First off, my mother was a lousy cook and my dad taught me to make eggs. Let me state upfront, I view cooking shows in 2 categories-shows that I can get recipes from and shows that are entertaining. These days I watch probably more than 90% from the former group.
For sure, my first influence was Graham Kerr, the Galluping Gourmet. I thought he was fun and he taught me to drink wine whilst ( :) ) cooking. Next was Paul Prudhomme, who gave me an appreciation of Cajun food, got me to join Mrs. in UT on her business trip to NOLA, and upon returning home I bought my first cast iron pan to make blackened fish. This was pre-cable iirc, and I didn't cook a lot at the time.
After PP, I moved on to Emeril. I don't remember if he was regular TV or early cable.
I really started to kick it up a notch in the late 90's, when I discovered Food Network/Cooking Channel. In those days I could pick up a ton of recipes, back when they actually had chefs cooking rather than hosting game shows. I watch almost nothing on FN anymore. The only thing is The Kitchen which had many good years ( I only pay attention to Mauro and Zakarian) but now makes me gag since they've become social media whores. I loved The Next FN Star and followed several of the winners thru the shows they got by winning-Bid Daddy, Melissa D'Arabian, Jeff Mauro, Guy Fieri.
I then discovered PBS and have gotten into about a half dozen shows. PBS and Instagram are where I spend almost all my time now. So, to likes and dislikes.
Bobby Flay- great chef, great flavors, but a bit of a one-trick pony and his recipes have too many ingredients, even for me.
Giada-don't care for her personality or recipes, for the most part
Ann Burrell- fun watch, I've got over 100 of her recipes but haven't made any in quite a while. I'll have to revisit her
Ina- fine chef, very into salt and lemon :) 2 or 3 of her recipes are in my 5 favorite desserts. But she's become too pretentous for me to watch anymore. It's "make sure you use good olive oil, make sure you use good wine, and did I mention my friend Max Zabar is coming for dinner tonight and bringing one of our favorite Broadway producers?"
Guy Fieri- has a bad rap as a bit of a clown, but he's a great chef. And the way he runs around on DDD and does his other shows is outrageous. His top chefs competition, I think it's been 4 seasons, is the one game show I watch.
Jeff Mauro- another guy with a bum rap. Yes, he does great sandwiches, but he's also a great all-around chef. Too bad I can't bear his personna anymore.
Some of the lesser know shows/chefs I really enjoyed were Laura Calder, who is probably my favorite French Chef (I love watching Pepin, but his recipes have been disappointing), Melissa D'Arabian, who did a show called Ten Dollar Dinners, Nadia, who was a kooky hoot, and Rachel Khoo, another French favorite with very different recipes, who cooks on a 1940s -burner range/oven in her tiny London apartment.
Almost forgot Michael Symon. I enjoy his current show where he grills in his back yard. I've got 97 of his recipes. I'm using the 3 recipes from a recent show as my dinner menu for my friends for an upcoming MNF at my house.
So I moved on the PBS- ATK and Cooks Country to start. I've got 934 of their recipes and very few that I've made suck. I started with the show after Kimball was already gone, but I've since picked him up on Milk Street, which has become my favorite recipe source. He's a bit of a pompous ass, but his show has really expanded my horizons into international cooking/flavors. I've got 721 of their recipes, in a shorter time than I've been doing ATK, and I don't think a week goes by that I don't do at least one MS recipe.
On PBS, I also enjoy Lidia and Pati Jinich, who is my secondary Mexican source after Rick Bayless.
Sorry, it was either say nothing or go all in :)
she does some test recipes for the magazine. We're going to the 25 year celebration and tour in Boston in December. I was a big Good Eats fan.
I've also been testing for ATK for the past year or so. I've done about a half dozen recipes. I've never noticed any of them going forward in the magazine or on TV. I'm getting a little pissed about that. What's her experience?
Another great show that's fairly new and not well known is Pat Martins' "Life of Fire". You have to be into BBQ, cuz that's all it's about. The show explores different cultures and styles of southern region BBQ - - in an old school backyard kind of way. Has some story telling with history and traditions along the way.....I love BBQ so I loved the show.
I view him as a media creation “personality”
and a cook at best. His nearby restaurant or 2 were not known for being anything noteworthy until his DDD thing took off.
