Food Network – That's Just Me

The French Chef vs New Food Network Shows

PBS is having a marathon of The French Chef shows today! Julia Child is a delight! What a difference in comparison to today’s food shows.

Perfection is the most important aspect of current (highly edited) cooking shows.

Take the “Next Food Network Star” – the contestants have to perform flawlessly or they will be scolded. I don’t think Julia Child would make it past week one on The Next Food Network Star. She’d be criticized for her clumsy performance!

But her charming imperfection was what made her show so alluring. She was an experienced chef/cook, but she made you feel like she was just like us, fumbling our way in the kitchen!

I love her! God Bless Julia Child! Thankfully we still have access to her past shows!

Food Network Magazine 1000 Easy Recipes Cookbook Review

I saw The Food Network Magazine 1000 Easy Recipes cookbook showcased on QVC and I immediately requested it from my local library.

When I picked up the book, the library staff mentioned how impressed they were when they browsed the recipes, so I was looking forward to diving in.

When you initially flip through the book, you immediately notice the stunning photos; pages and pages of detailed, full-color photographs illustrate how the finished dish looks.

The first part of the book highlights a few chosen recipes to consider for specific menus. Menus like Pizza Party, Thai Dinner Party, Tex-Mex Night, Autumn Dinner Party, Farmers Market Lunch, Vegetarian Night, Cozy Winter Supper and Family Picnic to name just a few.

I was really looking forward to checking out some of these recipes: Ginger crackles, maple walnut trunks, bell pepper pasta salad, veggie burgers, popcorn, oat walnut thins, and peanut butter mousse. Yum.

The book is separated into main chapters with sub-chapters:

Appetizers & Snacks: Crostini, Dips, Tea Sandwiches, Nachos & Potato Skins, Chips & Party Mixes
Breakfast & Brunch: Smoothies, Pancakes Waffles & French Toast, Eggs & Bacon
Main Dishes: Soup, Kebabs, Burgers & Dogs, Panini, Pizza & Pasta
Salads & Sides: Tossed Salads & Slaws, Potato & Pasta Salads, Beans & Grains, Veggie Sides
Drinks & Desserts: Cold Drinks, Hot Drinks, Cocktails, Brownies & Cookies, No-Bake Desserts

As the book sub-title “super fun food for every day” suggests, it’s all about putting together uncomplicated, quick family meals: Grill a burger, throw together some salad veggies and you’ve got dinner.

Make no mistake, this is not your average instructional cookbook, I suppose you could say the “recipes” in the book aren’t even recipes – for each type of dish, there are dozens of variations, each with only a simple paragraph “description.” The concept is very similar to Mark Bittman’s “Kitchen Express” cookbook.

While there are a thousand recipes in the book and a few tips scattered here and there, there are no instructions for basics like roasting a whole chicken or peeling a fresh artichoke. No one is holding your hand as you braise a beef chuck roast or make your first creme brulee.

For that reason, this book might not be the best choice for a beginner; although, I suppose it could be a helpful companion cookbook if the newbie also owned a copy of something more detailed (I highly recommend Cook with Jamie or the Essential NY Times Cookbook as cookbooks for beginner cooks.)

The Food Network Magazine 1000 Easy Recipes cookbook motivates a lot of experimentation in the kitchen, but does it go overboard with so many variations for one type of food? Sure, you will probably never need 7 pages of crostinis or 40+ kebab variations, but at the same time, it is inspiring and interesting to read their flavor combinations.

Bottom line, I don’t recommend buying The Food Network Magazine 1000 Easy Recipes cookbook, unless of course you are a big collector and must have every cookbook ever published.

If you are wise, you’d just grab a copy from the library to browse through first. Then find your favorite recipes online at the Food Network web site or just jot down a few notes from a few favorites as the recipes are so short and sweet.

This cookbook seems more like of a novelty, which isn’t necessarily bad, it’s just that personally, I can’t envision myself referring back to it again and again as I would with a more “mainstream” cookbook.

A Couple of my favorite recipes (found online) at Food Network:

Disclaimer:
I love reading cookbooks, like some people love reading novels! I am inspired by recipes, and enjoy learning ideas from cookbooks, which means I’d rather put my own spin on a recipe than follow it exactly. Please keep in mind that my opinions might be completely different from the other home cooks.

