LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Aug 20, 2019 7:21:55 GMT -5
I don't quite get the same dick vibes off Babish that I do, say, David Chang (boy that discussion takes up quite a bit of this thread), but there's some other food videos where he's a guest and he really doesn't want to be there. You know what, you're right! I hadn't noticed before you said it, but it is Rea's appearance on other programs where he irks me the most. I've seen him on a couple First We Feast videos and he seemed both annoyed and "too cool" to be there. |
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Post by Hachiman on Aug 20, 2019 22:54:00 GMT -5
Let’s talk YouTube chefs! YouTube is the last bastion of the instructional cooking show. Last year I used it to research much of the French cooking I did, and now it’s an after dinner ritual to just surf the channel and see what’s there. Here’s some of my favorites: French Cooking Academy: This is where I got most of my research done for French meals last year. It runs the gamut, from basics like making your own stock or how to prep and cut vegetables, to French country classics, to elevated Escoffier fare. The host is affable and goofy, often getting giddy about how good he made is. Apparently he’s made enough off the channel that he has moved back to France from Australia for the year and is now touring the country, stopping in each region and doing a run of local dishes. Food Wishes: We’ve discussed this before. There’s no real theme other than whatever the host wants to cook, but there’s years of backlogged recipes (he does two or three episodes a week) to pore through. The host has a particular sing-song cadence to how he talks that my wife hates but I like. Also, plenty of cornball dad jokes abound. Adam Liaw: He leans hard into the ASMR qualities of cooking shows: soft white background, gentle voice, soothing music, tantalizing closeups of food. He specializes in Asian cuisines, so he’s my first stop now when I’m going to cook something from that part of the world. Bon Apetit: This has a whole roster of cooking shows and hosts. You’ve got Alex Delaney puttering around the country, eating different versions of a dish a city is known for; goofball spaz Brad Leone and It’s Alive; Carla Music aka Everyone’s Mom, and Claire Saffitz. Oh, Claire. She is a goddess. I keep waiting for my wife to realize I sure seem to watch a lot of videos with her. Ahem. Anyways. Watching the videos shot in their expansive test kitchen has now made Working at Bon Apetit rocket to the top of my fantasy jobs list. Binging with Babish/Basics with Babish: Two shows: Binging has the host cooking a famous food dish from a movie, book, or TV show. Basics is a series on cooking fundamentals. The host very much has Alton Brown’s same cadence and very dry humor. Taco Tuesday/Rick Bayless: It started as just recycling clips from his old PBS shows, but gradually they started adding new content just for YouTube. They update only very sporadically, but there’s quite a useful backlog of taco ideas and so far, not one dud.
Alex French Guy: A little goes a long way for him with me. He’s a bit too YouTube-y: working his subscribers, hooks and gimmicks. And he doesn’t really do all that much French anymore. But I must say his pizza series is a must if you want to up your game. I got two I really like: Get Curried: This is hosted by a "The Bombay Chef" Varun Inamdar and while he often has western recipes which I skip, his Indian recipes are totally on point. His butter chicken recipe is the closest I have ever gotten to restaurant quality, to the point I rarely get Indian since its a better recipe than the lower quality restaurants around here. He's also super likeable. Peaceful Cuisine: Japanese vegan cooking with a good selection of non-Japanese recipes. Its super low-key to point that it may as well be visually-administered Xanax. The chef doesn't really focus on himself much and the videos have a very minimalist (but well made) quality to them. They are bi-lingual, which I dig, and they have all been great recipes. I really appreciate this guy's mission. |
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Post by pairesta on Aug 22, 2019 5:06:17 GMT -5
And not for nuthin', Alton Brown's Return of the Eats finally debuts on Food Network this Sunday. AB is back, baby! (Of course I don't have cable and don't get the Food Network  ) The first episode has been uploaded to YouTube! |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Aug 22, 2019 7:15:39 GMT -5
And not for nuthin', Alton Brown's Return of the Eats finally debuts on Food Network this Sunday. AB is back, baby! (Of course I don't have cable and don't get the Food Network ) The first episode has been uploaded to YouTube! I watched it! And it was good! W hasn't aged a day. I think my version of chicken parm is still better. |
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Post by pairesta on Aug 22, 2019 9:23:16 GMT -5
