Don't miss this classic he-man, meat and potato meal as Michael hosts a monthly get together of men who love to cook. It's easier than it looks with Michael's special chef's secrets. While the men flex their culinary muscles, the women sit back and enjoy the show!
Gameplan
Day Before Party:
Prepare and mix Arborio rice coating for onion rings and white beans
Cook and cool white beans
2 Hours Before Party:
Prepare Crispy White Beans in Chili Oil
Hour Before Dinner:
Prepare Onion Rings for Heirloom Tomato Stack
Make Heirloom Tomato Stack with Onion Rings and Blue Cheese
Caramelize onions for Asparagus Pasta dish
Make Asparagus Pesto sauce, boil pasta
Cut and prepare steaks
At Party:
Assemble Asparagus Pesto with Tiny Potatoes and Pasta
Serve, Eat and Enjoy
Wine Recommendation
Gargiulo Vineyard Chianti
Inspired by the colorful produce at a local farmstand, Dean McDermott and Tori Spelling decide to throw an impromptu dinner party for their friends. After 6 years of being pregnant and throwing countless kids parties, it is finally time for a grown-up menu. Dean's making Grilled Rack of Lamb with Strawberry Mint Sauce, Orecchiette with Pickled Peaches and Asparagus, Grilled Fruit Sangria, Crostini with Fava and Goat Cheese Puree, Grilled Pound Cake with Macerated Berries and Sylabub, and more! Plus, Tori crafts DIY gifts and decorations for the table. With four kids in the house and 24 hours before guests arrive, the whole family pitches in to pull off a beautiful backyard dinner party.
Celebrity chef Aarón Sánchez hits the Windy City and samples the best traditional and twisted tacos in town. First stop is the Pilsen Neighborhood — a hub for Hispanic culture that's home to Carnitas Uruapan, a place locals love for their succulent carnitas and crunchy chicharrones. Next up, Aarón hits Antique Taco for a Midwest twist on the nacho - poutine-style cheddar cheese curds in pork chorizo chili! Then it's on to Big Star in Wicker Park for a fabulous fish taco. And finally, get some authentically-prepared — and very tasty — goat tacos from Birrieria Zaragoza. Their closely guarded 150 year-old recipe from the Mexican State of Jalisco will have your mouth watering!
This trip, Guy Fieri's circling back to some of the hottest home-cookin' hangouts! In Austin, Texas, a mom-and-pop spot is expanding, still doin' it all from scratch with the-bomb bacon marmalade-blue cheese pizza and a spicy salsa-chicken pie. Louisiana comfort food is goin' strong on the North Shore of New Orleans, firin' up country-fried chicken and smothering seafood-stuffed pasta with creamy crawfish. And in Chicago, a brother-sister team is drawing even more crowds with their creative Korean, servin' Seoul-style street dumplings and out-of-bounds beef soup.
Jeff Corwin makes his way back to beautiful Greece, where he spent time as a graduate student. On the island of Crete, Jeff power milks dozens of sheep in minutes and churns the results into a toulomotyrion, a soft cheese fermented in a goat’s stomach. The ultimate “guest” meal on Crete is slimy snails, so Jeff hunts them and slurps them down. He then goes underwater in a quest for octopus and the tasty roe of the spiny sea urchin. Catch in hand and with nerves of steel, he cooks up Kakavia, a fisherman’s stew with the dangerous “scorpion fish.” In the Peloponnesus, things heat up as Jeff skewers a whole lamb for the spit, complete with organs wrapped in intestines, called Kokoretsi, as an appetizer.
With recipes for Forever Roasted Lamb with Roasted Winter Vegetables, Risotto al Cabernet, Roasted Beet Onion and Orange Salad, and Peppermint Mock Misu, Michael is going to show you how to throw a dinner party full of elegance.
Gameplan 1 Day Before Party:
Peel, dice and boil sweet potatoes for Roasted Vegetables. Trim, halve and blanch brussel sprouts. Drain, cool and store sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts in refrigerator overnight.
For Roasted Beet Onion and Orange Salad. Wash, trim and roast beets. Trim pearl onions and toss with olive oil.
Toast and grind spices for Fennel Spice Rub. Store overnight.
Add pearl onions to beets in the oven and roast until both beets and onions are tender. Cool and store separately in refrigerator overnight.
Morning of the Party (At least 8 hours before meal is served):
Peel and chop onions and herbs for Forever Roasted Lamb. Sauté onion herb mixture.
Prepare lamb leg by slicing it open and laying it flat. Season the leg with salt and pepper and reserved Fennel Spice Rub. Stuff with half of the onion and herb mixture. Roll up and tie the leg. Season outside and roast with carrots and celery on low temp for 7 hours.
Simmer brandy syrup and chop peppermint for Peppermint Mock-misu. Blend chocolate and ricotta filling. Assemble Mock-misu, cover and store in refrigerator until service.
One Hour before the Party:
Cover lamb with remaining onion herb mixture and cover with foil. Roast lamb for an additional hour.
Sauté onions and rice for Risotto al Cabernet and add the wine and the first ladle of stock. In another pan, sauté reserved brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes. Finish vegetables in oven and season with chopped herbs and garlic.
Finish Risotto al Zinfandel with remaining broth, wine and cheese. Pour the risotto onto a platter and serve hot.
Pull lamb from oven and serve on a platter with roasted vegetables.
Assemble Roasted Beet, Onion and Orange Salad by peeling and dicing beets and plating them with oranges, roasted pearl onions, hazelnuts and vinaigrette.
Serve the Peppermint Mock-misu for dessert.
Eat and Enjoy!
Jeff Corwin takes a wild journey through the culinary wonderland of Morocco. Off the coast of Essouraia, Jeff bobs in tiny boats, line fishing for gigantic conger eel. Then Jeff milks a camel to make an exclusive cheese and a traditional smen, a rancid butter that increases in value with age. Up to his ankles in goat dung, Jeff digs for elusive argon nuts, the main ingredient for the flavorful “liquid gold of Morocco” – argon oil. He hits up Marrakech to create a tagine, an earthen pot dish cooked in the furnace of a bathhouse, and a Bisteeya, the famous pigeon pie. A steep hike up to the High Atlas Mountains and the Berber village of Aguersuoual is the ultimate BBQ for Jeff where he cooks a whole ram in an underground oven.
Michael gathers his best chef friends and gives them a mission - remake pot luck classics with no more than 5 ingredients, no more than 10 steps, it must be finished and ready to eat, and no exotic ingredients. Church suppers will never be the same!
Gameplan Day of Potluck Challenge:
Peel, and cut celery for Rockin’ Celery Boats
Mix, coat, and put pecan nuts in to bake for Celery Boat filling
Prepare Celery Boats for soaking, soak for crunch
Puree nuts with cream cheese, stuff into Celery Boats and top with jalapenos.
Chop, juice and dress the Ambrosia Salad
Blanche and cool green beans for Green Bean Casserole with Fried Onions
Mix, heat and reduce mushroom brandy sauce for Green Bean Casserole, mix in green beans, set aside.
Boil pasta shells, mix cheese sauce for Macaroni and Cheese My Way.
Add spinach, shrimp and bake in the oven.
Fry up onion rings to top Green Bean Casserole with Fried Onions
Wine Recommendation Chiarello Cabernet Sauvignon, Gargiulo Vineyards Pinot Grigio