Cooking Tips You Won't See on Food Network

[FuzzyKitten99]

ETA: Someone mentioned Paula Dean. I hate her. I hate her fake Georgia drawl and her nasty looking food. Real Southern people do not cook like that!! We don't deep-fry everything or drench it all in butter. Honestly, there are few FN 'cooking' shows I can bear to watch...Good Eats, Rachael Ray, Ina Garten, and Anne Burrel's are just about it. Sandra Lee frightens me, Giada is all bobblehead and boobs (bring back Molto Mario!!!!), Guy Fieri is just...lame, and the Neely's seem like sweet people, but again, that's not Southern cooking.

Only Paula can take a one-syllable word and turn it into three...

The thing that creeps me out is the look on her face in every photo she's in. Looks like she just got electro-shock therapy...

I personally like Giada, but then again, being as she is of the same Alma Mater as me, so maybe I see her in a different light than most. I like how she not only shows you what to do, but often explains the 'Why', which many TV chefs fail to do. She actually knows and teaches the techniques and methods vs. just talking about them and using the words to make herself sound credible as Paula Deen does. My husband just likes to watch her, lol. I call her his 'tv girlfriend'.

Anne Burrell---I like her with her cooking and teaching style, but the hair has to change. I think she'd do better with dark hair, and NOT spiky. She kind of reminds me of a real-life Lisa Simpson.

Ina Garten...I have mixed feelings on her. Part of me likes her because she seems like a genuinely nice person and the things she shows you on her show are not too hard yet very elegant and fun. The other part of me thinks she is kind of a fake because she touts her success with the Barefoot Contessa store (it WAS successful), yet not many know she sold the store itself to two employees, they screwed up some stuff, and lost business, then she couldn't agree on lease terms (Ina owned the whole building) with the two employees, and they closed the store permanently. It is rumored she wanted to get the store back in her ownership. Yet she still uses the name in her show and her books. Personally I think this is wrong because she technically does not own the store anymore and was not associated with it for over 8 years BEFORE it closed.

Guy Fieri---Not sure about him as I haven't seen him in anything other than DDD. He seems like he is more of just a host rather than an actual 'chef'. I'll have to look up his professional profile/resume to gain an honest opinion. I do have a fun quick story though is a local BBQ joint about 1 mile from my store was featured on the show last fall. The name is 'Q-Fanatic' in Champlin. The owner Charlie and one of his sons, Zander, are avid cigar smokers and they are a couple of our best and more frequent customers.

[Spork4pedro]

ok a quick veer OT: Do poblanos go by any other name? I've had them many times at restaurants and know the taste (YUM! btw) but everytime I go to find them in the markets around here people (customers/clerks) look at me like I have 3 heads. And the issue shouldn't be a regional thing like other produce. I live in a HUGE mexican/latino community and I still can't find them even in the specialty stores.

back OT:

I also agree with the gloves for cutting up spicy peppers. My bf was making his chilli which has habeneros, jalapenos, and serranos (and SHOULD have poblanos...), and the first time he didn't use any gloves especially w/ the habeneros. He forgot to wash his hands right after and went to the bathroom... THEN (awhile after washing his hands and the previous burning subsided) he rubbed his eyes! Poor guy...

With the FN hosts, I've actually met Guy Fieri and he was just like he is on the show! I didn't care much for his type of food (he came to my work to do a cooking demo) but he was a great guy to hang around!

[FuzzyKitten99]

But for those cooks, like myself, who fly by the seat of their pants, who improvise and change recipes before they've ever even cooked the original recipe, who use measurements like "a palmful" or "a few circles of [whatever] around the pan," thermometers are not quite as necessary a tool. Hell, I wasn't kidding when I intimated that I wasn't sure where my thermometer is...I think it's in the drawer with the scissors, but I can't swear to it. That's how often I use it.

To each their own.

