How cool is that?!

Last night at the 2006 Emmy Awards, Barry Manilow won Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for his role on "Barry Manilow: Music and Passion."

Barry is what brought Debbie and me together, and we've been friends for something like 23 years. We were co-directors of the San Francisco Barry Manilow Fan Club, as well as running our own local chapters (when we weren't living in the same area).

To tie him in to the food theme, he recently did an interview on KMXB radio in Las Vegas, talking about his arthroscopic hip surgery he is having today. The DJ's were joking with him that "his people" would be doing everything for him, and Barry emphatically said, "I make my own breakfast!!". He said he has cereal (Raisin Bran), coffee and a bagel.

Congratulations, Barry, and best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Awesome!

Congratulations to Rachael for her nomination in the cooking category, of the second annual Quill Awards.

Here's are the nominees in the Cooking category:

Heat, Bill Buford
Julie & Julia, Julie Powell
My Life in France, Julia Child
Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats, Rachael Ray
Silver Spoon, Phaidon Press Editors

You can vote online through September 30th.

Recipe #252 - Croque Monsieur

Tonight we had grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner. I've been wanting to get more back on track with cooking Rachael's recipes, and I remembered her croque monsieur sandwiches from TV. The recipe is in her "365" book. I used some leftover mornay sauce from the Bobby Flay breakfast sandwiches, the sauce is very similar to the bechamel in Rachael’s recipe. I put marbled colby jack cheese on it instead of swiss/gruyere. So, the sandwich was pretty much sauce, cheese, ham, and the bread spread with butter and grated cheese on the outside. I love how the outside turned all crunchy from the cheese. It added lots of flavor. Next time I’ll add more sauce. I’d put on a thick schmear but when the sandwich heated up, it kind of melted into the bread. It made the sandwich moist without being greasy, very rich tasting. The recipe in the "Gourmet" cookbook is similar but they put more sauce on the outside of the sandwich and ran it under the broiler. I had a sandwich more like that, at La Madeleine in Dallas, and while it was good, it was almost too decadent and rich. I like Rachael’s cheese-crusted version better! Don just came in and asked me how many calories I thought the sandwich had. He put mayonnaise on his as well, so I told him his probably had at least 1000. I still feel that what we cook at home is better and better for you than what you would get at a restaurant.

Paula Deen in the Wall Street Journal

Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal included an article about Paula Deen! The article’s title is "As Stars Lose Spice, Food Network Bets on Sassy Southerner." Mostly it is about the Food Network’s attempt to "augment fading stars, fend off competition from rival networks and attract a younger audience." Paula will have a new show called "Paula’s Party" that airs on September 29th. She also has a new cookbook coming out October 10th (Paula Deen Celebrates) and is writing her memoir, to be published in April. Her magazine was also mentioned briefly.

According to the article, some of the originally highly watched programs ("Emeril Live" and "Food Nation with Bobby Flay" - to mention two) have seen a drop in ratings. Yet Paula’s evening specials have drawn great ratings. Furthermore, other networks are venturing into the food territory with their own shows.

I can’t help but wonder if this is the Food Network’s response to Rachael’s new talk show, to have one of their own, with Paula.

I’ve been enjoying the new shows they’ve started this summer ("Road Tasted," "Feasting on Asphalt" and "Throwdown with Bobby Flay") - they all have that spunk that got me hooked on the Food Network in the first place.

Speaking of other networks, I watched "Anthony Bourdain in Beirut" on the Travel Channel, and thought it was a great piece of journalism. What I liked the most was seeing the events going on there, from his point of view, not just what we are fed in the media by reporters. He conveyed how everyone was feeling and what they saw. I'm not sure if I would go so far as to say it was worthy of an Emmy, but I do think the episode should qualify for some sort of journalistic award.

B, L & D

Yesterday was the first time I’ve ever made any Bobby Flay recipes, partly because I’m not all that much of a meat person. Recently he made some breakfast sandwiches that looked more like something Rachael would make, but with an Iron Chef’s touch.

