GREAT TASTE INTERVIEW WITH MARISSA GUGGIANA [originally broadcast in October 2011]

How about this for a gig?  Travel around the USA interviewing chefs about their favorite foods, tools, music, etc. and sharing staff meals with the owners, chefs, and the rest of the restaurant's crew in preparation for writing a book that includes recipes for those dishes.  That's what Marissa Guggiana did and her latest cookbook, Off the Menu-Staff Meals from America's Top Restaurants, is the result.  The book recently won the 2012 Independent Publishers award in the Cookbook Category.

I am almost drooling with anticipation regarding Wednesday's GREAT TASTE.  It's our monthly show when the Indian Hills culinary students show off their skills so Curt Goudy and his crew will take the stage live at Hy-Vee from the Club Room/Kitchen Lab.  They are going to work with pâte à choux.  If you aren't familiar with the term, think profiteroles, éclairs, gougères, and much more.  Butter, water, flour, eggs equals ecstatic moments.

"'When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,' said Piglet at last, 'what's the first thing you say to yourself?'
"'What's for breakfast?' said Pooh.  'What do you say, Piglet?'
"'I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?' said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.  "It's the same thing," he said.

-A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh (1926)

Pooh's conclusion encapsulates everything I feel about food.  The thrill of the plate resonates throughout each of us, whether we truly embrace it as a sensual experience worth indulging in, or use food simply as a means of gas for the engine. 

Either way, it is the fuel that drives every part of the human machine.  Why not cherish the experience?  I think being in touch with what you eat and how it effects your emotions is an important tool for enjoying life.

Our friend, Ermo Bissini, passed away several weeks ago.  I have been thinking about how to pay tribute to him, and finally hit upon a solution that represents who Ermo was and shares his passion.  Ermo was a Modenese.  He lived, breathed, and lauded his beloved city of Modena, Italy in the region of Emilia-Romagna.  Along with his lovely wife, Nazzarena, he represented Modena with his dignified and refined manner.  He honored the city by creating typical food products featuring the trebbiano and lambrusco grapes.  Ermo was a supporter of organic agriculture, and was our first maestro; introducing us to the wonders of his most beloved condiment-aceto balsamico di Modena.  Most of all, he was kind and giving, and it will be a pleasure for me to share some memories of him with you.
We'll celebrate his life by creating a wondrous pallet of flavors with three types of balsamic vinegar; using it to awaken a trio of foods-a salad, strawberries, and vanilla ice cream.  We'll toast Ermo with Lambrusco, the typical wine of Emilia-Romagna, plus enjoy a crispy Frico made with parmigiano reggiano.  One other surprise dish will round out our trip to this region famous for its culinary delicacies. [Click "Read more" below to continue reading.]

Get ready for music and food on this week's GREAT TASTE live from Hy-Vee on Wednesday, August 22 at 7:00 pm.  The opening number is "Canning some Jam" with Indian Hills culinary students, Curt Goudey and Sara Valentine.  Curt leads off with apple butter, followed by Sara on the freshest local fruit.

The harmony they create segues into our next two performances conducted by Rob Ferguson.  In a dramatic solo, Rob, the genius behind the melodious Cruzers sandwich will serve some of those super food laden delights for us to sample.  For his second number, he has a new pizza crust made with high-powered grains, and with the help of a quartet from the audience we're going to top them with plenty of fresh vitamin-rich delights.  Rob's making his second  journey to Fairfield in hopes of building a Cruzers' manufacturing plant here.

To keep the mood just right, perhaps a little pizzicato-style music?  World class bass fiddler Jim Kerwin, who has played with mandolin king David Grisman for 28 years, will be weaving his musical magic, along with classical guitarist Tom Allen. Jim has played with the likes of Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, Yo-Yo Ma, Vassar Clements, Mark O'Connor, Edgar Meyer, and also on six Grammy-nominated records. But I'll bet he's never played second fiddle to fresh-made jams and pizzas on what we humbly refer to as the most delicious 60 minutes on the radio. Jim performs in concert at Cafe Paradiso Thursday night at 8pm.

