ReMARKable Palate #236: The Wines of Manchuela

This week, we speak about the wines of the Manchuela region of Spain, a relatively new DO in an area that’s nonetheless been making wines for centuries. I was at a luncheon unveiling these wines for the first time to the American Wine press, and got to taste a number of their whites, rosadas, and especially their reds made from the Bobal grape.

Last week, we offered a copy of The Flexitarian Diet to a lucky commenter. Our winner is Nadine Lefkowitz from www.topanien.com! Congratulations. Contact me with your address and we’ll get a copy sent out to you, Nadine!

I’m so excited to announce that we’ve FINALLY published the long awaited Knife Skills 101 Video Course in the Cooking With Chef Mark school of our CMN Academy! It’s an 8 lesson series of videos, totaling more than 45 minutes, where I teach you the fundamentals of choosing a knife, sharpening your knives, knife safety, and how to slice, dice, and chop a number of vegetables, from onions, carrots, peppers, mushrooms, garlic and herbs. You can check it out at: http://academy.culinarymedianetwork.com.

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

The first full video course in the Cooking With Chef Mark series. Knife Skills 101 is an 8 episode series, showing you how to select a knife, keep it sharp, and cut safely. Chef Mark’s sure-fire technique will keep you from cutting yourself! Learn to chop, slice dice, mince, brunoise, and chiffonade herbs, peppers, onions, mushrooms, carrots, and garlic.

A private cooking lesson with Chef Mark would cost you several hundred dollars, but we’re offering this class at the introductory price of $45!

The Culinary Media Network Academy is the place where we delve deeper into cooking & lifestyle fundamentals and how-tos, so we’re excited to launch this online school to help you master those skills and take you to the next level of cooking and entertaining.

Lesson 1: Knife Basics & Sharpening
Lesson 2: Knife Safety & Cutting Peppers
Lesson 3: Julienne Carrots
Lesson 4: Dicing Onions
Lesson 5: Cutting Root Vegetables
Video: Cutting Root Vegetables
Lesson 6: Chiffonade of Herbs
Lesson 7: Slicing Mushrooms
Lesson 8: Mincing Garlic

Register for Knife Skills 101 now at The Culinary Media Network Academy:
http://academy.culinarymedianetwork.com

Chef Mark pays a visit to Kauai Coffee Company, the largest coffee plantation in the United States. Marty Amaro shows us around the fields, explaining the growing process, and into the factory, where we see some of the roasted coffee being packaged.

A production of the Culinary Media Network.
www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Travel & Accommodation provided by the Hawaii HTA as part of the “So Much More Hawaii” tour.

ReMARKable Palate #235: The Flexitarian Diet

This week, I speak with Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietician and the author of The Flexitarian Diet, a step by step plan for getting healthy by eating a MOSTLY vegetarian diet, by slowly eliminating meat. It’s a relaxed approach which is more pro-plant than anti-meat. I speak with Dawn about some fun ways to adjust the balance.

Dawn has agreed to give away one copy of her book to a lucky listener! Please leave a comment here about one takeaway you got from this interview. Did you learn a tip? Is there something you’re already doing to make your lifestyle more “flexitarian”? Share it in the comments, and we’ll pick one commenter at random to win a copy of the book! You can play it at the top of this post, or subscribe via the buttons at the bottom.

www.dawnjacksonblatner.com

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

We continue our exploration of Toronto’s Green Barn Market. Chef Mark speaks with Mathieu McFadden from Chocosol Chocolate, a “Pedal powered & Horizontal-trade” chocolate company, which sources all their chocolate direct from growers in Mexico and Central America, and processes it by hand in Ontario.

A production of the Culinary Media Network.
www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Travel and accommodation provided by Tourism Toronto. All opinions expressed are those of the participants.

ReMARKable Palate #234: In The Kitchen Cooking School

This week, I speak with my old friend Kathy Gold, who owns and runs In The Kitchen Cooking School in Hadonfield, NJ. Kathy is a former personal chef who branched out into running her own school, which gives scheduled classes, private lessons, and corporate team-building exercises. I visit her there, and we speak about what it’s like to run a cooking school.

www.inthekitchencookingschool.com

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

ReMARKable Palate #233: The Wines of Navarra

This week, we talk about the wines of Navarra, the northern Spanish region from which I derive my heritage, which produces some great wines and some very special foods. Sometime in the shadow of its more famous neighbor Rioja, Navarra has it’s own rich wine heritage that goes beyond the rose it’s most famous for. We’ll taste a few and talk about the foods that pair with them.

www.navarragastronomy.com
www.romeromiller.com
www.zrswines.com
www.bodegasochoa.com

The winner of last week’s cookbook contest giveaway for Rod Rotondi’s Raw Food For Real People is…Robin! Thanks so much for your comment. Please send me your full name and address so I can have the publisher send your book! Keep listening for more giveaways.