For breakfast, I made his scrambled sandwich with cream gravy. The original recipe calls for sausage, and the browned bits & fat are poured into the cream gravy. I used Canadian bacon instead. I didn’t print out the recipe and because of that, forgot to put in fresh sage at the end. (I was mad at myself for forgetting, since I actually had some sage to throw in there.) I’m sure it would’ve given it a "gourmet" flavor. I love breakfast sandwiches, especially homemade ones, since you are in control of the grease. Don made his with a fried egg instead of scrambled. He surprised me by putting the gravy on his too. He proclaimed it "pretty good," which is a high mark on his rating system. The gravy part (basically a bechamel sauce) reminded me of Rachael’s Croque Monsieur recipe that has a similar sauce. I have a feeling her sandwich would be good too, although I have to admit that I never tried it since the way she described it didn't sound good (describing the sauce as "glue").

For lunch, I tried Bobby’s nutella & banana sandwich. The bread is pan-fried cinnamon toast, then you put it sugar side down, spread nutella on it, and sliced bananas. My toast turned out sticky (although it hardened after it cooled a little) so I put mine sugar side up. Instead of bananas I put leftover cream cheese frosting. There’s a bite taken out of my toast in the photo because Don sampled the bread while I was putting this all together. The bread is from the King Arthur Flour website, it’s "Harvest Bread" and has sweet potatoes, cinnamon, raisins, and whole wheat flour, it’s very good. Anyway, this was a good sandwich too, or would make a good dessert. Very indulgent and over-the-top.

The "D" here refers to "Dessert." Ellie Krieger made carrot cake cupcakes on Saturday’s show. What I liked about her recipe is that it doesn’t have tons of oil like most carrot cake or zucchini bread recipes do. I made half a batch which yielded 6 cupcakes, and it only required 2 tablespoons of oil. The cupcakes were very moist, I’m sure the applsauce helped. The frosting was very cream cheese-ey, since it was only cream cheese and powdered sugar, and most recipes for that sort of frosting call for butter (which would dilute the flavor some). Don didn’t like the frosting but liked the cupcakes. I liked the whole thing. I did feel that it was missing something, though. I had read the reviews and someone had suggested raisiins, so I did throw some in with my batter. Maybe it was missing pineapple or coconut. These sorts of cakes always taste better the second day and I haven’t tried them yet today, to see if the flavors have blended a little more.

Oh, my favorite Anthony Bourdain made a Barry Manilow reference on his "No Reservations" show! He was in Vegas, and made the comment that "If you hit Barry Manilow’s face with a drumstick, it gives a sound much like a snare drum." Poor Barry. Tony seems to have no mercy when it comes to other celebrities, though. On the other hand, I was watching "Feasting on Asphalt" and while cooking breakfast in someone’s RV, Alton Brown was going through their spice cabinet and came across a jar of Emeril’s Essence. His reaction was hilarious, but he made it fun by doing the "Bam" thing, in a good-hearted way. As opposed to Tony, who would have gone on a rambling tirade about Emeril.

Chili-Rubbed Steak Tacos

Between me and my husband, I’m definitely the more adventurous eater. Not in terms of trying exotic foods, rather trying something different. Don has his favorites and doesn't like to change the menu or the recipe. The regular tacos I make, I take chuck roast and put it in the crock pot with some taco mix, salsa, and onions, then cook it until the meat shreds easily. I wanted something more like fajitas so this recipe from Ellie Krieger looked good to me.

I wasn’t too sure about how the cinnamon would taste so I only put half the amount called for. I looked at the spices for fajitas in another cookbook I have, called the "Tex-Mex Cookbook," and they all pretty much have chili powder, garlic and salt. Ellie’s recipe doesn’t say what temperature or how hot a grill to cook the meat on, so Don set it at 350.

I liked it, thought it would be better cooked at a higher temperature so the outside is more crispy. I didn’t much care for the cinnamon. Maybe because I knew it was in there, I was more aware of the flavor. I already had pre-made guacamole so I didn’t make the Avocado Lime Salsa, but I did chop up some cucumber - that was surprisingly good.

