Chefs (and brothers) Matt and Ted Lee have a new book out called The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern: Knockout Dishes with Down-Home Flavor. They appeared on The Today Show to show Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira how to make some traditional Southern recipes that have been modernized. The brothers cook up Pimiento Cheese Potato Gratin and Caeser Salad With Catfish Croutons. Take a look:
French chocolatier Patrick Roger is commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall with a 15 meter long and 12 meter high chocolate replica of part of the Berlin Wall. CCD has some photos of the chocolate wall here. You can also see part of Partick Roger's chocolate Berlin Wall in the clip below. Take a look:
Forbesreports that Seattle's Best, a coffee brand owned by Starbucks, will be sold at Subway. 9,000 U.S. Subway shops will carry Seattle's Best coffee by the end of this year.
Starbucks said Subway will add the brew to more locations next year. Seattle's Best will also be served at 800 Canadian locations by late December.
"We want to be able to take Seattle's Best Coffee out of the shadow of Starbucks and really, for the first time in its history, have a life of its own," Starbucks CFO Troy Alstead said during a conference call Thursday evening
The deal gives Subway a good gourmet coffee to sell which could make it a more attractive destination for coffee lovers. Some Subway shops sell more gourmet items than others. Those that have more gourmet sandwich fillings will likely to sell more gourmet coffee.
Starbucks has been hard hit by the recession as consumers cut back on items such as gourmet coffee. It has closed many locations to save money. But now the company says that demand is starting to pick up.
Chief Executive Howard Schultz said in a conference call that a "more disciplined focus on operations" helped the company increase earnings and that it is seeing improvements in its surveys of customer satisfaction.
During the quarter, Starbucks cut prices on so-called easy-to-make coffees, while lifting prices by as much as 30 cents for larger and more complex drinks, such as a venti caramel macchiato.
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Mr. Schultz said the company is encouraged by the national rollout of its Via instant-coffee product. Via is "resonating with customers" and is having little negative impact on traditional coffee sales at Starbucks, he said.
Starbucks began making Via available in September in all its cafes in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in other locations such as hotels and bookstores. The company created Via, which costs $2.95 for a three pack, to try to reach consumers who aren't inclined to splurge on a regular coffee purchase.
Starbucks, which has about 11,000 U.S. outlets, reported $53.2 million in restructuring charges for its fourth quarter, almost all of which stemmed from store closings. The company said it had shuttered nearly all of the roughly 800 U.S. stores and 100 international stores in its previously announced store-closing plans.
The company is cautiously optimistic about the upcoming holiday season.
Reuters reports the California Pizza Kitchen has made its wine list more upscale to survive the recession. On October 5th the pizza chain started offering wine for around $10 a glass that includes Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay, La Crema Pinot Noir and Stags' Leap Merlot.
Rick Rosenfield, CPK's co-chief executive officer told Reuters, "This is us going back to our roots. When we first opened CPK, (in 1985) part of the concept was we that we would have familiar wines at unfamiliar prices."
CPK's wine offerings can be found here on the website. They don't list prices on the website.
Italian coffee maker IllyCaffe SpA is making a move on Starbucks. Illy is a closely held company based in Trieste, Italy, that makes really delicious coffee. We love it hot or iced. Now Illy is expanding its reach and negotiating deals to be the only coffee served at selected cafes.
For the shops, aligning with a premium brand is a way to differentiate themselves from chains and other independent shops--and to charge higher prices. At Caffe Greco in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, owner Hanna Suleiman says sales have increased by 10% and profits by 3% since the shop signed up with Illy a year ago.
Illy began signing up independent shops, mostly in Italy, three years ago in a program called "Artisti del Gusto," or Artists of Taste. It brought the program to the U.S. last year. Illy supplies shops with Italian espresso machines, coffee cups, artwork, drink recipes and intensive training, after which the cafe becomes a certified Illy purveyor. In return, the shop must agree to serve only Illy coffee for at least three years.
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There are currently 28 U.S. shops operating under Artisti del Gusto certification and Illy plans to add 100 more in the next three years. The company also is moving the program into Canada and Mexico.
Illy staffers in North America visit certified shops to check quality standards. The stores are routinely scored on how well they steam milk and clean the espresso machines. If cafes aren't performing up to par, Illy provides additional training while reserving the right to yank their certification, says Gregory Fea, chief executive of Illy's North American business.
The more Illy the better, as far as we're concerned.
Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, who write the Tastings column for The Wall Street Journal, say that the question they get from readers most this time of year is what wine should they bring when they are invited to a dinner party. Dorothy says you should put some effort into the selection and try to find something tasty and trendy. Hot trends in wine right now that won't break the bank (being thrifty is on trend, too) include Prosecco, Malbec from Argentina, naked or un-oaked Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs from Oregon and 2005 Bordeaux, which haven't sold well because of the recession and so are a good value. Take a look:
Varietyreports that Fox is expected to order 12-15 episodes of a reality chef series called Masterchef. Gordon Ramsay will co-produce and have a role in the series which is based on an Australian cooking reality show.
Fox is expected to order 12-15 hourlong segs of the series, with production to start in the near future. Fox confirmed that it cinched a deal with Reveille but declined comment on other details.
