Alton Brown in San Antonio October 18

Texas Alton Brown fans there's a chance to meet the man and do a little good on top of it all! AB will be the headliner at the 19th San Antonio Express-News Book & Author Luncheon on October 18.

The event will be held at the Marriott Rivercenter, located at 101 Bowie Street in San Antonio, Texas. Tickets are $80 benefit the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center, Phase I Clinical Research Program.

Looks as if AB will speak during the luncheon and sign books too.

For reservations 210-450-5553. For more about the event and the other authors, click here.

Birthday wishes for Alton Brown and the cookbook winner

Today is the day! First, I want to wish Alton Brown a very happy birthday and hope he gets to enjoy the day. Last year I got to see him in Nashville at the Opryland demo the day after his birthday. Not so lucky this year. :(

Oh well, a virtual wish this year.

When I do see him again, I will give him the long list of other birthday wishes from all of the readers here! Wow, I was floored by the response! Thanks to everyone who entered. Of course, there's only one book up for grabs and a unique book at that!

So without further ado, the winner...

Thanks to the luck of the draw the book goes to Kristina D in Sayville, NY. On top of being lucky with having her number come up, Kristina had a fabulous story in her email.

Kristina D said...

Hi there! My name is Kristina. My mother- a huge Alton fan, like myself- shares a birthday with AB. Last year I painted her a popart portrait of Alton (I attached it to this email!). It'll be hard to one-up myself this year, but a signed copy of one of Alton's books would definitely be the best birthday present yet. I hope Alton (or whoever it is that does the deciding!) reads this and chooses me. You'll make both my mom's and my day! oh who am i kidding...You'll make our YEAR! :)


Thank you!
Kristina D

Sayville, NY

Here's the painting she did:



Congrats to Kristina! I know the book is getting a good home with two very big fans!

Alton Brown turned me into a smoker... of meat that is

From the moment I saw Alton Brown's Army surplus smoker last summer at the Opryland demo, I knew I needed one. Smoking meat has to be one of my favorite cooking methods. Since seeing AB smoke salmon in a cardboard box, I have been a follower of this culinary technique. This past weekend I fired up my newest smoker to make some beef barbeque and I remembered that I had not told the story of the little smoker.

Before the ravages of this past winter took hold on my area of the country, I built a smoker similar to Alton's. First, I tried to locate an Army surplus box like his this turned out to do a task in and of itself. I asked a couple of friends who have Army folks in the family to tell me what type of box AB used. Then, I tried to find one online because, oddly enough, there are no Army surplus stores in the Charleston, W.Va. area.

After discovering it cost more to ship the darn thing, I decided to build a box similar to AB's. I stopped at the local Habitat for Humanity's Restore (a place that sells used building supplies) and picked up odds and ends of plywood for about six bucks. The hardware (ie the latches) ended up being the most expensive item in project at $3 a pop, found at Lowe's. So for around $12 and a little sweat equity, I had a box.

Having the box was one thing, but I also needed a cool tricked out box like AB had. So, I found a can of Army drab olive and sprayed the whole box. Then I put some of my artist talents to use by painting a few decorations on the box.

I started with the door and painted the fierce teeth ala Alton's model.

Next it had to have flames on it. Since my mixer is sans flames, why not put them on the smoker? I added flames to the left and right sides and the top.

The left side has a copy of my undergraduate school's mascot, a Yellowjacket. I added a whisk to his hand to made it more culinary. ;)

Finally, I put a picture of Alton on the right side. I debated about this because it seemed odd. However, when I thought he has some woman on the side of his, to mimic vintage WWII flighter plane nose art, I knew putting my culinary hero on the smoker would be the right thing to do. I played around with Photoshop and created a mock nose art image.

The back got one of my all-time favorite symbols, the skull and crossbones. Though, in this its skull and cross knife and fork.

Before winter hit full on, I smoked some rainbox trout in it. It was wonderful and may be replacing smoked salmon as my favorite thing to smoke.

However, the best thing to come from this project was showing AB my little box back in Februrary. I'm not certain what he thought of having some oddball fan showing him a smoker she made from a box, but he seemed geniunuely interested as I told him about it.

