Summertime in Atlanta means fresh, juicy peaches are in plentiful supply. While a good fresh peach stands up on it's own, we've taken to baking our latest bushel in the TurboChef oven for a wonderful, simple dessert to end the evening.

Prep is simple. Cut two or three peaches in half and remove the pits. Drizzle with a little spiced rum, brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped walnuts. Don't bother peeling the peaches as the skin will separate during cooking. Place the peaches in an 8" x 8" baking pan and cook under the Roast > Vegetables > Roast Vegetables > 1 Pound setting. In less than three minutes (I take them out at the 80% chime) you'll have beautifully caramelized, warm and luscious roasted peaches. They are good on their own but I can't resist topping them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. A down home Southern taste treat that couldn't be easier.

Combining the last few posts, I've continued with my baking exploration and settled on a Martha Stewart recipe I came across this past weekend. I used the Cake > Scratch Recipe setting under the Bake menu and took the cake out at the 80% check point - reducing the final cook time from 45 to 18 minutes.

While Martha's looks a bit better than mine (no shock there), it tasted sensational. With a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, this cake is the perfect end to a summertime cookout. You can find the recipe here.

The Dallas Morning News recently published a feature story on Michael McAdams, a Capital Distributing customer that recently incorporated the TurboChef 30" Double Wall Oven into his remodeled kitchen. The article profiles Michael's TurboChef experience.

"Mike McAdams had been learning to cook for about a year when he saw an advertisement in Wired magazine for an "oven reinvented." He was intrigued with the new TurboChef oven that can cook up to 15 times faster than a conventional oven.

After 35 years in their North Dallas home, the Mr. McAdams and his wife Emily were considering remodeling their kitchen. A talk with Dallas distributor Capital Distributing about the oven convinced them it was the real deal."

Read the entire article...

Martha Stewart recently paid TurboChef a visit at the home of Richard Perlman and Ellen Hanson, our Chairman and his wife. She came to film a feature with the TurboChef oven for The Martha Stewart Show. TurboChef has formed a great relationship with Martha and you can expect to see more of the oven on her show and in a variety of other forums in the weeks and months ahead. We're excited that she’ll be telling more and more people what we know to be true – the TurboChef oven is, as Martha puts it, "an amazing new technology for today's kitchen."

Click here to watch the TurboChef feature on The Martha Stewart Show.

I'll start by saying that I'm somewhat intimidated by baking. While I am quite interested in it and admire those who do it well, it seems a bit delicate and intricate so I typically steer clear of the territory. At the same time, we are very often asked how the oven performs with baked goods. So, emboldened by the confidence in my oven's ability and inspired by a recent TurboChef-oriented post from The Knead For Bread, I stepped up to the challenge this weekend to illustrate just what the TurboChef can do when it comes to baking.

To begin my adventure in baking, I started with something familiar and comfortable. The Knead For Bread is a treasure trove of great baking recipes. What's more, for those who need a helping hand like myself, they offer a step-by-step "class" complete with visual representations of each part of the process. TKFB provides a nice twist to traditional banana bread with their Chocolate Banana Crunch Bread recipe. The recipe's ingredients are easy to procure and preparation is relatively simple (just be sure to have several mixing bowls ready for duty). Once everything is combined, baking is a snap. Using the oven's recipe settings, I selected Bake > Bread > Quick Breads > Regular Size. While there are also size variations for 3x6 mini loaves in the oven's menu selections, this recipe called for a standard 5x9 loaf pan. With this setting, TurboChef cuts the cooking time in half – to 30 minutes – while the original recipe calls for an hour. Crossing my fingers that I had combined everything correctly, I placed the batter in the oven, closed the door and pressed Start.

30 minutes later I was thrilled with the outcome. My creation came out with a golden brown and chocolaty marbled exterior. The inside was moist and filled with melted chocolate chip morsels and crunchy toffee chips. The resulting swirl of chocolate, banana and toffee is nicely balanced, sweet and delicious. With an ice-cold glass of milk, it's perfect.

Already, I see much more baking in my future. I've got me eye on another TKFB recipe to try out – far afield from this one. I'll share the results in a few days. In the meantime, let me know if you've got a favorite you'd like to see cooked in the oven by posting it in the comments section below.

This entry comes to us from Ted Curtis, a TurboChef customer and avid user of his TurboChef 30" Double Wall Speedcook Oven. If you own a TurboChef Speedcook Oven and would like to share stories, recipes or tips on this blog, please contact us.

I prepared my first filet mignon in the oven the other night. It was amazing.

I took an 8-9 oz. filet and brought it down to room temp (a very important first step). Then I bacon wrapped it and coated the top and bottom with Oklahoma Joe’s Steak Seasoning (great stuff!). I melted a tablespoon of butter on a plate, then coated the steak – top and bottom – right before putting it on a small, preheated Le Creuset grill pan. I had preheated the pan in the bottom oven on “Hi-Broil” for about 20 minutes before moving it to the top for cooking. There is no need to apply non-stick spray to the pan due to the butter. In fact, you don’t want to because you want the pure juices from the meat, butter, and bacon to pour onto the steak when you're ready to plate.

