The Kitchen - General Discussion

[Yeah No]

24 minutes ago, bichonblitz said:

I had a Pasta Granny. I can still remember her at our kitchen table making a well with the flour and beating the eggs in the middle. Her pasta would melt in your mouth. She also made home made ravioli. Nothing else like it on the planet. 

Me too, and whenever I see pasta made that way I think of her.  I remember she'd put the dough in a bowl covered with a towel and tell me not to disturb it because "the dough, she has to rest", LOL.  As a kid I thought that was funny so I used to sing it lullabies.  She used to cut the pasta by hand like GZ did or use the "chitarra", a contraption that fascinated me as a kid.  My grandma was very "old word" and her food was so good our friends and relatives would beg her to bring it to them and give them her recipes.  My mother was a gifted cook but even she looked up to my grandmother.

38 minutes ago, bichonblitz said:

I always wonder what GZ is thinking when he has to sit and watch that revolting slop. 

Haha, me too.

[Mondrianyone]

10 hours ago, bichonblitz said:

I always wonder what GZ is thinking when he has to sit and watch that revolting slop. 

Probably "How soon on Monday before the check clears?"

[Leeds]

Jeff Mauro needs to stay out of the sun.

[Gramto6]

2 hours ago, Leeds said:

Jeff Mauro needs to stay out of the sun.

Jeff Mauro needs to stay off my TV screen!!

[annzeepark914]

50 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

Jeff Mauro needs to stay off my TV screen!!

Yes...but I keep thinking of how nice & subdued he was grilling on his back porch, with his lovely wife taping and precious cameos by Lorenzo.

[Gramto6]

1 minute ago, annzeepark914 said:

Yes...but I keep thinking of how nice & subdued he was grilling on his back porch, with his lovely wife taping and precious cameos by Lorenzo.

Yes indeed he was, but in the kitchen set, he is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

[bichonblitz]

16 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

Yes indeed he was, but in the kitchen set, he is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

The male version of Sunny. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 8/7/2021 at 12:21 PM, chick binewski said:

As my palate has developed over the years I've moved from the Ruffles tuna shovel to Wavy Lays

Just for the sake of completeness, I'll report that a couple of days ago I tried Wavy Lays as a tuna shovel, and I agree that it's excellent.  I normally like to do head-to-head taste tests (I have a root beer one in the wings), but didn't want to have a bag of Ruffles and a bag of Wavy Lays in this two-person household, so I tried just the Wavy Lays and it's a keeper.  Thanks for the recommendation.

Also, a while back Katie Lee suggested using lentils instead of ground meat for stuffed peppers, and I tried it, although I cooked up dried lentils instead of using a can like she does.  And I used my own recipe and not hers--I just substituted lentils for meat.

I think I missed the meat, but Mr. Outlier didn't, and said this version was actively good.  Huzzah!

I'm sure this is not earth-shattering for real cooks, but I think this is the first time I've ever actually made a dish that I saw on any cooking show. 

[chick binewski]

53 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Just for the sake of completeness, I'll report that a couple of days ago I tried Wavy Lays as a tuna shovel, and I agree that it's excellent.  I normally like to do head-to-head taste tests (I have a root beer one in the wings), but didn't want to have a bag of Ruffles and a bag of Wavy Lays in this two-person household, so I tried just the Wavy Lays and it's a keeper.  Thanks for the recommendation

They really work, right?? So glad the taste test paid off.

And frankly I think our chip shovel discussion has more culinary value than some of the stuff we've seen on The kitchen lately. 

[Mondrianyone]

2 hours ago, bichonblitz said:

The male version of Sunny. 

Sunny and Windy. I wouldn't be sad if they took their act on the road.

I wish he would stop auditioning. Whatever he wanted to be, this is his gig now. Calm down and grow up already.

[novhappy]

Missed opportunity!  I had a scoop of tuna salad for lunch today and didn’t use a tuna shovel! I used a fork like an unimaginative nobody... well there always tomorrow.

[Gramto6]

I really need to put tuna and wavy lays on my shopping list!!

[annzeepark914]

On 8/15/2021 at 2:38 PM, Westiepeach said:

Quoting myself to update. I made this pasta, and I also added fresh basil from my garden. It is DELICIOUS! I high recommend it ~ if you are thinking about making it… do it!

I made Alex's blush pasta sauce and it was delicious. But it was a bit too rich for me (even though 1/4 of the cup of cream was Half & Half).  I'll try it again but will use the H&H only. My cherry tomatoes were not sweet so after I cut them in half, I sprinkled a little sugar on them. Geez...now the cherry tomatoes are getting to be as tasteless as the regular size tomatoes.

