Interview with Salmon Croquettes, Food Media & Catering!

Welcome to appetizers 101. Thanks to The French Culinary Institute (FCI), you can watch how to make a killer brunch appetizer, salmon croquettes with quail eggs, and get a few chef techniques along the way. Enjoy the brunch, the french techniques and take a sneak peek at my interview about catering, food media and art on The French Culinary Institute’s blog, The Hot Plate (FCI interview sneak peek, below). Enjoy!

Recipe: Salmon Croquette with Quail Egg Appetizer

Interview: A Spoon in Many Pots with Brandon Maya Johnson

Interview Sneak Peek: Taste a few snippets from my interview, A Spoon in Many Pots, with The French Culinary Institute…

Brandon Maya Johnson
Program: Classic Culinary Program, Evenings, March ’09
Age: You don’t get this without a martini.
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Current City: Brooklyn, New York

The French Culinary Institute: What have you been doing since you graduated?
Brandon: “Food media and catering is my life and love. Since graduating, I’ve catered for Danny Meyer’s Union Square Events, I’ve tested recipes for Saveur magazine, and I’ve consulted and written for the Cooking Channel’s, Food Network’s and Saveur Magazine’s websites. I also do chef instructing for Share Our Strength. If you’d ask which is better, I’d say, “Thank goodness I don’t have to choose.” I am wild about food media and cooking. Although, I must admit, there is nothing more enjoyable than slicing, plating, and flavoring food.”

The French Culinary Institute: You have a spoon in many pots right now. How do you see these various aspects of your career coming together or meeting your ultimate goal…which is?
Brandon: “My goal is to use food to fuel various creative avenues. The cooking and media experience blend beautifully. I can cook, then share the technique and recipe on the web, just like in the video we did. I have an ultimate goal, but I’m taking it one step at a time. Stay tuned.”

The French Culinary Institute: What are three ingredients you can’t live without?
Brandon: “Bone-in rib-eye, tomatoes, and garlic (and seafood!). What can I say? I’m a savory girl!”

The French Culinary Institute: You are going to make a salmon croquette for us today. Why did you choose this particular recipe to share?
Brandon: “Thank, Mr. Johnson (my dad) for the salmon croquette recipe. He used to make salmon croquettes for Sunday brunch, and I wanted to make this recipe personal—something that represented my family and my love of creative appetizers. You don’t see brunch appetizers every day, and this is a unique and easy appetizer recipe with good techniques. I hope you enjoy eating it as much as I enjoy cooking it!”

Enjoy the entire interview, A Spoon in Many Pots, here.

Feel free to ask questions and make comments, below. Happy Cooking!.

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"A Day with Andy & Eggs"

by Zach Field

Pop Art is arguably one of the most revolutionary art movements of the twentieth century. Aiming to deflate and re-establish a societal order that had begun to sink in to lethargy, the work the leaders of this schoolwere able to generate were greeted, initially, with great aversion and their paintings seen as a malign to the medium. Andy Warhol was among these few who spent the majority of his life as an artist with his creativity and integrity in constant question. His art was absurd and the materials he juxtaposed were rarely harmonious to the layman’s eye. In time, Warhol’s work began to gain recognition. The everyday objects he was able to graft together were granted admission as art and his carouse of the mundane was lauded and much looked after. Like most of his great contemporaries, Andy Warhol understood the essence of creativity. He knew how to make light of the world around him and masterpieces by celebrating the daily subjects that surrounded him. In one quick brush stroke the ordinary was exalted and everyday items, like the Campbell soup can, brought to life, and copied in color creating work our culture now recognizes as iconic.