The first episode has been uploaded to YouTube! I watched it! And it was good! W hasn't aged a day. I think my version of chicken parm is still better. Yeah I wasn't feeling the recipe. Pasty tomato sauce? Salt and Vingar Potato Chip crust? And honestly, the things he dings traditional chicken parm for are kind of what I love about it. |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Aug 22, 2019 9:32:04 GMT -5
I watched it! And it was good! W hasn't aged a day. I think my version of chicken parm is still better. Yeah I wasn't feeling the recipe. Pasty tomato sauce? Salt and Vingar Potato Chip crust? And honestly, the things he dings traditional chicken parm for are kind of what I love about it. I've never had S&V potato chip crust, so I won't knock what I haven't tried. It sounds good to me actually, just not in the specific context of chicken parm. Funnily enough, I do agree with his complaints about the dish, only I say he doesn't take it far enough. For me chicken parm needs no sauce at all, and you certainly shouldn't bake it in, on, or within-the-same-room-as sauce. My preference for chicken parm is basically chicken schnitzel that you bake a thin layer of crusty cheese onto, then serve with tomato sauce on the side. There's a restaurant in Frisco called TruFire that does it this way, and it changed my life forever. It is fun to recognize elements from his new book though. Like that tomato sauce recipe is exactly the same as the one in Everyday Cook, minus the "cook it down to a paste" part. Same simple parts list. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Aug 26, 2019 7:48:14 GMT -5
I watched the first two new Good Eats last night and enjoyed them. I'm not totally sold on the salt & vinegar chip crust - I would probably go with plain salt & black pepper. But it looked tasty! I thought broiling the sauce first was a little bit of overkill, but then, Alton's always been a little fussy, and I sometimes skip steps of his for simplicity's sake.
Overall the show looks a little shinier and more cinematic than it used to, but it makes sense - better cameras and lighting now! Still the same goofy sense of humor.
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Post by liebkartoffel on Aug 28, 2019 0:42:44 GMT -5
I watched the first two new Good Eats last night and enjoyed them. I'm not totally sold on the salt & vinegar chip crust - I would probably go with plain salt & black pepper. But it looked tasty! I thought broiling the sauce first was a little bit of overkill, but then, Alton's always been a little fussy, and I sometimes skip steps of his for simplicity's sake. Overall the show looks a little shinier and more cinematic than it used to, but it makes sense - better cameras and lighting now! Still the same goofy sense of humor. The dude jury-rigged an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys to deep fry a turkey--he's "a little fussy" like Kubrick was "a little fussy." |
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Post by songstarliner on Aug 31, 2019 18:01:10 GMT -5
Kinda can't stop watching this series.
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Crash Test Dumbass
AV Clubber 
ffc what now
Posts: 7,058
Gender (additional): mostly snacks
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Post by Crash Test Dumbass on Oct 31, 2019 9:30:29 GMT -5
While they're still here, maybe we should download some of Burneko's recipes.
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Post by pairesta on Apr 29, 2020 6:26:12 GMT -5
Rick Bayless has been doing daily cooking demos on his YouTube channel for a few weeks now to pass the time during lockdown. These aren't quickies like his Taco Tuesday videos; each one is 30-40 minutes long and he's speaking off the cuff about Mexican cuisine, professional cooking, setting up your kitchen, ingredients, all kinds of stuff. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Apr 29, 2020 9:26:08 GMT -5
Rick Bayless has been doing daily cooking demos on his YouTube channel for a few weeks now to pass the time during lockdown. These aren't quickies like his Taco Tuesday videos; each one is 30-40 minutes long and he's speaking off the cuff about Mexican cuisine, professional cooking, setting up your kitchen, ingredients, all kinds of stuff. I haven't actually watched any of them, but I see his tweets about them every day. I feel like he's used to being super, super busy and he's probably less so right now and trying to fill that void. |
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Post by Hachiman on May 29, 2020 23:17:04 GMT -5
Been baking a lot with recipes from the Preppy Kitchen. I love this guy. He's just so happy that it's kind of infectious. Plus his cakes and cookies are so on point. He's definitely fast-tracking himself into my kitchen pantheon. |
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on May 30, 2020 8:25:53 GMT -5
Uh, probably the Food Muppet.
