Hey V-fans,

Like a true proud papa, Bryan announced via twitter this week that he and his wife (pictured above) are expecting their second child in July! Isn't that amazing news? Congratulations to the entire Voltaggio clan!

Meanwhile, Micheal made a special announcement of his own, revealing the official logo for his new restaurant Ink. (pictured above), according to the Food and Wine blog, Mouthing Off.

Michael also had customized plates made for the dining room with the restaurant's logo etched onto the back of each plate, according to Mouthing Off. Nice touch, Michael. We can't wait for your upcoming opening!

In case you missed it, Bryan appeared this week on a special "Ask a Celebrity" episode of the Nate Berkus Show. In the video above, Bryan talks backstage about his food style and how hard it can be—even as a Top Chef, to get his son to eat a variety of healthy foods!

In this video clip, Bryan surprises an audience member that feels like she's stuck in a cooking rut by teaching her how to make a delicious, quick and healthy meal!

And to further your viewing pleasure, check out this fun recap video featuring Michael hosting the K*Swiss Pinig Pong Classic at Sundance:

That's it for this week's super sweet Voltaggio update! Until next week, enjoy!

Hey V-Fans!

Did anyone see Michael on The Fran Drescher Show? What's that you say? Oh, you didn't know they gave the signature nasal-sounding actress from The Nanny her own "tawk" show? Well they did. Don't worry if you missed it, we snagged the best part of the episode to show you here!

In the AOL video clip below, watch as things get a little frisky when Fran asks Michael to spank her during a cooking lesson:

Also, thanks to the heads up from site member Mark Nguyen, we discovered that Micheal was recently listed as one of GQ UK's Top 100 Best Things In The World!  Thanks, Mark. Obviously, we (and apparently Fran Drescher!) wholeheartedly agree with GQ.

Okay people, the holiday season is officially upon us! And as the old saying goes, 'tis truly better to give than to receive. So why not consider giving to our favorite cooking-duo's charity of choice, Share Our Strength?  One dollar is all it takes to help feed a child ten healthy meals.

Click HERE to donate to their No Kid Hungry for the Holidays campaign. Who knows, you could end up winning this sweet Bryan Voltaggio Bobble-Head for donating as little as five dollars!

Need some giving-back inspiration? Look to our boy Michael! He recently took part in LA's Test Kitchen closing-night charity event benefiting both Gettlove and Share Our Strength. Food blogger Darin, of DarinDines, was on hand to snap this lovely pic of Michael's "EcoPez" Turbot, Earth, Ash & Sea dish...

And this is what he had to say about Michael's creation:

"Leave it up to Michael Voltaggio to create the dish that took the longest to explain. He created an ash by cooking down leeks and mushrooms, then pureeing them and drying them out. This created a strong mushroom flavor to accompany the fish. An interesting way to impart the earthy flavor, I thought it really worked. A mushroom chip added some crispiness to each bite."

Click HERE to read Darin's entire review.

BIG kudos are in order for Bryan and his restaurant VOLT.  According to their recent blog post, they're set to celebrate the two year anniversary for Table21 on Dec. 21 and announced that the special table is completely booked through 2011!!!

That's it for this sweet n' salty edition of your weekly Voltaggio update! Happy holidays, everyone.

Enjoy!

Hey V-fans,

December is in full swing, which means the holidays are right around the corner! Do you have any upcoming holiday potluck parties to attend? If so, you might want to consider taking a culinary cue from Bryan and bring one of his favorite holiday vegetables: brussels sprouts!

Bryan recently told the FrederickNewsPost.com about his affinity for the typically loathed sprouts, telling them that the key to making brussels sprouts taste sweet and tender is using super salted water while cooking them, and then adding caramelized onions to make them sweet. So why not kick your childhood hatred for brussels sprouts this holiday season and give this salty-sweet recipe a whirl.

Photo credit: Graham Cullen, FrederickNewsPost.com

In other news, the Washington Business Journal recently confirmed chatter that Bryan has been scouting potential locations for a second restaurant on the sly! Rumor has it that the restaurant won't necessarily be another version of VOLT, however it will be located in downtown Frederick.

Additionally, because VOLT is considered to be fine dining, Bryan plans to make the new restraunt more casual and family-oriented, according to the FrederickNewsPost.com.

As always, we will do our best to keep you informed about this exciting news!

Photo credit: Christopher Beyer, InkedMag.com

Next, in the very cool StarChefs.com video below, Michael explains how to make edible cream cheese and smoked salmon snow using the Vitamix-XL blender.