Similarly, a good chef understands that the purest dishes are derived from the simplest ingredients. Using a product as commonplace as an egg, it seemed only appropriate to tackle this project with the abstract idea of making sense of the two; correlating a connection between the importance of surprise and whimsy in both art, and food. One needn’t be rapt in the works of Warhol; the Pop movement didn’t lend itself to that the way The Ashcan School, or even Fauvism did. A large body of Andy Warhol’s work was product oriented, the way my menu was solely product driven. As a chef, and a person, I am interested in the irreverent and preternatural connection between art and nostalgia, the pallet and the mind. The egg is one of the most basic and widely know types of food, and sources of protein, on the planet. It is bold, elegant and perfect in design both inside and out. We all have our own associations of what it is (Easy? Boring? Comfort food?) And it’s those exact archetypes I’m looking to address and eradicate in my dishes. Each course is egg based and in addition to delighting the diner, I want to encourage them to try new things—or rather, to see old thing in a light that’s new. To be open to the kinds of food their parents never served them. It’s about enticing someone with the familiar and leaving them sated and content for having experienced something new.

I like plates that toy with texture and whatever existing ideas you may have about the dishes ingredients. I also like a beverage that enhances those very playful textures and completes the journey, the alchemy, that only a well made meal can incite. Take the Curried Egg Salad for example; I felt with all that is taking place with the flavors of the dish, why no finish things off with a nice 2003 NEETHLINGSHOF GEWüRZTRAMINER, from South Africa; a spicy wine with off dry flavors and zesty finish.

People have very different ideas about what eggs represent in their minds, our kitchens, and our collective culture as a whole. Often times Eggs aren’t even acknowledged after 9a.m. If I am able to incorporate my given product in to an entire menu while I educate, entertain, and gratify my diner, I’ve done my job as a chef.

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Project 5: Understanding the Potato

Potatoes are a wonderful product that chefs in restaurants and cooks at home get to use in everyday meals. There are a vast variety of potatoes that are all distinguished between one another. Color, taste, nutritional value, and texture of potatoes are only a few of the characteristics, but despite their differences they all share a common history. Regardless of the common idea that potatoes came from the Irish, extensiveresearch has shown that the potatoes true origin is from Peru, South America. Potatoes originated in the high Andes of Peru some 8,000 years ago, because of this the U.N. announced in December of 2005, that the year 2008 was the International Year of Potatoes.

Peruvian gastronomy is one of my favorite types of cuisine. The different dishes from coast to
highlands show an extraordinary way to express the many different ingredients, techniques, and Peruvian history in each dish. Peruvians are well known for the their seafood, corn, and of course potatoes among many other wonderful ingredients. Peru has the largest variety of these three ingredients over anywhere else in the world. Peru has over 1,000 different species of seafood, 35 different varieties of corn, and over 3,000 native potatoes. Due to the climates and soils that they need to be cultivated in, many of these can only be grown in Peru.

I decided to make a menu using five varieties of potatoes, all cooked in different ways and used in six dishes. Moving from the Pacific coast to the Incan highlands, I created a menu to showcase the differences in Peruvian cuisine. I believe that Peruvian cuisine will be the next cuisine fad for the world over, and that there are still many things to be revealed in the culinary environment. Through the printing on my menu and the photos I have taken you’ll be able to appreciate the influence of Peru in my style of cooking. Although Peru has a plethora of potato products their geographical location in South America has rendered them unable to produce wine very well. For that reason, I wrote a wine menu from different countries around the world. From old world to new world wines, I believe I put together a menu striving

