April 8 – Steven Raichlen – BBQ Bible

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Guy

My guest is the world famous Steven Raichlen, Grill Master, Smokin’ King, Doctor of BBQ, International TV star, and most importantly the author of The Barbecue Bible and best I can tell at least 33 other books including an updated version of The Barbecue Bible.

This year is the 25th Anniversary of The Barbecue Bible series and it appears Stephen isn’t retiring yet.

We’ll talk about his illustrious career playing with fire and the many books, TV shows, hands-on cooking demos he has lead.  My first meeting with Stephen was in Aspen many moons ago at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic.

Author, journalist, lecturer, and TV host, Steven Raichlen is the man who reinvented modern barbecue. His 32 books include the international blockbusters The Barbecue Bible and How to Grill and the New York Times bestselling Planet Barbecue and Project Smoke (Workman Publishing). In The Brisket Chronicles, Raichlen explores how this epic meat is prepared around the world, from Texas barbecue to Jewish pastrami to Vietnamese pho. His latest book, How to Grill Vegetables, focuses on global plant-based grilling. Raichlen’s books (more than 6 million copies in print) have won five James Beard Awards and three IACP Julia Child Awards and have been translated into 17 languages. In 2012, he published his first novel: The Hermit of Chappaquiddick.

Steven Raichlen hosts the popular TV shows Steven Raichlen’s Project Fire and Project Smoke, Primal Grill, and Barbecue University on American Public Television, and stars in several French-language TV shows, including Le Maitre du Grill and Les Incontournables du BBQ. His Italian TV show, Steven Raichlen Grills Italy, airs on the Gambero Rosso network. An award-winning journalist, Raichlen writes regularly for The New York Times. His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Esquire, GQ, and all the major food magazines. In 2015, he was inducted into the KCBS Barbecue Hall of Fame.

In 2021, Raichlen launched Planet Barbecue™, a line of ready to heat and eat barbecue and grilled foods. He also created the Project Smoke, Barbecue Essentials, and Steven Raichlen Signature lines of grilling accessories and seasonings. His latest venture is a new restaurant concept: the Star Grill by Steven Raichlen for the Windstar cruise line. The founder of Barbecue University™ at Montage Palmette Bluff in South Carolina, Raichlen has lectured on this history of barbecue at institutions as diverse as Harvard, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian Institution.

Steven Raichlen holds a degree in French literature from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and studied medieval cooking in Europe on a Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellowship. He was also awarded a Fulbright. When not grilling, you’ll find him on his bicycle or at the helm of his sailboat, Barbacoa. He and his wife, Barbara, live in Miami and Martha’s Vineyard.
His websitesare stevenraichlen.com and barbecuebible.com

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2020 Z. Alexander Brown Uncaged Red Blend 
Uncaged offers big, bold flavors that finish with uncommon finesse. Dark garnet in the glass, dense layers of jammy fruit, black cherry and toasted oak leave a lasting impression leading to a robust yet smooth finish. With each vintage there is a pure connection to the land that they are proud to share every time a bottle is opened.

Robust and complex red wine pairs well with rich berry or mocha-based desserts or flavorful meats like grilled ribeye steaks.

Grab some at Jacob Liquor Exchange and join us!

 

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April 1 – Meals and Memories

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Guy

My guest this week is Francesco Iovine with his new book: Meals and Memories with Nonno.

In Meals and Memories with Nonno, Francesco Iovine and co-author Ashley Carr honor the legacy of Francesco’s grandfather, Angelo Iovine, whose philosophy regarding food was to keep it fresh and keep it simple.

“My nonno lived to be 101 years old eating the recipes from this book, and his cooking was so good you could smell it from the driveway,” Francesco Iovine said.

Meals and Memories with Nonno offers readers an immersive experience that blends Angelo’s classic Old Country recipes with the inspirational story of his immigration to America in 1921. A dual language English-Italian book, Meals and Memories with Nonno is sprinkled with Angelo’s timeless pearls of wisdom and old family photographs to give readers meaningful glimpses into his heritage.

“He was a man in tune with himself and with the world around him,” Francesco Iovine said. “He ate only fresh and healthy foods. And, perhaps most important of all, he embraced life with the deep values of his Italian philosophy.”

Home cooks who are health conscious, vegan, vegetarian or simply following a Mediterranean lifestyle will find an abundance of timeless dishes featuring seasonal foods and simple ingredients that are probably already in their cupboards.

“I invite you to try these Iovine family recipes,” Francesco Iovine added. “Born of the Italian countryside, lovingly carried across the Atlantic Ocean and perfected in New York City.” Get your copy NOW!

About the Authors
Francesco Iovine was born and raised in New York City where food has always been a huge part of his upbringing and life. His love for cuisine started when he was very young in his Nonno and Nonna’s kitchen, and continued to grow when he started working in a German deli owned by a man named Bruno, a chef who escaped from East Germany. Bruno taught him how to use a knife, and everything else was self-taught by observing his grandparents and others who specialize in Italian regional cooking. Iovine recently partnered with a restaurant called Piatto, located on the waterfront in Long Island City, Queens, where he is bringing old world recipes with a modern twist!