He even commented on liking the skull on the back, that I had flames. He also said something about having the corks for air regulation. He asked where did I get the box. I told him I built it because I couldn't find an Army box. Then he asked if I had smoked anything in it. At the time, I had one test run and told him the winter weather was proventing me from smoking. He then said, "Let me know how it works."

Well, of course, I can't just drop him an email and say "Alton, it works great!"

But it does. Since then I've smoked more fish. A few weeks ago happily smoked some wild Alaskan salmon I was finally able to procure locally. Then, this past weekend it was the beef.

The box does work well was a basic smoker. It has two cooling racks inside for the meat. The heat and smoke comes from a cast iron skillet with wood chips on a hotplate (the same method he used in with the flower pot smoker).

For Alton Brown's birthday, you get a chance for the gift

I know it's a few days early, but I want to wish Alton Brown a happy 48th birthday. The jury is still out on whether he's now reading stuff about himself online. So, perhaps, he'll see it this time. But I digress.

To kinda, sorta celebrate AB's birthday, I'm giving away the gift to the readers! Up for grabs a copy of the latest cookbook, Good Eats: The Early Years. But wait, it isn't just any version of the book but a signed copy and a specially signed book.

Yes a copy Alton personally signed at the last event I attended in Pennsylvania back in February. This is a photo of him signing it for me.

And even better...

I told him this was for a giveaway on the blog so it wasn't going to any one in particular. The next thing I know he's inscribing the book like this...

Then he proceeded to draw the AB characterture. I told him the lucky person who gets this book will be thrilled with the inscription and drawing.

Now to get this book...

Leave a comment, it can be a simple birthday wish, a thanks for a great application or episode, or anything nice you want to say.

In the comment, leave a name (First and last initial), a location (city/state). If you want to post your email in the comment, that's ok if you want to keep that part private, drop the comment to contest@altonbrownfans.com with your name, location and comment (so I can match it).

The contest is open until July 29 at 11:59 p.m. EST. On AB's birthday, July 30, I will pick the winner via the randomizer at random.org and post the lucky winner's name.

Good luck for contest entrants.

And Happy Birthday Alton!

Alton Brown @ Fabulous Food Show

Alton Brown will be back at Cleveland's Fabulous Food Show this November. Early ticket sales begin today.

Click here to get tickets

His demos are 11 a.m., 1:45 p.m., and 4:30 p.m.

Winner of the $100 gift card!

Thanks for everyone who entered the latest contest! It was great to read about all the things Alton Brown has inspired among his fans. I wish I could give everyone something, but the big prize here was the $100 gift card to CSN.com.

So the winner is... *cue drum roll*

Susan said...

I could really use some new muffin pans and cookie sheets!

Congrats to Susan. I hope you finds some great bakeware or whatever you want! Enjoy.

Alton Brown, you're one of my favorite people but...

Perplexed, flummoxed, dumbfounded or any number of big fancy words can only describe my thoughts right about now after catching up on some reading about Alton Brown on the Internet. Apparently a blogger called AB out for the use of bluefin tuna on recent episode of ICA. So I read the post, thought the guy was missing a lot information because I couldn’t remember bluefin tuna being on ICA for a long time. It is a known fact that challenging chefs bring their pantry items to the battle; therefore, it wasn't something AB could have stopped anyway. Plus I have noticed a push toward sustainable seafood and local ingredients and produce in more recent episodes. I moved on figuring it would kinda be like the whole thing on salt, only with fish. A blow up, but nothing drastic.

Well, seems another website wrote of the first blogger’s post and AB’s apparent immediate reaction to being called out over the issue.

Insert a deep sigh and why I’m confused here.

Again, it seems Alton is going against the reason he gave me for not wanting to stop by and see this site or give me an interview. He said he didn’t read things about himself online. Ok, so either he has chucked this policy for something new, remember he reads another site that makes fun of him and his Food Network colleagues, or someone isn’t playing straight.

If this anonymous poster was, in deed, AB and he is now reading, commenting and/or emailing bloggers about their sites, so why am I still waiting to hear one word on how I’m doing? Oh waiting on that interview thing too. This after I personally asked Alton to take a look at the site and see if he liked it or thought it was hideous. When I asked if he would make an exception to his rule for my site, saying since it is a site about you and for your fans please come see it, he countered with, “Not even for you.” He seemed adamant about this stance too.

