The Kitchen - General Discussion

[cameron]

19 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

I sure hope not....she seemed so happy. Maybe he doesn’t drink? But I’m not speculating. I want everyone to have some happiness during this crappy year.

Noticed she wasn't wearing her engagement ring.  Maybe the segment was filmed earlier and put in the can.  Who knows.

[WritinMan]

Sorry, Sunny, that pizza crust thing you made wasn't "charred." That was burned.

[annzeepark914]

3 hours ago, cameron said:

Noticed she wasn't wearing her engagement ring.  Maybe the segment was filmed earlier and put in the can.  Who knows.

Hope all is well. I've always gotten a kick out of Alex. For years, she'd roll her eyes a lot during the different shows she was on. It always made me laugh. Haven't seen her do that in quite a while.

[Coffeewinewater]

On 9/3/2020 at 12:12 PM, MerBearHou said:

Such happy news!  Love her name -- Iris Marion Biegel.  Congratulations to Katie and Ryan!

I love the name. Iris is a name I have been hearing a lot lately.  Alice is another name becoming popular.... I'm not as crazy about Alice my ex sister in law was an Alice🙄😉.

Sunny added on Instagram some pics of her dog that passed away in the last day or so😔. I hope she's ok. That's such a hard thing. 

Edited September 7, 2020 by Coffeewinewater

[Irlandesa]

5 hours ago, cameron said:

Noticed she wasn't wearing her engagement ring.  Maybe the segment was filmed earlier and put in the can.  Who knows.

Her "alone" comment was definitely weird as she not only has a fiance but a daughter but Alex doesn't always wear a ring.  It could be that they're filmed out of order but, as a chef, I'd imagine wearing a big ring could be an inconvenience when cooking.  You've got to clean the hands and the ring.  And if one of the little diamonds falls out while you're cleaning, you have to find that sucker before it goes in someone.

[annzeepark914]

Ina & Giada don't wear rings while cooking on their shows. I wonder if the Kitchen is now repeating earlier shows (they did on 8/29).

[StatisticalOutlier]

Jeff's microwave drawer is interesting.  I assume it's safer than an eye-level one, but I like looking at the stuff in there as it cooks, and I'm not sure I'd enjoy crouching down to do it.

 

On 9/6/2020 at 9:56 AM, Ashforth said:

I tuned in to the show that aired yesterday after it had started, so I didn't see the beginning of Alex's tomato/mozzarella salad. I was intrigued by dredging the fresh mozzarella slices in chopped herbs - that looked like it would be delicious. I didn't see whether she salted the mozzarella slices first - for me, that would be a must, because fresh mozzarella tends to be bland, and the herbs alone would not fix that for me. I know she salted the whole salad at the end, and seemed to be kind of apologetic/defensive about it ("we chefs salt everything"), but dammit, tomatoes and mozzarella need salt to bring out their flavors and that's the truth.

She didn't salt the mozzarella, but she did salt the herbs that she dredged it in.  And then as you saw, the whole salad at the end.

 

5 hours ago, WritinMan said:

Sorry, Sunny, that pizza crust thing you made wasn't "charred." That was burned.

I didn't see Sunny make a pizza crust.  But I can't tell the difference between charred and burned.  People seem to like the charred areas on pizza crust and the charred areas on flour tortillas that are warmed over a flame, but it all just tastes unpleasantly burned to me.

[Ashforth]

23 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

She didn't salt the mozzarella, but she did salt the herbs that she dredged it in. 

Ahhhh, yessssss. I don't often see something that is new to me on cooking shows, but that was, and it looked so good.

[Yeah No]

19 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Her "alone" comment was definitely weird as she not only has a fiance but a daughter but Alex doesn't always wear a ring.  It could be that they're filmed out of order but, as a chef, I'd imagine wearing a big ring could be an inconvenience when cooking.  You've got to clean the hands and the ring.  And if one of the little diamonds falls out while you're cleaning, you have to find that sucker before it goes in someone.

