James Beard

Rice dish's a winner Here's a dish that was a recent winner in a contest sponsored by the USA Rice Federation: Brown 1/2 pound trim and diced pancetta or bacon and 1 large red, chopped onion in a large skillet over medium heat until onion begins to brown, about 8 minutes. Add 1 3/4 cups half-and-half; bring to boil. Remove from heat and add 3 cups of cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups sweetened dried cranberries, 1 cup chopped pistachios, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper. Stir until well blended.

Greco show is among the toast of food TV"Country Inn Cooking with Gail Greco," a production of Maryland Public Television, has been nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award for best television food journalism. Winners of the awards will be announced April 29 in New York. Something different for dinner? Sample one of the Wednesday evening mini-courses at Baltimore International Culinary College, such as Korean "Down Home" Cooking (April 24) or Sizzling Salsas and Summer Side Dishes (May 15)

Sweet and spicy foods will be public television's focus next month as it airs two one-hour programs in which famous chefs share their recipes for mouth-watering chocolate desserts and South-of-the-border entrees.Chocolate lovers will enjoy watching "Chocolate Passion: A Great Chefs Special" at 2 p.m. March 12. The acclaimed chefs will show viewers how to work with chocolate, creating desserts fit to satisfy any sweet tooth, says Colleen H. Wright of Maryland Public Television.Chefs to be featured on the first episode include Robert Linxe, internationally famous for La Maison du Chocolat in New York, and Jacques Torres, the pastry chef at New York's Le Cirque.

Roy Yamaguchi is back in town on Wednesday, Oct. 5 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Roy's Baltimore. Chef Yamaguchi will be joined by Roy's Baltimore exec chef Raymond "Opie" Crooks and other chefs. The $100 evening will include wine, music and gourmet food stations executed by the James Beard Award-winning Yamaguchi, along with Crooks and other great chefs, including Rey Eugenio, the opening chef at Roy's Baltimore, Nino Germano ( Germano's ) Patrick Morrow ( Meli )

New yogurt experiences Bothered by lumps in your yogurt? Dannon has introduced two new products that promise the smoothest yogurt experiences yet. La CrM-hme is a mild, slightly sweet yogurt, and Frusion is a creamy drink made from fruit juice and yogurt. La CrM-hme retails for $1.99 for four 4-ounce cups, and 10-ounce Frusion drinks go for $1.49. Cooking in big leagues Baltimore chef Cindy Wolf and her husband and partner, Tony Foreman, will play the gastronomical equivalent of Carnegie Hall next week when they present a dinner at the James Beard House in New York.

The Wine Market has elevated sous chef Andrew Weinzirl to the position of executive chef, the restaurant's owner, Chris Spann, announced on Oct. 14. Weinzirl takes over from Chris Becker, who left to join the Bagby Group. “I wanted to find a chef that understood my culinary philosophy but who also had his own approach to food,” said Spann in his press-release statement, who added that Weinzirl has been running the kitchen for a month prior to his promotion. After graduating from the Baltimore International College, Weinzirl put in time at Linwoods , The Dogwood and The Chameleon , with a sojourn in between at the James Beard-award dinning Highlands Bar and Grill in Birmingham, Ala. Among the offerings on Weinzirl's first Wine Market menu: lobster and pasnip soup, a house-made short-rib hot dog with apple kimchi, a pine nut and pinot noir risotto with wild mushrooms and Parmesan sage broth and a pan-roasted Creekstone Farms bistro steak with potato-kohlrabi gratin.

Three Bistro Blanc alumni, including Tae Strain, will return to Marc Dixon's Glenelg restaurant for a 'pop-up' dinner on Nov. 7.  Strain was the chef at Demi, the lower-level restaurant within Crush at Belvedere Square, which closed in May after a brief but exciting run. At the 'pop-up' dinner, he will be joining Ben Rosen, who is now working with James Beard Award-winning chef Michelle Bernstein in Miami, and Janny Kim, who recently returned to...

Michael Joseph Wagner, an award-winning chef who taught at the old Baltimore International College, died of melanoma Sept. 17 at the Gilchrist Hospice of Columbia. He was 52 and lived in Columbia. Born in Baltimore and raised in Rodgers Forge and in Howard County, he was a 1977 graduate of Altholton High School. He earned a degree at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., and worked at Russell's in Catonsville and later at Clyde's in Columbia and in Washington, D.C. He was also associated with Baltimore's Planet Hollywood at Harborplace.

"Top Chef" judge Tom Colicchio passed a quickfire challenge of his own Monday when he was named the nation's top chef by the James Beard Foundation. Colicchio, whose numerous restaurants include Craft, Craftsteak and the recently opened Colicchio & Sons in New York, was named outstanding chef during an awards ceremony that is considered the Oscars of the food world. It's an honor for which he'd been a finalist seven other times since 2002, the same year the organization named Craft the nation's best new restaurant.

The owners of Mughal Garden on North Charles Street have just opened a second restaurant in Cockeysville, the India Palace in Yorktowne Plaza. The menu is much the same as at the sibling downtown, with northern Indian cuisine the specialty. India Palace is open every day for lunch and dinner. Entrees run from $8.95 to $17.95.India's culinary diversityNow that regional Indian food is becoming as trendy as regional Italian once was, we'll be getting a chance to sample the differences at the Akbar Palace in Randallstown.