That’s why it perplexes me to now find him deeply engaged with this blogger over the issue on the heels of the whole thing about enjoying “satire” of another site. If he has changed his stance on reading things about himself online, I suppose this site isn’t what he wants to read or comment on or interview with because I’m not making fun of him nor am I lamenting anything he does... wait I am NOW!

The blog, Passionate Foodie, had several comments from “Anonymous.” Said Anonymous claimed to be AB. The comment that started it:

Anonymous said...
Dear Passionate Foodie,

You called me out, now here I am. Concerning the tuna used in the Uni battle you referenced, you should consider that the challenging chefs bring many ingredients of their own and some of them hit the counter without our prior knowledge. I was surprised and none-too happy to see that piece of contraband hit the counter but since the chef wasn't specifically informed that he could not bring that ingredient into the kitchen I didn't think it right to castigate him for doing so. Moving forward I have requested that the producers of the show forbid the use of blue fin just as they've disallowed foie gras and foreign caviars. Furthermore, if bluefin does come out during a battle I'm going to rip the offending chef a suitable new orifice for being a culinary barbarian. They may be able to cut that out of the show but I'll do it anyway.

In closing, I'd like to point out that you can courteously invite someone to reply to a query without making accusations of greed over integrity. Implying that I would set my standards aside for monetary gain is rude, undeserved, inflammatory, and journalistically unprofessional. If we ever have a chance to meet in person, perhaps we will discuss this further.

Sincerely,
Alton Brown
July 12, 2010 8:07 AM

Anonymous said...
But "rude, undeserved, inflammatory, and journalistically unprofessional" is what the blogosphere's all about!
July 12, 2010 9:56 AM

If this is really Alton commenting then I want to debate him on the finer points of blogging and ask why such a disdain for the medium when you had a blog at one time? What happened to make you despise the medium so?

First of all, I started out not a fan of blogs. I thought they were all some self absorbed way for people to write diatribes and feel better about themselves while knocking down others. As a trained journalist, the lack of a traditional gatekeeper did trouble me because anyone with a computer, opposable thumbs and half a brain could post anything, nothing could stop them and they didn’t have to answer for anything written. Back then, the Canons of Journalism, the journalist’s Code of Ethics had no place in the wilds of the blogosphere.

However, a few years ago the tide shifted. Legitimate news outlets embraced the medium. Blogging is now just as much apart of mainstream news reporting as anything else. Take a look at major daily newspapers, major broadcast news outlets and there are blogs written by professional journalists. It is one of the fastest methods to report on breaking news or just getting a message out to a world of people. Blogging is not always all about being self important, unprofessional and inflammatory just as not all food shows are about showing an impossible to recreate recipe or shoving food in one’s greasy face.

There are many more of us bloggers who do this for the right reasons; for our passions, concerns and the need to communicate with others. Blogging has opened the door to many people without media connections to champion causes, raise awareness and sing the praises of people, places and things we hold dear. Yes, there are those who still pollute cyberspace with self absorbed, petty, hateful things on blogs, but even Alton can’t argue the mainstream media doesn’t contain this as well in addition to making a lot of money from programming featuring that very behavior.

What truly makes me sad here, is that he seemly only to respond to negativity. This site is to share with other about the wonderful things Alton teaches his viewers and that his applications do produce some good eats. Also, I wanted to help fans find a place online to get information since Alton’s own site is usually lacking in the update department. I want to celebrate the good in what he does for me and countless other fans.

Instead of playing a schoolyard game of call him out, I humbly invite Alton, if he’s out there lurking on the site, to give some equal time to this site. If you have changed your mind about reading things online about yourself and you’re reading here as a luker, drop a little note via email, make a comment on the site, it won’t harm you in the least. In fact, it would go a long way toward some good PR, you know the kind you can’t buy, and make one of your biggest and most loyal fans one of happiest people around.

Or if you wish to debate why you feel the need to stereotype bloggers as lacking integrity and journalistic ethics, drop me some thoughts on it... after all, I do have a degree in mass communications and know a tad bit about the subject too, we might have a great spirited discussion over it!

