Not Really Alton Brown Info, I'm Just Gloating!

This post has no Alton Brown news at all, just a note to let all of you loyal readers know that I just finished a conference call with Bobby Flay (!) regarding America's Next Great Restaurant and the finale on Sunday night.

WOW!!

I still am a bit shocked that I was let into the conference call. I mean, it is NBC... the National Broadcasting Company, a pioneering giant in the television industry for goodness sakes. One news organization I've long dreamed about working for. And Chef Flay one of the first Food Network stars!

WOW!!

So there I am at the conference call thinking about how I just scored another pretty darned impressive event but wondering how it is that Alton still sees this site as lowly and unworthy of his time and interest? Even when I had a media pass he still didn't treat me as he would any other member of the press.

Makes me confused as to why all of these other people seem to be overly happy to comply with my requests but he still says no.

The one person I call my culinary idol, the person who has been my teacher for so many years, the person who has inspired me to make so many dishes and the person who, in a small way, inspired me to start being a reporter again, says flat out no every time I ask him for a small bit of his time. What makes him so special?

As grateful as I am to NBC for being included in the call, as thankful as I am to all of the people who HAVE agreed to an interview with me (including the one with Harold McGee), I would trade all of that in a heartbeat to be able to interview AB. It is the one thing that will always be important to me.

Unfortunately Mr. Brown does not care to see it that way.

Anyway, if you're interested in the article on America's Next Great Restaurant and Bobby Flay here is it!

America's Next Great Restaurant Opens Soon

Rolling dough of confusions

Bread doughs have long been a culinary area that has escaped me until recently, so I was excited to see Alton Brown taking on the cause of rolls in one of the newest Good Eats episodes. While I always enjoy Good Eats for its production value and entertainment, for me, the best episodes give equal treatment to the food topic at hand. Unfortunately, the rolls offered in this new episode seem a tad bid too complicated even for most dedicated fan and home cook.

The good

The storyline for the episode was most certainly an entertaining mix of characters, food and fun. The "letting go" of the yeasties was by far my favorite part of the show. Their slow exit from the Good Eats house, complete with hobo bags on sticks, was purely inspired! Just when I thought it couldn't be topped, came the homage to "The Trouble with Tribbles," which may be my favorite episode of Star Trek... ever. Die-hard GE fans will note this wasn't the first time AB referenced the Tribbles on the show. I couldn't stop thinking of the eggplant episode as well.


However, this reference was even better than the multiplying eggplants since it was complete with the new yeasties cooing and chirping, and failing out of the cupboards.

And a big grin for the Incredible Mr. Limpet nod, one of my favorite movies.



The not-so good

I'm not so sure how much of the show was tongue-in-cheek and how much was serious. I was looking forward to a good instructional on making rolls, so I was a wee bit disappointed in the complexity AB brought to the party. His "simple" mnemonic device made me laugh for sure, but remembering it, let alone the stages of his dough method will be difficult.

I have imagined seeing a demented, rabid platypus carelessly drinking blue cocktails.

Also begs the question, can a platypus contract rabies? It is a mammal so I suppose it is possible.

I was further confused by AB backtracking on bread flour vs standard AP flour and rapid rise yeast vs instant yeast.

A few years ago I came across an old New England cookbook published in 1939. In this cookbook there is a recipe for original Parker House rolls, which says to use bread flour. I have made said recipe a number of times and have produced the best rolls ever. Yes, using bread flour. If you recall in the original pizza dough episode, Alton said the higher protein was important in making a chewy crust. So, was that just for pizza doughs and not other yeast doughs?

It just so happens that breads are the topic of my next cooking class, so I've been brushing up on flour, yeast, gluten, etc. I read Cookwise just this weekend for refresher and caught this after watching the show Monday night. "A loaf made with high-protein flour (like bread flour) will rise well in both risings and bake into a light, airy loaf with good brown crust color," Shirley O. Corriher writes. She also makes note that unbleached AP flour has more protein than bleached AP flour thus being better for yeast doughs. (p. 8)

I now don't understand why AB didn't explain this a little more. Maybe he didn't want, need, care about this for his rolls, I don't know since he didn't go into details, but I'm confused now because it seems the style of flour you use does make a difference. Or some seem to believe that it does.

