My sister is doing a low-budget dinner for 130 people. She needs side dishes that can be made several days in advance. We have potato salad, greens, fruit salad, corn bread, lasagna. She's also serving a roasted goat. Any suggestions?
on that note I'd say quesadilla or bruschetta slices - are easy and quick to make ahead and reheat. for some reason when i'm having cocktails i find these comforting with all that alcohol and you can go all around the world with the toppings, and easily accommodate vegans if you need to at the last minute.
Mexican cookbooks written by Mexicans ... well, in Mexico, most of the cooking is done by women who learned from their mothers and grandmothers. The women I know from Mexico tend to think there's something wrong with a person who uses a cookbook. Diana Kennedy spent a lot of time with a woman in one region and at first, thanks to Gourmet Magazine, Americans were led to believe this was the only type of Mexican cooking that was authentic. Later, as American cooks traveled to Oaxaca and Puebla etc. they discovered that there were other inhabitants in Mexico than the descendants of the Aztecs, and each had a different idea of what Mexican cooking was. Rick Bayless was the one who really went to town showing the variety of food and gives such good advice that it's very possible to replicate the fantastic dishes here, with his books. But if you go to Mexico, you'll see that they are just as innovative as we are, and what is covered by "authentic Mexican" is always expanding.
There is a Mexican cookbook by a woman who has a school in Mexico and Mexican children ... Her name is Susana Trilling and her book is Seasons of My Heart: A Culinary Journey Through Oaxaca. She is a fantastic cook and I've only done a couple of the recipes in the book, but they were marvelous. I've made a ton of Rick Bayless's recipes though and he's my personal favorite.
Bakers brownies -- YES! Also, banana pudding off of the Nilla Wafers box. Classic. I use that vanilla pudding, which has a little flour, with lots of other things too, like jello parfaits (just add gelatin to fruit juices, esp orange)...it's so comforting. Also there's the classic pumpkin pie filling on the Libby's can. (And thanks, orangemiles, for the Hershey's info!)
haha! I just did that myself when I threw away some strawberries last week. I'm still sad about it! The books by my bed are all cookbooks. Sad?
All great movies ... but my all-time fav food film was a TV ad for Polly-O cheese. It was just two hands seen from above, making manicotti. It was a fabulous film of an expert chef making pasta and then ended with them brushing the flour off of their hands. Short but memorable. Wish I could find a copy of it.
Ruth Reichl's sequel, Comfort Me With Apples, was so embarrassing. Clearly published too early so she had to pander to all her colleagues. It was all, "I was there at the start of California cuisine" but none of her great opinions and food descriptions. Instead, unsatisfying and very cagey descriptions of the people. Her writing about her love affair with her second husband was dopey, very high school. Not to mention that almost every piece of food she put into her mouth "exploded"...After reading Tender at the Bone and her great editorials in Gourmet I was shocked. On second thought, maybe I shouldn't have been -- I canceled my subscription to that rag a few years ago when I'd decided if I read another article where the chef was described as "boyishly handsome" I would no longer subscribe...and of course it happened twice in the next issue!
I like to use half whole wheat and half quinoa flour which lightens it up and adds a complete protein. Great for banana muffins.
They're actually the same type of yeast but prepared differently. When you purchase active dry yeast you are purchasing a product created by a manufacturer to foam and rise quickly and be able to last longer than a fresh block of yeast. The end product isn't the same as if you used fresh yeast (we all love the fresh stuff - evidenced by the strange addiction to pizza dough and croissants which use live yeast) but still pretty great. There are other yeasts that are used for brewing alcoholic beverages (depending on the beverage) but what is sold as brewer's yeast is the same type of yeast used both for baking and for brewing ale though it isn't put through the same process as active dry yeast and it is fortified with b vitamins and other things like calcium, to be taken as a nutritional supplement. There are other yeasts used in probiotic supplements but I'm not knowledgeable about all of those. If your question is about what to use for baking, you have to use "active dry yeast" to get the desired effect in baked goods, because it is a man-made product specially manufactured for just that purpose. Hope that helps you!
The complainers might have been just trying to engage you in a conversation, so they didn't feel so humbled. I find that is the case sometimes, and if you tease them about what you're bringing next time, they might respond very well.
First of all I have to recover from laughing sooo hard at the remarks from:
Nance- re: Sandra Lee on the Kwanzaa cake (topping in with corn nuts) please tell me your joking, I don't know if you or Sandra's Kwazaa cake recipe want to kill ME. rotfl.
Jensings- your comment also made me roll off the couch, well put.
Alssa- same as above
Thanks y'all for a very good laugh.
Now who I like:
Alton - becuz he is silly and informative, I like that.
Emeril- becuz of due respect, but he needs to (or has) retire, his "bam" has gotten a little too old.