[Yeah No]

2 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

I made Alex's blush pasta sauce and it was delicious. But it was a bit too rich for me (even though 1/4 of the cup of cream was Half & Half).  I'll try it again but will use the H&H only. My cherry tomatoes were not sweet so after I cut them in half, I sprinkled a little sugar on them. Geez...now the cherry tomatoes are getting to be as tasteless as the regular size tomatoes.

I forgot to report that I made it too and yes, it was delicious.  I used half and half, torn basil and thin spaghetti instead of angel hair.  It's a definite keeper of a recipe.  I sometimes find it difficult to find cherry tomatoes because grape tomatoes seem to have taken over most supermarkets.  I did find them and they were beautiful but I also found that they weren't as sweet as they used to be.  I also bought locally grown heirloom tomatoes and they weren't as sweet as they used to be either.

[annzeepark914]

After making this dish, I made an Executive Decision: no more angel hair pasta! I don't like the way it clumps and it also sticks like glue to everything (anything it comes in contact with on the stove). Thin spaghetti is thin enough for me. 

[roughing it]

I don't like angel hair pasta either.  I always swap it out for thin or regular spaghetti.  I recently made Ina's pasta with cherry tomatoes, garlic and basil, which calls for AHP, and I used spaghetti.  It was quick, easy and yummy!!

Edited August 26, 2021 by roughing it

[buttersister]

I’ve found that cooking smaller amounts of angel hair/capellini—and not overcooking it—isn’t a problem—not true for larger amounts. C’mon, Alex, you can offer that up;-)

Edited August 26, 2021 by buttersister

[annzeepark914]

I just wish I could find vermicelli in stores around here. Haven't seen it in several years. Anyone else here have this problem finding vermicelli?

[Gramto6]

1 hour ago, buttersister said:

I’ve found that cooking smaller amounts of angel hair/capellini—and not overcooking it—isn’t a problem—not true for larger amounts. C’mon, Alex, you can offer that up;-)

I happen to like  angel hair pasta. As a diabetic, I shouldn't be eating it anyway. But occasionally I splurge.  I buy a brand on Amazon Colavita Angel Hair nests from Italy. I make 2 nests at a time which gives me 2-3 meals. The trick is not to over cook it. This is done in just under 3 minutes. Save some of the cooking water to thicken the sauce used at first serving and for the leftovers.  Really love lemon butter pasta and this works great!

Edited August 26, 2021 by Gramto6
typo

[Yeah No]

19 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

After making this dish, I made an Executive Decision: no more angel hair pasta! I don't like the way it clumps and it also sticks like glue to everything (anything it comes in contact with on the stove). Thin spaghetti is thin enough for me. 

I agree with @Gramto6 that the brand makes a difference.  Colavita is good but also good are Barilla and DeCecco.  These brands tend to be denser and more substantial so they don't tend to clump and glue as easily.

Another trick is that as soon as it hits the colander and the water drains, hit it with a little olive oil or butter.  Just a little, enough to make it not stick together.  Also being careful not to overcook it, or to undercook it a little.  In this recipe it finishes cooking in the sauce anyway.  I actually didn't use a colander to drain the pasta for this recipe.  I took it out little by little with tongs and put it straight in the sauce, so there would be no opportunity for it to start sticking together.

[chessiegal]

I have a pasta fork that works well for scooping out strands of pasta.

[buttersister]

In Alex’s recipe, she writes, “Add the pasta and cook, stirring with a slotted spoon to make sure it does not clump or stick to the bottom, until al dente,”

 I agree. Stirring is the secret to no-clump pasta as adding fat to the water slicks the noodles, so they don’t cling as well to the sauce. 

Stirring once or twice works so well I’m able to cook pasta in minimal water in a large skillet, giving me super starchy cooking water for the sauce. Love the ease and control of tongs for removing noodles into sauce and for serving.

[annzeepark914]

The brand I used was De Cecco and on the box it mentions how it was dried (I thought that was odd). I've cooked AH pasta before and never had it stick like glue to *everything*. I used a pasta fork to scoop it from the pot. Just looked at the box and it says "Slow Dried", as if it's a new & improved process.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2021 by annzeepark914

[chick binewski]

On 8/26/2021 at 12:50 AM, Yeah No said:

I sometimes find it difficult to find cherry tomatoes because grape tomatoes seem to have taken over most supermarkets.  I did find them and they were beautiful but I also found that they weren't as sweet as they used to be.  I also bought locally grown heirloom tomatoes and they weren't as sweet as they used to be either.

