A word about the recipes…

As the cold weather arrives, my cooking gets more inspired – because I spend more time on the treadmill watching the Food Network.  Honestly, I hate running but if I’m wrapped up in a good show, I can happily jog for an hour.  I could never sit and actually watch the Food Network, and I know it seems somewhat oxymoronic to be gaping at food preparation while burning calories, but it works for me. (Jim Gaffigan does a hilarious comedy routine about the food network). 

80% of what I know about cuisine comes from the talented chefs on the food network.  The other 20% comes from my grandmother, my stepfather and my friend Amanda.  My goal is to post 3 recipes per week, and I will have made all of them to ensure they are relatively easy (i.e. can be made in 30 minutes or less, or made ahead of time).  Most of the recipes I make originate from the following places:

Cooking Light – pretty self-explanatory.

William Sonoma – I received a set of cookbooks years ago as a gift and most of the recipes are solid and tasty.

Giada di Laurentis – I love Giada’s modern, clean kitchen (with amazing ocean view) and her healthy recipes.  I envy the fresh lemon tree she probably has in her yard (she uses lots of lemons).  Some people find her chipper demeanor and robotic smile insincere, but she doesn’t bother me.  I imagine that she might be one of those people that you hate in person because everything in her life seems so perfect, but she’s not my friend so I still cook her food.  I wonder how she keeps that trim, petite figure while eating all that Italian food.  I actually saw her in real life at a Sundance event in Park City, and ate a meal she prepared.  I proceeded to get the flu and up-chuck everything I ate, but I don’t think it was her cooking.

Barefoot Contessa – She is hands-down my favorite “culinary engineer” on the food network.  I have never made a recipe that wasn’t out of this world.  I am also jealous of her relationship with her husband Jeffrey, who makes appearances for roasted chicken on Fridays and brings her flowers.  I wish my husband would love me even if I were chubby.  Ina does tend to overdo it on the butter, so you have to take that into consideration during preparation, but her meals are divine.

Anne Burrell – I’ve only recently started to watch her show.  I was a little put-off by the spiky hair and cocky attitude, but she “reveals concise, easy-to-master techniques for the at-home cook” that are easy to follow and delicious.

Chefs who annoy me:

The Neelys – Their food does look hunky dory, but boy is it fattening and while it seems easy enough – you have to remember that there are two of them, so it is actually twice the work for the typical mom in the kitchen.  I also can’t fathom how they can be so cheery while bumping into each other in that kitchen cooking all day.  My husband would have been tied up like a pig and stuffed in the oven after a week of that nonsense.

Paula Deen – She is just so over-the-top sickly, southern sweet I can’t take it.  The NY Times called her a “brassy calorie pusher”.  Sometimes my remote control doesn’t get a good signal in the gym and I can’t change the channel while I’m running so I am forced to watch her show, but, you know y’all, I’ve never rustled up any of her best wishes dishes!  

Sandra Lee’s semi-homemade – I’m pretty sure that Sandra is on Prozac.  No one can be that jovial and have that many table settings without some chemical assistance.  I do like the fact that she includes a cocktail recipe on every show.  She must drink AND take Prozac to dream up some of those concoctions.

Five Ingredient Fix – while the title of this show is alluring – imagine making gourmet meals with only 5 ingredients!  It is misleading.  One ingredient is “lemon, garlic infused olive oil” – hello – that is 3 ingredients right there – not to mention you have to take a lot of time to let the olive oil infuse.  

The Cooking Channel – what is supposed to be an “edgier spin-off” of the Food Network is, quite frankly, just not there yet.  Keep trying.