From Scratch

Now that tomatoes have been greenlighted by the Food and Drug Administration in the recent salmonella outbreak — after 1,251 people got sick and two died — federal health officials today announced finding a jalapeno pepper with the same strain. Takeaway: we should not eat fresh jalapenos but processed or pickled peppers are safe.
NBC’s crackerjack […]

Chef Emeril Lagasse moves next week from the Food Network to its sister channel, the Fine Living Network, which has provided preview videos. The July 7 debut focuses on seafood — he has a new seafood restaurant – but I’m interested in the July 11 show. He’ll create dishes on the fly with locally-grown “mystery” foods from New York’s […]

NBC News confirms reports that Tim Russert has died. He was 58.
He collapsed and apparently suffered a heart attack at NBC News in Washington, where he was the bureau chief and long-time host of Meet the Press. The network hasn’t made available further details. [Update: NBC now says he collapsed and “was striken.”]
Just today, he spoke […]

After two-and-a-half months of mind-numbing catering challenges, bitchery, backstabbing, melodrama and sometimes brief moments of real cooking, Top Chef Chicago comes to an end next week. The four finalists were whittled to three last night when Antonia was told to pack her knives and go, leaving Richard, Stephanie and Lisa (!) to fight it out […]

I have some kindred souls at Serious Eats. I’ve ragged Paula Deen for not only frying butter but then posting the recipe. Serious Eats, however, has an entire series called Paula Deen is Trying to Kill Us.
The latest installment includes a bonus video. Watch as Paula (or Pauler, as she sometimes says) whips together a […]

Now it’s on to Chicago and let’s win there.
Those were among the last words we heard Bobby Kennedy speak.
Hillary Clinton has apologized for invoking his 1968 assassination yesterday and Robert F Kennedy, Jr., who has endorsed her, issued a statement that said: “It is clear from the context that Hillary was invoking a familiar political […]

Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech.
Perhaps only George Bush would say “awesome speech” to a pope, but he did, when Benedict visited the White House in mid-April.
See for yourself:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dXwqQFS8t6o

Sphere: Related Content

As Los Angeles Chef Suzanne Tracht says, Passover is all about the matzoh balls. They’re easy to make — and I will sidestep the “sinkers or floaters” debate — and she shows us how in this short video from Epicurious.
What startled me here was her mention of matzoh ball mix to make them, when starting […]

A reminder the new season of Top Chef begins tomorrow night, March 12, at 10/9c on Bravo. Season 4 is from Chicago and the first episode will run 1:15 the first two plays then one hour thereafter. A Season 3 marathon begins tomorrow morning at 8.
Judges for the first episode are said to include Anthony […]

In the food section of today’s Washington Post, Jane Black test-drives the Knork and other new utensils, including a clever one called a ramen spoon, for eating foods with noodles and broth, and Curvware, an ergonomic take on the humble knife and fork. She gave all of them a test-drive and the increasingly multi-media Post allows us to watch. [embedded video]

A new CBS News/New York Times poll finds a jump in Barack Obama’s support since the New Hampshire primary, paired with increased confidence in his ability to lead the country and to beat John McCain.
Among Democratic primary voters, 59% now say Obama has the best chance of winning in November, compared with 28% who say […]

Conservative talk show hosts and their marionette listeners and viewers are still having a field day over Michelle Obama’s comment Monday about being proud of her country for the first time in her adult life.
Or did she say “really” proud and why, if one is certain of having heard her say that, is that word […]

The James Beard Foundation, celebrating its 20th anniversary, has compiled a list of 20 books it believes are essential to anyone’s culinary library. Most are cookbooks; The Food Lover’s Companion is an exception and is a reference I consult almost daily.
This presentation includes one of the judges, Charlotte Observer food editor Kathleen Purvis, who chairs […]

Stores these days are full of snacks and candy packaged in little 100-calorie portions. But what about 100 calories of real food? How much of a potato or yogurt is that? It’s one thing to say ‘this much’ or ‘that much’, it’s another to see it and, having seen it, probably easier to remember.
So let’s look. The […]

When I wrote about pasta portions and the American penchant for huge portions, I mentioned a man I met in Italy who took all Americans to task — actually, he called us barbarians — for oversaucing our pasta. He was right, we do.
Who better to explain the proper way than Mario Batali, in a video […]