nliedel

Side Salad dressing and please don't get irritated if I salt my food. It's not that you're a bad cook. I just have a thing for salt and since my blood pressure is low, it's not an issue.

There is no definitive cookbook on Indian Cuisine. Why? It would be like a definitive cookbook on American Cuisine, or Chinese Cuisine. It's too broad a subject. You can grab several books and get a good approximation of the subtle varieties of the different regions. Nothing is all chilies and garlic, although they are used. I am not phrasing things right here, I have four little guys and three are sick, so it's not my best effort, sorry. I love some of the collections above. I'm going to be buying some this week. This is what is in my collection. I make Indian food about twice a week. I rarely repeat in one year. I love anything by Mudhar Jaffrey. She's accessible, informative and interesting. She's also well trained and seeks out good flavor with balance. Indian Cooking is the one I would have on my shelf if I could have only one of her books, but honestly, I would save them all in a fire. I love, Lord Krishna's Cuisine. LOVE IT. It really covers a broad range of cooking and the flavor of the dishes is distinct. This is a vegetarian cookbook, but many Indians are vegetarian, although that is a broad brush statement that tends to define a country that cannot be defined and therefor slightly unfair. Cooking at Home with Pedatha is a Gourmand winner for best vegetarian cookbook in the world winner, and focuses on South Indian Flavors. Nice for Thalis. Samayal: The Pleasures of South Indian Vegetarian Cooking, is another award winner. One of the wags on Amazon was complaining that the book uses too many Indian Terms. For example the words, "Hing Powder" really bothered them. So, if you're a baby Indian foodie, this book my bug you, but if you know that Hing powder is asafoetida powder, then you should be set. Honestly, it takes me all of thirty seconds to Google the unfamiliar and if I want dumbed down for the scared cause they can't buy it in Walmart types, then I would use the Betty Crocker Indian Cookbook. Shudder. Not putting WalMart down. If that's all you got that's all you got, and you make due, but it's not my first choice for authenticity in ingredients.

I think Zimmern is a nice guy, intersting, funny, adventurous and likeable. That said, I can't watch. I am willing to try new food, but (lobster aside) I can't get over the squirms when I watch. I want to be bigger than that. I really do, but I'm a big-ole-baby when it comes to snacking on bugs and it's always going to be that way. I'm forty four and I ain't gonna change in that regard. I understand that they may taste good. I get that whole cultures have grown and thrived as a result of eating things I would not touch. I honor and respect the food cultures of others. I just can't do it. I also get that there are bugs in my food, on some level, but I'm floating on the river of De Nile and I'm perfectly happy doing so.

Taste of Home Cookbook. I actually use a recipe in it too. Oh the shame.

Except that it's not a agent's job to handle publicity. That's a publicist. Different breed altogether. Last time I checked, Tony Bourdain had a hit show too.

I'm with the Steak Tartare person. That would be delicious.

Beruit was amazing television. Just amazing. I just can't say the same thing about Romania.

I do sort of see your point, but I also think that the average Bourdain fan likes him because he's not a sell out. He's straight talking, even if you don't agree with him. On the other hand, I'm a published author (pen name and no, I'm not going to share) and you would be surprised how little a writer makes, so I can see giving some leeway to a writer who is trying to make the rent. Even with a best seller, we're not talking retirement here. I see Bourdain as a writer first (Chef, of course, but a writer gets a lot of respect in my book). Television celebrity second. I'd still be pissed if he started doing ads for Michelob. Shudder.

I have a stack of most of the issues under my bed. They're a go-to magazine when it's time to start taking potluck stuff and doing holiday cooking. No, I don't follow the recipes verbatim, which I rarely do from any recipe, but they're an interesting view on basic American cuisine. Sort of a snapshot into the every kitchen. Can it be a silly overly-simplified rant on the glories of the pedestrian? Sure, but there is something about it that reminds me of my moms cooking. She passed when I was sixteen, so I think it's a way to get her cooking advice now that I've got kids. Sometimes I want sublime and sometimes a nice take on an old fashion pot roast is a pleasure.

Begin suck-up statement. Not always thrilled with Bourdain, but I can't see the dude selling out. He'd be flayed alive by his fan base and while he does not pander, he does seem to respect it. Some folks don't strike me as, "sell out types." Anthony Bourdain and Alton Brown as well as Tom Colicchio don't seem to be those types. Which is why I'm willing to watch them and not some other chefs. Who shall remain namelss, but I bet we could all name them without much thought. End suck-up statement. I calls em as I sees em.

It's a snow day here. I have four boys. One with autism. Pass the tiki bar and assortment of adult beverages please. I just saw the re-run of Rajasthan. WOW! Just wow. I'd not seen all of it before and this was glorious. Although he did not fully explain what was in a bhang lassie. Not that he could and get away with it on national tv.

I don't like the show, but it has nothing to do with the race of the Neely's and I find the steppin fetchit comment to be out of line. I'm glad they're in love and like jokes in the kitchen, but I find the recipes to be a tad overdone. I've seen a huge homage to Que on the Food Network recently. I love Que, but I also love other things and wish they would broaden again. It's becoming quite myopic lately and narrow.

