We've gotten word that the fantastic restaurant inside Nur Market at 3565 E. Speedway Blvd. is being revamped. This is good news for those who love the awesome African food the place produces but weren't as thrilled with the sort of lawn-furniture motif inside.

The restaurant is closed right now, but we hear it should reopen in its new form sometime in February. Until then you can read the review of the place by our awesome restaurant reviewer Rita Connelly over yonder.

Looks like we have an early contender for the worst show of 2012, with the cooking competition show, Rachael Vs. Guy Celebrity Cookoff. Food Network Humor's review is particularly brutal, making it seem like the "Food" part of the Food Network is going to disappear like the "Music" did from MTV:

It was no surprise that Rachael’s team lost, and Taylor Dayne/Aaron Carter were the bottom performers. They had to do a 10-minute cookoff with a secret ingredient: shrimp. Rachael and Guy then tasted the dishes in a blind taste test.

This was basically just food poisoning waiting to happen. These 2 clowns had no clue what they were doing. Aaron Carter dumped 12 tablespoons of garlic powder over a stick of butter. Taylor Dayne sauteed her shrimp and threw breadcrumbs at them while they were simmering in the pan. It was ridiculous.

In the end, Aaron Carter was eliminated from the show. Did anyone care? No.

I’m going to be blunt here: this show is HORRIBLE. It’s not entertaining, it’s not funny, it’s not educational. It’s not engaging, quirky, or memorable. it’s just AWFUL. I could barely get through the entire hour. I’m predicting horribly low ratings, virtually no press, and a bunch of people just not giving a shit.

Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails at 135 S. Sixth Ave. is in the process of adding a patio area that will soon be home to an outdoor bar area and a bit of additional seating.

The outdoor seating will be located in front of the restaurant along Sixth Avenue and was part of owner Janos Wilder's vision for the restaurant from the very beginning, he said via a press release. The area will also be outfitted with heaters to ward off the chill on cooler nights.

Construction on the area is expected to wrap up next month.

The owner of the new restaurant Jalopy’s Grillville at 4230 N. Oracle Road says he’s shooting for a grand opening over New Year’s weekend. It’s a pizza and burger sort of place that will eventually serve and deliver its own beer.

Regarding that beer: So far the line-up includes cream ale, brown ale, an “aggressively hopped” IPA with "a citrusy nose that you can smell across the room,” according to the restaurant’s website. Seasonal beers are also expected before long.

I would love to share with the Weekly's audience my magnificent recipe for churros, but then a measurement goes awry and people are sent to the hospital with oil burns. You're on your own, Tucson cooks!

The publisher of La Tercera must pay individual damages to 11 women and two men ranging from as little as $279 to $48,000 for one woman whose burns were particularly severe....

Judges determined that the newspaper failed to fully test it before publication, and that if readers followed the recipe exactly, the churros had a good chance of exploding once the oil reached the suggested temperature. Grupo Copesa, which publishes the paper, said it will abide by the ruling.

Days after the recipe was published in the paper’s “Woman” magazine in 2004, hospitals around the country began treating women for burns suffered when the dough boiling in oil suddenly shot out of kitchen pots.

[Washington Post]

With a menu written by legendary Italian food guy Joe Scordato, the newish Gusto Osteria at 7153 E. Tanque Verde Road definitely steps out on the right foot. And for those who freaked when Scordato took the braciole off the menu at Guiseppe's (it's back now, by the way) it's available at Gusto Osteria. Meraviglioso!

There's more information about Gusto Osteria over here.

I really like cookbooks. This passion for recipes in bound, tangible form is somewhat distressing to my wife, since I only end up cooking on some weekends and then I usually end up buying a bunch of extra food to honor the depth of my culinary genius, but yet, I have a giant stack of cookbooks. So, while I might not be an expert on cooking, I do know something about what makes for a good cookbook gift. If you're still out there shopping, here are three new releases that I'd wholeheartedly recommend, whether for an actual cook or just someone who wants to appear to be one.

It's not so much that Olive Garden sucks by its very nature, since they apparently try to make changes on the menu incorporating actual Italian dishes, but the people who eat there don't want anything other than overcooked pasta with cheese sauce dumped on top:

At Olive Garden, pasta is served soft, not al dente or slightly firm, the traditional Italian method. Meat is often served on top of pasta, and cheese is mixed with seafood, two preparations rare in authentic Italian cuisine. The reason: Adding a protein to a dish makes it seem like a better value. Also, Americans have a strong preference for meat and cheese.

"We don't use the word authentic," to describe the Olive Garden experience, Mr. Caron says. The chain prefers "Italian inspired."

Chefs at Olive Garden headquarters reverse-engineer menu items from real Italian dishes. A current seasonal dish, baked pasta romana—a mix of lasagna pasta, rich cheese sauce, spinach and either a beef or chicken topping—started as a fresh-torn pasta dish with olive oil, garlic and herbs eaten by company chefs on a trip to Northern Italy.

Chefs found the dish "really rustic, but still kind of normal," the magic formula Olive Garden chefs often look for, says Marie Grimm, director of culinary development for Olive Garden. In restaurant tests, the company tried a chicken version with roasted tomato sauce, but diners didn't find it "cravable," says Ms. Grimm. The restaurant switched to a cheese sauce.

For more than 40 years, the Cerreta Candy Company has been a fixture in Arizona. Patriarch James Cerreta, 84, is still going strong at the head of the company that has seen every member of his family be a part of the business.

Cerreta and his sons, each leading a section of production on the company floor, and his granddaughter talk about what keeps them coming back for more.

Cerreta Candy Company is located in Glendale, Ariz., and is a fixture in many city-related events and provides VIP and general tours for the public.

Apparently it can be very difficult for people who aren't fancy chef-types to get one of these Spanish Mangalitsa hams, so that must mean it's crazy delicious, right? Clearly, I can't afford to pay $438.99 (plus shipping) for a thirteen pound bone-in ham (with carving stand), but if you all pass the hat, it'll nearly seem reasonable when split among a group of like-minded readers of The Range who would like to make me happy. As a bonus, if I get this magnificent ham, I will invite five readers to the office to taste a slice. A really thin slice, obviously, but a slice nonetheless. Deal?