October, 2009 -

by tvff

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

Never let it be said that Endless Simmer’s stories don’t have staying power. Almost a full year after our Top 10 Food Pun Halloween Costumes post ran, Skye recognized himself in one of the photos:

Where on earth did you find that picture, that is me in my black eyed pea costume 4 years ago? so random coming across it

Meanwhile, nobody was scared off by the thought of blood sausages, but Jason Sandeman illustrated that old-as-the-hills saying: “Never send an Englishman to buy your French meats.”

I once ordered these sausages by mistake from the butcher due to my heavy English accent. I tried ordering “Bidene de porc” but it came out as “Boudaine de Porc”. So I recieved this huge 5 kilogram sausage coil. Good times.

Have a happy Halloween from everyone at ES!

(Photo: Overduebook)

in Holiday 1 comments

by Bliz

Top Chef Exit Interview: Episode 10

It’s kind of eerie how similar Top Chef episodes are becoming to my wildest fantasies. This season has been filled with some of the most interesting challenges, iconic guest chefs and talented contestants, but this week Bravo outdid themselves:

Natalie Portman making a guest appearance and Padma talking dirty. Tommy C, you are a lucky man my friend. Oh and I think there was some excellent, veggie-friendly food too.

Now for a SPOILER ALERT after the jump..

The Desire’s Even Stronger a Day Later

If we were really on top of this shit, we would have posted this yesterday. Or the day before. But with the Phillies (winning) in the World Series, there’s been some other pressing matters. So while I would have gladly watched my savior’s documentary last night, I was instead enjoying Chase’s home runs.

But because of the availability of re-runs, we can all learn about our earthly cravings in Michael Pollan’s PBS documentary, Botany of Desire.

I’ve read Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, but I haven’t gotten around to Botany (which is on my list after Michael Ruhlman’s The Making of a Chef. I’m in the middle of United States of Arugula but I think I’m gonna bail on finishing it.)

Anyway, PBS has a great little track-by-zipcode feature so you can find out exactly when you should Tivo it. And if you skipped the World Series and Top Chef to watch some Pollan goodness, let me know what you think.

in TV 1 comments

by tvff

Cheflebrity Smörgåsbord: Don’t Bug Rachael Ray!

The latest and greatest news about celebrity chefs, served up buffet style.

– Rachael Ray‘s event at a New York school cafeteria had an unexpected, six-legged special guest!

– Apparently, the sign of a true foodie is your participation in a web-only mini series. Tony Bourdain goes the animated route while Tom Colicchio and Todd English talk style for Diet Coke.

After the jump…more Top Chef news than you can shake a stick at and a story about Jeffrey Steingarten, who you would probably like to beat with that stick.

There Will Be Blood (Sausage)

How do you get your wife to buy the main ingredient for dinner without letting her know exactly what it is?

Keep referring to it as “boudin noir.”

OK…I wasn’t exactly conducting a top-secret operation when I asked her to stop by Salumeria Biellese in Manhattan to pick up some blood sausages. She’s usually pretty agreeable about trying new and exotic items, particularly when they get the TVFF seal of approval.

Still, I wasn’t sure how well this would go over, so I stuck with the more vague French name and hoped that she wouldn’t bother looking over any ingredient list on the package. The jig was up when she and a co-worker took a photo of the sausages on her phone to show me and they noticed that the second or third item was “pig’s blood,” but I think that actually earned her some cred in the office for being adventurous.

And so it was time to bring these sanguine sausages home for an authentic French bistro-style preparation, courtesy of a recipe from Anthony Bourdain’s cookbook…

Artsy Photo of the Day

World’s first bacon dispensing hand dryer?

in Bacon / Photos / Pig 0 comments

by BS

Top Chef Exit Interview: Week 9

Hola simmerinos. I’m playing hooky from work blogging this week, which means I wasn’t able to bring you an interview with the latest axed chef-testant. But don’t fret! Just head over to our friends at I’m Not Here to Make Friends, who have an awesome podcast interview with this week’s axed chef.

Pack Your Knives and Go Las Vegas: Episode 9 [I’m Not Here to Make Friends]

in TV 2 comments

October 2009