Christopher Kimball's Milk Street - General Discussion

[enoughcats]

On 9/26/2019 at 7:26 PM, Sew Sumi said:

insufferable

And the recipes are on our website.  B.S.  Part of the recipes are on your website....like the first two ingredients.  The rest of the ingredients are only available to member. 

Gosh, gee whiz.  May your path to the hereafter be well marked for the first two stops and then you come to the "the rest of the path is only marked for our members"

[biakbiak]

10 minutes ago, enoughcats said:

And the recipes are on our website.  B.S.  Part of the recipes are on your website....like the first two ingredients.  The rest of the ingredients are only available to member. 

Currently most of season 2 and the aired episodes of 3 are all available in their entirety through various dates in 2020. You have to submit your email address but it’s free. 

Edited October 3, 2019 by biakbiak

[biakbiak]

The Lebanon episode illustrated why I roll my eyes every time Chris insists what is and isn’t authentic because he acted like raw meat kibbeh wasn’t a thing when it very much is a thing. I get that they aren’t really into wanting to deal with all the health disclaimers of eating raw beef or lamb but it felt so disingenuous given how he always makes such a big deal about being authentic. 

[buttersister]

Oh yeah. It's this show's version of his ATK opinion that "weird" and spicy foods aren't as good as Ye Olde American fare. Until he needed a new spin for a mag, TV show and travel write-off.

[Terrafamilia]

I found it interesting that Chris finally discovered the sheet pan dinner but he did so via Nigella Lawson rather than perusing the magazine stand or online cooking blogs.

[biakbiak]

I made the Lemon Almond cake from the Paris pastry episode and I copied the recipe weird so I ended up putting in two tablespoons of lemon juice in the actual batter and not all if it in the syrup and it was the perfect amount of lemon for me so it turned into a happy mistake!

[biakbiak]

I am apparently on a Milk Street kick and made the Argentinian stuffed pork loin for a friend’s birthday and it was a hit and I will definitely make it again. Super easy (I made a different chimmichuri ) and I rolled it a day ahead of time so it was great for entertaining. Will definitely do it again.  

[StatisticalOutlier]

I'm trying to watch this show, but two things are sending me away. 

1.  I was complaining about Bridge's constant use of "go ahead," as "I'll go ahead and add the cardamom," or "I went ahead and preheated the oven."  It drives me insane, and someone warned that it was even worse over on Milk Street.  I didn't notice it at first, but two (both?) of the men do it.  I first noticed it with the shorter guy with black glasses, but then another guy is doing it too.  I wish both would go ahead and stop it.

2.  Is there a contractual obligation to start at least 30% of sentences with "Chris"?  It really grates.

[Mellowyellow]

I got a HUGE kick seeing Erika Bruce one of the presenters on a REALLY old episode of ATK! So he did managed to poach someone! 

[BigBingerBro]

I received an offer to get Milk Street print and online access for $1 for 12 months.  Does anyone get the print magazine? Do you recommend it?

[chessiegal]

I wouldn't give Chris Kimball one penny of my money, so no.

[biakbiak]

I just go to the website when a new season starts airing and look to see if I find any of the recipes interesting and download them to my recipe app if I do. They cycle through what is and isn’t behind the paywall fairly often so I have never had to pay for a recipe I wanted and managed to get them all from their site so neither subscription appeals to me.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 1/1/2020 at 11:40 AM, StatisticalOutlier said:

2.  Is there a contractual obligation to start at least 30% of sentences with "Chris"?  It really grates.

Quoting myself here...

It's mainly the white girl with long brown hair and bangs.  Maybe it's just a tic of hers, but she said "Chris" eleven times during her segment on the show where they did Tuesday Night Italian.  The other two on the show did it just a couple of times, but I think even that's more than on ATK. 

[AllAboutMBTV]

My Milk Street Drinking Game (of ANNOYANCE) is counting how many times Josh M says "...go ahead and add" (or stir or pour or grind). In the recent Moroccan lamb, er, chicken recipe he said it THIRTEEN times. Just say "add" or "pour" or whatever!! Gah...

