We love to cook. And with an oven like the TurboChef, we love to show and tell. So a few days ago in New York City at our premium authorized dealer – MCKB – we hosted a TurboChef cooking experience for over 100 interested New Yorkers who came to witness, experience and taste the TurboChef cook firsthand.

These events are great fun for us because we get out of the office and into a showroom where we can hear precisely what questions and comments people have about TurboChef. One gentleman, who had just recently ordered a TurboChef Speedcook Oven, came early to “see what else the oven could do.” He was delighted to learn more about the oven features, particularly the lower oven and how it compliments the speedcook oven. “So if I'm throwing a party, we can use the lower oven as a warming drawer. Perfect. I can hold all the entrées until everything is ready, then serve it all up nice and warm at the same time,” he exclaimed. His wife also joined us and wanted to study the design more closely. She was delighted to learn that the TurboChef Speedcook Oven had just won an award from Interior Design magazine's readers last month in NYC.

Other comments from the evening:

“The single wall oven will be a hit in NY because it gives you the TurboChef performance in a small kitchen.”

“This is the nicest chateaubriand I have ever tasted.”

“These cook times are hard to believe until you see the food go in the oven, then come out looking great, then tasting sensational. This is a wow product.”

“I'm a kitchen designer and I had to come see the product because many of my clients are asking about it. I can see why people are so interested. I have one going into kitchen in the Hamptons soon.”

“I wasn't sure about the design but now I see it working with other appliances in this showroom.”

Chef George Grieser, along with TurboChef sales and marketing experts Tom Cutler and Leslie Hoffman, cooked several delicious dishes for the enthusiastic crowd. We cooked chateaubriand (in 11 minutes compared to almost an hour conventionally), roasted cod (4.5 minutes versus 20 minutes conventionally) with a tomato vinaigrette (4 minutes instead of 25 minutes) along with several other taste treats. Our good friends at Elle Decor also supported the event with some nice goodie bags for all of the folks who attended. The night was a great success and we enjoyed meeting everyone. We love you you too, New York. Here's to many more dinners together. Cheers.

It was busy week in Orlando last week as TurboChef enjoyed its second annual appearance at the International Builders' Show. The conversations were many, the enthusiasm for the oven has high, and the daily live demonstrations – we conducted three each day – were standing room only. The highlight of the week for me was Chef Jonathan Waxman, who took the stage to cook an exceptional three course meal that included broiled diver scallops, roasted rack of lamb, and chocolate soufflés for 20 guests in about 18 minutes.

Jonathan is an exceptional chef and someone you'd be just as pleased to have as a guest at your dinner table as you would to have him preparing the meal. Concentrating on fresh, seasonal ingredients, his "less is more" philosophy delivers food that feels familiar but tastes absolutely exceptional. You can find a collection of his recipes in his recently published cookbook, A Great American Cook, or taste them for yourself on the menu of Barbuto, his Italian bistro on Washington Steet in New York City's West Village. I recommend the roast chicken.

Jonathan's biggest crowd pleaser at the Builders' Show may have been his diver scallops, hand-harvested by divers off the coast of Maine and flown in that morning for the show. He broiled them in the TurboChef Speedcook Oven on a preheated grill pan to deliver a nice sear, then polished them of with Belgian endive and a fresh blood orange vinaigrette. While I'll concede the most important ingredients of genius, experience, and improvisation to Chef Waxman, here's a best shot on goal to recreate that dish for you to enjoy:

Broiled Diver Scallops with Belgian Endive and Blood Orange Vinaigrette
TurboChef Cook Time: 7 minutes
Conventional Cook Time: 30 minutes

Blood Orange Vinaigrette
2 blood oranges
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup olive oil