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Jennifer and Chef Mark explore the Wychwood Barns Green Market in Toronto. with Mark Trealout, a farmer and organizer of Kawartha Ecological Growers, a coooperative of farms from the area northwest of Toronto. We learn about some of the great farm-grown produce, dairy, and baked goods at the Green Barn.

A production of the Culinary Media Network.
www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Travel and accommodation provided by Tourism Toronto. All opinions expressed are those of the participants.

As a personal chef, I regularly get a front row seat to some of life’s most special moments. From birthday celebrations to anniversary dinners and business deals, I am there in the kitchen just off to the side when people celebrate the most important moments of their life.

Valentine’s Day is usually one of the most sought after dates for a Romantic Dinner for Two. This year, I was contacted six weeks ahead of the big date by a young man who planned to use the big Vday holiday to propose to his girlfriend. We sent many emails back and forth developing the menu, and this one went in a different direction than normal. Often, people choose to have “fancy” foods for these special meals, choosing expensive proteins and exotic preparations. He wanted instead to choose dishes that had significance for them as a couple.

He remembered with fondness having shrimp quesadillas at Dos Caminos on their first date, and insisted on having that on the menu. No problem! I just had to make fresh tortillas! He also wanted a Caesar Salad, since it’s their favorite salad, and they order it all the time when eating out. She adores scallops, so that HAD to be on the menu, and he wanted a special romantic dessert that would be a lead-in to popping the question. We had planned for apple-cinnamon empanadas at first, in keeping with the Southwestern theme, but a week before the big event, he had second thoughts about that, wanting to make the dessert the proposal. I suggested the heart-shaped apple tarts, but how to write “Will you marry me?” on them? If I were to use icing, it would melt quickly given the hot tart. Luckily a friend of his suggested a piece of chocolate with the message written on it. He took care of buying that ao I could focus on preparing the meal.

It’s always an honor to be there when a couple gets engaged, and this one was extra special. He was SOOO nervous, and I think this meal went by faster than normal, since he was anxious to get to the end. Rather than waiting 15-20 minutes between courses, he signaled quickly that he was ready for the next course. We had decided in advance that when it came time to bring out the dessert with the proposal message on it, I’d call him into the kitchen to “help” me bring it out, so that he could take it to her himself. She was genuinely surprised. She really had no idea that this would be anything more than a romantic meal. I hung back in the kitchen to give them their privacy, but I heard every word. His speech to her was one for the movies, as he explained why he had chosen each course, and what she means to him. I could hear him choking up as he got to the end and asked her to marry him, and I was tearing up a little myself! Luckily, she said yes!

As you can imagine, when I’m cooking these dinners, my primary focus is always the preparation of the food, but I do manage to find a few moments here and there to snap photos with my iPhone, which admittedly, doesn’t produce the best photos. However, it’s a quick and easy way to document the dishes, and I can share them in almost real time via twitter and Whrrl. Here’s the photo essay from Whrrl:

If you’re in New York City and would like to have me prepare a special meal for you, call me at 917-405-0088 for info.

ReMARKable Palate #232: Raw Food For Real People

Chef Mark speaks with Rod Rotondi, a raw food chef & cookbook author, who leads retreats for people wanting to learn how to transition to a raw foods diet. Rod is the owner of Leaf Organics in Southern California, with a line of prepared raw foods available in grocery stores in California and soon other parts of the country. His book is called Raw Food For Real People, and his approach is as refreshing as his foods.

Theme Song: “Go Fish”, by Big Money Grip, from the Podsafe Music Network.

ReMARKable Palate is a production of The Culinary Media Network. www.culinarymedianetwork.com

Rod has agreed to give away a copy of his book Raw Foods for Real People to one lucky listener. Go to culinarymedianetwork.com and leave a comment on the post for this show, which is ReMARKable Palate #232. Please leave a comment about one takeaway you got from this interview that may have surprised you about the raw food lifestyle. Something you may not have known before, or a misconception that Rod cleared up. I’ll pick one commenter at random, and they’ll receive a copy of Rod’s book. So get on over there and leave a comment!