Perhaps I am in the minority, but Food Network is not a place where I tune in 24/7. (They do have a lot o' recipes on their site, though.) We religiously watch "Ace of Cakes", but probably more because it is a lot about sculpture/art/creativity, and the cast of characters genuinely seem to enjoy one another as much as one can at work.
A favorite of mine is the loveable curmudgeon (okay, that's being nice) Anthony Bourdain. He usually tells it like it really is, and that's kind of cool. Not much of a cooking show, again, and not on Food Network, although they've been running his "A Cook's Tour" show again a fair amount. It's just like his "No Reservations" show on The Travel Channel, but without the scenes completely unrelated to food.
So where can one actually learn to cook something that they are likely to use in real life? America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Illustrated), my friends. You'll likely have to become a member of their site to get some of their recipes, but you'll actually use them. They test the recipes like whirling dervishes, developing what they consider to be the best of a number of options. Their show is on PBS. I figure I may as well get a little use out of my tax dollars. And plus, you don't even have to spring for cable to get some good cooking schoolin'.
Here are their oodles of recipes...a couple good ones you should try are butterflying a roast chicken, and the tamale skillet pie. They are useful and practical, and are designed around how people really cook.
So excuse me if I don't catch Giada today. ;-) My DVR is loaded up with episodes of the aforementioned shows...
No comments:
Post a Comment