I don't understand why they're not putting more of that stuff on the web. Food Network '08 might be chasing dumbbells who think frosting has to come from a can, but I'd even pay a few bucks a month to have Food Network '98 again via the web. Why not make a business out of that, too?

YourPalWill wrote:ugh. Sandra Lee is making a grape jelly and ricotta tart this morning. How on earth could they have replaced David Rosengarten with this crap?

David Rosengarten had a show? What was this again, and can I find it on YouTube? (I realize that may be a silly question.)

stevez wrote:I remember that show as well. Two of the chefs were Cat Cora and Rocco DiSpirito. I remember them being paired together and Cat Cora being all googley eyed over the studly Rocco.

Yes, Michael and the other fellow did Eastern European, Cheryl & co. did food of the Islands, Aaron Sanchez and co. did Mexican. Cat and Rocco did Mediterranean. It was very entertaining and informative, good recipes. I also liked Two Hot Tamales for the same reason, the 2 chefs worked well together, entertained and taught.

Pie Lady wrote:

YourPalWill wrote:ugh. Sandra Lee is making a grape jelly and ricotta tart this morning. How on earth could they have replaced David Rosengarten with this crap?

David Rosengarten had a show? What was this again, and can I find it on YouTube? (I realize that may be a silly question.)

It was called "Taste". You can't find the show on TV or the web. But, you can find the excellent companion cookbook on the web.

http://www.amazon.com/Taste-Palates-Jou ... 0375500111

Many of the recipes from his show can still be found on the Food Network website, too:

http://search.foodnetwork.com/food/reci ... ype=Recipe

I was out of town most of this week and stayed in a place that had DirectTV dish. What a hoot to be able to watch the original Iron Chef, Molto Mario and even Emeril was fun to watch on the FLN. I also enjoyed the DIY channel. It rained a lot so I got to indulge in more TV than usual, also enjoying BBC America. I hate to think what Comcast would charge to view any of these channels.

All of the above channels (FLN, DIY, and BBCAmerica) are readily available on Comcast in most areas. Where do you live? Do you know your Comcast region?

sundevilpeg wrote:

I was out of town most of this week and stayed in a place that had DirectTV dish. What a hoot to be able to watch the original Iron Chef, Molto Mario and even Emeril was fun to watch on the FLN. I also enjoyed the DIY channel. It rained a lot so I got to indulge in more TV than usual, also enjoying BBC America. I hate to think what Comcast would charge to view any of these channels.

All of the above channels (FLN, DIY, and BBCAmerica) are readily available on Comcast in most areas. Where do you live? Do you know your Comcast region?

Those channels are available as part of Comcast's digital package which is $20 more a month than I pay now. Sorry, I pay them too much as it is, I'll watch when I am away.

Alton Browns summer vacation show is currently running. It's called feasting on waves. I think there are only about 4 episodes this year. ABs hobbies include motorcycles and scuba diving. The previous years shows were feasting on asphalt. Worth a look at the library or netflix. Caveat, I haven't actually watched this years episodes yet.

It was called "Taste". You can't find the show on TV or the web. But, you can find the excellent companion cookbook on the web.

That is a great cookbook. The recipe for Pecan Pie is Simply. The. Best. Pecan. Pie. Ever.

Also a great recipe for Chicken Francese.

David was the proto-Alton. He would do one show on, say, french fries. Show you what bad french fries were and why, and then give the best recipe for making them perfectly. He presently has a newsletter and has written a cookbook in the last couple of years. He also organizes foodie trips.

He was also on another show as the host, "In Food Today" I think his swan song with Food Network. It reminded me of CBS's "Sunday Morning" except with food news and information - usually the clip would cut back to David Rosengarten tasting or demoing whatever the food was.

Sigh.

tcdup wrote:

It was called "Taste". You can't find the show on TV or the web. But, you can find the excellent companion cookbook on the web.

That is a great cookbook. The recipe for Pecan Pie is Simply. The. Best. Pecan. Pie. Ever.

Also a great recipe for Chicken Francese.

David was the proto-Alton. He would do one show on, say, french fries. Show you what bad french fries were and why, and then give the best recipe for making them perfectly. He presently has a newsletter and has written a cookbook in the last couple of years. He also organizes foodie trips.

I particularly remember the Chicken Francese show because he brought in a couple of takeout containers to illustrate what Chicken Francese was not supposed to look or taste like. One of them actually had the imprinted name of the restaurant, a westside Korean Deli, printed on the container.

I receive David's e-newsletter and have considered doing one of his trips. But, they're a bit out of my budget. One, a cruise in Italy a couple of years ago started at around $12,000 for a single traveler.

I subscribe to Rosengarten's newsletter, which is now online, as well as his email letter, and I feel like they have gone downhill in the last couple of years. They seem like infomercials now. He is trying to sell everything, including the trips. Too much food of the month hype. He used to only offer a few things, and the ones I tried were quite good. Now everything is being pushed. I also think that he has been spending too much time on wine lately. Still worth the price though, especially the email letter (its free).