Tricia Yearwood’s New Cooking TV Show on Food Network

Tricia Yearwood has a new Food Network show called “Trisha’s Southern Kitchen” and I watched the “Girlfriends” episode today.

Okay, yeah, there’s typical Paula Deen-ish, way-too-much butter and sugar recipes, but I was pleasantly surprised to find Tricia’s personality really shined. I enjoyed watching the episode! There were many helpful cooking tips, plus little bits of Tricia’s personal life.

Her pecan pie and crockpot mac & cheese recipes are decadent, and are just waiting to give you a heart-attack, but at the same time, intriguing.

I don’t know if I’ll be a regular viewer, only because her recipes aren’t really my cup of tea, but I might sneak a peak if it’s on or if I remember to DVR her.

She’s very funny, charming, and adorable. I wish her luck on the new show! :)

They wanted to hate on me for coming down with something – Paula Deen

Oh lordie, Paula Deen, just doesn’t get it! Late last week, she was quoted by AP as saying

I think a few people who have access to a TV camera and ink kind of wanted to hate on me for coming down with something.

First, she didn’t “come down” with diabetes – it’s not a cold or flu that will go away in a few days.

And no one is upset because she developed diabetes; it’s the fact that she was diagnosed years ago, but decided to go public by partnering with a diabetes ~~drug lord~~, err, pharmaceutical company.

Then there’s the pesky fact that she continued to make show episodes using unhealthy quantities of ingredients like cream and butter, knowing full well that she was diabetic. Hey, I’m the first to admit that I use butter, but I don’t need 2 sticks in my cornbread!

And, really, hate is such a strong word; I really don’t think most people actually hate her, although there are probably a lot of people who can’t stand her.

Personally, I feel she is moving in the wrong direction. She has an opportunity to really make a difference, but she’s wasting time denying that her diet was a large factor in her illness. She keeps babbling about genetics, stress and age.

Wouldn’t it have been fantastic, if she decided 2 years ago, to change her lifestyle? Last month, she could have announced she was diagnosed, but instead of turning to pharmaceuticals, she took charge, lost weight, changed her diet, started exercising, and beat diabetes! Wow, talk about being an inspiration! That would have sparked a lot of people to follow her example! But alas, that didn’t happen, and it probably will never happen.

Good Housekeeping Drop 5 Lbs – New Cooking Channel Show

I was curious about the new show on Cooking Channel TV: Good Housekeeping Drop 5 Lbs (with Melissa d’Arabian), so I made sure to DVR it.

The first episode opens with the recipe, Chicken Breasts with Apple Curry Sauce and it looked scrumptious; I love the idea of sweet & savory for dinner.

But I was a little puzzled when she suggested topping the steamed broccoli with a tsp of margarine. MARGARINE? Do people still use margarine?

It was even funnier to look at the recipe online, and see they suggested, “trans fat margarine” – LOL. I assume they meant “trans fat-free margarine” but even still, to suggest margarine over a whole food like butter is silly.

trans fat margarine

For example, after googling “margarine brands”, I found Smart Balance Buttery Spread contains 80 calories per tablespoon, that’s 26 calories for 1 tsp. Organic Valley unsalted butter contains 100 calories per tablespoon, which equals out to 34 calories per tsp. That’s hardly enough of a difference to recommend margarine over butter!

Plus if you choose the butter, you’ll save yourself the consumption of icky ingredients like artificial flavors, monoglycerides, sorbitan ester of fatty acids, disodium EDTA, along with a dose of GMO (genetically modified) vegetable oils, plus all the pesticides and toxic fertilizers.

But getting back to the episode.

I whole-heartedly agree with the advice that you need to measure your portions; I think a kitchen scale is a more accurate way than a measuring cup though (I love to weigh in grams) but it’s better than eye-balling it. Two & half years later, I still weigh most of my food. It really does help keep your portions honest!

On the whole, I’m not a fan of Good Housekeeping, it’s a bloated ad-driven magazine, but at least the show seems like a fairly good idea. No, the tips and hints aren’t anything new, but if it helps inspire someone to begin a healthier lifestyle, then that’s all that matters.

I’ll continue to DVR the episodes, so we’ll see how it develops.

Paula Deen Diabetes Announcement – Just Take Your Medicine, Ya’all

As predicted, Paula Deen made the official announcement that she is diabetic. Even though she was diagnosed 3 years ago, her reason for coming forward now is that she wants to help others.