Ina- like her soft spoken demure and her recipes seem very good, but did she make a pact with the devil? Read her bio eveything thing she did she is successful at... hmmmmmm. That nervous laugh does get to me though.
Tyler- tried some of his stuff....really good.
Sara Moulton- like her alot, she is so relaxed, I like her cooking, she teaches, and she covers UP!! I miss her.
Cat Cora-total professional, she is very pretty but like all chefs ( iam one myself) cover's UP!! She wears a chef coat. I like her demure and professional knowledge.
Anthony Bourdain- Love his shows, they tell the real shit that goes on in cultures.
Mario- real authentic chef. Love his shows and his foods. Wll miss him too.
Duff-I like but other then his oux and Mary Alice many of his workers seem liike there on drugs.
Guy- I like him. his show makes me sick becuz my city has very few diner, drive-ins and dives anymore( I live in Seattle). His other show I only saw a few times, but I liked what he made so far. He's funny.
Symon- I like him. He's professional and his giggles crack me up. I like his food.
Flay- His actual shows bore me to sleep but I do respect his success and I 'm sure his food is good. I hear good reviews about his restaurants.
Ming Tsi- I miss him, he too is a Pro. and I loved his show. I made a dish of his for Mother's Day once and it turned out great but man, I almost had to hop a plane to Asia to get some of the ingreds. for it.
Now for my dislikes:
Paula Deen- I like her home program (she's somewhat mellow) but the shit she makes.......
Paula's party- That is enough to make my ears bleed. Is she drunk on that show? She is flirting, forgetting what they are doing she is hamming it up. Nooooooooo!!
Robin What her name- Boring.
Giada- I liked her pogram when it first aired, but now it is a joke. Yes that phoney accent, the Farrah Fawcett smile, yes the low cut shirts. Shit she is making Italian food (maybe), she should be professional and wear a chef coat. You get shit all over yourself making Italian food. It's food food porn.
Sandra Lee- Ah wtf is she doing on FN? Yes she has a concept for making things go easy in the kitchen, yes someone above wrote that some chefs use canned this and that for fresh and its true, and that is good, but she can at least come through with some dishes that are homemade 100% for the times one has day off or special occasions ect. Anyone can open a box or packet and just add shit to it, but I thought the FN was to educate people how to make real dishes.
Bobblehead aka Rach Ray- She is over the top of WHAT???? Yes I play a game with my boyfriend, everytime 30 mins. airs we get beers ready and when she says her imfamous words "EVOO, sammies, delish, garbage bowl, awesome, eyeball it, giggles, ect., we take a drink. Guaranteed your tipsy (if not drunk) in 30 minutes. FN needs to restructure what their goal is really quick. Do they want the true chefs that really show people methods, ideas of real cooking or do they want to have circus acts like they are airing?
Rachael, Guy and SLoP should be BANNED. Every Rachael recipe I've tried has come out like s**t.
I love just about everyone else on the FN.
Wow.....the animosity towards Sandra Lee in some of the comments is quite interesting. I’ve worked with and have hired professional chefs over the years and the short cuts they use in their cooking isn’t much different from Sandra Lee’s. She’s just honest about it. I know of one 5-star restaurant that opens a can of Campbell’s tomato soup, adds some garnish, gives it a fancy name and charges a ridiculous price. Anyone who utilizes a can of San Marino for a tomato dish cannot possibly sit in judgement of others.
I’ve tried some of the recipes of the highly rated “chefs” mentioned here and found them to be quite disappointing. The end result is what it’s all about....not how much one slaved in the kitchen.
Sandra Lee makes cooking fun....especially for those just starting out. And nowadays, with so many young folks working many hours in serious careers, I’m sure it’s nice to have a quick, fun recipe when one finally gets home at 7:00 pm and the kids are famished. I can’t wait to try some of her recipes with my grandson when he gets old enough.
I liked Alton Brown better before he went gimmicky and goofy.
I watch Food Network much more for technique and principles than recipes. Travel shows and food competitions are time-wasting. How about healthful cooking, vegetarian recipes, dairy substitutes, ethnic cooking other than Italian, bread baking? I can't eat pork or shellfish, or mix dairy and meat. How about cooking with those limitations.
FAVORITES: Alton Brown. More time and less clowning, please.
Giada. Reasonable recipes; fewer distractions (2), please. Maybe her body is too small.
Robin Miller. I respect her as a wife and mother. Realistic recipes. A nice lady.
WORST
Paula Dean, Ina Garten are toxic. Rachael Ray has too much TV and commercial exposure. Why does every one of her recipes have to contain cheese and pork? Emeril is generally boring, but occasionally he shows an excellent technique. His "Live" show is dreadful. Sandra Lee: I just turn off the sound and watch. I don't care what she's doing.
