Gordon Ramsay Makes Dog Food

Gordon Ramsay's 'F' Word was hysterical tonight. First, he decided to enter a dog food contest. So to determine which recipe to submit, he took one dish from each of his four chefs down to the dog pound. He then picked out a dog that looked like each chef and let the dogs pick the winner. One dog ate the fastest and cleaned his plate while one didn't even touch the food at all. That determined the winner and loser. So off went his submission to the contest.

Later he has some sir guy do a blind taste test with wine. There were three rounds and he had to pick which was the expensive wine and which was the "celebrity" wine. Bob Dylan, Olivia Newton-John and someone else were the celebrity wines. The sir guy got the first one correct but picked Olivia Newton-John's wine and Bob Dylan's over the expensive one. The Bob Dylan wine went up against his own which which he makes and sells so he even failed against that. I didn't even know Bob Dylan and Olivia Newton-John had their own wines.

When he ventures out to a single father's house to teach him how to cook for his two children he can't get a cab. Not because there are none available, but because he said something nasty about London's cab driver a few years ago and now no cab driver will pick him up!

In his restaurant he has three stock brokers as the amateur chefs this week. At the restaurant they served Sautéed potatoes with red mullet and anchovy (all 50 customers paid), Saddle of lamb with apricot and cumin stuffing (21 customers refused to pay), Summer pudding with lime crème fraiche (12 customers refused to pay). All goes pretty well, but Gordon doesn't trust them to make the dessert which is donuts. Below is a clip of him getting all frustrated with the amateurs (there is ALOT OF SWEARING) and it is the maddest he gets all episode, but it's classic Gordon.

Top 50 Things Every Foodie Should Do

The UK's Observer has a section called Food Monthly. I just stumbled upon an interesting list that they published a year an a half ago in May of 2005. While celebrating their 50th edition they enlisted several high-profile British foodies such as Nigella Lawson, Gordon Ramsay and Nigel Slater to help devise the list of The Top 50 Things Every Foodie Should Do.

It's a quite comprehensive list. There are some good traditional standards that every cook should partake in such as dismembering a chicken and boiling a freshly laid egg. But the fun comes in with some of the more adventuresome suggestions such as diving for sea urchins or making love in a vineyard.

I feel a bit empowered since I have already done a handful of items on the list. My absolute favorite is #15 stomping grapes. That is always something I have wanted to do even though I know I will look just like Lucille Ball. It has to be an amazingly good time. And I bet it's much harder than it looks.

I can think of a few things that aren't on the list. If I were asked to contribute, I would have added "Eat from a street vendor in a major American city." It doesn't matter if it's a hot dog on the streets of NYC or a tamale from the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago, our culture lies in our communities.

Second Season of Gordon Ramsay's 'F' Word Begins

The 'F' stands for food. Gordon Ramsay's 'F' Word is one of my favorite shows because it features chef's in their environment. Gordon always has some celebrity visiting as well. He steps out to the guests and gets their opinions on his dishes as they are served. There are also clips of himself at home offering teaching techniques and recipes. He also helps regular people who lack cooking confidence in their own kitchens to learning something new.

In its second season, which premiered last night, Gordon's taken up the challenge of raising pigs in order to teach his kids the difference between pets and food. The first season features raising of live turkeys to be eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. He and his family went to the farm to pick out the baby pigs to take home. He was warned that the picks will probably take over most of his year and not stay in a pen like the turkeys did. His wife will not be happy with that. It is interesting to watch the kids interact with the animals. They have alot of fun but they also know that they will eventually be their dinner. Gordon told his son that they would have bacon sandwiches this time.

Four local butchers were the amateur cooks who helped Gordon prepare a three-course meal for the diners at his restaurant. Those poor guys had a really hard time. Some of the guests even refused to pay for their food!

The second season airs on BBC America and will contain nine episodes with the finale scheduled for Sunday, March 4, 2007.

humble pie

i just finished humble pie by UK celebrity chef gordon ramsay. he is probably best know in the US for the reality show hell's kitchen. i can't believe i missed that one considering how much i like those type of reality shows and cooking shows. however, i have been watching the f word on bbc america which is another one of his shows and i love it. he is known as an obnoxious asshole. but really, he has had a hard life. he came from nothing and made something amazing himself. he could have been another statistic - like his brother who ended up a heroin addict. his story is amazing and he is really an inspiration for everyone.