JohnRov

I thought it was pretty bad. First, the rediculous MTV-style editing for the speed challenge almost caused me to turn it off right there. Quit edits, fast pans and tilts, just let me see them do the work!!! The TC format was annoying but not a total turn-off. My other problem is that equipment wasn't working. I know you have to deal with adversity, but I just want to see them cook. Lastly, we only got maybe an edited sentence or two max from the judges on each contestant or dish. It was like a cooking show for people with short attention spans. I may give it another shot, not sure yet.

That was the first time I saw the reunion show. It was pretty boring. They hsould have just let them cook with a big budget, lots of time, and no gimmicks. Marcel still talks like a 14-year-old girl ("Like, I think I'm, like, gonna win because, like, I make, like, foams and stuff. Like, how rad is that?") Ilan needs Ted and the other Queer Eye guys to give him a makeover. First it was the double watches, now it's the bad Vanilla Ice hair. It's all about the cooking for me...

Made? I think it just arrives in tanker trucks and is pumped into holding vats I think NR would do well with more occasional episodes in cities like Cleveland that have their unique quirks and cultures.

OK, I'm actually looking forward to next week's more since they have more time to get it together. Madonna's brother was a prick, and who gives a shit about the blogger? Pretty disappointing episode.

Well, Sara was bound to go. You can't be a leader if you can't assert yourself. Hung is a prick. How many times is he going to explain why his dish is going to be so good and when it isn't liked, he pulls the, "Well, the commoners just don't understand it"? Screw you, cook something that tastes good. (Yeah, he pushes my buttons ) Howie needs to go as well. He's a jerk and insults people. Then his cover is, "Well, you don't have to like me, just respect me and do everything I say." I've been coaching various ages, from young kids to college, in different sports for the last 15 years. No, people don't have to like you to follow you, and yes, they need to respect you, but they can't hate you. If they dislike you because of something related to the task you did, it's one thing. If they hate you because you belittle them and don't show them respect in turn, you're the leader of a sinking ship. And I, like others, pledged not to watch this season, but here we are...

Excellent point, I came here to post the exact same thing. That said, the show has little interest to me after watching two episodes. The spitting out of food and the audio that catches every slurp and crunch that comes out of his mouth annoy me.

-the onion slicer with the fingers -this crazy "whisk" my wife has that is kind of like a spring -this can-sized strainer so you can drain canned goods But I LOVE wooden spoons. I don't know why, it just seems that using a wooden spoon is what my grandma would have used to stir tomato sauce. Total nostalgia for me.

She looked cute, but I'm a Camille guy myself.

Ilan is still a tool; the tux with no socks? It's like a high school kid trying to be cool by wearing different random stuff, except he's like 25. Too much yapping by Sandee without her adding anything. The judges table spoof was pretty funny. I would have rather have seen them cook but it wasn't too bad, although the host was pretty bad, they should have just let Ted run the thing.

Hung is annoying. For each dish, he says, "well, this and that always work together, so it has to be good". He has a theory, apparently can't pull off the execution, and then attacks the judges. How can you learn anything without improving on your shortcomings. I'd like to see him go just so I don't have to hear him whine anymore. I thought Howie got short-changed on the prize. It may have been a nice bottle of wine but others get more prestigious prizes.

Oh, the bling and the sashes! I laughed out loud to myself every time they showed those pretentious twits on TV! It was too much to take. Are they knighted? The episode wasn't bad, the deserts were pathetic, but how could you forget to add salt when you underseasoned the tuna?

They're obviously off lobbying for more importation of foreign lamb! Smart move.

It depends on what I'm trying to learn. Both The Frugal Gourmet and Mario really help me get a grip on the origins of a dish, why a certain technique or ingredient was used, maybe a bit about the history of the region or people who are associated with the dish, etc. That kind of stuff really interests me. There is very little technique taught on cooking shows unless you are a real newbie. I haven't seen Charlie Trotter's show so maybe he gets more into it, I don't know. Sandra Lee is a terrific teacher. I mean, after watching her I think I could buy an angel food cake, put the Cool Whip on, and top it with some rediculous plastic bears in circus poses without referring to my notes once. I retain every detail she provides The goal of a show like Emeril Live, and I'll talk about him because he gets so much heat, is to spark the interest of people who don't cook to try something new, at least that's how I see it. And sometimes I just watch cooking shows just to watch. I enjoy watching people cook, even if I'm not really learning anything.

