Pasta with chicken and broccoli.
I used the chicken left over from Sunday night's dinner, so it only took as long to make dinner tonight as it took to boil the pasta. Food Network should do a cooking show where all the recipes are based on leftovers from some other meal. Not that I would watch it, because I hate Food Network.
The newest offering from the brain trust over there is a debacle called Worst Cooks in America, which concluded earlier this week, I think. It was a competition to see which of a number of terrible home cooks could improve the most over the course of the show. I watched the first episode--I don't know why--and I was just appalled.
One friend, who is much nicer than me, pointed out that the concept was pretty mean-spirited. But the contestants were volunteer adults, so I didn't care about how mean it was. It offended me that the show took these self-identified terrible cooks and measured their improvement by how well they learned to make gourmet, restaurant-quality meals. In the very first episode, people who previously had "cooked" only by opening a can of soup were supposed to successfully make poached tiger prawns with bok choy and something called shrimp cacciucco, which I have never heard of and which has fourteen ingredients. Other recipes showcased included homemade ravioli, chive pancakes, seared duck breast, and liquid-center chocolate torte.
Now, I like fussy, pretentious, time-consuming recipes as much as the next working mom with three small children. But it annoys me that Food Network missed a chance to showcase non-cooks learning how to cook for real. What is the point of teaching a non-cook to make restaurant food? If the real worst cooks in America think that the only food worth making is fancy, expensive, and difficult, why will they bother to learn? Why would anyone?
The clueless home cooks on that show (and not on that show) need to learn how to roast a chicken and make a decent tomato sauce and saute vegetables into a basic stir-fry. They need to know what to do if they accidentally burn the carrots (serve them anyway, call them "caramelized," dare people to complain). Every home cook needs to know, for God's sake, how to use leftovers. But they're not gonna learn it on Food Network.
Showing posts with label why i hate food network. Show all posts
Showing posts with label why i hate food network. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
What I Made for Dinner: July 22, 2009
Asparagus frittata, buttermilk biscuits.
Biscuit success at long last!
I love biscuits so much. But I am so not southern. No one in my family, immediate or extended or even in-law, ever made biscuits at home (at least not for me). So it has been a long quest for me to figure out how to make biscuits like the ones I've eaten in Virginia and Atlanta and New Orleans.
For a long time, I used Alton Brown's biscuit recipe, but they never came out right for me: they didn't rise enough, they weren't light or particularly flaky. I had to double his recipe to get enough for the family. I always thought I was doing something wrong, and if I could just figure out the right technique, his recipe would work for me.
No.
Tonight I made the biscuits I should have been making all along, from the Amateur Gourmet. I should have known. Adam is a Jewish New Yorker! Of course his recipe would work for me! Golden, light, fluffy, and tasty, all on the first try. I didn't even bother taking pictures because Adam's are so great. Thank you, Amateur Gourmet!
But that's not even the best part. This is:
When I announced I'd be making biscuits, Alex, who has been taking a cooking class this week at camp, exclaimed, "I know how to make those!" And he totally did--he knew about rolling the uncooked biscuits in flour, he knew how to place them in the cake pan, and he knew exactly how much butter to brush on top. (Awesome. I have been trying and failing at biscuits for like fifteen years; my six-year-old spends three days at day camp and figures it out.) And then he got the eggs ready, although I put them in the pan to cook. How about that: All of a sudden, I have a kitchen accomplice.
Biscuit success at long last!
I love biscuits so much. But I am so not southern. No one in my family, immediate or extended or even in-law, ever made biscuits at home (at least not for me). So it has been a long quest for me to figure out how to make biscuits like the ones I've eaten in Virginia and Atlanta and New Orleans.
For a long time, I used Alton Brown's biscuit recipe, but they never came out right for me: they didn't rise enough, they weren't light or particularly flaky. I had to double his recipe to get enough for the family. I always thought I was doing something wrong, and if I could just figure out the right technique, his recipe would work for me.
No.
Tonight I made the biscuits I should have been making all along, from the Amateur Gourmet. I should have known. Adam is a Jewish New Yorker! Of course his recipe would work for me! Golden, light, fluffy, and tasty, all on the first try. I didn't even bother taking pictures because Adam's are so great. Thank you, Amateur Gourmet!