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Post by Powerthirteen on Jun 4, 2020 21:16:15 GMT -5
Kenji Lopez-Alt's youtube videos are great in terms of learning pure technique. Everything you see of his kitchen and house is a cluttered disaster that gives me anxiety just to look at, though.
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Post by songstarliner on Jun 4, 2020 23:58:28 GMT -5
Kenji Lopez-Alt's youtube videos are great in terms of learning pure technique. Everything you see of his kitchen and house is a cluttered disaster that gives me anxiety just to look at, though. I made his famous roasted potatoes the other night and holy moly, you sure could eat a lot of those boys (I did). |
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Post by songstarliner on Oct 1, 2020 5:40:31 GMT -5
So, I love cooking shows and I love stand-up comedy, and while I don't particularly love Bert Kreischer, the episode of his show Something's Burning with Dave Attell and Gilbert Gotfried is so good. Bert makes the world's worst fish and chips while Dave and Gilbert look on; Dave defers to Gilbert in all comedy matters; Bert burns his foot because he's wearing flip-flops while working with hot oil; Gilbert describes an old-timey ride at Coney Island (where he was born) that sounds insane; Dave has to help Gilbert open a jar twice; and so on. It's adorable and hilarious.
My favorite line comes from Attell of course, when they're all gathered around the pot of almost-bubbling oil: 'This is like when you get high with your friends and decide to make candles.' |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Oct 16, 2020 7:14:50 GMT -5
Speaking of the Swedish Chef, the new Muppets show on Disney Plus is extremely charming, and has regular segments of the Swedish Chef and a celebrity guest "cooking" something (typically the guest does great and the SC causes chaos). There's one with Danny Trejo making fajitas and it is just so hilarious.
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Post by songstarliner on Dec 19, 2022 20:37:48 GMT -5
If you're at all interested in Middle Eastern cooking, I highly recommend a youtube channel called Middle Eats: they seem really nice and their recipes look soooo good. I need to make this like tomorrow:
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GumTurkeyles
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$10 down, $10 a month, don't you be a turkey
Posts: 3,065
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Post by GumTurkeyles on Jan 4, 2023 12:18:36 GMT -5
We recently got Peacock, and all previous seasons of Top Chef are on there. My wife loves the show now, but only started watching a few seasons ago, so we're slowly working through back episodes (I had seen them all, but as they aired, and I can't remember anything about it). I had her skip Seasons 1 and 2. We finished Season 3 and are halfway through Season 4.
Man, I forgot how much drama the show used to have, when it was more modeled like a typical reality contest show. Anyway, to tie in to the main thread, Stephanie Izard has been wonderful this entire season. I've seen her on other shows (one of the newer Iron Chefs, namely). I'm going to pick up her cookbook from the library and see if it's worth purchasing.
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Post by songstarliner on Mar 27, 2023 21:49:51 GMT -5
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Crash Test Dumbass
AV Clubber
ffc what now
Posts: 7,058
Gender (additional): mostly snacks
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Post by Crash Test Dumbass on Jul 11, 2023 9:56:08 GMT -5
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Post by songstarliner on Jun 16, 2024 18:42:40 GMT -5
My new love/CHILF is Lucas Sin. What a sweetheart! He's so smart and so devoted to his craft. Every video is worth watching, but here's a cute one where he's eating dim sum with his pal:
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Post by Powerthirteen on Jun 29, 2024 13:58:11 GMT -5
I have a confession: I finally got sick of having Instagram show me unsolicited Rick Bayless videos and blocked him. I find him consistently too dogmatic, too interested in proclaiming the “right” way of doing things. The fact he’s a white dude issuing edicts like this about Mexican food does nothing to diminish the extent to which I find this unpleasant.
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LazBro
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Posts: 10,278
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Post by LazBro on Sept 10, 2024 8:58:13 GMT -5
J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is an icon of the culinary instruction world, beloved for his exhaustive efforts in making food science fun and accessible to the home kitchen. I watch and re-watch his YouTube videos with frequency, and apart from the general messiness of his kitchen giving me fits, I've always basically liked the guy. He has, however, developed a reputation for being ... prickly. He's very online, he's combative, he's quick to block people, and despite espousing a "you do you" ideology in his videos, in online discussion he's very "no, I'm right" about most things. It's nothing terrible, it doesn't take away from his recipes or his cooking videos, but ya know, over time, it's something people notice. It adds up.
