This afternoon, Alton Brown took to Twitter for a live Q&A session with fans and Food Network. Alton touched on topics from Iron Chef America, to current food trends and this Sunday’s upcoming premiere episode of The Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs — find out what he had to say.
Question: How do you decide what tie to wear on Next Iron Chef?
Alton: I do dress myself and I must confess, I travel with about 30 ties so that I always have choices.
Question: Do you get nervous when you walk into Kitchen Stadium?
Alton: I have butterflies in my stomach every time I walk into kitchen stadium.
Question: If you could challenge one chef to a battle, who would it be and what secret ingredient would you have?
Alton: If I could challenge an Iron Chef, it would be Morimoto: Battle beanie-weenies.
Alton’s favorite cookbook »
Ina Garten recently shared a few of her favorite fall recipes on the Today Show. The clip features her Roast Loin of Pork With Fennel, Creamy Parmesan Polenta and an Easy Cranberry and Apple Cake from her latest best-selling cookbook, Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?
Alton Brown has teamed with Welch’s and Zagat to introduce the Taste of Harvest Guide for 2012, which includes a free downloadable guide for picking fresh, local and seasonal foods to encourage and excite people about eating produce. Fitness Magazine featured this must-have eating guide and spotlighted Alton’s love for the fall harvest, when nutrients and flavor are at their highest levels. The guide encourages shopping at farmers’ markets for fresh items to prepare at home and finding restaurants that are offering seasonal fare.
Find out what Paula and Ree are up to »
This Halloween, I’m taking a break from the usual pumpkin-related suspects and immersing myself in apples. I love to mix different apples when cooking. I always look for crisp texture, not too sweet and slightly floral. For reliable texture that stands the cooking test I go for Granny Smith and Rome. For snacking and raw in salads I prefer Macouin, Braeburn and Royal Gala. For pickling? Fuji. Another effective approach is to totally ignore what everyone tells you to buy and get the apples that look the best to you.
This week, I’m sharing my warm and comforting Mulled Apple Cider recipe.
Get the recipe »
Alex Guarnaschelli will be featured at the 11th Annual Kohler Food & Wine Experience October 20-23 in Kohler, Wis. The event offers a weekend of wine seminars, demonstrations, book signings and delicious tastings from a lineup of regional and national chefs and restaurateurs. Chef Guarnaschelli will also be among those competing for the title of Next Iron Chef starting October 30.
Duff Goldman is getting everyone in the mood for Halloween. During a recent appearance on CBS’s The Talk, Duff showed Sharon Osbourne how to make Halloween cupcakes and unveiled a zombie-head cake in the likeness of her rock star husband, Ozzy. Watch the video on AOL Video.
Find out what Aarón and Ted are up to »
Michael Symon knows a thing or two about Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, he’s already prepared two this year. The chef told Food and Wine Magazine that by the end of July the had prepared one traditional Midwestern meal with all the Thanksgiving trimmings in his Manhattan apartment and a second on the set of Iron Chef America’s Thanksgiving Battle. Many of Chef Symon’s dishes are Greek-inspired, adding flavorful twists to some of the old standards.
Find out what Alton, Marc and Cat are up to »
When it comes to the ultimate Halloween costumes, Sandra Lee’s are an especially tough act to follow. Donning more than just a mask and face paint, Sandra practically becomes the characters of her costumes, with transforming hairpieces, real-world props and, of course, signature cocktails and Semi-Homemade snacks to match. Cast your fan vote for Sandra’s best-ever Halloween costume, and tell us in the comments what you hope she’ll wear this year.
To see Sandra’s all-new Halloween costumes and get spooky sweet treats recipes, check out Sandra’s Halloween Wonderland, premiering Sunday, October 23, at 9am/8c.
The third and final installment of Alton Brown’s Good Eats cookbook series hit store shelves last week and the new volume is overflowing with colorful anecdotes, behind-the-scenes shots and a whopping 225 recipes from 85 Good Eats episodes.
We caught up with Alton at the New York City Wine and Food Festival last weekend and discussed his plan for future electronic cookbooks. Of the potential switch from paper to screen, Alton said, “I don’t know how it’s going to change things. I hope to make the cookbook a more kitchen-friendly device, to make it something where you can choose which knowledge you get, which information you get, when you get it and what order you get it in, so that people can adapt the information to the way they cook, instead of changing the way they cook to the way I cook.” He said that ideally, his series of e-book ventures would be available on the Kindle and Apple iPad, as the latter offers bright video and graphic possibilities.
More on Alton’s e-book series »
Anne Burrell and Alton Brown share something in common: During the month of October, both of their schedules will be filled with book signings across the country. Check out their individual book tour schedules below to see if they’ll be in a city near you.
Click here for tour dates & locations »
Guy Fieri will host Brew B’Que at the Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival in Santa Monica, Calif., October 13-16. Chefs from across the country will be serving their top home-style barbecue recipes alongside beers from all over the world. A portion of the proceeds will benefit St. Vincent Meals on Wheels. The four-day event will also feature Tyler Florence, Masaharu Morimoto, Duff Goldman, Scott Conant, Giada De Laurentiis and Michael Chiarello.
Book signings with Anne, Paula, Lisa and Marcela »
The crowd hissed, hollered and applauded as he walked on stage. Rock star? Icon? Celebrity? Pretty much. Clad in his signature spiked wristband and sporting his classic bleached-blonde ‘do, Food Network host and chef Guy Fieri spoke to a sold-out crowd on Saturday during a New York City Wine and Food Festival event at the Times Center. Interviewed by Julia Moskin of The New York Times, Fieri explained that he did not grow up with the traditional makings of a chef but instead a “funky food style” defined by “floor-of-the-earth bread” and school lunches that looked more akin to science projects than grade-school fare.
Guy recalls fondly the one dinner in particular that solidified his passion for food and set him on the road to culinary stardom. After he questioned his mother about why she was making eggplant parmesan instead of chicken like “the normal families,” she charged the young Fieri with the task of cooking dinner for the family. A few perfectly grilled rib eyes and a botched batch of pasta later, Guy realized three things about his place in the kitchen: “I cook, we can eat meat. I cook, [it] makes people happy. I cook, I don’t have to do the dishes.”
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