‘Food Network’ Articles at Sweetnicks, Page 3

Perfect Crispy Potatoes

August 24, 2009 · $10 Dinner Challenge, $7 Dinner Challenge, Narrative

When Sarah, Maris and I first saw the topic of Melissa D’Arabian‘s new Food Network show, we all had the same thought … hey, they swiped our idea! Melissa is the latest winner of The Next Food Network Star, coming away with her very own brand new show, $10 Dollar Dinners, promising dinner for four that won’t break the bank. Love that! During the series, the judges consistently suggested to Melissa that she tone down her energy just a bit. Put it this way … her level of perkiness makes Rachael Ray look like she’s a walking zombie, and we all know how much energy Rachael has! While Melissa definitely has the market cornered in the energy area, it was infectious and hard not to like and root for her. She is also a stay-at-home mom to four little girls preschool age, so that boundless energy no doubt comes in handy. (You can see a very adorable pic of her girls right here). She was also the only contestant with no formal culinary education.

Nick and I happened to catch an episode of her show yesterday where she made a Parisian-inspired meal featuring a chicken l’orange dish and crispy potatoes. We both instantly wanted the potatoes, especially once she said they were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. My favorite kind.

First, a quick note. See the picture of the tray up top? That’s supposed to serve four. With a little coleslaw and chicken breast on the side. I just don’t see it. Especially not if your four happen to be guys … or high school footballers … or really hungry … or who don’t like coleslaw. Just sayin’. I understand that that amount is what kept the dinner under the $10 mark (her breakdown was $5 for the chicken, $4 for the coleslaw and $1 for the potatoes), but maybe spending some of the coleslaw’s $4 for another potato might go further. In my humble opinion, of course.

Now that being said, how were they? In a word – delish. Just as she promised, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. I used Yukon Golds, instead of the Russets she called for, just to up the buttery taste a bit, but they were scoffed up like nobody’s business at dinner time, and the perfect accompaniment for a nice, tender pot roast.

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Cheese Lovers 5 Cheese Mac and Cheese

May 26, 2009 · Narrative

I feel like I am on a lifelong search for THE macaroni and cheese recipe. The one to stop the searches. And on that journey, I’ve tried a number of recipes that, while good, haven’t been the one. Nick, on the other hand, is strictly a blue box kid and has zero interest in my lifelong quest and the all versions the journey entails trying. I am really trying to find a match for a macaroni and cheese that my sister and I grew up eating from a local restaurant. Wait. That sounds like our mom never cooked us dinner. She did. All the time. You know what I mean.

That mac and cheese that I long to replicate was your very traditional kind with the nice crust on top. Nothing fancy, just downhome comfort food. This version I’m going to introduce you to is a kicked-up adult version if you will. They are not interchangeable. They each serve their own purpose.

I’m a big fan of Food Network’s Ultimate Recipe Showdown, where home cooks like you and me compete with their original recipe to win the top prize of $25,000. Besides a nice hunk of cha-ching, the winning recipe also appears on T.G.I Friday’s menus very soon after their win.

When I saw the episode on comfort dishes, I was rapt with attention. Especially when I saw a recipe for a mac and cheese. The end result looked so good that win or lose, I was going to make it. Rick Massa, the creator of the recipe, was quite a fun guy. A former LAPD SWAT team member, once he retired, he started cooking. While he was making the dish, the judges worried about all the cheeses, particularly the strong Maytag Blue that he used. Rick himself worried about finishing up a little early during the competition (you can catch a little video from the episode here). Well, it turns out that nobody needed to worry, as Rick’s dish took top honors.

Weeks later, I headed down to T.G.I Friday’s to try it out and it was love at first bite. When the restaurant gets ahold of the winning recipe, they sometimes do a little tweaking, and their version includes a grilled chicken breast. For $5.99. The entire dish for $5.99. Such a great little bargain. I order that, I give Madeline half of the chicken for her dinner, and the remaining chicken and pasta is enough for my dinner and lunch the next day. All for under $6!

