Our Heroes Will Always Be Chefs by Cindie Flannigan

Many years ago, we were hired to do the demo food for a chef who was appearing on The Ellen Degeneres Show. I didn't know who the chef was, his name meant nothing to me. All I knew was that he was a French chef with a restaurant in New York that had been voted the best restaurant of the year.

Based on my experience with French chefs at culinary school, I expected a short, rude, oily, cigarette-smelling, ass-pinching letch. Imagine my surprise when in walks tall, wonderful-smelling, charming, nice, and drop-dead gorgeous Eric Ripert.

He let me chop parsley with his knife, which was old, beat up, and sharpened to a T. Of course I cut myself. Did I care? Are you kidding? It was a badge of honor. I only wish it had left a scar. This is the only time I've been giddy or starstruck.

We worked with him again the next time he was on The Ellen Degeneres Show, and I was just as giddy. He didn't want to wait in the green room so he hung out in the prep kitchen with us. He and Denise traded stories and I tried not to giggle too much.

I had forgotten all of this until last Friday when Jenny and I brought food to a photo shoot for a new cooking reality show. Hubert Keller was there.

Hubert is Jenny's Eric. She was over the moon to be in the same room as him. When he wandered by to see what we were doing, I introduced both of us (I'm not sure if Jenny was actually able to speak) and asked If I could get a photo of them together. Chef Hubert was charming and nice and quite handsome, too.




Jenny was so excited! It reminded me of my Chef Ripert experience.

Getting to meet and work with our heroes is undoubtedly one of the highlights of this job!

The Food Stylist's Handbook Pre-Order Is On!

To say we are excited about this book is like saying we kinda enjoy chocolate. Over the moon, y'all. It takes everything we apply in our classes and puts it in your hands. Anyone looking to pursue and thrive in the food styling business will find this book an invaluable tool in your success. And, of course, we are always here to help!

Click here to order yours today!

Traditional Irish Meal with Blog Mistress Mandy

When I was a kid, my mom's Irish special was boiled corned beef, boiled potatoes and boiled cabbage. I decided to vary her version just a bit and oven roast. This is the corned beef after one hour in the oven at 350 degrees.




Reduce oven to 300 degrees. Add one peeled, chopped potato and 5 peeled cloves of garlic.





Add enough water or stock to cover the bottom of the roasting pan.





Cover with foil and let it roast for 1 1/2 hours.





Unearth the beef, top with 1 raw cabbage, chopped into large chunks. Recover with foil and put back in the oven for another 45 minutes.




Time to make the Irish soda bread! The mise en place (including the recipe on the laptop). Yes, the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter is back. Guilty.






Very moist dough.







Just made a mini loaf because bread and self control do not mix.





The corned beef, cabbage and potatoes are done! I weighted the cabbage down with two loaf pans because the roasting pan was too small. Necessity is the mother of invention.




Yum. The cabbage is actually my favorite part of the meal. It is so flavorful from roasting in the meat juices. I could eat the entire head of cabbage myself. Easy.




The mini loaf. So pretty.




One must add chives to this meal to add color. It makes a world of difference.





Real butter went onto the bread itself. Simple and tasty. Would be really good with jam or honey.

Irish Soda Bread

Makes 1 mini loaf (so you can eat it all). Can easily double if you feel like sharing.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 egg

To top loaf:
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and margarine. Stir in buttermilk and egg.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a round and place on prepared baking sheet.

In a small bowl, combine melted butter and buttermilk; brush loaf with this mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

We Left Our Hearts...San Francisco Master Class II in July!

We are so excited to announce that we are returning to The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institute San Francisco, July 10 & 11, 2010.

Please note, although this class is named "Master Class II", our food styling classes may be taken in any order. Different courses simply cover different foods.

Click here to learn more and to register. We hope to see you there!

Coming Up: Denise Teaching At Rancho La Puerta

Join Denise at the stunning Rancho La Puerta in Baja. She will be hosting a series of culinary classes May 1-May 8. Click here to learn more. We hope to see you there!

To give you a taste of the Rancho La Puerta experience, enjoy this blogger's account of "Couples Week" on the ranch. Is it May yet?

Peeling A Carrot

This multi-clamp action is courtesy of the genius team of Cindie, Jenny and photographer Ryan Beck. This is what it takes to set up a peeler meeting a carrot.

Any lengths, y'all, any lengths. That's what makes a true Food Fanatic!

The fruit of their labor:





Totally worth it.

We Can't Believe It's Not Butter Orange Pound Cake!

Well, actually we can believe it's not butter, but this was still very yummy! Denise had a coupon, was curious since she is not normally a margarine fan, Mandy's husband is lactose intolerant...it was time to bake (yes, Mandy used bread flour-oops!-don't judge).






Mandy made an orange pound cake, and the recipe was very easy. You can find it here.










It came out of the oven golden brown, with a nice crunchy crust (I like my pound cake to have a little bit of chew-and a bit of chew it had, especially using the bread flour).






We're a sucker for anything involving glaze. Ultimately, butter is king, BUT we have no complaints about the taste or texture of this cake, and if you're watching your weight, it is nice have a fat alternative with 30 fewer calories per tablespoon that also bakes well.