The Kitchen - General Discussion

[roughing it]

2 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

we became a family of expert twirlers

I taught my grandsons how to twirl their spaghetti just this weekend!  The legacy lives on...

[chessiegal]

I caught the break the rules episode on rerun. Reminded me of why I don't watch this show. GZ - on what universe would putting coffee grounds down the drain make it smell fresher? Reminded me of a co-worker complaining that his wife read that putting lemons down the garbage disposal makes the drain smell fresher, so she was buying lemons just to put down the drain, not using them for anything. 😄

Lobster mac 'n cheese - what a revelation!/not.

Alex's pasta dish didn't look appealing to me, probably because I don't like butternut squash.

[Gramto6]

Having a septic tank, virtually nothing goes down my garbage disposal! A few crumbs here and there and rinsing off the cat food spoon is about it. Coffee grounds NEVER even if I wasn't on a septic system!

I agree about the butternut squash in Alex's dish, it is a Nope for me!

Lobster Mac 'n Cheese? Yawn! 

[roughing it]

19 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

Lobster Mac 'n Cheese? Yawn!

Mac 'n cheese...yes!  Lobster...yes!  Lobster mac 'n cheese?.....big NOPE for me!

[chessiegal]

I remember years ago when Ina did a lobster mac 'n cheese some posters were appalled! Who would do such a thing! Turns out lots of folks. I remember Hubert Keller showing it as a dish he serves in at least one of his restaurants.

[Westiepeach]

I may be a unicorn but I love lobster mac & cheese! And I do make it sometimes for special occasions!

[annzeepark914]

39 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I remember years ago when Ina did a lobster mac 'n cheese some posters were appalled! Who would do such a thing! Turns out lots of folks. I remember Hubert Keller showing it as a dish he serves in at least one of his restaurants.

Indeed...who would do such a thing to lobster? 😯 Snow crab? OK--the mac 'n' cheese can tone down its saltiness. Years ago I ate lobster boiled, broiled, Newburg style (but still love to eat lobster rolls today). I eat whole steamed lobster now only with a squirt of lemon, to totally enjoy that delicate flavor. One time in a Bar Harbor restaurant (Testa's) after we finished our lobsters, a couple sitting next to us said they were fascinated at how we handled the lobsters. They were from AZ, I think, & said they were too intimidated to order it. We told them to order lobster rolls. No fuss, no mess. 

[chessiegal]

Now I'm craving lobster mac 'n cheese.

I thought the roasted shrimp "boil" looked good. And now I realize I don't know where my roasting pan is. Must have been moved to storage in the bonus room.

[Maverick]

 What. The. Fuck. Is Happening?   I expect Jeff and Sunny to be loud and act like buffoons, but everybody today is acting like they've lost their damn minds.  Especially GZ, who's normally the dour, haughty one.  He's acting like some who ate three Easter baskets full of sugar.  Did they pass out crack-laced brownies before taping? 

[buttersister]

2 hours ago, Maverick said:

Did they pass out crack-laced brownies before taping? 

That might explain the few minutes I watched live. (I record for old time's sake and mostly delete, unless it sounds like there's something to see.) Jeff was making a cake, Katie was making the frosting, Alex is getting off on not being herself and pledging to do that henceforth (cable guide said they were "switching" personalities🙄). Imo, Mauro is usually on crack-laced brownies or some such and the only thing I want to scream at the TV is STFU, Jeff! Hence, mostly not watching.

I may go back and check Katie's salad--or just see if the recipe is on the network.

[FormerMod-a1]

I, on the other hand, really enjoyed this episode.  It was fun watching Geoffrey cook like Sunny and vise versa, and Alex making a sandwich like Jeff, etc.  They mostly weren't trying to "act"  like the others, but they were a lot more loose and fun.  I said mostly, because Jeff was doing am exaggerated Alex when serving the cake and the whole cast was cracking up.   I also thought everything they made looked really good.  I'm going to have look up that cake recipe.

[annzeepark914]

So who was Sunny imitating?

[Gramto6]

38 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

So who was Sunny imitating?

Didn't she make some sort of drink? I guess she was imitating GZ?

[FormerMod-a1]

Yes, but I'd say it was more "making a Geoffrey recipe" than "imitating" him.  Same with most the others, aside from Jeff.

[Gramto6]

I noticed GZ did not even take a bite of the cake but he scarfed down several of Katie's Trough Salad.  He is picking and choosing what to taste, what a jerk!

[annzeepark914]

27 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

I noticed GZ did not even take a bite of the cake but he scarfed down several of Katie's Trough Salad.  He is picking and choosing what to taste, what a jerk!

He should be gone by now due to his not tasting the foods made by his fellow hosts. 