Oh bother.

To further complicate matters, AB then says he now likes rapid rise yeast!

Oy, it is enough to make my head spin.

Long ago, thanks to the first pizza episode, I traded in my pouches of rapid rise yeasties for larger bags of instant yeast because of the ascorbic acid added and the ability to add it directly to the dry goods sans waking them in warm water.

So the making of the rolls left me less than happy to say the least.

But I will say thanks for the fun show, AB. However, I think I'll be sticking with what's been working for me in the roll department.

Elite Chefs Go Knife-to-Knife in High-Stakes Challenge to Become ‘The Next Iron Chef

Food Network Selects Roster of Ten Superstar Chefs for the Ultimate Culinary Battle - Each Looking to Become The Next Iron Chef Hosted by Alton Brown, Season Four Set to Premiere Sunday, October 30 at 9 p.m. ET/PT

NEW YORK – April 18, 2011 - Food Network, the leader in food and lifestyle entertainment, today announced the all-star casting and start of production for the ultimate season of The Next Iron Chef. Slated for premiere on Sunday, October 30^th at 9pm ET/PT, Alton Brown will again host this 8-episode, top-rated series, which will shoot in Los Angeles and New York. The elite cast includes ten renowned chefs:

• Anne Burrell – Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, Worst Cooks in America (Food Network)


• Michael Chiarello – Bottega Restaurant (Napa Valley), Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello (Cooking Channel)


• Elizabeth Faulkner – Citizen Cake, Orson (San Francisco), Iron Chef America – challenger (Food Network)


• Alex Guarnaschelli – Butter, The Darby (New York), Alex’s Day Off, Chopped (Food Network)


• Chuck Hughes – Garde Manger (Montreal), Chuck’s Day Off (Cooking Channel), Iron Chef America – challenger (Food Network)


• Robert Irvine – Robert Irvine’s eat! (Hilton Head Island), Dinner: Impossible, Restaurant: Impossible, Worst Cooks in America (Food Network)


• Beau MacMillan – Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain (Phoenix), Challenge, Iron Chef America – challenger (Food Network)


• Spike Mendelsohn – Good Stuff Eatery (Washington D.C.), Kelsey & Spike Cook (Food2.com)


• Marcus Samuelsson –Red Rooster Harlem (New York), 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, Chopped (Food Network)


• Geoffrey Zakarian – The National, The Lambs Club (New York), 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, Chopped (Food Network)

Judges include the original ‘Next Iron Chef’ Michael Symon, esteemed food journalist Simon Majumdar and UK Iron Chef Judy Joo.

In The Next Iron Chef, the contestants bet on their culinary skills and put their reputations on the line for the chance to compete in legendary Kitchen Stadium. The winner will join the ranks of chefs including Bobby Flay, Marc Forgione, Jose Garces, Masaharu Morimoto and Symon as a member of the Chairman’s team on Iron Chef America.

Alton Brown's Chocolate Bread Pudding

In one of the more recent episodes of Good Eats, Alton Brown talked about the wonders of bread pudding. A few years ago after attending a diabetic cooking class with my mom, I encountered a decent version of cinnamon bread pudding using Pepperidge Farms Cinnamon Swirl bread. However, after watching Good Eats, I wanted to try the chocolate variation.

Of course it wouldn't be right if I didn't play around with AB's recipe... er... application a bit. First problem, the megamarket didn't sell challah. Now I recently acquired a Jewish cookbook with a challah recipe but just wasn't in the mood to bake bread so I opted for the next best thing, a boule.

With the bread procured the rest of the ingredients were easy to find. But I did change from bittersweet chocolate to milk chocolate just for a taste preference and I didn't have an espresso to add so I used regular coffee.

