Foodies are all too familiar with the infamous battles that take place in “Kitchen Stadium” opened by the flamboyant chairman, Takeshi Kaga. He flips through the air like a ninja assassin wielding a sharp stainless steel kitchen knife in one hand and a sharpening stick in another before landing and yelling out the secret ingredient like a shogun warrior.

Now fans have the rare opportunity to watch a legendary battle between celebrity chefs on the first ever “Food Network at Sea” cruise.

On August 22, 2010, the Celebrity Solstice will host Chefs Cat Cora of the show “Iron Chef,” and Aaron Sanchez from “Chefs vs. City,” for a “Battle of the Solstice Chefs” competition.

Guests must purchase the “Food Network at Sea” package.  The cruise fare will not only include a ticket to the competition event, but also VIP check in, red carpet receptions, special in cabin gifts, pre-paid gratuities and a cocktail party.

During the cruise there will also be Food Network cooking classes, “dine-around” sampling favorite Food Network recipes, and access to a Food Network VIP lounge and screening room.

Prices start at $1,519 pp for an ocean view stateroom including government taxes and fees.

To book the inaugural Food Network at Sea cruise on Celebrity Solstice, call Food Network Travel at 866-951-9925, or visit www.foodnetworktravel.com.

Click for more information on the Celebrity Solstice.

Food Network Cruise: Food Network Travel is a post from: Taste for Cooking

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Now through May 9, 2010, Olive Garden is offering Italian food lovers a chance to win a culinary tour of Italy and an insider’s look at Olive Garden’s Culinary Institute of Tuscany. The sweepstakes, co-sponsored by Olive Garden and Colavita® Extra Virgin Olive Oil, will reward four grand-prize winners with an eight-day guided trip for two to explore and discover the sights, sounds and tastes of Italian culture. 500 first prize winners will be awarded a $25 Olive Garden gift card.

For more than a decade, Olive Garden’s Culinary Institute of Tuscany has served as a training ground for Olive Garden’s chefs and restaurant managers. Located in a restored 11th-century village in the Chianti region, the Institute is where Olive Garden’s chefs learn the secrets of great Italian foods – like how to combine fresh ingredients to create authentic meals they can share and enjoy with family and friends.

“At Olive Garden, we’re committed to bringing our guests the great food and hospitality of Italy every time they join us,” said Tim Rea, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Olive Garden. “Since the Culinary Institute of Tuscany opened 10 years ago, we’ve been able to more uniquely share that Italian experience, offering our sweepstakes winners a flavorful excursion to Italy and taking them beyond their neighborhood restaurant to where we gather our inspiration – the kitchens and marketplaces of Tuscany.”

Highlights of the grand-prize trip include:

• Learning the essentials of authentic Italian cooking from master Italian Chefs Paolo Lafata and Romano Neri the Culinary Institute of Tuscany;
• Experiencing the local culture and cuisines of Rome, Florence, San Gimignano and Riserva di Fizzano, near Castellina in Chianti; and
• Exploring the Rocca delle Macie Winery to learn about the process of Italian wine-making through a wine tasting and pairings class.

Guests can enter to win at www.olivegardentriptoitaly.com. The sweepstakes accepts entries from March 15, 2010 through Sunday, May 9, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. ET.  Learn more about Italy tours and travel packages.

Win a Trip to Italy from the Olive Garden is a post from: Taste for Cooking

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Presenting Taste of Seabourn.  Each month Seabourn will share an exclusive sampling of world-class cuisine.  Please enjoy the first indulgence: an exclusive recipe from acclaimed chef Charlie Palmer.

The Yachts of Seabourn provide the ultimate in ultra luxury cruise vacations to the most desirable destinations on earth.  Seabourn is a member of the World’s Leading Cruise Lines. 

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Celebrate the international influences and palate pleasing flavors of California wine and cuisine as Disney’s California Adventure® Park plays host to a food-lover’s festival that showcases the diverse tastes of the Golden State. Join celebrity chefs, noted sommeliers and fellow culinary connoisseurs in a series of demonstrations, seminars, and epicurean adventures that will have your mouth watering.

2010 EVENT DATES:
April 16 – May 31, 2010

•Signature Events listing available February 1, 2010
•Signature Events go on sale February 16, 2010

To give you an idea of what may be offered in 2010, here are the 2009 highlight events.

