Perfect Baby Shower Gift? Parents of infants would try just about anything to make them happy, healthy, and sleeping quietly, as TasteTV successfully found with swaddling sacks with wings from SwaddleDesigns.
Years ago at the 5th Annual TASTE AWARDS, “Great Chefs” received the PIONEER AWARD. Recently Great Chefsannounced the launch of its new website, www.greatchefs.com, coinciding with its 40th anniversary.
The website is a priceless archive of cooking technique videos from classically-trained chefs, their biographies, streaming video on demand cooking lessons and over 800 dishes and recipes. Unlike cooking competition shows, Great Chefs provides free video on demand cooking techniques that can be watched indefinitely. In addition, for those travelling around the world, the new Great Chefs website provides direction to the finest restaurants in 51 countries and 347 cities.
“We are thrilled to celebrate our 40th anniversary along with the launch of our website,” said John Shoup, Co-founder and CEO of Great Chefs. “We’ve come a long way since we taped our first show Hot Stuff in 1979 in New Orleans, which was the beginning of the Great Chefs series for PBS. Our new site serves as a hub for all of our content from over the years and provides a plethora of phenomenal resources for the next generation of culinary professionals and aspiring home cooks.”
Highlights of the new Great Chefs website include:
Launched in New Orleans, the original Great Chefs television series had a 40-plus-year successful run on television, including PBS, Discovery Channel and the Travel Channel. It featured hundreds of prominent chefs from around the world, introducing them and their kitchens to a hungry television audience.
The Eone Bradley watch looks smart and stylish, but it also makes it possible to tell the time without actually seeing it.
If you’re hungry or thirsty for great food, wine and beer in Napa or Sonoma, the Oakville Grocery has been re-energized with a new vision, new partners, and fantastic quality.
Oakville Grocery, the general store that has been a gathering place for locals and tourists for nearly 140 years, has been enhanced since joining the Boisset Collection in 2019. Visitors to both Oakville in Napa and Healdsburg in Sonoma will now find an emphasis on local sustainable, organic and Biodynamic food offerings as well as an expanded wine selection that includes exclusive, highly allocated wines by the taste, glass or bottle. These new items, as well as the grocery’s signature favorites, can now be enjoyed on renovated patios during extended summer hours.
“We are so excited to bring new life into community landmarks in Napa Valley and Sonoma County,” said Jean-Charles Boisset, proprietor of Boisset Collection. “Oakville Grocery is a phenomenal destination where guests can spend a relaxing afternoon trying a selection of amazing wines; fresh, healthy and local cuisine; and fabulous craft beers!”
The historical legacy of the Oakville destination has been made more prominent through extensive signage throughout the property that tell the story of its founding role in Napa Valley. In addition, the property next door — 1881 Napa Wine History Museum & Tasting Salon — features tastings of wines from 13 sub-appellations of Napa Valley as well as an archive of wine relics open for complimentary visitation and has published its own history of the region.
“Normally wine lovers have to wait on allocation lists for years to purchase these [hard to get] bottles,” said Ed Maass, Oakville Grocery Wine Program Manager. “We are thrilled that we can make these beautiful wines more accessible and offer them by the taste and glass at Oakville Grocery, and through our Oakville Wine Society.”
Throughout each store, the wine selections have been significantly expanded and diversified as well as organized by appellation. In the Oakville location guests can discover wines from nearly 300 Napa Valley vintners and in Healdsburg they can browse through an equally large selection of Sonoma County producers. The flagship location in Napa Valley also has two new spaces dedicated to wine: a “cave” where guests can sample the highest-end wines from the Napa Tech machines as well as a wine vault that guests can enter and make selections from, as if they’re perusing their own wine cellar at home.
“Our motto is ‘Eat Local, Drink Local, Picnic Local.’ We want to sell products that are made as close to Oakville Grocery as possible,” said Oakville Grocery General Manager Barry Dinsmore, referencing both the Oakville and Healdsburg locations of the store. He estimated that 70% of products in the stores hail from California, with another 20% from the U.S. and the remaining 10% international.
One of the new food providers Oakville Grocery has partnered with is Ohm Coffee Roasters. The Napa Valley-based company led by former sommelier and wine marketing professional Derek Bromley is the exclusive coffee provider for both the Oakville and Healdsburg locations. The Oakville location now has a coffee machine from La Marzocco, the benchmark Italian brand, as a central feature of the upgraded coffee program.