Exactly.  Besides, she doesn't seem to wear her ring when cooking.  I checked on back episodes that I still have to watch and haven't seen it.

I wouldn't take her "alone" comment as evidence of anything (and I'm the one that thinks her relationship won't work out).  Alex has a sarcastic, almost hyperbolic sense of humor that often borders on self-deprecating.  It's not uncommon among us New Yorkers.  (Think Woody Allen movies).

Maybe her fiance and her daughter went up to the country to enjoy the summer weather while mom is stuck at home alone doing her show, and she's just having a sardonic little "pity party" of one and can't resist the temptation to turn up the guilt on the parties in the know.

"That's OK, you guys go and have fun without me - I'll just sit here at home and hollow out a watermelon and fill it with some booze".

Edited September 8, 2020 by Yeah No

[cameron]

9 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

Exactly.  Besides, she doesn't seem to wear her ring when cooking.  I checked on back episodes that I still have to watch and haven't seen it.

I wouldn't take her "alone" comment as evidence of anything (and I'm the one that thinks her relationship won't work out).  Alex has a sarcastic, almost hyperbolic sense of humor that often borders on self-deprecating.  It's not uncommon among us New Yorkers.  (Think Woody Allen movies).

Maybe her fiance and her daughter went up to the country to enjoy the summer weather while mom is stuck at home alone doing her show, and she's just having a sardonic little "pity party" of one and can't resist the temptation to turn up the guilt on the parties in the know.

"That's OK, you guys go and have fun without me - I'll just sit here at home and hollow out a watermelon and fill it with some booze".

She actually lives somewhat out in the country already (Bridgehampton NY) which is almost to the end of Long Island.

[Yeah No]

1 minute ago, cameron said:

She actually lives somewhat out in the country already (Bridgehampton NY) which is almost to the end of Long Island.

Fine, maybe they went to the beach without her.  The point still stands.  She's at home in a dark kitchen while they're out having fun w/o her.

[bichonblitz]

Not a big Alex fan and her recipes usually don't inspire me but I had an excess of watermelon in my fridge so I made her watermelon granita from a couple of episodes ago.  I put it on top of some vanilla ice cream like she did (minus the whipped cream). It was refreshing and delicious!

[annzeepark914]

I'm now a big fan of this new & vastly improved Kitchen.  If they revert to the studio in the future, I'll be gone. In the meantime, today's foods looked good. Katie's grilled version of chicken parmesan is healthier. My only concern is the cheese melting onto the grill so I'll have to put the chicken on one of those grates or whatever they're called. Alex again w/ no ring but she had a ring on her right hand. Hmmm.

[Maverick]

I'm assuming these were filmed a while ago since Katie's still in them. 

[Irlandesa]

FWIW, her fiance has appeared in a few of her Instagram photos.  I think one yesterday and another last week so it looks like he's around. 

I really wanted to make the fish GZ made.  It looked really good even before the lemon brown butter sauce. 

I also want to try the skewer trick with limes; although I wonder whether or not it gets all of the juice.

[annzeepark914]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

FWIW, her fiance has appeared in a few of her Instagram photos.  I think one yesterday and another last week so it looks like he's around.

I also want to try the skewer trick with limes; although I wonder whether or not it gets all of the juice.

Thanks!! That's good to hear. 

If anyone tries the skewer through the lemon or lime, let us know how it turns out. These pro's made it look so easy. Maybe it is.

[annzeepark914]

Something called Showbiz Cheatsheet has an article on Jeff Mauro & his adorable son, Lorenzo, doing a cooking show from home. It also mentioned GZ being humanized thanks to viewers seeing him with his family in the kitchen. And the writer noted that Sunny is all alone (hmmm). Makes me wonder if the writer visits this site.

[Coffeewinewater]

I love any kind of greens and beans. So I liked Jeff's grilled version.  I definitely would put the sausage on the grill a bit longer to really get some brown bits.

