cooking @ home

… Well, just because you did, that does not mean you should.

Hey, we all love our television cooks. We really do. I’m addicted for sure watching the various cooking shows out there. There’s never been so much info out there. So many different personalities, cooking styles, cooking shows. It’s definitely a golden age. (Who ever thought there would be a summer cooking movie? And yet there are two out!)

But there is a problem or two. First, we tend to forget they’re human and can make mistakes too — though they rarely ever show it. So we think everything they’re doing is perfect. Especially since they can edit and cut and mix and toss away mistakes and reshoot. Children of television as we are, we are all well aware of the production process, however just as we make the mistake of thinking the cooks are perfect (and not regular people), we also figure since the show got all the way onto the air that it’s perfect and caught everything too.

The second problem is our favorite television personalities are rarely cooking at home. They are on a set. They are in a television production envronment. They have big budgets and tons of supplies. Even the one’s who cook at home, still have a garage or trailer full of dishes, utensils, serving bowls and replacement pots and pans that number in the hundreds. That cannot be said about you and I here in the real world.

So, here’s two big things to be very careful of when trying to learn or emulate your TV cook gurus, the one will mess up your stuff, the second is a biggie, it could mess you up, and seriously. Note: Last thing I want to do is pick on someone, or cause a conflict. But when it comes not only to silly mistakes, but things that could really hurt someone by mistake, I have no chioce to take issue and make folks more aware.

Night of at Thousand Pans: I don’t know how often I’ve seen a television cook grinding the meat bits up at the bottom of a non-stick coated pan with a spoon, or a sharp metal flipper, or metal tongs … Trust me .. don’t do it, just because they did! If you do, you will be buying a new pot or pan very soon. That scratch will eventually expand, you’ll see gunk and possible rust underneath, and also your scratches and digs will multiply quickly and it’s trash can it and replace it time. Thing is, a place like the Food Network no doubt has a miniwarehouse with 200 of every kind and make of pot and pan back there, to replace the damaged one with. You and I don’t.

Blenders from Krypton: Here’s another biggie, one that might not merely cost you in terms of replacement, this could even cause damage to other things in your kitchen and quite possibly yourself. Seems in the olden days cooks (The Frugal Gourmet, Jacque Pepin, Julia Child and the rest) would either use a blender or a food processor. Today, cooks of all kinds are using blenders for items that should only ever go into a food processor. Why?

Technology. You and I have either a glass or plastic Kitchen blender or bar blender, you know the kind you make a smoothy or a milk shake with.. But in the last five or tens years technoogy has created Super Blenders (my name for them), that are workhorses with more powerful engines, are more like food processors, and have thick polycarbonate containers that can easily take high heat and internal whacking.

(No joke, while searching for photos on the Net to use for this article of old and “current” blenders, I came across one that said “after the company representative put golf balls in the blender, and later crushed beer cans in it …” I kid you not.)

So here we are watching a show and the cook starts to pour in nuts and clam shells (slight exaggeration for effect) into their blender and turn it on. Or they decide to use the blender to puree a hot soup. No problem — for them.

The major problem is, if we were to try that very same thing with our blenders … from heat or hard elements inside it, our blenders would either crack or warp on the light side, or the contents would completely smash through the glass or plastic, all over the place, including us.

The Great Disconnect

Are the cooks on the boob tube trying to kill off their audience? (In this case, us.) Hell no. They’re just not thinking. (And btw, I blame the show’s producers as much or more. Either way, there’s plenty of blame to go around. I’m just sadly waiting for the first lawsuit to be announced.)

The bad thing is they rarely even warn us anymore. When these professional blenders first came out, some (not all) of the TV host chefs would say this is powerful and maybe “those of you at home watching” should use your food processor. Unfortunately, it’s been years since I’ve heard anyone say it. Yet, they continue to use these super blenders, and we who wish to emulate them or simply try their recipes (that is what they are there for) are going to be in danger.

So, think, be careful. In this day and age of reality television, both the performers and the viewers can easily forget it’s still not the real real world. And that we can’t always do monkey see, monkey do. They are not always going to warn us or be a good example. And when that happens, we have to know the difference and use our own common sense.

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