-Will

stevez wrote:

LikestoEatout wrote:I liked the FN show that was on many years ago with different ethnic chefs. I just remember Michael Symon with some one and Cheryl Smith, the woman from Jamaica, with another woman. It was a very entertaining show. Aaron Sanchez was another one of the rotating chefs.

I remember that show as well. Two of the chefs were Cat Cora and Rocco DiSpirito. I remember them being paired together and Cat Cora being all googley eyed over the studly Rocco.

She may have been googley-eyed, but I doubt it was over Rocco. From my gossip habit, I am aware of the fact that Cat Cora has a wife with which she has two kids. She was impressive on Iron Chef when the ingredient was filo dough (or puff pastry? can't remember).

Barefoot Contessa is the only FoodTV show I record - with her job in the government followed by days lolling around the Hamptons cooking high fat foods, she's totally my idol. She's also obsessed with denim shirts, which is fascinating.

I like Diners Drive ins and Dives, & any Bobby Flay show. I also like Anthony Bourdain(I used to not like him until I heard his views on vegetarians, and vegans, he grew on me instantly), License to Grill with Rob Rainford on Discovery is a good show for those into grilling. I also like Gordon Ramsey(not Hells Kitchen, but Kitchen Nightmares, he reminds me of red in the face chefs I worked for, he makes me laugh like they did).

The rest I can do without but may watch for a couple of mins. if there is nothing else on: Alton Brown can be interesing but his goofy skits get on my nerves. Rachael Ray is easy on the eyes but her "cooking" is too basic, I like Gigada for the easy on the eyes favtor, but never can remember what she cooked, and Paula Dean, something about all that butter, and the y'alls makes me want to watch for a little while

These shows if I see on I cant change the channel fast enough: Barefoot Contessa- yuck , Sandra Lee - prepackaged, and preapared foods, no thanks. & Ace of Cakes - not interested.

All in all Foodtv in general is geared towards the masses, and pretty basic, it is just entertainment for me, I rarely learn anything I dont know, or would use, other than on the grilling shows.

Dig wrote:She may have been googley-eyed, but I doubt it was over Rocco. From my gossip habit, I am aware of the fact that Cat Cora has a wife with which she has two kids.

This is correct. And not that there's anything wrong with that, especially if there's video.

I'm surprised there's no love here for PBS' "America's Test Kitchen" or Bayless' Mexican show (can't remember the name). I agree with most of the other posts (praising Flay, Fieri's screen presence, Bourdain, Batali, and Brown) but ATK deserves some note for its' repeated testing, if not for its' lack of pretention alone. And Rick Bayless appears to me to be a single-minded stud, with a great ability to not only have fun with his show, but actually appear *and* cook in his restaurants.

i like the old dinner impossible with robert irvine and diners, drive-ins and drives

MBK wrote:i like the old dinner impossible with robert irvine and diners, drive-ins and drives

Y'know, since nobody ever picks Michael Symon on ICA, it's good to see him get some work, and he's got a much better attitude than Irvine. The cackle works on Dinner Impossible.

Today, Paula Deene was making a gelatin salad. She noted that she was adding pineapple, "to give it a pineapple flavor". And she gets paid what for this?

I like Alton Brown, Barefoot Contessa, and any show that combines travel and food.

I don't like Iron Chief, Ace of Cakes, and Emeril.

And I really miss the two Fat Ladies. They were so eccentric. So English. So good.

I will also occasionally watch The Barefoot Contessa. The show annoys me with it's Martha-Stewarty-perfectness but I like her style of cooking and I get a lot of good ideas from her.

I love that you said that. I like her show and her books, specifically the way she explains all her recipes, I want to try and make them all. But, she is almost robot like with that smile, soft talking and near perfection. I like to think that off camera she has a foul mouth and is a total biatch, but I'm sure she is not.

toria wrote:And I really miss the two Fat Ladies. They were so eccentric. So English. So good.

I agree, though I just took one of the show's cookbooks out of the library and it's just as good.

I suppose of all the shows, Barefoot Contessa is the one I'm most likely to emulate though I also find her a bit annoying; her food is pretty easy, I can usually do it with what I have on hand, and it isn't frankenfood. I've often watched the show on those weeks when I'm in a rut and stolen her ideas.

Except tablescapes, which I don't get at all. My idea of a special-occasion tablescape is to wipe the coffee stains off the vinyl tablecloth. Sometimes with my elbow.

I watch both the Food Network and PBS shows and I find that my interests in the shows are almost always dependent upon the content (well..except for Sandra Lee who makes me lose my appetite just by looking at her). I like Guy Fieri better when he's tasting other people's food than when he cooks his own (he has that annoying Rachel/Emeril habit of repeating the same phrases over and over with the thought that he's amusing but what he is is vocabulary challenged).

