[I'm back! Restarting the blog was a New Year's resolution and now, as we approach the end of the third month of the new year, here I am fulfilling that goal. To my many devoted readers: you're welcome!]
We all know the classics: Ina Garten, Martha Stewart, Nigella Lawson (when you can find her on American television), and the assorted hosts of America's Test Kitchen. All those should be standard fare for the home cook who seeks inspiration from the experts.
But here are a few new finds that Mister Plow and I have come to love. Check them out and maybe you'll get addicted, too!
A Chef's Life - PBS
I discovered the endearing Southern chef Vivian Howard one drizzly Sunday afternoon and proceeded to binge all available episodes. The series chronicles Howard's return to her North Carolina hometown (near Kinston) where she has essentially been bribed by her parents: come home and we'll help you open a restaurant. Each episode features a signature ingredient and several recipes, while also exploring the perils of restaurant ownership (the horror of having to charge for bread service, the heartache of dealing with a kitchen fire), the consequences of career and motherhood (Howard and her husband and business partner, Ben, are the parents of twins), the eccentricities of the local supporting players who help her hone her craft (local farmer, Warren, and veteran home cook, Lillie) and the repercussions of coming home again (Howard sometimes feels like a stranger in a familiar land).
The most recent season follows Vivian through the publication of her first book, Deep Run Roots: Stories and Recipes from My Corner of the South, an absolutely stunning publication replete with beautiful photography, tantalizing recipes, and engaging vignettes. In fact, Mr. Plow is currently in the kitchen working on her Squash-and-Fontina Casserole-Pudding, Sausage Ragout, and Spoon Bread for our Sunday supper. And next Saturday night, we'll be dining at Chef and the Farmer, Howard's award-winning restaurant, the first stop on our Spring Break road trip!
The Pizza Show - Viceland
The Pizza Show was another accidental discovery. Mr. Plow and I don't spend a lot of time watching Viceland, but we couldn't resist the appeal of a show devoted to the one food for which we can stomach no constraints. The pizza featured in each episode is certainly drool-worthy, but the real appeal of the show lies in the unexpected charm of Frank Pinello, the tattooed, hipster-cute host and owner of Best Pizza in Brooklyn.
Season 1 focused mostly on the pizza styles of New York and New England after an inaugural visit to the capital of deep dish, Chicago. Season 2 finds Pinello exploring the pizzas of other parts of the country - from Philadelphia to Detroit to San Francisco. Along the way, we get to experience the local color of each stop along with the close-knit bonds of Pinello's own Italian-American family. (And in keeping with our tradition of eating what we watch, Mr. Plow and I have plans to make a lunch visit to Best Pizza when we visit NYC this coming July!)
The Big Family Cooking Showdown - Netflix
If you loved The Great British Bake-Off and you have mourned its demise, then head over to Netflix and queue up this new, totally addictive variation. Hosted by GBBO champion Nadiya Hussain and British television personality Zoë Ball, this competition series seeks to find the best family of home cooks in Britain. In the preliminary rounds, two families compete each week in three distinct rounds: the £10 Challenge (make two courses spending only £10); the Home Visit Challenge (make a main course and a dessert at home); and the Impress the Neighbours Challenge (make a starter and a main course that will indeed get the neighbors talking - and asking for seconds! The first and last challenges take place in the barn/studio, but the middle challenge allows the families to cook for and entertain the judges in their own homes.
Those judges - Michelin-starred chef Giorgio Locatelli (who wants everything to be "perfect") and cookery teacher Rosemary Shrager (whose commentary might include the question "Who is responsible for this risotto?") - are also part of the appeal: they pull no punches in their honest assessment of the dishes, but they are also genuinely supportive of the home cooks and their successes. And the families - a true melting pot of every imaginable cross-section of British society - are equally charming. Looking for something to binge-watch - this is it!
We all know the classics: Ina Garten, Martha Stewart, Nigella Lawson (when you can find her on American television), and the assorted hosts of America's Test Kitchen. All those should be standard fare for the home cook who seeks inspiration from the experts.
But here are a few new finds that Mister Plow and I have come to love. Check them out and maybe you'll get addicted, too!
A Chef's Life - PBS
The most recent season follows Vivian through the publication of her first book, Deep Run Roots: Stories and Recipes from My Corner of the South, an absolutely stunning publication replete with beautiful photography, tantalizing recipes, and engaging vignettes. In fact, Mr. Plow is currently in the kitchen working on her Squash-and-Fontina Casserole-Pudding, Sausage Ragout, and Spoon Bread for our Sunday supper. And next Saturday night, we'll be dining at Chef and the Farmer, Howard's award-winning restaurant, the first stop on our Spring Break road trip!
The Pizza Show - Viceland
Season 1 focused mostly on the pizza styles of New York and New England after an inaugural visit to the capital of deep dish, Chicago. Season 2 finds Pinello exploring the pizzas of other parts of the country - from Philadelphia to Detroit to San Francisco. Along the way, we get to experience the local color of each stop along with the close-knit bonds of Pinello's own Italian-American family. (And in keeping with our tradition of eating what we watch, Mr. Plow and I have plans to make a lunch visit to Best Pizza when we visit NYC this coming July!)
The Big Family Cooking Showdown - Netflix
Those judges - Michelin-starred chef Giorgio Locatelli (who wants everything to be "perfect") and cookery teacher Rosemary Shrager (whose commentary might include the question "Who is responsible for this risotto?") - are also part of the appeal: they pull no punches in their honest assessment of the dishes, but they are also genuinely supportive of the home cooks and their successes. And the families - a true melting pot of every imaginable cross-section of British society - are equally charming. Looking for something to binge-watch - this is it!
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