage" with ground beef, parsley, oregano, basil and salt and pepper.  I added the cheese to it and spooned it out on french bread slices.  After 15 minutes in the oven, it was all melty-yummy and worked well together, giving you a taste of sausage and toast.

Stuffed Grape Leaves. What I think is interesting, is that I have grown up within the past few years, making and eating the stuffed grape leaves from Lebanon, of which my wife's family is from.  From a past cookbook on Russia and European cooking, I made a stuffed grape leaf recipe from Turkey.  Now, I made this recipe from Italy.  It is interesting that the Mediterranean countries that have grape leaves, roll them up with something good.  I didn't think this recipe is as good as the Lebanese one, but still very good.

This is listed as a Cauliflower Salad (2), and it is steamed then thrown in a bowl with some olive oil, white wine vinegar, tarragon and parsley.  A nice sprinkling of salt and pepper and that is it.  It reminds me of the simplicity of some French dishes where the ingredients are the star.  It is a good vegetable dish.

This was a turnip greens baked parcel which wanted me to bake some turnip greens, with chopped turnips, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper in the oven in wrapped up foil packets.  The greens were perfectly steamed and tasty.

Lastly, I have some of the Potato and Bacon Pie.  This is a quiche', I believe, as it has a base of eggs and cream (or milk) that encapsulates and cooks around some baton cut potatoes and some slices of bacon and onion.  This was so good that my wife and I were using it for breakfast.

I have decided to cook out of this cookbook for the rest of this year and I will post pictures of the recipes as I cook them.  If you see this book on sale anywhere, buy it!