Cooking Channel Hit List

Okay, the gloves are coming off.  Before I continue, let me say I respect anyone who can get on camera and project himself as anything other than a blithering idiot.  I have had some embarrassing moments on TV and I know it's weird to speak in front of a camera.  It must be incredibly challenging to cook, be articulate and charming, and tape a show.  It's a TALENT, a GIFT.  Few people have the magic and here's my two cents on who's got it - and who doesn't - on the new Cooking Channel:

"Chuck's Day Off" is still leading the pack as the only new cooking show I would record.   I owe Chuck for that tip about the oven fries, and from the hits that post (What I'm Learning from Cooking Channel) gets on this blog, others appreciate it too.  I would not only go to Chuck's restaurant, but I'd also buy him a beer.  Chuck seems like a nice guy who wants you to learn something from his show.
      
"French Food at Home" makes me want to stick an ice pick in my eye.  The host does not come across as likable.  This woman rivals Martha Stewart and Madonna in the affected and deliberate enunciation of all syllables, which I could tolerate if the show wasn't a good substitute for Ambien.  The shoobie, doobie, do music is so annoying I would rather watch the show muted.  Because I feel the need to say something nice, I think she has a lovely French accent.  This show might actually be better if she taped it in French.

Now, on to Giada.  I love Giada but I don't love her enough to watch her flashing those perfect teeth a gazillion times a day.  Cooking Channel goes so far as to put her on in the morning and give her an afternoon double feature.  Is this really necessary?  Give someone else a crack at the Nutella.  My favorite "Everyday Italian" episodes feature Giada cooking with her feisty aunt.

"Spice Goddess" may be a winner.  I've only watched it once, last weekend, and the host seems pleasant and interesting.  I love trying new spices and she could teach me a few things - no, make that everything -about cooking Indian food.  I don't see myself making crunchy lentil cookies but I'll watch her do it.

I also caught an episode of "My Country, My Kitchen," which featured the Brennan family, of New Orleans.  This show provides some insight into regional cuisine.  I like the way it zeroes in on the subject's favorite places in his hometown.  This weekend's edition will feature Eric Ripert touring the mountains of Andorra.

"Nigella Express," another resurrected oldie, is entertaining because Nigella loves to eat.  Adorned in a silky robe, she is constantly shown raiding the fridge in the middle of the night.  I am convinced the production team has her cooking breakfast all the time to keep her slinking around in that robe.  In fact, I recall an episode of "Top Chef" in which the cheftestants served breakfast in bed to pajama-clad Nigella and Padma.  I am sure the male viewership spiked, as well as parts of the male anatomy.  Anyway, it's fun to watch Nigella indulge without apology.

I would like to "Ask Aida" to leave Food Network, Cooking Channel and all broadcast media.  She is okay, but we don't need to see her geeky sidekick reading off his computer screen, posing lame cooking questions.  Someone please tell the producers this is not cutting-edge material.

"Simply Delicioso" host Ingrid Hoffman can be entertaining but I saw her once on the worst Food Network show ever, "Paula's Party," and she commandeered Paula Deen, which I found obnoxious.  This faux pas remains implanted in my mind's eye and I can't watch her objectively.

Although "Paula's Party" is not on Cooking Channel - and I pray it will remain buried in the cooking show graveyard - I must interject that whoever told Paula to flirt with the male guests and pepper the show with double entendres was severely misguided.  Paula, please stick to hoecakes and grits, Granny's pound cake and fried green tomatoes.  And here's a suggestion:  Instead of plastering your kids' mugs all over your show, how about cooking with well-known Southern cooks and chefs?  There are enough great cooks in Georgia alone to keep you going for a coon's age.

Last and perhaps least - "Bill's Holiday." Australia is not known for its cuisine and Bill isn't going to help much.  Bill and the "French Food" host should go off into the outback together, and take the long nap they seem to crave.  It's almost as if they bore themselves.  I have yet to make it through a full "Holiday."

Julia, Mario and Sara rule.  They are Cooking Channel's talent trifecta, and they are hard to beat. 

Have you watched any of these shows?  Let me know what you think.  Send me some comments.

What I'm Learning From Cooking Channel

I had a eureka moment last week while I was plopped in front of the TV for my Cooking Channel marathon.  Although I am reserving judgment of the new programs until I have seen them a few times, "Chuck's Day Off" shows promise.  
 
Late one evening, I caught myself looking up from my computer to watch Chuck in action.  Set in his restaurant kitchen, Chuck moves fast, as does the pace of the show.  In this episode, he was making dinner for a few firemen who saved his restaurant from incineration.  Unfortunately, I missed that story because I didn't start paying attention until he started cooking a standing rib roast encased in salt and potatoes I actually make - oven fries.

