So what cooking shows are there out in TV land that you like?  I'm
not a great fan of them, but recently I've seen snatches of the "Frugal
Gormet" and its been pretty interesting.

   Has anyone seen any cooking shows for oddball cuisines, like Burmese,
or any African country?

   Lastly, why have these shows grown in popularity when the average
family (when they actually eat together) pull out something prepared,
heat it and call it dinner?  Or are these shows the newest TV programming
fantasy?

48 responses total.

   What about radio?  Does something like NPR have a cooking show?  I
can see someone like Susan Stanburg talking to a cook, while a mic is
picking up all the sizzling noises during the prepariation...

I used to watch a show called "Yan Can Cook."  It was a Chinese food
show hosted by a guy called Martin Yan.  Yan was entertaining as well
as knowlegeable about food.  Don't recall that I've ever made anything
from the show though.

In fact, has anyone ever made anything they saw on a cooking show?

   I have, a couple of times, but then took off with the original and
made new things from it.

  I heard on the radio the other day that there is a "Cooking channel" in the
works.

I used to watch the Frugal Gourmet quite a lot.  We have 4 of his cookbooks,
and have made many of his recipies.  Most were wonderful.  I can't recall
any bad ones, but there were one or two that seemed to have a lot of effort
for only a small result.
,

The only cooking show I've watched with any regularity is "The Swedish
Chef".

Maybe the Swedish chef could do lutefisk.  

How many fingers does he have, anyway?

I can't watch that Frugal Gourmet guy.  His voice gives me the willies.

Just an aside.  A few months ago, I read an interesting article about the Frl
(frugal) Gourmet in a magazine ( Harpers or Atlantic Monthly, I believe).   The
author was of the opinion that the Frugal Gourmet, how shall I put this?, tells
you how to make _WonderBread_ ethnic food.  It was a rather interesting flame. 
If anyone is interested, email me and I'll dig it up and post the articel.

I was really into Graham Kerr a couple of months ago, but after
four or five weeks of watching 11 shows per week (2 per day on
Discovery, 1 on Saturday on PBS) I was Kerred out.  Then I started
watching Monty Python daily (taped at 9:30 A.M. on Comedy Central),
but the run of 45 shows is now finished.  But I guess that's drift.

   Please do, Nicholas.  I'd be interested in reading it.  I'm not
sure that I agree, after seeing some of the shows that talked about
Mediterranean food.  It seemed to pretty much track what I'd read
about it.

re #9:  I read that article and thought it was pretty amusing, too.

I like the Victory Garden cooking segments--my kids are real veggie fiends
and I love new ideas.

My all time favorite (and a hard act to follow) was anything done
by Julia Child.  She had a way with a blowtorch.

Monty Python Cooking Show on PBS?!! *I'd* watch it. Graham Kerr was running
a lower-fat, generally better for you series, updating recipes that would
keep Jane Brody ten paces away and making them into stuff that was actually
decent for you. I've watched Frugal Gourmet enough to always mutter, "Hot pan,
cold oil, food won't stick" to myself when cooking. Haven't seen Julia in
forever, except for borrowing her video on desserts from Ann Arbor Library
(Main).  Took it home and felt insufferably smug when I realized that I`ve been
*much* better at cake decorating than she for years. (A nasty source of good
feeling, but I'd held her in so much awe for so long that I thought I'd never
be up to her level in ANYTHING.) Occasionally, I like to watch the guy on
Discovery channel who was barely understandable, never said what he was
actually doing or what he was aiming for, and would break out in bad opera at
apparently random times. We'd never even see what his end result looked like.
He'd just chow down, if he felt like it.

I read on Usenet that Molly Katzen is going to be doing
vegetarian cooking show for PBS.  Anyone else hear about
this or know when it will be shown?

what i've watched a few times is the _urban peasent_....VERY amusing....
my dad and i used to rotfl.......he never had the right utensil, so he'd
use something, ANYTHING else.....:)  and he was constantly telling 
stories...his cook books are even better!!!!

'the urban peasant' <james barber> is a nice canadian show we can see up here.
i used to love watching 'justin wilson's louisana cooking' on pbs. that
guy was a riot! i swear the only seasonings he used were massive amounts of
salt, cayenne pepper and wine.

   There now is Food TV in Ann Arbor on ch 40. There are various chefs, for
all tastes. My personal favorites are Taste with David Rosengarten, Emeril
Live, The Essense of Emeril, and Cooking Live with Sara Moulton.