• World Celebration Dinners - Celebrate the flavors and traditions from around the world at one of these memorable international multi-course dinners.
• “Behind the Secenes With…” - Attend an evening with the personalities, celebrity chefs and stars from some of your favorite cooking shows or with the well-known personalities or celebrities who discovered the vast world of wine and became winemakers themselves! The evening begins with delicious appetizers and exquisite wines followed by a question and answer session. This is a unique opportunity to get up close and personal, take a photo or get an answer to that question you’ve always wanted to ask.  Don’t miss out on this superstar, evening to remember!
• Sweet Sundays - Delicious desserts and pleasing pastries take center stage as acclaimed pastry chefs share their favorite dessert items. Guests will toast their morning with a glass of sparkling wine and light buffet breakfast.
• Advanced Wine Course - A six hour advanced wine course. Each session includes three, two-hour classes.
• Festival Wine Receptions - Enjoy a beautiful California sunset and evening under the stars sampling exquisite wines and delicious hors d’oeuvres. Discover a new vintage and meet and mingle with fellow enthusiasts.
• Festival Wine Walks – Take a tasting tour of the finest wine regions and travel the globe without ever leaving the Festival. Each walk’s tasting-passport offers up to four wine tastings from around the world or a single region.
• Festival Wine and Gift Shop - Shop for specially designed Festival merchandise and logo items to commemorate your visit to the festival. The Wine Shop features full bottle sales of selected wines from participating Festival wineries. Or you may enjoy wine by the glass on the beautiful outdoor patio.
• Introduction to Wine Tasting - Master sommelier Michael Jordan, of the award-winning Napa Rose restaurant, will share his passion for wine in this class that introduces guests to the joys of wine tasting. For a fee and with advanced registration, each class will offer a basic training in the different types, varieties and blends, taste, structure, and characteristics found in wine servings. (Sundays)
• Winemaker Dinners – Disneyland® Resort chefs partner with premiere Winemakers to prepare outstanding culinary delights at these exclusive dinners. (Friday Evenings)
• Napa Rose Cooking School - Executive Chef Andrew Sutton will lead hands-on classes to create a themed meal paired with wines, and at the conclusion of the course, each guest will receive a Napa Rose Cooking School chef coat to commemorate the experience. (Saturdays)
• The Lounge at the Golden Vine Winery - Located in the upper terrace overlooking the beautiful Golden Vine Winery, Guests can relax and enjoy exceptional wines from international and California vineyards. The unique flight menu allows Guests to sample a variety of wines grouped by varietal, location or theme.  Delicious wine country tapas are also available.
• Taste – Food, Wine, Life - One great event – two spectacular nights! The Festival’s grand finale, this event will be held on Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6, offering guests a delicious celebration of the culinary talents of numerous chefs and featuring dozens of spectacular wines.

Research Disneyland vacation packages.

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Poached Egg “En Cocotte” (serves 6)

Served in a Puff Pastry Shell with Creamy Sauteed Spinach, Crab and Hollandaise with Chives.Poached Eggs:
6 eggs
4 oz. white vinegar
1 qt. water
1Tbsp. salt

Simmer water with vinegar and salt. Break eggs and drop contents into simmering liquid. Swirl eggs around for 5 minutes until set. Remove eggs and keep warm.

Puff Pastry Shell:
Frozen puff pastry
Egg wash

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut a total of 6 three-inch circles of puff pastry using a cookie or ring cutter. Place circles on parchment paper-lined sheet pan. Brush circles with egg wash and bake for 10 minutes until golden brown. Remove and cool. When cool, carefully slice off top layers as shells will be filled later.

Creamy Crab Spinach:
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 oz. butter
8oz. fresh spinach
6 oz. crab meat
1 oz. grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 oz. heavy cream

Cook onion in butter over medium heat. Add spinach and wilt it. Stir in crab meat, Parmesan and cream.

Hollandaise Sauce:
2 egg yolks
6 oz. clarified butter
White wine
White wine vinegar
Cracked peppercorns
Juice of one large fresh lemon
Salt
Cayenne pepper

Make a reduction with dry white wine, white wine vinegar and cracked peppercorns and reduce until dry. In a pot, simmer water, and in separate mixing bowl add egg yolks, lemon juice, and a splash of water. Whisk egg yolks until thickened. Warm egg yolks over the simmering water. Slowly on low heat, whisk in the clarified butter until thick, and season with cayenne pepper, salt, pepper.

Presentation:
Place puff pastry on individual plates with top cut off. Spoon in crab-spinach mixture. Place a poached egg on top. Spoon creamy hollandaise on top. Garnish with chopped fresh chives and black pepper.

Shared by Celebrity Cruise Line on Facebook.

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Compliments of Cunard Cruise Line, here is a recipe from the Queens Grill Selection for Seafood Boillabaisse. It’s a lot of work, but it’s excellent. You can certainly save time by using prepared fish stock, but we suggest making your own broth. 

Fish Stock:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 celery stock
1 onion
1 fennel bulb, cored & chopped
4 garlic cloves, cut in half
2 bay leaves
2 cloves
1 cup whie wine
3 lbs. fish bones
20 cups of water

Broth:

2 tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 lbs lobster  shells chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 leek, chopped
4 large fresh tomatoes, chopped
1/4 blub fennel
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 cup white wine
8 cups fish stock
4 cups chicken stock
2 sprigs thyme
1 sprig lemongrass
2 bay leaves
2 cloves
20 fennel seeds
1 pinch saffron

Seafood:1 tbs. olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 lobster tail, cut into pieces
1/2 lb Chilean Sea Bass cut into pieces
1/2 lb mussels
8 medium shrimp
12 clams
4 tbsp Pernod

Rouille:

6 garlic cloves
2 pinches salt
1 pinch saffron
4 new potatoes, cooked thoroughly
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbls tarragon vinegar
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch white pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper

Preparation:

Fish Stock:  Heat the olive oil in a stock pot.  Seat all of the vegetables along with garlic, bay leaves and cloves slightly in the oil.  Add the white wine and fish bones and sauté until vegetables are cooked, yet firm.  Add water. Simmer for 20 minutes and strain through a sieve. Set aside.

