The colonel is a genius.  Forget bread, why not just use fried chicken?  And throw some cheese and bacon in there for good measure.  It only has 540 calories and 32 grams of fat, although the 1380 mg of sodium is a bit much.  See you at KFC on the 12th.

I bet you thought Sur La Table just sold overpriced kitchen gear.  Well, until April 30, the company is providing free professional knife sharpening for up to two knives.

If you have a nice knife that you don’t want to sharpen yourself – a good idea if you’re not familiar with knife sharpening – then take them to your local Sur La Table store.  They’ll use their ChefsChoice commercial sharpener to give your knives a new edge.  Keep in mind that sharpening may take up to 48 hours, so don’t take in your knife right before a meal.

How could a bloody mary possibly get any better?  Try adding the flavor of bacon.

Yes, Bakon Vodka is infused with the flavor of everyone’s favorite greasy breakfast food.  Even better, Bakon Vodka is made from potatoes, so it’s practically a full breakfast in a drink.

Sure, having vodka that tastes like bacon does slightly limit your mixing potential – a bacon flavored White Russian isn’t exactly appealing.

But at the same time, think of all the possibilities…bacon marys, bacon martinis, long bacon ice tea?!

Sadly, Bakon Vodka is in limited distribution, so you’ll most likely have to order the spirit online.  Check this link out for more information.

I was at Costco today, and saw this astounding bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label for a cool $20K.  That’s not a misprint – it’s a $20 thousand bottle of scotch.

Apparently this bottle is from a limited edition Blue Label 1805 bottling that celebrated the 200th anniversary of Johnnie Walker.  Only 200 bottles of the special edition blend were created, and according to Wikipedia, none of the bottles were intended to be sold at retail.  Instead, the company presented the bottles to individuals deemed to have made the most significant contribution to modern life.

The estimated retail value of the 1805 Limited Edition is $30K per bottle, which makes Costco’s price a pretty good deal, actually.

Interestingly, you can get your hands on a glass of the 1805 Limited Edition at La Mer in Hawaii’s Halekulani resort.  Apparently, the restaurant is offering the scotch for $325 for a 1 1/2 ounce pour.

What’s good about frying?  Well, it evenly coats your food in golden brown, crispy goodness.  What’s bad about frying?  While the inside of your food is getting cooked, it’s also absorbing oil, so essentially whatever you’re eating becomes a golden brown oil sponge.

T-Fal’s ActiFry strives to deliver the best of both worlds, promising all the goodness of frying with only a touch of oil.

Gizmodo has a good review on the ActiFry here.  Overall the concept of the ActiFry seems like a good idea; the device has a heating element that cooks your food, and a stirrer that keeps your food moving around for even cooking.  All you need is a teaspoon of oil, and the stirrer will ensure that you get a nice golden brown.

In Gizmodo’s tests, the ActiFry worked surprisingly well.  Sure, it wasn’t always as good as a deep fryer or oven, but the results were pretty decent.

The only big problem I see here is the price:  $300.  That’s a bit much for a kitchen accessory, and that’s coming from someone with a $100 automatic martini mixer (thanks TJFKAK).

I’d get this thing for around $29.99, not $300.  But overall, I do like the idea of frying with very little oil, and I hope this technique catches on quickly.

Look, I appreciate the need for vigilante justice when someone, say, rapes your daughter.  However, I don’t think violence is appropriate with something so trivial as whaling.  Sure, sure, whales are precious.  But the Japanese are just catching whales for…ahem…scientific purposes – I don’t see anything wrong with that.

But Sea Shepherd does.  This group of vigilante hippies has a fleet of boats that attack whaling vessels by doing things like throwing bottles of acid on their decks, ramming or scuttling whaling ships, shooting lasers at ships, or tangling rudders.

This October, Sea Shepherd unveiled a fancy new $2.5 million vessel called the Ady Gil.  Made of carbon fiber, this trimaran could go up to 50 knots, and according to Sea Shepherd’s website, the vessel would be used to “physically block the harpoon ships from illegally slaughtering whales.”

Now I don’t know what brilliant Sea Shepherder thought that a carbon fiber vessel could block a thousand ton whaling ship, but it turned out to be a bad idea.  As you can see in the video below, the most recent attempt by the Ady Gil to attack a whaling vessel ended in, well, a broken nose.  After getting in the way of a Japanese whaling ship, the note of the Ady Gil was snapped off, and the ship later sunk.  All crewmen were rescued, however.