towards perfection of matching my menu in the best ways. A nice sweet Riesling from Alsace France became a beautiful way to start off, the balance between the two acids and a nice accent of mineral that blended with the fish. For the Causa, I stayed in France because of this one wine that I think is brilliant with this dish, a 2004 Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux witch married this dish, its acidity is more round but enough to match the grapefruit, it has a nice salinity for the brine as well as mineral, unlike a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, this wine says old world. Heading south to Rioja Spain, to match the scallop with a White Rioja, its cream
finish fits the scallop and the sauce very well, it has a nice taste of apricot and lemon zest, great for giving the dish freshness, this wine has a great deal of earthiness for the potato and provides great balance for all the ingredients. Crossing the Atlantic to California into Monterey, I selected a Pinot Noir. It has a hint of sea like flavor from the wind blowing off the sea into the vineyard; witch goes very well with the soy flavor in the onions. It’s very crisp and has a nice salinity. This dish is very light and I wanted a light wine to match it, through this wine I found a good feel of earthy to combine the onions and the rest of the dish. Choosing a
wine for the pork belly was not easy, because of the pomegranate witch gives a lot of wines a weird taste to them, I had to pick wisely. Back to the old world I chose a Piedmont from Italy, witch contained a full tannin feel to it with the richness of the pork belly, it has a lot of earthiness witch bines the potatoes and the pork as well as it being very tart to cut the fat and match the salsa criolla. For the final pairing I chose a more balanced wine, but still off dry for desert. A Sauvignon Blanc from Aconcagua Valley, Chile, its sweetness and acid really balances out the entire dish from the corn sauce and the cream and lime, to the earthy background of
the potato and saffron, this wine really finishes off the meal of a great pairing.

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Project 5: Fat

Fat.
There are few seemingly innocuous words that are associated with such stigma and, well, fear. I hardly need to explain myself – and I know from experience that convincing the average American that “full-figured” women used to be considered beautiful isa futile task. Columnist Dave Barry is quoted as saying “Cigarette sales would drop to zero overnight if the warning said CIGARETTES CONTAIN FAT”. Diet soda, margarine, diet pills, low-fat, egg whites, and skim are household terms. Having lived in a city like Los Angeles, where naked salads come alongside your eggs instead of buttery potatoes and the Lemonade Diet is advertised at Whole Foods, I’ve seen extremes. But times are changing. Pork fat’s deliciousness seems to outweigh the saturated fat – here in New York it’s practically a trend. Grub Street of NYMag.com even claims “Time Out’s Favorite 100 Foods of the Year Are a Celebration of Fatty Fat Fat”. Perhaps with a bit of help from Dr. Atkins and a decade of “foodies” and food TV, we have begun to embrace that part of food culture that we have shunned only in the last generation.
Olive oil was the first to be in vogue, touting itself as a cholesterol-lowering, “heart-healthy” oil. But every fat has some kind of benefit, as Houck outlines in his article: fat is a necessary nutrient, it provides a perfect cooking environment (and storing, i.e. confit), and it’s delicious. The fact that we need to consume necessary fats that our bodies do not make (essential fatty acids), and that many important vitamins, including A, D, E and K are fat-soluble (absorbed in our bodies with the help of lipids) is a clear argument for fat intake. Fat also protects vital organs and is used for the production of cell membranes and compounds that regulate many of our regular body functions such as the nervous system and blood pressure (Houck 2). When Atkins’ predecessor attempted to prove that man could healthily live on protein alone, he discovered that today’s lean meats would not suffice: he immediately fell ill. However, when fat was reintroduced into his meats, he lived sans health problems for a year under medical supervision. Not necessarily any doctor’s advice, but still an interesting morsel to consider.
So here I am, post three nutrition lessons at the FCI, seeking to find alternative uses for the delicious substances lumped together in the category: FAT. Experts are claiming that getting about 30% of our daily calories from fat is actually healthy. What makes most sense is that there are indeed “good” and “bad” fats. Many cultural diets, such as the Mediterranean diet include around that much or more yet have 20 times less heart disease and 10 times less cancer than Americans (Jibrin 1). However, a traditional Japanese diet includes only about 10% fat. The links appear to be the omega-3 and omega-6 ratio, which is favorable in both diets, and a low intake of saturated fats. As Americans, it is critical to be conscious of these things, since we are not limited in the scope of our diet.
It’s about choice. What kind, where from, how much. Still, if you’re like most of us, you’re shaking your head in doubt at this short discourse, obesity and heart disease statistics coming to mind. We’ve been well culturally conditioned. Trying different kinds of fats is worth exploring for flavor alone, but hopefully we’ll eventually accept it as a part of our diet, as opposed to just something “unhealthy” from which we instinctively abstain. “I love fat, whether it’s a slice of fois gras terrine, its layer of yellow fat melting at the edges; rich, soft marrow scooped hot from the bone; French butter from Normandy redolent of herbs, flowers and cream; hot bacon fat, spiked with vinegar, wilting a plate of pungent greens into submission…I love fat; I love the way it feels in my mouth and I love its many tastes”, says Jennifer McLagan, author of Fat, An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient. She’s also quite thin, in case you were wondering.

