Kate’s Cuisine

This recipe was taken from the fabulous cookbook, Bite Me, written by Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat. This recipe, just like all the recipes I’ve tried from the book, was absolutely fabulous. I made it when my best friend was up visiting with her daughter and everyone except for my own children, loved it! I think it was just the pink colour that threw them off though. And that was one of the things that I loved about it!

This recipe turned out creamy and delicious, even though I did make some substitutions. Because my BFF doesn’t enjoy eating food that’s been cooked with wine, I substituted that for veggie broth. It’s the 3/4 cup that you first pour into the hotter saucepan and let the liquid almost completely disolve. Then you continue on adding the 1/2 cups of veggie broth to complete the risotto. I also used vegetable broth in place of chicken broth throughout the entire recipe. Partly because I had just made a batch of veggie broth and so had lots on hand and partly, because it was such an easy meal to turn vegetarian just by switching the broth out. Which might be a good trick for you too, if you happen to eat a lot of vegetarian meals!

I was so excited to watch Gordon Ramsay’s new show, Master Chef on Tuesday. I was already on such a Ramsay high after Hell’s Kitchen, that I couldn’t wait to see what he had in store for us with this new show of his. The show did not disappoint. It is not Hell’s Kitchen, and it definitely isn’t Top Chef. This show is a show about foodies, who may have a different day job, but work hard to feed themselves and their families every single day. It’s about people like you and me, who take what we do very seriously, but have so much fun with it at the same time. Master Chef is about doing what you love, and working hard so you can take it to the next level.

This first episode ran much like American Idol auditions would. Cooks had one hour to prepare their signature dish for Gordon Ramsay and, I’m ashamed to admit, two other judges whose names I do not know. The cooks spent most of the time preparing their dishes in front of the other cooks and their families, but finished the dish in front of the judges. Once the dish was ready, each judge would taste it, and then deliver their verdict. Can I just stop right there to say, what an honour that would be to have Chef Ramsay tasting your food? That might be enough for me. And if he said he liked it? Oh. I’d be done. That’d be it for me. Done. It wouldn’t even matter if I got on the show or not.

Once the judges tasted the food, they would then tell the person whether or not they were on the show and moving forward in the competition. If the person was, they would receive a Master Chef apron. After the first week, I don’t remember anybody’s name except for Gordon Ramsay’s. But there were a few hopefuls that I do vividly remember.

First, there was the guy who made the Beer Cheese Soup. I have to admit, when I heard the name, I was enticed. It sounded delicious, and this guy had a passion for beer, and the soup he made with it. Unfortunately when he made it, it looked like vomit in a bowl. And, according to the judges, it tasted like much of the same. Then there was the guy who I’m sure was meant to be a game show host, and who made the Bouillabaisse. That’s right – in an hour. Never mind that it takes two days to make a bouillabaisse. He put on a totally fake personality and at several points, Gordon even asked him if he was acting. He insisted he wasn’t and that was the “real him”, until Gordon tasted the dish and was quick to point out that it was not, in fact, a bouillabaisse. After that, it was game over for Mr. Non-Bouillabaisse. He broke down into tears and after Gordon took a pass on moving him further, I was hopeful. Unfortunately, the other two judges saw something in him and his dish and he got his apron.

There was also the doctor who made Smothered Chicken. She was used heavily in the promos because she has the heartbreaking story of starting to cook after her mom died just so she could taste her food again. I have to admit, it was hard to hold back my own tears as I watched her finish off that chicken. The judges seemed to go back and forth on the dish, until Gordon announced that her food was exactly the kind the show was looking for, and that she had huge potential to be the first Master Chef.

Then there was another one of my favorites. The dancin King who shook his thang while making Macaroni and Cheese for the crowd. Well, for the judges but, whatever. He had a great time with it, and presented the most beautiful Mac and Cheese that I’ve ever seen. The judges “oohed” and “aahed” over it and then Gordon stepped up. Everyone took a deep breath as he explained that, being Mac and Cheese, one of the most common dishes found anywhere in the United States, when you make it, you need to make it perfectly. Gordon took a bite, looked at the King, and then told him to do the same. The cook tasted his food and after Gordon asked him what was missing from the dish, he replied dejectedly, “Salt.” Ouch. That hurts. To make a dish to perfection and then forget such a basic, but important, ingredient. There was a whole lot of debating, and even the guy’s wife and kid were called in to plead his case for him. At the end, Gordon gave his wife the Master Chef apron to give to her husband, and told him to take the salt shaker with him so that he wouldn’t forget it again.