Wow, I don't know about you…but that video has us craving cream cheese and singing, "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"

For more fun tips and tricks, check out Michael's informative videos being featured in the Williams-Sonoma video gallery. Click HERE to watch Michael using his signature sous vide technique to make crispy chicken thighs, and demonstrating how to use the Polyscience Smoking Gun to make smoked gnocchi, salsa, soup, and even smoked margaritas!

That concludes this week's delicious Voltaggio update! Check back next Friday for more exciting Voltaggio news. As always, feel free to leave your delightful commentary and questions below. Enjoy!

Happy “Black Friday” everyone,

We hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving! Even though we’re sure the last thing you want to hear about today is food…it’s kind of our “thing," so…bear with us!

According to LAWeekly’s Squid Ink blog, Michael prefers his mashed potatoes infused with homemade seaweed butter and served with fish! This is just one mashed potato tip he shared with Squid Ink, that you might want to keep in mind as the holiday season quickly approaches. Here are a few more:

“Michael Voltaggio, (forthcoming) Executive Chef/Owner Ink.
1. Type of potato to use: La Ratte 

2. Peeled or not: Cooked in skins, then push through a handheld potato ricer (which removes the skin)
3. Boil, bake or steam: Boil

4. Mash, ricer or food mill: Old school: hand-held ricer 

5. Cream, milk, butter or cheese? Little bit of cream, and butter. Add with a whisk (as if making a beurre blanc sauce).”

Alright, enough about food! Bryan recently gave the Baltimore Sun a sneak peak inside his home kitchen--check out some of the pictures from their visit below!

Bryan also shared a wonderful recipe for beef stew (pictured below) with the Baltimore Sun.

Yummy! Well, that's it for this "Black Friday" edition of your weekly Voltaggio Update! Leave your comments below and join us next week for more exciting Voltaggio news. Enjoy!

Hey V-fans!

As we’ve mentioned before, Michael is teaming up with Williams Sonoma to spread the word about high-end kitchen appliances such as an at-home sous vide machine, as well as the Bamix Immersion Blender, Vitamix Professional Blenders, and more!

So we thought this week we’d share a special three-part video series where Micheal shows us all how to make his delicious Crispy Chicken using the sous vide technique, a French term meaning “under vacuum.” Enjoy!

PART: I

PART: II

PART: III

You can find written instructions for Michael’s Crispy Chicken and other delicious recipes from Williams Sonoma by clicking HERE.

And just to keep things even around here, Bryan recently attended the Great Frederick Fair for the 4-H Beef, Sheep and Swine sale— where he boldly outbid a slew of folks to win a 250 pound medium weight champ market barrow, aka a big, fat, pig!

Lastly, Bryan and VOLT are teaming up with An Evening on the Riviera for a raffle to be held during the October 8 event.

This is your chance to cook with Bryan for just $30! And here's the best part— ticket purchasers need not be present to win! If you're interested you can purchase tickets HERE.

Until next time V-fans…Eat on!

Hey everyone,

For me, Spring is nothing more than an excuse to eat fresh morels. While you should be able to find them at your local gourmet food shops, if for some reason they haven't stocked up, there's a great website called http://www.marxfoods.com that has all of your morel needs totally covered.

When you're hunting for fresh morels, you're looking for unblemished, whole mushrooms with white stems. Steer clear of any funky scents or slimy stems. Once home, it's ideal to cook your morels that evening, but they can stay fresh and dry for about 3 days; be sure to store them in a paper bag, refrigerated - use of any plastics will make your morels taste strange and will completely change the texture.

When selecting your morels, I recommend really going through them carefully, because a bruised morel's texture can be rubbery once prepared and cooked. If you're feeling intrepid, you can sign up for a morel-hunting group - but be absolutely sure you know what you're doing. As you know, morels must be cooked and never eaten raw. As for cleaning and cooking techniques, there are a million different ones out there, but for me the finest way to eat a morel is:

TO PREPARE:

-Hand-pick a collection of white-stemmed, fresh morels.

-Bring home, slice length-wise, brush away dirt and/or bugs.

-Let sit out until ready to eat.

-If it's a particularly clean batch, you're ready to cook, if they're buggy or dirty, use a damp towel to clean.

-If the towel proves to be not enough man-power, as a last resort you may soak your morels in a salt-water bath for a maximum of 15 minutes - rinse thoroughly and then pat dry with a cloth.

TO COOK:

-Melt a giant knob of butter in a cast iron skillet until butter is sizzling but not darkening - a medium heat is roughly right.

- Add your sliced morels, plain* and unsalted, to the butter

-Cook for about 4-7 minutes, or until softened. You're not looking for any crispness, but softness.

-Using a slotted spoon, transfer directly to plate, season with salt (Maldon, please) and eat.

*The only acceptable variation when eating straight morels, in my humble opinion, is to lightly flour them before frying.

Let me know how they turn out.

-Michael