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yikes, no - especially anything with crispy skin, the smell would be impossible to tolerate ... think that would trigger some genetically-based nausia with me, let alone the horrific thought of all this

salt might actually accentuate the sweetness, and tomato paste is pretty sweet initially ... try minced garlic, a touch of oregano, a little more pepper flake, or blitz some celery in the blender ... carrots might be what you´re tasting, these show up in bolognese sauce and too sweet is a common fault in preparing it

Depending on what vegetables you´re dealing with it depends. If you´re trying to caramelize onions to develop a caramel note in the flavor, your best bet is to sprinkle on a pinch of baking soda. This helps to raise the pH level and increase the fullness of the maillard reaction. More details on how this works here http://blog.khymos.org/2008/09/26/speeding-up-the-maillard-reaction/. With asparagus however, I think the key is high dry heat, so quickly broiling or grilling these is how I´ve achieved the best results. With zucchini it´s all about how thick the pieces are. If you cut it in chunks (like 1/4" thick) then I´d say a pan saute is a good way to go, but so is grilling; thinner and I´d avoid trying to get it browned, but you might be able to do something with very hot grapeseed oil (done this with ribbons of zucchini that are about 1/16" thick). In general, I brown lots of things in grapeseed oil since it has such a high smoke point, then finish the dish at a lower temperature (e.g. braising beef). Hope this helps, but holler if there´s a specific thing you´re trying to brown and I´ll try to comment back.

roasted asparagus with toasted parmigiano reggiano OR olive oil and black pepper OR pureed blanched walnuts and carmelized red onions ... my three favs

I'm a total novice baker, but did spend a day at a Slow Food event with some very accomplished bakers ... dmcavanagh above I think has it right, the fermentation is the key to flavor ... using a preferment is a common method of accomplishing this without risking the whole loaf - the idea being that the pre-ferment can be a little less precise than fermenting the dough alone (i.e. over/under-fermenting is less disastrous, more margin for error) ... here's a relevant link http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/word-of-mouth/word-of-mouth-preferment-050669

Marco is certainly an accomplished chef and world renowned restaurateur at this point, but NBC is billing him as the BEST CHEF IN THE WORLD ... anyone else cringe at the accuracy of this statement?

kudos to Jeffrey stepping in there ... couldn't agree more on this ONE sweet spot that Food Network has cornered for themselves, amidst a host of culinary travesties (e.g. Simply Estupido, even Alton won't acknowledge the existance of Rachel Ray)

I think food network is becoming kind of like Microsoft, very bottom line thinking and forgetting to innovate, but rather playing to large market segments ... foodies are ignored ... I would have watched Lisa, I could have learned something from her ... Aaron can cook, but I probably won't watch ... Adam fits the Rachel Ray mold of TV cook, they'll give him a cooking coach and if anyone watches, before long maybe he'll be demo-ing someone elses recipes

Come on, go to the grocer and grab a pint of ice cream and a "health food" bar ... between the two you are guaranteed to have xanthan gum, soy lecithin, carageenan, and probably guar gum ... wake up people, the food you eat every day is much worse for you than anything on Ferran Adria's menu. Food science is inextricably linked to cuisine thanks to the techno emotional food movement. Denying it is like saying the world is flat.

kindageeky
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