Current Fascination

I've always loved watching cooking shows. The first one I can remember is "The Galloping Gourmet" with Graham Kerr, an entertaining British chap who was a silly, silly man in the kitchen. Imagine my delight when I rediscovered TGG on the new Food Channel (formerly Fine Living). And, even more delightful was learning that Julia Child is on right before Sir Graham. What a hoot!

What's so unique about these two chefs (as compared to the likes of Giada di Laurentiss and Ina Garten, for example) is that a lot of their dishes just don't come out right. The other day Julia tried to make an upside down apple pie and it was a complete mess. Looked more like applesauce than a pie. And Graham's stuff is always sticking in the pan or boiling over. And they both just throw things around left and right, tossing towels, pots and pans onto the floor or into some bottomless pit of a drawer. Julia also has an interesting way of staring off camera into the teleprompter (I'm assuming) and it just makes me think that even though she was a groundbreaking chef in so many ways she might have a hard time on "The Next Food Network Star." Of course, I'm pretty sure these two shows were shot live, so there were bound to be missteps. All the same, it's pretty entertaining.

I like Giada because she's so calm. She manages to do three or four dishes per half hour and she pretty much does all the prep work on camera. Julia is forever saying "Let's pretend that I've chopped this onion all up" or "Let's pretend that I've measured two cups of milk and put it in the sauce." Giada takes things nice and easy and doesn't get flustered because everything is always perfect. Now, who knows? It might take twenty takes to get it right, but the end result is beautiful.

Another new favorite is "David Rocco's Dolce la Vita." Set in Italy, there's really not a ton of cooking, but more of an emphasis on the sweet life that is so Italia. He does manage to throw together some pretty authentic Italian fare and it seems simple and delicious. I think the magic for me is that it's filmed in Florence and some other locations we've visited.

Probably my very favorite chef is Jamie Oliver. I would eat anything he prepared, even if it had mushrooms in it. I first fell in love with "The Naked Chef" and have since happily watched Jamie as he trekked his way through Italy and set up shop in his county home. Oddly enough, I've never bought one of his cookbooks (or anyone else's for that matter). I can get the recipes online. What really intrigues me is technique, because once you get the basics down you can apply it to all sorts of dishes.

So there you have it - my current fascination. My day isn't complete without watching at least one of these talented masters of the kitchen. And, even though we're eating much differently than we used to, I like to think I'm getting better and better at tailoring our food to fit our lifestyle. Like the other day. I made my own sundried tomato pesto because we ran out of Dean and DeLuca's. I looked online at a couple of recipes and then made up my own. Tyler says it's delicious.

Come over for dinner sometime and find out if my fascination/obsession is paying off ...