Michelle Obama on Food Network Iron Chef tonight~8pm-10pm~

[Cha]

I don't get Food Network but if I did I would be watching this.
:)

<snip>

"Team Obama often uses the word "unprecedented" to describe its actions. Here's one of its initiatives that really is historic: No first couple has ever spent as much time on television, and none has ever done it in so many untraditional, non-news venues such as ESPN, Comedy Central and late-night talk shows. Brand Obama has set a new record for presidential tube time in 2009 - and the beat continues into the new year.

Tonight, Michelle Obama adds another TV credit to her video resume with a prime-time appearance on the Food Network's "Iron Chef America." The two-hour special, titled "Super Chef Battle," features TV chefs Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali and Flay joined by Cristeta Comerford, White House executive chef.

Lagasse and Batali will compete against Flay and Comerford in harvesting vegetables from the first lady's White House garden and then preparing five dishes that showcase the vegetables and represent "all-American meals." Mrs. Obama will welcome the chefs to the White House and help with the harvest.

"Mrs. Obama's message to cook and eat fresh food encouraged us to create this historic battle," says Bruce Seidel, senior vice president for program planning, in explaining his network's involvement with the White House. "It is a shared mission on our part. The food we eat fuels our bodies to do great things."

<more>
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2010/01/iron_chef_food_network_michell.html

<snip>

"For the cooking-challenged, watching Food Network can be a terrifying and humiliating experience. All that slicing and dicing and chopping and souffle-ing crushes the soul of someone who at best can make a decent peanut butter sandwich and, at worst, once almost set a bowl of Jell-O on fire.

So, in keeping with every niche channel's desire to reach a larger audience, Food Network seems to have a theme in mind for 2010: relatability. Riding high after jumping 26 percent in total viewers in 2009, the cable channel kicks off the new year with two shows pushing an "everyday American" theme on Sunday night. It begins with a two-hour "Iron Chef America" featuring White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford (and very special guest star Michelle Obama), followed by an attempt to draw in a non-foodie audience with a new series, "Worst Cooks in America."

On "Iron Chef," food superstars Comerford, Mario Batali, Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse meet in Washington for a trip to the White House. The first lady, whose domestic agenda includes promoting healthy eating, shows up in a theme-appropriate orange dress reminiscent of a crisp vegetable. She informs the chefs that the secret (and required) ingredient for the food competition -- in which three judges decide whose dishes are most delicious -- is anything in the White House garden."

<more>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/01/AR2010010101613.html

[SeattleGirl]

1. I'm looking forward to this!

[Cha]

2. Thanks for posting the pic..I saw the video

they had on Food Network and the chefs were so cute with their impressions of the White House and the First Lady, Michelle.

I like their theme..making the most from the garden..please tell us your impressions when you've seen it, Seattle Girl.

[SeattleGirl]

3. Will do!

[Tarheel_Dem]

4. Thanks for the headsup. I'll check it out for sure. (nt)

[kid a]

5. 2 minute warning =)

(cool cakes on the "Challenge"!)

[Diamonique]

6. I'm a Food Network addict, and I've been looking forward to this.

Watching now!

[SemiCharmedQuark]

7. I'm watching! A little behind on Tivo. So far Batalli and Lagasse are getting nasty!

lol

[SemiCharmedQuark]

8. I've never seen some of these vegetables before.

Like Red Cauliflower.

[Cha]

9. Thanks, SCQ..just want you to know

I'm reading your report:9

Red Cauliflower is different..I've seen yellow.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

10. It's WH chef Comoford (sp?) and Flay vs. Batalli and Lagasse.

B&L are going for a New Orleans flavor. Dirty Rice, Sweet Potato Ravioli...

C&F are making scallop mousse with shredded potato.


So far, IMHO, I think B&L have the advantage although C is very calm compared to the others.

[firedupdem]

11. I wish I liked veggies more....maybe I would be a better cook.

:rofl:

They are makiing me hungry.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

12. Their veggies look good. The veggies I get are always withered and horrible.

[firedupdem]

13. I could eat those veggies...

my husband just asked me to make the rolled turkey with the dirty rice and greens....yeah right! I could make them all seperately...not rolled like that and deep fried..I would burn the house down!

[SemiCharmedQuark]

14. I'm a little behind. They just pulled the turkey roll thing out of the fryer

It's a little over done!?
:o

[firedupdem]

15. LOL!

I won't spoil it for you....keep watching! :rofl:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

16. Collard green tamales?

My grandma would flip!

[Cha]

23. They must have their ways of

making that taste good.:)

[monmouth]

26. I started cooking veggies with chicken/beef stock instead of water..Yummm...n/t

[SemiCharmedQuark]

17. This is the first garden at the WH since the Victory Garden?

Really?

They just said that they've taken about 1000 pounds of food from it.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

18. They also said they've replaced a lot of refined sugar in the WH with honey from on site hives.

[rebel with a cause]

19. Dang it.....

It is on 7-9 pm here in the midwest and I caught your post at 8:10. Will have to look for it on reruns I guess. :cry:

[Cha]

20. I'm sure there will be reruns and I'd like

to see it on youtube or something.

[rebel with a cause]

21. It will be on again at 11 pm here, 12 am eastern

and everyone else will have to figure it out. ;)

I will probably set it here to tape. That way I can watch what I want and skip what I don't. :evilgrin:

[Born_A_Truman]

22. On in about 25 minutes here on the left coast on DTV...

[greenbird]

24. It was worth it just to see Mario Batali's shoes and socks!

Seriously, though, I watched until Mr. Greenbird's football won out. I loved how they emphasized local, sustainable and fresh.

[Cha]

25. Good to know, greenbird!

I don't get Food network, but I did see the intro video on their site highlighting those orange crocs and how delighted he was that Michelle had an orange dress on.:)

I've been following the White House organic garden since it was planted and this is an awesome culmination of the first garden in the White House since FDR's Victory Garden.