We did see a softer and kinder side to Gordon Ramsay in this show. But the difference is what I’ve been saying all along. The person you see on Hell’s Kitchen is not Gordon Ramsay the person, but Gordon Ramsay the Chef. And most chefs are asses when they run a line. And mostly, it’s because they need to be. But here, Ramsay is just looking for people who love what they do, and want to get better at it. The end prize is $250,000 and getting one of your very own cookbooks to publish.

This show is so great, I’m truly beyond words in my excitement! I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season has in store!

It was a very interesting week on Hell’s Kitchen, indeed. Not only did we get to see the final four compete, but this week also included some impromptu cooking lessons for bachelors, a visit from the family, a shocking elimination round from Gordon Ramsay, and of course, more of Holli and Jay’s incessant flirtation.

This week’s episode started with Chef Ramsay deciding that any great chef must be a great teacher. True enough, I suppose, when you consider that chefs need to be able to pass on their expertise and knowledge along to every other cook on the line. To demonstrate the lesson, Chef brought in four bachelors who I’m pretty sure had never even seen a stove before, let alone try to cook on one. The lesson started first with Chef Ramsay demonstrating to the cooks how to prepare roasted monkfish, including skinning it. The cooks then needed to teach their bachelors how to prepare it in exactly the same way. Holli taught her student in the way she knew best – by a series of playful shoulder slaps, giggling, and even more flirtation. Jay looked on, secretly seething, while he tried to teach his bachelor but took for granted that his bachelor already had basic cooking skills – which he didn’t. Autumn did fairly well teaching her bachelor but failed miserably when Bachelor couldn’t slice the monkfish properly and Autumn left two-thirds of it off the plate. An omission that you can bet your bottom dollar wasn’t missed by Chef Ramsay. And Ben. Well, seeing as how Ben thinks that he’s God’s gift to cooking, and the fact that he’s a cooking school instructor, Ben did very, very badly. And then his bachelor sold him down the river when Chef Ramsay asked him what kind of teacher Ben was.

Jay ended up winning the competition, and that’s probably because the entire competition is going to come down to the two lovebirds – Jay and Holli. And of course, after being given the choice of someone to bring with him, he picked his girly-friend. Their reward was pretty pitiful as they soared hundreds of feet above Earth, looking down at Los Angeles and Hell’s Kitchen, where the other cooks were serving their punishment. There was no big showdown of Chef Ramsay coming down hard on the relationship between Jay and Holli, like it seemed there was going to be in last week’s previews. In fact, the only thing that Chef said at all about the two was when he jokingly asked if they found a house together while they were overlooking LA in the blimp. To which Holli replied, “No, I don’t want to live in LA. Let’s look in London.” Which of course, Chef Ramsay ate up.

Next up was dinner service. And that other thing that Chef Ramsay said in last week’s previews about doing something that he’s never done before? Well, it turns out that was only letting the cooks choose their own stations for service. Ben chose meat, which turned out to be a disaster for him, Autumn chose garnish, where she effectively screwed up Holli, who was on the fish station, and Jay was on appetizers. The service started off horribly with every cook having huge problems on their chosen station. But, after Jay took charge and pulled things together a little bit in the kitchen, the service started to continue along swimmingly – and it continued to do so until the last dessert was served.

Because Jay showed leadership and got the kitchen back in shape when it was clearly headed for disaster, he was chosen to put up two nominees for elimination. He chose Autumn right off the bat, and then seemed to show a struggle when deciding whether to put up Ben or Mrs. Jay. Please. He acted like it was a really hard choice for him, but I never really thought that he was ever going to put up Holli. He didn’t. Of course, he put up Autumn, who he’s been annoyed with since the very beginning, and Ben. And it seemed like it was Autumn’s time too, after Chef Ramsay told her to step forward while tears were streaming down her face. But, in good ol’ Chef Ramsay fashion, he yelled, “Back in line!” and she got back in line, crying harder than ever. Then, he told Ben to step forward. I was clapping my hands in glee that Ben’s time in Hell’s Kitchen had finally come to an end. But then, Gordo once again shouted, “Back in line!” And hooray! It’s another week’s stay for the final four contestants in Hell’s Kitchen.

And, just to celebrate, Gordon brought in the cook’s families. Holli’s four year old son was brought in, and smothered with kisses, while Autumn chatted at length to her boyfriend and best friend about how all the other cooks are jealous of her. Meanwhile, Ben hung out with his wife and daughter while Jay told his parents about how Hell’s Kitchen was the hardest thing, but the best thing, that he’s ever done.

And that’s where Hell’s Kitchen left us this week. I’ll guess we’ll have to wait a few more days to see who makes it into the final three in Hell’s Kitchen. But I’m betting that Autumn will not be among them.

