One of the things that happens in my house on the holidays is after dessert, we sit down to a very ambitious men-versus-women game of Trivial Pursuit. It’s brutal. And there’s a trophy.
BOBBY FLAYOne of the things that happens in my house on the holidays is after dessert, we sit down to a very ambitious men-versus-women game of Trivial Pursuit. It’s brutal. And there’s a trophy.
BOBBY FLAYEverybody says, ‘I have problems overcooking steak on the grill,’ but just take it off earlier! Grilling is really common sense. It’s very simple. You should think of a grill as a burner – it just happens to have grates. You shouldn’t be intimidated by it.
BOBBY FLAYI was not such a great student, .. So, when I graduated high school, I went to work cooking. I cooked a little at home, but back then, cooking wasn’t really a profession that you aspired to, unless your family was in the business.
BOBBY FLAYTake risks and you’ll get the payoffs. Learn from your mistakes until you succeed.
BOBBY FLAYI looked at it as a job. My first job was at Joe Allen’s, and I remember there was a photo over the bar of the Triple Dead Heat from the 1944 Carter Handicap.
BOBBY FLAYChipotles to me are a one-of-a-kind pepper because they’re smoked jalapenos, so they’re fiery and they’re smoky. It’s good to use chipotles in salsas or soups or condiments – that works really well. To me, they always really pick up anything you put them in.
BOBBY FLAYIt’s important to have balance in your life between work and play.
BOBBY FLAYI think people are intimidated by grilling .. maybe it’s the flame, maybe it’s the big grills, maybe they’ve had some bad childhood experiences .. but I think that grilling is actually the easiest technique in cooking.
BOBBY FLAYMy contribution I hope is to get people to eat full-flavored food. If I could come away with that alone, that would be a fantastic accomplishment. I’m also very proud of being a very American chef.
BOBBY FLAYI love the culture of grilling. It creates an atmosphere that is festive but casual.
BOBBY FLAYWhen I’m hiring a cook for one of my restaurants, and I want to see what they can do, I usually ask them to make me an omelette.
BOBBY FLAYNobody believed the ‘Food Network’ could last. Even I was short sighted and thought to myself, 24 hours of food on TV? They’ll run out of things to talk about in four days! But that wasn’t true. ‘Food Network’ continues to get better and evolve.
BOBBY FLAYI probably use my chef’s knives more than any other tool in the kitchen. I’m not married to a particular brand, because they all work, they all have sharp blades.
BOBBY FLAYI love working with big flavors like chiles and smoke. Honey is perfect for softening the edges, mellowing them out a bit. I put it in everything – vinaigrettes, soups, stocks, salsas, so I’m always on the hunt for great honey.
BOBBY FLAYIn the end, your creativity — perhaps even your outrageousness — will determine the final result.
BOBBY FLAYThere are so many great things about this business. Almost everybody is on the same team. It is all for one-friendly competitiveness. No one is out to hurt anyone.
BOBBY FLAY