Noma’s success is of note especially with the restaurant winning the award for the third time. So in case you haven’t heard, Danish cuisine is something special and it is Noma’s 43 year old chef, Rene Redzepi that has made the world realize just how good it is. Of course, our palates may still be more used to traditional and well loved Spanish and Italian cuisines, which you’ll still see a lot of restaurants on the top 50 list, but the cured bear meat and Danish ants will surprise you if you only give it a chance at Noma.

However, if you do decide to head for Noma for a taste of their superb and unique dishes, be prepared to book well in advance since tables at the popular restaurant are usually fully booked 3 ahead. So unless you happen to be Chef Redzepi’s mom or the president of Denmark, don’t count on popping in unannounced.

Londoners would be happy to know though that they don’t have to go to Denmark just to book a table at Noma’s because it was announced a week ago that Noma is coming to London for the Olympic 2012 games. Noma will be serving dinner for 10 days from July 28 to August 6 at Claridge’s Hotel. The Noma restaurant at Denmark will be closed at that time due to renovations.

Image via The World’s 50 Best List

If you’re as addicted to cooking shows as I am though, be it the good old Emeril shows or the crazy reality cooking shows, then you have probably observed the other side of the job of these celebrity chefs – the hard work.

One thing I have come to admire about my favorite celebrity chefs has absolutely nothing to do with their sophisticated palates or sumptuous creations that always leave me looking woefully at whatever’s on my plate. Instead, I have come to admire their work ethics, which I have come to realize contributed as much (if not more) to their success as their talents.  It is clear from the way their roll up their sleeves (both figuratively and literally) that their skill did not come by accident. They worked hard to get where they are. They worked hard to polish not just their cooking skills, but also their management  (Poor management skills is often the reason why restaurants of even really good chefs fail!) and networking skills.

In my mind though I believe that their willingness to give their all to their craft comes from their sense of purpose. They know that cooking is their passion and this gives them a sense of purpose, which is to pursue what they love. So while I truly enjoy watching these celebrity chefs for their entertainment value and for the recipe I end up trying in the kitchen sometimes (When there’s one easy enough for me), I value even more the way they inspire me to live a life of purpose and the reminder to work hard on what we know is worth it.

Well yesterday was another foodie dream holiday being the National Chocolate Souffle Day, and though we may be a day late in celebrating the holiday it isn’t too late to get yourself a nice airy mouthwatering souffle.

Chocolate Soufflé with Passion Fruit & Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

If you fancy making yourself or a special someone this sweet treat, here are a few recipes from all over the internet that you can try. Note though that souffles are really not beginner type of recipes easily caving in when not done right.

Gordon Ramsays chocolate soufflé – This heavenly concoction is straight from his show, the F Word.
Chocolate Souffle with Chocolate Sauce – A kid-friendly recipe whipped up during the 2010 season of Junior MasterChef Australia. Now this, even beginner level cooks may want to try.
Chocolate Soufflé with Passion Fruit & Vanilla Bean Ice Cream – A different approach to chocolate souffle from Top Chef Just Desserts Season 1 contestant, Yigit. This is the kind of dessert you would expect from contestants of the show, as something too simple and straightforward will surely get you sent home!
Chocolate Orange Liqueur Souffle with Chocolate Sauce – Chocolate and orange liqueur equals YUM! This recipe is from renowned chef Paula Deen, which can only mean that this one’s a home run as long as you execute it correctly.

Image via Bravo

Justin Timineri, Florida’s state chef, the only state chef in the entire United States is proof otherwise. As Chef Timineri himself said, “I have the best job in all of state government.” I agree.

His job as state chef after all does not entail cooking in a grimy hot kitchen in preparation for the massive influx of hungry employees during lunch hour, but instead is tasked to travel around Florida showing locals how to incorporate fresh produce and seafood into their regular meals. More importantly, he does with a realistic budget in mind. In fact, he specifically creates healthy menus with people who are on food stamps in mind; and if that doesn’t mean affordable meals, I don’t what is.

Aside from getting the locals to eat a bit more healthily, his other important role as state chef is to promote Florida’s produce and seafood, not just to locals, but all over the world. In fact, he’s going to Brussels, Belgium in April to attend the European Seafood Expo to try to get more attention focused on the Florida grouper. And with Florida’s second biggest industry being Agriculture, we can be pretty sure he’ll be promoting more vegetables and fruits outside Florida soon.

And if you’re wondering how much a state chef makes? Chef Timineri is paid $43,000 for doing what he does. Of course, he also probably saves on food, nibbling on his creations. While the pay is not at all that glamorous, you can bet his job is rewarding.