Roasted Endive
4 heads Belgian endive, trimmed and cored
1/4 cup of vegetable broth (or water)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Diver Scallops
2 pounds diver scallops (about 20)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel blood oranges and remove all pith. Slice into cubes and place into a mixing bowl. Stir in red wine vinegar and olive oil.
2. Select Roast > Vegetables > Roasted Vegetables > 1 pound and let the oven preheat.
3. Julienne Belgian endive. Place in a 13x9 pyrex roasting pan with vegetable broth. Drizzle with olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Place in preheated oven and press Start. Cook for 3 minutes. When done, remove from oven and place in lower oven on Warming setting until ready to serve.
4. Select Broil > Seafood > Shellfish > Scallops > 40 count and allow oven to preheat. While preheating, place cast iron grill pan coated with non-stick cooking spray in oven until hot.
5. Place scallops in mixing bowl and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.
6. Place scallops on hot grill pan, flat side down, place in oven and press Start. Cook for 4 minutes.
7. As an appetizer, serve one to two scallops per plate, seared side up on a small bed of the endive. Dress with blood orange vinaigrette.

We'll be headed to one of my favorite cities this weekend as TurboChef sponsors the Charleston Food & Wine Festival. Charleston is a great culinary town and this certainly promises to be a red letter event as far as good food is concerned. We'll be doing our part as well, cooking up some great tastes in the Culinary Village at the entrance to the Grand Tasting Tent #2. If you're within driving distance, grab a few tickets and come on over. Good food. Good wine. And lots of it. Hard to think of a better way to spend a weekend.

We've posted a handful of images from the International Builders' Show here. They'll provide a small taste of the daily demonstrations conducted for show-goers. Enjoy.

The Charleston Food and Wine Festival over this past weekend was an amazing mix of local and nationally-recognized Southern chefs in a city widely acclaimed for its low country cuisine. Seminars, food tastings, and a dine-around were highlights of the weekend, and TurboChef was right in the middle of it as the official sponsor of the Culinary Village. We served up a few of our own culinary treats to guests across from the south and beyond. We've posted a short slide show of the event for those of you who couldn't make it. The event has their own recap of the event in pictures here.

By the way, when we weren't cooking, our group found some real gems when it comes to local fare. Fish, specializing in fresh, local and sustainable seafood is housed in a beautiful renovated building from 1837. Boathouse - East Bay in historic Charleston is very close to the festival. And Coast and Virginia’s on King both served up great authentic southern low country fare. If you happen to be in the area, a visit to any of these establishments will treat you right.

Our thanks to everyone who we met at this great event. We hope to see you again next year.

For those of you in New York City and the surrounding area, you can catch TurboChef this weekend at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show. Held at Pier 94 (12th Ave & 55th St.), the show is open exclusively to design professionals on Thursday, March 6th and then opens to the public on Friday through the remainder of the weekend. TurboChef will be conducting demonstrations throughout each day with some of New York's most talented chefs. Highlights on the roster include:

Thursday:
Jonathan Waxman, Chef/Owner of Barbuto, will be cooking a seafood medley of clams, mussels, and sea bass with a saffron broth along with roasted brussel sprouts and butternut squash. Noon.

Friday:
Kurt Gutenbruner, Chef/Owner of Blaue Gans, Wallsé and Café Sabarsky, will be cooking something wonderful. 11:30am.

Saturday:
Franklin Becker, Executive Chef of Brasserie, prepares roasted rack of lamb with peas and carrots. Noon.
Cesare Casella, Executive Chef/Owner of Maremma, will be cooking marinated U-15 shrimp with tuscan style beans.
Anne Burrell, Executive Chef at Centro Vinoteca and Gusto, will be preparing leg of lamb. 3:00pm.

Sunday:
Mikey Price, Executive Chef/Owner of Market Table, is roasting up boneless half chickens garnished with a brunoise of sweet potatoes (...yes, I had to look up brunoise).
Amanda Freitag, Executive Chef at The Harrison, will prepare a whole roasted side of fresh fish with roasted vegetables.
Fabio Trabocchi, Chef/Partner of Fiamma, will roast poussins. 3:00pm.

Here's a recap of the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in NYC, including a short segment on TurboChef in their roundup.