 

Oven fries are a less fattening alternative to french fries and are good when you are trying to cut calories but you crave a spud.  They also make less of a greasy mess, and since I am the cook and the maid around here, I can appreciate that. 

So why does this photo show both oven-fried and deep-fried potatoes?  I must be a glutton for greasy punishment, that's why.  No, my skinny kid likes them better submerged in fat, and he needs the calories.

I have seen several TV chefs prepare oven fries, but I don't recall as part of the prep the instructions to soak them in cold water and to keep rinsing them until the water runs clear, ridding the potatoes of starch.  Turns out this step is crucial to crisping the fries.  That was my big beef with oven fries - sometimes they were boring slabs of textureless potato. 

I followed Chuck's method and what a difference a soak makes!  Perhaps you already knew this trick, but if not, you might want to give it a try.  These were the best oven fries I have ever made.

Crispy Oven Fries
(Thanks to Chuck Hughes)

4 large russet potatoes, cut into steak fry thickness
3 to 4 T olive oil
Pinch of sea or kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
Dash of smoked paprika
Dash of steak spice seasoning

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

1. Cut potatoes into thick slices.  Place in a large bowl and cover with cold water.
2. Drain the potatoes and then repeat the process of soaking and draining until the water in the bowl is clear.   Just keep running water over them; it's a fast process.
3. Drain potatoes and pat dry with paper towel.  Drying them is important.
4. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Do not overlap potatoes.  Use two sheets if necessary.  If you use two sheets, rotate them on the shelves of your oven halfway through the cooking time.
5. Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.  Use your (clean) hands to mix it all up.
6. Bake 40 minutes or until golden and crispy.
7. Sprinkle with additional seasonings.  Chuck suggests steak spice.

Gonna Take a Sentimental Journey

It was like a reunion of old friends.  I flipped it on and there they were - my familiar cooking buddies Sara and Mario - patiently explaining how to use a Ziploc bag to stuff eggs with tuna and capers; artfully presenting skewers of spicy grilled chicken by inserting them into oranges; and providing history and geography lessons on the regions of Italy, interspersed with stories about why the southern part of the "boot" has more African culinary influences than Milan.

Oh, how I have missed them!  Mario Batali and Sara Moulton were my TV mentors when I began my home cooking journey 15 years ago in Jacksonville, Fla.  After tucking the kids into bed, I would treat myself to a cold beer and watch Sara at 10 p.m. on Food Network's "Cooking Live."  Mario and Sara had no stylin' wardrobes, tired "bam" shtick, tight sweaters over big boob jobs, or slick kitchen paraphernalia.  They were just pleasant personalities sharing their impressive intellect and talent with the home viewer.

Now, I can watch them again on the new Cooking Channel.  Cooking Channel launched in June, right when I started this blog, so I haven't had much time to check it out - until this week when I finally found it on my cable.  A sister channel of the Food Network, it is a mixture of old and new shows.  Did you know that Padma Lakshmi, of "Top Chef, " had her own cooking show called "Padma's Passport?"  That was news to me. 

My favorite food show revisit has to be "The French Chef," not necessarily for what Julia Child is cooking but for her bull-in-a-china-shop style and brutal, sometimes politically incorrect, honesty.  The other day she was demonstrating how to butter and flour a cake pan and she hilariously threw all the excess flour onto the floor because she "had a self-cleaning kitchen."  It was the antithesis of a Martha Stewart moment. 

On "Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home" on PBS last weekend, she told Jacques Pepin that she hated the blue potatoes he was using.  In the same show, he said a dish might not be appropriate for vegetarians and she said she just wouldn't invite them to the meal.   I think I may need to record Julia for the comedic elements alone.  A couple of her shows air weekends on PBS and the one on Cooking Channel airs at 2 p.m. weekdays. 

Yet another oldie Cooking Channel has dredged up is "The Galloping Gourmet."  I remember my mom watching nutty Graham Kerr and my brothers mercilessly making fun of him.  Unlike Julia's like-it-or-lump-it charm, the giddy galloper's bizarre routine does not stand the test of time.  What was with the goofy flirtation with the ladies in the audience and the cocktail party atmosphere?   The '70s was an odd decade.  If you survived the '70s and your kids think it sounds like a cool time, put them in front of Graham Kerr for a few minutes.

I could go on and on....   Flip on the Cooking Channel and see for yourself.  Let me know what you think.