I don't know how many of you follow Top Chef as religiously as I do. But in case any of you out there are obsessed like I am you will understand how terrifying this last episode was.
As I've mentioned before, my favorite is Stephanie. I think she is fantastic, but the past two weeks she has been in the bottom. To say the least, I have been very very stressed.
Thank God that she did not get kicked off tonight! Though I thought it was very likely. Don't get me wrong. I have great faith in Stephanie and her cooking abilities, but her plate this week was just a little questionable. She was safe, however, despite a momentary lapse in judgment of taste combinations.
Mark went home instead. Good riddance. Personally, I had a problem with his cleanliness and organization. It just seemed like he forgot to bathe on more than one occasion!
And HURRAH for Antonia! She is my second favorite on the show, and I have great hopes for her, too!
"You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces- just good food from fresh ingredients." ~ Julia Child
After my last post, something occurred to me regarding the idea of making cooking easier. It was my Dad who pointed out that all of these cooking shows we see these days could be traced back to Julia Child’s The French Chef as a model. It was Julia Child who, besides being perhaps the first television chef and a famously effectual one at that, wanted to make the art of French cooking master-able; to make cooking fine meals, decent meals, meals enough to sustain you through the day accessible to any person.
So now we have endless hours of cooking shows, cooking TV, cook books, books about cooking, celebrity chefs that spread throughout mass media and culture. The plethora of food in the public eye serves to demonstrate the artistry of cooking; to impress with complexity on occasion and entertain with competition (think Iron Chef and Top Chef); to sell a product (see Martha Stewart as a prime and icky example, but any celebrity chef with their own line products and cookbooks will do); to inspire; and most often, to make cooking great food accessible to anyone.
Why is the last service so prevalent? What is its significance? I think, maybe, prior to this culinary outbreak, cooking had obtained a stigma of complexity. Even I, who love cooking and eating, and would now gladly attempt baking a soufflé instead of going to a boring lecture about the fall of the Roman Empire, thought that much cooking, especially anything that required a recipe was bound to have a certain level of difficulty. Seriously though, step-by-step instructions usually suggest an uncomfortable amount of intensity and complexity. The idea of following all of these steps just so I could have some breakfast seemed a little absurd. Until I actually started cooking on at least a semi-regular basis. The more I cook, the easier it becomes. Cooking shows and books work in much the same way. They show you that you need not fear making these dishes. They are not as hard as they look. And if you put yourself out there, you could end up learning how to make a fantastic dinner for you and your friends and loved ones. Just look at Julie Powell from the “Julie/Julia Project”. Sure, she had previous cooking experience. But with the help of Julia Child, and the courage to waste a few eggs and sticks of butter before figuring out the perfect way to cook veal or crepes, she seemed to have become a pretty good cook, and one who had certainly gained confidence in herself and her abilities.
So here’s the lesson. The more you cook, the easier it becomes. Watch a few cooking shows. Even after watching just one you might realize that the stove or the oven is not that scary. I encourage you to try it. Try cooking. I know how good a microwaved chicken potpie can taste on a cold and busy winter night. Instead, try to make one on your own. Or if that seems too daunting, just try sautéing some chicken on the stovetop with some garlic and instant mashed potatoes if you are pressed for time. Pretty easy to make, and equally satisfying and comforting when you need it.
I dare you to bypass the frozen foods aisle in the grocery store, unless of course you are buying ice cream, or if you are very daring, phyllo dough. Make your foods from scratch. You will be pleased, proud, and will have also skipped out on all of the processed badness of pre-packaged food. Sounds good to me!
"A lot of food shows need only to tempt. Some food shows only need to inspire, to empower. And there are a lot of shows that do that. "~ Alton Brown
I recently received a request that I include videos of me in the kitchen so that whoever is reading this can follow- just like on TV! I figured I would give it a shot, just to see how it would turn out. Not too bad actually!
Some friends and I already had plans to bake last night for the Honors Humanities Relay for Life Team bake sale. What a perfect opportunity! So we set up the camera and started rolling. It was a little terrifying and quite awkward, but still fun. The only problem is that halfway through our baking adventure, we stopped filming. We only have pictures to document the finished products now, but please enjoy what film we have!
We made brownies (yummy), chocolate cookies (also yummy, though we did forget to set the timer, ad therefore burnt the first batch just a tad), and cinnamon sugar breasticks (yummiest just because they were an improvised creation.
To Make Cinnamon Sugar Breadsticks 1 cannister/ package of pre-made pizza crust, bread stick dough (Pillsbury) sugar, cinnamon, any other spices you desire cookie sheets Roll out the dough and cut into strip of about 1/2 inch to 1 inch in width. Fold strips in two. Roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Twist strips and lay on cookie dough. Make sure to leave space between the strips, especially if you are using the pizza crust (it tends to rise and expand). Place in 350 degree oven for about 15-17 minutes. Take out, let cool, enjoy!