I do this more than often with recipes, but I am mostly talking about cooking meats such as poultry, especially fish that isn't being seasoned with an acid or salt. My goal in mentioning the thermometers is to help avoid undercooked and raw food when the outside looks done enough. I still double check myself every once in a while, just to make sure I am not feeding my family undercooked fish or poultry. As far as steaks go, once you get a feel for how your equipment cooks things, you may not need them. Though if you are using an unfamiliar stove or grill (or other heat source), 'better be safe than sorry 4-8 hours later driving the porcelain bus" as a friend would say.

Well, you said you had details, I wanted to hear details. And you only said WHO, you didn't say WHAT they did or said incorrectly. I am curious to hear what it was. (Especially since I despise Martha Stewart!)

Oh, i don't quite remember all of them as this was a couple months ago but I do remember two specific ones Martha Stewart did: she gave the wrong definition for 'deglazing', and it was WAY wrong, except I don't remember what she said the definition was. The other was saying deep frying in oil was a moist-heat method. It is actually not, as I am sure you know.

[Jarissa]

Idjut Cook tip:

Sod the mixing bowl for bread recipes and for pancakes. Get a nice gallon-sized resealable bag, dump in the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients, remove the air carefully, seal the bag, pretend it's a stress ball.

(Note: It's probably not helpful to have attractive fingernails here, as the goal is to mix the ingredients while pretending to squeeze the life out of a recent irritant, not to dump the ingredients through a hole in the bag all over the frickin' kitchen.)

Once everything's mixed, it's fairly easy to cut the corner off the bag and pour the mixture into your bread pan, or the skillet for pancake-making, or whatever. I hate cooking, but I can't afford a personal chef, so anything that helps me get the job done with a minimum of scowling is a glorious thing.

[Jester]

Giada is all bobblehead and boobs...

I don't really watch Giada's show, but I have seen her on other shows (like Next Food Network Star), and she seems very pleasant and very nice. And yes, she has a bobblehead, but I have to say without question, I would absolutely bang that woman!

Anne Burrell---I like her with her cooking and teaching style, but the hair has to change. I think she'd do better with dark hair, and NOT spiky.

I disagree. I think her hairstyle speaks straight to her personality, and she is one of those people whose awesome personality makes her even more attractive than her looks do. She's a badass in the kitchen, and I love her attitude. AND her hair!

Do poblanos go by any other name?

I don't know why the people in your community are unfamiliar with the poblano. As far as I know, it does not go by any other name, but it is often misidentified as a pasilla. To help you locate it, it might help to tell people that it is the pepper used in a chile relleno (one of my all-time favorite Mexican dishes). The only other name I am familiar with that the poblano is associated with is what it's called in it's dried form, that being the ancho.

I do remember two specific ones Martha Stewart did...

Great. I loathe that woman.

The other was saying deep frying in oil was a moist-heat method. It is actually not, as I am sure you know.

Actually, I did not. But then again, I don't know what a moist-heat method is, or what the term means. Sorry, all I know about cooking I know from my mom, from my own self-teaching, from friends, or from tv. The only thing resembling a cooking class I ever had was a weak home ec class I had senior year of high school, well over 20 years ago. And I remember jack shit about that class.

[lordlundar]

But then again, I don't know what a moist-heat method is, or what the term means.

It basically means the type of heat that's used for the cooking. Moist heat uses a liquid of some form as the primary cooking mechanism (boiling, simmering, poaching are the most common) while dry heat uses either air or a material to cook (ovens, broiling, pan fry, grilling, etc).

Deep frying is often labelled as moist because you immerse the food in oil, but the oil only browns the outside of the food. The real cooking comes from the water inside the food turning to steam and cooking the starch or protein. This means that it's closest relative is steaming, which is considered a dry heat method.

[FuzzyKitten99]

It basically means the type of heat that's used for the cooking. Moist heat uses a liquid of some form as the primary cooking mechanism (boiling, simmering, poaching are the most common) while dry heat uses either air or a material to cook (ovens, broiling, pan fry, grilling, etc).

Deep frying is often labelled as moist because you immerse the food in oil, but the oil only browns the outside of the food. The real cooking comes from the water inside the food turning to steam and cooking the starch or protein. This means that it's closest relative is steaming, which is considered a dry heat method.