[Gramto6]

1 minute ago, annzeepark914 said:

He should be gone by now due to his not tasting the foods made by his fellow hosts. 

I noticed the camera cut GZ out of the shot maybe because he was obviously not eating any cake. All that showed was his elbow of the hand holding the plate. You could tell when he was back in the frame, he had not eaten any of the cake. 

As obnoxious as Sunny and Jeff can be, GZ should be booted for not even trying the food...

[maggiemae]

I think GZ trying to cook like Sunny was so not real today. He always has his flourishes. Sunny not so much. He can't help himself.

[Leeds]

On 3/25/2023 at 2:08 PM, Gramto6 said:

I noticed the camera cut GZ out of the shot maybe because he was obviously not eating any cake. All that showed was his elbow of the hand holding the plate. You could tell when he was back in the frame, he had not eaten any of the cake. 

As obnoxious as Sunny and Jeff can be, GZ should be booted for not even trying the food...

I wouldn't eat anything Sunny prepared either.

[maggiemae]

I like The Kitchen but not the Jeff show hosting clips of prior shows and being ridiculously over the top.

[maggiemae]

Wow, and even today - especially with recent recipes.

[FormerMod-a1]

Yes, it seems l like every other week is a clip show.

[Gramto6]

I didn't even watch yesterday when I saw in my guide it was another clip show. I wonder if this show is on the way out?

Granted Sunny is busy with the Military Chopped and Alex has 2 shows on with appearances on Chopped, but aren't they fillmed already? No clue what Katie or GZ are up to, if anything TV-wise.  And then Jeff has nothing going on TV besides hosting the clip shows. Why bother pretend this is a viable show anymore??

Edited May 7, 2023 by Gramto6

[chessiegal]

6 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

No clue what Katie or GZ are up to, if anything TV-wise. 

Well, GZ seems to be on one of the shopping channels hawking his wares quite a bit.

[Gramto6]

25 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Well, GZ seems to be on one of the shopping channels hawking his wares quite a bit.

Don't watch any of those channels. Not quite as glamorous as being an Iron Chef or on FN I  guess, but may be making him more $$ in the long run.

[chessiegal]

I don't watch shopping channels either. I just see he's on when I'm scrolling through my online channel guide.

[annzeepark914]

I still wonder why FN is not taking advantage of the ratings, great time slot, by bringing on a couple of new culinary talents. Sunny brings nothing to this show but her howls (and poor loser attitude when they do their fun competitions). GZ is so condescending...and comes across as always bored. I'd sure like to have a show to watch while having a late breakfast on Saturday mornings, but not this annoying mess. 

[Gramto6]

I really feel Michael Symon is way underused by FN. Maybe it is by his choice, but he would make a really nice calming addition to The Kitchen. Drop GZ, Sunny, and even Jeff though he might mellow if Sunny is gone.

I watch Symon's cooking show done in his yard with wife and friend on Saturday mornings and it is so soothing!

Edited May 7, 2023 by Gramto6

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

I didn't even watch yesterday when I saw in my guide it was another clip show. I wonder if this show is on the way out?

I think the opposite.  The Kitchen used to actually have reruns between seasons.  There were many weeks where when they didn't have a new show, they just aired an old one.

But now, instead of reruns, they repackage old recipes into a "new" clip show.  I gather they can charge more for "new" episodes, even with old recipes, than pure reruns.

GZ and Alex also have Chopped. 

 

[Mondrianyone]

11 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

I watch Symon's cooking show done in his yard with wife and friend on Saturday mornings and it is so soothing!

I love this show. And I want that garden. (Maybe if I keep saying that, it'll somehow magically teleport itself into my yard.)

[Gramto6]

18 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I think the opposite.  The Kitchen used to actually have reruns between seasons.  There were many weeks where when they didn't have a new show, they just aired an old one.

But now, instead of reruns, they repackage old recipes into a "new" clip show.  I gather they can charge more for "new" episodes, even with old recipes, than pure reruns.

GZ and Alex also have Chopped. 

 

Yes, they do both have Chopped and they are both great on that show. IMO GZ is not a good fit for The Kitchen. He seems to look down on  several of the participants and will often not even taste their food. He isn't so picky on Chopped.

[Maverick]

 FN is not going to change the hosts while the ratings remain high.   In TV, once you hit on something that works there's a lot of inertia to make any big changes.  They can get all the complaints they want about Sunny, GZ and Jeff but until the ratings go down they aren't going anywhere.