Fat Menu (select dishes to view recipes):
WALNUT OIL:
Spinach Salad with Spiced Walnut Oil Dressing 
asian pear, grapefruit, toasted walnuts, red onion
PINE NUT OIL:
Cauliflower Soup with Basil-Pine Nut Oil
 seared bay scallops, croutons, toasted pine nuts
MILKFAT:
Butternut Squash and Ricotta Ravioli with Brown Butter Sauce
crisp sage
SESAME OIL:
Pork Belly and Cucumber Salad
sesame garlic confit
DUCK FAT:
Duck Confit and Duck Fat Rice Cakes
shitake mushrooms and scallions



SUET and OLIVE OIL:
Maple Walnut Tart with Suet Crust
olive oil ice cream, caramel sauce

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Project 5: A Brunch Menu

The French Culinary Institute’s Level 5 project is a taste what (F.C.I) students are made of. This project is for students in the classic culinary arts program (One level away from graduation) and is the most creative assignment of the year. Students write an essay, create a themed 4-course menu with wine pairings, and take pictures of their delicious fare. 

Eat Life is showcasing select students so everyone can get a glimpse of the talent behind F.C.I’s kitchen doors. Introducing Deirdre Santos’ level 5 project, A Brunch Menu.

BRUNCH MENU:

1ST COURSE 

SWEET ONION AND ROASTED RED PEPPER SOUP WITH CROUTONS 
 

2ND COURSE

BROWN BUTTER BASTED SCALLOPS WITH LOBSTER 

WINE: 2006 BOUCHARD AINE & FILS MACON VILLAGES 

3RD COURSE

CRISPY SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN WITH CORNBREAD WAFFLES AND WARM SPICY APPLE MAPLE SYRUP 
 

4TH COURSE

POACHED EGG AND BRAISED SHORT RIBS OVER ROASTED POTATO HASH WITH HOLLANDAISE SAUCE 

WINE: 2005 CHATEAU LA FREYNELLE ROUGE 
 

5TH COURSE

PAN SEARED BABY LAMB CHOPS WITH BLACKBERRY BALSAMIC REDUCTION, AND ASPARAGUS 

WINE: 2006 CONCANNON PINOT NOIR LIMITED 
 

6TH COURSE

DUAL DESSERTS 

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH COCONUT PECAN FROSTING

BLACK WALNUT ICE CREAM 

WINE: 2005 QUADY ELYSIUM BLACK MUSCAT 


To see WINE PAIRINGS and The ESSAY, click "Read More":

WINE PAIRINGS:

Some of the course ingredients are rich and heavy making the accompanying of wine very important; not only to enhance the foods flavor, but to help cut the heaviness and fattiness of that particular course. Wine has been paired with four of the eight courses from this menu:

2nd Course – Brown Butter Basted Scallops with Lobster
This course was paired with 2006 Bouchard Aine & Fils Macon Villages. This wine pairs perfectly with any seafood and because of its higher acidity cuts the butter of this dish. This wine has flavors of pear, apple, and pineapple fruit. Has a crisp acidity, yet is in creamy texture with a medium finish.

