Tapas for the health conscious - More and more people watching what they eat have noticed that small portions, like with tapas, are the way to go.

Brown is better - We always had a feeling brown rice was better than white, but now the FDA has confirmed our suspicion by labeling the rice a truly healthy grain.

Under the microscope - Is molecular gastronomy an old fashioned term for the avant garde techniques? What does the future have in store?

Internatonal pickle week - All across the world, people are celebrating their love of all things pickled!

Can a strawberry be savory? - Knowing how often its used in desserts, its hard to get past the sweetness of the strawberry, but some chefs took the strawberry to new territory.

Read the rest of this entry »

I find it funny that this week’s episode completely stereotyped police officers with obesity. They flat out assumed that cops only eat greasy, terrible-for-you food and while I’m not denying that that could be the case, why was it attributed only to police officers? I missed the connection somewhere I guess.

But in all fairness, I admire Top Chef’s efforts to battle the problems of obesity and preach healthy cooking through many of the show’s challenges.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pizza for breakfast? YUM!

Something about this looks so delicious! I’m thinking about making something like this myself. What do you think? Check out the recipe over at The Kitch’n: Apartment Therapy. Nice job guys!

Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes I just don’t know when my mustard is going to expire. Or what if I make a hollandaise sauce from scratch - how long can I keep it around? Well, have no fear, the “Table of Condiments that Periodically Go Bad” is here to help you through your terribly important concerns.

I know this is a little bit hard to read, but I thought it was super cute so I just had to share. To view it larger, simply click on the photo or right here. While this information isn’t guaranteed to be accurate, the ballpark estimates are actually quite useful!

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve decided to give you one more week to enter the Chew on That Ultimate Chicago Food Giveaway Contest.

But be sure and enter now!

Our Recipe4Living product testers have been very busy in the kitchen, testing one of our latest samples: King Arthur Flour. We were fortunate to receive a total of 7 different King Arthur Flour products ranging from the classic All Purpose Flour to specialty products like their Chocolate Lava Cake Mix.

And after baking batches and batches of whole wheat bread, blueberry scones, lava cakes and…you name it, our reviewers had quite a few positive things to say.

Read the rest of this entry »

Top Chef cruise? - Bravo goes multimedia. We knew about the cookbook and the calendar, but a cruise?!

Blueberry juice wins - I knew it! Blueberry juice isss better than pomegranate juice for antioxidants!

Roses aren’t just for smelling - Many international pastry chefs have been incorporating rose water and rose petals into their pastries!

The effect of higher food prices - Going out to eat might be less of a treat these days…now that quality is at risk.

Going Danish - The latest cuisine to permeate its way into  the American stockpot of worldly cuisines hails from Denmark.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey there! Does everyone remember when I went wine tasting at Cork and Canvas? Well since then I’ve developed a bit of a crush on wine tasting, and have now been corresponding with wine sommelier Mick Ter Haar. Fortunately for us, he has joined our team for a little seasonal advice in the way of wine. Please give him a warm welcome! - Hillary.

And now, here’s Mick:

Fresh spring dinners, lazy, hot summer days, weekend family outings, and picnics at Ravinia, all call for rosé wines.

And here is a little trivia for you - 2008 marks the 35th anniversary of the invention of white zinfandel. It was crush season of 1973 at Sutter Home Winery in St. Helena, CA when owner Bob Trinchero was looking to give his red zinfandel more color and flavor. He used an old French trick called saignee, or “bleeding.”

Read the rest of this entry »

This was one of my favorite episodes! Not only did the quickfire involve my favorite (and apparently Tom’s favorite) challenge: the relay race, but the elimination challenge was a wedding! How much more fun can you ask for?

But the chefs might have a different opinion. While they loved the relay race, I don’t think they had too much fun in the elimination challenge after staying up for 36 straight hours consisting of 14 hours of prep work before the actual wedding buffet service.

Warning: Spoilers after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

This past weekend, I took a road trip to a lovely little place called Lou-ah-ville to attend my very first Kentucky Derby! A subculture of Kentucky in its own right, you haven’t experienced Louisville if you haven’t seen the “Derby Life.” Honestly, the Kentucky Derby might as well be its own holiday there because it’s treated like such. And the beverage of choice: The Mint Julep.

Yes, every first weekend in May, the Kentucky Churchill Downs prepares to host over 180,000 Derby enthusiasts who come from both near and far. At multiple mint juleps per person, that’s almost 1 million Mint Juleps served in a day!

But they wouldn’t have it any other way. Everyone has their own recipe, but the official sweet little drink is made with mint syrup, Kentucky whisky, crushed ice, and crushed mint, served in a souvenir Derby glass of course.

Read the rest of this entry »