Hot chefs do a role reversal in Austin and Christy Rost hosts a PBS Thanksgiving

Ready, Fire, Cook! "Chefs Under Fire" hits Austin--check it out online or in person.

"Chefs Under Fire" is a turn the tables type "Iron Chef" competition that puts amateur chefs in the line of fire, so to speak, of three top chefs who have each been challengers on the foodie favorite TV show. This time, though, David Bull from Bolla (R), Kent Rathbun (L) from Abacus, and Tyson Cole from UCHI, are going to judge the aspiring chefs who will each be cooking a recipe selected for them by one of the pros. The scene is set for a lot of fun in Austin on November 30th. Join me if you can make it. I'll be hosting the evening at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center on the University of Texas Campus. If you love a good food fight, this competition is for you. There is very limited seating for the special evening, so hurry before tickets are gone. Get more details about attending by clicking on "Chefs Under Fire" at the producer's website: www.KeeperCollection.com, or phone 512-970-3456. You can also email them at: update@keepercollection.com.


Kudos are in order for a dear and talented friend, Christy Rost, who has hit the culinary big time in a big way. The lifestyle expert and television chef hosts a one-hour Thanksgiving special, "A Home for Christy Rost: Thanksgiving" on more than 100 public television stations and over 200 Create TV stations on Sunday November 22nd at 1 p.m.. That includes KERA-TV, Channel 13, the Dallas-Fort Worth PBS station. The Thanksgiving special was filmed at "Swan's Nest," the historic Breckenridge home more recently known as Revett Manor that Christy and her husband, Randy purchased three years ago from Glenn and Mary Campbell.

As Christy's press release says, "Memories are made around the family table, especially during the holidays. Families talk, laugh, and reminisce as they feast on course after course of treasured family recipes passed down through the generations."
Christy is making memories in her newly restored dream home. This historic 5,600-sq.-ft. home, built in 1898 as a wedding gift and named "Swan's Nest" by gold baron Ben Stanley Revett, sits high in the mountains of Breckenridge, Colorado. Again to the release: "A Home for Christy Rost: Thanksgiving artfully weaves holiday cooking in Christy's historic kitchen with home decorating how-to's, easy-to-replicate tablescapes and documentary-style highlights of Swan's Nest's extensive renovation, a process more than two years in the making, as well as the colorful history of Swan's Nest's flamboyant original owner."

Christy has worked hard for over 10 years to make her dream come true of having a nationally syndicated TV food show. Way back in the last century, when I hosted the "KRLD Restaurant Show with Jim White", Christy appeared with us every other week with a new and fun recipe or home entertaining idea. She has hosted numerous cooking demos for us at the "Jim White Celebrity Kitchen", and sent many a trusty recipe our way for www.EatsandDrinks.com. God bless her tenacity. Her efforts have paid off. I hope this is the start of "something big", and that everything continues to "come up Christy". Break a leg, my friend, I'll be tuned in on Sunday November 22nd, at 1 p.m. on Channel 13. I may DVR, though, and skip the pledge breaks.



If you love great Bordeaux, (and what's not to like?), join our friends at Centennial for a very special wine dinner event at Bolsa on Monday November 23rd. Centennial's Fine Wine Buyer Lance Storer hosts the dinner featuring 2005 Bordeaux:

Chateau Le Doyenne, 1er Cotes de Bordeaux 2005
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Chateau La Prade, Cotes De Francs 2005
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Cotes De Baleau, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2005
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Chateau Doisy Daene, Sauternes 2005

Lance knows his stuff. He is a graduate of the Court of Master Sommeliers (Level One), and the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (Level Three). He is preparing to enroll in the Institute of Masters of Wine program, the most prestigious in the wine industry. In the process of his education and his job at Centennial he tastes more than 6,000 wines each years. Taste four very special ones with him at the exciting dinner. For reservations call Bolsa at 214-367.9367. A very fun place that takes me back to my Oak Cliff roots (when nothing this good was around, and no one knew any better).

The Bolsa team is comprised of Oak Cliff residents Chris Zielke and Christopher Jeffers who have partnered with Alexander Urrunago and Royce Ring. The four share a common vision to create a laid-back little place that attracts a wide range of local folks for a variety of occasions. The team has enlisted local Chef Graham Dodds to lead the kitchen. Chef Dodds prefers to work with locally grown organic ingredients and will handcraft a delicious four course “carte du jour” for the dinner.

Bon appétit!

What are your plans for Thanksgiving? Let me know. We'll share your ideas.

Happy dining,
Jim