  Taste: Hosted by David Rosengarten is a 1/2 hour show usually on 1 topic
per show and he shows what the food is, how it is cooked, and then preparation
of two or three dishes using the featured food. Mr. Rosengarten is a highly
educated chef, and is the official wine consultant to Gracie Mansion (the
residence of the Mayor of New York City). 
  Emeril Live: Emeril Lagasse is a chef and restaurant owner of 4 restaurants
in New Orleans and Las Vegas. He has a one hour show, and he shows how to
make a complete meal, usually a theme for the evening. A recent one was Diner
food, and he made Patty Melts, Tuna Melts, Meat Loaf with Mashed Potatoes,
and Coconut Creme Pie. The only drawback is he loves to use huge amounts of
cayenne pepper and tabasco. One of his trademarks is to "kick it up a notch,
or kick it up notches unknown to man." I've made some of his recipes, and 
they are really good.
  Essense of Emeril: Another show with Chef Lagasse, and this is mostly an
instructional show showing how to cook certain foods.
  Cooking Live!: Sara Moulton is the Executive Editor of Gourmet Magazine
and her show is a mostly the same as Emeril's, except she takes calls from
people watching the show. I have not made any of her recipes, but I have
learned an awful lot about cooking from her.
  Julia Child's show runs at 6:30pm, and if you ever doubted that she is 
the Goddess of the Kitchen, just watch one of her shows. I saw her break two
eggs (one in each hand) without breaking the yolk. Definitly diety status when
you can do that. ;)

there was a show that i used to watch just for the entertainment value.
i havent seen it on pbs fora long time..'justin wilson's lousiana cookin'
anyone else ever see that one?

  I've seen it in recent months on PBS. I guess you'll have to watch the 
TV guide to find out when its on next.

The best is still the Urban Pesant.

ref #2: I miss seeing "Yan Can Cook" now that we don't do cable. Lots of his
recipes turned out well for me. Favorite tip from him: how to peel garlic by
crushing it under the cleaver.

Rachael Ray: I found out recently that some truly excellent new recipes 
my wife has started making are all from a show called "30-Minute Meals" 
by a person named Rachael Ray.  There is a four-cheese pizza with 
articoke hearts and garlic, grilled jumbo shrimp stuffed with sage 
leaves and wrapped in pancetta, moo shoo pork pockets, etc.  Ms. Ray is 
half Cajun and half Sicilian.  Her taste in food is so close to mine 
and she is so relentlessly adorable that I want to adopt her.  She has 
a second show where she goes to Paris, Rome, etc., and eats like the 
princess she is for $40 per day.

Nigella Lawson: We've watched a few episodes of "Nigella Bites."  At 
first we were drawn in by the faux-intimate handheld camera and dim 
lighting, but after a few shows we lost interest.  I guess Ms. Lawson 
is quite a celebrity in the UK.

Bobby Flay: A real food and wine expert, and fun to watch.  He can 
sound like an obnoxious know-it-all sometimes, but if you give him a 
chance you see that he has a nice knack for getting out of his 
interviewees' way.

Mario Batali: Mario is Abruzzese, like me, and "Molto Mario" is one of 
my favorite shows.  His recipes are a little involved sometimes, but 
always worth a try.

Emeril Lagasse: Everybody we know has reached the limit of their 
patience with his showboating (when will he have scantily clad dancing 
girls, or does he already?), but everyone also agrees that his recipes 
are wonderful.

Sara Moulton: Low-key charm coupled with invaluable cooking advice.  
May she never change.

Martha Stewart: "Martha's Kitchen" is a good show, varied and always 
interesting.  We like Martha a lot.  Too bad about the insider trading 
thing.

I'd be interested to know what other Grexers think of these shows and 
any other Food Network faves.

I agree with all but Martha, can't stand her.  You forget Good Eats with Alton
Brown.  Lots of information and good, solid instructions and great recipes.

Of those mentioned I enjoy Sara Moulton the best.  She has a 
great way of making whatever she's teaching, er, possible.
And she has a Mr. Rogers approach to it all, that mistakes
are okay.

Bobby Flay is over the top arrogant.  Don't watch him.

Emeril is obnoxious.  If he isn't on sedatives he should be.

