Clockwise from left:  Chef Missy Robbins, Jeremy McMillan, Sabrina Simpson and yours truly!

This year’s James Beard Foundation Awards was hosted by Chef Emeril and honored women in food!  I can’t think of two greater choices to make for a killer event!

During the ceremony, more than 20 female chefs, winemakers, mixologists, and sommeliers came together to serve food and drinks to all of the guests just outside the theater doors! I was lucky to be invited to help Missy Robbins at A Voce in NYC serve an awesome octopus terrine with alfonso olives, orange and calabrian chilis.  It was lots of fun to help, but even more fun to sample many of the other food and drink being served.  I got to see lots of old and new chef friends of mine, from the many cities I’ve cooked in.  I think for most chefs, the awards are kind of like a family reunion–it really brings together people in the culinary industry and serious foodies from all corners of the country.  It’s too bad it’s only an annual gathering.

The month of may is National Hamburger Month.  While no one knows for certain the history behind National Hamburger Month, Krystal Burgers has launched www.nationalhamburgermonth.com and they are offering all sorts of prizes and give-aways for their Facebook and Twitter followers.  Then on May 27, The Offical Krystal Hamburger Day, there will be chances to win prizes during ”The Krystal Giveaway Show,” a live, interactive streaming video event.  Meantime, this month is all about the burger, so keep your eyes here for some interesting finds and information.   

La Esquina (which means “The Corner” in Spanish), is a casual taqueria located just around the corner from my apartment.  It’s finally getting warmer outside so their wide-open windowed counters and outdoor seating is moving diners (and the fiesta) into the street to snack on authentic tacos and tortas from early morning until wee into the late-night hours.

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Every time I’m at the grocery, the tall, ruby-hued stalks of rhubarb catch my eye.  I think the time has arrived for me to make some delicious rice pudding (I use arborio rice) and rhubarb sauce.  The sweet, the sour, the toothy, the creamy - I crave balance and contrast.  Yum. Can’t wait.

This past weekend was the first weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.  While most might tell you that this is a music Festival, I’d say it’s as much a food fest because people (me included) plan their food, talk about what they’ll eat, have eaten and in general surround themselves with the stunningly delicious dishes served out at Jazz Fest.  Crowd favorites include Crawfish Monica (rotini pasta with a creamy crawfish and scallion sauce), cochon de lait or softshell crab po-boys, crawfish bread, and many, many more.  Me?  I’m a big fan of Jama-Jama with Chicken-on-a-stick and sauteed sweet plantains.  The Jama-Jama is spiced lusciously with a little-known African spice called “fibi” that tastes a wee bit like a cross between black pepper and nutmeg.  Eaten together, bites of the mildly peppery greens and sweet plantains, are simply glorious.  Of course I also save room for either fresh Louisiana Strawberry Shortcake or Miss Linda’s Banana Bread Pudding, or…  Look at this list of Jazz Fest foods - arggghh, decisions!

Calling their events “culinary celebrations at the source,” Outstanding in the Field is an organization that brings farmers, chefs and winemakes together for an evening feast.  The dinners are usually held on a farm, the food is served on one very long communal table, and the mission is to educate diners on the origins of their good and those who make it.  Check out their website for a dinner nearest you!

Last night I went to an Argentine “Asado,”  basically a grilled meat festival where we were offered a huge number of cuts of meat from outside skirt (with the skin - brilliant), tri-tip, sirloin, ribs, sausages and also some organ meats like Rocky Mountain oysters (yes, those), sweetbreads and lamb heart.  Of the organ meats, my favorite were the super lean lamb hearts - chewy-textured, rather like chicken gizzards, with a mild, but distinctly meaty flavor.  If you get the chance and aren’t squeamish, have a heart.

If you’ve ever been to New Orleans, visited the French Quarter and stood in line to go to Acme Oyster House, you know how valuable this card can be!!  It’s like this…before 7am I had already tasted the Oysters Foch Poor Boy from Antoine’s (that’s French Bread smeared with pate de foie gras and topped with cornmeal-crusted fried oysters and the famously muddy-colored and delectable Colbert Sauce) before scarfing down about a dozen icy-cold, gently briny, raw oysters from Acme.  This weekend is the French Quarter Festival with the celeb-studded Oyster Eating Competition at The Mint.  It’s gonna be fun and crowded; that front-of-the-line card is sure-fire gold.  I’m gonna surprise someone and give it away.  This is New Orleans baby, and that’s how we roll!

La Colombe Torrefaction is a small roasting company based in Philadelphia that prides themselves in creating some of the best coffee served in the United States.  And I’d definitely have to agree with them because their espresso is by far the best espresso I’ve ever had.  I drink the Nizza blend every morning in the form of a latte from my neighborhood coffee shop.  It’s rich, smooth, very flavorful and not bitter at all.  If you love coffee, you absolutely must buy yourself a bag.

How fun is this?!  Our eclectic Easter Basket had giant Cheetos tucked into the edible Easter Grass along with masses of chocolate and a cow that “poops” chocolate jelly beans.  The Giant Cheetos - about an inch-and-half around (those are regular cheetos asteroids alongside for perspective) - have a full-on buttery, cheesy taste and big crunch value.  Love ‘em!!