[biakbiak]

Paraphrasing but Chris’s “People don’t like lamb so we will make our millionth chicken thigh recipe,” is so annoying! Not everyone has to love every dish and maybe people don’t like lamb because they haven’t had a good recipe to use it in!

[Bastet]

59 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Paraphrasing but Chris’s “People don’t like lamb so we will make our millionth chicken thigh recipe,” is so annoying!

Yes!  I liked America's Test Kitchen in spite of on-screen Chris, not because of him, but I gave this new show a shot and quickly relegated it to something I keep on in the background after ATK.  So I often don't pay much attention to it.  To the extent I don't follow this show's topic, and only wound up here by mistakenly clicking on the ridiculously-unidentified "next unread topic" link after reading an ATK post and coincidentally landing here.

That episode had me rolling my eyes at his nonsense.  It's true; there are a good number of people who don't like lamb.  I happen to like it, but, more importantly, that's what the dish calls for.  Why not make your best version with lamb, and note chicken thighs could be substituted for those who don't like it/don't even want to try it?

It's particularly annoying because he was always so myopic in his tastes on ATK, so with his history it inevitably comes across as "this is usually made with a meat enjoyed by many around the world, but some Americans aren't readily familiar with it, so we're making it with chicken."

[dubbel zout]

10 hours ago, biakbiak said:

maybe people don’t like lamb because they haven’t had a good recipe to use it in!

Maybe people don't like lamb because they aren't buying baby lamb! It has to be under 6 months to be that sweet and delicious flavor. Anything older and it starts tasting gamey, at least to my preference. 

Shut up, Christopher Kimball.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 2/5/2020 at 12:11 PM, AllAboutMBTV said:

My Milk Street Drinking Game (of ANNOYANCE) is counting how many times Josh M says "...go ahead and add" (or stir or pour or grind). In the recent Moroccan lamb, er, chicken recipe he said it THIRTEEN times. Just say "add" or "pour" or whatever!! Gah...

Check out my post about 5 above yours.  Apparently the short guy with glasses is Josh M.  I can't remember--does he use it in the past tense, like Bridget on ATK does?  "I went ahead and greased the pan."  Arrrrggggghhhh.

I wish Chris would get a pair of glasses that fits, so he's not pushing them up his nose all the time.  You can see that the temples don't hit his ears in the right place.

[chessiegal]

14 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I wish Chris would get a pair of glasses that fits, so he's not pushing them up his nose all the time.  You can see that the temples don't hit his ears in the right place.

He doesn't need new glasses, he just needs to get the part that goes behind the ears adjusted. I helped my husband pick out new frames last week, and he complained all the frames weren't bent enough going behind the ears. I told him they can adjust that for you. Sure enough they did.

[Yeah No]

14 hours ago, chessiegal said:

He doesn't need new glasses, he just needs to get the part that goes behind the ears adjusted. I helped my husband pick out new frames last week, and he complained all the frames weren't bent enough going behind the ears. I told him they can adjust that for you. Sure enough they did.

I have that problem and it's not because I haven't had them bent enough, it's because with most glasses, when they're bent enough not to slide they hurt my ears or my head.  And it won't matter how many times I have them adjusted in different ways.  My present glasses don't give me that issue, but it's hard for me to find a pair that doesn't.  I wear contacts most of the time anyway and have done so for 43 years!

[StatisticalOutlier]

Even if he were to get his glasses adjusted, I think the temples on his are too short, so there's not enough length to give a sufficient bend in the right place.  I think he needs to seek out a pair that has long temples (just like I need to seek out ones with short temples).

In the new episode about Paris, he pushed them up several times just during the short interview at the beginning.  I like to think the editors cut it that way on purpose because it does make him look like a doof.  Or they want to give us an alternative drinking game to
Chris" or "go ahead and."