[parrotlover]

I’m not sure if today’s show was a repeat or not, it was tea party recipes and not a clip show. With Mother’s Day being tomorrow the recipes fit in with that though they didn’t mention Mother’s Day that I heard. Everything looked good but of course when Alex made scones that looked really good, his royal highness just looked at the scone handed to him and never took a bite. He did actually taste the tea sandwiches Jeff made and I was floored but I think it was only because he used some kind of French ham in the ham and cheese sandwiches so that made it ok for GZ to take a bite.🙄

[Gramto6]

1 hour ago, parrotlover said:

I’m not sure if today’s show was a repeat or not, it was tea party recipes and not a clip show. With Mother’s Day being tomorrow the recipes fit in with that though they didn’t mention Mother’s Day that I heard. Everything looked good but of course when Alex made scones that looked really good, his royal highness just looked at the scone handed to him and never took a bite. He did actually taste the tea sandwiches Jeff made and I was floored but I think it was only because he used some kind of French ham in the ham and cheese sandwiches so that made it ok for GZ to take a bite.🙄

I got as far as the intro with. Jeff jumping around and wiggling his butt and sticking it out... I think I am done with this show...

Edited May 13, 2023 by Gramto6

[parrotlover]

3 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

I got as far as the intro with. Jeff jumping around and wiggling his butt and sticking it out... I think I am done with this show...

Yeah I had forgotten about that. Or tried to block it out!

[maggiemae]

Sunny was really picking on Jeff today.

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, maggiemae said:

Sunny was really picking on Jeff today.

How did that go over?  I’ve never seen Sunny pick on him.

[Irlandesa]

I actually enjoyed today's episode.  It was one of the few theme episodes where the recipes made sense and almost inevitable as opposed to squeezed in with some weird backstory to justify their inclusion which is how I normally feel about the theme episodes.  

On a tea tray, you almost have to include tiny sandwiches, scones and have a progression from more savory to more sweet. They did that!

10 hours ago, parrotlover said:

With Mother’s Day being tomorrow the recipes fit in with that though they didn’t mention Mother’s Day that I heard.

One other thing I liked about today.  They did mention it at the beginning and at the end of the episode but they didn't belabor it.

[Leeds]

The Kitchen was on when I turned on the TV so I watched for a bit.  Does Sunny not even pretend anymore?  Katie Lee was showing how to make a "flower" from a cut pepper and the others practiced it.  Except Sunny, who didn't even have a pepper on her chopping board, but did find time to take some weird utensil out of her apron pocket to reach over and taste something in the middle of the demo.  WTH?  Are her knife skills so poor she can't even slice a pepper?

[annzeepark914]

1 hour ago, Leeds said:

The Kitchen was on when I turned on the TV so I watched for a bit.  Does Sunny not even pretend anymore?  Katie Lee was showing how to make a "flower" from a cut pepper and the others practiced it.  Except Sunny, who didn't even have a pepper on her chopping board, but did find time to take some weird utensil out of her apron pocket to reach over and taste something in the middle of the demo.  WTH?  Are her knife skills so poor she can't even slice a pepper?

Every Saturday morning I find myself wishing this show had some new chefs/cooks. I'm a late riser so 11:00 is perfect for me to watch a show while having brunch. Just can't bring myself to endure GZ, Sunny & Jeff. Heck...*we* could go to that studio & put on a good cooking show!!

[Gramto6]

I had it on, but hardly watched it. I couldn't even tell you what anyone made...it made that much of an impression on me. I really don't know why I even bother any more. I think reruns of NCIS or whatever else is on would be better entertainment at this point.

[StatisticalOutlier]

Y'all remember when Alex was confounded by the can of biscuits or whatever that she didn't know you open by whacking it on the counter and was apparently too embarrassed to ask? 

Shades of that the other day, when Katie Lee was making a Texas funeral cake and tasked Zakarian with sifting the flour.  The flour was in a mesh strainer and I noticed he was tapping it on the end of the handle instead of the side of the strainer, because his way seems less efficient/effective.  And I actually thought "Gosh, have I been doing it wrong?"  So he's sifting and sifting and eventually just stopped, leaving some in the strainer.

Katie Lee goes to get it and points out he hadn't sifted all of it and he goes, "You need all of it?"  And she's like yes, I need all of it.  Zakarian said he stopped because he got bored!  He said he does the same thing when he pumps gas--stops before it's full because he's tired of holding the handle.  (In another thread here there was a discussion about pumping your own gas and I think New York doesn't have the kind of pumps with the little lever to pump without holding onto it, and I think he lives in New York--during the quarantine weren't they at a house he has near Niagara Falls?)

Anyway, he may have started sifting again (I can't remember) but Katie took over and she was whacking the strainer on the side, and Sunny noted that she's always whacked it on the side, too.

Then at the end, Zakarian says, "I've never sifted flour before."  So instead of asking how to do it, he chose to try to fake it. 