I agree with Chris. A bone in, spiral sliced ham is really good, pre-cooked and easy to work with. I usually do my own glaze with brown sugar, mustard, a little clove and garlic. I used powdered clove because there's no where to stick whole ones and no one should ever bite into a whole clove. It's just nasty. I use a little water too, but very little. Heat the brown sugar and a little water in a pan till it's dissolved, add mustard (Dijon for me, but you can be flexible), clove and well minced garlic. I get my hands in there and smear it all over the ham. Bake till it's warmed through. Sometimes the garlic can have too much bite for some people, so you can pop it in a pan with a little, and I mean just enough, butter until it's translucent. That will mellow it. Or... I wonder how this concoction would taste with roasted garlic? Would the ham overpower it? Hmmmm.

Hawaii was kind of a, "Duh" episode for me. He seemed so shocked about the food, but it is such a wonderful melange of east and west and I thought that was generally well known, but maybe not. I still don't get the Spam fascination, but I doubt I ever will. The fire thing was funny, but anytime you get to put someone in a fire-proof suit and set them ablaze is a good time, in my book.

I suspect remarks, like other things, are edited for drama.

I think about food more than I probably should, but it's about quality and not quantity. I want my bites to be wonderful. Not all perfection, but good bites. Finish one meal and begin planning the next. I spend hours perusing cookbooks to find the best recipe. Stuff like that. I'm not as into wine, but I have four kids, so good wine is right out for a few more years. Proudest moment of my life is when the light dawns on one of my kids and they get that quality matters.

Caught five minutes of it and turned it off. My son is a big Marc Summer's fan. They have a similar issue they have had to deal with and he uses Marc Summer's as a hero, along with David Beckham, of all the odd combinations. Even my son's odd fanship could not save this turkey for us. It was boring, silly and GF drives me to drink.

The Food Network is sort of getting a reputation for not checking things out. Although they hired Robert Irvine before the whole, "Next Food Network Star" debacle. I've watched the show. It's less about good food than entertainment. Which is true for many of their shows. The interesting thing is that they had a marathon of his shows on yesterday.

I've been sorely tempted to crochet a scarf out of dog fur for my sister in law, because of the very reasons you describe. That said, my husband's aunt thought my non-dramatic and very un-problematic husband was faking his soy allergy. She made him deviled eggs with soy mayonaise. On the bright side, she offered to pay the hospital bill. So it's probably not a plan of attack for everyone

I am horrified to report I have a son who hates vegetables. I've tried everything, everything that is, but pureeing them and sneaking them into food. I'm just not a fan of that technique. My three other boys are more adventurous, but me eldest is set against them and he tends to be an, "all, or nothing" kind of person. Not even frying helps. I wish I had a way to get him over this.

I believe I was told, and I was a religions major in college, so I used to really know this stuff, that the no fish on Friday changed to no fish on Friday during Lent, after Vatican II. Don't quote me on that, though. I want a FoF in the worst way now.

Well, that's good and adult and ballsy in many ways. Can I say ballsy? I don't read show forums, for the most part, because there tends to be a lot of cow-towing and I get tired of fluff blowing, but it sounds like maybe the TC Forum has some good thoughts in it. Hmmm. It did make me want to seek out Romanian culture and food history to see what's there. That's good.

If the show stinks, it's not the fault of the people and country who hosted him, imo. Every country has a food culture that's worth representing, as far as I can tell. It just needs to be ferreted out. What about pre-production? Isn't part of their job hunting down food culture and allowing it to be showcased? Seems they might have fallen down on the job.

We have it, and I use it, when I order Dominoe's, which is as infrequently as possible. It seems to be accurate, but we live really close to the store.

Duh, slaps forehead, that was Tre! I kept looking at him thinking, "I know that dude. Why do I know that dude?" Okay, not a popular take, and I'm new, but here goes. I have no issues with it. I think AB, and the other judges really did an amazing job, mitigating, "I like it. I don't know why, but it's good." Which has value. Bone Crusher was not sure what he liked about the food, but he did. He found it surprising and Ted Allen agreed with Bone Crusher. Which has the effect of making some guy who's being roped into watching this in Duluth say, "well, if Ted Allen thinks it's good, it might, or might not be, but Bone Crusher agrees with him, so maybe Ted Allen is onto something and I should try something new the next time I go out." Then the guy is at a restaurant he never thought he would enter, trying a cuisine he never thought he'd try and it's one less person accepting mediocre food, and has their eyes open. I think the entertainment factor is a HUGE part of Iron Chef, same in Japan as here. It's entertaining and it's educational and it's good food. It's a great mix and makes for good TV. Again, that's my opinion, which is worth what you paid for it. Does that mean I forgive FN for their many recent sins? Nope, still mad about Mario, still can't stand Sandra Lee. Edited to fix muck-up of Tre's name.