Behind the Scenes at Food Network

Forget New Moon’s team Edward versus team Jacob, Red Sox versus Yankees or even vanilla versus chocolate. In the green room, we’ve caught up with Mehta versus Garces. You can cut the tension between these last two rivals for The Next Iron Chef with a santoku knife. Not really, since grace under pressure is a quality they share, one that helps make them the only remaining contenders to become the next chef to join the roster at Kitchen Stadium.

Stovemates since the top of the season, Chef Jose Garces and Chef Jehangir Mehta boast innovative culinary styles but also a full menu of Iron Chef qualities, including fearlessness, integrity and a gut instinct for innovation. No wonder the final battle for Sunday night’s season finale (9pm/8c) is between them, a world of flavor with a jolt of competitive spirit. Check out the video above for their take on the competition, portion sizes and how the show has changed their cooking; go here if you want to see what they talked about during a live Facebook chat earlier this week.

Garces, executive chef and owner of several Philadelphia restaurants, says Chef Mehta would bring a “refreshing approach” to Kitchen Stadium. Mehta, executive chef and owner of New York City’s Graffiti restaurant, is equally gracious: “Chef Garces would be an excellent Iron Chef.”

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This year the SC is hosting Thanksgiving. One word, people: STRESS. So what could be better than running into the bright-eyed host of Sandra’s Money Saving Meals, Ms. Lee herself, in the elevator here at work? I took the opportunity to ask her for some quick holiday tips. Here’s what she offered:

1. Think smaller. For the turkey, that is – about 10 to 12 pounds. Sandra says, “It’ll eliminate the stress and time it takes to cook a 24 pounder. If you have a larger family, buy two smaller turkeys. Trust me.”

2. Create an edible tablescape. “If you have two smaller turkeys have them book ending your dessert. You could take three premade cheesecakes and put them on top of each other. Spread on a gorgeous cranberry chutney. I like using food as the focal point of my table. Nothing is going to waste.”

3. Try cornbread stuffing. “Cornbread stuffing is a staple in my house every Thanksgiving. I make it the day before. My recipe is so easy! I stuff my bird. I don’t cook the stuffing on the side.”

The cornbread stuffing will be tested in the SC’s personal kitchen tonight. I’ll let you know how it goes. For tips to make your holiday meal delicious, affordable and effortless check out the upcoming Sandra’s Money Saving Meals, Sundays at 12pm/11c and Mondays at 2pm/1c

Eat Well - The SC

Studio A at the Chelsea Market offices regularly changes faces for the filming of Iron Chef America, the Next Food Network Star Finale and a ton of in-the-kitchen shows, from Guy’s Big Bite to Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. But this week, for one afternoon, Studio A was transformed into a kitchen wonderland, a dream world for cooking-enthusiast bargain shoppers. It was a charity auction for Share Our Strength, and it was beautiful!

Items on sale were leftover from shows, equipment from the kitchens and Kohl’s products donated by the culinary department. At high noon, Food Networkers (including Sunny Anderson!) swarmed into the studio and started grabbing (mostly politely) and bidding – small items priced as marked and larger items auctioned off to the highest bidders.
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My friend's farm: Rachael's destination

What do you cook when Rachael Ray’s coming to dinner? That’s what I asked my pal Brent Ridge when I heard Rachael Ray visited his farm to film a Food Network special, Rachael’s Vacations: Farm to Table, which airs tomorrow at 11 pm EST/10 C. I’d lean on comfort, just to make myself comfortable: Something seasonal, mac-n-cheese or chili, probably. But whose? Would making my own offend? Would making hers be odd? Brent had a different approach, one I appreciate. Menus must be more clear from the outset when you spend days growing your own food and minding your own herd of goats, which beget luscious creamy goat cheese.

A few years ago Brent, a physician, blogger and all-around interesting guy, and his partner, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, parlayed their New York City love of terrace-grown tomatoes into an ex-pats’ paradise Upstate called Beekman Farm. Their “experiment in seasonal living,” as they call it, has become a full-on way of life, with 60 acres of land to tend, dozens of animals and 110 different kinds of heirloom veggies to sow, grow, harvest, can, freeze, pickle and share.

Brent’s always cooking up something fun, but I’m sure he had a few moments of panic at the idea of entertaining Food Network.  “Sharon Springs is a very, very small town,” Brent says, “and of course the news that Rachael was coming couldn’t be kept a secret…”

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Most secretaries don’t count testing video games as part of their job responsibilities. But Food Network has high standards and everything gets tested plenty–even our new Wii game, which hits stores tomorrow, Cook or Be Cooked! We Food Networkers all wear many hats, so when I was asked to try out the new game, I got my nunchucks waxed and ready to go. I loved having a sneak peek and I corralled a few colleagues to play with me in one of our television-filled lounges (sorry, those pictures are top secret!).

In seconds, VP of Marketing and The Next Food Network Star judge Susie Fogelson and Food Network Kitchens chef Mory Thomas came to life before us, explaining how to play the game and how we’d be judged. Funny how something that looks so simple and seamless on screen took hours and days and weeks and months of planning! They’d be watching how we cooked, of course, including timing, seasoning, multitasking and temperature of several different dishes. Then, they’d give them a taste. The pressure was on! The idea is to start with simple dishes and cook your way through dozens of culinary treats until you’re master of a Food Network-worthy virtual kitchen. Read More

The Foodnetwork.com staff — and pals from our sister sites Food2, Recipezaar, Fine Living and Healthy Eats — kicked off the wicked weekend with a Halloween sweet swap.

