KensethFan

"Flour Water Salt Yeast" by Ken Forkish

At the moment, the book is only available for the iPad. He has commented when asked via Twitter that it will eventually be available in ebook format (I.e., Kindle, Nook, etc.) it should be available soon.

Can't watch it. Tried. Can't watch it. Fail.

Gordon Ramsay is the new Jerry Springer. I've lost every ounce of respect for tht man. HK is repulsive.

Did anyone happen to catch the new show on ABC called "The Chew?" It has Mario Batali, Daphne Oz (Dr. Oz's daughter), some "food stylist" dude I've never heard of, and Michael Symon. I watched it yesterday just for kicks, and man was it awful. It was set up to be like a bunch of chefs and others talking about food and making food like one would with their own family in the kitchen. Mario (for the first show) was patched in via satellite, which had tons of lag which made things really awkward. Michael Symon appeared to me to feel out of place a bit. The food stylist dude was talking incessantly. Dr. Oz appears on the show and takes all the thunder away from his daughter. The show felt like a combination game show/infomercial rather than a daytime food show. Believe me, it was awful. What are your opinions?

Congrats to Blais. They both did a really fine job. I'm just glad they left them both alone and let them just cook, instead of putting some twist on it all. Tom's blog gives some great insight into why Richard won. Very reasonable explanation. He also mentioned that the oyster dish got no points because it was not a part of the dishes upon which Richard was judged. I don't recall them ever saying that during the course of the show. Hmm. Anyway, Mike really showed himself to have grown as a chef, and it was actually a pleasure to watch him do so well, even though his personality can be a bit grating at times. HUGE KUDOS TO SPIKE. The maturity level he showed in the way he stepped up to the plate for Richard was phenomenal. The look on Spike's face when he was chosen sort of scared me a bit for Richard. But Spike really poured it on, and really helped Richard incredibly well. He was truly looking out for Richard's best interests. And kudos to Angelo as well. It did not appear he was trying to change anything Richard was doing. It was all about Richard's food, rather than Richard's food with an Angelo twist. And kudos to Mike.....when all of his sous chefs were trying to give their input, he batted them back and was only willing to do his own thing....Mike's food. That was really important for him. He didn't allow them to pressure him. Kudos to Jamie for not being the selfish little brat she's always seemed to be, and stepping up for Mike the way she should have. All in all, it was a great finale. For me, the best yet.

I think Blais is his own worst enemy. If he really hates everything he cooks, he should hang up his jacket and exit the business. He needs to learn how to relax and enjoy what he cooks. That is what cooking is all about. If you don't enjoy what you cook, then why bother cooking? I don't see him winning this competition with his attitude. He mostly comes in a second to Mike because Mike loves to cook. That shows on the plate. If Richard hates everything he cooks, that will show up on the plate as well. He's frustrated because he can't win, and can't see that the reason why is because his feelings about his food show up on the plate.

Kenny has been going downhill for a while. His dishes are necessarily overcomplicated, but he puts way too much on the plate and muddies the flavors. I'm not really surprised to see him go. I have to wonder if he was so busy trying to outdo Angelo that he forgot about his own style.

Not sure I would call "foam" on everything being an "extremely innovative gastro chef."

I've watches three episodes of this show and I have to say that I'm hardly impressed. I was totally befuddled as to why in the dessert episode Novelli was so put off by salt and sweet. I admit, it might have been badly done, but he acted as though salt and caramel or salt and chocolate do not go together. Is this guy for real? He's really a Michelin starred chef and he does not understand that salt and sweet go together. It has to be the editing because I can't for the life of me understand how a chef of this supposed caliber does not understand that concept.

I was really glad to see that Garces won. He might not be as good at presentation as Mehta, but his food was perfectly cooked. I really lost a lot of respect for Mehta when he - in earlier episodes - was taking entire ingredients from his competitors to try and gain an advantage. Either he would need some of the ingredient and take it all so the others could not get it, or he would flat out take it all even if he did not need it. To me, that was totally unprofessional and - quite frankly - cowardly. If you can't beat your competitors in a fair competition, then you don't belong in competition. It's too bad too, because he is a very creative individual. The only problem is his inconsistency. I could see his creativeness flourish as an Iron Chef, but because of his inconsistency, he would lose too many battles. I think the judges ended up choosing Garces because he is consistent. The other Iron Chefs can work with him on creativity and presentation, helping him along to be a great Iron Chef. He has a lot of potential. Plus, Garces is very warm and personable. What I found interesting (and I'm sure this was all editing) was that the judges seemed to be dead against Garces and the Iron Chefs seemed to be all for him. Looks like in the end, the Iron Chefs prevailed and they must have convinced at least some of the judges that Garces was the best man for the job. Good luck to Mr. Garces!!!! I hope that Mr. Mehta has learned a bit from this experience. I hope he has learned that integrity does count for something. I can't help but wonder if integrity also played a role in Mehta's demise in addition to his inconsistency.

I thought last night's episode was interesting. From the editing, it appears they all were not really happy with Mehta's food. Then they show Frietag's food and they all seem gaga over most of it (especially the Japanese fellow) and then she goes home instead of Mehta. Clearly there either must be a bias against Frietag and a love for Mehta or the editing must have just made it seem like Frietag's food was good and Mehta's didn't cut it. I wish they wouldn't do it. Makes their credibility suffer.

All I have to say about that comment is: WOW!!!

I use 50% veal and 50% beef. Comes out really well, with good flavor. Some use pork for both the fat content and the taste. I don't eat pork so I find this is the best compromise.

Well, who is probably the higher caliber chef, here? I would vote for Ann for sure.