4th Course - Poached Egg and Braised Short Ribs over Roasted Potato Hash with Hollandaise
This course was paired with 2005 Chateau La Freynelle Rouge. This wine pairs well because it cuts the fat from the braised short ribs and the hollandaise sauce. This Chateau Freynelle is a blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon with a very intense spice, and flavors of chocolate and plums. On the palate the wine is well balanced with ripe, spicy fruit and a savory character, while the finish is long and elegant.

5th Course – Pan Seared Baby Lamb Chops with Blackberry Balsamic Reduction & Asparagus
This course was paired with 2006 Concannon Pinot Noir Limited. This medium-bodied wine displays vibrant aromas of black cherry, ripe raspberry and strawberry as well as bright red fruit flavors that are balanced with hints of tar, leather and vanilla. It has a higher acidity to balance the flavor of the reduction.

6th Course –German Chocolate Cake with Coconut Pecan Frosting & Black Walnut Ice Cream
This course was paired with 2005 Quady Elysium Black Muscat, which is used to either accompany or replace dessert. It pairs well with blue cheeses, desserts containing red fruits (such as summer pudding), vanilla, dark chocolate and ice cream desserts.

BRUNCH MENU ESSAY:

The influences of this menu include foods I ate as a child growing up in Mobile, Alabama, foods I have never tried and foods and flavors I enjoy. Some of the foods on this menu bring comforting memories of family and good times I had as a child. Food was always an extremely important component of my southern culture and I naturally wanted to bring some of that influence into my menu.

My menu theme is brunch. What is Brunch? The simple answer is a combination of breakfast and lunch, usually eaten sometime between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday brunch has become quite popular both for home entertaining and in restaurants. “Though brunch is thought of as an American tradition, H. L. Mencken tells us that it was popular in England around 1900 . . . Long before it reached the United States”. Culinary evidence confirms well-supplied leisurely enjoyed meals have been the privilege of the wealthy and noble classes since the beginning of civilization. Dining times, order of service, length of meals, and proper social etiquette vary with period and culture but one point remains constant: only the very rich could afford to spend extended time and expense indulging themselves in the pleasures of food. According to the food historians, brunch is a turn of the 19th/20th century tradition originating in Britain. 

Brunch is a favorite course of mine as it encompasses breakfast, which is my favorite course of the day, with lunch, which can include smaller portions of dinner items. One of the foods that say brunch more than any other is the “Waffle”. According to Larousse Gastronomique, “"The ancient Greeks used to cook very flat cakes, which they called obleios, between two hot metal plates. This method of cooking continued to be used in the middle Ages by the obloyeurs who made all sorts of oublies, which were flat or rolled into coronets. The oublie became the waffle in the 13th century, when a craftsman had the idea of forging some cookie plates reproducing the characteristic pattern of honeycombs, which at that time were called gaufres (from the Old French wafla)."

"The word [waffle] is from the Dutch wafel, and first appeared in English print in 1735. The item was known to the Pilgrims, who had spent time in Holland before sailing to America in 1620, and waffle parties became popular in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Thomas Jefferson returned from France with a waffle iron, a long-handled patterned griddle that encloses the batter and gives it its characteristic crispness and shape. A century later vendors on city streets sold waffles hot and slathered with molasses or maple syrup. Waffles continued to be extremely popular breakfast items in the twentieth century, and electric waffle irons made the timing of the cooking easier. Then, in 1953 Frank Dorsa introduced frozen waffles into supermarkets, calling them Eggo Waffles. At the 1964 World's Fair Belgian Waffles made with yeast and thicker than the usual waffle, were an immediate sensation, and they are sold today at stands, county fairs, carnivals, and other fast-food outlets."

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Sweet Health

by Rebekah Peppler

As I sat down to write this article, in the weeks after a positively gluttonous holiday season, my mind immediately went to the conventional basis of low-fat desserts: fresh fruit. But I’m a pastry-arts student for a reason, I imbibe hedonistic sweets on a daily basis. A piece of fruit – as my mother has heard in various incarnations – is not dessert.