Glasses not fitting right is something I can't help but notice.  Maybe it's because I didn't need them until I was in my 20s, so I was never a kid who doesn't care or notice how they fit and just got used to it. 

But I joined the millions of myopics in the 1980s, when giant glasses were in style, and giant ill-fitting glasses on someone who doesn't have low expectations of comfort are just terrible.  So I'm with @Yeah No--contacts for (only) 39 years now, and fortunately with glasses that don't actively kill me (Costco titanium frames), but still get deployed only very occasionally.  If I had to wear them all the time, there's no way I'd have some that have to be pushed up constantly, especially if I had a TV show.

[Yeah No]

8 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Even if he were to get his glasses adjusted, I think the temples on his are too short, so there's not enough length to give a sufficient bend in the right place.  I think he needs to seek out a pair that has long temples (just like I need to seek out ones with short temples).

I noticed that too and I agree.  Mr. Yeah No bought a pair like that despite my telling him they weren't the right size for him and now he rarely wears them and has already replaced them.  I think like my husband, Chris probably fell in love with that particular style and so didn't think about how they really didn't fit him well enough.  Gone are the days when most people bought their glasses in a real optometrist's office, who brought out the pairs for you to try on themselves based on your particular measurements and the measurements of the frames themselves.  In most places I've gone in recent years (save for one really high priced old fashioned place) picking out frames is self-service and no one even looks at the measurements anymore.  And the stores are more than willing to sell you any pair you pick out whether or not they really fit you.

[chessiegal]

Well dang, now I can't unsee Chris constantly pushing his glasses up. In the episode I just watched, he did it 15 times in a 25 minute show, and he wasn't always on camera. It looks to me like his side pieces are too short.

I started wearing glasses in the 4th grade. I wore contacts as an adult until I needed reading glasses, and they became a pain to keep handy. Plus I have severe astigmatism, so I went to bifocals many years ago. Fortunately, I don't have any trouble finding glasses that fit.

[BigBingerBro]

Maybe it's just a nervous tick?

[Christina]

I could not find this thread. hmmpft.

Milk Street has made several online cooking classes free through April. I haven't watched any so I don't know if there is any registration required or if they are worth it or not. 

https://www.177milkstreet.com/school/classes/online-classes

[biakbiak]

Nicole Byer from Nailed It! was on the latest podcast and as someone who has been watching Chris since 2001 when ATK started it was without the most charming and enthusiastic I have ever heard him! 

[Terrafamilia]

I've noticed that they seem to have stopped giving the precise quantities of all the ingredients. I guess they want to drive viewers to the website to get the recipes instead of taking them straight off the show.

[letusprocrastinate]

I'm the whiter shade of pale on a good day, but is it my TV or does Milk Street not have a makeup budget?  Or are they deliberately making them look like that?  Because an episode I just watched had a guy with a neck that had seen the sun and a face that looked like it had zinc sunscreen on it.  And Chris practically blended into the background at times.

[AllAboutMBTV]

Quote

I've noticed that they seem to have stopped giving the precise quantities of all the ingredients.

I know someone who works at ATK, and I've begged him to ask the producers to give precise measurements for things like onions and carrots (spices they measure precisely). Instead of saying "add one chopped medium onion" say "add one cup of chopped onion." I live in California, and nearly all the onions I see at Safeway or independently owned markets are nearly the size of my two fists and can in no way be what they mean by "medium." (Russet potatoes are even bigger; I can occasionally find small shallots). I only see what I would call medium-size vegetables at farmers markets anymore. I often have the same complaint with recipes in the NYTimes and other publications, both print and online. Give the actual amount needed, not some vague non-measurement that varies from person to person!

Also: Nice home kitchen, Adam!