The email lines are open, Alton :) just click here: lisa@allaboutalton.com. Hope to hear from you.

Win $100 gift card to buy Alton Brown inspired kitchen gear... or not

I have been fortunate to strike up a great partnership with CSN Stores, a fabulous company featuring 200+ online stores with products from platform beds to just about anything for your kitchen. In this partnership, I've been able to giveaway some great kitchen related products with some sort of Alton Brown twist to you great readers.

It is with great excitement that I get to make another contest announcement!

This time I'm calling the giveaway Gear for Your Kitchen, as inspired by AB's book. I don't talk much about Gear, but it is my go to source when thinking about a new purchase for the kitchen. Most of his specs on items are very helpful in selecting new gear.

So, for this spectacular giveaway I have a $100 gift card from CSN Stores! That means the lucky winner will get to select goodies from any of the 200+ online stores. In the past, I have found cookware.com and kitchen section of allmodern.com to offer many fun items. There's even a site for grills and other grilling equipment: barbecuegrillsandmore.com. Whatever the winner ends up getting, however, is up that lucky person. But, if I won, you know it would go toward kitchen gear!

Now, how to get your hands on the $100 for the goods.

Just post a comment about something AB has inspired you to cook (or build ;) ) and/or something you would like to add to your kitchen gear collection. Include a first name, location (US and Canada residents only) on the post. Also, I need a method of contacting the winner, so drop that comment to contest@altonbrownfans.com

The contest will be open until July 15 at 11:59 p.m. EST. After that, I will pick the winner via the randomizer at random.org.

Good luck!

Copycat Taste Test Day

I have been fortunate enough in operating this site to get a few offers for review books and giveways related to cooking from time to time. Since this site is for fans of Alton Brown, I always try my best to relate the post to something about one of his projects. However, there are times when passing up a great opportunity just because it isn’t from or about AB, Food Network or his publisher isn’t wise.

That’s the scenario for this post, a few weeks ago I was presented with an opportunity to get a review copy of More of America’s Most Wanted Recipes by Ron Douglas. On top of getting the advanced copy of the cookbook, I was asked to participate in The Great American Taste Test, which compares the recipes from the book with their restaurant counterparts.

The new cookbook from Mr. Douglas is collection of “copycat” recipes from some of the nations best known chain restaurants and follows last year’s New York Times best-selling America’s Most Wanted Recipes. Both books are now available from Atria Books.

Despite the fact that I love the premise of AB’s Feasting on Asphalt series, there are still chain restaurants that I enjoy and frequent. So, what could be better than having a cookbook to crack the code on some restaurant dishes so they can be made at home? With that possibility, I decided to take on the offer and the taste test.

The most challenging part of The Great American Taste Test lie in finding a recipe from a restaurant in my area. Many of the chains in the book are not located close to me. I did, however, find a few. The next challenge was find something I wanted to make from those places. Since I am an unabashed lover of seafood, the offerings from Red Lobster looked promising. I found Crab Alfredo Linguine. It looked great and simple to make, so that would be my dish for the taste test.

The dish selected was something I had never ordered before, so along with trying the copycat version I would be trying the real version for the first time as well.

In reading the copycat recipe for Crab Alfredo Linguine, I found a simple dish. The most time consuming thing being shelling the snow crab legs. The Alfredo sauce was built on a basic white roux, half and half and Parmesan cheese.

Visually both dishes looked the same. But would they both taste the same?

I tried the Red Lobster “real” version first. The dish was creamy and loaded down with crab. I surmised replicating the dish would be a challenge. However, in reviewing the copycat recipe, I noted the simplicity of the dish and hoped that, in fact, it was was basic.

Once I made the copycat version, a very quick dish with the longest part being cooking the linguine, I dove into see how it stacked up to the restaurant version. Tasting the copycat dish, it was indiscernible that it was not the one from Red Lobster. I found it a wonderful recreation of the original.

My friend J told me the version I made was very good. I still insisted there was no difference in the two dishes.

As for this copycat recipe, I found it to be on par with the original. Truly, the only thing missing was the famous Cheddar Bay biscuits. Now finding the perfect copycat recipe for that would complete the experience. If the other recipes work out as well as this one, the book is a definite keeper.