Micah made the comment that they don't eat meatloaf in South Africa or something to that effect. My brother got married in SA and when we were there we ate a LOT of bobotie, which is ground meat with curried spices, egg custard, and raisins (there are variations, just like every mom's meatloaf recipe). It's more of a casserole than loaf. She could have easily spun her dish into an interpretation of that which would have adhered to the basic concept while bringing in her heritage. I swore after last season I wasn't going to watch, but here I am. I just wish they would spend a little more time showing cooking and talking with the chefs about their dishes. I'm not a chef, nor do I work in a restaurant, but when Hung left that crawfish on the floor I was annoyed. I think there needs to be more respect for living things you are using for food. To just essentially waste it (and you could see it floating dead in the tank as other chefs got their shellfish) is horrible IMO.

Celery for us. I always need just a bit for something and the rest goes in the refridge only to come out again dead and limp.

I like mushrooms with sauted with some garlic, a bit of shallot, a splash of wine, maybe some sage.

Beautiful! Made a batch using your recipe this morning and just tasted it. I used Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate and added a bit of vanilla extract to the cream. Wonderful. Creamy consistency, good chocolate flavor, the wife is thrilled (and that's very important!).

I like Good Eats and ICA, one for education, the other for entertainment. Molto Mario is on around noon I think. I used to watch it when I went home for lunch but they moved it earlier now. I keep meaning to check out Bourdain's show, but with a 3 month old it's just getting added to the list of things I keep meaning to do To each their own, I'm not going to chastise someone for watching a particular show.

Thanks, I'll be experimenting next week with everyone's suggestions and I'll report back.

Thank you, your proportions and order of operations are different than mine, but I am going to try yours. Here's what I have been doing (for vanilla), just for comparison. 2 c heavy cream 4 large egg yolks 1/3 c sugar Gradually whisk sugar into eggs until lemon yellow and ribbons form. Bring cream to simmer w/vanilla bean. Add cream to eggs gradually, mixing, not whisking. Add to ramekins and bake in water bath.

I was thinking this was going to come up. I'll double check at home. It was from the baking section, with individually wrapped one ounce squares. It melted quite nicely on the double boiler.

So I can make creme brulee and it turns out fantastic, super smooth and creamy. Then I saw that there was a chocolate version of this in the Jaques and Julia book. Same recipe, just pour cream/egg/sugar mixture over 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate and mix until it melts. Bake in water bath as usual. The first time the chocolate didn't really melt and I ended up with ramekins with about 3/4 inch nice, creamy custard on top and about 3/4 inch solid, bitter chocolate on the bottom. So I decided to try it again, only I'd melt the chocolate over a double boiler first. Did this, but when I added the cream mix, the chocolate turned back into little specks. The cream was plenty hot. So I strained this mixture and baked. This time I ended up with a homogenous chocolate "custard", but it wasn't near as creamy as a regular custard and the unsweetened chocolate tasted aweful. Any suggestions?

My parents used to make "Chop Suey". It came from a box I think and had what I called "chunks". That word in my childhood meant pretty much any piece of cooked celery or peppers. My dad was strict and we had to finish our meals. I would swallow each chunk like a pill, washing it down with milk. But it would take me so long that my milk would get warm and the whole thing was an extremely traumatic experience. Then there was my mom's theory that anything could be cooked early and put on low "just to stay warm". That didn't work so well for meat....

When I am making a bunch of fresh pasta like I do when I make lasagne, should I roll all the sheets out and then cook and assemble at once? Or should I cook them as I roll them and then throw them in and leave them in a ice bath? My current: roll, cook, shock, assemble two/three sheets, repeat process seems pretty inefficient. Or does it matter?

I usually browse them for ideas and try to keep them out of the kitchen, but The Joy of Cooking was usually close by my side when I was learning and needed it so it's pretty battle-tested.