Michael shows you the Chiarello version of the classic Lobster bake including recipes for Grilled Potato & Green
Onion Salad; Grilled Baguettes w/Old Bay Butter plus Cake Doughnut Bread Pudding
Gameplan
Day Before Party:
Zest lemons for Old Bay Butter
Simmer Old Bay Seasoning and Extra Virgin Olive Oil, cool in an ice water bath, and blend in food processor with sweet butter, lemon zest, gray salt, and black pepper. Cover and refrigerate.
Slice and boil potatoes for Potato and Scallion salad. Toss boiled potatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Slowly cook bacon for Potato and Scallion salad.
Whisk leftover bacon fat and olive oil, mustard, champagne vinegar, shallots, Italian Parsley, salt and pepper for potato salad vinaigrette.
Season Scallions with salt, pepper, and bacon fat mixture for potato and scallion salad.
Grill scallions and potatoes. Slice ingredients for potato scallion salad and separate onto a plate. Cover and refrigerate.
1 Hour Before Party:
Start charcoal for lobster bake.
Fill galvanized tub with seaweed, lobsters, corn, partially boiled potatoes, clams, and chardonnay. Cover with damp burlap and set tub on charcoal to bake for 45 minutes.
Break up donuts and raisins in the bottom of a pan for bread pudding.
Cream sugar and sweet butter in a food processor for custard. Mix in eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and cream. Pour custard over donuts. Cover with foil and bake.
At the Party:
Pour out the tub of lobster onto a newspaper covered table. Serve with lemon, Old Bay seasoning, and salt.
Lightly grill linguisa on the grill.
Toast baguettes on the grill and smother with Old Bay butter.
Combine ingredients for potato and scallion salad. Cover with vinaigrette and season with gray salt.
Remove foil from bread pudding and crisp in the oven for 10 minutes.
Melt butter for Rum sauce. Stir in powdered sugar and thin sauce with dark rum. Pour sauce over bread pudding and serve.
Eat and Enjoy!
Enjoying a spa experience usually means indulging in luxurious, exotic treatments that relax and rejuvenate the mind and body. But now the palate can be pampered as well. Today's spas are using food in a variety of innovative ways. They're providing guests with delicious and healthy dining experiences, as well as incorporating food elements into their skin regimens. In this hourlong special, hosts Katrina Szish and Brant Stead crisscross the country in search of unique spa experiences involving food. From relaxing in chocolate baths in Hershey, Penn., and making Bento Boxes on top of Manhattan, to checking out the lap of luxury in Las Vegas, our hosts will show viewers that spa food (and treatments!) have come a long way from grilled chicken salads and seaweed wraps.
Chef George Stella shows how a little planning ahead goes a long way in maintaining a low carb lifestyle. He makes a few different dishes in just a short time that can be wrapped and kept until the mood suits. He bakes chicken breast wrapped in bacon and topped with tomato and fresh thyme; a colorful plate of grilled portobello mushrooms and summer vegetables; a family sized serving of tequila marinated grilled London broil with a tomato fromage as an accompaniment; and finally, blackened salmon cooked with spinach and soy black beans – great anytime.
Top 5 Tips
1. When cooking a low-fat protein such as chicken, wrap it with bacon. The fat from the bacon adds flavor and much needed moisture, while keeping the dish low carb.
2. Tomatoes are fairly low in carbs, but they do contain some natural sugars. You can eat them but remember: only in moderation.
3. Many vegetables are an important part of a low carb diet but some are better for you than others. Keep in mind that red bell peppers contain more Vitamin C than green ones. Also, most vitamins and minerals are found in veggie skins, so skip a step and leave the peeler in the drawer.
4. Store-bought marinades contain a lot of sugar; even some dry spice mixtures do too. Make a large batch of your own so you can top your proteins and veggies with it anytime you want.
5. Soy black beans are an excellent alternative to regular black beans, since they taste very similar but have far less carbs.