Fresh from the oven this tastes like warm chocolate chip cookie. When it cools a bit, it still has cookie properties but less than right out of the oven. Either way you eat it, however, it is a great dessert... of in my case breakfast since I soaked it overnight. ;)

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Ingredients

• 2 large whole eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup hot chocolate mix
• 3 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 ounces espresso, slightly cooled
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and divided
• 18 ounces stale challah bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into 1/2-inch pieces

Directions

Place the eggs and yolks in the carafe of a blender and combine on the lowest speed for 30 seconds. Slowly add the sugar over 30 seconds, then add the hot chocolate mix and blend until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the half-and-half, milk, espresso, and vanilla and blend until well combined, about 30 seconds.

Butter a 9 by 13-inch metal pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter and place the cubed bread in the pan. Spread the chocolate on top of the bread and slowly pour in the custard. Press down on the mixture with a spatula or back of a spoon to thoroughly saturate. Cover and set aside at room temperature for 2 hours, or refrigerate for up to 8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Bake until the internal temperature reaches at least 170 degrees F, about 45 minutes. Set the oven to the high broil setting with the oven door ajar. Remove the bread pudding from the oven. Pour the melted butter into a spray bottle and spritz the top of the bread pudding. Return to the middle rack and broil for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack for 15 minutes before serving.

Alton Brown 2011 NECI Commencement Speaker

Alton Brown will return his other alma mater this year to give the commencement speech to the graduating class at the New England Culinary Institute. The ceremony is June 4.

AB will have a lot to talk about and advice for the students, for certain.




Thank to my friend Anne for rooting out the find!

Hey, Alton Brown has never made that... But I did

Today's tale is about what I've always enjoyed about Alton Brown's philosophy on Good Eats--learn culinary techniques so when you find yourself sans recipe you'll know what to do. My example, the tempting and delicious chile relleno. Now AB has never made this specific item on Good Eats, nor in any of his cookbooks for that matter, but thanks to what I know and one application from an episode I had all I needed to complete said dish with marvelous results.

I love Tex-Mex food and there is certainly no shortage of this cuisine here locally; however, there are days when I just don't want to shell out the bucks or drive to the restaurant and wait or I'm just overtaken to bring on a new challenge to myself. That's when my brain starts plotting, planning and scheming... no good can come from that. Well, sometimes it does.

Since I'm a chile relleno fiend, I've had a fair share of them over the years. Some with a cheese only filling. Some with beef and cheese filling. They all, however, share a commonality,a roasted chile stuff with something and battered then fried. So what's so hard about making some of my own?

Nothing really.

Where to start? I asked myself knowing that Alton had never taken on the item. Well, Bobby Flay certainly came to mind. The Food Network's king of Southwestern cuisine. I had watched him make them enough on Iron Chef America alone to know the process. And I'll give AB the credit there as well because the only reason I started watching ICA was that Alton is the commentator. I also consulted some recipes online just to get feel for the dish, not that I didn't know about from merely consuming it.

It started with large, green chiles, poblano to be exact. Now, the important part of prepping the pepper (ok, it is a chile but my alliteration wouldn't work otherwise-sue me) is charring the waxy skin. This is needed for the batter to adhere to the chile's flesh.

First up in the technique portion, fire roasting. This simple technique was covered in "Chile's Angles" when AB roasted jalapenos and more recently when he roasted a red bell pepper in the bouillabaisse episode. Simply place the chile over the burner, I used a medium-high flame, and char the skin completely. Keep the chile rotating very few minutes so it doesn't burn too much. After the chile was completely chared, place it on the cutting board with an inverted metal bowl to allow steam to loosen the skin for about 5 minutes.

While the chiles steamed, I turned to the filling. I wanted the beef/cheese combo since those are always my favorites rather than just cheese. This gave me an opportunity to give one of Alton's newer applications a try. The Taco seasoning from "American Classics: VIII." My only change to the mix was using mild smoked paprika. That is all I have and finding any kind of smoked paprika in my area is difficult.