"Masterchef," owned by Reveille parent Shine Group, has aired on the BBC in various incarnations on and off since 1990. In the series judges winnow a pool of 132 culinary amateurs for the title of Masterchef. An Australian version of the show bowed in April and quickly became a mammoth hit for Network Ten.
The Hollywood Reporterstory on the new show says it involves a nationwide search for the best U.S. amateur chef. Auditions are held around the country with finalists competing in cooking challenges on the show.
"This is a huge, nationwide search for the best amateur chef in America," said executive producer Howard T. Owens of Reveille. "It's about people who are lawyers, construction workers and stay-at-home moms but whose real passion is to make great food. This is their shot to prove they have what it takes."
The details for Fox's "MasterChef" are being worked out, but the show will most closely resemble the Australian edition. In each season, contestants from around the country audition by creating a dish for a panel of three judges to earn spots as semi-finalists. The remaining contestants compete each week via team-based and individual cooking challenges until only one remains.
It sounds sort of like a cooking version of American Idol.
Chocolate lovers gathered at New York's Chocolate Show to see all the new trends in chocolate. There were freshly roasted chocolate beans, strawberries to dip into a chocolate fountain, a chocolate carving station and a chocolate book store. In addition to the edible treats, there was also some amazing chocolate artwork. Swedish chocolatier Hakan Martensson won praise for his chocolate gothic sculptures.
Martensson creates chocolate artwork that he says can last between 10 to 15 years in the right conditions (no extreme temperatures and no moisture). Prices range from $500 to $2000. He'll even sculpt a special order chocolate portrait of you, if you like. Take a look:
White House pastry chef Bill Yosses reveals some of the treats children will receive who trick or treat at the front door of the White House this year. Bill Yosses says trick or treaters will receive a White House cookie with a spider on it. It will be in a big with dried fruit including dried peaches and dried pears. Ingredients used in the cookies include honey from the White House garden, organic flour and organic eggs and other organic materials. The AP says as many as 2,000 kids knocked on the White House door. Take a look:
The Peninsula Daily Newsreports that there are plans for a Twilight themed restaurant in Forks, Washington. The restaurant will be called Volterra. Plans are for the restaurant to open this coming spring.
"We have a lot of renovations and permitting and licenses we need to get, so it probably will be spring before we open," she said.
The restaurant will be a "steak and seafood restaurant" that will serve three meals a day, she said, adding that it will be family-friendly while selling alcohol.
The restaurant will be named Volterra after an Italian city that appears several times in the four-novel Twilight saga set in Forks.
A post here on the Discover Forks Washington blog says Forks and the rest of the Olympic Peninsula have seen a boost in vampire tourism starting last year. The Discover Forks website already has some destinations marked for Twilight tourists. A Twilight themed restaurant will give these tourists a dining destination.
Halloween parties aren't just for kids. Kathie Lee and Hoda learn how to make some ghoulish adult beverages which are just perfect for Halloween. Maureen Petrovsky, author of The Wine Club whips up a Blood Orange Harvest Cocktail, which must be pretty strong because Kathie Lee was snuggling up to Chewbacca after trying one. Next up was the Eyeball Martini, which we are definitely trying out this weekend. For those with a sweet tooth, there was Halloween Punch in a Pumpkin which uses Midori liquor and features a dry ice serving suggestion and some Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes.
What's really funny is that the song from the scene at the Mos Eisley Cantina in the very first Star Wars movie is playing in the background.
Take a look:
You can find the recipes for these fabulously devilish drinks here.
MarthaStewart.com is selling turkeys for the holidays this year. The turkeys are part of a partnership between Martha Stewart Living and turkey grower Plainville Farms. The Martha Stewart Young Tueky is describes as delicious, juicy, tender, humanely raised, vegetarian fed and free of antibiotics and growth hormones. The turkey includes a free Turkey 101 booklet and recipes from Martha Stewart Living. A 12lb turkey costs $69.99 and an 18lb turkey costs $89.99.
Attempting to make desserts has often doomed chefs on Bravo's reality show Top Chef. Varietyreports that Bravo is planning a reality show that would be similar to Top Chef but it will focus solely on desserts. The show will be called Just Desserts. Judges have not yet been chosen for the show.
"Just Desserts" will pit pastry chefs against one other in a weekly elimination competish similar to the original "Top Chef."
Desserts occasionally make an appearance on "Top Chef," but as Bravo exec VP-general manager Frances Berwick noted, even the show's top "cheftestants" frequently trip up while trying to whip up such concoctions.
"Their Achilles heel is usually the desserts," Berwick said of the "Top Chef" cooks. "As this has gone on, we've been thinking that it would be fun to do a 'Top Chef' with experienced pastry chefs. We've had a few pastry chefs on 'Top Chef,' but they haven't gone too far. It's just a different skill."
Berwick said there's no host or judges in place for "Top Chef: Just Desserts," but decisions will be made over the next few weeks.
Magical Elves, the production company behind Top Chef, will also make Just Desserts. The competing pastry chefs will all live together and face a weekly elmination challenge like on Top Chef.
Laduree, a French luxury pastries brand, has partnered with designers to make fabulous gift boxes for its macaroons. Italian luxury brand Marni created a gold colored macroon box with polka dots and a golden flower for Laduree. Christian Louboutin and Laduree worked together for a box covered with shoes and fashion accessories.