TasteTV Accepting Online Viewer Nominations for Sexy Chefs Awards

TasteTV Accepting Online Viewer Nominations for Sexy Chefs Awards

SAN FRANCISCO, September 28 – TasteTV, the leading online and video on-demand food, wine and lifestyle television network, announced today that it is accepting viewer nominations for its newest program, SEXY CHEFS. TasteTV can be seen by millions of viewers from its broadband streaming video channel at http://www.TasteTV.com/ and on cable Video On Demand.

The SEXY CHEFS program will feature profiles of chefs nominated online by viewers at http://www.TasteTV.com/. The chefs can be located in any city, any state, or any country. The Sexy Chef Award will be included as part of the program. Any visitor to the site can nominate chefs, as well as TasteTV’s community of Tastemakers, Tastesetters, and Taste Producers.

<>Launched in 2004 as the Indie Food Channel, TasteTV brings to food lovers exciting and delicious cooking shows, top chef recipe demonstrations, chocolate and wine tastings, product & restaurant reviews, and reality series. Several programs are viewer contributed content submitted by talented home chefs, culinary professionals, and independent filmmakers, as well as developed in-house by TasteTV.

Says TasteTV’s Kevin Reed, “TasteTV was launched two years ago based on our CEO’s predictions that online and on demand video bandwidth was increasing, that new ways of making video were becoming less costly, and most importantly, that content creation by individuals and independents was the wave of the future. We’re very proud of our 100% accuracy rate in forecasting the YouTubes, Google Videos, mySpaces and others leading the way today, and it’s also why we’ve been ready to cook!”

TasteTV’s city-based restaurant and food coverage has been expanding nationally from Northern California cities like San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, Santa Cruz and San Jose to include Chicago, Las Vegas, Seattle, Miami and Los Angeles. This expansion includes both its Chocolate Television program and the Million Dollar Dinner brand.

TasteTV operates online on the Brightcove internet television platform, and is currently funded by TCB CAFE Publishing & Media. It can also be viewed by millions of households in Northern California on cable, via Video On Demand.

In addition to SEXY CHEFS, the firm is developing new programs from its cookbook/travelguide, “Chocolate French, 2nd Edition,” and its business/relationship how-to, “Everything I Know about Dating I Learned in Business School.”

TasteTV has added Apple’s iTunes as a platform choice for making selected “taste-teaser” clips available as video podcasts

This blog from the contributors, producers and culinary correspondents at
TasteTV at TasteTV.com

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Recently published food-related books about New Orleans

Rick Nelson of the Star Tribune writes about new food related books on New Orleans. Not bad, but he left out our book, CHOCOLATE FRENCH, 2nd Edition, which has an entire section on New Orleans recipes from the best restaurants in town.

“The best way to plan a visit to New Orleans? A pre-getaway jaunt through the city’s distinctive flavors, via a few recently published food-related books.”

See Rick’s booklist here

See Chocolate French here (or go to one of the nationwide events with chefs and chocolatiers signing copies)

This blog from the contributors, producers and culinary correspondents at
TasteTV at TasteTV.com

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New Orleans,
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“Take Home Chef” Celebrity Chef Eric Johansen

This sounded like it might be an interesting food event in a town we’ve never visited: “Under The Tent” party at Lewis Park on the evening of Saturday, Aug. 26, is a major fund raiser for the Historical Society of the Town of Warwick.

“Take Home Chef.” Celebrity chefs Eric Johansen, a CIA-trained chef from the Iron Forge Inn, Bellvale, and Michael DiMartino, a CIA-trained chef of the Landmark Inn, Warwick, will assist you in planning a menu, selecting the wine and shopping at your local grocer, then off to the comfort of your own kitchen to prepare a sumptuous meal for you and your guests.

This blog from the contributors, producers and culinary correspondents at
TasteTV at TasteTV.com

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Restaurant Reviews,
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Gourmet Mango’s Grilled Cesar Salad from Food TV Canada


Gourmet Mango blog has a pretty good recipe that according to them:

I must tell you, it felt almost criminal – like putting red wine in the fridge or something. I followed this recipe from Chef Michael Smith on Food TV Canada. It surprised the hell out of all four of us because we all really enjoyed it.