Photo via Babble

One of the things my hubby got during out last trip was two packs of Nori – one plain and one wasabi flavored. If you don’t know what nori is, it’s the rather fishy-smelling papery ingredient they use as sushi wrap. Nori, which by the way is dried edible seaweed, is actually used in Japanese cuisine not just as sushi wrap, but topping and condiment for noodles and various dishes.

Feeling rather adventurous with the kid’s palate, who by the way are still toddlers, my husband gave each a strip of nori (not the wasabi flavored of course!). We were expecting to see scrunched up faces and little tongues sticking out as they spit out the nori in disgust. Surprise! Both kids finished of their little strips in minutes and promptly held out their hands for more.

So what’s my point? The point is simply that it’s never too early to start training your kid’s palate so that they will be able to appreciate all kinds of food better as they grow. Not only will you be helping them in case they do end up as aspiring chefs when they grow up, but you’ll also have an easier time feeding them as they grow up because chances are they won’t be such picky eaters.

Oh, and here are links to some recipes that use nori as ingredient from celebrity chefs Dale Talde (Nori Seared Tuna Steak) and Janella Prucell (Brown Rice Tempeh Nori Rolls).

Image via RemixYourHealth

If you’re craving for Pad Thai though, you don’t even have to go to fly to Thailand for an authentic tasting dish. I’ve found one of the best Pad Thai recipes that you can try at home. If you do it right, you’ll end up with a dish that tastes just like the best that Thai chefs make. Just make sure you always prepare the sauce first, because that’s how any self-respecting Thai chef does it!

Ingredients for Pad Thai Sauce (makes four large servings)

• 1/4 cup palm sugar
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
• 1/4 cup Sriracha sauce

Directions for Pad Thai Sauce

• Put tamarind concentrate into a measuring cup, and add enough water to make 1/4 cup, stir, this is your tamarind juice.
• In a small sauce pan, put palm sugar, fish sauce, tamarind juice, and sriracha sauce. Cook on low heat until the palm sugar dissolves, then increase heat. Let it start to boil, then quickly remove from heat, and set aside. You can make this Pad Thai sauce ahead and put in a jar in the fridge up to a week.

Ingredients for Pad Thai (makes 2 servings)

• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup (or more) fresh shrimp, uncooked
• 1 tablespoon sliced shallot
• 1 tablespoon chopped salted radish
• 1/4 cup diced firm tofu
• 1 handful rice stick noodle
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
• 1/4 cup fresh chives, cut into one inch long pieces
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanut
• vegetable oil for frying

Directions

• Rinse the radish several times under cold water, gently squeezing off the water. Chop it and add a little bit of sugar to sweeten, mix well.
• Soak the rice stick noodle in warm water for about 15 minutes, leave in water until you are ready to use.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok at medium-high heat. Add egg and cook it quickly, scrambling into small pieces (see video below). Remove, set aside.
• Add 2 tablespoons of oil in the same wok. Add shrimps and cook until done. Transfer to a bowl, set aside.
• Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok. Add shallot, radish and tofu fry until aromatic. Increase the heat of your wok. Add a handful of soaked noodles followed with water. Stir-fry this mixture for about 5-6 minutes. The noodles will start to get soft. Add 1/4 cup of Pad Thai Sauce and mix well. Add sugar, cooked egg, bean sprout, chive and cooked shrimps. Stir well for another 1-2 minutes until everything blends together. Turn off heat, transfer to serving plate with sliced fresh lime, roasted peanuts, and more bean sprout on the side.

If you’re looking for some posh, but simple cocktails to serve during your party, why not give these three cocktails that chefs’ themselves swear by:

The Red Hook (Blake Royer)

Ingredients:

Key ingredient of the first two cocktails

• 2 ounces rye whiskey
• 1/2 ounce Punt e Mes or other sweet vermouth combined with Campari
• 1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur

Directions:

Pour ingredients into a shaker with a generous handful of ice. Stir briskly until well chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass and serve.

The Aviation (Blake Royer)

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces gin
• 1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur
• 1/2 ounce lemon juice

Directions:

Pour ingredients into a shaker with a generous handful of ice. Shake well until your fingertips ache. Strain into a martini glass and serve.

Grand Champagne Cocktail

Grand Champagne Cocktail (Chef Bobby Flay)

Ingredients:

• 4 shots orange-flavored liqueur (recommended: Grand Marnier)
• 4 teaspoons honey
• 4 fresh strawberries, tops trimmed
• 1 bottle Champagne, well chilled
• Special equipment: 4 chilled Champagne flutes

Directions:

Add the orange-flavored liqueur, honey and strawberries to a food processor and process until smooth. Fill the chilled glasses halfway with the strawberry mixture and then fill the rest of the glass with Champagne.

