93 replies to this topic

[Tom Gengo]

Sandra Lee on truffles:

Take can chocolate frosting, add powder sugar & vanilla, roll them out and dust with cocoa powder.

Please tell me this is a joke..? That sounds like an emetic, not a sweet.

No, I don't have a TV, long (not interesting) story.

LOL

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

Sandra Lee on truffles:

Take can chocolate frosting, add powder sugar & vanilla, roll them out and dust with cocoa powder.

Please tell me this is a joke..? That sounds like an emetic, not a sweet.

No, I don't have a TV, long (not interesting) story.

This is the single most vile sounding dessert ever.

To be fair, most of her desserts fall into the "most vile sounding dessert" category. Google "Sandra Lee Kwanzaa Cake" sometime. *shudder*

[xxchef]

...Take humble flour; The difference in the weight of a cup of flour that is very dry and one that has been kept in a humid environment is noticeable...

I am a bit confused by your comment. If humidity makes a significant difference in the measurement of your flour, then doesn't that make the case for using volumetric measuring to eliminate the difference in density due to humidity? In support of your conclusion, I agree w/ weighing ingredients and use it exclusively for my baking.

Hmmm. Interesting point. The humidity difference was one of the reasons I was given for weighing when I was taught and I've never looked at it from that angle.

I suspect that as flour absorbs humidity it will swell slightly, making volumetric measures off too, Perhaps the difference is greater with volume a opposed to weight? Dunno. Maybe a food scientist will "weigh in"

[DanM]

You really can make this dinner in 30 minutes, or less!

Boy is this tasty! (followed) by a money shot of host eating a bite)

And these days from 2/3 of of Food Network's line up... "I can teach you to cook..."

Dan

[Lindacakes]

I'm not sure Martha Stewart isn't a baking dumbass.

How can she possibly speak the lines you've attributed to her?

I would like to see her in a Yoko Ono ass apron, though.

[Meanderer]

I've learned to add the word "up" to most cooking verbs. I now fry up bacon rather than fry it and I chop up onions, I no longer chop them. "Up" is also a helpful enhancement to slice, freeze, cook, stir, boil, and dice, at least according to Giada and others.

[Chris Amirault]

You're so folksy now.

[Pierogi]

I've learned to add the word "up" to most cooking verbs. I now fry up bacon rather than fry it and I chop up onions, I no longer chop them. "Up" is also a helpful enhancement to slice, freeze, cook, stir, boil, and dice, at least according to Giada and others.

Let's not forget Ming's "let's plate this UP".....

[gfweb]

You "fry up" bacon on some shows, but "cook it down" on others

[Digijam]

But let's not forget that frying always magically creates an impermeable shell on meat, sealing in all those precious juices.

Mark

[TAPrice]

I've learned to add the word "up" to most cooking verbs. I now fry up bacon rather than fry it and I chop up onions, I no longer chop them. "Up" is also a helpful enhancement to slice, freeze, cook, stir, boil, and dice, at least according to Giada and others.

True. That's how you can tell a TV chef from a real chef, because the pros add "off" to their verbs ("cook off," "roast off," etc.).

[Kevin72]

I caught up on some old 60s and 70s era Julia Child shows when Cooking Channel first debuted. While she was of course a font of knowledge for French cuisine and technique, she was at the time decidedly less sure of herself when it came to other cuisines.

So, she made lamb curry one time and, um, yeah. She basically made a traditional French braise and then dumped in curry powder as the seasoning. So she browns everything in oil first, then adds stock and red wine, and then a heaping tablespoon of curry powder at the end.

[ChrisTaylor]

Larousse Gastronomique has a few curry recipes like that. You know, with ham and apples and such. But most of their 'foreign' recipes are total bastardisations--the work of some French guy who liked the idea and then made it his own, using familiar techniques and ingredients to appease the local palate. I'm not really bothered by that.

[Dakki]

Call it "French curry," just like Japanese curry, Indonesian curry, etc.

[ChrisTaylor]

Stumbled on an episode of Jamie Oliver's new shop, 30 Minute Meals. He's making a 30 minute version of jerk chicken and, when he gets to the habanero chillies, scoops the seeds out, holding the chilli in his hand, with the tip of a cook's knife. For a show aimed at people who don't cook normally, who wouldn't handle a knife all that often, and given the amount of children who love and watch and learn from Oliver, this is a terrible lesson.