In reality, she’s coming forward with a profitable new partnership with drug maker Novo Nordisk, marketing a new “helpful” web site called Diabetes in a New Light, which should really be called “pulling the wool over your diabetic eyes so you can’t see the true light.”

Let’s Turn Off the “Diabetes in a New Light”

So I checked out the Diabetes in a New Light web site, and uh, seriously, someone should turn off that light before it hurts someone. :(

The site is financed by Novo Nordisk, a Diabetes DRUG company, so right there, that’s a HUGE conflict of interest.
There is nothing on the site that mentions PREVENTION of diabetes, only what to do if you’ve already diagnosed. Hmm, why prevent diabetes when there is so much money to be made.
There’s nothing about trying to reverse it with diet/exercise. Again, Big Pharma can’t make millions if we can reverse it on our own with natural means. (Novo Nordisk’s drug Victoza, had global sales of $734 million in their first 3 quarters of 2011)
Victoza’s list of scary cautions & warnings on every page should be enough to make anyone think twice about taking this drug.

Basically all the web site accomplishes is regurgitating common-sense diabetes advice while tricking you into giving them your personal information in order to sign up for a newsletter. Why do they need your mailing address for an email newsletter?

hmm….the answer is at the bottom of the form, Novo Nordisk want your permission to bombard you with marketing materials from them and their “affiliates or vendors.” What do you get in return? Oh some delicious, diabetic-friendly recipes. Worth it, right?

SHAMEFUL!

If Paula Deen truly cared about people then she would be giving her re-worked recipes and tips for free, without making you sign away your privacy to a drug company!

It’s Just Entertainment, Ya’all

I watched the Paula Deen interview on the Today show, and she tried so hard to convince us that all she wants to do is help people, but at the same time she skirts around the question if she’ll change the way she cooks and eats.

Her eventual answer was that she NEVER ate like that every day, it’s just entertainment, ya’all, and that she’s always been about moderation. Since when, Paula?

Perhaps she should have mentioned more about moderation during her “butter is beautiful” or “add another cup o’ sugar” shows on Food Network. Ugh. Yeah, what a great role model. It’s just for entertainment!

Wouldn’t it have been refreshing if Paula came forward and admitted that she was wrong, and that she made a lot of big mistakes with her health?

There’s no money in mistakes. Don’t change your life, just take some meds.

Farms Don’t Pay For Endorsements

This situation angers me the most because she didn’t go public with her illness until she secured a lucrative deal, and since the local farm-fresh industry is not paying for endorsements, why promote a change in lifestyle for free, when a top-bidding Big Pharma company will pay you millions to promote their drugs!

And the topper is Novo Nordisk is actually claiming that when they came to her to be a partner, they didn’t know she was diagnosed with diabetes. wink wink. Yeah, the National Enquirer knew, but no one else did? Makes me sick. I think I’ll eat some butter.

More links:
mercurynews.com/celebrities/

The Chew Review – New Daytime Food Talk Show on ABC TV

I’ve been looking forward to the premiere of the new food talk show, “the Chew” – with Mario Batali (famous chef, previously on Food Network), Carla Hall (charming contestant from Bravo’s Top Chef), Michael Symon (current “Iron Chef” on Food Network), Daphne Oz (supposed nutrition expert, and daughter of famous Dr Oz), and Clinton Kelly (entertaining expert).

Today is the day! Episode #1

I’m excited that it’s an actual “live” show with an audience, well at least live-taped some time that same day. From the show intro, it looks like there are going to be a lot of taped segments filtered into the “live” audience stuff.

They promise a “party in the kitchen” – I’m just hoping for healthy, consciously sustainable, and interesting talk and advice. Let’s dig into the Chew!

Mario Batali isn’t in studio, he’s shown on a big TV screen by satellite feed at a charity golf event.

Michael Symon is now cooking up a pork dish with beans and greens. They need to work out the camera angles a little better…Too many long-view camera shots, or blurry too-close shots.

Commercial break.

We’re back. Audience is tasting and chatting about the Symon pork dish. Symon asks the audience member, “Tell me why you think it’s delicious?” as if it couldn’t be anything OTHER than delicious. Lots more unnecessary chatter and then a good dose of ego-boosting audience applause. Stop wasting time! Yes, we know you cook delicious food, get on with it. It would have been more interesting to see more actual cooking and less adoration and chit chat.