Taco Potion #19

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons chili powder


• 1 tablespoon ground cumin


• 2 teaspoons cornstarch


• 2 teaspoons kosher salt


• 1 1/2 teaspoons hot smoked paprika


• 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Place in a jar and shake to combine.

After blending the powder, I turned to browning the meat and cooking the onions for the rest of the process of the seasoned beef.

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, chopped


• 16 ounces ground sirloin


• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 recipe Taco Potion #19


• 2/3 cup low-sodium beef broth

Add onion to skillet and cook until softened and lightly browned around the edges, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the ground meat, 1 teaspoon salt, and garlic. Cook until browned, about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, to break up the meat. Add Taco Potion and beef broth. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until sauce is slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.

The taco seaconing has wonderful smoky flavor unlike any premade, store bought mix around. Also since there's not much salt added to the mix, it is far less salty than packaged mixes. With seasoned beef made, I cut Monterrey Jack into sticks (had to use Jack because getting real Mexican cheeses are another thing I have problems with).

Working with the roasted chiles is a delicate matter. The skins can tear if you are not careful. To prep them for the filling, cut a small slit from top to almost bottom. Then pull out the seeds, or as much as you can. I put a couple of cheese strips in then the beef mixture then some more cheese to close up the hole.

The batter came next. Here's where I flew by the seat of my pants. I mixed some masa flour with white flour and added buttermilk until the consistency looked right to me. I know, that tells you absolutely nothing! I wish I had measured it all out to recount it properly but sometimes in the heat of cooking retelling the story isn't my first thought. I know, hard to fathom but true. Each stuff chile got dipped into the masa batter and allowed to sit a few mintues. I opted to pan fry them instead of deep fry. That was a little tricky around the opening. Overall, they stayed closed and the cheese didn't run out. Some of the batter did slide off and onto my tongs though!

Now I have chile rellenos to add to my culinary arsenal. Without a real recipe to boot. Okay, AB's taco seasoning but the overall making of was sheer technique and application of knowledge. If I ever get the chance to sit down and talk with AB this is something I'd love to share with him. One of so many things he's helped teach me.

Alton Brown appears in first episode of Next Food Network Star

It's almost time for another incarnation of The Next Food Network Star and this year Alton Brown will be in the premier episode. TNFNS beings Sunday, June 5 at p.m. EST. According to press release from FN, AB will lend his behind-the-camera, know-how to mentor teams in developing promotional TV commercials.

2 Alton Brown applications, 2 great treats

Milk and I have a long standing love/hate relationship. A few years ago when Alton Brown did an entire episode on it, I joked just watching it made my stomach hurt. Nevertheless, I watched and was intrigued by dulce de leche. Caramel has always been a favorite and according to AB this caramel-y treat was a little less sweet but just tasty. On the plus side, it was darn simple to make.

Things happen, as they do, and my dulce de leche making took a backseat to countless other things, other applications from the show, other treats, and the like. Until a few days ago when something struck me again that I needed to make this. Part of this need stemmed from a dirty little secret... ok, confession time... I enjoy the iced caramel mocha from McDonald's.

Runaway in abject horror if you must, but I do. Driving back from seeing Alton in Alabama we stopped at some gas station where a McD's resided inside and I heard the siren song. Justifying with the need to stay alert on the highway, I purchased said drink. However, somewhere on the Interstate, it hit me I could make these at home for a fraction of the cost. All I needed was some good caramel sauce.

Enter dulce de leche.

It was the perfect time to venture to making it. On top of making AB's dulce de leche, I was using his iced coffee frappe app from Kitchen Gear. Another thing I had been meaning to make as well. It all started with milk, one quart, 12 ounces of sugar and one vanilla bean. Knowing my issues with moo juice, I opted for 2% milk. Also, I used white table sugar/Splenda mixture, weighing 6 oz of sugar and using 3/4 cup for the difference.

Not too long into the cooking, the milk started to take on a light tan color. The vanilla bean gave the kitchen a wonderful aroma as well.

Although Alton's directions call for cooking the milk/sugar mixture for up to three hours, I found at the one hour post-vanilla bean extraction mark it was becoming near the correct consistency.