It wasn’t until I opened up Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts by Alice Medrich, a woman whose name has become synonymous with rich chocolate desserts through her groundbreaking chocolate shop Cocolat, in Berkeley, California.She was the first to introduce America to the luxurious cream-laden French truffle, and her philosophy on dessert noticeably reflects my own: “a little bit of something very good is more satisfying than a large portion of something mediocre.”

Medrich, who has written many award-winning dessert cookbooks (few of which can be considered low-fat in nature) won the James Beard Awards “Cookbook of the Year” for Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts in 1994. Most captivating, and admirable, is that Medrich never aims to make desserts that emphasize their low-fat nature. In fact, she strives to make the point that the dessert's lower fat and calorie content is merely an afterthought. In the process, she creates rich, beautiful desserts that just so happen to be better for your waistline.

So, I shunned the fruit bowl once again and set out to discover Medrich’s figure-friendly chocolate creations. Paging through her book, past the “Fallen Chocolate Souffle Torte,” and “Chocolate Haystack,” I came to a mouthwatering halt at “Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles.” When my eyes scanned to the nutritional information, I was shocked to read that each contained only 47 calories. A low-fat chocolate truffle promising all the lusciousness of the pure-chocolate and cream truffle that made Medrich famous in the first place? Sign me up.

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Feast of the Seven Fish

by Andrea Scalici

In the Italian culture, there are a lot of traditions. Some make sense, some don’t, some can be explained, some can’t. We are so rooted in custom, often based around the Catholic religion, that most of the time the reasoning doesn’t even matter. One such tradition is the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve, or La Vigilia. This celebration is a commemoration of the wait, Vigilia di Natale, for the midnight birth of the baby Jesus. Despite the fact that fish dishes make excellent meals anyway, the symbolization comes from (most popularly believed) the seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. Or, in the 13-dish version, it pays homage to Jesus and his 12 apostles. In Italy, what was served during the Feast also showed the wealth of the family with the well-to-do enjoying roast capitone (eel), and the less fortunate making do with baccalà.

In my family, the tradition was set long before I came along. My father’s grandparents brought it with them from Napoli and Sicily to Staten Island, like many of their neighbors around them. My dad and his siblings always recount the stories of the good ol’ days while cooking our own annual Feast. They talk about Grandpa Angelo, the baccalà guy, soaking the big cardboard looking dry cod in the bathtub 24 hours before Christmas Eve and how Grandma Rosie hated the smell. Angelo cooked the baccalà in a thin and spicy tomato broth with onion and celery (with pepper he called red cheese). This was my dad’s favorite, as was the oily eel that he baked with garlic and breadcrumbs. Naturally, my dad’s younger sisters don’t remember this because, as he points out, “Grandpa and I were the only ones who ate it!” Angelo also prepared clams oregenata (something we always try and recreate). Grandma Rosie did her thing with squid, stuffing the bodies with breadcrumbs, egg, parsley and garlic, and sewing them shut to cook in sauce. She always kept the skin of the eel to soak and put around sprains, which was supposed to take the pain and swelling away as it shrunk and tightened while drying. Another standby dish was the baked whiting, served hot or cold with lemon and parsley and crusty Italian bread. On the Sicilian side of the family, my dad’s Grandpa Antonino and Grandma Mary made "pulpo and scungilli", cold with oil, celery, parsley and lemon. This also still makes it to our table every year. The one thing in common in all Catholic-Italian homes however was, no meat allowed before midnight on Christmas Eve, so, as my father says, “we all slept with the fishes.”