Thank you lord.

[Lady Legira]

when cutting up boneless chicken breast - do so before they are completely thawed - the middle should be "slushy" consistency - this makes it easier to slice them rather than have the slimy slip and slide on your cutting board.

I use boneless chicken breast in stir frys all the time, I generally buy it fresh before hand and cut it with scissors. Chicken at any stage should not be slushy! The chicken I use is always firm to the touch even if it's at the cheap end of the market. Wash my hands before and after handling. Might be a little wet to the touch from or slight slimey but definitly not slushy.

I have two pairs of scissors in my kitchen purely for kitchen use. So much easier to cut chicken breasts with scissors then a knife plus so many other uses.

[FuzzyKitten99]

I don't really watch Giada's show, but I have seen her on other shows (like Next Food Network Star), and she seems very pleasant and very nice. And yes, she has a bobblehead, but I have to say without question, I would absolutely bang that woman!

I would too and I'm straight, lol!

[wolfie]

Another one that's my bad:
When using an unfamiliar oven, first double-check all of the dials to see what they are for. My grandma's oven has a oven on-off knob, a type select (bake, broil, etc.) knob, and also a temperature knob. All three have to be set to something for it to work.
Guess what took me a whole day to figure out?

Even if the controls on the unfamiliar oven LOOK the same as on the one you normally use, they may not WORK the same. In cooking class in high school, I ruined something that way. On the stove my family had at the time, to pre-heat the oven you turn it all the way up, then back down to the temperature you want. Both elements come on until it finishes pre-heating, then when it cycles to hold temperature only the lower element is used. On the school stove, once the knob hit the "broil" setting, the top element stayed on until the oven was turned off completely.

My guess is that even if you washed your hands, there was still some poblano residue that would normally have worn/rinsed off in the course of the next couple of hours. But instead, you covered your hands. Which retained the capsaicin. On your skin, whose pores were opening to sweat a little in the latex gloves.....

I think you are almost definitely right, as I didn't start noticing any problems until shortly after I had donned the gloves to start prepping the serranos.

I believe this situation can be summed up as: If the HOTTEST peppers you'll be working with require gloves, put them on before handling ANY peppers.

One "mistaken identity" pepper story I heard about: A "full-service" supplier of peppers to grocery stores realized after they got back to the warehouse that while they'd delivered n varieties of peppers, they'd only delivered (n-1) fancy signs identifying the varieties of peppers. They headed back with the fancy "habaneros" sign, only to find that the grocery store had already put up their own sign (probably guesswork based on the appearance): "miniature bell peppers".

[Jester]

I believe this situation can be summed up as: If the HOTTEST peppers you'll be working with require gloves, put them on before handling ANY peppers.

Lesson learned.

[Cookie]

Oh law. Hot peppers and gloves...I am experienced there. If you're going to be handling them for a long time, you'll want to change your gloves. I used to work an omelet station for 3 hours every morning and fresh jalapeños were one of the ingredients you could request. They were surprisingly popular. After 3 hours, though, the hot stuff had seeped through my gloves one morning just after we had switched to fresh from canned. I didn't realize it yet and then went to the restroom and handled toilet paper...I'll let you figure out the rest. That burned for HOURS.

[Eisa]

They headed back with the fancy "habaneros" sign, only to find that the grocery store had already put up their own sign (probably guesswork based on the appearance): "miniature bell peppers".

Yikes! That would be...rather unpleasant to find out otherwise!

[Jester]

Yikes! That would be...rather unpleasant to find out otherwise!

As I've said before, that's how I first dealt with habaneros....I thought they were just cherry peppers. Couldn't take my contacts out for four days!

[Nyoibo]

I had an experience with mis-labelled chillies, only after I started cutting them up did I discover, freaking oww, it burned under my nails for ages, I ended up soaking my fingers in milk, scrubbing them anout 15 times with all sorts of stuff, not sure what it was but one of them worked as they stopped burning after a couple of hours.