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@Tommasino: if American pasta can't be called pasta because we put too much sauce on it, then our pizza can't be called pizza, either. Our pizza in no way looks like what is served in Italy. Much different than how our pasta compares.

I miss "Microwave Master" with Donovan Jon Fandre, "Capril's Kitchen" with Caprile Pence, "Cooking Monday Through Friday" with Michelle Urvater and "Sunshine Cuisine" with Jean-Pierre Brehier.

As far as the worst, I would rather watch the chef on "The Muppet Show" than Alton Brown. David Rosengarten was so much more professional and didn't rely on forced humor.

I will give the ABSOLUTE greatest crock pot chili recipe EVER!!!!!

Ingredients:
-3 lbs. Lean Groud Beef---
-2(28 oz.) cans of Chunky Crushed Tomatoes---
-1(28 oz.) can Peeled Tomatoes----
-2 (12 oz., give or take) cans Red Kidney Beans
-3 Green Bell Pepers (abaout 2 lbs.)---
-1 Red Bell Pepers (about 3/4 of a lb.)---
-1 large Onion---
-2 Jalapeno Peppers (about 1 1/4 lbs.)---
-2 cups Rice(any style)
-2 large Tomatoes--
-8 table spns. Chili powder--
-3 table spns. Flour--
-3 table spns. Salt--
-5 table spns. Crushed Red Peppers--
-2 table spns. Pepper--
-3 table spns. Basil--
-3 table spns. Oregeno--
-1 table spns. Sugar--
- 5 table spns. Extra Virgin Olive Oil---
-8 table spns. of finely Chopped Garlic(sorry i don't know how many cloves exactly, but $1 worth of garlic is plenty---

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

-1. Fist put the two cans Crushed Tomatoes and 1 can Peeled in the crock pot on HIGH. Just let it cook.

-2. Cook the Ground Beef on a medium high flame until browned, add 2 table spns. of Chil Powder to the meat as it cooks. When ground beef is fully cooked DRAIN it and add it to the crock pot that already has the cans of Crushed + can of Peeled Tomatoes already cooking.

-3. Cook the Onion(Chopped), Green Bell Peppers(chopped), Red Bell Pepper(chopped), 8 chopped tblspns. chopped Garlic, Jalapeno Peppers, and 5 table spns. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Cook until ALL ingredients are glazed/tender/slightly browned.-------and add it to the crock pot that already has the cans of Crushed + can of Peeled Tomatoes, and ground beef already cooking

-4. mix 6 tblspns. Chili Powder with 3 tblspns. Flour with *about* 5 tblspns. water. thouroghly mix the Chili Powder + Flour + water ( it should be a little thinner than a tooth past consistancy) ADD that mixture(RUE) to the crock pot.

--5. Add Basil, Crushed Red Pepper, Oregenp, Salt, Pepper, Sugar, to the Crock Pot.

--6. Chop the 2 Tomatoes into fairly large pieces. Add the chopped Tomatoes to the Crock Pot.

--7. *DRAIN* the 2 cans Red Kidney Beans

Yes, my nonna always sauced pasta to prevent its stickiness and bring out the flavors, but we never lacked for sauce, or cheese. Also, there's a difference between using a lot of sauce on pasta (totally justifiable if it's great, thick, homemade sauce, I say,) and drowning it into soup. And I have never had CRUNCHY pasta, in America or anywhere in Italy, whether in a restaurant in Firenze or my family's house in Messina.

Mmm. That looks so delicious!! I completely agree with Mario, but Krit has it right ^^ To each, his own! ...or till they realize that he's right haha

I so wish Shirley Corriher had a show of her own. The lady is brilliant and absolutely ebuliant. She is just so cute on Alton Brown and if you have Cookwise or Bakewise, you know how much you could actually "learn " about the cooking process and food science in half an hour with her.

Wow talk about only garnering information from single sources!

Here's some very bad ones for your consideration.

Then Hippy gourmet:
http://www.hippygourmet.com/

Beyond annoying yet the stuff he makes probably isn't terrible. I'm sure his brownies are winners though;-))

Wendy Brodie and her *Art of food*:
http://www.wendybrodie.com/

Quite possibly the single worst voice for broadcast ever and her lush of a husband and thier disgusting little dog! The hieght of worthless snobbishness. I actually like it because it's so bad.

Rick Bayless, a very weird guy but everything he makes I think looks really tasty:
http://www.rickbayless.com/tv/season5/

Oh and don't forget how truly terrible Maryann Esposito andf her *Ciao Italia* is! "Today we will make Pasta e Fungi* roughly translated as noodles and mushrooms.

And then L. Bastianich must we watch that zaftig wench stuff her face with yet another stew and tell us how great it is while her whole family proceed to bore us?

*Everyday food* is also beyond annoying. Could we possibly find a more white bread group of condesending SSRI junkies?

How about the chunky vegitarian (Christina cooks) lady that tells us how horrible we eat yet every subsequent season looks worse herself then the season before?

And then all the lowcarb/lowfat cooking shows out there. Trust me compared to PBS the food channel looks very good at times.

It's really simple there are far more nad shows out there in TV land then there are good ones.

America's test kitchen is probabaly the most educational yet the formula is pretty simple. Make simple recipies complex, and complex ones simple.

As a Houstonian, no beans was started by CASI and is for competition so that judges don't fill up on fillers. Any hearty, home-cooked, "just like mom made" chili has beans and the pretentious cook-off crowd can get over it.

My dad used to make me cheddar cheese & strawberry jelly omelettes with toast. It sounds gross, but I promise it is really yummy. It's just like if you had scambled eggs with cheese and ate that along with toast with jelly. Also, a restaurant I worked at had me make a sandwich that consisted of 9-grain bread, avocado, muenster cheese, tomato, alfalfa sprouts, sun-dried tomato pesto aioli & mango chutney...God, that is a fabulous sandwich!

I love Jamie Oliver and I'm so glad to see him back on FN! They need more 'real chefs' on there....

Do not buy "recipe" cookbooks (those with a of of recipes). Do buy book ON food and on cooking. Look for books iwth more narrative than recipes.

You will learn more about how foods go together how to cook than how to follow a possible mediocre recipe.

Ha! If I called my mother about tomato sauce, her advice would go along these lines:

"Do you have a can opener?"

"Yes."

"So why are you calling me again?"

She did teach me how to make pie crust, though.

Call Mom!

Seriously don't be afraid to try something out and don't be afraid to ask questions. I always follow the recipe exactly the first time and then adjust it as needed if it is worth making again.

And if you can help someone cook you will learn a lot. (Actually I don't remember "learning" to cook. I think I absorbed it growing up!)