Some months ago he started shooting his videos on a houseboat, which he called his "work kitchen." Pretty much immediately, his viewers were like, "Dude, are you okay?" Exhaustively online pricks that we are, we notice that he doesn't mention his family nearly as often, that the number of videos slows to a crawl, and that he's never wearing his wedding band in them, whereas before he always did. I don't follow his Instagram, but apparently it's full up with shorts of him kayaking around his boat and - here's the real giveaway - playing guitar and working on his singing. Oh no, my dude got kicked out.
I'm not poking fun. I know it must be an incredibly difficult situation, and I also know he's on a journey of sobriety and wish him well on that. (There's also the distant chance we're all wrong and he really is just, like, a boat guy. My favorite cocktail channel is also a boat guy. They exist.) I'm musing more on the fascinating artifact of the online world today, where you can watch, or surmise, a cooking show host's life crumbling around him while he sings Taylor Swift and teaches you how to make really creamy scrambled eggs. The internet was a mistake.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Sept 10, 2024 9:05:11 GMT -5
I have a confession: I finally got sick of having Instagram show me unsolicited Rick Bayless videos and blocked him. I find him consistently too dogmatic, too interested in proclaiming the “right” way of doing things. The fact he’s a white dude issuing edicts like this about Mexican food does nothing to diminish the extent to which I find this unpleasant. Unsolicited instagram videos are annoying regardless of the content. I like Rick Bayless, and I want to give him credit - he is a true student of Mexican culture and cooking and knows that he stands on the shoulder of giants and abuelas alike. But, you're not wrong - he does tend to get focused on the "right" way; I saw one video where he went on about only using white onion in Mexican cooking, never yellow or sweet (I guess red is ok if they're pickled as a topping). And like, fine, maybe that's true, but I'm gonna keep using my sweet onions because I like them. (I feel kind of similarly about Alton Brown, who I also like a lot as inspiration and admire for his thoroughness, but he's very fussy and particular and sometimes I don't WANT to follow 15 steps when 5 would do just fine.) |
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Post by Powerthirteen on Sept 10, 2024 10:04:43 GMT -5
I have a confession: I finally got sick of having Instagram show me unsolicited Rick Bayless videos and blocked him. I find him consistently too dogmatic, too interested in proclaiming the “right” way of doing things. The fact he’s a white dude issuing edicts like this about Mexican food does nothing to diminish the extent to which I find this unpleasant. Unsolicited instagram videos are annoying regardless of the content. I like Rick Bayless, and I want to give him credit - he is a true student of Mexican culture and cooking and knows that he stands on the shoulder of giants and abuelas alike. But, you're not wrong - he does tend to get focused on the "right" way; I saw one video where he went on about only using white onion in Mexican cooking, never yellow or sweet (I guess red is ok if they're pickled as a topping). And like, fine, maybe that's true, but I'm gonna keep using my sweet onions because I like them. (I feel kind of similarly about Alton Brown, who I also like a lot as inspiration and admire for his thoroughness, but he's very fussy and particular and sometimes I don't WANT to follow 15 steps when 5 would do just fine.) Hahaha I remember that video and the literally hundreds of actual Mexican people in the comments explaining that actually yellow onion is just fine. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Sept 10, 2024 10:06:17 GMT -5
Unsolicited instagram videos are annoying regardless of the content. I like Rick Bayless, and I want to give him credit - he is a true student of Mexican culture and cooking and knows that he stands on the shoulder of giants and abuelas alike. But, you're not wrong - he does tend to get focused on the "right" way; I saw one video where he went on about only using white onion in Mexican cooking, never yellow or sweet (I guess red is ok if they're pickled as a topping). And like, fine, maybe that's true, but I'm gonna keep using my sweet onions because I like them. (I feel kind of similarly about Alton Brown, who I also like a lot as inspiration and admire for his thoroughness, but he's very fussy and particular and sometimes I don't WANT to follow 15 steps when 5 would do just fine.) Hahaha I remember that video and the literally hundreds of actual Mexican people in the comments explaining that actually yellow onion is just fine. I did not read the comments but that is amazing. |
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