To the old saying that man built the house but woman made of it a "home" might be added the modern supplement that woman accepted cooking as a chore but man has made of it a recreation. ~Emily Post
I love Top Chef. Absolutely love it! My Wednesday nights are governed by the Top Chef schedule. I have watched with devotion all four seasons. Despite how much I love the show, I admit that there are flaws and overarching issues that really irk me. Mainly, I see a problem in the trend of male winners of the past three completed seasons.
Now, I understand that this is a competition based on skill and talent and the sex of the winner cannot be controlled. But what does it say about the culinary arts, professions, and industry as a whole when female chefs have a history of losing out to male chefs. Does this mean that women cannot cook as well as men? Does it stem from lack of training, or lack of opportunities for training or an arena to display talents?
Whatever the reason, I think that it is extremely ironic that women, who have been so confined to the domestic realm and the kitchen in particular, it is often men who are honored and revered as ‘top chefs’. After all these centuries of cooking, you would think that women would certainly have an advantage over men. It seems, however, that male chefs have managed to turn this daily duty of the home into a successful career that promises prestige and fame.
Look, for example, at the Food Network. I do feel that the hosts/chefs/celebrities/ or whatever you might like to call them are well distributed between the male and female. Take a closer look at the types of shows, then. On one hand we have shows such as Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee, Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller, 30 Minute Meals with Rachel Ray, and Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis. On the other hand we have The Essence of Emeril, Emeril Live, Boy Meets Grill, Tyler’s Ultimate, Good Eats with Alton Brown, and Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Notice anything special? How about the difference between shows hosted by men and women. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love almost all shows on the Food Network, and love watching anything on this channel when I don’t have anything else to do, or don’t want to do anything else. But I can’t help noticing that more shows by women chefs than men are geared towards making cooking easier. Why and how is it that the shows hosted by men seem so intense, filled with complicated and showy recipes and techniques, the science of food, and competition, whereas a large portion of the female chefs are shown in a calm atmosphere in a “naturally” lit set kitchen, easily demonstrating how to make cooking simple enough to handle on a daily basis, while also managing to share lovely anecdotes about their childhood and food. I don’t have any problem with making cooking easier and more accessible to the masses. But seriously, can’t these women add some spice to their shows? All I have to say is, thank goodness for Cat Cora, the Iron Chef who is able to kick some major butt in the intense “Kitchen Stadium”.
And thank goodness for the women on this season of Top Chef, all of who seem very eager to have a woman win the title this time. Stephanie, my personal favorite, is also quite adamant about wanting a woman to win the fourth season. I couldn’t agree more. There are so many talented chefs this season, and I personally much prefer the women on the show to some of the men, who can often come off conceited, or just down right annoying (did you see them in the clip above?). So, personally, I hope that Stephanie wins, and she really has been doing well so far! But whoever ends up in the final 5, 4, 3, 2… I hope the NEXT TOP CHEF will be a woman. It would be about time!
Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words. -Plautus
Yes! Today is my birthday! And what did I do to celebrate? Nothing too spectacular, besides NOT eating at the dining hall. And any time I don't have to eat there, my life becomes a little brighter. Instead we went to an off-campus place: Plato's Diner. Picture a college town diner, with a light infusion of Greek food. Sounds good to me! I got a yummy stuffed eggplant dish. I had never ordered it before, but it was really very good. Picture moussaka, but just baked in a piece of eggplant. Followed, of course, with a desert of baklava.
But we started the birthday celebrations by baking a cake yesterday. Keep in mind, when I say that we "baked a cake" it might not exactly be the picturesque vision you would want to see. First, we had to find our way into the only public kitchen on this side of campus. Second, take notice of the term 'public kitchen'. Available for anyone who can figure out how to get in there. Once we began, we suddenly realized that we had no mixing bowl, no measuring instruments, no mixing utensils. Luckily, it was a Betty Crocker just-add-water mix. With our genius intellect, we just dumped the mix and water into the tin foil pan, and began stirring with plastic forks. The mixed batter looked quite a bit questionable, but we baked it anyways and it turned out looking and tasting okay in the end.
There was only one problem, discovered upon taking the first bite. I am not a huge fan of Angel Food Cake. Even with funfetti baked inside. Oh well. Twas an adventure in any case.
My friends got me a stir-fry cookbook for a birthday present. I told them that when I sneak an electric skillet into our suite next year, I might try one of the recipes. As long as the outlets don't explode from too much flowing energy from the (technically-illegal-to-have-in-the-dorms) skillet. Oh well. That too will be yet another good story to share from my wild adventure of cooking in my non-existent college kitchen. Can't wait!
Good night, and happy birthday to me and any other April 17th babies!
just a little questionable. She was safe, however, despite a momentary lapse in judgment of taste combinations.
s and organization. It just seemed like he forgot to bathe on more than one occasion!