Edited January 13, 2021 by AllAboutMBTV
Edited to all: Oops, at the end forgot I was in the Milk St. thread not ATK

[Mermaid Under]

Quote

My Milk Street Drinking Game (of ANNOYANCE) 

Love this.  If I drank (which I don't) I would take a swig every time someone said "Here on Milk Street we always..." use spoons, or some other thing that is so obvious everybody already knows it.    It always feels like they are trying to 1 - make sure everybody knows that they aren't those other shows that Kimball used to host and 2 - imply that they've been around longer than the two or three years since Kimball was ousted from those shows.  

Edited May 1, 2021 by Mermaid Under

[dubbel zout]

I hate-watch Kimball and enjoy it immensely, heh. My favorite part of every show is the montage at the end where he tells the Italian chef that he (the chef) adds a bit of an ingredient and then all of it, and the chef replies, "I believe that you should be generous when you cook," and Kimball has this sheepish "Yes," as if he's reluctant to admit that it's not all about what he's doing.

[chessiegal]

What cracks me up is when Kimball says "we" travel to x, y, z to bring you whatever. I picture Kimball flying first class while the film crew is in steerage. Sometimes I think he started this company so he could go globe trotting for free.

[dubbel zout]

He's always strangely passive-aggressive when he talks to J.M. Hirsch, the editorial director of Milk Street. Kimball is always making snarky comments about where's he's traveled, as if Kimball isn't the one approving those trips!

[Terrafamilia]

Does anyone have any info on the current status of the magazine? I haven't seen a copy on the newsstand (Barnes & Noble) for quite some time.

[Kelly]

On 6/26/2021 at 8:37 PM, Terrafamilia said:

Does anyone have any info on the current status of the magazine? I haven't seen a copy on the newsstand (Barnes & Noble) for quite some time.

I have a subscription, and have been receiving it without any problems.  I received the Jul/Aug 2021 Issue last week.

Edited June 29, 2021 by Kelly

[AllAboutMBTV]

Dear Milk Street Creatives: Please, by all that is holy, stop with the slow-motion cinematography. I'm pretty sure we all know what oil being poured into a pan or kosher salt being added to a dish looks like. Stop giving me reasons to yell at my TV! (Really, the show drives me nearly batty, but I keep watching it because every third blue moon they offer a really fantastic recipe that I make over and over again.)

[Iguessnot]

On 12/22/2020 at 7:46 PM, Terrafamilia said:

I've noticed that they seem to have stopped giving the precise quantities of all the ingredients. I guess they want to drive viewers to the website to get the recipes instead of taking them straight off the show.

Thanks for the heads up although it has taken over a year to respond.  I had my Tivo automatically recording these shows. When I finally starting looking at some of my recordings and seeing that indeed they stopped filming the details of the recipes, I stopped all future recordings. That is slimy behavior. 

 

[Terrafamilia]

Heh, I just saw an episode of Cook's Country today where they crammed in a quick 1 minute or so demonstration for wacky cake, no quantities given.

Back to Milk Street, I'm liking that along with the usual Covid adjustments, in addition to their regular crew of cooks, they've also been having presentations from cooks from around the world preparing dishes from their country's cuisine quite separate from the usual traveloguing with Chris.

[dubbel zout]

I watched an L.A. taco episode today, and it was hilarious to watch Chris try to say something positive about a taco he clearly didn't like. I think one reason was it was very spicy, and we all know he's a total baby about heat. (He's better than he used to be, but he's still a wuss.) I am curious why he didn't taste things off camera first to make sure he would like the tacos.

On another note, Sam Fore is finally wearing her hair pulled back. It drove me nuts to see it draped over one shoulder, where hair could fall into the food. I wonder if they got enough viewer complaints about it that she started tying it. Heh.

[chessiegal]

Watching an episode that must have been filmed during COVID lockdown. All the presenters are alone in the kitchen.

[scriggle]

Watching an episode right now and they're making Risi e Bisi. They said we'll start by making the vegetable broth. They then demonstrated this by adding carrots, celery, and onion to chicken broth and water. Just huh?😮😕😱

[chessiegal]

Well, they said "vegetable", not "vegetarian". 🙄 🤣