Another commercial break? what? Are you kidding? Thankfully, I have this on DVR, so I can fast-forward the commercials.

And now we have Daphne talking about how wonderful her dad/family is. And then of course, they bring out a “surprise” visit from Dr Oz himself!

Way way too much chatter and giggling! *rolling eyes* They’re all talking over each other and you can barely hear what’s going on. Then Dr Oz pretty much took over, annoying. But I suppose he is used to being the center of attention! I kind of felt bad for her, he kept teasing her with embarrassing childhood stories.

Now, Daphne is explaining the components of her healthy smoothie recipe, talking extremely quickly. And again, there is way too much applause.

Commercial break.

Okay, now we’re watching Michael Symon again, touting the many wonders of the microplane grater/zester.

Not really ground-breaking, is it?

And we’ve got ANOTHER commercial break. Are they kidding? Come on. Another break?

Next, Carla tells the story about how she found her family’s old Betty Crocker recipe box. That was quite fun seeing this old piece of cooking history. I really hope they bring out more items like that.

So, now Carla is making apple ring pancakes, inspired by a recipe her mom made from the old recipe box. I’d make this dish; it looks interesting and fairly simple to prepare. I like Carla.

Recipes from the first The Chew episode:
http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/episodes/September-26-2011

And of course, we’ve got another commercial break.

Now the entertaining wizard, Clinton Kelly’s segment “Plate to Platter” is giving us tips on how to miniaturize favorite meal dishes into bite sized party appetizers. Eh, kind of boring, not really what I’m interested in.

Okay, after the next commercial break (surprise! another break!) we’re seeing Mario Batali make a pizza at the golf course. Because of the satellite feed, when the hosts ask him a question there’s a slight pause/delay before Mario answers.

Michael Symon asked how he got a pizza oven on the golf course? – he answered with his tagline “There’s Italians and those that want to be Italians” – joking that Italians drive with pizza ovens where ever they go. Yeah, a little bit of a “set up” but cute.

He gives his recipe/tips on how to make the perfect pizza, peppered again with way too much applause after every little comment, and I swear I also hear a fake laugh track added.

And that’s it. The end of the show.

I dunno. maybe I’m being too critical, but I really was looking forward to this show and it was a disappointment. Sort of like expecting Cooks Illustrated but getting Good Housekeeping.

Too much advertising and same ole same ole…nothing groundbreaking or new.

What else would I like see changed? I’m really hoping they tone down the excessive “love fest” between the hosts, it’s a little bit too much. And most importantly, whoever is in charge of lighting up the audience “applause” sign needs to take a little break once in awhile.

It would be great if they try adding a few more “real” subjects. I’m not saying they need to cover depressing serious subject matter, like GMO Crops & factory farming well, yeah, maybe they should once occasionally. It’s just too darned cheery on that set!

BUT I have trust it’ll get better, at least I hope so. I am not giving up on the Chew just yet. I mean, it’s only the first show, it needs time to find its way. Only time will tell!

Food Network Rewards Obese Duff Goldman with New Sugar High Show

I just watched a promo for the new Food Network show “Sugar High” starring Duff Goldman, the guy from “Ace of Cakes” (a show I don’t think I’ve watched once)

Anyway, the promo commercial made me sick! They showed him gorging on cakes, pastries, cookies, and puddings. Every scene was him shoveling huge desserts into his mouth. With each new traveled location, I swear you were watching him gain another 10 pounds. His face looked fatter and more bloated after every bite.

It was extremely gross and unappealing, but it made me think!

Is this the type of show that Americans love?

It’s how we look and how we eat. Obese and addicted to sugar, feeding ourselves massive amounts of sweet sugary desserts, barely stopping to wipe the icing off our faces.

I am sorry if people think I’m being cruel, putting down someone (Duff Goldman) who clearly has a food addiction problem, but really, shouldn’t we be outraged at the Food Network, for contributing to his obesity? Is the Food Network glorifying and encouraging the obesity problem in America?