Frankly, it was nice to see the nose of the Ady Gil shattered while dirty hippies scampered around on its deck.  These eco-terrorists are really no better than, well, regular terrorists, except their world trade center involves keeping innocent Japanese from doing their job.

This Thanksgiving weekend I took a quick trip to Japan.  The food was excellent – Japan has really matured into one of the best cities for foodies worldwide.  The most notable part of my trip. however, was a visit to the world’s largest wholesale fish market in the Tsukiji district of Tokyo.

The Tsukiji Fish Market is known worldwide, and if you’re eating fresh fish there’s a good chance it came from Tsukiji.  The market is enormous, with row after row of seafood vendors.  The pictures I took can’t really show how big the market really is.  Still, when you’re inside you can’t help but feel crowed by the many back-to-back seafood stalls that are separated only by narrow walkways.

Although many tourists visit Tsukiji, the market isn’t exactly a tourist friendly spot.  There are no tour guides…well, actually, no guides at all.  To enter the market, you need to weave your way through hundreds of trucks that are shipping Tsukiji-bought fish around the world.  The market itself isn’t well marked – you just have to hop over a truck loading dock and walk towards the action.

The preferred mode of transportation in Tsukiji is a odd looking, three wheeled cart.  Although three wheels seems a bit unstable, the single front wheel gives the carts incredible maneuverability.  As you walk through the market these carts buzz around you.  Although it seems dangerous, cart drivers do seem quite adept as avoiding accidents – an important skill especially since tourists are wandering aimlessly throughout the busy alleys.

The main course at Tsukiji is of course tuna, and although the fish auction is no longer open to the public, there are literally hundreds of tons of tuna on display.

Much of the tuna is still flash frozen.  Although most people think ‘fresh’ tuna hasn’t been frozen at all, this is rarely the case.  A good portion of tuna is frozen rock solid…so solid that fish mongers have to use actual saws to cut through the fish.

You’ll see thawed tuna as well, however.  The most impressive part of these fish is how they are cut.  Fish mongers wield knives that are several feet long – they really look more like swords – in order to break down the tuna into smaller pieces.

From what I understand, some tunas are sold whole and shipped throughout Japan and the rest of the world.  Other tuna is cut and sold in smaller pieces that are better suited for smaller stores and restaurants.

While tuna is clearly the focus of Tsukiji, there are many other types of seafood on sale as well.  You’ll find everything from uni to puffer fish – all incredibly fresh, and in some cases still live.

Tsukiji is really a must-visit for any sushi fan.  It’s incredible to see the diverse selection of seafood sold in the market, and the enormous tuna on sale is impressive.  You’ll need to wake up early to visit Tsukiji, however – the market opens at 5am, and the market will be mostly closed down by 10am.  But, it’s worthwhile – just bring a pair of cheap running shoes with good grip, and jeans that you don’t mind getting a bit dirty.

This sounds like a silly topic, but it really makes sense.  I hate those little chicken wings because it’s so hard to get to the meat.  And undoubtedly you end up leaving lots of good meat on the bone.

Well, the video below shows you proper wing eating technique, and it’s no joke.  It gives you a nicely deboned wing in just a few seconds and a bit of work.  Check it out.

If you’ve been to Starbucks in the last few days you’ve probably noticed the company’s newest product, Via instant coffee.  The company has been promoting Via heavily by giving away free samples.  This weekend, Starbucks will also run taste tests in its stores, where customers will likely put Via up against the company’s brewed coffee.

I tried my first cup of Via today with mixed results.  I tried the Extra Bold version of the product, Specialty Roast and Medium versions of Via are also available.

Via is sold in thin packages that have become common among powdered beverages.  Unlike Folgers, which uses crystals, Via looks like finely ground coffee.

Making a cup of Via is simple – all you do is pour Via into a cup and add water.  This worked well for me, Via dissolved well and the coffee looked, well, like a normal cup of coffee.

Via didn’t taste exactly like brewed coffee, however.  It was a bit weak for my taste, especially compared to Starbucks’ brewed bold coffee, which is pretty strong.

This is the main problem I have with instant coffee, or even home dripped coffee for that matter – most of the time it’s just too weak and watered down.  I do have to say though that Via was closer to a traditional cup of coffee than other instant brands.

