Last week we featured quinoa in a cabbage roll. You found out about the ancient seed treasured by the Incas and called “the mother grain”. Quinoa has a higher percentage of protein per serving than wheat, oats, buckwheat or barley and is gluten free. We had a request for a…
The caramel sampling continues today with last year’s Caramelpalooza winner in both the blind judging and peoples’ choice award categories, Slade Grove. Grove is the Executive Pastry Chef for Wicked Kitchen Gourmet and Cookies From Home in Tempe. I ended up in the kitchen because I decided it was time…
Senior is an artist who quite often uses food as her medium. I ended up in the kitchen because creating is what I do best, and it doesn’t matter if the medium is food, art, architecture, it’s the creative process I love, plus you get to eat it when you’re…
Our candy-coated conversation continues today with Brianne Day from The Herb Box. Day has been overseeing baked goods at The Herb Box for more than four years. I ended up in the kitchen because I’ve always had a passion for baking. When I was young I would spend every Sunday…
Another week has come and gone leaving us to ponder the upcoming events that will shape our lives and, more importantly, our dinners out. But before we move on, let’s have one last look at the blog posts from this week. Pantry Raid: The Virgin Takes a No-Recipe Challenge Bomberos…
It’s the moment you all (well, the 17 of you who entered, anyway) have been waiting for. The announcement of the 2011 Caramelpalooza reader judges. We asked our readers to leave a comment explaining why they’d make good judges for our caramel tasting next Friday, March 11, at Smeeks candy…
If you’ve looked over the vendor list for the beer festival set to be held Saturday at Tempe Beach Park, you might have noticed something odd. At an event that bills itself as the Great Arizona Beer Festival, several of Arizona’s greatest breweries — Papago, Barrio, Nimbus, and this little…
Staying in? We’ve got you covered — both on the culinary and entertainment fronts. Now presenting Dinner and a Movie — a guide to a do it yourself evening of food and film. Film: I Am Love (2009) Popcorn Alternative: Popcorn with Rosemary Butter, Parmesan, Tart Cherries, and Black Pepper Entrée: Sage Brown…
There’s a new sandwich on the menu at select Dilly’s Deli locations in the Valley. It’s called the “Brown Bag Fowl,” and it was invented by a local comedy group, but there’s nothing funny about this yummy lunch item. It’s seriously tasty.The Brown Bag Fowl is the brainchild of Erica…
Today’s candymaker: Veronica Arroyo of Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak Scottsdale. Arroyo’s passion for a pastry career began in her grandmother’s kitchen and took her to New York’s famed Le Cirque and Atlantic city’s Borgata before dropping her off at Bourbon Steak Scottsdale. I ended up in the kitchen because it…
We finished chatting with Chad Burnett of Parc Central yesterday and today he will show us how to make Black Truffle Hummus. This is one easy recipe that is way more satisfying than the amount of effort you’re going to have to put in to prepare it. Get the scoop…
[jump] I ended up in the kitchen because I speak better with my hands. My favorite dish to make is bacon One dish I’m afraid to make is anything with live lobsters My favorite kind of candy is a lemon drop. Caramel should be eaten slowly. I always brush my…
Chef Johnny Chu has been a diehard supporter of downtown Phoenix for many years, first bringing a sense of international cool to Roosevelt Row with his popular pan-Asian restaurant Fate (which now houses Bliss), and later introducing Asian tapas to the area with Sens, a chic sake bar. He’s also…
Sweet potato fries aren’t exactly the newest culinary trend to sweep across the nation, but they still deserve their time in the heat lamp spotlight. Slightly healthier than their starchy distant cousin, the potato, sweet potatoes boast high levels of fiber, beta carotene, complex carbohydrates and vitamin C. But who…
Yesterday we talked to Chad Burnett of Parc Central about breakfast at grandma’s and a love of cereal. Today our conversation resumes. Not being a part of a corporation definitely has its perks. Burnett has license to be pretty much as creative as he wants to be with Parc Central’s…
The Caramelpalooza candymaker fest continues today with Charlie Blonkenfeld of Chaka Chaka, a cool hot dog stand of a restaurant south of the ballpark. Charlie Blonkenfeld opened Chaka Chaka last year to rave reviews. His menu may be small, but apparently his heart is big. He tells us, “There is…
Posh pastry chef Melissa Barth followed her older brother into a culinary program in high school, hit the pastry station, and found her niche. After completing the pastry and baking program at the Culinary Institute of America, Melissa did an externship at The Atlantic Inn on Block Island and worked…
Taco Bell: Have you seen our new ad campaign with real Taco Bell employees saying our seasoned-beef recipe contains 88 percent ground beef inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture? It’s great, right? Really great. Fast Food Nation: Is it funny? It doesn’t sound funny. Taco Bell: It’s not funny…
The title “executive chef” means different things at different restaurants. For Parc Central’s Chad Burnett, it’s a soup-to-nuts kinda thing. He does it all. Burnett has been part of everything at the Scottsdale Quarter restaurant — from choosing a mixologist all the way down to the mundane task of figuring out…
In the days leading up to Caramelpalooza 2011, we’re introducing you to the local chefs who will be sharing their candy March 11 at Smeeks in central Phoenix. Today we bring you the macaron maven, Eugenia Theodosopoulos of Essance Bakery Cafe in Tempe. Theodosopoulos trained, lived and worked in Paris, and…
Whether you’re a CSA devotee, a farmers’ market weekender or consider ketchup a veg, we’ll teach you everything there is to know about local produce in our weekly series, In Season. Today’s harvest: Swiss Chard Swiss chard needs a new name. It makes me think of swiss cheese, and it’s…