Okay, so I realize that this blog has slowly been turning into a Hell’s Kitchen blog rather than a recipe and cooking blog. But I can assure you that it is only due to a great amount of visiting and a great amount of work that I have been doing this summer. Recipes will be back up, being cooked and tested, very very shortly. For the time being, seeing as how I’m facing another evening of beautiful Gordon Ramsay and his useless followers, I think I should catch up on my Hell’s Kitchen recaps, since that hasn’t been done yet for last week. I think that may have been done subconsciously because this past week, my very favorite cook walked out the door, and I was pretty disgusted with what was left in the kitchen. 

The show started out with Gordon teaching his little minions that presentation is extremely important when preparing food. Something we all know, but that not even these top chefs seemed to get. The only really interesting thing about this portion of the show was the white tunnel contraption that was used to photograph the food each cook prepared. I definitely want to get something like that for Kate’s Cuisine! Imagine how polished the blog would look! And as for polish, that’s exactly what the losers – Ed, Autumn, Holli, and Jay – were doing in the dining room after Ben won and went on to get some sort of manicure that was supposed to make him look better (and begrudgingly, I have to admit, did sort of.) During this punishment, Jay and Holli exchanged completely inappropriate barbs about polishing and having sex with each other. They both thought they were extremely hilarious and I’m afraid, they were the only ones to think so. Jay later went on to say in front of the confessional camera that he had two goals in Hells’ Kitchen: to win; and to sleep with Holli. Well, he’s well on his way to one of those goals, anyway.

On to dinner service, and for the first week this season, I think my night was as bad as Chef Ramsay’s from that point on. Every cook had a terrible dinner service. Gordo yelled at Autumn, he yelled at Holli, and he really, really yelled at Ben and Ed, both of whom he ended up throwing out. I started to think at that time that Ed (my very fave cook) has not been doing well for a couple of services, and that I didn’t know if Ramsay (my other very fave cook) was going to be able to overlook it once again. I was right, and he didn’t. After Ed and Autumn were both called up for elimination, Gordon sent Ed home saying, “You’re disintegrating, big boy.” And sadly, he wasn’t wrong. Ed was falling apart the last couple of services. And as much as I hoped he’d pull it together and come back the way he started the show – strong and spectacular – he never did. 

The next challenge that Chef had in mind for the cooks was to teach them about cost management. To complete the task, the cooks had to choose ingredients from a grocery store, and their total amount couldn’t be more than $10. After done shopping, the cooks had to go back to the kitchen and prepare their dishes. Holli, who used kumquats, tuna, and parsnips in her dish, surprisingly won the challenge. And for that she was blessed by Ramsay with a $1000 shopping spree at Peninsula Hotel, and she could bring anyone she wanted. Of course, she chose her flirting partner, Blue Jay. Then we were treated to watching the two flirt some more before they went back to the kitchen. Or rather, just outside of the kitchen, in the hot tub. It seemed that things might take a turn for the truly inappropriate, when Autumn thankfully came out and ruined the mood. And thank you Autumn, for finally doing something useful.

For that night’s dinner service, Ramsay had a special little something up his sleeve. The cooks would go through the entire service constantly changing stations. Some may say that Chef did this to teach the cooks that they have to be on their game, no matter what they’re handed, every single second while in the kitchen. I personally think he did it so that we’d have some good TV to watch. Because none of the cooks could really live up to the challenge. I have to admit, it looked pretty damned hard what they were doing. At the end of service, it was Jason who got the boot. Too bad it wasn’t Blue Jay, since then we would no longer be subjected to Jay and Holli “almosts.” But, I was still happy with Jason leaving. He couldn’t run the Savoy, and he kind of bugged me.

The previews for tonight’s episode looked awesome too, so we should be in for a real treat. It looks like Chef Ramsay is actually going to address this issue between Holli and Jay, and it looks like he does it in a very dramatic way. Of course, they always make it look that way so who knows. But I do think it will be good. And of course, it’s also tonight that Chef Ramsay’s next show, Master Chef, airs. I just can’t wait for all the Chef Ramsay goodness!

Hell’s Kitchen was a great one this week, and to think I almost missed it! Yes, sadly my power went out on Tuesday around dinnertime and remained that way until sometime in the middle of the night. And, besides the fact that it was 34 degrees Celsius and everyone in my house was very hot, the worst thing about it was that I missed one of my favorite shows and my favorite chef. But, thankfully I am a Roger’s customer and could watch it On Demand – which I did last night. And now I know that little trick in case something horrible ever happens again. So, here’s what happened.

