Bizarre Foods guru Andrew Zimmern

Minnesota food celebrity and TV show host Andrew Zimmern has won a James Beard Foundation Award for Best Television Show on Location. His popular Bizarre Foods show is now in it's seventh season, with new episodes airing on the Travel Channel Mondays at 8 p.m.

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Sugary balls

Every December the Star Tribune tackles a problem that many people would envy: sorting through hundreds of cookie recipe submissions to find the annual Christmas cookie champion. This year Rick Nelson (check out this video describing the cookie-sorting process) chose a pistachio-orange sandwich cookie submitted by Mike Rohr who, naturally, adapted a recipe from his grandmother. But we had to find out firsthand: Is this truly 2010's best cookie?

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So you think you can cook?

You slay your own deer. Confit your own ducks. And think nothing of whipping up a 7-course meal at home on a Tuesday night. Here's your chance to test your culinary mettle against some of the Twin Cities top chefs at the upcoming Iron Fork competition sponsored by Surdyk's and City Pages. (Don't worry about that first part--there won't be any killing or butchering involved...)

On Saturday, September 25, selected amateur chefs will battle for the chance to compete against the pros on October 14th. Last year, Emily Noble, the winner of the amateur contest, went pan-to-pan in the finals with JP Samuelson of Solera, Hakan Lundberg at Cosmos, Randall Toenges from Le Cordon Bleu, Matt Hinman of Happy Gnome, and grand champ Sameh Wadi from Saffron. This year, Noble's spot could be yours!

To apply, submit the following information to promotions@citypages.com by Sept. 15:

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ilovemypit/Flickr

It's sorta hard to imagine vegan staples like tofu, tempeh, and textured vegetable protein carrying a chili, but carry they must at tomorrow's First Annual Vegan Chili Cook-off at Fast and Furless, the vegan boutique in Seward.

As of Thursday, 11 vegan cooks had signed on to enter a chili into the competition, which will be accompanied by vegan cornbread and Miller Genuine Draft, which, as it happens, is itself vegan. Who knew? (According to the folks at Fast and Furless, not all beer is vegan.)

Admission to the event is FREE.

Vegan Chili Cook-off
Sat., March 27
7 - 9 p.m.

Fast and Furless
2615 E. Franklin Ave.
Minneapolis
612.387.5377

blmurch/Flickr

While your chance to display your mad guac skillz for a crowd will have to wait til next year, you can still be a spectator at this Thursday's GuacOff sponsored by METRO Magazine at the schmancy Blue Apartments in Uptown.

The deal? Teams of up to five get avocados, onions, cilantro, limes, salt, and pepper and, along with up to three "secret incredients" of their choice, with the goal of putting together some guacs to knock the socks off a panel of judges.

Judging categories will be: Most Authentic, Most Unique, Best Team Name and Audience Choice. Tickets are $20, and that'll get you some -- guess? -- yes, guacamole, but some other food will be available, along with live music.

What: GuacOff
When: Thursday, Aug. 20, 6 - 8 p.m.
Where: Blue, 2922 Aldrich Ave. S., Minneapolis
How: Get 'em here.
Why: Why not?

Benimoto/Flickr

It's kind of insane all the cooking contest options there are for the state fair, not to mention the not insignificant prizes you can win with your dearest recipes. There are contests featuring Malt-O-Meal, Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, Ghirardelli chocolate, and Karo syrup. There is a pie category requiring refrigerated pie crust (wtf). There are categories featuring gluten-free items. There are 10 categories just for "cakes with shortening."

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monkeysox/Flickr

It's not enough to just be metrosexual anymore. These days, in addition to carrying a messenger bag and getting his nails occasionally buffed, dude's gotta be able to cook too. To winnow out some of you "gastrosexuals," the radio food program The Splendid Table has launched a contest, the winners of which will be featured on the show this summer.

The show will choose one person for each of the months of May, June and July who best exemplifies the term, which they define as someone -- man or woman -- who uses their cooking skills as a seductive tool. While the term typically refers to a male who fits this bill, the program has extended the definition to include female culinary seductresses as well.

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Micah Taylor/Flickr

The best Mexican restaurants have a great selection of salsas. One of my favorite places to go when I lived in Texas (shoutout to Evita's Botanitas!) even had a special gadget to bear them all, a two-tiered wooden tray with dimples around the bottom to plunk the little salsa dishes into and the top for the bowl of tortilla chips.

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Bake Off winner photo by Robert Hughes for flickr.com
Doughboy photo by smwarmke4 for flickr.com

The Pillsbury Bake Off contest conjures up images of 1950's housewives making extravagant layer cakes and ridiculous mounds of cookies. But the big cash prize may make entering worth your while. Someone has got to take home the moolah, right?

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Captain Tracy Moore with her award-winning Mount Tabasco chocolate lava cake.Photos courtesy Tracy Moore

A couple of weeks ago, Hot Dish reported that Captain Tracy Moore of Minneapolis Fire Department Station 5 in South Minneapolis was headed to NYC to duke it out culinary style with other firefighters-cum-chefs.

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