In Miami, Fla., the Gypsy Kitchen truck is our first stop for some East Indian and Asian inspired treats, Maharani Paneer, Jammin Jerk Slider and a Krazy Kim's Khim-chee Lo Mein are just some of the delights. Next we get stuck in to gourmet food on a stick in Houston, Texas, at the appropriately named Stick It truck. Then we hit up Louisville, Ky., and visit the Lil Cheezers truck for all your grilled cheese pleasures, The Plain Jane, Caprese and the Fancy Pants which is Brie, caramelized onions, granny smith apples and walnuts on thick cut wheatberry bread. Finally, we speed over to Indianapolis for some of this and some of that at the SOT SOT truck. Specializing in Creole Comfort food we'll check out their Crawfish Po'Boy, Jambalaya and a Jerk Chicken with red beans and rice.
First up, we say "Aloha" to the 808 Grinds truck in Portland, Ore., for some delicious Hawaiian food. Serving up Loco Moco, Fried Chicken and Spam Musabi, it's like a vacation for your taste buds. Then we race over to Indianapolis to the Scratch truck where everything is made from Scratch like their Grilled Cheese featuring red wine braised short rib, caramelized onions and arugula. Next, we hot foot it over to Houston, Texas, to the St John's Fire truck for some smokin' good fish dishes like a Shrimp Corn Dog and Seafood Martini with marinated veggies, fresh shrimp and crawfish. Finally, we ride into Louisville, Ky., to Mozza Pi to experience the best wood fired, artisan pizzas off the back of a truck from the coolest guy in cowboy hat. Good enough for at least two yee-haas.
If Jim hadn't become a chef, he likely would have run away to the circus. He loves circuses and freak shows and was even the front man for a clown rock band. Now he's visiting a three-ringed circus of offbeat places that bring a carnival-like atmosphere to their approach to food. At Unicorn in Seattle, Jim revels in their circus-like decor and heads to the kitchen to cook carnival-inspired dishes including fancy corndogs and a stuffed "fire-eater burger." At Straw in San Francisco, Jim experiences their elevated spin on fair favorites: fried chicken and waffle Monte Cristo, the Ringmaster donut burger and fresh watermelon cotton candy. And at barbecue and juke joint White Tiger Gourmet in Athens, Ga., Jim cooks some fantastic barbecue fit for a singing clown: the Barberella, a barbecue and grilled mozzarella sandwich with White Tiger sauce and the Clown Car tofu tacos.
Jack asks Frederic to teach her some recipes for the crispiest, juiciest chicken cutlets ever. Recipes include: Italian Breaded Chicken Cutlets; Cajun Cornmeal Crusted Chicken Cutlets.
Episode Guide
Below you’ll find a helpful episode guide for cooking along with Frederic and Jack, as well as tips and recipe rescues.
Equipment List:
Baking sheet
Serrated knife
Chef’s knife
Cutting board
Food processor
Pepper mill
Rasp or box grater
Measuring spoons
Meat mallet
Wax paper
3 shallow pans or bowls
Large skillet
Liquid measuring cup
Tongs
Rack over baking pan
Dry measuring cups
Tips:Standard breading procedure:
An assembly-line procedure for items to be pan-fried or deep-fried that consists of dredging the item in flour, dipping it in beaten egg, and coating it with crumbs.
It works because the flour helps the egg wash adhere, and the egg wash allows the breadcrumbs to stick.
Shake off the excess flour before dredging in egg, and pack enough breadcrumbs on to fully and evenly coat the food, but shake off the excess before frying.
Frying oils:
Oils with a high smoking point work best for frying because the oil needs to be at a high temperature yet still below its smoking point when frying. Good frying oils include most vegetable oils, peanut oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, grapeseed oil, and canola oil.
Fats that are not good for frying (because they have low smoke points) include olive oil and butter.
Pan-frying:
Pan-frying is a cooking method in which items are cooked in deep fat in a skillet; generally involves more fat than sauteing, but less than deep-frying.
The goal of pan-frying is to produce an exterior with a crisp, golden brown crust, which acts as a barrier to retain juices and flavors.
Recipe Rescues:The breading is soggy – The temperature of the frying oil was not hot enough. Serve chicken over a salad or in a sandwich so that it is not as noticeable.
The breadcrumbs got too dark – Make sure to use a low-sugar content bread for making breadcrumbs. The sugar will cause the breading to burn in the high heat of the frying oil.
Your chicken is not cooked through – After slicing, return the chicken to the oven and continue cooking until the inside is no longer the least bit pink in color, and juices run clear.
The coating is too spicy – Serve chicken with mayonnaise, a yogurt sauce, or lemon wedges.