Don didn’t like it, my heart fell when he said, "I like regular tacos better. Don’t ever make this again." It can be frustrating cooking for a picky eater!!! Arrrgh.

Changing the subject, I just finished the audiobook for "Julie and Julia." It seemed a little different than the blog (which I’ve only skimmed through). I had read reviews saying there was too much drinking and swearing, and although there were both in the book, I wouldn’t have paid attention to it. There’s way more drinking and swearing in say, Robert DeNiro movies. I loved how Julie Powell’s personality seemed to come through, especially with the audiobook, since she read it herself.

When she talked about hearing Julia Child’s comments about her blog, that reminded me of how I think Barry Manilow must think of me. He goes on in his life and "fan club" must seem like an annoying mosquito buzzing around him that he can’t ignore. Yet I’ve spent a lot of time and effort and years keeping the local club going. Just like Julie had kept her blog going, only to find out that Julia was not exactly what you would call an admirer. Anyway - I do wish him well with his upcoming bilateral hip surgery he is having in a few weeks. And I hope he wins that Emmy!

Triple Chocolate Cookies

These looked good on TV, on Ellie Krieger’s "Healthy Appetites." I think a lot of what she cooks both sound and look more appetizing because of how she describes things. For example, these cookies were on an episode about ingredients that were once bad for you, that are now considered good. She brings up chocolate, and how the flavenoids "sweep away the toxins." It makes chocolate sound downright healthy. Don was watching with me, and she went on about wine and how men can have 2 glasses a day, women are allowed 1. Next thing you know he is opening up a bottle of wine. Mighty is the power of suggestion.

Anyway, half the fat in these cookies is from butter, the other half from canola oil. I used that Smart Balance oil that is a combination of canola, soy and olive. I don’t have whole wheat pastry flour so I used regular whole wheat.

I baked them in my toaster oven and they got too burned on the bottom, but I'm sure they'd be better in a regular oven. It's just too darn hot right now. They were good, more cakey than brownie-like. I was wondering how they'd turn out because the only leavening in them is egg, no baking powder or soda. I only made 6, like Ellie did, and rolled the rest of the dough into two small logs (I figure each log will make a dozen cookies), and put them in the freezer. Next time it’s cool enough to bake I’ll make some more, or I might try my microwave that has a halogen light for browning.

The cookies were tasty, not overpowering on the chocolate, just the right balance. She mentioned taking them out even though they don’t look done, and I think that’s an important point, otherwise they will be too dry. I’ll definitely be making these again. I like that the whole recipe makes only 2 dozen, it’s small enough to throw together a small batch. Sometimes I make a bunch of cookies and freeze them. These are the kind that are good still warm from the oven, all ooey gooey.

Meatballs with Sage

Earlier this week Rachael made a cheese menu with veal meatballs & sage, with a gorgonzola walnut sauce. She suggested substituting chicken for the veal. For dinner last night, I had some turkey (still poultry) meatballs I had frozen, so I chopped up some fresh sage and mixed it in. Don said he doesn’t like gorgonzola so I made a cream of celery sauce instead (can of Campbell’s with half a can of water). The moment I started chopping the sage, it smelled like Thanksgiving. I had about 15 meatballs and put in 6 chopped sage leaves. It was a little strong. The herb sure perked up the meatballs, they were really good. It would go well in a meatloaf too.

I also pan fried a couple of sage leaves for garnish, I’d seen that in a magazine or on TV somewhere. That didn’t taste as good on its own but it looked nice.

Since I didn't make the cheese sauce, I served everything on brown basmati rice. Don, who has endured all of my cooking experiments, was saying the other day that he thinks with Rachael's recipes you definitely have to adjust the recipes to ingredients you like. I'm kind of torn. I agree to a certain extent, except how do you know if a recipe is good unless you try it at face value. That's how you discover things you don't know you might like.