What are your favorite cooking shows?

[Nancyg56]

I miss all the old cooking shows, too. The ones you mentioned along with Madeleine Kamman, Carlo Middione (Carlo Cooks Italian), Nick Stellino, Ming Tsai, Martin Yan, Maryann Esposito, The Two Fat Ladies, James Barber (The Urban Peasant) Lucinda Scala Quinn (Mad Hungry)....... so many great shows I could list. These days, there's not as many good, solid, cooking shows. Too many contests and competitions! I do watch The Pioneer Woman and Barefoot Contessa sometimes. I watch Tia Mowery. I do watch Top Chef and I also watch any and all of Gordon Ramsay's shows. I understand that the f word is supposed to be coming out here, hope it's as good as the BBC version. I also prefer Master Chef Junior and Chopped Junior to the adult versions.

At any rate, I really miss the old school cooking shows. Too bad there's not a channel with just all those shows on it!

I miss those old school shows too. I forgot Yan can Cook. I do watch Ming Tsai on CPTV I think.

I like the competitions and watch a few of them, but that is not the same.

I used to watch Food Network a lot, but after awhile I got tired to the"stories" that the producers think we all need to know. I don't care how they came up with a recipe, don't want to know the "memory" that they manufactured to go with the recipe, don't want to "know" their family, and for the love of all that is Holy, I do NOT want to see them take a big ol bite, and try to tell me how delicious it is while attempting to keep the food from spilling out. I know it is going to be delicious....would you tell me it tastes like an old boot?

Please just cook. Tell me what you are doing and why. Don't share that your "Sweetie" foams at the mouth just thinking about the food.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

I wish we still had the "originals" from when FN first became popular:

Iron Chef
Rachael Ray (all of her original shows)
Everyday Italian
Good Eats
Throwdown with Bobby Flay (was that what it was called?)
Dinner Impossible/Restaurant Impossible

From these shows, I learned so much about technique and flavor profiles, etc. Which was good timing since that was the time I was in my late 20's and having children that needed to be fed! lol

Nowadays, those shows seem to have gone by the wayside. I don't watch FN so much anymore, but do enjoy Worst Cooks, Food Network Star, Cupcake Wars, and Kids Baking Championship. I loved the Kids cooking star show as well, from a few years ago with Rachel Ray, Bobby Flay, and Guy as hosts. They were so good with the kids! Duff and Valerie are awesome with the kids in the baking show, too - they let them do their thing/make mistakes until the kids are about to break down, then they make sure they step in and make suggestions. I love how the kids will step in and share with each other and help each other out, too. It gives the kids so much confidence and support - so nice to see and so much better than adults who will try to sabotage their opponents.

Shows I dislike:
Chopped
Cake Wars and all variations
Cutthroat Kitchen (most of all!)
Most of the newest winners of FNS shows. Most of them to me are just blah and boring.

 

[Percy Pigg]

Barefoot Contessa is a favorite at our house