Ratatouille is my all time favorite dish. It's so simple and easy.  I love mine topped with feta. GZ is right, the first time I made it, I wondered if I was following the recipe correctly.  It had almost no liquid added but it came out perfect. I don't use crushed tomatoes just fresh and little white wine. 😋

Edited September 19, 2020 by Coffeewinewater

[Irlandesa]

11 hours ago, Coffeewinewater said:

Ratatouille is my all time favorite dish. It's so simple and easy.  I love mine topped with feta. GZ is right, the first time I made it, I wondered if I was following the recipe correctly.  It had almost no liquid added but it came out perfect.

That was one of my favorite segments in a long time.  I don't know that I'm going to make ratatouille any time soon but I appreciated him pointing out little things about how to prepare it well such as not adding salt to the veggies. 

And I had to laugh at Alex.  I actually like her quite a bit but found myself shaking my head at her calling her dish a "one pot" thing.  Maybe it's just me but if I have to have multiple separate dishes where I can put things I cooked in the pot so I can cook something in it, I don't feel like it's a one post dish.  Those other dishes will still need to get washed.

Edited September 20, 2020 by Irlandesa

[annzeepark914]

That was funny cause she said it when an overhead camera showed 3 pots bubbling away on the stove. I bet that sauce was delicious!

[Ashforth]

OMG a rerun from last year on game day foods just aired and at the end Sunny and Jeff did a rap. It was adorable and hilarious. Like, really adorable and hilarious.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 9/19/2020 at 11:55 PM, Irlandesa said:

That was one of my favorite segments in a long time.  I don't know that I'm going to make ratatouille any time soon but I appreciated him pointing out little things about how to prepare it well such as not adding salt to the veggies.

If Zakarian says not to salt something, you can take that to the bank.

 

On 9/27/2020 at 12:01 PM, Ashforth said:

OMG a rerun from last year on game day foods just aired and at the end Sunny and Jeff did a rap. It was adorable and hilarious. Like, really adorable and hilarious.

That's what I miss with the current format--something like the rap, in addition to the banter while they're cooking.

I know some people are saying they prefer the current format, but it seems to me it's really no different from watching youtube videos by them individually.  Plus, you could just not watch ones by Sunny if you don't like her, so I don't see any advantage to the current format.

[annzeepark914]

2 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

That's what I miss with the current format--something like the rap, in addition to the banter while they're cooking.

I know some people are saying they prefer the current format, but it seems to me it's really no different from watching youtube videos by them individually.  Plus, you could just not watch ones by Sunny if you don't like her, so I don't see any advantage to the current format.

They're not talking all over each other while at home.  Plus, their voices were way too loud in the studio. At home, their voices are at a normal level.  

 

[Yeah No]

5 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

They're not talking all over each other while at home.  Plus, their voices were way too loud in the studio. At home, their voices are at a normal level.  

I would like the studio version better than this if they could tone down their volume somewhat.  When I watch old early episodes they're several decibels lower and more tolerable.  Every season they seem to get louder and more over the top.  For now this is fine, but I am going to think it's played out after a while.  Plus I'm tired of the constant grilling of everything.  I'll be happier when they're all forced inside because of the weather, especially Sunny because we never see her kitchen.  Besides, couldnt they modify doing the show from the studio with social distancing, etc.?  I'm not sure of the details, but it does seem like NYC is relaxing more stuff now, such as indoor seating at restaurants, etc.  I have seen some NYC and CT news programs being broadcast from studios with the anchors sitting farther apart, etc.  I suppose with Jeff being from Chicago the traveling is an issue, plus who knows what their private lives are like and how comfortable each of them is with being back in the studio?  I suppose it's more complicated than we know.

[StatisticalOutlier]

18 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

They're not talking all over each other while at home. 

They're only talking with each other for a minute or two--everything else is done solo.  And really, I haven't found the talking they do among each other on Zoom or whatever to be so important that they couldn't do without it.  So it's just like individual youtube videos to me.