After it was cooled and placed in a jar I turned to the next project, the iced coffee frappe. One benefit of working where I do, is we offer coffee to our patrons, so there's usually leftovers. I confiscated the unused coffee from working a long, boring Saturday for frappes the next day. AB's frappe is ridiculously simple.

• 2 cups of ice


• 1 cup cold coffee


• 1/3 cup powdered milk


• 1/4 cup milk

I varied from AB version, his calls for 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup and 1 teaspoon of sugar. I just placed a wallop the dulce de leche instead. All of the ingredients go into a blender, I used the ice crushing function on mine. Within a few minutes I had a luscious, frothing cold coffee drink on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon.

A dozen meetings with Alton Brown

It is even hard for me to realize the last event with Alton Brown I attended was my 12th time, one whole dozen!, going to see him. Wow, that really blows my mind. But I had wanted to meet AB ever since his first book tour way back in 2002 with the release of I'm Just Here for Food. At that time, I had only been watching Good Eats for a little over a year but loved the show so much that there was no doubt I wanted to meet the man behind it.

Well having a crappy job (another thing that's hard to believe I had a worse paying job than I do now) and limited transportation options there was no way I could ever see him in some far off city because he wasn't coming anywhere near W.Va. so I could just drive to Charleston to meet him. So I waited and waited and waited for circumstances to change--either AB would come to my neck of the woods or I would make a trip to see him.

A few years ago somethings did change and I have managed to see AB do many demos, lectures and book signings. By the time I first met him in person, I had moved from just loving Good Eats to enjoying just about anything AB put his name to.

Since starting this fansite I also get a chance to share these events with others still waiting to get their chance to meet Alton. I know it is not where near as awesome as meeting him, believe me I've been there reading others' accounts and stories and hoping for that same opportunity, but I hope it can help.

As with tradition here's the details of seeing Alton on Dauphin Island, Ala.

At the evening's big VIP event I spent the first part of it weaving through the crowd trying to talk with Alton. While I had a media pass for both this event and the morning's gumbo cookoff it didn't give me real access to talk with Alton as I hoped. I appreciated having the pass to get in very much and still can't believe I even had it, but I was saddened that during the morning I wasn't allowed to go with the rest of the out-of-town press on the shrimp boat to hear from AB and the scientists from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the FDA Lab about the state of Gulf seafood. I had all intentions of doing some write ups on that as well as all of the Alton related events. For some reason I was told the boat ride was for out-of-town press but not me even though I was five states and one time zone away. Who knows why? I really wanted to go so I could help get the message out about Gulf seafood.

Not having a chance to speak with him in the morning, that left me with trying to track down Alton at the evening event to tell him a few things, like a big congrats on the James Beard Award nomination. He seemed to think he wouldn't win. But I told him I was hoping for the win AND he should've won last year.

Sometime before I manged to sneak up to him, mom caught up with him first. He signed her program and asked if she had enough things with his name on them. Mom told me later she should've told him no because you (meaning me) give away most of them. I told her, you have to be on your toes with him.

After Alton spoke on the state of Gulf seafood for a few minutes he resumed meeting the folks at the event. Although the weather was turning bad and he wanted to exit for Atlanta earlier than planned, he stayed to sign items and talk with as many people as possible. When he came off the stage the horde descended on him. I was a few rows back watching people surrounding him, asking for autographs and posing for pictures.

I brought two books with me, figuring that getting in on a media pass wouldn't entitle me to a free Good Eats book. After waiting and watching the people moving in and around Alton, I finally went up to his assistant, Jim, and gave him the gifts I brought for AB. I didn't know if I would ever push through that crowd of people or if Alton would ignore me since I had met him so many other times. At one point and older gentleman came up to me and said, "We'll wedge in up there and get to him." I smiled and let the man go first.

