5/26 - Joe Montagna, Ryan Scott, Peter Kastelan, Frank Belfiore, James Villas ,

 Joe Mantegna (CBS' "Criminal Minds")  (PBS' "Memorial Day Concert")

Acclaimed actors Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise will reunite for a fifth time to co-host the 2010 National Memorial Day Concert. The program is co-hosted for the fifth year by Emmy Award-winner Gary Sinise ("CSI: New York") and Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna ("Criminal Minds"), two acclaimed actors who have dedicated themselves to veterans' causes and supporting our troops in active service. Joining them will be an all-star line-up of dignitaries, actors and musical artists.  For more than 20 years this top-rated annual program has honored the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, their families at home and all those who have given their lives for our country. The show is broadcast live in High Definition from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol before an expected live audience of hundreds of thousands, to millions more at home and, via American Forces Network to the nearly one million American service men and women, Department of Defense civilians and their families overseas, stationed at bases in 175 countries as well as 140 U.S. Navy ships at sea.  (Gary Sinise is on PM Show Friday and "Criminal Minds" has the Season Finale Tonight at 9 PM on CBS  with Special Guest star Tim Curry)


James Villas  -  "Pig: King of the Southern Table "

James Villas was the food and wine editor of Town & Country magazine for 27 years, and his work has appeared in Food & Wine, Saveur, Gourmet, Bon Appétit, The New York Times, and many other publications. He has written 15 cookbooks and books on food, including two that were nominated for James Beard Awards and featured in Food & Wine's annual "Best of the Best." He has won two James Beard Journalism Awards, most recently for an article in Saveur, and was named Bon Appétit's Food Writer of the Year for 2003. He is also the author of The Glory of Southern Cooking and The Bacon Cookbook, both from Wiley.  If pig is indeed king, then there is trouble at the castle, for Villas (Dancing in the Lowcountry) has stormed the gates and had at him, leaving no sweetbread, shoulder, or chop untasted. So let the commoners rejoice: here are 300 recipes from Southern hog heaven that are juicy, flirtatious, and, at times, scary. Brave hearts will want to immediately dive into the Variety and Special Meats chapter for some deviled pork liver; hog's head stew; and brains and eggs. The upper crust might prefer a pork pie. Choices include spicy Tennessee sausage; Pork, Apple and Raisin; or Bacon and Corn. A section on barbecue and ribs includes both North and South Carolina styles of BBQ and half a dozen sparerib options. And where lesser authors might stray off-topic when moving to side dishes, Villas, with 13 cookbooks and two James Beard awards under his belt, knows better. All 39 vegetable and rice dishes are chock full of oink, from the mushy turnips with bacon and pork to the slab bacon hoppin' John. Similarly, there are 20 breads that are decidedly not fat-free. That other Southern king, Elvis, would surely have appreciated the bacon-peanut butter muffins, perhaps chased down with a lard hoecake or some bacon-grease hush puppies.


Frank Belfiore  - Findlandia Cheese

Frank is a cheese expert and can discuss Entertaining with Cheese. As a resident expert from the # 1 Imported Cheese in America, Frank can discuss a variety of different cheese flavors that are available as well as specific attributes for each. Additionally, Frank can give your listeners insight regarding what type of cheese is best suited for a particular recipe. For example, when deciding what type of cheese to add to your burger, you could select by taste alone, but another option might be based on melting qualities, how the flavor compliments beef, turkey or lamb, depending on the type of burger you choose, etc. Frank can also discuss how factors like geography and care of the animals used in the cheese making process impact the end result.

Chef Ryan Scott -  "Perfect Burger"

Ryan Scott, recent chef-testant on a top-rated cooking reality show, zeroed-in on his love for cooking at the age of nine, when he began asking for cooking utensils for Christmas instead of traditional toys. His passion for food led him to the prestigious California Culinary Academy and eventually to renowned chef Gary Danko, with whom he earned his five-star culinary protocols. Ryan’s creative kitchen style most recently had America putting down their knives and tuning into Top Chef Season 4. Ryan feeds the soul as well as the stomach by donating time and cuisine to numerous community organizations such as Meals on Wheels, the American Heart Association and the Make-a-Wish Foundation. A typical hamburger can be upwards of 250 calories with more than nine grams of fat, and that’s before you slap on the cheese, place it on a bun, add ketchup, fried onions, chili, or whatever else strikes your fancy. But according to former Top Chef contestant Ryan Scott, you don’t have to let these facts and figures turn the lights out on your Memorial Day barbeque dreams. Ryan will offer a remake on the typical barbeque menu with suggestions for making the all-important burger better-for-you. He’ll offer alternatives for side dishes and main dishes while making sure you don’t miss that bold, burger taste this Memorial Day. Ryan’s BBQ remake menu will strike the balance between full-flavor and better-for-you