So, to celebrate the last rerun you'll have to suffer through for a while, I've decided to post this spectacularly delicious watermelon and feta salad with toasted cashews. Not only is this a rerun, it's a rerun of a rerun.
The original was filmed when I first started online. The camera I used back then was a tiny web-cam, duct-taped to a spice rack. The sound was bad, the humor even worse. A couple years ago, I decided to use the original footage and some of the audio to produce a new clip in iMovie.
Above and beyond having some fun at the expense of the rerun complainers, I wanted to post this today because watermelon has been super-sweet lately, and there are few things as perfect together as sweet, wet watermelon and salty, feta cheese.
This is Michele's favorite summer salad (probably mine as well), and anyone I've ever talked to that's made this, and brought it to a summer cookout, has gotten an embarrassingly large amount of compliments. So if you're into that kind if thing, please give it a try!
UPDATE! Sorry, I should have mentioned that this salad is even more awesome with some fresh mint on top (as pictured above).
Note: We attended a very cool cookbook release party at Domaine Chandon last night (if you were following me on Twitter, you saw some of the highlights, like this blurry iPhone pic of green gazpacho with tiger prawns), and are driving back into San Francisco today. Stay tuned for some amazing new video recipes very soon! (like tomorrow, I hope)
I'll be traveling all day today (including a lovely 5-hour layover at JFK where I'm posting this from…hey, I'm still smiling!). I arrive into San Francisco late tonight after a wonderful, albeit too short visit to my homeland, and as many of you predicted, I have a head full of new video recipe ideas!
FYI: Michele and I are heading up to Napa Wednesday for a special event at Domaine Chandon, but after that it will be back into the kitchen to do what we do. Thanks a million to all of you who commented on the Next Food Network Star YouTube Challenge, as well as defended my honor against the "others." It means a lot. Stay tuned!
Whenever I travel, whether it's somewhere I want to go, or somewhere I have to go, I always get a bunch of irate emails regarding my "slacking off." When I have a trip coming up, I'll film a few videos ahead to post from the road (as I did this time with the beef neck sauce and grilled shrimp recipes), but invariably I have to fill in the gaps with either reruns or other types of filler.
This trip I've been accused of "short-changing" the fans, of being too "distracted by shows and travel," and of "not caring about the blog as much as you used to." Even though I'm sure their hearts are in the right place, I can't tell you how upsetting I find these emails. The only thing more annoying are the accusations that my mustache is not real.
I won't spend too much time explaining myself since I believe 95% of the visitors here "get it," but I did want to cover a few points. I can't make a living (yet) just providing few video recipes on this blog. So, as many of you know, I'm also a freelance employee of the New York Times Co., writing the American Food site on About.com.
It is in that capacity that I'm occasionally blessed with press passes to things like the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen I covered last month (and where the photo above, from one of the after parties was captured). When these trips come up, I jump at the chance to go, not only to collect content for About.com, but also to help raise my profile as a food writer and "influential blogger." Other trips, like this one, are personal, and I'll never apologize for taking time away from the blog to visit my family (having said that, I believe I still always apologize when I post reruns and filler). I sleep well knowing no one posts more original video recipe content than I do; not even close. By the way, as the regularity of these side trips, projects (like the cookbook), and "distractions" have increased, so too has the blog's traffic and popularity – almost tripling in the last year.
So, in summation, please continue to enjoy what you see here, no matter the frequency (or quality), and save the emails lecturing me on my commitment to the blog. Also, reading the unbelievably inspiring comments under the Next Food Network Star post is pure, ego-swelling joy, but many of you voiced concerns I'd stop doing this blog. That will never happen. I wouldn't take any job that meant the end of Food Wishes.
All right, now that I got that off my chest, here are a couple reruns originally posted way back in 2007. In addition to seeing my mom and sister's family, one of the great treats of returning home is getting to cook and eat with my aunts and uncles. They were very popular when first aired, so I thought I'd give them another run for the newer viewers. Enjoy!
(if you click on the recipe's title you will be taken back to the original post)
It's the most common question I get on my YouTube channel; "Why don't you have a show on the Food Network?" There are so many answers to this question, the most obvious being, "Have you seen me?"
Part of me doubts I'm FN material, and another part wonders if it is even something I'd want to do – I mean, notwithstanding the long hours and semi-poverty, I have a pretty fun gig here.
I finally decided to submit a video, if only for the fact that I am considered to be one of YouTube's best and most popular chefs (and by "one of" I mean "the"), and it would have been bad form not to offer up something to the gallery of entries.
