Food Network

Food Network, Cooking Channel and now, Univision television chef, Ingrid Hoffmann, sat down with us to talk about her most recent endeavors. Her show, Delicioso, premiers tomorrow at 1 p.m. on Univision. It will be the first cooking show broadcast weekly on national television, regardless of the language.

Each of Hoffmann's Delicioso episodes share ideas for cooking (primarily Latin cuisine), entertaining and crafts.

Tomorrow is "Un Toque Mexicano" (A touch of Mexico). That's right, and hopefully there will be piñatas.

She's not what you would expect from a star. During our chat, Hoffmann was a hot mess. Decked out in comfy clothes and flip-flops, she sipped a cafecito. She admitted that she had actually wanted to cancel our meeting because her hair looked like she had just rolled out of bed. We found it all completely human and charming.
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Sergio Ferrer and Jorge Porro

Rapicavoli and Cass look forward to a new project

​Chef Giorgio Rapicavoli formally announced that after his recently aired victory on Food Network's Chopped, his last day at 660 at the Angler's will be January 20. Come the first week of February, he'll open Miami's second popup, Eating House.

Before getting the scoop on his new endeavors, however, we wanted the details from his Chopped experience.

After watching the young chef's cool, confident composure on national television, it was clear who the winner would be by the second round. "It's important to have self-confidence and have a goal set in mind," Rapicavoli says. "I made sure to keep my promise and focus on what was in front of me. I called my mom the night before and promised her I would win, so I did."

But how can we forget the eccentric competitor, Fey, who danced in front of her pea soup before realizing five seconds before time was called that she forgot to put it on her plates? We asked the chef what is was like working alongside her. "I actually didn't have much of an idea of what was going on during the competition. I had so much tunnel vision throughout that I missed all the theatrics."
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Stella Vidal via Facebook

Stella on a food truck - you know you want to be there when it happens.

​Here's your chance to see a genuine Miami Caliente babe (as in the now-disbanded lingerie football league team) get all sweaty for your enjoyment this Sunday.

Local food show, Livin La Vida is filming an episode on the Latin Burger food truck with co-host (and babe) Stella Vidal getting all hot and bothered behind the grill.

Stella, by the way, was named one of the most beautiful women in the world (as reported by Cultist).

Vidal, co-host Stuart Warren Dansby, and the Living La Vida crew will be on the truck in the Shell Lumber parking lot on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

Livin La Vida airs on WBFS My33 Saturday nights at 10:30 p.m.

Watch Stella (and Stewart) do squats, snorkel and water ski, after the jump:
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​On a past episode of Food Network's Chopped, Ronnie Vincent lost a closely matched dessert round. The executive sous chef at Joe's Stone Crab comes from Overtown. Despite the loss, his appearance has since brought him many accolades.

Raised by a single father who worked three jobs to support his family, Vincent saw drugs and violence -- the rough life -- growing up but has always maintained a positive attitude. His own brother was shot five times but survived.

Once he graduated from high school, his athletic prowess earned him a scholarship to play football for Glenville State College in West Virginia. Running 4.48-second 40-yard dashes and majoring in education, he was well on his way to having a robust football career. After tearing his ACL and having his first child during his sophomore year in college, he decided to not pursue football but instead focused entirely on his culinary career, reading books, teaching himself, and practicing cooking in his own kitchen.
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Food Network

Victory is sweet and savory.

After Sunday night's epic holiday meal battle in Kitchen Stadium against chef Elizabeth Falkner, Geoffrey Zakarian -- who recently opened the Tudor House restaurant in South Beach -- prevailed using the secret ingredients as his allies (beef crown roast, candy canes, clementines, acorn and butternut squash, salt cod, Brussels sprouts, unfiltered apple cider, and parsnips) and three surprises from the Chairman (cranberries, use of the ice-cream machine, and a holiday-themed cocktail in a martini glass).

Zakarian spoke with New Times about his recent victory. But before we start: Which one of you is doing Next Iron Chef Season 4: The Remake? We here at Short Order are hungry and ready.

New Times: What was your gut feeling walking into your first Next Iron Chef challenge?
Geoffrey Zakarian: Oh, my God... Well, they told me we had to go out to the mountains and we were like, "Really?"... I was shocked when they told us what the geography was, but I was like, "OK, carry on."
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By Carlos Acosta

Andrew Zimmern at Cobaya Azul

​I have to thank Bizarre Food's Andrew Zimmern for making it to Miami. I'd originally dropped a grapevine hint that he'd soon be in town only because I recently noticed his Twitter conversation with Chef Geoffrey Zakarian about visiting Tudor House.

But I didn't actually think he was serious!

Our Zimmern in Miami Twitter Tour starts five days ago (December 8) at approximately 5:22 p.m. His first tweet from the Sunshine State came from a gas station in Central Florida. It was a photo of Boone's Farm Apple Wines... about a dozen of them to be exact. Classy, Zimmern.

Anyway, upward and onward!
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Indoor pulled pork: you won't know the difference.

​"Indoor" and "barbecue" are two words one never likes to hear placed back-to-back in a sentence -- especially when preceded by the phrase "you are invited to". We all know what this means: Meats and/or poultry baked in an oven with a lot of Open Pit BBQ Sauce poured over it.

When we hear the words "liquid smoke" spoken, it also tends to signal red flags. Which is why I was so surprised to see it being recommended by Christopher Kimball on America's Test Kitchen (which I've mentioned in the past is the best show about cooking on television). Yet a "barbecue purist" from West Virginia made it clear: "Liquid smoke should not be sneezed at."

"To achieve smoky flavor without an actual barbecue pit, we turned to liquid smoke, a natural product derived from condensing the moist smoke of smoldering wood chips. We found that adding it to our brine infused it with smoky flavor without tasting unnatural."
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Food Network

Notorious for those tortoise frames

​Calling all Food Network fanatics! As if Miami wasn't chock full of celebrities already, Food Network's Chef Geoffrey Zakarian will be gracing our city with his presence at Tudor House tomorrow.

The chef will kick off a new Rose' Brunch. Beginning December 3, you can enjoy the brunch menu every Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. onward.

Executive chef Jamie DeRosa and his skillful team have prepped quite a menu (fit for a true Tudor, in fact) including Dessert Dim Sum and a Bloody Mary Cart. (Should've called it Bloody Mary Tudor Cart ... Any history buffs out there? ... Anyone?) Oh, and yes, as you've likely already guessed correctly, Rose' wine will be flowing generously.

While Zakarian will primarily be there for the brunch kick off press event, you might still be able to snag a peak or even a handshake as brunch will be open to the public - it's a small restaurant anyway... how far could he possibly get?
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​You can't say that you can cook better than mom, but that's the premise of a new cooking show, Just Like Mama, which is set to begin filming in January. In it, Miami personal chef Stuart Shaw re-creates healthier versions of home-cooked meals that celebrities knew best.

Shaw has been cooking for 30 years for clients such as Don Shula, Randy Starks, P. Diddy, and Jermain Taylor. He leads a team of chefs and dietary professionals for his company, the Miami Personal Chef.
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Photo by Riki Altman

Who made the cut in Ted Allen's kitchen?

​Casting folks came to Miami a few months ago in search of some candidates willing to get skewered by celeb chefs on this season of Chopped, and Short Order has secured a sneak peek of the finalists. However, a company rep requested that we not share the names of the 12 who were on the chopping block just yet so we made a little riddle out of the list.

See if you can figure out who makes up the dirty dozen:
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