[Kouign Aman]

But, did he rub his eyes after? That would be the crowning touch.

[Brainfoodie]

Thanks to annachan and others for mentioning Sandra Lee, being from the old continent I had never heard of her but her videos are just a fountain of laughs.
Of course at the same time it's disconcerting that she actually published 20 cookbooks, including some bestsellers... Is she still doing new shows?

[rancho_gordo]

I was horrified to see Alton Brown cleaning roasted peppers. After removing most of the skin and seeds, he "washed" it for good measure, sending a good amount of flavor down the sink, as far as I'm concerned. I know there are a few cooks in Mexico who do this but Brown has such a superior attitude about things that it's off putting. \
A few seeds won't hurt you and the brown bits clinging to the pepper are delicious.

[andiesenji]

I was horrified to see Alton Brown cleaning roasted peppers. After removing most of the skin and seeds, he "washed" it for good measure, sending a good amount of flavor down the sink, as far as I'm concerned. I know there are a few cooks in Mexico who do this but Brown has such a superior attitude about things that it's off putting. \
A few seeds won't hurt you and the brown bits clinging to the pepper are delicious.

I saw that same episode - one of the reasons I have given up on the food channels and stick mostly to PBS.
I never see Mary Ann Esposito or Lidia Bastianich do that, in fact they usually use a paper towel to remove the excess skin and seeds and say that a little left behind is not a concern.

When I still wore contacts, I ruined a pair when I removed them at the end of the day after washing my hands numerous times after handling some very hot peppers.

[Pierogi]

I was horrified to see Alton Brown cleaning roasted peppers. After removing most of the skin and seeds, he "washed" it for good measure, sending a good amount of flavor down the sink, as far as I'm concerned. I know there are a few cooks in Mexico who do this but Brown has such a superior attitude about things that it's off putting. \
A few seeds won't hurt you and the brown bits clinging to the pepper are delicious.

I saw that same episode - one of the reasons I have given up on the food channels and stick mostly to PBS.
....

Frighteningly enough, I've even seen Rick Bayless (whom I normally revere), rinse roasted chilies to get rid of the skin & seeds. I was stunned.....

[Carlovski]

Silver spoon - the oft quoted Italian cookbook has similar issues.

[ChrisTaylor]

Silver spoon - the oft quoted Italian cookbook has similar issues.

I seem to recall a recipe that tells you to spoon some water into hot oil before deep frying.

[runwestierun]

OK, I did what I was told and I googled the Kwanzaa cake. That is just wrong.

[Kim Shook]

I remember seeing this one and being utterly gobsmacked! You could produce this word for word and it would be a perfect SNL parody. She keeps referring to 'acorns' and they are obviously cornnuts. Ditz.

[ruthcooks]

I remember watching Sara Moulton attempting to make something in which an apple was sliced horizontally and then reformed. She obviously had never made it, possibly never even read it, as she sliced the apple into wedges and then tried to put it back together. Epic failure. She didn't even apologize.

[Chris Amirault]

I don't understand, Ruth. It sounds like she made a mistake. What was the stupid thing it taught?

[Catherine Iino]

This raises a question that has bugged me for a long time. TV "chefs" don't seem to wash their produce. For example, I once saw Mario Batali* break a stalk of celery off a bunch and just start chopping it up. I, on the other hand, was all my produce quite carefully, cut off any little brown spots, and so on. I've wondered whether this was just home-cook foolishness, and how carefully--if at all--produce might be washed in restaurants.

On exactness in measuring: it recently dawned on me that it doesn't make sense to be too fastidious about measuring spices according to a recipe (formula), since they vary in flavor so much.


* I think Batali was dropped by the Food Network for being too, well, smart.

[rarerollingobject]

That the best way to get chopped up ingredients from your chopping board into the pan is to hold the board over the pan, and scrape the food into it with the blade of your beautifully sharpened chef's knife. Don't forget to repeat the scraping to get every last morsel off.

Every time I see this, I want to throw something at the TV..talk about a good way to speed up the dullening of your most important kitchen tool. Either use your hands, a dough scraper, or flip the knife upside down, geniuses!!

[rarerollingobject]

I also once saw an English chef recommend that you rinse oysters after you've shucked them. Nearly had a spluttering rage-athon over that one.

[ChrisTaylor]

Oh. Steak tartare in a food processor.

Anyone up for beef paste?