Each of the cocktails above offer a very different taste so you can choose whichever will suit your palate best. The Red Hook is “dark, seductive, brown, and just a little bitter”, while the Aviation is “bright, gin-y, and tart with lemon juice.” The Grand Champagne Cocktail, on the other hand, is pretty sweet and probably has a more universal appeal.

Recipes and images via ThePauperedChef and FoodNetwork

Boiling eggs are really tricky, especially if you’re cooking for a group of people who like their eggs in varying stages of “hardness”. Add to the fact that the rate at which eggs cook depend not just on the amount of time it takes to cook them, but also the temperature at which they were stored, and also the size of the eggs. With so many factors to consider, it is no wonder that sleepy cooks end up with “wrongly” cooked eggs.

The good news is that you don’t have to be a chef to be consistent in turning out perfectly boiled eggs that will suit everyone’s tastes. All you need is to get yourself a BeepEgg, and you can relax, maybe even sing with it as you make breakfast.

The BeepEgg is an egg timer that you put in the pan with your eggs as you boil them and will tell you whether the eggs are already cooked. Fish out the eggs for the people who like their soft boiled when you hear the egg sing “Killing Me Softly” and leave the rest until you hear it start to sing “I Wish I Was a Hen”, at which point you can fish out the eggs for those who like it medium. You’ll know that the remaining eggs are already hard boiled when you the classical tune from Carmina Burana coming out of the plastic egg.

How to use the BeepEgg

While it all sounds really silly, the BeepEgg works perfectly so that you don’t even have to worry about getting your eggs to room temperature before your boil them. Just make sure that you also store the BeepEgg along with the real eggs because it works by calculating the inner temperature of the eggs based on the temperature it was stored and the boiling water.

Oh, and if you’re getting irritated with all that singing, just dunk the Beep Egg in cold water.

Image via Firebox

Noemi, of Recipe Finder, compiled some of the best and simple turkey dishes on her post “7 Ways to Prepare Turkey”. None of the preparation ideas she gives will mean a traditional Thanksgiving turkey, but at least they are much faster and easier to prepare than a whole turkey roast. So if you don’t mind having turkey burgers, fajitas, or casserole on Thanksgiving, then head on to the Recipe Finder blog for some great turkey ideas.

However, if you already have a whole thawed turkey right before you that you don’t want to go to waste, then you can try Chef Gordon Ramsay’s Roast Turkey and Stuffing in a Pan. The recipe is good for 10-12 persons which means you’ll have plenty of leftovers if you won’t being having guests over for dinner. Prep time is also just 2 hours, with cooking time about the same. And while 4 hours seems like a lot of time, anyone who’s had any experience roasting turkey will tell you that this is one of the fastest recipes you’ll ever find. So if you want to get your roast turkey in time for dinner, better get started or you’ll end up with one undercooked bird on your dinner table!

Image credits:
Turkey burger courtesy of Recipe Finder
Gordon Ramsay with turkey courtesy of The Independent

If you have a food blog, it definitely takes more than just pictures of your last gastronomy high for people to enjoy your blog. You have to provide descriptions of the pictures, mix your usual food photos with other food-related content like chef biographies, recipes, and restaurant features. In short, you can’t keep on serving just one dish, no matter how good that dish may be.

You also need to think about your food blog’s design. After all, no matter how delicious something is, if it looks like something straight from the sewers, then almost no one would want to touch it. The same is true with a cluttered and tacky looking blog. If you want people to take a second glance at your food blog, then you’d better spend some time on your “plating”.

Before the food gets served though, you need people to serve it too. Sure, tasting your own creations can be fun, but not having other people to share it too and ooh and ahh over the great tasting feasts is doing yourself a disservice. Again, the same is true with your blog. You need to have guests come over to enjoy your content, and hopefully rave over your content, maybe even spread the news by word of mouth. However, to get the first guests to come, you of course need to promote your blog.

You can do this by pestering your family and friends to keep on visiting your food blog, or do it the more professional way and pay for services of portals like Blog Search Engine. Blog Search Engine will review your food blog for you, link back to your blog, and make it searchable to their users, all for $14.99. You can also promote your blog even more aggressively with their upgraded packages and so increase your food blog’s visibility, thanks to their blog network.

In the end, if you treat your food blog like you would your food, you can guarantee that you’ll have people coming back for more.