Edited October 2, 2020 by StatisticalOutlier

[cameron]

You would think that as a mother, Alex would be concerned about her daughter unhealthy weight and help guide her with her eating habits.  She just seems to be getting bigger.

[annzeepark914]

I liked Katie's recipe even though the 2 cups of cream are kinda scary. Her baby is beautiful!!  As I was watching Jeff prepare the pork chops, I figured I'll just grill them as I don't have a smoker. Loved the diced apples cooking with the onions.  Heck, I can even use my grillade indoors. It's the cooked onion/apple combo + the fresh apples on top that will be so wonderful. Green apples & Macoun apples are so good.

[Spunkygal]

Baby Iris is a treasure! And I’ve always loved Gus. He is rather mellow and a sweet “big brother!” I will now watch the show occasionally just to get a glimpse of these two. Katie’s pasta dish was so rich but I don’t mind having something like that once in a while. I would serve with a large side salad because just one portion of that pasta is enough. I make a decadent macaroni and cheese and I’ll usually set some aside to eat for a meal or two and then freeze the rest for another time. Unless it’s a wacky year like 2020 when I may or may not have eaten more of it than I’d care to admit! 

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 10/3/2020 at 1:29 PM, cameron said:

You would think that as a mother, Alex would be concerned about her daughter unhealthy weight and help guide her with her eating habits.  She just seems to be getting bigger.

That's pretty much a third rail of discussion, but seeing her reminded me of when I was a kid and had long hair and my mother would push it out of my face.  It drove me crazy, but I really wanted to do it to Alex's daughter.  The circle of life.

And speaking of Alex, she went rogue and not only gave the actual recipe, as in "1 cup of flour" and "1/2 teaspoon of baking soda" and even "1 teaspoon of salt" but had it in chyrons!  This show has always bugged me because they said "some baking soda" or "a little ginger," and if you wanted the actual recipe, you had to go to the website.

But speaking of chyrons, it's "bulgur," not "bulgar."  Come on, chyron person.

I was entertained by the disappearing Gus, when things were edited to make it look like a conversation among them, but one second Gus was behind Katie's head and the next second he was nowhere to be seen.

[Ashforth]

It was so sweet to see Katie with baby Iris. Not sure what the rush is, but she hasn't had much of a maternity leave, even if her work is "just sitting on a couch." I don't have children, but I have a general idea of how all-consuming it is to have a newborn.

I loved Ava's tie-dyed pullover, but I have to agree, for the love of God, get that girl a haircut! Or a hairbrush! Or a headband. Something. Anything.

Jeff's porkchops looked good. Not so enthusiastic about the toppings, though. I don't like cooked apples and have a pretty narrow window of raw apples that I enjoy - Jazz apples y'all! Try one now and thank me later!

Geoffrey's couscous looked great. When he said it could be a main course by adding chicken or fish, I was all, just add a little cheese! You don't always have to have meat.

[cameron]

52 minutes ago, Ashforth said:

It was so sweet to see Katie with baby Iris. Not sure what the rush is, but she hasn't had much of a maternity leave, even if her work is "just sitting on a couch." I don't have children, but I have a general idea of how all-consuming it is to have a newborn.

I loved Ava's tie-dyed pullover, but I have to agree, for the love of God, get that girl a haircut! Or a hairbrush! Or a headband. Something. Anything.

Jeff's porkchops looked good. Not so enthusiastic about the toppings, though. I don't like cooked apples and have a pretty narrow window of raw apples that I enjoy - Jazz apples y'all! Try one now and thank me later!

Geoffrey's couscous looked great. When he said it could be a main course by adding chicken or fish, I was all, just add a little cheese! You don't always have to have meat.

Ava also need to go to  the teen's version of Weight Watchers.

[annzeepark914]

A lot of teens like to hide behind their hair (do's). Way back in the day, yours truly wore her hair parted on the side... even ironed my hair so it would be even straighter (it was the thing to do). When I came home on break, adults called me Veronica Lake as my hair hung halfway over my face. I thought I looked cool.