Ashley Carr is a writer and performer who was born in Virginia and spent most of her adult life in New York City until moving to Miami in 2020. A vegetarian for over a decade, she developed a passion for cooking after finding that most restaurants didn’t offer hearty, meat-free versions of the dishes she craved from her childhood. After all, being raised in Virginia gave Carr a hankerin’ for something more satisfying than just salads and grilled vegetables! She has also traveled throughout Europe as well as Bali and loves to take traditional recipes and create vegetarian versions of them.

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2018 Cantine di Ora Amicone
Produced from mostly dried Corvina grapes done in the Amarone style but for a shorter period of time. The wine juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged up to eight months in French oak barrels. This is a dry, medium-plus-bodied and plushy red with lots of ripe red berry, dark cherry, vanilla, smoky oak spice and chocolate flavors with rich dark cherry on the finish. An excellent value Veneto red at $16. ABV14%

Grape varieties: 65% Corvina, 20% Rondinella, 15% Molinara

Food pairings: roast duck, roast Mediterranean chicken with olives and grapes, grilled lamb chops, Bistecca Florentine.

Grab a few bottles at Jacob Liquor Exchange or your local wine merchant and join me!

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Mar 25 – Italy on a Plate

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Guy

My guest this week is Susan Gravely with her magnificent new book “Italy on  a Plate – Travel, Memories, Menus.”

In her debut memoir and cookbook, Susan Gravely celebrates 40 years as Founder and Creative Director of VIETRI. Italy on a Plate is an exploration into what makes Italy so magical: its staggering beauty, unparalleled style, artistic legacy, and incredible food. The close friends Gravely has made during her years of Italian travel have graciously shared their homes and their favorite family recipes, and this book gives a culinary tour of Italy’s flavors with recipes you will enjoy with loved ones for years to come.

“This year, VIETRI celebrates forty years. In honor of four incredible decades, and with gratitude for my Italian friends who have welcomed me into their lives, their homes, and to their tables for good food, fine wine, and cherished companionship, I have written this memoir and cookbook. Thanks to their kindness, hospitality, and generosity, my friends have shared the recipes found in this book. I hope these wonderful dishes, and the personal stories of our time together, will bring you the comfort and warmth they have brought me.”  Susan Gravely

Susan Gravely is the Founder and CEO of VIETRI, a lifestyle brand offering handcrafted Italian tabletop and home and garden accessories. Susan grew up in eastern North Carolina, and due to her father’s international business, her family hosted his visiting colleagues from around the world for wonderful dinner parties. From her earliest days, Susan helped set the table for those dinners, appreciating the varied wonders of the world and gathering together.

In 1983, Susan took a trip to Italy with her mother and sister. The three women fell in love with the colorful handpainted dinnerware they discovered on the Amalfi Coast, and they decided to build a wholesale company to share it with their friends and family back home. Since then, VIETRI has grown to become America’s largest importer of Italian ceramics. VIETRI products can be found in more than 2,000 specialty retailers and department stores in all 50 states and internationally. Susan currently oversees product design for VIETRI and lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with her husband, Bill, and dog, Franco.

Get a copy of the book NOW…

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2018 Petra Zingari Toscana
Francesca Moretti’s Petra estate perches on the rolling hills the separate the seaside plains of Tuscany’s Maremma and the taller peaks of the Colline Metallifere – the “metal-bearing hills” mined from Etruscan times through the mid-19th Century.  Originally planted to Cabernet, Merlot and Sangiovese in 1808 by  Bonaparte Baciocchi, Napoleon’s sister and Grand Duchess of Tuscany, the diverse exposures, iron-rich soils, and blend of Tuscan heat and cooling breezes from the nearby Tyrrhenian Sea make this a perfect site for both French varietals like Syrah, Petit Verdot and Merlot and Tuscany’s own Sangiovese.

A few years ago, then Wine Advocate Italian critic Antonio Galloni wrote that “Petra is one of my favorite properties for intense, flavorful wines from the Suvereto district in Maremma,” and he later added, “I rarely hear Petra mentioned in a discussion of the best wines and wineries from the Tuscan coast, but year after year the wines are reliably outstanding and fairly priced… The house style is one of bold, exuberant wines.”  That’s what you’ll find here – a wine of bold flavors and texture that remains silky smooth and succulent whether paired up with bold foods or simply sipped solo. Enjoy now – 2033.

Zingari was born as an experimental vineyard to test the attitude of its varietals: Syrah, Merlot, Sangiovese and Petit Verdot. Highly concentrated ruby color, which introduces the Mediterranean aromatic notes of this wine. Soft and full-bodied in mouth, it has a fresh flavor with good acidity and a structure with balsamic and mineral notes that make Zingari pleasant and interesting.

