I have a mouth watering blog post all ready for you guys – but first I wanted to take a moment to share with you something I’m really excited about!  A good friend of mine from college, Dan Schawbel runs, among other things, Personal Branding Blog.  He approached me with the opportunity to interview celebrity chef, Guy Fieri – and as a hardcore foodie … I couldn’t say no!

I asked him a load of questions about everything from being a crazy TV personality to his new knife product launch and his personal brand!  To read the whole interview go to Personal Branding Mag and sign up for a subscription to his magazine, or to try before you buy – go here for a free trial issue and read my interview there!

Here’s a quick sample of what we chatted about… for more – go to the links above!

How could an entrepreneurial foodie or blogger follow in your footsteps to become a household name?

Have an idea of what you are and who you are in food. You have to start somewhere, find out where that is. Experience definitely helps. You have to remember you’re dealing with smart people who know how to cook and what they like. Even if they don’t know how to cook they know what they like. You have to have awareness of what you’re doing in food, and you have to surround yourself with it. Put yourself in every single market you can. Talk to everyone you can about it. Take every business card you can get. The opportunities in food today are greater than ever before. So, experience, contacts, surrounding yourself in food, applying it, sticking to it and knowing your CPOV. Your Culinary Point of View—what is it?

Carol Phillips is the President of her consulting firm,

In the end of her blog post, Carol listed 10 women bloggers under 30 who inspire and influence her – and she listed me at #7! I’m honored to be on her list – so thank you Carol!

For more on Generation Y studies – check out Carol’s blog @ http://millennialmarketing.com and follow her on Twitter @Carol_Phillips!

They recently sent me their recipe for Salmon and Goat Cheese Napoleon – a dish that they actually prepared on The Today show earlier this year with Kathy Lee and Hoda Kotb!  I checked it out and was excited to give it a try because as you know, I’m a fan of anything with soft cheese and roasted red peppers!   Their recipe was straightforward and their ingredients were simple and easy to find but the result was still absolutely delicious!!

Check out the picture – their cookbook version is on the left and my shot at it is on the right.  :).

• 10 oz. salmon filet
  
• Salt & Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dill
• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 1 zucchini
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
• 1 roasted red pepper
• 1/4 pound goat cheese

1. Season salmon by sprinkling it with the salt, pepper, thyme, and dill.
2. Heat EVOO in a nonstick frying pan and cook salmon on medium for 5 minutes on each side until cooked all the way through.
3. Cut zucchini in half width-wise, then in thin slices lengthwise.  Sauté or grill until tender with the garlic and chives.
4. Cut roasted red pepper, goat cheese and salmon to match zucchini slices.
5. Layer salmon, goat cheese, zucchini and roasted red pepper strips to form a tower.  Secure with toothpick  if necessary.
6. Serve with wild rice pilaf.  (In my case I gave the dish a little Miami spice and used rice and beans.  :) )

Check out more about Eli & Max at their website www.freshmaninthekitchen.com.

xo.

Already have a few things in the pipeline for future posts to this section!  I’ll keep you guys updated on twitter for when to expect those!

If you have suggestions for featured bloggers or would like for me to try out one of your recipes shoot me a message from the “About Chef Cody” page!

xo.