Blog Posts by Gourmet

Photo by Chris Gentile.By Gourmet Live recipe developer Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez

Get a taste of the Super Bowl action with a recipe from Gourmet Live's brand new A Gourmet Game Day menu. You can then download Gourmet Live to visit the Store and purchase the complete menu, which includes play-by-play tips for entertaining any size crowd as well as recipes for Stuffed Sliders Your Way, Queso Fundido, Red Velvet Whoopie Pies and more.

The Asian standbys of soy sauce, hoisin, and toasted sesame oil, along with those crisp and shiny Japanese rice snacks, have become so much a part of American cuisine that's there's nothing "ethnic" about this truly addictive party mix. We guarantee that you won't be able to keep from nibbling on it all evening long! In fact, we predict that you will find yourself making it often because you won't want to run out of it.

Makes 14 cups
Active time: 15 min // Total time: 1 1/2 hr

Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
2 tablespoons sugar
2

By Kelly Senyei, Gourmet Live

It was known as the "frozen freshman fifteen" in college. Students would line up by the dozen in the dorm cafeteria to pull the lever. A ribbon of chocolate would swirl with a stream of vanilla. The result was a tower of low fat, low calorie frozen yogurt - the ultimate in guilt-free desserts.

Bypassing a buffet line of cookies and cakes, the frozen yogurt machine saw more action than the penny slots at the Tropicana. And with every ounce that swirled into cones and cups in cafeterias and yogurt shops across the country, frozen yogurt became the go-to alternative to traditional dessert.

This piece has been edited from its full-length. To read the full story, click here to download the free Gourmet Live app for your iPad.

By Kelly Senyei, Gourmet Live

For 10 straight weeks, Mark Haub survived on an 1,800-calorie-a-day portion-controlled diet consisting mainly of Twinkies, chips, snack cakes, sugary cereals, candy bars, and every other food you would find on a list of things to avoid when dieting. The result? He lost 27 pounds.

Haub, who is a professor of Human Nutrition at Kansas State University, made national headlines with his junk food diet, and with his simple message of moderation to every dieter and non-dieter across the country. And while Haub chose a unique approach to demonstrate this point, the underlying sentiment remains: Yes, even carbohydrates can and should be consumed as part of a balanced diet.

Carbs. The word alone is enough to repulse most fad dieting, treadmill-trekking, health-conscious consumers. Eat carbs and lose weight? That's impossible.

By Gourmet Live guest columnist Paula Froelich

Shannen Doherty, 39, has been labeled many things: A wild child, a crazy lady, a talented actress. (Who could forget her turn in Heathers or 90210?) But one of the labels she most cherishes is chef. Doherty has packed more living into her 39 years than most do in a lifetime. She's been married twice, arrested once, acted in over three dozen movies, and posed nude for Playboy, but the Memphis born belle insists that she's really just a down-home girl at heart. Gourmet Live caught up with the actress as she was on her way to New Jersey to promote her new book, Badass: A Hard Earned Guide to Living Life With Style and (The Right) Attitude. 


Gourmet Live: Do you cook?

Shannen Doherty: I do. I cook a lot of things. I'm quite a chef. My boyfriend cooks too, so we pretend we're on a TV show and in the grocery store we'll call a friend and tell them to give us three ingredients to use that night. We get those ingredients and go home and have to

This recipe for Butternut Squash Apple Soup represents a big milestone, as it is the first brand new recipe developed and tested for Gourmet Live. It is the appetizer recipe for our Ambitious Thanksgiving Menu, a collection of eight new recipes along with a day-by-day game plan, which debuted in the current issue. Enjoy this seasonal soup at your holiday table and download the free Gourmet Live app to complete your Thanksgiving spread.

Butternut Squash Apple Soup by Alexis Touchet
Makes 8 servings (about 8 to 9 cups)
Active time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min

Ingredients:

• 6 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 lb boiling potatoes
• 2 medium Granny Smith apples (about 3/4 lb total)
• 1 1/2 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (3 1/2 to 4 cups)
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken stock or broth
• 2 to 2 1/2 cups water

--By Kelly Senyei, Gourmet Live

One by one the cameras start flashing. I haven't been in New York City's Magnolia Bakery for more than a minute before I can sense the madness. "Red velvet!" The squeals echo off the walls, which appear to be closing in on me as throngs of tourists and locals alike fill the small space. I'm in line for a cupcake, and I'm in Hell.

The two girls standing ahead of me take turns snapping photos of each other in front of the bakery case. The wait is less than ten minutes. Not bad for a Thursday at 1:30 p.m. They reach the front of the line and make their selections. "One pink," the girl says. Two words and a gesture toward the glass cupcake case is all it takes. I have now arrived at what is arguably the Mecca of couture cupcake hysteria.

Related: The Death of Tipping?

Magnolia Bakery, Sprinkles Cupcake, Crumbs Bake Shop and Georgetown Cupcake are just a few of the haute bakeries fueling a trend that has turned from something that was sweet in 2007, to

--By Gourmet Live guest columnist Sarah Rich

When John Hartupee found himself eating fast food in the Montreal airport on his way to a weekend dine-around in New York City's finest restaurants, the irony was not lost on him. From his Blackberry, he tweeted: "Burger King in the airport waiting for my flight to NYC. I'll consider this my amuse-bouche for Eleven Madison Park!"

The next day, Hartupee glided through the revolving door of Danny Meyer's palatial restaurant with his girlfriend, leaving the memory of his traveler's appetizer to evaporate in the Manhattan heat. The maître d' greeted them, the host swept them off to a crisp, white-clothed table, and a quiet fleet of servers delivered house-filtered mineral water and minimalist square menus.

By the time the real amuse-bouche arrived, they'd been fully transported. They savored a soupçon of sweetbreads, and the table was cleared. Then a second set of small plates arrived, this time concealed under silver domes. The couple sat

By Victoria Recaño, Gourmet Live

Blues Brother. Restaurateur. Vodka connoisseur. Dan Aykroyd has made the move from big screen superstar to culinary standout with a string of House of Blues restaurants and a vodka line inspired, literally, by ancient spirits. He took some time during a recent event at The Blvd at Beverly Wilshire to dish about his favorite foods and what he considers the most underrated ingredient.

Gourmet Live: What inspired you to create your Crystal Head line of vodka?

Dan Aykroyd: We wanted to go back to the old style of vodka-making, which is using really, really fine water the old Russian way and just the mash without any industrial additives.

Gourmet Live: What is the best meal you have ever had?

Dan Aykroyd: It was a meal I served to my guests this summer. We started with iceberg wedge salad with crumbled blue cheese and bacon cubes sautéed in maple syrup and garlic croutons. Then we had a jumbo shrimp cocktail with a beet horseradish sauce for