I love garlic but I think I tend to use it even more to make up for the lack of flavor in tomatoes. I've been buying the Campari tomatoes - they remind me a bit of what the now elusive cherry tomatoes used to be. The only grape tomatoes I've had that have any flavor are the Nature Sweet from Aldi.

I think the purveyors for Jersey Mike's and my local Greek takeout have the market cornered on slicing tomatoes bc I cant find a decent one anywhere else.

 

On 8/26/2021 at 7:05 PM, Gramto6 said:

I happen to like  angel hair pasta. As a diabetic, I shouldn't be eating it anyway. But occasionally I splurge.  I buy a brand on Amazon Colavita Angel Hair nests from Italy. I make 2 nests at a time which gives me 2-3 meals. The trick is not to over cook it. This is done in just under 3 minutes. Save some of the cooking water to thicken the sauce used at first serving and for the leftovers.  Really love lemon butter pasta and this works great!

I've only seen the Colavita pappardelle nests locally (which are perfect for bolognese) - I'm going to look for the angel hair,  which I mostly just use for pasta with crabmeat at this point.  

On 8/26/2021 at 6:23 PM, annzeepark914 said:

I just wish I could find vermicelli in stores around here. Haven't seen it in several years. Anyone else here have this problem finding vermicelli?

When I was a kid my mom would send me to the pasta aisle and tell me what to get by the number. I haven't seen #10 vermicelli in a while; although I find capellini every so often I think thin spaghetti & angel hair have taken over. 

[Yeah No]

Finally, a new season obviously filmed in the warm weather!  Sunny looks much better.  Everyone looks refreshed and the recipes were halfway decent too.  As usual it's either Alex or GZ's recipes that interest me.  I have all those tomatoes and now I have a way to use them.  Will add some mozzarella, though.

1 hour ago, chick binewski said:

When I was a kid my mom would send me to the pasta aisle and tell me what to get by the number. I haven't seen #10 vermicelli in a while; although I find capellini every so often I think thin spaghetti & angel hair have taken over. 

Can I kvetch about that?  When I was a kid we only had 2, maybe 3 brands of pasta in the store - Ronzoni, Prince and maybe a store brand.  The imports back then weren't so easy to find so we used to buy them in the Italian neighborhood markets.  But because of that you could find a lot more varieties of pasta per brand in the supermarket.  Now because there are so many brands on regular supermarket shelves they've limited the varieties to only the most popular ones to conserve on shelf space.  So it's harder to find some of the more interesting stuff like Radiatore and vermicelli by the numbers.  And since the pandemic it's gotten even worse.  I used to see thin linguine available more often and now I haven't been able to find it in over a year.  All I see are spaghetti, rigatoni, ziti, angel hair and regular linguine.  Sometimes the house brands carry more of the interesting stuff as do the imports but it's very sporadic at best.

[chick binewski]

3 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Can I kvetch about that?  When I was a kid we only had 2, maybe 3 brands of pasta in the store - Ronzoni, Prince and maybe a store brand.  The imports back then weren't so easy to find so we used to buy them in the Italian neighborhood markets.  But because of that you could find a lot more varieties of pasta per brand in the supermarket.  Now because there are so many brands on regular supermarket shelves they've limited the varieties to only the most popular ones to conserve on shelf space.  So it's harder to find some of the more interesting stuff like Radiatore and vermicelli by the numbers.  And since the pandemic it's gotten even worse.  I used to see thin linguine available more often and now I haven't been able to find it in over a year.  All I see are spaghetti, rigatoni, ziti, angel hair and regular linguine.  Sometimes the house brands carry more of the interesting stuff as do the imports but it's very sporadic at best.

I know! It's become an adventure to find tagliatelle - sometimes I even have to cross my fingers for bucatini. All because Publix thinks I need five different brands and a gluten-free option of farfalle (with that annoying pinch that almost never cooks through).

[Refresh]

On 3/24/2021 at 9:36 AM, Kathcart said:

When Alex first showed up on Food Network it was with her own show, Alex's Day Off, which was what they call a stand-and-stir show. Just Alex, cooking and talking, with weird background music I personally found slightly porn-y.

 

This is from many pages ago but I'm catching up on The Bitchin' here. ;) 

Yes! Her show was weirdly sexual. And back then FN was more conservative and one note and than it is now (now it's 2ish notes). Didn't she use the word "naughty" a lot?  I certainly understand that there can be overlap in language between sexy things and food but yes, it was bizarre. 