Some recipes are BS. Giada is beautiful, but some of her TV recipes are crap.
I’ve had success with Ina and quite a few American Test etc. recipes.
Jacques has been around since forever, but he has some good ones. His skills are real. I’ll share this again. I still haven’t mastered this, but I will… one day. Deboning a Chicken with Jacques - ( New Window )
I bought Essential Pepin, sort of his bible during the pandemic and it's excellent. About a year ago I started selecting a recipe a week and making it. We've loved every one of them so far. So light, fresh and flavorful. I heartily suggest that book to anyone who likes to cook.
I view him as a media creation “personality”
and a cook at best. His nearby restaurant or 2 were not known for being anything noteworthy until his DDD thing took off.
I have 2 value judgements on the recipes I make. One is favorites, meaning I really liked it and would make it again, but it was not special. Then I have Top Choices, recipes that I think are terrific. I've made 32 Guy Fieri recipes. Eleven were Top Choices, 19 were Favorites. There were only 2 recipes I would not make again. I think that matches up against any other chef I've followed
Some recipes are BS. Giada is beautiful, but some of her TV recipes are crap.
I’ve had success with Ina and quite a few American Test etc. recipes.
Jacques has been around since forever, but he has some good ones. His skills are real. I’ll share this again. I still haven’t mastered this, but I will… one day. Deboning a Chicken with Jacques - ( New Window )
I've seen that chicken deboning before. Great video. Right up there with how to butcher a whole brisket :)
although it seems like that's been on a hiatus again. Maybe Casey got too big and needed to lose some weight?
Nope, I saw Casey two weeks ago, and he looked great, as did the young lady he was with. I didn't ask about the show, so sorry that there is nothing to report on that. Casey is a really nice guy, I'm happy for the success he has had.
My favorite cooking show has to be the Great Chefs series.
When I watch them now, some of the dishes look really dated, but it was my favorite show for a long time. Each show featured a starter, main course, and a dessert, each by a different chef from the area that series covered. If you watched the whole season, you would see each chef's three courses.
An example of what I mean by dated would be the chef introducing the audience to a 'new' unfamiliar ingredient, something really exotic like a Star Fruit, or a Chipotle chile, things you see in every supermarket now. IMO it's worth looking up. Sadly many of the once prominent restaurants are long gone, and some of the chef's have passed.
Lidia Bastianich (note the Croatian name, ahem!) never gives amounts, proportions, etc. You will only get these if you buy her books. Seems to be all about making money.
Lidia was born in Istria, which was part of Italy until 1947. She is of mixed Italian and Slavic decent. It's not correct that she doesn't give out free recipes. Her website is linked below Link - ( New Window )
For sure, my first influence was Graham Kerr, the Galluping Gourmet. I thought he was fun and he taught me to drink wine whilst ( :) ) cooking. Next was Paul Prudhomme, who gave me an appreciation of Cajun food, got me to join Mrs. in UT on her business trip to NOLA, and upon returning home I bought my first cast iron pan to make blackened fish. This was pre-cable iirc, and I didn't cook a lot at the time.
After PP, I moved on to Emeril. I don't remember if he was regular TV or early cable.
I really started to kick it up a notch in the late 90's, when I discovered Food Network/Cooking Channel. In those days I could pick up a ton of recipes, back when they actually had chefs cooking rather than hosting game shows. I watch almost nothing on FN anymore. The only thing is The Kitchen which had many good years ( I only pay attention to Mauro and Zakarian) but now makes me gag since they've become social media whores. I loved The Next FN Star and followed several of the winners thru the shows they got by winning-Bid Daddy, Melissa D'Arabian, Jeff Mauro, Guy Fieri.
I then discovered PBS and have gotten into about a half dozen shows. PBS and Instagram are where I spend almost all my time now. So, to likes and dislikes.
Bobby Flay- great chef, great flavors, but a bit of a one-trick pony and his recipes have too many ingredients, even for me.
Giada-don't care for her personality or recipes, for the most part
Ann Burrell- fun watch, I've got over 100 of her recipes but haven't made any in quite a while. I'll have to revisit her
Ina- fine chef, very into salt and lemon :) 2 or 3 of her recipes are in my 5 favorite desserts. But she's become too pretentous for me to watch anymore. It's "make sure you use good olive oil, make sure you use good wine, and did I mention my friend Max Zabar is coming for dinner tonight and bringing one of our favorite Broadway producers?"