Broth:  Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan.  Add the chopped lobster shells and roast them slightly.  Add all vegetables to the lobster shells and sweat until golden brown.  Add tomato puree and mix well. Deglaze with white wine. Add fish and chicken stock.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer the broth for 25 minutes, then strain.

Seafood:  Sauté all seafood in a pot with olive oil and finely chopped shallots and sweat for 2 minutes.  Deglaze with Period, add the broth and then simmer gently for one minute.  Remove from the heat and serve with the rouille.

Rouille:  Crush the garlic with the salt and saffron into a puree. In a blender, add the cooked new potatoes.  Dion mustard, vinegar and water.  Blend while adding the olive oil little by little.  Season with white and cayenne pepper.

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This recipe is compliments of Norwegian Cruise Line and is a favorite of cruisers dining at Cagney’s Steakhouse.

Ingredients
Potatoes, Cream, Garlic, Chives, Emmenthal (cheese), Parmesan Cheese, Butter, Salt, Freshly Milled Black Pepper, Nutmeg

2.2lbs Potatoes, cut into cubes
5.3 cups Cream
2.1 tbs. Garlic chopped
3.5 oz. Garlic cloves whole
1 tsp. Chives, chopped
7 tbs Emmenthal, grated
6 tbs. Parmesan Cheese
2.1 tbs. Butter, unsalted Salt
Freshly Milled Black Pepper Nutmeg

Method of Preparation

Dice potatoes and steam off until cooked.
Allow potatoes to cool at room temperature so they may dry out.
Mix the cooled steam diced potatoes, grated Emmenthal Swiss cheese and toss with salt and pepper.
Mix butter with some chopped garlic.
Butter the gratin dishes with the butter garlic mix.
Place potatoes into gratin dish and fill 3/4.
Boil cream and garlic, then simmer until garlic is soft and mushy.
Blend in mixer until smooth with the garlic and cream.
Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Pour the cream mixture over the potatoes and cover thoroughly.
Proceed to bake in 350º F oven until potato cream mix is heated through.
Top with Parmesan cheese, then continue baking until cheese has melted and cream has slightly browned.
Serve immediately.

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Pull out your whisks and sharpen your knives - Celebrity Cruise Line is sharing easy recipes hand-selected for you by Jacques Van Staden, their culinary mastermind. Celebrate a special occassion with Celebrity’s award-winning cuisine at home.

Here is the recipe for Celebrity’s Raspberry chocolate tart. (Serves 6)

Ingredients:

6 three-inch tart shells (store-bought)
1 lb. fresh raspberries
chocolate ganache
5 oz. dark chocolate
5oz. heavy cream
6 ea. fresh mint
powdered sugar
shaved white chocolate, as needed

Place raspberries in bottom of tart shell. Ganache: boil heavy cream and mix in dark chocolate. Place ganache on top of raspberries just up to top of tart. Place filled tart shells in refrigerator until set. Garnish with raspberries, shaved white chocolate and mint; dust with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

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Always a popular hot spot for Royal Caribbean guests on Voyager- and Freedom-class ships, the Vintages wine bar will evolve into a larger space on Oasis of the Seas. Great for a pre-dinner rendezvous, Vintages will provide a selection of cheeses and a broad tapas menu to accompany a robust selection of fine wines, from a tropical white Riesling to a mocha-inflected Merlot. Open for lunch and dinner; á la carte pricing. Vintages, will display the world’s largest bottle: an eight-foot, 260-pounder filled with a Cabernet blend from Caymus Vineyards. The Domaines Barons de Rothschild Lafite tasting program lets guests sample reserve wines from estates like Château Lafite Rothschild.

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Many cruise lines sell recipe books, but often if you have a favorite dish while cruising, ask your waiter and many times they will provide you with the recipe. Here is Carnival’s delicious pumpkin soup recipe.

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Roast onions, leeks and garlic cloves in olive oil in a preheated oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 45 minutes. Remove and puree in blender.
2. While the onions, leeks and garlic are roasting, take advantage and roast the pumpkin as well. The pumpkin should be whole until ready to use. Cut pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and strings.  Place pumpkin face down in a large baking pan with a 1/4 inch of water. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. Since the oven temperature is on 300 to roast the other vegetables, go ahead and cook the pumpkin at 300 degrees and once you remove the other items, increase the temperature to 350 and cook for an extra 15 to 30 minutes*  Let cool. Puree pumpkin in blender or food processor.
3. Bring stock, pumpkin puree, pureed vegetables and chicken base to boil. Simmer for 45 minutes.
4. Add Half & Half and simmer.
5. Season with salt & pepper.
6. Finish with heavy cream.
7. Top with nutmeg.

This recipe serves 15 people. Adjust ingredients for smaller portions.

*Please note that the original recipe calls for roasted pumpkin, however it does not describe how to roast it, so just in case someone had not roasted a pumpkin before, I added the information on Step 2. Everything else follows the original recipe.

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