FN Dish – Food Network Blog: Go behind-the-scenes at Food Network featuring your favorite chefs, shows, recipes, events and more.

If you’re a fan of fish and chips, grilled swordfish, fish chowder, sole mariniere, or other traditional New England seafood dishes, the fishermen and fish need your help. Check out this petition for a chance to weigh in on the future of New England’s groundfish fishing industry.

Katherine Alford, VP, Test Kitchen

Maybe if you fly in a dinner-jacketed Italian opera singer to sing to your cows, they won’t run away.

Rupa Bhattacharya, Culinary Writer

What does everyone think about Susie Fogelson, of The Next Food Network Star selection committee, posting her own vlogs each week here on The FN Dish?

Viewers would be invited to submit questions directly to Susie via FNDish.com after the premiere this Sunday, June 7th @9pm. Susie would then answer viewer submitted questions on a vlog post that following Friday, June 12th.

What do you guys think?

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If the question “paper or plastic?” drives you to near-psychotic episodes of decidophobia, then do yourself a favor and stop reading now.

Because here’s another one for you: carton (paper), canned (metal), jarred (glass), or pouched (huh?)?

Fortunately, researchers at the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research were brave enough to tackle that one for you.

Their resounding conclusion: based on resource requirements and ecological impact, paperboard cartons are far and away the most environmentally friendly form of food packaging, cutting carbon dioxide emissions and fossil fuel consumption by up to 60% compared with other forms of packaging.

How’s that for a takeaway?

Jonathan Milder, Research Librarian

We are all the buzz about Daisy Martinez’s “In The Kitchen” show, Viva Daisy. Right now in my department, Creative Services, we are all busy working on promoting the next season.

I literally just sat in on a brainstorming session with the producer and designer of the launch spot (a promo that lets you know when the new season is going to air and highlights the overall season with copy writing and footage) for the new season, as they discussed (top secret) ideas for the new spot. More to come on that later…

I was lucky enough to tag along with (Michael) Feimster on my first show shoot in the studios here in Chelsea. As you remember from Feimster’s first appearance on The FN Dish, he is tasked with shooting behind the scenes on all of our shows. We then use that footage to promote the shows and talent. So who knows, maybe some of the below footage we shot on Daisy’s set will finally get its day in the sun? From Feimster’s camera, to my amateur editing skills, to you:

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Enjoy my third installment of Follow My Fork. If you didn’t see where my fork led me for my first two adventures, you can still catch them here:

Follow My Fork – Into the Kitchens
Follow My Fork – On set

Until next week. Here’s to Eating Well!

Yours Truly,
Secretary Confidential

So I’m kind of a huge fan of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Not because Scripps pays my salary (which it does), nor because it’s my one chance a year to be an unabashed nationalist (which it is), but rather because the food vocabulary is always fascinating.

Both Eat Me Daily and the The Life Vicarious have roundups of this year’s spelled food; TLV takes it a step further with where to find those foods in New York.

Two additional notes:

1) The Caerphilly at Tonjes Farm Dairy (Saturdays at the Union Square Greenmarket) is highly recommended.

2) “Deipnosophist” has the same derivation as “deipnetic,” which I have now used in the blog twice. I’m pretty sure Katherine owes me a drink.

Rupa Bhattacharya, Culinary Writer

If you’ve been reading the Good Food Gardens blog, you’ve probably figured out that I consider gardening the best way to get free food. Not only does food you grow yourself cost virtually nothing after the initial investment of soil and seeds, it’s also the surest way to have quality, locally grown ingredients and make sure that the things you love to eat are always available to you.

Of course, you can’t grow chardonnay smoked sea salt or vanilla beans in your backyard (although I’d love to hear about it if you are), but you can grow a huge variety of lettuces, vegetables, and herbs — exactly the kinds of garden goodies that make it easy to layer summer meals with texture and flavor. Farmers’ markets are also superb, and I still count on real farmers to do the heavy lifting, but even they can’t beat the ease and freshness of picking greens from the garden just hours before dinner.

So you live in a tiny apartment in a big city with no light or backyard? Trust me, you can do it. We’ve proven that anyone can grow a garden by planting one, tended by school-aged kids, between high-rises in the middle of New York City. Okay, my can-do attitude is made significantly easier by the help of Teich Garden Systems, who build our Good Food Gardens, but my own little plot of dirt at the Two Coves Community Garden in Long Island City should be even more convincing. My garden, now packed with strawberries, lemon verbena, rhubarb, Hungarian peppers, and over 10 varieties of lettuces and leafy greens, started out as a packed plot of dead soil just a year ago. Its success is the result of several bags of organic compost tilled into the soil, a few sunny weekends with a shovel, and the occasional rain dance.

Probably the easiest and most prolific garden doesn’t even require a plot of soil at all. The Earth Box, used in schools in Harlem, rooftops in Chicago, and by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for a international program called the Growing Connection, requires little more than an upfront investment and the desire to grow food—a lot of food. 4 to 6 boxes, some say, can feed a family of four for a summer.

So, what’s your excuse now?

Sarah Copeland, Recipe Developer and Good Food Gardens Spokesperson

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11 days remain until the premiere of The Next Food Nextwork Star. Our marketing and PR teams have been sending out all 10 finalists to foodie events and festivals around the country to stir up excitement about the chefs and the show. Here on The FN Dish, we’re giving the finalists their own platform to rant and rave about all the adventures along the road! First up…… finalist, Teddy Folkman:

This last weekend, I headed out to the annual two day event “Brew at the Zoo” at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, where I was going to be meeting the guests and talking about being 1 of 10 finalists in the upcoming season of The Next Food Network Star. I’d also be demoing my specialty – Mussels and Fries. I was really excited to be part of this particular event… beer, food, music and later on I’d run into giraffes kissing and polar bears in heat… the typical weekend of a Next Food Network Star finalist – this is so cool.

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