The FN Dish’s own Secretary Confidential led the sugar charge with these ghastly goodies (above). She claims she’s no cooking pro, but these chocolate-y brownies, drizzled with icing in the shape of ghosts, tasted frightfully good. (Try making similar treats with Ina’s Outrageous Brownies.)

Our resident baking goddess, Alexis, built this clever graveyard cake from her mom’s chocolate cake recipe and homemade chocolate frosting. Then she used assorted candies, marshmallows and shortbread cookies to make spiders, ghosts and tombstones. (By the way, we were mesmerized by the new Blood Orange Dots candies she found at the market.)

See more of our tricky treats »

A trip home to my parents’ farm, Vala’s Pumpkin Patch in Nebraska, was all about family, friends and great food. I spent most of my weekend mingling, catching up with my pumpkin patch family (including 500+ part-time, seasonal employees) and trying to eat everything in sight.

Farms aren’t usually known for smelling good, but when you walk into Vala’s you’re greeted by the aroma of coffee and freshly baked cinnamon rolls. (When the craving hits, try Cinnamon Rolls from Food Network Magazine for a similar homemade version.)
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Yep, it’s more scoop from the New York Wine and Food Festival.

Thursday, 10/8:

Food Network HQ looked like it does every morning when I arrived at the office, but by the end of the day it had transformed into party central for the Chelsea Market After Dark event. Talk about a tour de force of FN talent. I spotted Alton, Guy, Sandra Lee, Aida, Alex, Anne and several contestants from The Next Iron Chef. Guy’s party den was out of control, complete with screaming fans, dancing bartenders, Guy tattoos and Jagermeister shots.

Friday, 10/9:

FN staffers were looking and feeling worse for wear after the previous night’s festivities. While others headed to the Burger Bash, I chose a calmer evening of lectures and cooking demos.
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Growing up in an Italian family comes with a built-in set of guarantees: screaming = normal conversation, you get to drink wine before you’re out of diapers and every second Sunday it’s meatballs (’polpette’) for dinner. So, when I saw that our very own Giada De Laurentiis was hosting the first annual “Meatball Madness” at the NYC Wine and Food Festival this past Sunday, I ran faster than you can say “buon appetito.” After all, Giada is Italian, I’m Italian… you get it.

The meat was on. At stake, title of “best meatball,” a $5,000 prize and, of course, one’s pride. More than 25 chefs and restaurants were competing. The judging panel, tough… Food critic extraordinaire and The Next Iron Chef judge Jeffrey Steingarten, restaurant critic Frank Bruni of NY Times fame, and Gail Simmons, best known for her regular role as judge on that food-reality competition show that’s NOT on our network. And then there was me. The toughest of them all, with the lingering memory on my palate of my mother’s mouth-watering Sicilian meatballs… firm yet delicate combo of beef and pork with killer ingredients of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, pignoli nuts and raisins, bathed in the most delectable tomato sauce. Lucky them, my vote wouldn’t count.

Table to table we meandered, meatballs at every turn. Anne Burrell said she had the winning meatball. The secret from this restaurant chef was in the sauce — a little pancetta. Claire Robinson was on hand to help serve. Mamma mia, it was good. But Mamma — Mamma (Rocco) DiSpirito that is, would beg to differ. Famous for her classic Neapolitan meatball, mother and son rocked it with a side of rigatoni. Try as I may, even in my best Italian, she wouldn’t give up her recipe. Across the way, The Next Iron Chef’s Amanda Freitag was convinced that the meatball she serves at her NY restaurant, The Harrison, was the one. No day off for Alex Guarnaschelli either. She turned up with her mini meatball pizzas — three perfectly sauced morsels of meatball perched atop fried dough, along with homemade ricotta cheese and grilled radicchio.

Thirteen meatballs later, I sought relief in a cannoli and a tiramisu lollipop. Thankfully, someone was smart enough to provide dessert.

In the end, the judges awarded Locanda Verde’s Andrew Carmellini the bestest, for his lamb meatball slider. Meatball Madness gets my vote as a must-bring-back-next-year event to the NYC Wine & Food Festival. In the meanwhile, I’ll always have my mamma’s.

— FN ClipChick

I knew last night was going to be huge night for me. After all I live, breathe and sleep everything Food Network. Like hundreds of other fans I arrived an hour early with the hopes of being first in line for Chelsea After Dark, one of the kickoff events for Food Network’s second annual New York City Wine and Food Festival. My fingers were crossed that I’d spot a few FN hosts making an early entry into Chelsea Market but what I saw outside was nothing compared to what I’d experience inside.

It was a fan’s dream, come true: Once inside I would actually have the opportunity to meet and hang out with some of my favorite FN stars like Alex Guarnaschelli, Aaron McCargo Jr. and Next Food Network Star winner Melissa d’Arabian. Each FN host was down to earth and genuinely delighted to chat with fans, which only reinforced my love for all things Food Network (if I sound like a kindred spirit, check out the I Love Food Network blog).

Shortly after entering Chelsea Market we were greeted by none other than Sandra Lee. Let me tell you, she was incredibly radiant. She was cheerful and gracious as she signed autographs and snapped photos with fans (including me!). The sweet scent of freshly baked goods like red velvet cake from Ruthy’s Bakery and savory aromas of the Lobster Place’s chowder filled the air, pulling me through the market. Chelsea Market was filled to the brim with casually dressed fans and foodies alike but to my surprise I never waited more than a few minutes at each tasting or food station.
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