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Something happened on Food Network this weekend that hasn't happened in at least four years: it debuted a show that was worth watching.
The network -- which isn't a network, by the way, it's a channel. i hate that -- has a reality show going on to find its next star. This is not the show worth watching. On it, they are constantly talking about a culinary point of view. This is season 4, I have watched every episode. No one has had one yet. Some contestants don't seem to realize that television is a medium that requires speaking to convey thought. One contestant thought that a good product to inflict on the American public was a mix of salt and cayenne, because who could do that on their own? One contestant seemed legitimately stunned when the glass jar she was violently beating against the countertop broke, spilling juice over everything. (Read that last sentence again. Think about it. Let me assure you that it actually happened. No, I can't explain it.) The show is a collection of contestants -- I'm sure they are all very nice people -- who are either good cooks or are potential TV personalities. Some have been neither, but no one seems to be both.
Anyway, the show I saw that really seemed to be worth watching was called
Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. I hope everyone starts watching it, because it is the first show in forever that seems to address people who know how to cook, but want to do it better. Or stretch their muscles a little. I really enjoyed the host, Anne Burrell, who seems to have a blast making a TV show.
On Sunday's debut, she made bolognese, which is one of my favorite things of all time. it's a meaty pasta sauce. For the recipe,
click here. Be forewarned, while it's not really complicated, it does take a long time. You have a weekend project now.