Good Eats (Alton Brown)

[Trekker4747]

I remember the show being mentioned in a food thread in MISC a couple of months ago - I think it was USS Triumphant who linked to the YooToob videos where Alton makes biscuits and gravy. Before I knew it I was engrossed and became a fan.

The Sawmill Gravy/Sauces and Gravy in General Episode.

 

[ITL]

^ And once again I got drawn in an watched the whole thing....

 

[Trekker4747]

^ And once again I got drawn in an watched the whole thing....

Ditto.

I say again that it's just great how Alton doesn't just cook, tossing a recipe at you he teaches you how to cook. The equipment segments with "W" are always great (only room for ONE uni-tasker in a kitchen!) and Alton says in his book that he doesn't mind promoting one company over another.

AB, I'm a fan for life.

First episode of his I saw was one where he made pizza shortly after my parents' cable company picked up Food TV (a network I always scoffed at) and I was just drawn in and hooked from the moment it started. I was fascinating with his teachnig techniques and degree of geek-culture.

 

[Cutter John]

His deep fried turkey episode has always been my favorite.


Pt. 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E270Qx5OpxU

 

[Admiral_Young]

I became a fan of Alton Brown and Good Eats two years ago while recovering from my first foot surgery and have wanted to make a number of his recipes, unfortunately haven't had an opportunity to yet. The recipe I most want to try is the home made peanut butter one. I'm having an odd time finding Spanish Peanuts (which IIRC Alton said were the best) and he made it look so easy lol. Food Network is an obsession of mine...a fan of several programs, my favourite being Guy Fieri's Drives, Diners, and Dines!

 

[ToddKent]

But sometimes I just laugh at the lengths he goes to in order to make his "good eats." Last night I watched one on "Spaghetti with meat sauce." In my house, spaghetti with meat sauce is a nice 1 hour dish, utilizing 2 pots/pans and maybe 5 major ingredients (spaghetti, ground beef, onions, garlic, bell pepper, crushed and diced tomatoes). Alton's spaghetti and meat sauce used 3 different kinds of meat (ground beef, ground pork, bacon), probably a dozen other ingredients, maybe 4 pots/pans plus 4 prep bowls, and took him all day.

Yeah I recall his Chicken Wing recipe was somewhat extensive. It required you to cook the wings two different ways (steaming and oven roasting) and recommended you build a custom steaming apparatus made of several colanders bolted together.

It's a cool idea (and I'm sure they tasted good) but it's a little more effort than I'd like to put into chicken wings.

 

[Trekker4747]

But sometimes I just laugh at the lengths he goes to in order to make his "good eats." Last night I watched one on "Spaghetti with meat sauce." In my house, spaghetti with meat sauce is a nice 1 hour dish, utilizing 2 pots/pans and maybe 5 major ingredients (spaghetti, ground beef, onions, garlic, bell pepper, crushed and diced tomatoes). Alton's spaghetti and meat sauce used 3 different kinds of meat (ground beef, ground pork, bacon), probably a dozen other ingredients, maybe 4 pots/pans plus 4 prep bowls, and took him all day.

Yeah I recall his Chicken Wing recipe was somewhat extensive. It required you to cook the wings two different ways (steaming and oven roasting) and recommended you build a custom steaming apparatus made of several colanders bolted together.

It's a cool idea (and I'm sure they tasted good) but it's a little more effort than I'd like to put into chicken wings.

Sort of like his oil-rig fried turkey apparatus. I've fried several turkeys and managed to do so without any unexpected pyrotechnics or trips to the burn ward.

 

[JustKate]

I gotta say, I am really intrigued by that chicken wing recipe though I haven't tried it yet. Yes, it does take two separate cooking steps, but the fat content is lowered significantly compared to regular wings (I mean, traditional chicken wings are deep-fried and then tossed with a mixture of margarine and hot sauce - not one but TWO kinds of fat!). Plus I dislike deep frying anyway - it makes such a mess. Steaming plus baking sounds as though it would be really hard to screw up.

And as for the fried turkey recipe...I've known plenty of people who almost caught their garage on fire. You don't need Alton's rig, but he's right that you do need to be v-e-e-e-e-r-y c-a-a-a-a-reful.

 

[bigdaddy]

I cook my wings twice too, I thought it was common.

 

[FailedLurker]

I don't think I've ever made a recipe from the show, but I have picked up a lot of techniques and knowledge that I've applied to the cooking I do, and to food in general - what other cooking show did an episode about different cutting techniques, or an episode on knives, or an episode on how to freeze things properly?.

 

[Vicki]

I've got Good Eats a favorite on the DVR. My favorite cooking show. Cooking, humor, and the science behind it all. Not that I actually have any time to cook. But I do really like watching the show.

Also big fan of Feasting on Asphalt and Feasting on Waves.

 

[J.T.B.]

I gotta say, I am really intrigued by that chicken wing recipe though I haven't tried it yet. Yes, it does take two separate cooking steps, but the fat content is lowered significantly compared to regular wings (I mean, traditional chicken wings are deep-fried and then tossed with a mixture of margarine and hot sauce - not one but TWO kinds of fat!).