So I’ve fallen into a rut and every time we go to T.G.I. Friday’s, I order the pasta. But this past weekend, I finally got the chance to actually make it myself and it did not disappoint. Just pulling it out of the oven and seeing all the little bubbles of cheesy goodness was enough to let you know you’re in for a good time. Now after tasting both versions, I think the restaurant’s rendition is also a touch creamier and might have a little more blue cheese than the original version, but both are good. You just might moan at first bite. Creamy from all the cheese, with sharp pockets of bite when you hit the blue cheese, this is comfort food at its best.

Whether you go have it at the restaurant, or in your very own kitchen, you won’t be disappointed. A wonderful adult version of mac and cheese….

Recipe: Cook All Night BBQ Brisket

February 26, 2009 · Narrative

Growing up, I loved diners. I gravitated towards the old school jukebox stainless steel kind (and still do), and for many years, I dreamed of opening my own place up. Now the dream has shifted, but I still live out my diner love when I watch Food Network‘s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Hosted by Guy Fieri, his constant road trips introduce viewers to little hole-in-the-wall type places that serve fabulous food. Even though he put out a cookbook late last year with some of the recipes featured from restaurants that he’s visited, it’s not enough. I literally watch the show with a notebook and pen, jotting down ingredients of the dishes they’re highlighting on each episode.

Brisket is one of those things that has been on my to-try list forever and a day, yet I hadn’t gotten around to it, but after catching a recent episode with brisket that looked so good, my mouth was watering, I was done for. This is one of those recipes that you’ll thank me for later, and it’s barely a recipe at all. You can commit it to memory in about 30 seconds, and you really only need one ingredient past a few pantry basics. It cooks for 12 hours in the oven, but trust me when I tell you … it’s worth it to figure out your schedule so you can make this.

The recipe? Buy brisket. Put garlic powder, salt and pepper all over it. Put it in a baking dish and bake at 225 for 12 hours. See? That’s it. I ended up putting it into the oven after dinner, and then The Husband took it out in the morning when he left for work. Within only two hours of cooking, it smelled amazing, and my mouth is watering again now, just thinking about the leftovers (hello lunch!).

The meat is fall apart good and is juicy and tender, and everything it should be after cooking for 12 hours. And for a 30-second recipe, what better reward?…

Recipe: Chicken and Waffles

February 23, 2009 · Narrative

I tend to get total tunnel vision sometimes when it comes to food. All I need to do is hear about a dish or type of food, whether it be on tv, in a magazine article or online, and all the sudden, it’s all I can think about. I’ll hear a commercial for a local restaurant, and it’s all I want for dinner. I hear about a new Indian dish, and all the sudden a craving sets in and previous menu plans get scrapped. Such was the case recently with Chicken and Waffles.

I knew Chicken and Waffles was a Southern thing, and didn’t know much past that. Then I saw a mention of it (and ensuing conversation) on Chow’s website. Then I became obsessed. I wanted to have Chicken and Waffles, and it’s all I could think about. Through pure planet alignment, on a recent episode of Ultimate Recipe Showdown on Food Network, one of the competing recipes happened to be Hotlanta Chicken and Waffle Sandwiches with Spicy Maple Mayonnaise. It seemed rather fortuitous to me.

When the woman (Julie Ohnstad) was competing, she lost track of time, and thought that she had 15 minutes left, instead of the reality of only 5 minutes to go in the timed round. She threw together her plating in such a rush that she forgot to add the sauce, a really key component to the recipe. Once the judges found out about the issue, they asked for some sauce so that they could try the dish the way she intended it (although that couldn’t count towards her score, in fairness to the other three contestants who completed their dishes on time). She didn’t win, no surprise there, but in some after-show filming with the judges, they were asked if she would have won had she served the dish properly. They said she probably would have. Can you imagine? She lost out on $25,000 and the opportunity to have her recipe appear on T.G.I. Fridays menus nationwide just because she lost track of time. Ouch.

Nonetheless, it was perfect timing for me (small consolation, I’m sure), and I used her recipe when I made the Chicken and Waffles on Friday night. Our grocery store has small packages of fresh Belgian waffles, and I ended up going that route, which saved me the time of making my own waffles; perfect since I don’t have (and wasn’t going to buy) a waffle maker.