Rachael Ray has my lifestyle in mind.  I like to cook but
in bursts of time.  Short, 30 minute bursts are perfect.
I've still not actually made any of her recipes but a number
of them have been so close to what I already do that I'm sure
I'd like the results.  I do wish she'd not say "pocket of
time" quite so often.  It's only cute the first 100 times.
Michael, could you give a pointer to a dish you really like?
If it's on the web site I'll give it a try.

I've never watched Mario or Nigella.  And Martha is, 
well, Martha.  I don't think anyone really takes her
seriously, except K-mart.

But what about that British punk?  Every once in a while,
while casting about for something interesting, I'll end
up watching him do his thing.  Mostly I like the way
he gets his hands so into it.  So un-Martha.  And there
are those great shots of London.  I love that town.

The British punk guy is pretty fun to watch.

Here are three favorite Rachael Ray recipes:

http://www.foodtv.com/foodtv/recipe/0,6255,21518,00.html

http://www.foodtv.com/foodtv/recipe/0,6255,21521,00.html

http://www.foodtv.com/foodtv/recipe/0,6255,22827,00.html

The last one, the "10-Minute White Pizza," requires shredded 
mozzarella, shredded provolone and grated Parmigiano Reggiano or 
Romano.  We recommend the Parmigiano Reggiano over the Romano.  Also, 
get some imported provolone and shred it yourself.  So 12 minutes, big 
deal.

When I started reading reviews in the papers of Nigella's show, it was one
of those couple of times a year that I wished I had a TV.  Anyone who manages
to reach celebrity status with a cooking show is OK by me.

Thanks for the links, Michael.  I'll try the shrimp one right off.
The pizza sounds interesting mostly for not having any sauce.  But
would it be okay to slip in just a little color?  Maybe a sprinkle
of sun dried tomato?  

For me, color seems important in a recipe.  That's probably 
why I'm not a big fan of French.  Too much beige. 

And a question about that sage.  I suspect the wrapped shrimp
cooks very quickly.  Does the sage get eaten with the shrimp?
I can't imagine you'd be asked to unwrap it, but wouldn't the
whole leaf still be tough and strong?

Strong flavored.

You use fresh sage leaves (line the deveining slit with them, actually) 
and you eat the shrip sage and all just as it comes off the grill.  Yes 
the flavor is quite strong.  Not tough at all, though.

I'd resist the urge to color the white pizza, myself.  Why don't you 
make two, one with sundried tomatoes and one without, and tellus what 
you think?

Will do.  I also think I'll try the shrimp using basil leaves 
on a few.

Don't you just hate it when someone asks you for a recipe, you
give it to them, they make lots of changes, and then remark
it was just "okay"? ;-)

The shrimp recipe is Rachael's mom's and when Rachael asked her what 
made her decide to use sage leaves she admitted that in fact she had 
used various herbs, whatever fresh herb was handy at the time.  The 
sage version is just the one Rachael remembered.  So you and the 
recipe's inventor are the same page.

We've tried it both with sage and with basil, as well as with just the 
shrimp and pancetta and no herb at all.  We prefer the sage, fwiw.  You 
should try to use pancetta, not bacon, in case you were thinking of 
that.  

I like the concept of Rachael Ray's stuff, some of her recipes sound great,
but I refuse to watch 'cause she just irritates me that much.

However, Alton Brown is my absolute favorite.  I want a Kitchen Aide Mixer
with hot-rod flames!

Heh.  I just got Rachel Ray's book for Christmas, and even the style of her
writing gets on my nerves.  (Then again, I'm madly in love with Nigella, who
is arguably much more annoying.  No accounting for taste, I guess.)

Has anyone else seens the "Dweezil & Lisa show", I only caught one episode,
but it seemed pretty neat....I liked how they did more than just hang around
a kitchen for the entire show.

So what are some of the more recent good cooking shows these days? I know AA
has a cooking channel on cable... And Bravo sometimes has cooking stuff, too;
I've been watching some of the 'Top Chef] reruns [the reality show where, at
the beginning of the series [like on Survivor] there are a number of
contestants [chefs]. And each week, they have something they need to do/cook.
There's been some interesting scenarios. And each week, the 'worst' chef is
sent home. In the most recent series I watched, the final 4 got to go to
Hawaii for the comptetion and they worked down to the final 2. In that
episode, each of the top 2 got to have several of the voted off chefs to help
them make a multi-course dinner...

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