[Ashforth]

2 hours ago, cameron said:

Ava also need to go to  the teen's version of Weight Watchers.

[Gam2]

My daughter went to high school with an overweight young girl who had her hair cut straight across at chin length. She parted her hair in the middle and cut one side straight across to cover one eye. The other eye was clear and open. Then she dyed it Lucille Ball red. I cannot tell you how awful that hair looked and I just knew she did that to draw attention away from her size. It broke my heart for her and wished she’d gotten some help somewhere from someone.

[Yeah No]

On 10/6/2020 at 3:47 PM, annzeepark914 said:

A lot of teens like to hide behind their hair (do's). Way back in the day, yours truly wore her hair parted on the side... even ironed my hair so it would be even straighter (it was the thing to do). When I came home on break, adults called me Veronica Lake as my hair hung halfway over my face. I thought I looked cool.

By the time I was a teenager, really long hair was in and it was OK to have a big poofy mop.  At that point in the 1970s both ironed and wild hair were in style.  Mine was very long and a little wild but at least I looked good with it.  Sorry to say but Ava's is just a mess and it gets on my nerves.  My grandmother used to come up to me just to push my hair off my face.  She used to tell me I had a beautiful face and that I shouldn't hide it with my hair, LOL.  I used to tell her it was "the style".  I can just imagine what my grandmother would have said if my hair looked anything like Ava.  It kind of surprises me because Alex (like me and my family) is pretty careful about her appearance and I would have thought that the apple wouldn't fall so far from the tree.  Maybe she'll change in time.  Some teenagers go through an awkward phase.  Maybe she'll grow out of it.

[Toothbrush]

It was sad to see Valerie Bertinelli on this week's episode knowing now what was going on in her personal life. 

[jlc]

2 hours ago, Toothbrush said:

It was sad to see Valerie Bertinelli on this week's episode knowing now what was going on in her personal life. 

You mean the death of her ex husband? She most likely is not devastated.

[Ashforth]

38 minutes ago, jlc said:

You mean the death of her ex husband? She most likely is not devastated.

Valerie posted this on Instagram with a photo of Eddie, herself, and baby Wolf:

"40 years ago my life changed forever when I met you. You gave me the one true light in my life, our son, Wolfgang.
Through all your challenging treatments for lung cancer, you kept your gorgeous spirit and that impish grin.
I’m so grateful Wolfie and I were able to hold you in your last moments.
I will see you in our next life my love."

So I think it's fair to say that while the marriage didn't last, the love survived. I think she is devastated, especially for her son.

[SunnyBeBe]

It was nice seeing Katie and the baby, but what the hey is the deal with the dog? Don’t parents of newborns ever research proper care of dogs and newborns? No matter how well behaved or friendly a dog is, you NEVER allow them to be above or on the same level with the baby. They should be below the baby on floor of lower chair.  It’s too late once your incredibly loving pet suddenly chomps down on your baby’s arm of cheek. Plus, there’s the hygiene issue.  Big turn off.  

[annzeepark914]

46 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

It was nice seeing Katie and the baby, but what the hey is the deal with the dog? Don’t parents of newborns ever research proper care of dogs and newborns? No matter how well behaved or friendly a dog is, you NEVER allow them to be above or on the same level with the baby. They should be below the baby on floor of lower chair.  It’s too late once your incredibly loving pet suddenly chomps down on your baby’s arm of cheek. Plus, there’s the hygiene issue.  Big turn off.  

I agree 100%. You can have "the sweetest doggie in the world" but you *never* know about animals. One chomp is all it takes.

[SunnyBeBe]

5 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

I agree 100%. You can have "the sweetest doggie in the world" but you *never* know about animals. One chomp is all it takes.

I posted quite a few times about Andy Cohen and his obsession with his aggressive dog, after his baby was born....finally, he announced he had rehomed the dog.  It doesn’t take an aggressive dog to take a snip though. Any dog can do it.  But, it’s the fault of the adults who don’t provide proper boundaries.  