I selected Broil > Beef > Filet > Medium > 1 Count using the Cook Navigator and put the steak in to cook for 6 minutes when preheat was complete. Then I flipped the steak at the 3-minute point to mark both sides.When it came out of the oven, I placed the pan and steak on the stove top under the hood, letting it rest on the pan for about 5 minutes until the internal temp got to around 125-130 degrees. While still in the pan, I salted the steak with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. I placed the steak on a hot plate that was placed in the oven for about 30 seconds. Then I poured the juices that collected in the pan over the top of the steak.

It may be the best steak my wife and I have ever had. The flavor was unbelievable! I’ve prepared it since for a few friends and it’s blown them away! They say it’s as good, if not better, than Ruth’s Chris. I agree.

Hungry yet? - Ted

Here's one more recipe prepared by Chef Waxman at K/BIS. Chef is known for his roasted chicken and, while the taste is exceptional, this recipe couldn't be more simple to create. Best of all, using organic chickens, you can cook up two in the TurboChef Speedcook Oven in about 12 minutes.

Roasted Organic Chickens

2 small (3.0 pound) organic chickens
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Using the Cookwheel, select Bake > Meat/Poultry > Poultry > Chicken > Unstuffed > 3-4.5 pounds. Press “start” to preheat oven.
2. Rinse the chickens and dry with paper towels.
3. Place the chickens in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place a tablespoon of butter on top of each.
4. Place chickens in oven, press “start” to begin cooking. Allow to cook 12 minutes of the 22 minute cook cycle (organic chickens will typically cook more quickly than a non-organic chicken). Allow to rest about 5 minutes before slicing.

You can find more great recipes like this in Chef Waxman's cookbook, available here.

As promised, we're sharing a couple of the recipes we prepared with Chef Waxman at K/BIS. These are easy, fresh and take only minutes to prepare and cook – making them perfect for a meal on any night of the week. Enjoy.

Pizza with Bacon, Parmesan, Scallions & Tomato

1 frozen 10" pizza crust
Note: Chef Waxman prepared his own crusts then froze them. You can prepare this doing the same thing, using store-bought crusts, or using fresh dough. Simply adjust your oven settings accordingly.
2 cups halved grape tomatoes
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
8 ounces Applegate organic bacon, sliced
¾ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Sea Salt

1. Using your Cookwheel, Select Bake > Pizza > Frozen > Combo. Press “start” to preheat.
2. Roll frozen dough into a 10-inch round and place on metal sheet pan.
3. Press bacon gently into surface of the dough, distributing evenly.
4. In a large bowl toss the tomatoes and onion together. Drizzle with a tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Distribute tomatoes evenly to the edge of crust in a single layer. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and cracked black pepper, to taste. Brush the edge of dough with olive oil.
5. Place pizza in the oven and allow to bake 3 minutes. Scroll to "Cook and Brown More" if desired for a slightly darker bottom and crust.

You can find more great recipes like this in Chef Waxman's cookbook, available here.

Once a year, the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show becomes the international focus of the design industry. Anything your heart desires for your kitchen can be found on the K/BIS floor and TurboChef was right at the center of it again.

With reservations for seats booked weeks in advance by specifiers, dealers, press and VIPS, Chef Jonathan Waxman took the stage three times a day to a standing room only crowd, anxious to see the TurboChef Speedcook Oven live up to its reputation as the best oven available. Hear Chef Waxman's unique perspecive on the TurboChef Speedcook Oven in a radio interview with Home Magazine Live.

Even Ty Pennington, reporting from the K/BIS floor as a correspondent, stopped by to see what the excitement was about and mix things up with the Chef.

As usual, the oven did live up to its reputation, inspiring "oohs" and "aahs" from the crowd as some of Chef Waxman's Chef favorite dishes emerged from the oven cooked to perfection in mere minutes. A fresh dough pizza topped with organic tomatoes, scallions, bacon and Parmesan crisped up in just over 3 minutes. A fresh berry crisp topped with a mixture of oats, brown sugar, cinnamon & nutmeg was ready in 4 minutes. And perhaps most impressively, Chef prepared fresh, organic chickens – two at a time – in 11 minutes. At the same time, he'd prepare a separate single chicken, cooking it in the conventional oven for an hour. Note to our readers: look for the recipes for each dish posted here in the coming days.

Beyond the demonstration, the booth was equipped with a number of working ovens and cooking stations so consumers could touch, feel and get the complete TurboChef experience. With cinnamon rolls, pizzas, steaks, even an occasional turkey being served up all day in record time, the TurboChef booth was a popular place to be.

In all the event was a success. You can see the full three-day show in pictures here. We thank everyone that took the time to visit us, learn about, specify and purchase TurboChef over the course of the event. We look forward to seeing you again next year in Atlanta.

Ok, it wasn't challenging enough to decide between this color or that color, this size or that size; now there is "green" - complete with all of its decisions: carbon footprint, sustainable, organic, local, cradle-to-cradle, recycled, recyclable, and more. Since TurboChef is a design, manufacturing and marketing company, we are excited about all of the different options to improve the planet. This is a good thing. At the same time, we know that not everything fits neatly into an eco-friendly option as much as we'd like it to. So, we believe that being honest and open about what we are doing in the name of "green" so you the consumer can make educated decisions about what is best for you and your family. We welcome the pursuit of green and look forward to hearing from you about what you value in this conversation.

At the end of the day, our goal is to build ovens that give you the freedom to be the cook you want to be while promoting the protection and conservation of our shared planet. We've put together a summary of what we are doing to start. You can read it here.

I’d enjoy hearing from you on what you expect and value from TurboChef in pursuit of green.