Great God Brown

[N. Sane]

No, not the O'Neill play, although it's my favourite play.

I'm talking about Alton Brown. I keep seeing his name crop up in the cooking threads in tones of near reverence. And I trust you guys, seriously. So last night I used this recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_133,00.html) to make lemon curd. And I followed it to the letter, only it's a sauce, not a curd. And it never thickened up enough so that I could use it to fill the Dorie's Perfect Party Cake that I was making for my sister's birthday. That, of course, meant that I had to fill the cake with buttercream (because the only other thing I had in the house to fill a cake with was strawberry jam, and she's allergic to strawberries), which meant that I didn't have enough buttercream to make pretty decorations. Fortunately, I had some gourmet triple chocolate almonds that I was able to chop up and sprinkle on top and press into the sides, so the cake still came out looking reasonably nice.

This being my first experience with any of Brown's recipes, I'm a little discouraged. The sauce tastes fantastic, don't get me wrong. But the fact that it's supposed to be lemon curd, not lemon sauce, makes me wonder if it's the way the recipe's written, or if it's just me not quite processing the instructions correctly.

Please, share your experiences with Alton Brown recipes and, if you have them, with making lemon curd.

Thanks!!

[Alessan]

I haven't tried vthe lemon curd, but everything I've done of his has been great. His Chewy Chocolate Chip Coookies (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-chewy-recipe/index.html) are the best I've ever had.

There's two things you have remember about Alton Brown, though:

1. His show is about technique, science and history. The recipies themselves are almost incidential.

2. People here don't like Alton because of his recipies, or even because of his food; they like him because he's so damn likable. His show is good, smart, funny television, and it appeals to people - like me - who would never be causght dead watching a cooking show.

[ZipperJJ]

Yeah, what Alessan said.

I haven't cooked anything in about 2 years, and I've only made a handful of Alton's recipes in the 12 years he's been on the air. But I have watched every episode of the show and read a couple of his books cover-to-cover. It's more like Bill Nye the Science Guy than Rachael Ray.

[JustAnotherGeek]

I've come across one or two of Alton's recipes that have either not worked or left me hanging. Considering the sheer number of his recipes I try, a few flops don't bother me. That's the best percentage of good to bad recipes I've gotten from a chef, with only two exceptions. Shirley Corriher and America's Test Kitchen are the only two chefs (or group of chefs) I've never had a flop from. Granted, they both seem to call for dirtying every single frickin' pan in the house, but their recipes work.

These three are my top picks for recipes and books. Alton's the only one who I think is entertaining enough to watch. (Tyler Florence is rapidly becoming a close fourth, though.)

[NicePete]

I'll just jump on the bandwagon here.

AB is all about technique and science. I've tried quite a few of his recipes (or his and his staff's recipes) with mixed results ranging from wonderful to meh. But I've learned more about cooking from AB than from any other source (with the possible exception of my mother and grandmother.)

The science behind the food helps me to understand why things are done the way they are and to make smart cooking decisions on my own. Understanding things like how and why proteins denature or the malliard reactions or why I should brine meat helps me be a better cook with or without a recipe.

Also, the show is funny as hell and AB seems like a genuinely nice guy.