 Poulet de Bresse Primer
Hunter Chicken Course at Tasting TBL
By Jan Walsh
Hunter Chicken is our incredible entrée course at Tasting TBL tonight. Fit for a king? The story goes that Henry IV, having stopped off at Bresse following an accident with his carriage, tasted a poulet de bresse and commanded it be added to his menu.
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 Bottega’s chef, Frank Stitt makes pasta a delicacy.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson
Silk Handkerchiefs, a crab and veggie stuffed pasta, is one of my favorite dishes at Bottega Cafe. And today I am in the kitchen at Bottega Restaurant with executive chef, Frank Stitt and team watching their performance of making, rolling, cutting, cooking, folding, and stuffing these pasta delicacies. For this farm to table pasta dish, Stitt sources the eggs from his and wife, Pardis’ farm, Paradise Farm. The cherry tomatoes came from Harvest Farm, and the crabmeat is from Greg Abrams Seafood.
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 Bistro V’s Jeremy Downey sears grouper and sautés spring vegetables.
By Jan Walsh Photography by Beau Gustafson Forgo the summer fish fry. Try executive chef and partner of Bistro V, Jeremy Downey’s healthy, seared grouper with local spring vegetables instead. And experiment with a French chervil pistou to top it off. Downey describes it as the perfect topping to most spring dishes.
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 George Reis creates a healthy and tasty spring dish.
By Jan Walsh Photography by Beau Gustafson Executive chef and owner of 5 Point Public House and Ocean creates braised rabbit with spring vegetables and fava beans. Reis finds rabbit similar to chicken in both its health benefits and its meatiness. He invites you to try his recipe and techniques at home.
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Chef Eli Markshtien shares Israeli family recipes. By Jan Walsh Photography by Beau Gustafson When Eli Markshtien, wife, Laurel and family, moved to Birmingham he could not find an Israeli restaurant. So he opened Eli’s Jerusalem Grill and began cooking his grandmother's recipes. The eatery was an instant success with people of all cultures and those who want to eat organic.
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 Bistro V’s cioppino is 20 years in the perfecting.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson Bistro V’s executive chef, Jeremy Downey finds cioppino to be the “world’s best dish.” And after tasting his, I cannot argue. He and I share a love of tomatoes, seafood, spicy heat, and wine—all of which are important components of this dish. As a native of Bayou La Batre, Downey has been cooking and perfecting his cioppino for 20 years. “Cioppino is an expression of me. And today’s is the best one I have ever made,” he describes.
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 Frank Stitt shares Fish Paillard with fig relish recipe.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson
Today I am in the kitchen with Birmingham’s most celebrated chef, Frank Stitt. Stitt could have chosen to cook a dish that would show off his culinary skills to cook for us today. But instead he is cooking a simple, French fish dish, which we “at home cooks” can easily make. His Fish Paillard is served at Chez Fonfon and at Highlands Bar and Grill, which Stitt owns with his wife and business partner, Pardis along with their Bottega Café and Bottega Restaurant.
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 Three Generations share Silvertron Café’s kitchen.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau GustafsonThe kitchen is the heart of each Italian home. And in The Silvertron Café’s kitchen, we get a taste of what it is like to be part of an Italian family. Cooking with chef Marco Morosini today are his daughter, Nora and his mother, Pinuccia Invernizzi—who is here on a visit from Lecco, on Lake Como in Northern Italy. And cooking with his mother makes more than a marvelous meal. It also stirs up some precious memories. “Every Sunday, right after breakfast, Mom started cooking. She cooked all morning long for a meal that wouldn't last more than 20 minutes!” he recalls. “It wasn't until I left home for the first time and moved to Paris that I realized what I had left behind. Then I started to really appreciate the time I had spent watching my mom and my grandmother in the kitchen.
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 Bistro 218’s Tom Saab shares a super food recipe.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson
Rabbit is a very nutritious meat. It is high in protein, amino acids, and vitamins. And it is low in cholesterol and calories. Bistro 218 chef and owner, Tom Saab’s grilled and braised rabbit recipe employs the classical techniques of braising and the redundant use of mirepoix, sometimes know as the trinity of French cookin
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 Bistro V’s Jeremy Downey demos braised short ribs.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau GustafsonI often dine at Bistro V for the fish of the day. It is consistently marvelous. Grouper, snapper, and any Gulf Seafood in the hands of executive chef Jeremy Downey—native of Bayou La Batre—never disappoints. Yet with today’s dish we discover that Downey’s culinary talents are wider than the sea. His Braised Short Ribs are also a favorite of many at Bistro V. Bistro V is co-owned by Downey and his partner, Emily Tuttle Shell who serves as general manager.
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 Ocean’s George Reis prepares Thai Green Curry Bouillabaisse.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson
Chef George Reis is always innovating the cuisine at his restaurants, Ocean and 26. And today he shares one of his cutting edge dishes, which incorporates a variety of seafood—Thai Green Curry Bouillabaisse. At Ocean this dish is served in a Tagine, Moroccan cooking vessel. And when the top is removed at the table, a steamy cloud of aromas whets the appetite for the first, succulent bite.
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 Chef Tom Saab demos Bistro 218’s delectable duck confit.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Jan Walsh
A very important part of my work as a food writer is… eating the food. And no matter what is put before me, with the exception of mushrooms/fungi that I am allergic to, I eat it. Through the years my palate has developed an appreciation of foods that I previous thought I did not “like.” Duck was one of those foods. I struggled to enjoy duck, even when prepared by the best of chefs. Yet today there was no struggle. Bistro 218’s Duck Confit, paired with a glass of Chateau Mirambeau, is not only the best duck I have ever tasted, it changed my former mindset about this bird. I loved Saab’s duck so much that and look forward to having it again soon at Bistro 218, where it takes him three days to prepare this classic French dish.
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 Cantina’s Jorge Castro cooks big flavors in small space.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson
Since Cantina opened the Shrimp Quesadillas have been a favorite dish. And today in “The Miracle Kitchen” here at Cantina, we learn the secrets that make them so good. And one of the secrets is the kitchen itself—where so many cooks create so much greatness in a small space.
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 Sol y Luna’s Alex Castro prepares a light and lean new dish.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson
Executive chef, Alex Castro sears a new dish at the new Sol y Luna—Yellowfin Tuna with jicama tostada, topped with watermelon and mango salsa and spicy chipotle creamy sauce.
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 Bistro V’s Jeremy Downey demos baked black snapper, Mediterranean style.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Beau Gustafson
As native of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, Bistro V’s owner and chef, Jeremy Downey knows seafood. Today he is cooking whole, Gulf Coast Black Snapper with house made Ragu. “Black Snapper is a cousin to Red Snapper. It is smaller in size, swims at 50 to 75 feet, and has a sweeter taste,” Downey explains.
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In Good Hands
Frank Stitt shares handmade pasta technique and recipe from new cookbook, Bottega Favorita.
By Jan Walsh
Photography by Robin Colter
Bottega Restaurant is famous for its handmade pasta. Now you can make it too with a little help from Frank Stitt. "People think that homemade pasta is too much trouble. But you just have to try it a few times to learn."
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