I think Food Network made the gradual decision to make the channel more about food and life and less about cooking technique... what with the average American's non-stop hectic life. Cue: 30 Minute Meals and the like.
I supremely enjoyed Batali's program with the three guests observing, asking questions and sampling his dishes - it was a beautiful and simple concept for a cooking show. It was what cooking should be, about learning and sharing with people. To whoever said he moves too fast and undercooks everything, I am going to fight you.
I don't like Rachael Ray or Sandra Lee either. A lot of people go bananas over Ray though. I've never watched an entire Sandra Lee.
Wow...who spelunked the archives to find this gem of a thread!!!
There are very few shows remaining on TVFN worth watching if you are amongst those with tastebuds. TVFN has switched its target to the Cool Whip Contingent instead of sticking with hardcore foodies (such as us).
Ina Garten, Michael Chiarello, Alton Brown and Giada DeLaurentis are the last holdouts doing valuable cooking instruction at TVFN. The rest is fluff and nonsense - i.e. Unwrapped and The Secret Life Of... One exception might be the "challenge" shows which, depending on your interests can be intriguing.
The absolute worst hack on TVFN is without a doubt Sandra Lee. Her show is nothing about cooking. She assembles boxes of this with cans of that, pours in a little envelope of "soup" powder and calls it cooking. After attending one of Shamdra's Junkfests, I imagine her guests go out for dinner. If they can drive.
Favorites: Alton, always. He's a genius, funny, and has resisted the pressure to get hairplugs. : P I viewed what I'm guessing some people were declaring his rude behavior on the Food Star, and I think they need to take a breath and grow up a little; after all, these contestants were presenting themselves as both knowledgeable about cooking and having the charisma and creativity to create their own show--I don't think his expectations were too high. It's the network's that should be much higher.
Nigella I have loved for years, although I am dismayed by some of the shortcuts on the new show.
Jamie Oliver has had some great recipes in the past, so I'm interested to see the new show.
Anthony Bourdain is more himself, and therefore more entertaining on the Travel Network, but certainly worth watching in the original Cook's Tour.
Should be cancelled immediately, if not sooner:
Paula Deen, please sit down and allow Southerners to retain some semblance of self-respect. Every time I hear her, I can feel my brain cells committing suicide, and her recipes nauseate me. Less is more, Paula.
Rachel Ray--I used to find $40 a Day marginally bearable if only for the locations, but eventually stopped tuning in not only because of her overdone, annoying banter, but especially because of the appallingly paltry tips she would leave the kind people who served her food. It's no wonder she always wound up eating alone--no one else wants the waiter spitting in their food because they're sitting with a cheapskate! Since those early days, it's hard to escape Rachel. She chases me from one network to another, and even if I don't stumble onto one of her myriad shows, I can't escape her hawking something in commercials, nor her unnaturally shiny eyes in the grocery checkout line. God save us.
Sandra Lee: like a clone gone awry, she has followed Rachel in the Food Network's race to the bottom. I came across an amusing article that addresses this on a wider scale: http://chriswalkerversus.blogspot.com/2007/04/chris-walker-vs-dumbing-down-of-america.html Atrocious doesn't adequately describe her show. Just how stupid does FN think we are--and are we? *shudder*
I love AB I've been a fan from the first show--even my 9 year old son loves him. I think he's sexy too, geeks are hot. I also love Tony Bourdain, asshole or not--he's talented and I enjoy his unfiltered view on food and celebrities.
I love Mario, Ina,Michael Chiarello & Sara Molten for their cooking and talent. I truly would love to eat at these peoples houses. I love that Ina hasn't let her fame go to her head, it's nice to see that for a change.
I love Paula because she's Paula, simple and yes she does whip up some pretty unhealthy stuff, but fried food is good food--even to this California girl. Fir all you naysayers, Paula refuses to open up another restaurant and devotes time and money to her family. This is a good thing in a world of greed. I do have a problem with her sons and husband riding on her shirt tails. Her husband even signs her books at book signings...why he didn't pen them?!
Do not like RR, Sandra Lee (except for the cocktails)Emeril (I would NEVER eat at one of his restaurants. Amy whatsher name that just one the food network star show.
Lastly how can you not want to make out with Nigella, that is one beautiful woman.
For a while I was hooked on Nigella Lawson..where did she go? Right now I think Alton Brown is the best host. He's actually educational even if you don't cook. The man should be on Discovery and not FN. My least favorite is Paula Deen. I'm sick of that overdone southern drawl and all that butter and mayonnaise is tiresome.
Indian samosas! They're flavorful and hearty, and easy to eat with your hands.
Hillary
Chew on That
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