Today many of the same customs live on, especially in the Scalici household. The baccalà has always been my dad’s favorite, but I don’t think it has ever been the same since the bathtub days. While we always have some variety of the basics, a baked filet (sole, flounder), a seafood marinara medley (shrimp, lobster, scallops), pulpo and scungilli salad, and clams oregenata of course, we put our own twist on things, making new memories with each passing Christmas (a “Mob Hits” sing-along ensues in the kitchen every year). And while we always have another extravagant feast of antipasti with sopressata and parmigiano-reggiano, fist-size ravioli, and a big roast on Christmas Day, nothing tops the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Though my aunt’s annual batches of biscotti and Venetian cookies are a close second.

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Charcuterie?

Click here to view video

Charcuterie is a form of cooking and curing meat and is one of the oldest forms of culinary techniques still used today.  Pate, bacon, sausage, and confit are all types of cured meat. Before refrigeration was introduced in the early twentieth century, curing was originally done to preserve and keep meat for long periods of time and long distances of travel. Pork is the most common ingredient used to make charcuterie. It is the common denominator between prosciutto, Serrano ham, and various sausages. The tradition and techniques of curing pork has changed over the centuries. Now cooks have evolved the craft as well as our technology to do all kinds of different things with meat. Dry Curing, Wet curing, Salting, Aging, and Brining are a few different ways to cure meat.  Go to your local deli or favorite restaurant and try items from the Charcuterie Tray, they mix well with almost anything, especially cheese and a good wine.

Written by Chad Fraley

Photography by Stephanie Garrison

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Fried Coca-Cola

The Texas State Fair was in full swing again this year and to no surprise the fried goodies were back. I grew up going to the fair every year just waiting to see what delightfully fried temptation would be the new delicacy. The fair ran from September 28th to October 21st in "Big D" (for all of you not from the great state of Texas this means Dallas ). With it came some of the craziest creations and most scrumptious concoctions people went home talking about, or feeling the heartburn from. Either way the food always makes memories.

2008 was no different. The Southern-Fried Old Fashioned Apple Pie can't be beat, nor can the original Corny Dog, first introduced at The State Fair of Texas in 1942. Brothers Carl and Neil Fletcher invented the batter-dipped, deep-fried hot dog in their Dallas kitchen and sold here where it took off like a Roman candle on the 4th of July. Today, descendants of the Fletcher brothers' sell nearly 500,000 corny dogs during the fair's 24-day run. Even chains like Wal-Mart and Target carry the infamous creation. And this was only the beginning...

I'm afraid of what they might come up with next. Over the past few years, we've seen the likes of fried green beans, fried coca-cola (a sweet dough ball, filled with the ball game beverage that is deep fried, and finished with powdered sugar), and the Belgium Waffle (A fresh butter waffle topped with whipped cream, freshly sliced strawberries and powdered sugar). Messy, yes, but it wouldn't be a trip to the fair without having one.

This year's winners of the "Best Tasting" and "Most Creative" food contests were by far the stuff coronaries are made of. For the "Best Tasting" event, the Chicken Fried Bacon won the blue ribbon, which was a thick and peppery slab of bacon double dipped in a top-secret batter, dredged in breading and deep-fried. It was served with a creamy side of flavored ranch or honey mustard sauce."Most Creative" went to the Fried Banana Split, a mixture of sliced banana rounds and honey peanut butter balls, battered and deep-fried. It was topped with delicious fixings, including caramel and chocolate syrups, chopped peanuts, whipped cream, powdered sugar and, of course, crowned with the traditional perching cherry.

Thankfully, the Texas state fair always happens annually with all its wacky and fun offerings, because should you really take food all that seriously? And thankfully the Texas state fair only happens annually, because once a year is plenty to enjoy the fried revelry.

Written by Chad Fraley

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Where the Chefs Eat!

Wanna find New York restaurants with the tastiest food, best service and beautiful atmosphere? Ask a Chef...

