October is Dining Month on OnMilwaukee.com. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, special features, chef profiles and unique articles on everything food. Bon appetit!
The OnMilwaukee.com editorial staff shares more than a penchant for words; they all love food, too. (And music and "The Simpsons" and bowling while inebriated, but those are other articles.)
This article focuses on the OnMilwaukee.com staff's favorite television cooking shows. Although they have varying degrees of kitchen mastery, all of the staffers admit to learning a thing or two while watching quirky food experts like Julia Child and Alton Brown.
Here are the OnMilwaukee.com editorial staff's favorite food shows, and feel free to add your own via the Talkback feature.
Molly Edler
Staff Writer
"Good Eats" / Food Network
I’m more prone to reading about food than watching television shows about it, but "Good Eats" is a show that I can watch with my boys and actually be mildly interested in the content. (Unlike most of the other cute-but-boring programs they watch.) Created and hosted by Alton Brown, the show always has a theme and the recipes are usually relatively easy to prepare. Plus, "Good Eats" delves into some of the simple science behind food and provides tips for kitchen appliances. The show gets really corny -- Brown often goes into character to further demonstrate the theme -- but his goofy demeanor keeps my kids’ attention. And I have definitely learned a few tricks from Brown which is a good thing, considering I seem to lack the fine cuisine gene.
Julie Lawrence
Staff Writer
"Louisiana Cookin" with chef Justin Wilson
Despite my love of food, I’ve never really been one to hunker down in front of the TV for a specific cooking show. Justin Wilson’s "Louisiana Cookin’" is the sole exception. I found this Southern bred cook hilarious and, as a teen, found myself constantly repeating his infamous catchphrase, "I guarantee" (pronounced more like, I gar-on-tee!") He’d casually explain how to whip up Cajun culinary traditions and spice up his TV spot with humor (he actually released a few comedy albums, as well as five cookbooks). Wilson died in 2001 at the age of 87, long after his shows went off the air. Hopefully some network gets the good sense to rerun his episodes for generation who missed out.
Drew Olson
Senior editor
"Barbecue University" / PBS
I love cooking outdoors, and Steven Raichlen is the guru of the grill. He's written about 30 books on the topic, including "The Barbecue Bible," which is a perfect gift for dad or any other grilling enthusiast on your list. The meats Raichlen prepares look unbelievably delicious on the show and he goes into exquisite detail about the prep involved. The New York Times referred to Raichlen's 2000 cookbook as "astute, approachable and eminently appealing." That pretty much sums it up.
Bobby Tanzilo
Managing Editor
"America’s Test Kitchen," etc.
I'm a cooking show junkie, so I like lots of them. I'll watch darn near any of them. I make an exception for one on public television called something like "Cooking for the Soul" on which I once watched the host open a box of mac and jack and proceed to make it. I kid you not. She then added her "secret ingredients" which if I recall correctly (and I may not) were more cheese and something else. But, hardly the stuff of cooking shows. I also find Charlie Trotter a little dull, but I'll watch sometimes and think both, "I wish I could taste that" and "I'm glad I don't work for him."
I lean more toward "America's Test Kitchen," because the cooking demos are great but so are the product and food testing segments. I also watch Martin Yan, the late, great Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, Lidia Bastianich, Michael Chiarello, Ming Tsai ... whoever is on, really. Even Sheboygan's Marcel Biro also did a good show for a while on PBS. One especially good series of shows is "New Scandinavian Cooking," hosted by Andreas Viestad, Tina Nordstrom and Claus Meyer features cuisine from Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Those shows are well-produced, fun and with great, simple recipes. Occasionally at lunch I watch Giada DeLaurentis at Whole Foods in the seating area. For the recipes, yes, that's it. The recipes.
Andy Tarnoff
Publisher
"America’s Test Kitchen" / PBS
I don't watch a ton of cooking shows, mostly because they make me feel like an inadequate chef, but I'm generally intrigued by "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS. I find host Christopher Kimball both dorky and annoying, but I'm frequently inspired to cook when I see that even this guy can follow directions. I especially enjoy the "Tasting Lab" and "Equipment Corner" segments, in which experts break down ingredient and gadget alternatives. One time, I became so inspired that I even registered for their Web site to download the recipe of their cracked peppercorn Filet Mignon. And you know what? Following their directions to a tee, I made my wife and me a great dinner.