Critical Acclaim  JS92  James Suckling
A fresh, vivid red with cherries, currants and hints of hazelnuts and chocolate. Medium body. Racy finish. Like the vivid acidity that runs through this. Drink or hold.

Grab a bottle or two at Jacob Liquor Exchange on North Rock Road in Wichita or your local wine merchant and join us.

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Mar 18 – My Vermont Table

Posted on March 17, 2023 by Guy

My guest this week is Gesine Bullock-Prado with her new book “My Vermont Table – Recipes for All Six Seasons.”  Today, March 18 (the third Saturday in March) is Maple Syrup Saturday!    Podcast afterwards here…

Gesine Bullock-Prado is a renowned pastry chef, cookbook author, baking instructor and television personality. She is the author of five distinct and well received baking books, Sugar Baby, Pie It Forward, Bake it Like You Mean It, Let Them Eat Cake, Fantastical Cakes and the perennial favorite baking memoir My Life from Scratch. Her confections have been featured in publications from Better Homes and Gardens to People Magazine and she’s a regular food presenter on the Today Show.

In My Vermont Table, Bullock-Prado takes readers on a sweet and savory journey through each of these special seasons. Recipes like Blackberry Cornmeal Cake, Vermont Cheddar Soup, Shaved Asparagus Toasts, and Maple Pulled Pork Sliders utilize local produce, dairy, wine, and flour. And quintessential Vermont flavors are updated with ingredients and spices from Bullock-Prado’s own backyard. With stunning photography, Vermonters and visitors alike will revel in a seat at this table.

Get a copy NOW!   Learn more about Gesine here!

In her 18-year career, Gesine has run her own pastry shop, become a popular baking instructor at King Arthur Flour’s Baking Education Center, Stonewall Kitchen and online at Craftsy.com, has been the contributing food editor of both Runner’s World and Food + Wine, co-hosted Cooking Channel’s Unique Sweets and is a regular on America’s top-rated morning show, the Today Show and on NPR’s All Things Considered. She hosted Baked in Vermont on the Food Network and was a main judge of Food Network’s Best Baker in America. She also judged America’s Test Kitchen’s Next Generation. She is the owner and baking instructor at Sugar Glider Kitchen where classes sell out within 5 minutes and working towards getting her Vermont Master Gardener Certification in 2023.

Watch Gesine and her sister Sandra Bullock make cherry pie! 🙂

Good Life Guy’s Wine Spirit of the Week:
Knob Creek Smoked Maple Bourbon
On the nose you get maple, brown sugar and a charred molasses, as well as honey and a touch of spice. Take a sip and notice an almost creamy, viscous mouthfeel, with strong maple flavors which are offset a touch by hints of smoke and oak. The finish is short, just a bit sharp and warm, with a soothing honey sweetness as the taste of maple syrup remains on your lips.

 

This is the perfect after dinner beverage or serve it with a cheese board or even a rich chocolate cake.

Check out the Bourbon selection at @jacobliquor and pick up a bottle!

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Mar 11 – Paddy Day Parade and more!

Posted on March 9, 2023 by Guy

This is going to be FUN!
I’m broadcasting LIVE from InSite Real Estate Group in Delano near the clock tower as we welcome the return of the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, or should I say the Delano Paddy’s Day Parade.

First up is Dan Unruh from InSite to talk about how they were instrumental in bringing back the parade after COVID. Follow InSite on Facebook

Then to help you celebrate the luck of the Irish in a meaningful culinary way, I’ll be talking to Judith McLoughlin about her new book “A Return to Ireland – A Culinary Journey from America to Ireland.”

An exceptional cookbook featuring over 100 recipes celebrating Irish-American heritage.  A Return to Ireland showcases fresh, innovative food and drink recipes which celebrate Irish-American heritage as it weaves the culinary and cultural journey of these two places that the author have come to call home.  From the lush green fields of Gilford in County Armagh now settled in Atlanta, Georgia, author Judith McLoughlin shares her love of whole, fresh Irish ingredients with readers, sending them, one plate at a time, back to a simpler time.  A Return to Ireland also highlights stories and Irish food to celebrate the relationship between Ireland and America.

Over the past several years, Judith McLoughlin has become one of the most recognized Irish faces and brands in Atlanta, throughout the American South and abroad. Coming from County Armagh in the heart of rural Ireland, she learned the techniques of the Irish culinary tradition from her family who had generations of experience in the Irish hospitality & restaurant business before deciding on a move to the United States with her husband Gary. Judith and Gary started The Shamrock and Peach to share their Irish heritage through a food and culture blog, recipes and offer Luxury VIP tours to Ireland and Scotland.  Learn more about Judith and The Shamrock and Peach

Later in the second half I’ll have some local guest to talk about the many great things happening in Delano.  The growth and excitement continues to grow with numerous new business ventures, great food and entertainment.

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
No Green Wine, No Green Beer…How about a “Boozy Shamrock Shake” recipe from Judith

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