I have to say a huge thanks to all the people that commented on the show and I read them all. I appreciate good and honest feedback even if it is critical.
I do take offense to people who sit behind thier computers and rip people to shreds on public forums, finding fault in everything about them. I am not one to take that lightly and will defend myself and my reputation against those who have nothing better to do than try and lift themselves up by putting others down (which never works by the...
Just a quick note to all of you guys out there. Filming a show for Food Network is much harder than it looks! I though, oh yea, fly someplace, eat some great food, fly home...no problem!
Boy was I wrong, it is tough, with 13 hr days, and the crew works so hard to make sure what goes on the screen looks great (it does)! There are tons of things to think about like lighting, food placement, colors...does the dish look the sme each time.
I have found some great outta the way places like Bowens Isla...
Well, I just got back a few weeks ago from a great trip to what is an amazing food town, New York City. I went to be a judge on the Food Networks Iron Chef America. I can this this, wow what a great experience!
I really enjoyed eating out for 4 days, dining in NYC is really so different from L.A.. Here in L.A. its very "casual" where as in NYC dining out is an "event" and the restaurants are much more visual than in L.A. I must admit, the first place I ate was a brassarie called ...
We took a trip to Laughlin NV a few weeks ago, just to check out the whole "river thing". I decided to stay at the Golden Nugget thinking that it would be kinda like the one in Downtown Vegas, classy and sophiticated. Lets just say, it was not! I have never seen so many of the "depends" crowd. Wow those folks can sit at a machine for hours, spending the money that should go to theyre kids!
We cruised around the riverside area and noticed that there dont seem to be many dentists in Laughlin ...
Do you ever wonder what it looks like when the "research" is done for my Culinary Investigations for the newspaper column? Well here is some "footage" from the Tailgate column "research.
Myself and John Lee of the Gastronomic Society of Southern California grilling the Allen Brothers and Omaha Steaks. Dr Julia Chung the "Official Culinary Detective Medical Advisor" Displaying an "Olde English 40 oz" during our Beer Tasting....
I love shrimp and I love the way they are cooked in Mexico. The way that Mexican chefs use spices and garlic.....oh yea, and butter....I went to this really neat place called "El Marlin" just outside Nuevo Vallarta right along the highway. It was amazing, a really huge dining area with a playground for the kids. Martha and I ordered almost the entire menu, you should have seen the look on the guy face when Martha told him in spanish what we wanted for dinner!
There is a great place in Redondo...
You ever wonder what it looks like from the cockpit of a Police helicopter during an orbit? Here is a great shot of Air 55 Pilot Jim Woodaman that I snapped from my seat while we were orbiting one night. The other picture is of what I see on my side as a Tactical Flight Officer, you can see the moving map on the lower portion of the pic...pretty cool huh...see I do stuff other than food!
Now Back to the food!
One of the things I really like about living in L.A. is thet fact that you can get some really good taco's. I love a good simple taco and a nice cold cerveza, few things are better on s sunny day. These tacos were eaten by myself and my friend Alton at El Gringo in Hermosa Beach, the ones in front are chicken and the back ones are carnitas (pork)
Nugan Estate Semillon: $19.00 7 of 10: Nice honey flavor and hint of a flower, nice dessert wine, serve it chilled and sit back and enjoy.
Trader Joes Late Harvest Moscato: $5.00 4 out of 10: its an inexpensive dessert wine, dont go out of you way to drink it, but its not THAT bad at least its only 5 bucks.
Dover Canyon Zin-Port : $28.00 (750 ml) 7 out of 10: Dover Canyon took some of that amazing Zinfandel they make and blended it with some Port, how can you go wrong with that...
7-11, The Investigation!
Open 24 hrs
I know you have done it, we all have, admit it you have stood inside a 7-11 at one time or another and looked at the food thinking, that looks pretty good doesnt it. Most of you just got your big gulp and left out the door, forever wondering about the neatly wrapped items in the refrigerated section, or the baked goods or god forbid the stuff on those metal rollers, you know you wanted it but you were just to chicken to try it. You wanted to wait ti...
OK its getting near the holiday season and I have been doing some wine tastings and the lot, so I will post em here for you guys...
Another cool thing is I am going to appear as a judge on the new season of Iron Chef America on food network...nobody knows yet so SSSHHHHH!!!!
0-9 points, awful, worse than grape juice, call in the haz mat team.
10-12 points, not bad if its on sale, go for it, but there is much better.
13-16 points, nice wine to have around the house, good flavor.
17-21 points...
ratings....all wines are blind tasted by a panel of 12....
Turley, Howell Mountain Zinfandel, California $50 (no score)
I thought it was not bad, but the gurus noted that it tasted corked (when bacteria get into the wine via the cork and ruins the flavors) and I decided not to use the ratings, although it must be a pretty good wine, cause even corked it was not to bad.
Dover Canyon, Cujo Zinfandel 2002, Paso Robles 18 of 25 ($18.99)
Another split on this wine, a bunch of us loved it...
Just a quick note as I just got back from 4 days in Vegas...there is a great steak and lobster deal at the Stardust Hotel...Get a coupon out of the Showbiz or "Whats On" Vegas magazines and you can get a pretty decent steak and lobster dinner with potato, veggie and soup of salad for $9.99! In my opinion its worth the extra 2 bucks from the $7.77 steak and lobster at the Bourbon Street casino....
I was also unable to finish a 3/4 lb Mega Dog at the Westward Ho...thats the second time I have ...
I was having a hard time sleeping cause I couldnt stop thinking...so I wrote....here is what I came up with!
Eat America: Food and Culture
By Chris Cognac
The Culinary Detective
One of the things that I have learned as a Police Officer in this great melting pot we call America, is that food is the great equalizer simply because everybody eats. I learned in my dealings with people from all over the planet who have made the journey to the United States that everybody likes food! Since every...
Here are some of the wine ratings from the tastings so far.
The Culinary Detective wine-tasting panel conducted its first tasting of affordable wines, this time focusing on a very common wine, cabernet sauvignon. Its a nice red wine with good flavor and should go well with beef and works well in sauces. I went to Trader Joes and picked up some inexpensive bottles to review.
We (6 novices and 2 wine gurus) rated the following wines for aroma, taste, appearance, body and finish, a...
I have been watching the Next Food Network Star and have been pretty impressed with the folks so far....But I have to say I am kicking myself for not submitting my own tape.
I took the host, Marc Summers out for BBQ at Baby Blues BBQ in Venice last week. He is a super nice guy, as are all the folks at Food Network. Check out the review on www.culinarydetective.com if you want to check out Baby Blues.
Culinary Detective
Some photos to check out, I am still trying to figure this out
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I have been conducting wine tastings once a month and reviewing them in my column. We are focusing on affordable wines that regular schlubs like myself can afford. So far I like the following:
1. Red Truck table wine....what a great wine for under 8 bucks
2. Yellow Tail Chardonnay....5 bucks, awesome aroma and finish
3. Fat Bastard Cab.....nice and deep with hints of chocolate
4. Margan Family Shiraz Sangiee....awesome rose from down under
Keep checking out the column for more wine reviews....
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Oct. 22, 2006 (10:32 AM EST) 