Take a look at an earlier promo photo of Duff Goldman. Yeah, he could lose a few pounds, but at least he has some muscle tone.
duff goldman promo shot for ace of cakes

Now look at a capture from the new Sugar High show. Duff has clearly gained weight, and I wonder what his health is like. Does he have type 2 diabetes? How is his cholesterol?

bloated and obese duff goldman from the new food network show sugar high

Is the Food Network partially responsible? Making profits by rewarding an obese spokesperson with a show on the same subject matter that is causing him to be obese? What has to happen before they finally open their eyes? A heart attack?

I know what it’s like to have a compulsive sugar addiction. but I have found ways to keep it under control. If the Food Network gave me lots of $$ to host a show called “Sugar High”, yeah, all control would be out the window, and I’d be 200 pounds again! Even watching a show like “Sugar High” can have unwanted repercussions.

The new “Sugar High” show premieres tonight on Food Network at 10:30pm, but I won’t be watching. It would be like watching the trainwreck that is America’s sugar addiction…

New Cooking Food TV Shows for Summer – Rants!

Wow, there has been a bunch of new cooking/food TV series….not very impressed though.

I watched Rocco’s Dinner Party on Bravo the other night and wow, when did Rocco DiSpirito become so narcissistic and arrogant? Very disappointing. His attitude (down to facial expressions) was incredibly pretentious and snotty – I’ve never watched his “Restaurant” series, but I have heard that he was pompous and arrogant on that show as well. How sad. He was so down-to-earth and unassuming on the old “Melting Pot” cooking show (currently seen on The Cooking Channel) – what a shame he takes himself all too seriously!

Just finished watching the first episode of Extreme Chef (Food Network) on my DVR. Lord, how boring was this show! It’s kind of a cross between Chopped and The Amazing Race, but not as interesting. Why do producers feel that the public wants to watch judges that think they are better than everyone else? It’s getting so old!

I am enjoying the “Next Food Network Star” on Food Network though. Even though the judges are also arrogant and impossible to please. I enjoy most of the contestants, except for bitchy Penny. I can’t imagine who would want to watch a new cooking show hosted by someone so mean spirited. She has a permanent scowl on her face, and is always putting down the other contestants. You know if Giada was a contestant, she’d hate her too! Ha! Yes, I’m sure there are a lot of TV chefs that have bad attitudes behind the scenes, but their actions aren’t usually broadcast on a reality TV series. I just don’t understand her game plan. Be the biggest bitch possible and hope that they will give you a cooking show? She can’t be that stupid, there must be ulterior motives. Perhaps her idol is Tabatha from Tabatha’s Takeover.

I did start watching the 2nd season of Gordan Ramsey’s Master Chef, but I sort of lost interest. We didn’t watch this week, but hopefully maybe next week, we’ll get back into it. Again, pompous arrogant judges that expect perfect outcomes from impossible situations. It’s just frustrating! But I haven’t given up on this show just yet. We’ll see.

New Cooking Channel Debut Review

Original notes from MONDAY May 31, 2010 with updates from Wednesday June 2, 2010: As soon as I heard about the new Cooking Channel weeks ago, I was looking forward to today’s debut. The shows started at 7am on Monday, May 31st on the old FLN (Fine Living Network) channel. Brought to you by the same company as the Food Network, it’s more about instructional cooking sans all the reality show drama. At least that is how they are starting out. I am really looking forward to watching the old classic shows with Julia Child and the Galloping Gourmet! Looks like they are starting on Tuesday at 2pm.

I woke up around 7:30 and started watching.

First Impressions of Cooking Channel Shows

“Chuck’s Day Off” was on. I loved that he cooked simple, easy recipes with fresh, sustainable ingredients. That’s so important now. I liked his personality and will definitely watch again.

Next was “Everyday Exotic” – I only watched 2/3 of his first episode at 8am and 2/3 of the next one at 8:30am. He was okay. I don’t know that I would necessarily seek out his show again, but if I saw it was on again and there was nothing else, I would probably watch. I found his humming annoying, as well as how he keeps saying “crazy” or “beautiful” – too many adjectives. Maybe he had just too much nervous energy, and he’ll get better with time and experience. I do like that he takes one main ingredient (papaya, mango) and uses it throughout his recipes. He did offer some good tips. My favorite tip was that he used a pair of tongs to juice a lemon/lime. I am definitely going to try that!

UPDATE: I can’t believe the show I wasn’t so crazy about is starting to become one of my favorites. I watched Everyday Exotic a couple of times, and I really like the show now. His personality grows on you, and I am enjoying his recipes.

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