OLD Eats DO NOT USE

I decided to kill some time before Top Chef: Chicago starts on March 4 by sampling BBC America's Last Restaurant Standing. The premise: A group of couples -- husbands and wives, siblings, etc. -- are given an empty restaurant to open in a week's time. The couples who do the worst compete in a separate challenge to determine who gets a second chance and who shuts down their restaurant. I liked that the setup wasn't that it was just another chefs-cooking-beautiful-food-I-don't-get-to-eat show.

But I couldn't make it through last Tuesday's two-house series premiere. All the fighting/ whining/ crying was too much. Maybe I was just not in a reality show kind of mood. I'll give it a second chance tonight when there will be pairings of the second and third episodes on from 7 to 9, 10 to midnight and midnight to 2 a.m.

Anybody else catch it? Love it? Hate it? Who are you rooting for?

Posted by Shannon Sutlief at 6:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Flavors From Afar is doing another wine-and-chocolate pairing class, 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday. Four wines will be poured with an array of Italian sweets and chocolates. First, you'll match according to conventional wisdom, then you'll will mix and match what you think goes best.

I've done this before at FFA classes, and it's a great way to learn to trust your palate. Plus, wine and chocolate are a challenge to match, and you'll come away with a better understanding of what works and what fights. No expertise needed; your tastebuds and fellow tasters will guide you.

It's $25; you can go online and register. Or call at 214-696-2327. FFA is at 6712 Snider Plaza, right next door to the newly reopened Doughmonkey retail outlet (but it closes at 5 p.m.).

For more winning wines, check out our Dallas Morning News Wine Competition wine database.

Posted by Kim Pierce at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Or something like that. I'm just going to paste highlights from the release and let you figure it out yourself.

"NEW YORK, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) today announced it has reached an agreement with Chef Emeril Lagasse to acquire the assets related to the business of Emeril Lagasse, other than the restaurant and foundation-related assets, in a transaction that pairs one of the biggest brands in food-related content with the established leader in "how to" lifestyle information and content.

Under the terms of the transaction, MSLO is acquiring the rights to the Emeril Lagasse franchise, including:

-- Television Programming: The Essence of Emeril and syndication episodes of Emeril Live on The Food Network, and food correspondent segments on ABC's Good Morning America;

-- Cookbooks: library of twelve cookbooks, including Emeril's Delmonico and Emeril's There's a Chef in My World;

-- Internet: emerils.com Web site;

-- Licensed Kitchen Products: Emeril-branded cookware by All-Clad, cutlery by Wusthof, and tableware by Wedgwood; and electrical appliances by T-fal;

-- Food Products: includes Bam! B-Q sauce, spices, marinades, coffee and more.

Lagasse's eleven restaurants and corporate office, which is called Emeril's Homebase, will be unaffected by this transaction and will continue to operate in New Orleans with full staff. The company will continue to expand into new locations."

(More stuff here about Emeril, and then:)

"The purchase price is $50 million, $45 million in cash and $5 million in stock, at closing, and could reach up to $70 million if certain performance targets are realized in 2011 and 2012. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter."

Photo of Emeril Lagasse and Martha Stewart courtesy of The Martha Stewart Show.

Posted by Cathy Barber at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I was a dinner guest recently at the home of the Significant Other's cousin, and before us on the plates were stuffed artichokes, their leaves splayed open like flowers by an ambrosial mixture of bread crumbs, garlic, I think Grana Padano, parsley, white wine, etc.

As we sat down to dinner, his cousin asked him how he ate artichokes. Did he, she wanted to know, eat them like a Sicilian (since he's half one)?

"No," he said, "I eat them like a Californian." That means biting down on the leaf about halfway up and scraping the tender part off into his mouth with his teeth, then discarding the leaf. To be followed by removing the flower and cutting up the heart.

She, on the other hand, did eat the Sicilian way she was taught, chewing each whole leaf and spitting out the fibrous remains.

I'm curious how many others have heard of this seemingly esoteric approach artichokes. Is this an Old World way that was lost in translation, like so many other aspects of Italian dining?

Posted by Kim Pierce at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)