In the first challenge, Chef Ramsay wanted to test their palettes and this is actually my favorite challenge every year in Hell’s Kitchen. You get to be blindfolded and have gigantic headphones put on you, then you need to open your mouth and Gordo shoves a little piece of something in there. You then, after tasting and swallowing, get to tell him what you think it is. If you’re right, you’re in his good graces for five minutes. If you’re wrong, you’re a donkey. At the end of it all, it actually proved that the Blue Team had the better palette and because of that, they were rewarded with a trip to Sea World.

Then it was time for dinner service. Chef Ramsay gave all of the cooks something that every professional chef dreams about – the chance to create their own menu. The Blue Team went with really simple and safe dishes while Ben took control on the Red Team and tried to come up with some of the weirdest stuff, all in an attempt to impress Chef Ramsay. As an interesting side note, when Nilka suggested that they put rice on the menu, Ben quickly tore that suggestion down calling rice “poor people’s food.” What? Doesn’t Hell’s Kitchen regularly serve risotto? Ben should go back to culinary class because, risotto is actually just rice.

Chef Ramsay was once again disgusted at the cooks he chose for this season’s Hell’s Kitchen when it came time for elimination and he told the teams to go back to the dorms and pick two people for elimination. Fran seemed to think that no one on her team was communicating with her, but she did seem to be the only one that thought that way. In the end, the two teams put up Fran and Autumn. Fran once again tried to reach into her bag of excuses and bring out one that she thought Gordo would like but, no such luck. Fran was told to finally, FINALLY! take her jacket off and leave Hell’s Kitchen. Autumn, on the other hand, was also told to take her jacket off. But just to get her red one back and to head back on over to the Red Team.

For the next challenge, Chef Ramsay went out and found each team a 10-pound lobster with which they were to test their creativity and culinary skills, and come up with a beautiful dish that would be judged by three Michelin star chefs. In the end, the Michelin chefs gave more points to the Red Team, declaring them finally the winner of something. But, the best part for me was when they completely ripped apart Ben’s food, after he spent so much time talking about how his dream was to be awarded a Michelin star. HA! Not very nice of me, I know. I think Gordo’s starting to rub off on me. The Red Team though, still got a thousand dollars and got to go on a thousand dollar shopping spree. The Blue Team had the punishment of having to clean the dorms as well as clean and prep the Red Team’s kitchen. Unfortunately, they didn’t have time to do the same in their own kitchen. Luckily, the Blue Team has the kitchen gods smiling down on them at all times and Chef Ramsay told them that they would all be working out of one kitchen. 

The whole dinner service seemed to be going along swimmingly with Fran finally out of the kitchen. But then, one of Fran’s archenemies, Nilka, started to break down on the fish station. Chef was screaming at her, she was screaming back at him, and Nilka was tossed out of the kitchen. But Nilka doesn’t play it like all the other chefs that have been ousted from Ramsay’s inner circle. No, no. There’s no going off to sulk and smoke for her. She instead, goes back into the kitchen, pleading and pleading with Chef Ramsay to let her stay. Ramsay meanwhile, keeps telling her to leave and then yells at the remaining Red Team to tell her to go. Which they do. And she does.

At the end of the show, Nilka is shown packing her bags and heading out to the awaiting taxi cab. And who’s standing there waiting for her except for Gordon Ramsay! He gives her a hug and tells her that she works very hard and is very talented. He tells her that her passion is obvious, but that she’s just not ready to be at the Savoy. I have to tell you, it warms my heart when Chef Ramsay is especially kind to contestants that are being booted off, and it was no different in the case with Nilka. Even though she was never my favourite, I did have high hopes for her and was thinking that she would go far. I was sorry to see her exit out of the kitchen.

Then, back in the dining room, Chef Ramsay asks who’s been chosen for elimination. The Red Team puts up Autumn while the Blue Team chooses to put up Ed, my ultimate favourite in Hell’s Kitchen. Ramsay tells them each to plead their case, and they do. After this, Chef Ramsay tells Ed to take off his jacket and my jaw hit the floor. Really? Ed had to leave? Nope! Chef Ramsay then broke out into a grin and said, “Congratulations. You’ve made the Final Six,” before tossing him his envied Black jacket. One by one, each of the chef’s are given their new jacket and no one else is going to be tossed from Hell’s Kitchen tonight. 

It was a great week on Hell’s Kitchen and I’m so thankful that Roger’s has it – or else I would have missed the excitement entirely!

Okay, so I’m a few days late with my posting for this week’s Hell’s Kitchen recap, and apparently, I missed the first hour. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. And I did think it was weird that it was only on for an hour this week. I’ll have to look harder next week. Stupid donkey.

