Secrets of a Restaurant Chef

[BarbaraY]

Well, it was advertised here but I managed to miss it. Curious to see how it is.

Being a newbie to Food TV, I find I dislike a lot of it. Disappointing as I had looked forward to it.

[scubadoo97]

Anne really likes that salt.  I think I've seen her salt more than any other TV chef/cook/personality.

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I'm never known as someone who under salts his food but the amount she uses seems like a lot to me.

[Bricktop]

Anne really likes that salt.  I think I've seen her salt more than any other TV chef/cook/personality.

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Wow, indeed she does. I just watched the braised chicken with green beans episode, and she seemed to use it by the handful. For the beans, super salty cooking water, super salty chill bath, and then another load when she reheated them in the garlic oil. And a big handful in the braised chicken. The chocolate sauce was spared, but she may have sneaked some in the pate a choux too.

[GwennP]

I keep thinking of the title of the show.  It has "Restaurant Chef" in it.  Would it be better if the show were set in an actual restaurant kitchen?  Should she wear a chef's uniform?  It would be nice to see the professional restaurant chef aspect emphasised, in my opinion.  Of course, that seems to be the opposite of what Food Network wants.

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I once was on the set of Gale Gand's cooking show, "Sweet Dreams". I was introduced to her

and we were talking about the show, props, etc. She said there was a lot of viewer reaction to the fact that she was using a professional mixer (it might have been a Kitchen-Aid pro?). Reaction was so strong that they subbed it out with a retro-styled MixMaster, complete with glass bowl and double beaters.

My point is, according to FN execs, there are alot of people out there intimidated by restaurant chefs, so taking Anne out of the restaurant kitchen, and putting her in a home kitchen setting might "play better in Peoria". Oh, and BTW, the exec producer of Gale's show is the same producer of Anne's show. And, in fact, he's exec producer of FN's Rachel Ray show.

I'm thrilled to see a real person using real food and cooking it. We need to see more shows like this. Cutting the on-air hours of Sandra Lee, for example, and give some of them to

Anne, and people like her. At least when Anne cooks, she won't use a powdered "vinegar-ette"

pack, whipped topping, canned fruit, etc.

Sorry for going off on a rant tangent. Couldn't help myself.

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YES, lets cut down on Sandra Lee and get more Anne!! Great idea. We could also cut some Bobby too!!

[Septemberdog61]

Anyone else watching the new season? The braised spare ribs had my mouth watering. I have a mad crush on this woman.

[Music]

Yes, I am watching every time she is on. I have picked up several "secrets of a professional chef." She really does teach some techniques/tricks which are not in the usual how-to-cook books. Brown is good!

[Qwerty]

I'm curious, what type of "secrets" is she revealing? I've never seen the show, though I'm familiar with her from ICA.

[Music]

I think "brown" is the best secret. She continually stresses this. In the great Pasta Bolognese recipe, she starts by pureeing the onion, garlic, celery and carrots, then browning the puree before adding anything else. Later, when meat, tomato paste, etc., are added, everything is browned before continuing. And another advice with that recipe is to add lots and lots of water and cook down to concentrate the flavor. Recently she talked about chilling salmon filets for a period before grilling to keep the skin crisp. That's what immediately comes to mind, but I feel like I learn something every time I watch her.

[rickster]

I think this week's secret was how much bacon fat went into some lentils she was making. This is an example of something I really don't want to know!

[Qwerty]

I think "brown" is the best secret.  She continually stresses this.  In the great Pasta Bolognese recipe, she starts by pureeing the onion, garlic, celery and carrots, then browning the puree before adding anything else.  Later, when meat, tomato paste, etc., are added, everything is browned before continuing.  And another advice with that recipe is to add lots and lots of water and cook down to concentrate the flavor.  Recently she talked about chilling salmon filets for a period before grilling to keep the skin crisp.  That's what immediately comes to mind, but I feel like I learn something every time I watch her.

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Interesting. In the bolognese recipe, the mixture sounds like what I would call a soffrito, and is indeed a great way to make a flavor base for all kinds of things...it's what I use to make tomato sauce as well. Also goes great as part of the mince for meatballs.

Larger amounts of water mean more extraction of flavor since the food is cooking longer due to more volume.

The chilled salmon fillet is new to me...we always try temper our fish before cooking. I suppose it would be because a chilled fish takes longer to cook, therefore spends more time on the skin side getting crispy.

I'm glad that there is a show like this on FN--the only things I ever watch on that network now are ICA and Good Eats.

[rickster]

I will admit that I now use the idea of whizzing the onion/carrot/garlic/celery, etc. mixture in a food processor all the time rather than tediously chopping each vegetable.

[CKatCook]

I love the show. I made her asparagus salad the other day and it rocked. I used her trick on blanching sugar snap peas then salting the ice bath water. I came out with the best tasting peas ever!

[Bricktop]

I think "brown" is the best secret.  She continually stresses this.  In the great Pasta Bolognese recipe, she starts by pureeing the onion, garlic, celery and carrots, then browning the puree before adding anything else.  Later, when meat, tomato paste, etc., are added, everything is browned before continuing.

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Me too. I just made a huge batch of lamb bolognese and followed her technique. Turned out brilliant.

[cbread]

She's wonderful. Why doesn't the Food Network have more of her shows? And more like it with other pros?

[HarryB3]

Words and phrases I never thought I'd hear on FN:

"Crap" I forget the reference.

And yesterdays "Thunder Thighs" when referring to duck legs!

Why is a show this good stuck in a Saturday AM slot?

[GwennP]

Words and phrases I never thought I'd hear on FN:

"Crap" I forget the reference.

And yesterdays "Thunder Thighs" when referring to duck legs!

Why is a show this good stuck in a Saturday AM slot?

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I can never find it. I'll have to do a search and DVR. She's great.

[jsmeeker]

Loved that she did simple duck confit. Now, if I could get my hand on some duck lugs.

The time slot is OK for me. I TiVo all of my cooking shows on FoodTV and PBS and watch them whenver is convenient.

[eldereno]

I've been recording all of her shows but have not attempted to make all of the recipes yet. I HAVE made her marinara and meatballs however. The marinara was okay but the meatballs were spectacular.....so light and so tasty (water being the key ingredient?)! They were really good with pasta and the marinara BUT when I defrosted some the other night and made meatball sandwiches (on Club Rolls) with some of the marinara, fresh mozzarella and some chopped fresh basil and italian leaf parsly sprinkled on top........well, I can only say "PURE BLISS." I am anxious to try some of her other creations. The show is so different from many of the other cooking shows on the FoodNetwork, I'm always looking forward to what I will learn from her!

[GwennP]

Loved that she did simple duck confit. Now, if I could get my hand on some duck lugs.

The time slot is OK for me. I TiVo all of my cooking shows on FoodTV and PBS and watch them whenver is convenient.

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When is it on? Thanks!

[rickster]

When is it on? Thanks!

It depends where you live. It's on Saturday morning, 9:30 am in Chicago, 10:30 Eastern time.