Guy Fieri- has a bad rap as a bit of a clown, but he's a great chef. And the way he runs around on DDD and does his other shows is outrageous. His top chefs competition, I think it's been 4 seasons, is the one game show I watch.
Jeff Mauro- another guy with a bum rap. Yes, he does great sandwiches, but he's also a great all-around chef. Too bad I can't bear his personna anymore.
Some of the lesser know shows/chefs I really enjoyed were Laura Calder, who is probably my favorite French Chef (I love watching Pepin, but his recipes have been disappointing), Melissa D'Arabian, who did a show called Ten Dollar Dinners, Nadia, who was a kooky hoot, and Rachel Khoo, another French favorite with very different recipes, who cooks on a 1940s -burner range/oven in her tiny London apartment.
Almost forgot Michael Symon. I enjoy his current show where he grills in his back yard. I've got 97 of his recipes. I'm using the 3 recipes from a recent show as my dinner menu for my friends for an upcoming MNF at my house.
So I moved on the PBS- ATK and Cooks Country to start. I've got 934 of their recipes and very few that I've made suck. I started with the show after Kimball was already gone, but I've since picked him up on Milk Street, which has become my favorite recipe source. He's a bit of a pompous ass, but his show has really expanded my horizons into international cooking/flavors. I've got 721 of their recipes, in a shorter time than I've been doing ATK, and I don't think a week goes by that I don't do at least one MS recipe.
On PBS, I also enjoy Lidia and Pati Jinich, who is my secondary Mexican source after Rick Bayless.
Sorry, it was either say nothing or go all in :)
I've also been testing for ATK for the past year or so. I've done about a half dozen recipes. I've never noticed any of them going forward in the magazine or on TV. I'm getting a little pissed about that. What's her experience?
Life of Fire - ( New Window )
Quote:
loves cooking shows, but the only one that interests me is Early American (YouTube channel with over a million followers).
Eric. My wife is nuts for cooking shows too.
I like it. I find it relaxing for some reason.
I view him as a media creation “personality”
and a cook at best. His nearby restaurant or 2 were not known for being anything noteworthy until his DDD thing took off.
Beat Booby Flay
Some recipes are BS. Giada is beautiful, but some of her TV recipes are crap.
I’ve had success with Ina and quite a few American Test etc. recipes.
Jacques has been around since forever, but he has some good ones. His skills are real. I’ll share this again. I still haven’t mastered this, but I will… one day.
Deboning a Chicken with Jacques - ( New Window )
We are also regular watchers of TGBBO. Immensely enjoyable and I like the creativity.
Jacques Pepin and Julia Child are paragons of the genre though. I avoid anything Fieri.
I view him as a media creation “personality”
and a cook at best. His nearby restaurant or 2 were not known for being anything noteworthy until his DDD thing took off.
I have 2 value judgements on the recipes I make. One is favorites, meaning I really liked it and would make it again, but it was not special. Then I have Top Choices, recipes that I think are terrific. I've made 32 Guy Fieri recipes. Eleven were Top Choices, 19 were Favorites. There were only 2 recipes I would not make again. I think that matches up against any other chef I've followed
Some recipes are BS. Giada is beautiful, but some of her TV recipes are crap.
I’ve had success with Ina and quite a few American Test etc. recipes.
Jacques has been around since forever, but he has some good ones. His skills are real. I’ll share this again. I still haven’t mastered this, but I will… one day. Deboning a Chicken with Jacques - ( New Window )
I've seen that chicken deboning before. Great video. Right up there with how to butcher a whole brisket :)
Nope, I saw Casey two weeks ago, and he looked great, as did the young lady he was with. I didn't ask about the show, so sorry that there is nothing to report on that. Casey is a really nice guy, I'm happy for the success he has had.
An example of what I mean by dated would be the chef introducing the audience to a 'new' unfamiliar ingredient, something really exotic like a Star Fruit, or a Chipotle chile, things you see in every supermarket now. IMO it's worth looking up. Sadly many of the once prominent restaurants are long gone, and some of the chef's have passed.
Lidia was born in Istria, which was part of Italy until 1947. She is of mixed Italian and Slavic decent. It's not correct that she doesn't give out free recipes. Her website is linked below
Link - ( New Window )