From what I’ve heard, in the first hour, the two teams had to reinvent dishes for a couple’s 50th wedding anniversary. The dishes were based on dishes the couple ate on their first date (or something along those lines) and the couple chose a winner between the dishes. In a suprising victory, the Red Team won a chance to go dancing at a 50s diner with Gordon Ramsay.

Then there was dinner service and of course, I have no idea what happened but apparently, the Red Team fell apart as they usually do, and the Blue Team ended up winning. After being told to go back to the dorms and put up two nominees from the Red Team, the cooks come back and put up Siobhan and Fran. Both good choices if you ask me, even though I do really like Siobhan, I just don’t think she’s ready to be Executive Chef at the Savoy. But, Gordo once again overrules everyone and asks Salvatore to come forward. Even though I didn’t see it, I’m betting that Gordo was pretty easy on Salvatore, because I think the guy has a soft spot for the cook who I can never understand. But still, we all knew that Salvatore had to go sooner rather than later, and I’m glad that this past Tuesday finally saw his end in Hell’s Kitchen.

Okay, now for the part where I started watching it. The episode started with Chef Ramsay taking both teams to a French restaurant where they learn the history of the French Dip. He then doles out the challenge, which is going back to Hell’s Kitchen and creating their own unique sandwich. So off they go.

In the kitchen, Benjamin and Siobhan quickly get into it. While I don’t think that Siobhan is ready for an Executive Chef position, I am quite tired of people saying that she doesn’t have enough confidence, yet they second-guess everything that she does. And while I do like Benjamin and think he can cook, I don’t really love the attitude he’s got going on. Benjamin apparently didn’t think anything Siobhan was doing with her sandwich was right, and Siobhan of course, disagreed with him and also wasn’t loving his attitude.

At judging time, the Red Team had to sit one team member and their sandwich out. Benjamin quickly piped up that it would be Siobhan sitting out. After Gordo tasted the sandwiches, it was a tie between the Blue Team and the Red Team. To break the tie, Chef Ramsay tasted Siobhan’s sandwich and thought it was fabulous! But, because the Red Team sat out their best sandwich, Ramsay gave the win to the Blue Team. So the Blue Team was off to a wine tasting while the Red Team stayed behind to shell peanuts so they could make peanut butter and jam from scratch.

The wine tasting went well for the Blue Team and, despite Chef Ramsay’s warnings, all of the Blue Team got pretty tipsy during their reward. When they came back to the dorms, they continued on with their drinks and that’s when things turned ugly. Ed decided it would be a good idea to pull his shorts down in the hottub while Holli kept encouraging him to drink, so that he’d be too hungover for service the next day. And that he was, as was the rest of the Blue Team.

After the service, Chef Ramsay was incredibly upset with both teams. Fran couldn’t get it together on appetizers and Ramsay also accused the Blue Team of being drunk. In the end, he told both teams to nominate two people for elimination. The Blue Team put up Autumn and Ed and the Red Team put up Fran and Siobhan. In the end, it was Siobhan who handed Chef Ramsay her jacket, and got the hook poked through it as she made her way out of Hell’s Kitchen.

Even though I did think Siobhan was a good choice, I was happy that Chef Ramsay let her off  kindly and that he told her she was an extremely hard worker, and that she worked her ass off. In the end though, she just didn’t have the experience and that hurt her.

I really hope we start seeing some people who can cook and who don’t have attitudes. So far, I think I’m liking Holli and Ed. And that’s about it.

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts $9.90
2 cups pistachios, chopped $4.56
2 peaches, peeled and roughly chopped $1.34
3 strips of bacon, chopped $0.72
Salt and pepper $0.02
4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided $0.14

Total Cost   $16.68

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.) Place chopped bacon in a frying pan and add about an inch of water to the pan. Then brown over medium-high heat; the water will ensure that the bacon browns evenly. When finished browning, drain on paper towels.

3.) Meanwhile, in a seperate frying pan, heat up two tablespoons of vegetable oil in medium-high heat. Then rinse chicken, pat dry, and season with salt and pepper. Add to frying pan once oil is hot and brown on both sides.

4.) When bacon is finished, mix bacon, pistachios, and peaches in a small bowl.

5.) Once chicken is finished browning, place on a cookie sheet. Top with pistachio and peach mixutre by piling it onto each chicken breast. Once all chicken is topped, drizzle remaining vegetable oil over top.

6.) Place in oven and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until chicken is done and juices run clear.

7.) Serve and enjoy!

Read the review here