Cookalong -- and dine late -- with Chef Gordon Ramsay

Chef Gordon Ramsay is inviting himself over to your house for dinner.

And you're doing the cooking.

The "Hell's Kitchen" overlord launches a new special  Dec. 15 on Fox -- "Gordon Ramsay: Cookalong Live." The audience is invited to do just that. Patterned after Ramsay's UK show, the Michelin-honored chef will walk viewers through a three-course meal for four that they will prepare within one hour's time. (If your knife skills aren't up to par, don't worry. Chef Ramsay can't throw you out of your own kitchen.)

So what do you think? Game or lame?

Details, and your shopping list, here

--Rene Lynch
On Twitter @renelynch

Photo credit: Fox

Enough pie to reach the sky in KCRW contest

Bring on the pie! And the pie ... and the pie. One hundred and fifty pies. Sour cream apple blueberry. Apple and more apple in every variation, including one with bacon and smoked paprika. Lots of pumpkin pies (no surprise in November). Maple sweet potato pie with pecan brittle topping. Chocolate banana cream pie. Savory duck pie.

Welcome to the KCRW-FM (89.9) "Good Food" show pie contest, an event inspired by host Evan Kleiman’s summer project of baking a pie (almost) every day. Kleiman, the emcee at Saturday's contest, wore a pie pin embroidered by her friend Jill Smolin. She introduced herself as "your pie god," to lots of cheers.

Hatfield's update: An end-of-December opening is planned (and yes, the former Red Pearl space gets a new paint job very soon)

"It's all anyone ever asks about on Twitter," chef Quinn Hatfield says. "When's the red paint going away? When are you going to paint? What color are you going to paint? It's a real touch-point for people."

Well, people, the space on Melrose Avenue that Quinn and Karen Hatfield are moving into (once Citrus, Alex, Meson G and most recently Red Pearl Kitchen) gets a new coat -- er, several coats? -- of paint as early as the end of this week (it will be off-white). The Hatfields expect their new incarnation of Hatfield's to open by the last week of December.

Having outgrown their former 40-seat restaurant on Beverly Boulevard, the couple is readying for a debut in a storied location (Michel Richard's Citrus was there for 11 years, but others haven't had such a great run).  The new Hatfield's seats 70 in the main dining room, 20 on the patio, 20 more in the private dining room, and at least that many in the bar and lounge. "It was pretty claustrophobic" in the old space, says Karen Hatfield. "And we were tired of having to tell people no, not being able to accommodate their requests. ...

Lunch with Alice Waters in Larchmont elementary school's garden

When Alice Waters talks about improving school lunch, she doesn't just mean making the chicken nuggets more nutritious. She wants to see a table set, maybe with flowers. She wants children to have enough time to have conversations as they eat.

"There are lots of wonderful gardens that are happening in schools, and some progress is being made in the kitchens," Waters, chef-owner of the restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., said in the garden at Larchmont Charter School.

And eventually? She'd like to see high schools in which the students run the cafeterias and work in them alongside teachers and cooks. She'd like lunch to be served, for free, to everyone.

"That's a dream. We haven't gotten there yet," she said today at the Larchmont Charter School, an elementary school that served lunch to Waters, chef Mark Peel, City Council President Eric Garcetti and other guests to celebrate its affiliation with Waters' Edible Schoolyard program.

Larchmont Charter has two schools and one of them gets its lunch from the Farmers Kitchen, a project of the organization Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles. They served the same lunch to the adults who were visiting: cheese quesadillas with salsa, black beans, green salad, fruit salad and cookies.

Chocolate chip cookies from 'Ad Hoc at Home'

It may take up to three days to make Thomas Keller's Catalan beef stew, a recipe from his newly published cookbook "Ad Hoc at Home: Family-Style Recipes," written with Ad Hoc chef de cuisine Dave Cruz. But not all recipes require a five-hour confit of onions and tomatoes.