Here's the thing that's been bugging me lately. I was very fond of Sara Moulton and her Cooking Live show she did on the Food Network and was very bummed when Food TV kicked her off the network -- so I was happy to see her pop back up on public tv. However...as I've been watching her new show, there's an angle they've been playing that truly annoys me. I know why they're doing it but I think it really does her a disservice. In an attempt to appeal to (dare I say it) "Joe the Plumber", she claims ignorance of basic cooking/recipe precepts. This is especially true when she has a guest on the show to show you how to cook indian food quickly or spanish food quickly. Now come on -- Sara Moulton knows what the hell she's talking about -- she has major street cred and so her professed ignorance of something like the expense of saffron is ridiculous. I wish I could think of specific examples of this trend -- but she will ask a question of her guest that she obviously knows the answer to but acts as if she doesn't. And it annoys me. I don't like people who are intelligent who feign ignorance. It sets a bad precedent. I know she's trying to appeal to those who are ignorant and trying to make them feel at home with her show -- but there's a way to do that without faking stupidity.

Maybe I'm being too hard on her. It just seems wrong to me. And it definitely doesnt make me want to watch her show.

On the other hand, Ina Garten made some fabulous scallop gratins the other day that I'm dying to try. She does have good food and she's not afraid to spill flour -- I think she's kind of sloppy in the kitchen, which makes me feel at home.

earthlydesire wrote:Here's the thing that's been bugging me lately...
In an attempt to appeal to (dare I say it) "Joe the Plumber", she claims ignorance of basic cooking/recipe precepts. This is especially true when she has a guest on the show to show you how to cook indian food quickly or spanish food quickly. Now come on -- Sara Moulton knows what the hell she's talking about -- she has major street cred and so her professed ignorance of something like the expense of saffron is ridiculous...
And it annoys me. I don't like people who are intelligent who feign ignorance. It sets a bad precedent. I know she's trying to appeal to those who are ignorant and trying to make them feel at home with her show -- but there's a way to do that without faking stupidity.

Yes, and it's a matter of interviewing style: Say "Tell us about" instead of "What is".
The latter is as you say, feigned ignorance. The former is like letting the audience in on a secret.

[edited because I used "latter" twice in the last line]

Ugh, I just accidentally watched "Rescue Chef," which I think has replaced Tyler Florence's "Food 911" which wasn't too bad. He was trying to help some poor woman make pie, and made Cookie and Pecan Bars, aka Toothache Cake: chopped-up Chips Ahoy, Maraschino Cherries, raisins and pecans, held together with brown sugar and butter. WTF?

eatchicago wrote:--Throwdown with Bobby Flay (I'm shocked that this show turned into one of my favorites. I hated the idea when I first heard of it. But Flay does an excellent job of highlighting small food businesses around the country).

A description of an upcoming episode of "Throwdown" says "Bobby and Lou Malnati square off in a deep dish pizza throwdown."

Lou died about 30 years ago. I'm assuming they mean Marc or his brother. Or they forgot to add an apostrophe and an "s" to the end of Malnati.

It should be fun to watch.

eatchicago wrote:Lou died about 30 years ago.

I think Bobby's got a shot this time.

And I really miss the two Fat Ladies. They were so eccentric. So English. So good.

This reminded me of my all time favorite food show moment. The two fat ladies were talking about buttering a cake pan or maybe it was putting butter under the skin of a chicken and were telling us how to butter it thorougly and said something like, "You've seen Last Tango in Paris? Like that."

Mhays wrote:I suppose of all the shows, Barefoot Contessa is the one I'm most likely to emulate though I also find her a bit annoying; her food is pretty easy, I can usually do it with what I have on hand, and it isn't frankenfood. I've often watched the show on those weeks when I'm in a rut and stolen her ideas.

Except tablescapes, which I don't get at all. My idea of a special-occasion tablescape is to wipe the coffee stains off the vinyl tablecloth. Sometimes with my elbow.

Occasionally she has what she terms a "flower emergency" on her show. I am split roughly 50/50 between feeling amused by/feeling that I would like to aspire to having a "flower emergency."

Everything I've made from the Barefoot Contessa show has always been really good.

grits wrote:Everything I've made from the Barefoot Contessa show has always been really good.

She has a terrific mashed yellow turnip (really pureed rutabaga) with crispy shallots recipe, printed in her Family Style cookbook, that has become part of my Thanksgiving dinner due to popular demand.

I don't mind her tablescapes or flowers--she usually has her "friends" do them anyway while she does all the cooking. It's just a bit of a fantasy life for me. What if I could stay home and cook all day and entertain people with someone else to decorate and clean up after me????

EvA wrote: I don't mind her tablescapes or flowers--she usually has her "friends" do them anyway while she does all the cooking. It's just a bit of a fantasy life for me. What if I could stay home and cook all day and entertain people with someone else to decorate and clean up after me????

Oh, absolutely. When I said I was amused, I meant amused in a good way. I've been following her since she first had recipes in Martha Stewart Living and I don't think anything I've made from her has gone wrong.

DeathByOrca wrote: I'm surprised there's no love here for PBS' "America's Test Kitchen".

I like ATK. The credits where they have someone dressed as a bunny show up disturb me a little. I'm just not sure how the bunny fits into all this. My friend also made a comment about the "bow tie" bothering her from time to time. I have the ATK Best Recipes cookbook as well. It's good but cookbooks that have only one way of doing things and won't hear of anything else are less fun to read than others. The ATK cookbook did get me to start brining chicken though.