This blog from the contributors, producers and culinary correspondents at
TasteTV at TasteTV.com

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Restaurant Reviews,
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Neo Soul Food Cookbook


TAMMIE SMITH of the Richmond Times Dispatch (Virginia) reports that there’s a new cookbook out called, “Neo Soul, Taking Soul Food to a Whole ‘Nutha Level,” by Lindsey Williams.

What a title…

what a title…

what a title.

The cover design is actually quite well done. If we can get a copy we might review it on TasteTV.

I’m actually a little hungry now.

Tammie says it

“offers healthier versions of traditional Southern favorites, such as macaroni and cheese, apple cobbler, corn bread and fried chicken. The Joy Program celebration dinner included recipes from Williams’ cookbook prepared by a local catering firm.”

According to Amazon.com, it might be worth reading:

From the grandson of Harlem’s queen of soul food, Sylvia Woods, comes a revolution in cooking down-home foods that taste as good as you remember but with less fat, salt, and calories. Lindsey Williams knows soul food. He grew up in the kitchen of his grandmother’s restaurant, Sylvia’s, where he mastered the art of soul-food cooking. But a lifetime of biscuits, coleslaw, corn bread, and fried chicken took its toll. When the scale tipped 400 pounds, Lindsey knew it was time to make some changes. The result is Neo Soul, a new kind of cooking that brings all the flavors to the plate but slashes the fat and calories.

Now, this paperback edition contains even more delicious soul-food recipes, alongside favorites like Grandma’s Roasted Turkey, Lenzo’s Trout Stuffed with Collard Greens, Okra Gumbo, Neo Sweet Potato Pie, and Blueberry Buckle. With food this tasty, no one will miss the fat.

This blog from the contributors, producers and culinary correspondents at
TasteTV at TasteTV.com

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Restaurant Reviews,
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Candlelit restaurant with linen napkins and fried chicken

Have you ever gone to a candlelit restaurant with linen napkins and ordered fried chicken? I have. And it was good. Real good.

The restaurant was Maverick, a posh little haunt in San Francisco’s Mission district where 12 friends and I gathered last week to celebrate a birthday. The menu is upscale American cuisine, with a focus on Southern fare, a concept that’s not commonly used in finer dining restaurants. In fact, the restaurant is named for Samuel Maverick, a renegade cattle rancher who refused to brand his herd. Hence, it’s easy to make the correlation between the unique cuisine and the restaurant’s namesake.

I was definitely in the minority at my table, where everyone but myself ordered the pan-fried snapper. Albeit, it was served with tempting little hushpuppies, but I wanted to keep it real with the Southern theme. When I saw the appetizers that were coming to our table: fried green tomatoes and barbecued baby back ribs, the fried chicken sung out to me as the entrée of choice.

Although fried chicken is considered a comfort food, it’s not as simple to make as you may think. Like anything cooked up in the kitchen, there are bad, good and exceptional ways to make fried chicken. I didn’t quite realized the nuances of frying chicken until a friend of mine was creating the menu for her new restaurant and fried copious amounts of chicken to develop her signature version.

There are many things to consider when frying chicken. Crunchy skin or crispy? Thick or thin? Spicy or mild? Cornflakes, cornmeal or flour? Buttermilk marinade or plain? Egg dip or plain flour dredge? Shortening or oil? Paper towel or rack drain? To the connoisseurs, it’s a very serious undertaking.

The fried chicken at Maverick turned out to be some of the best I’ve had. Not only was it cooked to its full juicy potential, the deep golden skin had a shatter so crisp it compelled me to pluck off pieces of the skin and munch them down before I even cut into the meat. In fact, even after I was full and couldn’t eat another piece of chicken, I managed to polish off the seasoned skin before my plate was taken from the table.

Never let the décor of a restaurant dictate your entrée choice. Even when you’re being treated by top-rate service and presented with a cork before enjoying the vintage of the evening, don’t second-guess what you’re palate is craving. Especially if it’s fried chicken.


This blog from the contributors, producers and culinary correspondents at
TasteTV at TasteTV.com

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