Loved, loved, loved these. I’m not sure what sauce, if any, traditionally goes with Chicken and Waffles (anyone?), but I have seen some that included a gravy. I loved the sweetness of this one. The sharpness of the Cheddar, the crispiness of the bacon and the creamy sweet tang of the sauce … and then the tenderness of the chicken and waffles … made for a perfect introduction to the world of Chicken and Waffles. Look, it may sound a little odd … waffles with cheese, chicken, bacon and a maple sauce … but trust me, this is just one of those things that works. And works it does. Even The Husband who kind of looked at it funny and raised an eyebrow when I told him what this was, raved about it the next day. And that Chicken and Waffles obsession? Well, now I think I need to hunt down more recipes for it…

P.S. The recipe looks long, but I promise it goes really quickly. I managed to do it in about 45 minutes (taking that waffle shortcut route) with two kids and a dog underfoot.

P.P.S. For my BBQ peeps, I have cook-all-night brisket in the oven – what are typical sides to serve with brisket? Help!…

Sunny Anderson’s Interstate Chili

February 3, 2009 · Narrative

It has been simply ages since I really cooked a significant amount of food for the Superbowl. The last time, though, quite memorably involved a trip to the ER before 30 guests came over, and resulted in 10 stitches in my left hand. Darn guacamole. To this day, as much as we love avocados, I still wince just a little when I have to play with them.

Sunday afternoon I was trying to decide what to make, flipping through my backlog of Tivo’d shows and landed on Sunny Anderson’s Cooking for Real. She was making “gameday food” and one of the dishes was an Interstate Chili, so named because it combined chili flavors she loves from San Antonio, Texas and Detroit, Michigan. She had me at chorizo.

When it comes to chili, I am not die-hard about it. There are those that are very serious about it … beans, no beans, white, red … I happen to prefer red chili over white, but can go either way on the beans. Sunny said she prefers chili without beans, and when it comes to this version, I wholeheartedly agree. When I printed out the recipe, I nearly bagged it when I saw the list of ingredients (long!), but don’t let that deter you. We would have missed out on this one. The chorizo gives the chili a nice, low, lingering heat, but not so much that your mouth is on fire and you’re grabbing for a water glass. The cooked red and green peppers and onions gave the consistency surprising little soft pieces throughout each bite, and I think that was my favorite part of the whole dish.

Would I make it again? You bet. And it’s perfect for this cold, winter-won’t-leave-us weather we’re having. Last night, an earthquake (in NJ?!) and today more snow, with two more days of snow on the calendar for this week still to come. Mother Nature is certainly having fun with us this season, and I don’t know about you, but I am over it. Spring? Where are you?

In the meantime, bowls ready, spoons poised, dig in. This chili is waiting.…

Rhode Island Style Weiners

December 30, 2008 · Narrative

I have had this strange obsession with hot dogs for the last couple of months. I can’t explain it really. I am just totally craving them, and as soon as I start thinking about them, I want them. Obsession aside, I have actually only indulged two or three times since this situation started, but it hasn’t been easy to practice restraint.

On a recent episode of Guy Fieri’s show, Guy’s Big Bite on Food Network, he made Rhode Island Style Weiners, so you know I was all over that. The recipe was inspired from visits to his father-in-law’s house in Rhode Island. He said that there they eat hot dogs with a ground beef concoction on top of them. Throw in the steamed buns and I was done for.

The day after Christmas we celebrated the holiday with The Neighbors and since I wanted to do a bar-food type menu, this was perfect. Okay, it might be a bit of a stretch since you likely don’t belly up to the bar and order hot dogs, but cut me a little slack here. The ground beef mixture takes just minutes to prepare and totally takes the hot dog to a whole ‘nother experience. Alright, stop laughing. Just so, so good. I steamed the buns (another small nuance I will have to remember for the future), and once the meat was on top, I added the suggested chopped raw onions and yellow mustard.

Food snobs be darned, this was one good eat….