by BS

Plate It or Hate It: Fall 2014

Recent food world discoveries the ES crew is loving and hating…

Hate it: Overpriced Food & Drink Festivals

We LOVE that Oktoberfest is sweeping the nation, bacon festivals are occurring on the east coast, and people are excited to experience food. However, some of these prices are ridiculous. For instance, the Philly fest is asking $25 for general admission and THREE samples. C’mon now!

Plate it: Whiskey Wedge

The makers of corkcicle bring us a new and improved way to drink our whiskey without diluting the drink. Review to come!

Hate it: Christmas-Themed Food in OCTOBER

Somehow gingerbread flavored creamer ended up in my fridge. We’ve seen candy canes and chocolate oranges in the grocery stores. Apparently the supermarkets and the food corps want to push Christmas on us already. Well… we are not ready. Put the holiday foods/drinks/scents away! At least let us get through Halloween!

Plate it: BOOK IT! Alumni Program

Remember those buttons we would get in school with the purpose of filling it with stickers to earn your personal pan pizza? As we realize the Book It! program is 30 years old, we all realize that we’re not as young as we think we are. Now you can re-enroll online as an alumni and get a free pizza!. Nostalgia awaits you.

Plate It? The Olive Garden Foodie Strikes Again

Merilyn Hagerty strikes again as she reviews Applebee’s and their ground breaking Oriental Chicken Salad. While “lunching” with a friend, she helps us determine whether or not to go with the half or full size salad, and “regular customers know how to order two full sized entrees and one appetizer to share.” While insulting at one level, it’s pretty damn hilarious on another. We give the woman credit for getting by on these pieces. The publication – not so sure.

Hate It: The Neelys are Getting Divorced?!

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!?!?! Love is officially dead. Bye forever, everyone. (Image credit: internet ruiner of dreams, TMZ.com)

by Emily

ES-Approved Holiday Gift Guide for Food Lovers

Still looking for that perfect gift for the epicurean in your life? Try one of our suggestions! Thanks to the internet, there’s no shortage of cookbooks and kitchen goods out there, but we’ve cut through the boring stuff and picked out a handful of ideas that are sure to please. Stick one of these under your tree and treat yourself to a drink – holiday shopping is hard work!

From Scratch: Inside the Food Network
We love some Food Network as much as the rest of the country, but we’re also suckers for a good celeb chef snark sesh, and this new book from Allen Salkin looks like it will provide plenty of ammo.

HomeMade Gin Kit Holiday Blend Christmas Refill
I reviewed the HomeMade Gin Kit last holiday season (and gave it two thumbs up, I think it’s a super fun project and makes a great gift for any cocktail lover). Now they’ve released a special holiday edition. According to Gin Kit co-founder Joe Maiellano, “We’ve toned down the citrus and summery flavors in the original gin infusion blend and laced the new one with cinnamon, clove, ginger, and rosemary. We came up with a cocktail recipe for the new gin using cranberry juice, orange liqueur, and a rosemary sprig that testers say looks and tastes like Christmas in a glass!” The refill is only $10, so it makes a nice stocking stuffer for anyone you got the original kit for last year.

Magical Unicorn Salt
Truth time: part of the reason we picked this one is because of its majestic name. Besides that, though, this stuff sounds great: a mix of pure ocean salt, smoked paprika, garlic, rosemary, and celery seed. The seasoning possibilities are endless! The manufacturer, Beautiful Briny Sea, doesn’t have a full online store, but you can check out their current offerings and contact info on their Facebook page, and right now, just in time for gift-giving, Magical Unicorn Salt is selling on Fab.

by Emily

Presents for Foodies: Food Network Star Book

This time of year I am always scrambling for holiday gift ideas. It’s not that I’m not a generous person… it’s just that sometimes, come on, people are hard as hell to buy for. Being a food-minded individual, I often solve this dilemma by throwing a cookbook their way and calling it good. In this case, here is something to please the masses: Food Network Star: The Official Insider’s Guide to America’s Hottest Food Show. It’s chock full of recipes and television gossip. We all know people who love Food Network, so there! One gift to cross off the list.

How good is this cookbook? Well, it’s definitely a crowd pleaser. FNS:TOIGTAHFS, as I like to call it to save time, offers a wide array of recipes, from the laughably simple (Carissa Seward’s Shrimp Puffs), to the reasonable (Eggs en Cocotte from Amy Finley), to the elegantly involved (Alex Hernandez’s Beignets with Rosemary Caramel). It’s fun because recipes from basically every cheftestant from every season of the show are featured, so it’s easy to pick a selection from one’s favorite. I, for example, eagerly sought out recipes from the Hearty Boys. Then, upon seeing that their featured item was lobster pot pie and reminding myself I was supposed to be saving money for other presents, decided to go with something a bit more pedestrian.

I would hardly call Guy Fieri my favorite “chef” but hey, he is probably the ultimate Next Food Network Star winner. This dude is everywhere! How’s his food? There’s only one way to find out, and that is to make one of the recipes that catapulted him to stardom.

Chipotle Pasta

in Celebs / Holiday / Recipe / TV 0 comments

by BS

Plate It or Hate It

Recent food world discoveries the ES crew is loving and hating…

Plate It: Grapesicles

Frozen grapes on a stick. The most perfectly simple summer cooler ever. Bonus points for the bed of frozen melon balls. (Little Ladies Who Lunch, via fuck yeah my health).

Hate It: Cake Pops

We’re all about cute, but there’s just no need. Why would anyone take a tender cake and turn it into a round mass of gumminess? Then take that disgusting bit and dip it in candy melts? Candy melts are about as tasty as candle wax. Please, just let us eat cake. (Photo: Mimsen)

Plate It: Food Duels

in Bacon / Desserts / Rants & Raves / Trends / TV 9 comments

by Borracho

Friday Food Porn: Time for the Money Shot

Without a doubt we all have our guilty pleasures when it comes to food TV. For today’s Food Porn, we thought we would share some of the guiltiest pleasures of all….the overdone “money shots” at the end of every Food Network recipe prep. Enjoy!

*Warning- You may want to watch on an empty stomach*

Video:Slate.com

in Celebs / TV 0 comments

by Russell Warnick

Endless Questions: Chef R.J. Cooper on Iron Chef America and Magical Food Rides

You’d think since leaving Washington’s swanky, Southern restaurant Vidalia earlier this year, Chef R.J. Cooper would have plenty of time on his hands, but he’ll tell you that’s not the case. Over the past six months Cooper has been overseeing the construction of his new restaurant, Rogue 24, working with Chefs as Parents and throwing in a little reality TV. Cooper kicks off season 9 of Food Network’s Iron Chef America, challenging the newly minted winner of The Next Iron Chef America, Marc Forgione.

I chatted with Cooper about the pressures of Iron Chef America and the magical ride that is his new venture.

in TV 1 comments

by tvff

Cheflebrity Smörgåsbord: Philly Burger Beatdown

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

– The locals are not taking kindly to the new Philadelphia location of Bobby’s Burger Palace. That’s what you get for defeating Philly legend Delilah Winder on Throwdown.

– A new iPhone app will let Mark Bittman follow you around like some kind of creepy food genius. Question: How comfortable are you bringing a several-hundred-dollar electronic device into the kitchen with you?

After the jump…food television Upfront-a-palooza!

in Celebs / TV 4 comments