In addition to new foods and wines, the Oakville location has a renovated patio with new furniture and umbrellas to better enable guests to take in views of some of Napa Valley’s most notable landmarks—the Mayacamas Mountains and the landmark To Kalon vineyard to the west and the valley’s highest point, Mt. St. Helena, to the north.
“None of us own 1881 Napa or Oakville Grocery. We are just guests in their history. These places will outlive us,” said Boisset.
More Information
In Oakville (Napa Valley), Oakville Grocery is located at 7856 St. Helena Highway. In Healdsburg (Sonoma County), Oakville Grocery is located at 124 Matheson Street
About Boisset Collection
Boisset is a family-owned collection of historic and unique wineries and lifestyle destinations led by Jean-Charles Boisset and bound together by a common vision: authentic, terroir-driven wines in harmony with their history, their future and the land and people essential to their existence. With more than 25 historical and prestigious still and sparkling wineries in the world’s preeminent terroirs, including Burgundy, Beaujolais, Jura, the Rhône Valley, the south of France, and California’s Russian River Valley and the Napa Valley. Its California wineries include DeLoach Vineyards, Raymond Vineyards, Buena Vista Winery and JCB by Jean-Charles Boisset; its French properties feature Domaine de la Vougeraie, Jean-Claude Boisset, Bouchard Aîné et Fils, J. Moreau et Fils, Louis Bouillot, Henrie Maire, Fortant and Bonpas. Each house retains its unique history, identity and style, and all are united in the pursuit of fine wines expressive of their terroir. Wine is at the center of Boisset’s mission, and is complemented by spirits, beer, cider, gourmet foods and luxury goods, both of its own design and from partnerships with historic companies such as Baccarat, Lalique, St. Louis, Riedel, Christofle, and Bernardaud. To learn more about the Boisset Collection, please visit www.boissetcollection.com.
For families and singles who are tired of fast food and heat-and-serve meals, Parrano cheese has released a tasty new Mac ‘n’ Cheese recipe with cheese guru and author Laura Werlin.
Chicken and Crispy Skin
Preparation
Carefully remove the skin, in one piece, from the chicken breasts. Cut the meat into 1/2” pieces. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally until the meat is no longer pink. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chicken to a bowl. Add the hot sauce and stir to combine. Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel, then reheat it over medium-high heat. Add the chicken skin. Cook until golden brown on one side, about 5 minutes. Use a spatula to flatten the skin, as necessary. Turn and cook the other side until browned and very crisp, about 5-7 minutes.
Remove skins to a paper towel lined plate. When cool, break into pieces.
Mac ‘n’ Cheese
Preparation
Prepare the pasta according to the package directions, to the al dente stage. Drain. In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Stir constantly for about 2 minutes, until the mixture begins to darken and smell a bit nutty. Slowly whisk in the milk, heavy cream and salt. Cook about 5-7 minutes, until it begins to thicken and bubble around the edges. Add 6 cups of the Parrano cheese, the gorgonzola, cream cheese, hot sauce and dry mustard. Stir until the cheeses are melted and the sauce is thickened. Add the pasta, chicken, celery and chives. Stir to combine. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining Parrano cheese and crispy, chicken skin. Place the baking dish on a rimmed cookie sheet. Bake until bubbling and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before serving.
Parrano cheese can be found in retail stores, as well as at https://www.parrano.com/
About Parrano
Parrano captures two of the world’s greatest cheeses in one wheel; Gouda and Parmesan. After aging for 5 months, Parrano develops a firm and smooth texture typically found in a Gouda with the nutty flavor and buttery aroma of a well-aged Parmesan. Perfect for slicing and shredding, Parrano is an tasty accompaniment to sandwiches, paninis, salads, soups
TasteTV, the International Chocolate Salon and TCB Cafe Publishing and Media are pleased to announce the publication of the newest book,
This new book contains experiences, tips, advice from those who have already done it. A must-have for any aspiring or current chocolatier and chocolate maker.
Are you interested in chocolate and confections as a small business? There are many how-to books on starting an enterprise, but often the best advice comes directly from those with actual experience. Thus came the idea for this book; this “primer.” Why not ask chocolatiers firsthand what they have experienced and what they recommend? With this concept in mind, we composed a set of key questions and asked them to interesting artisans from around the world with experience in both the business and creative sides of chocolate. Their answers on creativity, product, branding and business are very frank and often personal, and written in a journal or diary style. The information in the resulting primer is worth its weight in gold.
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