Some are in fact really easy. There are a few that I've already made more than once, such as the chocolate chip cookies (see below for the recipe).

This cookie is slightly thicker than my Platonic ideal of a chocolate chip cookie (crisp and thin with a still-chewy center, made partly with whole-grain flour and lots of really dark chocolate, and at the outer edge it should have wrinkles that form what sort of look like concentric circles ... ), but I digress. Let's just say this one grew on me.

I think part of the reason is that these are perfect cookies for ice cream sandwiches. That's how I've been eating them, inspired by photos of ice cream sandwiches in the dessert chapter of the book. They're crisp on the outside, and chewy and slightly dense on the inside so that they don't crumble or collapse when you bite into the ice cream sandwich. 

Small Bites: 'Seafood for the Future' at Providence; Sona's 7th anniversary menu; Palmina wine dinner at Craft

For the love of seafood: Providence is partnering with the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach to host a "Seafood for the Future Dinner" on Nov. 18. The aquarium's Seafood for the Future program encourages people to make environmentally responsible choices when buying and preparing seafood. Dinner will feature six courses from Providence chef-owner Michael Cimarusti. On the menu: kona kampachi tartare, Alaskan king crab, a niçoise salad with grilled sardines, wild king salmon, wild local swordfish, and dessert. The cost is $115 per person, $160 with wine pairings. Seafood for the Future program manager Andrew Gruel and marine biologist Dave Anderson will be discussing the program with guests, and each guest will receive one complimentary pass to the aquarium. 5955 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, (323) 460-4170.

Happy seventh birthday: Chef David Myers is celebrating Sona's seventh anniversary with a seven-course tasting menu that features guests'  favorite dishes throughout the years. On Tuesday through Thursday evenings through November, the following menu will be available for $77: hamachi with edamame puree, spicy grapefruit, preserved turmeric; Tahitian squash soup with chai foam, anago, pearl tapioca; Maine lobster risotto with kaffir lime leaf; roasted duck with celery root-shiso salad; red wine-braised short rib; baba with quince, pear, grains of paradise sabayon; and chocolate beignets. 401 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 659-7708.

Wine with everything: Craft chef de cuisine Anthony Zappola and pastry chef Shannon Swindle are planning a California-meets-Italy five-course dinner to pair with wines from Palmina winery on Nov. 11. Winemaker Chrystal Clifton will attend to talk with guests and answer any questions. It's $125 per person including wine pairings. Here's the menu: hors d'oeuvres; fluke crudo with citrus and wild fennel; braised Maine lobster with smoked bacon and porcini; roasted California squab with leg ravioli; venison saddle; and almond praline panna cotta with roasted Warren pear. A few wine examples: 2008 Honea Vineyard Tocai Friulano Santa Ynez Valley, 2007 Barbera Santa Barbara County and the 2006 Undici. 10100 Constellation Blvd., Century City, call Tobie Cancino at (424) 204-7485 for reservations or e-mail tcancino@craftlosangeles.com. 

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Aquarium of the Pacific

Classes start at Mozza 2 Go's Scuola di Pizza

Mozza co-owner Nancy Silverton and executive chef Matt Molina will start teaching cooking classes this week at Mozza 2 Go's Scuola di Pizza. The inaugural cooking class, "Thanksgiving in Panicale," will be held Thursday, with another session scheduled for next Thursday. Classes are limited to 12 people.

Students will prepare an Umbrian-American Thanksgiving dinner: panzanella with dried cranberries and bitter greens; tacchino alla porchetta; Brussels sprouts with prosciutto breadcrumbs; cipolline with thyme and sherry vinegar; and pumpkin and date crostata. Classes are 7 to 10 p.m. and cost $150 per person. Call Mozza 2 Go at (323) 297-1130 to reserve your spot.

--Betty Hallock

 Photo: Nancy Silverton at Mozza 2 Go. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Ceviche shows off seafood at science center

Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken made ceviche Tuesday morning for a gathering at the California Science Center in Exposition Park to mark the release of a report on the state of the oceans from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The aquarium also issued a list of "Super Green" seafood choices -- those that are healthy for people and the planet.

