# Recipes from cooking shows that don't work out. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607 "2011-03-05T19:20:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/41 "2011-03-07T22:16:45Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > Yeah, you do have to mince the onion very, very finely- I do mine so that they basically melt into the sauce and there are no pieces at all, just a hint of onion flavor. I’ve made his mac n cheese many times, but the last time I made it, I cooked the roux on too high a heat and browned it too much. The whole thing ended up brown instead of it’s usual orange, and was curdled, kind of. But that was obviously my bad, not Alton’s. Grate the onions…yes, you CAN grate onions. Just watch your knuckles… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/42 "2011-03-07T23:12:20Z")
Well, we’ll see how this pot roast comes out. It’s stewing on the stovetop in a Dutch oven (I don’t feel like doing it in the oven), otherwise the recipe is the same as [this](http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pot-roast-recipe/index.html). The sauce tastes great, so far. I’m having a hard time seeing where this is going to go off the rails. The recipe iteslf gets 4/5 stars on the website, so I’m pretty optimistic it’ll be fine. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/43 "2011-03-07T23:20:29Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > Grate the onions…yes, you CAN grate onions. Just watch your knuckles… Yeah but go quickly, It demolishes many more of the cells, and increases eye sting many times.. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/44 "2011-03-08T03:53:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Well, we’ll see how this pot roast comes out. It’s stewing on the stovetop in a Dutch oven (I don’t feel like doing it in the oven), otherwise the recipe is the same as [this](http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pot-roast-recipe/index.html). The sauce tastes great, so far. I’m having a hard time seeing where this is going to go off the rails. The recipe iteslf gets 4/5 stars on the website, so I’m pretty optimistic it’ll be fine. It turned out fine, although it took a lot longer than in that recipe: nearly 5 hours on the stovetop. After two, it was still rock hard. At three, still pretty tough, but starting to break down. At four, edible, but not quite there. Just right at five. It took unusually long, but this was the only piece of blade chuck they had at the store, and it wasn’t particularly well marbled–I’m used to pot roasts being done at 3-4 hours normally. I cannot imagine 3-3.5 hours at 200F being anywhere near long enough, even cooked in foil. So, I’ll give you guys that, even though the recipe does say “or until a fork pushes easily into the meat.” As for the overall dish, I honestly don’t understand the bad reviews. I’m not saying that to be contrarian, it really was delicious–good enough to put into the rotation with other pot roasts and stew-type dishes. The SO, unprompted and not knowing why I was making this particular dish, commented that she “really liked the sauce” and literally licked her plate clean. Were I to do this again, I would just do it as a straightforward stew, using my favorite cut for that application–boneless beef short ribs, and serve it with egg noodles, rice, or spaetzle to mop up all that lovely gravy. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/45 "2011-03-08T04:02:17Z")
I like Laura Calder a lot (too much according to the gf:)) but there’s one episode where she really drops the ball. Her episode on canning and preserving is not just incorrect, it has dangerous misinformation. There’s no mention of sterilizing, no headspace, no proper temperature control. You follow her instructions, you’ll be lucky if you just give your friends salmonella instead of botulism. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/46 "2011-03-08T04:13:54Z")
There’s cooking on Laura Calder’s show? Who knew? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/47 "2011-03-08T04:45:40Z")
It’s funny, I just made picallilo empanadas again because of the flavors just mentioned. Delicious… and two hours after I said dinner would be ready. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/48 "2011-03-08T05:33:53Z")
Bobby Flay had a recipe for ribs that had a peanut butter sauce on them. He made it sound so goooooooooood. So I bought some ribs and followed the recipe exactly Those were the only ribs I have ever thrown out. We went to KFC that night for dinner. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/49 "2011-03-08T07:03:29Z")