But that's not even the best part. This is:
When I announced I'd be making biscuits, Alex, who has been taking a cooking class this week at camp, exclaimed, "I know how to make those!" And he totally did--he knew about rolling the uncooked biscuits in flour, he knew how to place them in the cake pan, and he knew exactly how much butter to brush on top. (Awesome. I have been trying and failing at biscuits for like fifteen years; my six-year-old spends three days at day camp and figures it out.) And then he got the eggs ready, although I put them in the pan to cook. How about that: All of a sudden, I have a kitchen accomplice.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
What I Made for Dinner: April 17, 2009
Chicken breast fillets with mushrooms and goat cheese, crispy potatoes, steamed artichokes.
This is a Food Network recipe, and it's better than that network deserves to take credit for. I stopped watching Food Network a couple of years ago, after a Next Food Network Star program that just soured me on the whole thing.
The show was a Top Chef-esque competition between cooks, judged by network executives and a rotating cast of celebrity chefs. The winner would get a show on Food Network. Over the course of a few weeks, I got invested. Stupid, I realize. But nevertheless, I liked some of the contestants and wanted others to crash and burn.
So this one contestant, Amy Finley, was just awesome. She was this adorable woman in her mid-thirties with two little kids. She had left a promising career as a chef to take care of her kids. She seemed like a serious person but still nice. Maybe I identified a little too much? Maybe, but her food, above all the contestants', looked like stuff I would want to eat. It looked like she was going to win, but the producers booted her for some lame reason in favor of keeping a guy with a demographic they were looking for.
And then: Scandal! Right before the final cook-off, the guy confessed that he had faked his whole resume and lied about his background, including a false claim that he had seen combat in Iraq as a Marine. So they kicked him off and brought back Amy, who went on to win the whole thing. Of course by this time, I was in love with Amy. She's an underdog! She's scrappy!
But then, Food Network screwed over Amy Finley! Sure they gave her a show: at 7:30 a.m. on Sundays. It was actually pretty good, but they didn't promote it, and they never got behind her as a member of the network. Food Network, you suck!
But before all that bitterness, Amy Finley made this.
I tried it back then and oh my GOD was it good, but way too much work. So instead of trying to stuff chicken breasts, which is damn near impossible, I turned the stuffing into sauce by adding wine. And also instead of sauteeing the potatoes, I made them in the oven, which was much easier.
This is a Food Network recipe, and it's better than that network deserves to take credit for. I stopped watching Food Network a couple of years ago, after a Next Food Network Star program that just soured me on the whole thing.
The show was a Top Chef-esque competition between cooks, judged by network executives and a rotating cast of celebrity chefs. The winner would get a show on Food Network. Over the course of a few weeks, I got invested. Stupid, I realize. But nevertheless, I liked some of the contestants and wanted others to crash and burn.
So this one contestant, Amy Finley, was just awesome. She was this adorable woman in her mid-thirties with two little kids. She had left a promising career as a chef to take care of her kids. She seemed like a serious person but still nice. Maybe I identified a little too much? Maybe, but her food, above all the contestants', looked like stuff I would want to eat. It looked like she was going to win, but the producers booted her for some lame reason in favor of keeping a guy with a demographic they were looking for.
And then: Scandal! Right before the final cook-off, the guy confessed that he had faked his whole resume and lied about his background, including a false claim that he had seen combat in Iraq as a Marine. So they kicked him off and brought back Amy, who went on to win the whole thing. Of course by this time, I was in love with Amy. She's an underdog! She's scrappy!
But then, Food Network screwed over Amy Finley! Sure they gave her a show: at 7:30 a.m. on Sundays. It was actually pretty good, but they didn't promote it, and they never got behind her as a member of the network. Food Network, you suck!
But before all that bitterness, Amy Finley made this.
I tried it back then and oh my GOD was it good, but way too much work. So instead of trying to stuff chicken breasts, which is damn near impossible, I turned the stuffing into sauce by adding wine. And also instead of sauteeing the potatoes, I made them in the oven, which was much easier.
What I Made for Dinner: March 27, 2009
Pulled pork sandwiches.