Feniger and Milliken are among about two dozen chefs from around the country who pledged to serve only sustainable seafood in their restaurants and to recruit colleagues to the cause. Milliken says they sometimes consult with the aquarium to make sure the choices are sustainable.

The following recipe, provided by chefs, was not tested in The Times test kitchen.

Chefs, companies promise to use sustainable seafood; 'Super Green' list issued

Alton Brown is voting with his taste buds.

He is among more than two dozen chefs -- who also include Suzanne Goin of Lucques, Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken of Border Grill and Rick Moonen of rm seafood in Las Vegas --  from around the country who are pledging today to serve only sustainable seafood and to recruit their colleagues and customers to join them.

Their effort is organized by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is releasing a report today on the state of the oceans as well as a "Super Green" list of seafood that is healthy for people and the planet. On the list are some albacore tuna caught in the U.S. or British Columbia, wild-caught salmon from Alaska and pink shrimp from Oregon, among others.

"Every bite you take is like a vote ... a statement of values," says Brown, of Food Network fame. "I value healthy oceans, oceans that have cared well for mankind through the ages. It's high time we took better care of our seas and the bounty they produce."

The chefs are committing not to serve fish from the aquarium's "avoid" list -- rated by scientists as destructive to the oceans.

Other chefs include Rick Bayless of Topolobampo in Chicago, Susan Spicer of Bayona in New Orleans, and Michel Nischan of the Dressing Room in Westport, Conn. In addition to the chefs, the aquarium noted that food companies are also making changes. Compass Group and Aramark, the two largest food services companies in North America, have partnered with the aquarium to shift to sustainable seafood sources. The report cites the efforts of other companies, including a commitment Wal-Mart made in 2006 to, within five years, source all its wild-caught seafood from fisheries certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, which was established by the World Wildlife Fund and Unilever.

The aquarium's report says that prospects for the oceans are improving with a growing consensus to manage wild and farm fishing. But it also sets out significant problems that remain for the oceans and cites the human demand for seafood as the primary factor in the oceans' decline.

The report says that the world seafood supply was 110 million tons in 2006 -- eight times what it was in 1950, with Asia accounting for more than half the global catch. And in the next year, it says, people will eat more farmed seafood than wild for the first time.

The "Super Green" list was developed in conjunction with the Harvard School of Public Health and the Environmental Defense Fund.

This year is the 25th anniversary of the aquarium and the 10th anniversary of its Seafood Watch program, which advised people on what fish to buy and to avoid for their health and that of the oceans. The aquarium says it has distributed 32 million Seafood Watch pocket brochures.

-- Mary MacVean

Photo: Monterey Bay Aquarium

A call for applicants: Maybe this year the U.S. could win the Bocuse d'Or (or at least place in the top three)

Can Norway not win the Bocuse d'Or again, please? 

The Bocuse d'Or USA Foundation is seeking applicants from talented chefs for the opportunity to represent America at the Bocuse d'Or international culinary competition in Lyon, France, in 2011. Founded by legendary chef Paul Bocuse, it's the Olympics of the food world, and the U.S. has never placed higher than sixth -- in 2005 by Hartmut Handke of Ohio and last year by Timothy Hollingsworth of the French Laundry.

Last year's winner was Norway's Geir Skeie, pictured above, right. For more than a decade, chefs from Norway have been top contenders against longtime front-runners from France; chefs from both countries train for years. The winner gets the golden Bocuse trophy and 20,000 euros.

The Bocuse d'Or USA Foundation, led by Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller and Jerome Bocuse, will choose 16 applicants to compete in the U.S. semifinals and finals competition, which will be held Feb. 4-6 at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.

The deadline for applications is Nov. 30, and the application is available at www.bocusedorusa.org.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo credit: Associated Press