Black eyed peas cooked with greens and ham hocks. I followed the recipe exactly as made by Paul and Annabel on Dinner and A Movie (in fact, I have the cookbook) and it was grievously salty from the ham hock. I had to throw it all out. Also, homemade egg noodles as made by Jamie Oliver. He whipped up a batch in about 5 minutes, cutting them into thin strips for cooking. The dough was so hard, so tough, lacking his physical strength it took me forever to roll out flat and hack into pieces (he didn’t use a pasta machine). The noodles were doughy and not very good at all. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/50 "2011-03-08T12:10:57Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > As for the overall dish, I honestly don’t understand the bad reviews. I’m not saying that to be contrarian, it really was delicious–good enough to put into the rotation with other pot roasts and stew-type dishes. The SO, unprompted and not knowing why I was making this particular dish, commented that she “really liked the sauce” and literally licked her plate clean. > > Were I to do this again, I would just do it as a straightforward stew, using my favorite cut for that application–boneless beef short ribs, and serve it with egg noodles, rice, or spaetzle to mop up all that lovely gravy. I think one of the problems may be flavor profile issues. Many people are used to the classic envelope of french onion soup mix and potato/carrot/celery/onion potroast recipe that has been an american standard from the 60s. I normally omit the envelope and just use smashed garlic, pepper and a hefty pinch of Herbes de Province with the cooking liquid being a cup or cup and a half of a good solid red wine [a barberonne works well, or a nice peppery merlot] I think the cumin and olives is what is the flavor problem for a lot of people. > [@salinqmind](#): > > Black eyed peas cooked with greens and ham hocks. I followed the recipe exactly as made by Paul and Annabel on Dinner and A Movie (in fact, I have the cookbook) and it was grievously salty from the ham hock. I had to throw it all out. Also, homemade egg noodles as made by Jamie Oliver. He whipped up a batch in about 5 minutes, cutting them into thin strips for cooking. The dough was so hard, so tough, lacking his physical strength it took me forever to roll out flat and hack into pieces (he didn’t use a pasta machine). The noodles were doughy and not very good at all. I am leery about bean and pig recipes, and tend to omit all added salt, and tastecheck the pig bits for saltiness and sometimes do an extended soak to remove salt from the pig bits first, or change to a less salty version. Noodlemaking is another one of those arts where the product can vary widely depending on the days relative humidity. And just because you didn’t see a pasta machine doesn’t mean that his backstage souchefs didnt use one to prep stuff on commercial break. I pretty much use an atlas pasta mill for everything except spaetzel, choux puffs and quenelles. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/51 "2011-03-08T12:46:40Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > n’t particularly well marbled–I’m used to pot roasts being done at 3-4 hours normally. I cannot imagine 3-3.5 hours at 200F being anywhere near long enough, even cooked in foil. So, I’ll give you guys that, even though the recipe does say “or until a fork pushes easily into the meat.” > y. Call me crazy, but I consider “or until ready” to be a half-hour give or take. Not almost twice as long as the recipe said. Imagine you put it on at 6, for dinner at 9, and instead you don’t eat till after 11? You’d be pretty pissed. Or, at least I would. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/52 "2011-03-08T17:59:38Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Call me crazy, but I consider “or until ready” to be a half-hour give or take. Not almost twice as long as the recipe said. Imagine you put it on at 6, for dinner at 9, and instead you don’t eat till after 11? You’d be pretty pissed. Or, at least I would. Pretty typical around this household. The meat is done when the meat is done. Luckily, stews and pot roasts do very well (better in fact), if they’re done a long time in advance and reheated. It’s not just a matter of absorbing the flavors–it’s the textural change of the meat from when it cools down and is rewarmed. I _always_ do stew and pot roast well in advance if I need to fulfill an exact dinner time. If you cook a lot, you will notice that slow-cooked collagen-heavy meats can vary tremendously in their doneness time. I find almost all recipes for stews and pot roasts to be optimistic. Yes, three hours to three and a half hours usually is enough, but sometimes, the meat just isn’t ready at that time. Joy of Cooking even gives a wide swath of 3 to 4 hours for doneness. The burner may be set lower than usual (note that I did this on the stovetop, which was not Alton’s recipe), the oven temperature may be inaccurate, the meat may just take a longer time than usual, etc. Do note again that I did not follow Alton’s exact foiling method. My intuition is that it wouldn’t be done in that amount of time, under foil, at that temperature, but I may be incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/53 "2011-03-08T18:09:55Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I think one of the problems may be flavor profile issues. Many people are used to the classic envelope of french onion soup mix and potato/carrot/celery/onion potroast recipe that has been an american standard from the 60s. I normally omit the envelope and just use smashed garlic, pepper and a hefty pinch of Herbes de Province with the cooking liquid being a cup or cup and a half of a good solid red wine [a barberonne works well, or a nice peppery merlot]. I would assume this is most likely the case. Still, I was expecting the flavors to be more pungent, especially the cocktail olives, and they actually were quite mellow and blended well together. I really couldn’t tell there were olives and raisins in there: there was just the full “meatiness” of the olives and an unidentifiable sweetness of raisins. It was like an A1 sauce kind of thing going on there. It just surprises me that people who do seem to like that flavor combination didn’t like the final product. At any rate, I’m glad I discovered this recipe. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/54 "2011-03-08T21:42:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > At any rate, I’m glad I discovered this recipe. Me too, if you liked it. Interesting comparison to A1. I’m not a fan of A1 for the most part, either. Once in a while I get a craving for it, and the teensiest microscopic dot on a mouthful of steak is perfect - a slathering like in the commercial makes those glands by where my jaw hinges ache in not a good way, and it actually makes me a little nauseous. So there you have it. Maybe it’s not a terrible recipe, but just has a flavor combination that doesn’t sit well with me. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/55 "2011-03-09T02:22:55Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > One thing about Alton Brown recipes – you have to use the same brand of kosher salt he uses or the measurement is way off – Diamond Crystal Salt. But yeah, his pot roast recipe was not good. Yup, if you measure by volume and use Morton’s instead, [you’d be oversalting the food](http://www.finecooking.com/item/11148/measuring-kosher-salt), if I’ve figured this out correctly. Diamond salt weighs less for a given volume, compared to Morton’s. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/56 "2011-04-19T01:50:41Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Me too, if you liked it. Interesting comparison to A1. I’m not a fan of A1 for the most part, either. Once in a while I get a craving for it, and the teensiest microscopic dot on a mouthful of steak is perfect - a slathering like in the commercial makes those glands by where my jaw hinges ache in not a good way, and it actually makes me a little nauseous. > > So there you have it. Maybe it’s not a terrible recipe, but just has a flavor combination that doesn’t sit well with me. Doesn’t A1 have raisins in it? And I can’t imagine pot roast simmered in A1. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607/57 "2011-04-19T07:10:58Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I would assume this is most likely the case. Still, I was expecting the flavors to be more pungent, especially the cocktail olives, and they actually were quite mellow and blended well together. I really couldn’t tell there were olives and raisins in there: there was just the full “meatiness” of the olives and an unidentifiable sweetness of raisins. It was like an A1 sauce kind of thing going on there. It just surprises me that people who do seem to like that flavor combination didn’t like the final product. At any rate, I’m glad I discovered this recipe. Oddly enough cooking will mellow out vinegary/pickled stuff a surprising amount. We cook with a lot of odd recipes in my house, ranging from medieval to khanate era mongolian to modern. If you get magically popped in at dinner time and we are not expecting anybody you might get a potroast with a medieval flavor profile that may include anything from rose petals through musk through fruits and ‘sweet’ spices [cinnamon, cloves, long pepper, galengal frex] we have learned not to freak the mundanes with strange food:dubious:😃 Dinner tonight was a norman french recipe for chicken calling for apples, saffron, vinegar, egg yolks and sugar. I made it with duck instead. I could have made it with rabbit if I had remembered I had some in the freezer. Most americans of my generation and older were raised in a time when foods were unimaginative for many people [I class myself as classic WASP with some odd exceptions] if it isnt beef, chicken, pig, turkey or _very unusually_ lamb, they will not consider eating it. Rabbit is thumper, venison is bambi, horse is outrageous, dog is absolutely unheard of, duck/goose is what they ate in Christmas Carol, right? [I once got a roommate to vomit 4 days after eating rabbit by telling her the BBQ ‘chicken’ in the fridge was actually leftover rabbit] When I was growing up in the 60s, in the grocery store you could get onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, bell peppers, turnips, lettuce, spinach only in season, fruits other than apple only in season - strawberries, grapes, bananas, watermelon, canteloupe, pears, plums, pumpkin, occasionally raspberries. The stuff that was canned or frozen was pretty much the same - though you can add apple sauce to the list. I am talking about small town america - cities had an actual immigrant population so you might find strange stuff in ethnic neighborhoods stores. If you grab a Betty Crocker Cookbook from the 50s, you can see how bland and boring and whitebread foods were. Heck, I saw a curry recipe from the 50s that called for a scant half teaspoon of curry powder for a pot of curry for 6 people. You can thank the late 60s and interest in other cultures for improving the american diet =) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-from-cooking-shows-that-dont-work-out/573607.md?page=2)