A Very Brady Beet Salad

"Hey guys, you know what we should do? Give Alice the night off and make something great for mom and dad."

Great idea, Peter. Let's do it!

I've already passed along my recipe for Beer Sorbet and Bar Stool Brittle, aka: Bad Girl on a Bar Stool, from this week's episode of Private Chefs of Beverly Hills, but here's another of my favorite recipes from our Very Brady Birthday episode: Golden Beet Salad with Gorganzola Flan and Candied Pecans.

The flan, which is savory, starts with fresh chives and parsley...

Then some eggs, cream and half and half...
And it's baked until it's silky and rich, the perfect counterpoint to the sweet earthiness of golden beets and shaved fennel.
Private Chefs of Beverly Hills airs tonight at 9pm on Food Network

Golden Beet and Fennel Salad with Gorgonzola Flan and Candied Pecans
Makes 6 servings

Beet Salad:
2 bunches (about 10) mini golden beets
1 bulb fennel, as thinly sliced as possible, plus 1 tablespoon green fennel fronds, chopped
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons Italian parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Gorgonzola Flan:
5 large egg yolks
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1 cup half-and-half
5 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons chives, snipped
3 tablespoons minced Italian parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Candied Pecans:
1 ½ cups pecans
3 tablespoons corn syrup
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and trim beets. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and roast until tender (time will vary depending on size of beets). Remove from the oven. When beets are cool enough to handle, remove skins, quarter and toss with fennel, lemon juice, lemon zest, parsley, oil, salt and pepper. Chill until ready to serve.

Reduce oven to 325 degrees. Toss pecans in corn syrup, sugar, cayenne and salt and pepper to taste. Bake five minutes, stir and cook 10 more minutes. Remove candied pecans from oven and separate with a fork.

Reduce oven to 275 degrees. In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks until pale yellow. Heat cream and half-and-half in a small saucepan and add slowly to the eggs. Add Gorgonzola, chives, parsley, salt and pepper. Place six ramekins in a baking pan and fill pan halfway up the sides of the ramekins with boiling water. Divide flan mixture evenly between dishes. Cover baking pan with aluminum foil and bake 35 to 40 minutes, until the center of each custard is firm. Remove from oven and place on serving plates alongside golden beet salad and candied pecans.

Afterschool Special Recipe: "Bad Girl on a Bar Stool," Beer Sorbet and Bar Stool Brittle

"Here’s the story/Of a lucky lady/Who was cooking up some really yummy food.

It was for the cast of My Fair Brady/So I tried not to come unglued."

Okay, okay, my rhyming skills need some work, but I’m trying to keep it classy here, which means lewd, stewed or poohed are out.

When I was in high school, I had the following obsessions; anything 1970s, anything on Food Network and a guy named Greg who looked exactly like Greg Brady but had Ben Affleck's teeth pre the veneers he was given for Armageddon.

To find myself in the kitchen, preparing a meal for Christopher Knight, aka: Peter Brady, and his wife Adrienne Curry (of America's Next Top Model fame--love that show!), took a teenage dream, rolled it in rad dust, dipped it in awesome sauce and served it up on a silver platter. The only thing that might have made it better is if my unrequited Barry Williams look-a-like love had walked through the door and asked me to prom.

For the Very Brady Birthday episode, airing next week on Food Network, I created a dessert I like to call "Bad Girl on a Bar Stool," a combination of beer sorbet and "Bar Stool" brittle, a toffee that incorporates all the snacks you'd find along the rail of a dive where your feet stick to the ground and peanut shells are the carpeting.

Beer sorbet is going to sweep the nation! Mark my words. It's flavor is close to lemon sorbet and the texture is between sorbet and a slushie (because of the alcohol in the beer, it melts very easily). Add in this ridiculous brittle and you have every great flavor dessert needs: sweet, salty and boozy.

The first thing you need is the juice and zest of two lemons, then you add one can of lemonade concentrate...

Add three bottles of lite beer...

Stir all the ingredients together and process the sorbet base in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions...

This is what it looks like when it's done. Cover and freeze until ready to serve.

Next, prepare the brittle using these ingredients...

In a greased sheet pan, layer crumbled potato chips and pretzels...

Heat sugar, water, salt and corn syrup in a heavy bottom pan until it dissolves...

And turns a light amber color...

Immediately remove the sugar from heat and stir in baking soda and butter. The brittle changes instantly and starts to look like this...

Pour the hot brittle over potato chips and pretzels and top with Munch 'n' Crunch, peanuts, chocolate covered pretzels or any other treats you might want to use.

This is what it looks like when finished (and after your friends have started to dig in)...

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"Bad Girl on a Bar Stool" Recipe

makes 6-8 servings

Beer Sorbet:

3 12 oz bottles Miller Genuine Draft, Bud Lite Lime or other light beer
1 can lemonade concentrate
Zest and juice of 2 lemons

Mix together all ingredients and process in an ice cream maker following manufacturer's instructions for sorbet. Freeze until firm.

Bar Stool Brittle:

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
pinch salt
1/4 cup water
1 cup Munch ‘n’ Crunch or Cracker Jacks
1 cup pretzels
1 cup potato chips, lightly crushed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 oz. semi-sweet choc, melted (optional)
1 cup chocolate covered pretzels (optional)
1/4 cup beer nuts (optional)

Note: The idea for this brittle was to take everything you’d find on a bar and use it in a dessert. If you have a personal favorite to add, go for it!

Grease a large cookie sheet and sprinkle with crushed potato chips and pretzels. In a high-sided skillet over medium-high heat, combine sugar, corn syrup, salt and water. Stir and cook until sugar is dissolved and begins to turn a light amber color, about 7-10 minutes or until it reaches 300 degrees (for those of you with a candy thermometer).

Remove pan from heat and quickly stir in butter and baking soda. The brittle will instantly change; bubbling up, becoming caramel and releasing steam. Be very careful and work quickly.

Pour brittle over chips and pretzels on cookie sheet. Drizzle with Munch ‘n’ Crunch and anything you’re using that includes chocolate. Allow brittle to cool and snap into pieces.

Serve with beer sorbet.