As you know, I'm in New York visiting my mom, and without any of my video equipment. Thankfully an old friend of mine, Jim Kerins from iTownVideo came to rescue and helped me film this clip. In addition to being a great musician, Jim is a Finger Lakes audio/video legend and did an amazing job pulling all this together. Thanks Jim!!! To see more of his great work, check out his YouTube channel here.
One important note, the video had to be under 3 minutes to qualify for the contest, so there was very little time to actually spend on the recipe, hence the severe editing. I will hopefully be able to post a director's cut soon with a lot more footage. Enjoy!
Very soon, if not already, you're going to be faced with one of summer's great dilemmas; what the hell am I going to do with all these zucchini?
Maybe they're from your garden, or possibly some sadistic neighbor's, but regardless of where they came from, there they sit on the counter, taunting you with their size and numbers.
While it will probably only put a small dent in your cache of courgettes, this recipe I posted last year is very simple and quite tasty. Enjoy! Tuna Zucchini Elbow Pasta - It's Just Dinner
I almost didn't film this meal. Initially, it struck me as so mundane and unimpressive that I wasn't sure it would make a worthwhile video recipe. Then I remembered I'm an atypical Food Wishes fan. While it's getting harder and harder for me to impress myself, thankfully most of you remain fairly easy to impress.
I don't say that with condescension, but with envy. I have to remind myself that not everything I make has to be a "special." That it's okay to just cook, film, and post without a point, or an angle, or even a reason.
This recipe is not impressive, it's not interesting, there are no new techniques, it doesn't remind me of any funny stories, and it certainly isn't going to win any beauty contests. I promised myself to never use the phrase, "it is what it is," but here, I really have no choice. It is what it is, and that's just dinner. Enjoy!
1 lb elbow macaroni olive oil 3 cloves garlic, minced 6 large zucchini, 1/2-inch cubes 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes 1 tsp dried Italian herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc., the usual suspects) 3 1/2 cups marinara sauce 1 1/2 cups water 12 oz tuna Parmesan cheese
Hello from steamy western New York! I just celebrated my 47th birthday with the family yesterday, and we had one of my favorite childhood meals; scalloped potatoes and ham. While that's not a classic hot-weather meal, this grilled shrimp with cured lemon aioli certainly is.
You'll notice a glaring lack of ingredients in this video recipe. Thanks to the intensely flavored cured lemons, the aioli sauce needs little more than some fresh tarragon to reach its full potential. Having said that, you are well within your rights to toss in some garlic or hot pepper if you're in the mood.
The shrimp prep is just as minimalist. A little oil, smoked paprika, and salt is all that's needed to coax out the shellfish's natural sweetness.
By the way, as I mention in the video, when I grill a relatively small amount of shrimp, I skip the skewering step. It only takes a couple minutes to grill shrimp over hot coals, and I can easily turn them one by one.
Skewers do make for a nice presentation, and for a large group it makes the turning much faster, but when I'm just doing enough for the two of us, I have no trouble keeping up. Whether you skewer or not, I hope you give this super-easy seafood recipe a try. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 1 pound shrimp 2 teaspoon olive oil (not extra virgin) 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt For the aioli: 1/2 cup mayo 1 1/2 tablespoon minced cured lemons 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon
I'll have more details when the channel is officially launched, but I'm excited to announce we've signed a content partnership with Hungry Nation! Hungry Nation is a new food network created by Next New Networks, the leading independent producer of online television networks.
Basically, NNN creates, packages, brands, and syndicates some of the Web's best content, which will now include all Food Wishes has to offer. They're also signing other movers and shakers in the video recipe space, including my buddy Average Betty.
The video below is from Amy Blogs Chow. Amy Cao is a fellow video recipe blogger who will also be joining me on Hungry Nation. I've been fascinated by kale chips since I saw them on Steamy Kitchen a few months ago. Looks like a very cool technique and one I'm sure you'll see on Food Wishes one day.
Stay tuned for more details about this exciting new partnership soon. Enjoy!
So, to celebrate the last rerun you'll have to suffer through for a while, I've decided to post this spectacularly delicious watermelon and feta salad with toasted cashews. Not only is this a rerun, it's a rerun of a rerun.
This is Michele's favorite summer salad (probably mine as well), and anyone I've ever talked to that's made this, and brought it to a summer cookout, has gotten an embarrassingly large amount of compliments. So if you're into that kind if thing, please give it a try!
