My Meeting with Ted Allen!
Earlier this week, I had the super cool opportunity to meet Ted Allen of Chopped, Food Detectives, Queer Eye (my personal fave) and numerous other food shows!
Ted has paired up with Cascade to spotlight the “Best Food Merger Hall of Fame” – a collection of yummy but hard to clean food pairings. In the running are fried chicken, mac & cheese, and spaghetti & meatballs. While I think mac & cheese is the clear winner (there’s nothing harder to clean than crusted on cheese, and that includes my trying to bite the hardened cheese off the serving plate. Come on, you know you’ve thought about it ) - the results remain to be seen.
In an intimate group of 7 bloggers and Ted, we discussed his motivation for partnering with Cascade, entertaining tips, favorite foods, and his show – Chopped.
Want to know some tidbits about Ted? Keep reading…
1. His simple go-to party appetizer: strawberry and tomato bruschetta with aged balsamic
2. A quick/easy dinner option for those rushed weeknights: Quesadillas. Vary up the fillings, and the meal can be quite healthy.
3. Foods that he isn’t crazy about: Marrow. Additionally, he’d prefer a juicy ripe tomato over foie gras.
4. Underrated Foods: A good hot dog, with wholesome ingredients, is very satisfying. Ted recommends hot dogs from The Meat Hook, where the butcher can tell you exactly what’s in each hot dog.
Ted’s Tips on Entertaining:
1. Get a drink into your guests’ hands within 5 minutes of their arrival; this signals that it’s time to relax and have fun!
2. Votive candles are an easy and inexpensive way to dress up your decor
3. If you have the room for it, invest in a foldable rolling rank to hang guests’ coats – a neater and more presentable alternative than the bed.
Yes, the mac & cheese was in front of me by this point; what of it?
Ted on his Show “Chopped”:
1. There’s an entire team that puts together the mystery baskets of ingredients that contestants must use.
2. That team will not group together ingredients for which it hasn’t already thought of a recipe (I’m curious about their recipe involving wonton skins, gummy bears, kiwi and blackberries)
Ted also opined on his favorite recipes and kitchen gadgets. After hearing his rave review of his Vitamix, as well as Thomas Keller’s endorsement, I think I need one ASAP!
Each blogger also got a copy of Ted’s cookbook, The Food You Want to Eat:
I had a wonderful time at this event. It was great to chat with other bloggers and with Ted in such an informal setting. After talking to him about sea urchin, I even suggested Basta Pasta for their linguine with fresh sea urchin in pink sauce. Will he take heed of my recommendation? Only Ted will tell…
How fun! What a great opportunity! He was one of my favorites on Queer Eye. He also lives in Brooklyn
1I'm SO jealous that you got to meet him! Too cool!
2Love Ted Allen! Lucky girl! Looks like a really fun time
3Great post… and great fun meeting you (and Ted!) yesterday. I made the quesadilla that Ted recommended. Post coming soon…
4this is soooo cool, what an awesome opportunity!!
5oh snap! that's awesome you got to meet him!
6How awesome that you got to meet him! And I'm happy to hear that he doesn't like marrow either. And that he prefers tomato over foie gras. I don't feel so bad now
7how fun! i love the party tips. i can't say i totally agree about the marrow and foie gras, but i won't pick a fight or anything.
8Lucky lady! I saw him eating at Taverna Kyclades once but was too shy to approach him. Here you're chatting with him and getting books, too cool!
9Lucky Ducky! What an awesome experience!
10Wowza. You are becoming a blogging star. Super jealous.
11That is SO. FREAKIN. AWESOME. I loved Ted Allen on Queer Eye and also liked him on Iron Chef America. You're becoming quite the blogging superstar! (And you totally deserve it!)
12Oh, I'm so jealous! I love Ted Allen!
13how did you and the other bloggers get this opportunity!? That's so awesome!
14I LOVE my vitamix — highly recommend!
15how awesome! he's one of my fave food network personalities. i'm totally saving his tips
16That is such a great opportunity! What a fun event!
17What an awesome opportunity, Serena! Ted was definitely my favorite on Queer Eye. Can't wait to see what else comes your way!
)
18Thanks, it was such a fun experience! I'm so grateful to have had that opportunity
Jessica – I don't know, someone from the company arranging the event just reached out to me
19That's so awesome!! Umm, super super jealous my friend. Sigh. I need to move to NYC because nothing seems to happen in Chicago…
Loved hearing the insider details about Ted!
20Wow! What an exciting opportunity! And you look gorgeous in purple!
21AMazing! So jealous!
22So exciting! Looks like a great time!
23I…am…so…jealous. This sounds like such an amazing experience! Lucky!
24What an awesome event. I'm with Katie, SO JEALOUS! He has some fabulous tips! I love that he likes a good hot dog! So do I! And the strawberry and tomato bruschetta: duly noted! I do have to disagree with him on marrow, though.
Loving your posts!!!!
25Cannot believe you met Ted Allen!!!! So Jealous!!! Sounds like a great event!
26Holy crap! I am so jealous of you! If you ever meet Alton I might just keel over!
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