I prefer them in the studio. Maybe I have no soul but I wasn't into the family cameos, especially the kids. If I wanted to watch a kids cooking show, I would, but I don't. We already get the "untrained" perspective from Sunny -- who I don't despise as much as most posters do here -- especially when she uses highly processed foods. I did like the at Home shows in how they didn't rely on swap outs - the dishes being made in real time but cut down for time with editing. 

Edited August 29, 2021 by Refresh

[orangekit]

I like a lot of Alex’s recipes and I have blight some of her prepared foods which are very good, but can she cook any more unhealthy ? 
I think food thar she l cooks is good  for a splurge , but I follow her on Instagram and she is the saturated fat queen !

And now her daughter who is 13 and seems like a very smart kid is cooking the same very unhealthy food all the time too .  It’s no wonder her daughter looks so much older . She is so big she looks way older . It’s sad to see a kid that young already looking so unhealthy . Does Alex not see the connection between constant high calorie food and saturated fat and the fact her child is having a hard time losing weight even though she is expresses a desire to lose weight. It’s not really about looks , she should look however she likes to look, but it obviously bothers her since she states it does , and more importantly it’s super unhealthy .

[buttersister]

Word of the day is vibe. (Twice each from Alex and Katie, may have been more).

Chili crisps on ice cream was a big 2020 thing, but you Kitchen guys do you.

(I shared a NYTimes tofu chili crisp recipe so good that those tofu-hating friends now make it regularly;-)

[LemonSoda]

On 8/26/2021 at 3:23 PM, annzeepark914 said:

I just wish I could find vermicelli in stores around here. Haven't seen it in several years. Anyone else here have this problem finding vermicelli?

I haven’t seen it or Bucatini on shelves in over a year! I’ve been ordering online. 

[maggiemae]

Seriously...is Sunny going to be screaming from Siberia this season as well?

[Yeah No]

39 minutes ago, maggiemae said:

Seriously...is Sunny going to be screaming from Siberia this season as well?

A grilling episode again and she's the only one allowed to actually grill.  I don't get it. The others aren't allowed outside anymore?  If she's that afraid of being around anyone she doesn't have to be in the scene with them.  They often used to have segments where one cast member was not present.

[LemonSoda]

1 hour ago, maggiemae said:

Seriously...is Sunny going to be screaming from Siberia this season as well?

THIS is a show idea! Sunny in Siberia! 

[Mondrianyone]

So if I understand this correctly, they're all going to be back in the studio as of the next episode? And the reason that Sunny's been giving for staying outside thus far is she's concerned about catching COVID, yes? (Also that her home is her sanctuary, but we know she filmed in her home plenty of times pre-COVID. And if invading her home was objectionable, going into the studio these last couple of months didn't involve being in her home, but she still wanted to distance herself from the others. ) So now that the delta variant is tearing through the population and we have more variants on the horizon--NOW is when she feels safe to go back inside? Somebody tell me where I'm getting it wrong. The assorted cover stories are mixing together. My head is kind of spinning.

This should be interesting.

[annzeepark914]

I just sent a msg to Food Network re: the need to replace the two loudmouths, Jeff & Sunny. If you find them irritating, let FN know. I have a feeling those two could be easily replaced.

Edited September 8, 2021 by annzeepark914

[buttersister]

2 hours ago, Mondrianyone said:

NOW is when she feels safe to go back inside?

Really? Wonder if there was a contract renewal involved? Maybe a nice incentive payment? 

Jeff should do Kitchen Crashers full time. Never seen it, but off you go!

[Yeah No]

20 hours ago, Mondrianyone said:

So if I understand this correctly, they're all going to be back in the studio as of the next episode? And the reason that Sunny's been giving for staying outside thus far is she's concerned about catching COVID, yes? (Also that her home is her sanctuary, but we know she filmed in her home plenty of times pre-COVID. And if invading her home was objectionable, going into the studio these last couple of months didn't involve being in her home, but she still wanted to distance herself from the others. ) So now that the delta variant is tearing through the population and we have more variants on the horizon--NOW is when she feels safe to go back inside? Somebody tell me where I'm getting it wrong. The assorted cover stories are mixing together. My head is kind of spinning.

This should be interesting.

What cover stories are saying they're all going to be back in the studio?  I can't find anything on it online.

[Insert Username]

I wish Alex would stop trying to make her daughter a thing. She may be the culinary genius that Alex claims she is but she has the personality of a jellyfish and absolutely no screen presence. She seems like a nice kid, but I don’t want her in my TV.

[Mondrianyone]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

What cover stories are saying they're all going to be back in the studio?  I can't find anything on it online.

