Food Show Review
I guess that this it he appropriate forum for me to talk about a new show on FN: Secrets of a Restaurant Chef with Anne Burrell. I saw adverts for the first episode and decided to TiVo it b/c I have liked her on Iron Chef America, and I want to know restaurant-style secrets to make homecooked food a little more polished. Bottom line: I like it.
Today she made Spaghetti Bolognese, a dish that is near and dear to my heart even though mine is far from authentic. She boiled the whole dish down (pun intended) to one thing: Browning. Now, I've been a big fan of the Maillard Reaction my whole life, and I have been a proponent of it since I learned from Alton Brown to call it that. She pureed the mirepois and browned, browned the meat, browned the huge can of tomato paste, and then reduced wine, and then water. Another key secret: Salt. She put a fart-ton of it into her sauce, and it looked GOOD. I'm going to try her recipe tonight. The only spices she used were fresh thyme and bay leaves. Interesting, right? I'll report on the results.
She also did a salad of grilled fresh asparagus with poached egg and grilled crusty Italian bread.
I would eat this in a NY minute, but I would never make it for alot of reasons. I do enjoy knowing HOW I would go about making it, though, if I could get my mate to eat fresh asparagus or if we had a grill.
I like Anne's persona. She's bold, she's a little over-the-top, and she's informative. Sometimes she's a little silly and does kind of a funny voice, so we'll see if she tones that down. I'm going to catch her next show, and I'm going to make one of her recipes. A good first showing from a new face on FN.
Today she made Spaghetti Bolognese, a dish that is near and dear to my heart even though mine is far from authentic. She boiled the whole dish down (pun intended) to one thing: Browning. Now, I've been a big fan of the Maillard Reaction my whole life, and I have been a proponent of it since I learned from Alton Brown to call it that. She pureed the mirepois and browned, browned the meat, browned the huge can of tomato paste, and then reduced wine, and then water. Another key secret: Salt. She put a fart-ton of it into her sauce, and it looked GOOD. I'm going to try her recipe tonight. The only spices she used were fresh thyme and bay leaves. Interesting, right? I'll report on the results.
She also did a salad of grilled fresh asparagus with poached egg and grilled crusty Italian bread.
I would eat this in a NY minute, but I would never make it for alot of reasons. I do enjoy knowing HOW I would go about making it, though, if I could get my mate to eat fresh asparagus or if we had a grill.
I like Anne's persona. She's bold, she's a little over-the-top, and she's informative. Sometimes she's a little silly and does kind of a funny voice, so we'll see if she tones that down. I'm going to catch her next show, and I'm going to make one of her recipes. A good first showing from a new face on FN.