I am not a particularly advanced cook (like my wife is) but my son loves hot wings and I make the AB recipe every month or two. They are the easiest home wings I have tried, and the best. It is not hard or a big mess, just use a steamer basket inside a saucepan for the steaming. You can pack quite a few wings in there. You have to plan ahead to have time for the hour of cooling, though. It also helps to not make the sauce till your wings are ready to come out of the oven, otherwise the butter might stiffen up on you.

Plus I dislike deep frying anyway - it makes such a mess.

I felt the same but now I only do it outdoors and it's much better. Getting rid of the oil is still a pain, but acceptable.

And as for the fried turkey recipe...I've known plenty of people who almost caught their garage on fire. You don't need Alton's rig, but he's right that you do need to be v-e-e-e-e-r-y c-a-a-a-a-reful.

One of the big mistakes people make is not giving their bird enough time to thaw. Then you have ice flashing into boiling water and steam in the middle of your pot of 375 degree oil, and that's not good eats. My father in law has deep fried turkeys every year for over ten years and never had a problem.

--Justin

 

[bigdaddy]

If you have a back yard and any standing water just dump the veggie oil into the water. It's fine for plants and animals and it stops bugs from breading.

 

[ToddKent]

Also big fan of Feasting on Asphalt and Feasting on Waves.

I really liked FOA 1 & 2. I enjoyed FOW but not nearly as much. I prefer the American Backroads format...but I suppose you can only do that so many times.

 

[Trekker4747]

I gotta say, I am really intrigued by that chicken wing recipe though I haven't tried it yet. Yes, it does take two separate cooking steps, but the fat content is lowered significantly compared to regular wings (I mean, traditional chicken wings are deep-fried and then tossed with a mixture of margarine and hot sauce - not one but TWO kinds of fat!).

I am not a particularly advanced cook (like my wife is) but my son loves hot wings and I make the AB recipe every month or two. They are the easiest home wings I have tried, and the best. It is not hard or a big mess, just use a steamer basket inside a saucepan for the steaming. You can pack quite a few wings in there. You have to plan ahead to have time for the hour of cooling, though. It also helps to not make the sauce till your wings are ready to come out of the oven, otherwise the butter might stiffen up on you.

Plus I dislike deep frying anyway - it makes such a mess.

I felt the same but now I only do it outdoors and it's much better. Getting rid of the oil is still a pain, but acceptable.

And as for the fried turkey recipe...I've known plenty of people who almost caught their garage on fire. You don't need Alton's rig, but he's right that you do need to be v-e-e-e-e-r-y c-a-a-a-a-reful.

One of the big mistakes people make is not giving their bird enough time to thaw. Then you have ice flashing into boiling water and steam in the middle of your pot of 375 degree oil, and that's not good eats. My father in law has deep fried turkeys every year for over ten years and never had a problem.

--Justin

Other turkey-frying mistakes people make are not properly pre-measuring the oil, so it doesn't over-flow when the turkey is put in, using the fryer on or near flamable surfaces and leaving it un-attended.

Frying turkeys can be very, very, safe if you use your head and there's no need to make Alton Brown's oil-derrick rig.

I will say that of his "home-made" appliances he's done the one that has intrigued me the most is the kettle smoker he made using clay flower-pots and an electric hotplate.

 

[Cutter John]

I'd have to go with Alton on this one. turkey fryers and stupidity are not a good combination.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=473QNZss0PM

 

[DBR]

Several years ago, I made his beef jerky using a furnace vent and a fan (I seem to remember not being able to find a cotton furnace vent like he said, so I just went with whatever I could find.) It tasted alright, but I couldn't really get my head around the fact that I was still eating raw meat. No heat at all, no acid in the marinade.

I love his show, it's the last one on Food Network Canada that I still watch, everything else seems to be a 'Flash-bang look at how cool we are when we cook' show.

edit: Oh yeah, and his Baked Brown Rice is the only way I eat my rice now--I used to never eat rice of any kind because I never really liked it, now I make it a couple times a month.

 

[Trekker4747]

Several years ago, I made his beef jerky using a furnace vent and a fan (I seem to remember not being able to find a cotton furnace vent like he said, so I just went with whatever I could find.) It tasted alright, but I couldn't really get my head around the fact that I was still eating raw meat. No heat at all, no acid in the marinade.

Well, as he said that's how "real" jerky originated and there's so much salt and other crap in the meat that eating it "raw" doesn't matter because no bacteria isn't in it anymore.

I did it once too, though I sort of made my own jerky marinade, liked the results -though I too had a hard time finding the right furnace filters.

 

[J.T.B.]

I did it once too, though I sort of made my own jerky marinade, liked the results -though I too had a hard time finding the right furnace filters.

I got some food-grade plastic mesh dehydrator mats to go between the meat and the filters and that's worked great.

I guess it's raw meat in the sense that it hasn't been cooked by high heat, but whatever it is I'll take it.

--Justin

 

[Trekker4747]

I did it once too, though I sort of made my own jerky marinade, liked the results -though I too had a hard time finding the right furnace filters.

I got some food-grade plastic mesh dehydrator mats to go between the meat and the filters and that's worked great.

I guess it's raw meat in the sense that it hasn't been cooked by high heat, but whatever it is I'll take it.

--Justin

Yeah I could certainly see those working well. And yeah the meat is "raw" in that sense. But as he said, using a commercial counter-top dehydrator just cooks the shit out of the meat.