We have had numerous shows on raw foods throughout the years, but this one is going to take a little different angle.  Rather than focusing on how to change your entire lifestyle and go raw, or undertaking weeks of cleansing programs, I asked our guests to present easy options for improving our health and eating habits.  The challenge to them was to show us in one hour ways we can enjoy benefits from integrating more raw foods into our diet.   

So this week's show is all about fast food, but let's make it raw.  Isha Kinger and Emily Shaw have come up with a few easy principles that we can apply to our daily meal plans.  They'll demonstrate how simple it is to make an ultra delicious and nutritious smoothie,  come up with a main course that has all the elements of its Italian roots, but is totally raw, and a dessert to satisfy anyone's sweet tooth.   Plus, they'll discuss other easy to make menu ideas, and some of the reasons why a slight change in diet could prove beneficial.

Isha  is a raw food chef and graduate from the Living Lights Culinary Arts Institute in California.  Also, she earned a certificate in Raw Food Nutrition from The Heath Awareness Centre in India.  Emily has a B. A. in Health and Human Physiology from the University of Iowa and is an aspiring gourmet, raw, vegan chef.

Raw food live from Hy-Vee's Club Room/Kitchen Lab this Wednesday at 7:00 pm.  We hope to see you there or find you online listening to the stream.

DON'T MISS THIS LIVE SHOW AT HY-VEE WEDNESDAY AT 7:00 PM

It's not often in our little midwestern rural spot we get to experience having a world-class chef from Europe in our midst.  This week's GREAT TASTE features one hour with Chef Bertrand Simon in the Hy-Vee Club Room/Kitchen Lab.  Chef Simon, who teaches culinary arts in Lile, France, began his career in 1977.  He had the great fortune to work in the kitchens of Paris and other cities during the beginning of the "nouvelle cuisine" revolution so his skills were honed with the influences of traditional and new French techniques during a period of amazing culinary excitement.

These sizzling summer days don't lend themselves to spending long periods of time over a hot stove.  A simple, light, tasty, and nutritious dish is the right formula to shoot for.  We have four combos that hit the right notes, but you can judge for yourself at Hy-Vee on Wednesday night from 7:00-8:00 pm.

Great Taste co-host Kathy DuBois loves salads.  She enjoys the challenge of making a salad the centerpiece of a meal.  Using a grain as the salad's focus and adding lots of flavors with citrus, parsley, olive oil, and other super fresh ingredients, she can satisfy your hunger without adding any unwanted calories.  I am a big fan of the two salads she's going to make on the show, one featuring french lentils and the other quinoa.

If you missed out on our Spanish food night last month, here's another opportunity.  After two weeks in Spain, during June and July, several of the culinary students at Indian Hills will recreate dishes they learned to prepare, and regale us with their late-night adventures.  Fortunate are we who find a spot in the audience at Hy-Vee for a sampling of yogurt mousse, tortillas (not Mexican tortillas, a totally different food in Spain), pork-Spanish style, olive oil bonbons, and more.

Why Listen to Radio When You Can Taste It!!

GREAT TASTE with host Steve Boss is going to have a good old food bash LIVE from Hy-Vee's Club Room/Kitchen Lab this Wednesday at 7:00 pm, and everyone is invited.  Succotash, grits two different ways, fresh-made, raw sauerkraut and kimchi, are all on the menu.  Now that lineup may sound a bit strange, but we're in the midst of corn and preserving season so we took the liberty of combining those elements into one grandiose show.

Local chef Avi Pogel along with sustainable food expert Dora Pollak will show you how to prepare a luscious succotash, a dish popular in New England, the South, and many other states.  Also, they will demonstrate how to make raw sauerkraut, and are bringing along some homemade kraut and kimchi (traditional Korean-style pickles) for everyone to taste.  Both foods are rich in digestive enzymes, Vitamin C, and friendly lactic-acid bacteria.  If you have never eaten raw sauerkraut, it's taste is not even a distant cousin to the canned or German-style variety.  Your mouth will wake up with a real flavor burst. Click "Read more" below to continue.