Interesting that the two real chefs couldn't bring themselves to ask how to do something when confronted with an unfamiliar task.  Shoot--Alex should be proud she doesn't know how to open a can of biscuits.  And Zakarian--I still remember he thought you could use wax paper in an oven if you didn't have any parchment paper, so he obviously doesn't bake, so I don't understand why it would be embarrassing to admit he doesn't know how to sift flour; no shame involved if something isn't in your wheelhouse.

[buttersister]

Quote

nteresting that the two real chefs couldn't bring themselves to ask how to do something when confronted with an unfamiliar task.  Shoot--Alex should be proud she doesn't know how to open a can of biscuits.  And Zakarian--I still remember he thought you could use wax paper in an oven if you didn't have any parchment paper, so he obviously doesn't bake, so I don't understand why it would be embarrassing to admit he doesn't know how to sift flour; no shame involved if something isn't in your wheelhouse.

Yeah, the guys don't stop to ask directions when they're lost either. Alex sounds petrified of showing she doesn't know everything.

Thanks for reinforcing my choice to stop watching this clown car.

[annzeepark914]

I'm truly dumbfounded that two culinary school trained *chefs* don't know how to open a can of biscuits and sift flour... especially the sifting of flour. That would be included in any baking/pastry class. I keep wanting to watch a cooking show at 11 on a Saturday morning as I'm having a late breakfast. But I can still hear all the loud voices that turned me off forever several months ago (+ the sight of GZ not eating several foods prepared by his fellow show hosts). 

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, annzeepark914 said:

I'm truly dumbfounded that two culinary school trained *chefs* don't know how to open a can of biscuits and sift flour... especially the sifting of flour. That would be included in any baking/pastry class. I keep wanting to watch a cooking show at 11 on a Saturday morning as I'm having a late breakfast. But I can still hear all the loud voices that turned me off forever several months ago (+ the sight of GZ not eating several foods prepared by his fellow show hosts). 

I hate to say it because I like Alex and Geoffrey just fine, but both of those acts just reek of snobbery.  I don’t know how to open a can of biscuits; I don’t know how to sift; I find sifting this long to be boring… I know they didn’t say those exact things but it sure came across that way and I mean, come on!!!  

[StatisticalOutlier]

21 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I hate to say it because I like Alex and Geoffrey just fine, but both of those acts just reek of snobbery.

I don't know...neither one really acted like it was beneath them, although in Alex's case, everybody else jokingly kind of jumped on that bandwagon.

And Zakarian really was sifting incorrectly, I think.  If you whack on the end of the handle, the energy has to pass through the length of the handle before it gets to the strainer, plus it's just awkward positioning.  (I'm no expert, though--the only sifting I've ever done was with one of those things that looks like a coffee can with a handle on the side.)

I confess I thought it was kind of funny when he admitted he stopped because he was bored, and he didn't realize Katie Lee would need all of the flour.  Even I know that baking requires a lot of precision in measuring ingredients, and I know the one she was "making" was going to be swapped out, and they don't actually say how much they're using of any ingredients (to drive traffic to the website, I assume), but still--baking is not where you can short an ingredient just because you got bored.

Also, some tidbits.  Katie Lee went to a high school that had a fancy new cooking department (she took a course called something like creative baking) and one of her teachers told her she'd never make it in the business.  Zakarian majored in economics in college.

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I don't know...neither one really acted like it was beneath them, although in Alex's case, everybody else jokingly kind of jumped on that bandwagon.

I agree.  I don't think it's snobbish to never have had to open one of those things.  There are people who just never had to open them because it wasn't part of their lives growing up.  I only know how to open them because my mom made one dish that used them.  If it weren't for that dish, I wouldn't know either.

4 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I confess I thought it was kind of funny when he admitted he stopped because he was bored, and he didn't realize Katie Lee would need all of the flour.  Even I know that baking requires a lot of precision in measuring ingredients, and I know the one she was "making" was going to be swapped out, and they don't actually say how much they're using of any ingredients (to drive traffic to the website, I assume), but still--baking is not where you can short an ingredient just because you got bored.

I thought it was funny too because sh really doesn't need it.  And to be fair to him, some recipes tell you to sift the ingredients after you've measured and others have you sift the ingredients before you measure.

[HyeChaps]

I use a spoon on the seam to open those biscuit tubes.

[chessiegal]

If you let the can of biscuits sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes, they almost open themselves.

[StatisticalOutlier]

3 hours ago, HyeChaps said:

I use a spoon on the seam to open those biscuit tubes.

That's how the directions on the tube say to do it.  Which makes me wonder if the official directions used to be whack it on the edge of the counter, or if that's just what people did despite the directions.