[Ashforth]

I thought that Katie's turkey meatloaf made with stuffing mix looked and sounded delicious. A little Aunt Sandy, sure, but why not? I'd probably leave out the cranberries in the loaf (in the topping sounds good).

It cracked me up that she took some out of the freezer to eat the next day and her husband ate it before she got to it. That used to happen with leftovers when I was growing up - you'd think you were going to have a turkey & dressing sandwich and BOOM! It was gone.

Edited October 14, 2020 by Ashforth

[Irlandesa]

Let me know how it is.  I also thought it looked good.

[Westiepeach]

2 hours ago, Ashforth said:

I thought that Katie's turkey meatloaf made with stuffing mix looked and sounded delicious. A little Aunt Sandy, sure, but why not? I'd probably leave out the cranberries in the loaf (in the topping sounds good).

It cracked me up that she took some out of the freezer to eat the next day and her husband ate it before she got to it. That used to happen with leftovers when I was growing up - you'd think you were going to have a turkey & dressing sandwich and BOOM! It was gone.

I made it on Sunday. It was EXCELLENT! I had to buy jellied cranberry sauce because my store did not have whole cranberry sauce. I just bought a small can and mixed it right into the meatloaf. I did not put it in the glaze (I thought it might scare Husband! LOL!) but it was incredible. The stuffing mix really made the difference. I portioned the loaf and froze in individual servings. Highly recommend it! Next time I make it, I'll definitely use the whole cranberry sauce.

[Irlandesa]

Thanks for sharing.  I have jellied cranberry sauce in my pantry for some unknown reason and I've been wondering what to do with it.  Maybe I'll do this.  (That's right, I'll buy all these other ingredients just so I can use up a 1.99 can of cranberry sauce.  That's how I roll. 😉 )

[Cozytea]

I have been loving Katie's recipes.  I also want to say how cute she is with the messy ponytail.  I don't mean that cute just bit messy hair bun. You can tell it's real lol. It's funny because you cut to her still pregnant and cooking, her is so shiney and straightened  and make up on. I love that she looks comfortable. 

Edited October 17, 2020 by Cozytea

[Toothbrush]

I thought that Jeff's squash queso sounded horrible, but Katie's pumpkin chicken chili looked good & I plan to try it. I've made Alex's candy cups with cookie butter - so good! Ava's attitude about the Dracula donuts was hilarious. I have a 13-year old & 2 almost 11-years olds & I they would totally react the same way. One of my 10 year olds likes to say she would have found something funny,cute,etc back when she was in "single digits" lol 

14 hours ago, Cozytea said:

I have been loving Katie's recipes.  I also want to say how cute she is with the messy ponytail.  I don't mean that cute just bit messy hair bun. You can tell it's real lol. It's funny because you cut to her still pregnant and cooking, her is so shiney and straightened  and make up on. I love that she looks comfortable. 

She definitely looks like a mom to a newborn lol Lumberjack Gus was so cute!

[buttersister]

Ended up watching some old eps, but not for too long. Instantly reminded why I hated their in-studio antics, loud (Katie + nails on chalkboard) voices, laughing too loudly, trying to up each other, mugging for the damn camera--or whoever was in the "audience." Painful. Stay home. Cook. Make recipes I want to try (Katie's meatloaf, not kidding). Thanks.

[bichonblitz]

The last home episode Geoffrey was in a totally different kitchen. Maybe he has two homes. One in the city and one in the burbs. One had a modern white kitchen and the other one he is usually in has a dated kitchen. It was distracting me. It doesn't take much. 

On 10/14/2020 at 11:25 AM, Ashforth said:

I thought that Katie's turkey meatloaf made with stuffing mix looked and sounded delicious.

I have tried several of Katie's meatloaf recipes. They are all delicious. 

[Irlandesa]

I made the turkey meatloaf on Sunday.  It is very good.  My sweet potatoes, however, looked like a hot mess. I have no knife skills.