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. When that happens, I'll occasionally watch Food Network. (Really occasionally--it's usually so lame it doesn't even pass three a.m. muster.) One time, I watched an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay where these women in Texas or Alabama or something made pulled pork crepes. They achieved deliciousness with the pork by slow-roasting it for many hours, and it looked just fantastic. But of course, Throwdown with Bobby Flay includes neither demonstrations nor recipes. Lame!
Nevertheless, I woke up the next morning with pork on my mind. I tried it with a boneless shoulder roast, first searing the meat and then roasting at 250 for ten hours. It was pretty good, but a little dry. Subsequent tries with slight variations have been good, but never the level of delectableness, if that's a word, I expected based on my hazy insomniac memory of the Food Network show.
Then yesterday, I tried again. Eight a.m. found me getting a pork tenderloin ready in the roasting pan, olive oil and spice rub on, beer in the pan--oops, forgot to sear the meat. Oh well, I had to go to work, into the oven it went. And then last night at dinner time: Success!!! It was moist and flavorful, and held together well enough to make a sandwich. The kids like theirs with pickles and barbecue sauce. I put on avocado and mayo.
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. When that happens, I'll occasionally watch Food Network. (Really occasionally--it's usually so lame it doesn't even pass three a.m. muster.) One time, I watched an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay where these women in Texas or Alabama or something made pulled pork crepes. They achieved deliciousness with the pork by slow-roasting it for many hours, and it looked just fantastic. But of course, Throwdown with Bobby Flay includes neither demonstrations nor recipes. Lame!
Nevertheless, I woke up the next morning with pork on my mind. I tried it with a boneless shoulder roast, first searing the meat and then roasting at 250 for ten hours. It was pretty good, but a little dry. Subsequent tries with slight variations have been good, but never the level of delectableness, if that's a word, I expected based on my hazy insomniac memory of the Food Network show.
Then yesterday, I tried again. Eight a.m. found me getting a pork tenderloin ready in the roasting pan, olive oil and spice rub on, beer in the pan--oops, forgot to sear the meat. Oh well, I had to go to work, into the oven it went. And then last night at dinner time: Success!!! It was moist and flavorful, and held together well enough to make a sandwich. The kids like theirs with pickles and barbecue sauce. I put on avocado and mayo.
What I Made for Dinner: February 22, 2009
Sliders and oven fries, served with pickles, tomatoes, onions, and Caesar salad.
Sliders are my hamburger go-to in wintertime because they take three minutes to cook on the stovetop griddle. I based my recipe on Alton Brown's Mini Man Burgers. He featured them a few years ago on a Food Network special, back before Food Network was lame as all hell.
Honestly, does anyone really care how they make candy hearts or whatever? And why does Guy Fieri have a career on TV? But I digress.
I have been feeling a little uninspired when it comes to cooking for the past couple of weeks. I think it's partly because the boys' various illnesses have me weary, partly because we're so pressed for time so often, and partly because what the kids want is pretty limited. So I have been reading magazines for recipe ideas. Today I was reading Cookie magazine, which is worth a rant all by itself--among other things, it advocates that serious people, people with jobs and kids and responsibilities, people who are pushing 40, ought to wear pink jeans. Honestly.
But it did have some interesting ideas for dinners to make with artichokes. I think I need to get out some cookbooks, read through my old back issues of Martha Stewart. I need some new ideas for tasty, fast dinners. Anyone? Anyone?
Sliders are my hamburger go-to in wintertime because they take three minutes to cook on the stovetop griddle. I based my recipe on Alton Brown's Mini Man Burgers. He featured them a few years ago on a Food Network special, back before Food Network was lame as all hell.
Honestly, does anyone really care how they make candy hearts or whatever? And why does Guy Fieri have a career on TV? But I digress.
I have been feeling a little uninspired when it comes to cooking for the past couple of weeks. I think it's partly because the boys' various illnesses have me weary, partly because we're so pressed for time so often, and partly because what the kids want is pretty limited. So I have been reading magazines for recipe ideas. Today I was reading Cookie magazine, which is worth a rant all by itself--among other things, it advocates that serious people, people with jobs and kids and responsibilities, people who are pushing 40, ought to wear pink jeans. Honestly.
But it did have some interesting ideas for dinners to make with artichokes. I think I need to get out some cookbooks, read through my old back issues of Martha Stewart. I need some new ideas for tasty, fast dinners. Anyone? Anyone?
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