Finally some of crowd thinned. I was very close to AB and next to get my chance. He turned away again worked some other part of the crowd. I stood with my copy of I'm Just Here for More Food waiting. Then I heard, "You have a book left?" come from Alton as he grabbed it. I told him it was one of my last ones. I had the softback copy of Gear for Your Kitchen with me but didn't pull it out. While Alton signed the book I told him about the fundraiser for Heifer International and Monterey Bay Aquarium. Sadly, he said he didn't know about it so he must have not received the card and letter from the organizations. But he knows now.

Then the most surreal thing happened. I've known for a long time that Alton remembers me. He even told me at the 10th Anniversary show that he did. Of course after all of my interview pursuits and doing this fansite, I know that he knows me by facial recognition. Sometimes telling people this brings out the haters who want to call me nasty names because they think I've made this up. But now I have the most awesome twist to add to the "yes he knows me story." In taking my book to sign, there were no post-it notes as usual at book signings and there were no name tags, so when AB started to make out the book I saw the sharpie go down then he wrote "To Lisa," without asking me anything or even hesitating. Yeah, he remembered my name and how to spell it (not that its hard to spell). I paused for a second to realize what had just happened. Its one thing to know it but another thing altogether to witness that yeah he really knows my name.


I wandered around the Sea Lab for a bit longer watching people talking with AB. I saw one woman ask him to sign her arm, which he did, and a young fan ask for a hug. He was accommodating to everyone. I stood around with my iphone snapping a few photos (the ones above). Then I saw AB walk over to me. Honestly, I didn't know what to make of it. Part of me thought he would make a comment about the amount of photos I had been taking. But he didn't. He told me he was going over into the next section of the Sea Lab. So I followed with my iphone in tow.

Before we entered the event I was talking with several people outside of the Sea Lab. One couple ran into me again and the woman asked if I got my book signed. I showed them and the man said, "Oh you got the little guy. But what does that mean?" I explained to him that I had seen Alton many times, did the fansite, and this was my last book. Shortly after they left the other couple came up to me and the woman asked if I thought Alton would sign her book, the free one with the tickets. I told her probably.

Eventually Alton moved toward her and since I was talking with her, I ended up right next to him again. I tapped him on the shoulder and asked about the next book. He said it is coming out in October and there will be a book tour. He didn't, however, know the cities yet.

Lastly, I wished him a safe flight home and he went on to talk with more people before heading out and I left to explore the island some more.

I have a Flickr album with all of the photos from both the gumbo event and the VIP event up if you'd like to check them out. Go here!

I leave with a photo from outside of where the event was held. This is looking toward Mobile Bay. Also, I have fallen in love this this area and hope to get back there soon.

Alton Brown Champions Gulf Seafood

My article for the VIP event is posted on Suite 101, hope you go over there and read it.

Food Network host, Alton Brown, champions seafood safety from Gulf of Mexico after last summer's oil spill.

Lisa Hechesky

Last summer the outlook for the Gulf of Mexico region seemed bleak as barrels of oil spewed from a broken pipeline. Throughout the summer, oil covered animals, tourists turned away from sun-filled destinations, and fishermen couldn’t bring in seafood catches. With the oil now capped, people of the Gulf look for a comeback in one hard hit industry. And in Mobile Bay on Dauphin Island, Ala., the road to recovery enlisted the assistance of Food Network star Alton Brown.

Brown, the host of Good Eats and Iron Chef America commentator, is a long-time proponent of sustainable seafood and spent time on Dauphin Island learning about the science used to assure seafood safety in the aftermath. “I spent a lot of time today learning about the systems that were invented, the methodologies that were invented to test seafood to insure the safety of seafood when things like this happen,” he said of his visit.

Gulf Seafood Recovery

At an event to raise awareness and funds for fishing families and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab Foundation, Brown played cheerleader for Gulf seafood. “Nature can take care of itself and human beings have a really hard time keeping nature down. I think we have that to be thankful for because even after such a horrific tragedy we now have safe seafood again. And it's certainly going to be part of the message I'm going to take to the rest of the world and certain to the people I touch on a daily basis, which is Gulf seafood is back with a vengeance. It's delicious as ever. There's more of it as ever. And it's safe,” said Brown.

Read more here...