Chef Candy Argondizza

Favorite NY Restaurant: For Italian - my house or Novita

Your Favorite Menu item: Veal Milanese with a side of cappellini pomodoro

Why do you love it? Impeccable service, quality, tasty food, and great value for the money

Website: http://www.novitanyc.com/

Chef Dave Arnold

Favorite NY Restaurants: WD-50, Jean Georges, Ssam Bar and Taylor
Favorite Menu Items: At WD-50, Jean Georges, and Taylor, always get their tasting menu because the chefs include what they think is their best culinary creation. At Ssam Bar get their pork buns, and ALWAYS, ALWAYS GET DESSERT WHERE EVER YOU GO!!
Why do you love them?1. WD-50 always has something new and surprising on the menu. They made a puff beef tenderloin, so instead of pork rinds you have puff beef tenderloin! 
 2. Of all the top, upper echelon restaurants, Jean Georges is the fun one! They're an old school 4 star restaurant. The food is always consistently good and the desserts from pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini are amazing.
 3. At Ssam Bar there are no reservations and they are known for their juicy pork buns.
 4. Taylor is a restaurant created by a pastry chef who masters sweet and savory. The drinks and food are innovative. They just created an awesome new menu.

Websites

WD-50 - http://www.wd-50.com/

Jean Georges - http://www.jean-georges.com/

Ssam Bar - http://www.momofuku.com/ssam/default.asp

Taylor - http://www.ktrg.net/

Chef Marc Pavlovic

Favorite NY Restaurant: Marlow and Son in Brooklyn

Your Favorite Menu Item: Savory - Specials everyday, no favorite dishes …they're all good

Sweet - Pickled Cherry with Mascarpone

Why Do you Love it? They use all local farmers' products and the service is very laid back but very sharp….great music selection

Website http://www.marlowandsons.com/

Chef Pascal Beric

Favorite NY Restaurant: Daniel, 60 East 60^th

Your Favorite Menu item: Savory: Charcuterie platter. “Gruyere, proscuito, ham and anything from the pig really” 

Sweet: For a delicious and sinful dessert, Nutella Cups

Why do you love it? It is extremely elegant and classic French Cuisine.

Website: http://www.danielnyc.com/

Chef Ray Dawson

Favorite NY Restaurant: Asia De Cuba

Your Favorite Menu item: The Pork Belly, and the Avocado Rice

Why do you love it? The vibe in the place is amazing and the staff is great.  The food is interesting and consistent and is always a good meal.

Website: http://www.chinagrillmgt.com/adecNY/main.cfm?pp=0

Chef Tim Shaw

Favorite NY Restaurant: Wallse in the West Village

Your Favorite Menu item: Austrian pheasant strudel, rabbit stew, goulash, and/or schnitzel, with a great dessert wine and a decent cheese tray to finish. “I pretty much have the Morbier and a dessert wine every time I am there.”

Why do you love it? “I love it because every meal I have eaten there has been note perfect - its all Austrian, so I have had a pheasant strudel, a rabbit stew, goulash, schnitzel, and they have all been flavorful, filling yet not overly fussy.  The service is impeccable, and the wine list is all-Austrian and features some great choices”  

Chef Wanda Centeno

Favorite NY Restaurant: Per se

Your Favorite Menu item: An amuse bouche of salmon and tuna tartare cornets with onion creme fraiche.

Why do you love it? The sabayon of pearl tapioca with malpeque oysters was exquisite bliss on the palate.

Website: http://www.perseny.com/

Chef Xavier Mayonove

Favorite NY Restaurant: Terrace in the Sky, Manhattan

Your Favorite Menu Items: Braised pork belly, Rack of lamb Provencale, and Port poached foie gras

Why Do you Love it? The dishes are well executed for flavors, seasoning, presentation, and ingredients. Some look like I’m home in France. Jason Potanovich is related to a new line of young chefs not afraid to cook dishes with a modern look & taste. It’s elegant, romantic and the view of Manhattan is fantastic.

Website: http://www.terraceinthesky.com/

Written by FCI Chefs and edited by the Eat Life Team

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