Well, maybe I misunderstood, but that seemed to be what was implied either at the end of the last show or in a promo for the next one. I wouldn't waste a lot of time researching it, though. In two days you'll know one way or the other.

[Irlandesa]

I would be surprise if Sunny's back in the studio or the next episode.  They just started a new season of the show and I'm pretty sure they film those close together.  In other words, if she were to go back, I would have expected her back a few episodes ago.

But you're right.  We will see.

[cameron]

4 hours ago, Insert Username said:

I wish Alex would stop trying to make her daughter a thing. She may be the culinary genius that Alex claims she is but she has the personality of a jellyfish and absolutely no screen presence. She seems like a nice kid, but I don’t want her in my TV.

It's amazing the accolades that her daughter is receiving on Alex's instagram site.  Unbelievable.

[Mondrianyone]

Why is it so amazing? Maybe they think she's a good kid and a good cook. Or maybe they're just nice people who want to boost the girl's confidence rather than rip her apart. I'd say in either case that's admirable.

[chick binewski]

I liked the idea of Alex's pear slaw with chicken, and I'm with GZ on removing the stems when you're adding greens to a pasta dish. GZ did not appear to love Katie's dish, but she looked so happy when he said something nice!

Ok show - when you have the lovely Carla on remotely it only highlights the awkwardness of the cutaways to Sunny. Yesterday's episode was especially grating bc one cast member would reference something, then Sunny would make the same association. Also, Sunnys reaction to the bat got pretty weird.

The show definitely flows better without Jeff. I would love to see Carla on the program regularly. 

[Maverick]

Sunny does not take the pranks as good natured teasing.  She legitimately gets pissed.  Maybe when she calms down she looks at it differently...but I doubt it. 

 The made a point of showing that Sunny is actually on the set's patio and that she was there at the same time.  GZ waved to her through the window.   Did we determine if she had been vaccine and is still afraid or that she's unvaccinated.  If the latter, wonder how that will work with the new mandates.  

 I saw a commercial for her in a new Halloween show that looks like a riff on the Easter show she did.  I know we speculated that the Easter show might have been filmed pre-covid even though it was a year into the pandemic because of how FN tapes.   But this new has to be done post-covid.  So it makes absolutely no sense that she would do those shows but not The Kitchen. 

 At least they're tasting each other's food again. 

 At least they're finally 

[annzeepark914]

1 hour ago, chick binewski said:

The show definitely flows better without Jeff. I would love to see Carla on the program regularly. 

Darn! Wish I'd known Jeff wouldn't be there. I was going to turn it on but thought of him and his studio behavior, and realized that he exhausts me. Wouldn't this show be good with Carla, Alex, GZ and maybe another easy going chef? No vocal fry, no bellowing, no goofiness.

[Mondrianyone]

3 hours ago, chick binewski said:

I would love to see Carla on the program regularly. 

Me, too. She's smart, she's funny, she's a trained chef, and she's not usually a bull in a china shop.

I forgot that she was going to be a guest on yesterday's show, and I deleted the recording after watching about 20 minutes. I'll rerecord tomorrow and FF to her segment.

I'm not even sure Sunny was on the patio while they were taping. All the conversational exchanges had the feel of pre-scripted, pre-taped moments spliced in, but who knows? It looks totally ridiculous (and also deceptive) however they're doing it.

[chick binewski]

1 hour ago, Mondrianyone said:

I'm not even sure Sunny was on the patio while they were taping. All the conversational exchanges had the feel of pre-scripted, pre-taped moments spliced in, but who knows? It looks totally ridiculous (and also deceptive) however they're doing it.

She actually mentioned she was in New Jersey. It's weird bc when they first started filming remotely Sunny had a lot of space - it looked like a big yard behind her with a hill. Now she's in a corner where we can see utility poles when the camera goes too high.

[Mondrianyone]

23 hours ago, chick binewski said:

She actually mentioned she was in New Jersey.

Thanks. I probably don't know that because whenever she speaks, I immediately hit FF.

But then what was that bit where she was waving to them through the window from the patio outside? I swear I don't know why I care about their nonsense. It's like I'm on a mission from God or something.

[annzeepark914]

15 minutes ago, Mondrianyone said:

Thanks. I probably don't know that because whenever she speaks, I immediately hit FF.

But then what was that bit where she was waving to them through the window from the patio outside? I swear I don't know why I care about their nonsense. It's like I'm on a mission from God or something.

We need *somebody* to be on a mission to send the Loud Twins on their way to new shows!

[Mondrianyone]

From your mouth to you-know-whose ears, as my mother always said.

Don't think it'll be happening, though.  😢