Articles for February 13th, 2013

Dallas Dames Host Fundraiser for Area Women Seeking Careers in Culinary Arts

posted by Carol Shih | February 13th, 2013 12:40pm | filed under Food, Foodie People, fundraiser |

DamesGoLocal_postcard_FN1Mark your calendars, everyone. March 3 is when Les Dames d’Escoffier International’s Dallas chapter is hosting its annual Raiser Grazer from 5 to 8 p.m. at Union Station. Once upon a time, in 2010, Nancy attended this event and  ”won” four nights in a Jamaican hotel for $250. She said it was a great travel bargain. Sounds like a win-win to me. Hit it, ladies:

The event, themed Dames Go Local, raises money for educational scholarships for area women seeking careers in the culinary arts.  The event is open to the public and tickets are available for $65 per person. This year’s event will showcase the many local purveyors of fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese and other artisanal dairy products. The silent auction is now live at biddingforgood.com. Browse Auctions, Texas and find Les Dames d’Escoffier.

Raiser Grazer brings together talented chefs, suppliers, pastry artists and business women for an evening of exceptional food and beverages, outstanding auction items and a lively, family-friendly environment.  The event will feature more than 30 chef-hosted kiosks serving everything from local beef to desserts made with local dairy products; local and international wines, and an outdoor beer garden featuring only local brews. There will also be more than 100 items and experiences up for grabs in the silent auction.

Participating chefs include:
Dame Liz Baron, chef/owner, Mesa Grill – Salad of Tassione Farms Greens, Mozzarella Company cheese and olive oil, pecans and grapefruit from Texas.

Dame Dunia Borga, chef/owner – La Duni – Arequipe (aka Dulce de leche) with Three Cows Dairy Cream and Texas Pecans

Dame Tiffany Derry – chef – Pan Seared Scallops with Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit Beurre Blanc

Dames Sharon Hage and Wendy Taggart – Chef and Owner of Burgundy Pasture Beef – Burgundy Pastures Beef Keftah with Three Happy Cows Tzaziki Sauce

Dame Lisa Perini – Owner, Perini Ranch Steakhouse – Mesquite Smoked Peppered Tenderloin

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SideDish on TV Audition: From The Shores Of The Trinity by Jon Alexis

posted by Nancy Nichols | February 13th, 2013 12:13pm | filed under BJ for TJ, Food, Put SideDish on TV! |

You didn’t think Jon Alexis of TJ’s Seafood Market would ignore this challenge did you? Gotta hand it to him, he’s the hardest working man is the fish biz. Here’s his idea for a local show:

This is clearly demo-quality only,all first takes, and the video editing is mediocre at best. Audio gets out of whack for a few minutes and I have no idea how to fix it. Having said that, the concept for From The Shores Of The Trinity is to showcase great seafood in Dallas. We can get the freshest seafood in the world served to us in Dallas and the show will feature a great restaurant seafood dish each episode, then take the mystery out of cooking that same seafood at home. Dallas is not just a steak and potatoes town (anymore), we look forward to highlighting that! From the Shores of the Trinity would not be about TJ’s anymore than No Reservations is about Les Halles.

Put your fins together for Jon Alexis.

Interview with Alex Stein, Villain of the Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America

posted by Christina Colavecchia | February 13th, 2013 11:55am | filed under Celebrity Chefs, Food, interviews, Junk Food, Making Up Is Hard To Do, pick your own | 3 Comments »
photo provided by Alex Stein

photo provided by Alex Stein

For those of you who don’t remember Dallas native Alex Stein from ABC’s The Glass House, that’s probably a good thing. The villainous 24-year-old (now 26) was at the center of the show’s first-and-only-season’s drama – and he paid for it. Stein was kicked off the show in the second week and, according to him, even received death threats (which, weirdly, he takes as a compliment). Don’t worry, though. Stein is back with a vengeance in the Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America, and he wants people to know one thing: he’s here to entertain. The new season premieres on Sunday, February 17 at 8 p.m.

Christina Colavecchia: What motivated you to try out for Worst Cooks in America? Are you actually a horrible cook?

Alex Stein: I’m not a great cook. One time I was at Lake Cyprus Springs, literally 20 people, 10 girls, 10 guys and I was like, “Oh, I’ll cook the burgers.” Sure enough, I got every single girl sick. The only people that didn’t get sick were the ones that had the hotdogs, and you can’t really get sick from a hotdog.

The way the show works is someone has to nominate you. I made my roommate in L.A. some chicken wings. I literally just put them in a pan, I cooked them, and I got him deathly ill. We had to go to the urgent care clinic. So he nominated me and once [the producers] had me in there, I brought this video of those girls I got sick. [The producers] liked my personality and they said “Bam! We want you on the show.”

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The Taste, Episode 4 Recap: Daring Pairings

posted by Christina Colavecchia | February 13th, 2013 10:05am | filed under Celebrity Chefs, Food, The Taste |
Ludo Lefebvre, Nigella Lawson, Anthony Bourdain, and Brian Malarkey (via popgoestheweek.com)

Ludo Lefebvre, Nigella Lawson, Anthony Bourdain, and Brian Malarkey (via popgoestheweek.com)

The remaining 14 contestants are told that this week’s challenge theme is wine pairing. “The only thing that can make food better is wine,” explains Nigella, and the contestants are introduced to the judges of the group taste test, Andre Mack, owner of Mouton Noir Wines and David Kinch, a Michelin star award-winning chef.

The chefs are given five secret ingredients each picked out by their mentors and are told they must create a dish that uses one of these ingredients. It has to pair well with the robust Argentinian wine, Alamos Malbec. Bourdain chooses 5 different types of meat for his team’s secret ingredients and tells his chefs to “Stay in Argentina” (not physically, I’m guessing) and warns, “If you don’t know anything about wine, you’re in trouble.”

Ludo, on the other hand, has more sound advice for his chefs, telling them, “I have no strategy. Just cook f*****g good food.” Ludo spends most of his time mentoring Sarah, who needs the most help, while two of his other chefs, Shawn and Gregg, go on to create a crusted lamb loin with mint and a smoked short rib.

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