Overall, Via isn’t world changing, but it is a good option if you’re stuck without traditional coffee.  However, for about a dollar per packet it’s an expensive cup of instant coffee.

If I had a pack of Via handy in the office I would consider whether I want to walk to Starbucks, take the time to brew a cup of dripped coffee, or use Via.  Unless I was really strapped for time, I think I would prefer to walk to a Starbucks.  However, I would prefer Via over most home made drip coffee.

I think mainly what Starbucks is selling here is a brand name.  There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of innovation with Via over other instant brands, and while Via does taste better than other instant coffees I’ve tried, it’s still at most a time-saving option, not a preference.

There have been a ton of blockbusters out this summer, but the previews for Julie and Julia really piqued my interest.  Cooking and blogging sounds, well, right up my alley.

Julie and Julia is two stories in one.  The first is about how Julia Child got started with her first book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  The second is about Julie, who pledges to make every recipe in Mastering the Art in just 365 days.

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As all japas know, Zojirushi makes the best rice cookers out there.  You are probably familiar with fuzzy logic cookers that are great at producing near perfect rice due to their ability to precisely adjust cooking temperature for a variety of rice types.  But fuzzy logic is sooooo two thousand and late…now we have induction rice cookers.

Induction cooking is also very precise.  Instead of suing direct heat, induction cooking uses magnetic fields to produce an electrical current within the rice cooking pan itself.  This means the whole pan is heated, and since the currents can be changed instantaneously the cooker can quickly adjust to the doneness of your rice to cook to perfection.

That sounds like a lot of science for rice, but apparently it works wonderfully.

Neweggmall is offering a Zojirushi induction heading 10 cup rice cooker for $268 + tax and shipping with promo code “5025320OFF082009”.  That’s a great deal on this model.  Take a look if you’re using one of those old models you had in college with the single button.  These things can cook a wide range of rices, from white to brown to sushi.  It even cooks GABA brown germinated rice which apparently is rich in nutrients.  Check it out.

You may remember Popeye’s $4.99 chicken promotion a few weeks ago.  There were lines, throngs of angry blacks…and apparently starving children.

Well, KFC one-upped Popeyes this week with a free chicken deal that was promoted with the Oprah show…with similar results.

The free chicken promotion was for KFC’s new grilled chicken meals.  To get a coupon, users were instructed to download an application that printed out the coupon.

First of all, the coupon printing application was adware.  Not a good start.  Next, as could be expected, people printed out tons of the coupons, and chaos ensued.

There were long lines, angry customers, 911 calls, and more.  Many stores were understaffed and unable to meet demand.  Some stores refused to accept the coupons at all, leading to more anger among customers.

Finally today KFC pulled the plug on the deal.  You can still get a raincheck for a free chicken meal, but this will be mailed to you so you’ll have to wait a while.

I’m surprised that KFC was overwhelmed with this promotion.  They sell cheap chicken by the bucket – I don’t know what they expected from their target demographic when they dreamed up giving away chicken.

Not only that, but I bet that over the past few days KFC didn’t sell very much chicken.  I mean, who’s going to wait an hour in line with rowdy customers for a bucket of wings?

In any case, there’s a marketing manager at KFC that’s probably going to get fired soon.  And for good reason – giving away free food in this economy is just asking for a riot.  And despite all of the publicity that KFC generated from this even, I’d say that most of it is negative, more than anything.

What happens when the fried chicken runs out?  This happened recently, when Popeye’s ran a 8pc for $4.99 special.  Demand for the special was so high that many Popeye’s actually ran out of chicken.  And that made people angry.  See the news report below:

Now, you’ll probably notice that there are…uh…demographic trends evident in this video.  What’s more interesting, I think, is that some people act like Popeye’s is the only thing between healthy and starving children.  “Peoples have kids that they’re trying to feed with the special, and you mean to tell me that we can’t feed our kids because you didn’t order enough chicken?” said one customer.

Some cameraphone videos from Popeye’s show a pretty hectic scene inside Popeye’s during the special.  In the video people the workers are yelling at the people in back, while tons of people are standing in line waiting for chicken.  I only wish they had video when they told the customers that they were out of chicken.

You Top Chef fans will looooove this Carl’s Jr commercial.  It features the oh-so-hot judge Padma Lakshmi.  I have to say, I’m not a big fan of fast food, or commercials for that matter, but this spot has created a special spot in my belly for Carl’s Jr.

PS:  The HQ version is highly recommended.