The biggest event in the world of appliances is right around the corner. Once again, we'll be bringing our unique cooking experience to Chicago and the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show this week, from April 11th to the 13th. Our good friend Jonathan Waxman, executive chef/co-owner of Barbuto in New York, will be preparing some of his favorite recipes in the TurboChef Speedcook Oven. His K/BIS menu includes:

Pizza with Bacon, Parmesan, Scallions & Tomato
Conventional time: 25 minutes
TurboChef time: 3 minutes 25 seconds

Two Roasted Organic Chickens
Conventional time: 1 hour 20 minutes
TurboChef time: 15 minutes

Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes
Conventional time: 1 hour
TurboChef time: 5 minutes

Homemade Strawberry Crisp
Conventional time: 50 minutes
TurboChef time: 4 minutes 10 seconds

Combined, the full four-course meal is cooked in less than 30 minutes (versus 3.5 hours in a conventional oven). Not bad.

We hope you'll join us at Booth N8539 in the North Hall if you plan to attend the event. If not, check back in next week for a post-show recap.

It was another exceptional showing for TurboChef at K/BIS 2008, with crowds lining up to see the demonstrations, taste the food, and learn more about the TurboChef Speedcook Oven. Our custom color door options, the new TurboChef 30" Single Wall Speedcook Oven and Chef Jonathan Waxman's demonstration menu were all big hits with attendees. We'll post much more about K/BIS over the next several days. In the meantime, here's a sampling of some of the press coverage TurboChef received.

Home Magazine Live – Part 1
Chef Jonathan Waxman discusses the speed and quality he's expereinced when cooking with the TurboChef Speedcook Oven.

Home Magazine Live – Part 2
TurboChef's Chief Branding Officer, Steve Beshara, discusses the benefits of TurboChef and Airspeed Technology™.

Sarasota Herald-Tribune:
"TurboChef is a high-performance gourmet oven that exemplifies new standards of luxury as defined as quality and convenience."

Illinois Daily Herald:
"Colorful and Quick – TurboChef's 30" Wall Oven"

NKBA Live from K/BIS:
"Bring your popcorn. Several manufacturers at K/BIS are attracting attendees to their booths with a little showmanship."

CBS Evening News - Chicago
"A personal tour around the showroom floor."

Our stay at K/BIS last week began with a very special event. A select group was on hand at Charlie Trotter's in Chicago for an exclusive TurboChef demonstration with Chef Trotter himself. Not only does Chef Trotter use commercial TurboChef ovens in his restaurants, he has a residential version in his studio kitchen.

In this setting, Chef put on a quite a show for our audience, using his TurboChef 30" Double Wall Speedcook Oven to cook extraordinary dishes with extraordinary speed. It was a vivid reminder of just how remarkable this oven is. I see it demonstrated and cook with it every day, yet I am still thrilled and amazed when I see new foods prepared in it – particularly in a location that has been named the best restaurant in the world.

In a little less than thirty minutes, Chef Trotter had prepared, cooked and plated the following dishes as we looked on.

Roasted Monkfish with Baby Carrots, Iowa Spiced Fatback & Shallot Marmalade
TurboChef time: 9 minutes

Lemon-Ricotta Soufflé with Rhubarb Compote
TurboChef time: 2 minutes

After the demonstration, the group adjourned to the dining room where we were treated to an exceptional menu. Again, Chef Trotter prepared each item in the TurboChef Speedcook Oven, and each one was a delight for the senses. The unique presentation, the flavor, the remarkable pairing of food and wine – all of it made for a wonderful experience. When asked for his opinion on the evening, Stephen Weiner of Abt Electronics in Chicago, summed things up well:

“Listening to Charlie speak about the oven's performance and it meeting his high standards was a testament to the product. I was impressed to know the TurboChef products were being used daily in one of the finest restaurants in the world. The monkfish was most memorable and the Eyrie Vineyards Pinot from Oregon complimented the delicate flavors of the perfectly prepared fish. It boggles the mind to know the fish was roasted in less than four minutes.”

We thank everyone who attended the evening and extend a special thanks to Chef Trotter and his remarkable staff at Charlie Trotter's for an evening of excellence. For an inside look at the evening, we've complied a slide show for your viewing.

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.