The Chew and chile rellenos

[Jenise]

Bob and I turned on the TV to catch a little CNN news with our lunch just a bit ago, and the TV had been left on network ABC so up came The Chew. Wouldn't have watched--never have seen but a few minutes of a few episodes, each of which managed to have some turn-off so major I quickly changed the channel. Today was no different, except that I was so dumbfounded I had to stay through a commercial break to see how something going very badly turned out, suspicious that they'd never serve what I saw. What was going badly was Michael Symon making chile rellenos. First of all, he crammed the chiles so full of cheese they looked like grenades. Secondly, his batter was all wrong. On camera he put a little flour in the already-whipped egg whites, then folded in the yolks and the rest of the bowl of flour. So much flour that it wasn't even a batter, just barely wet clumps of flour. Of course, the relleno couldn't adhere to it, but did he admit or acknowledge that was a problem? No, he just put the chile with what clumps--looked like popcorn--would stick to it in a pot of oil to deep fry. After the commercial? There he is pulling perfectly smooth rellenos out of the oil, obviously subbed. Egregiously dishonest. He claimed he learned how to make them from an aunt in Texas but I'm betting he's never made them before in his life.

What a joke that show is.

Bob and I turned on the TV to catch a little CNN news with our lunch just a bit ago, and the TV had been left on network ABC so up came The Chew. Wouldn't have watched--never have seen but a few minutes of a few episodes, each of which managed to have some turn-off so major I quickly changed the channel. Today was no different, except that I was so dumbfounded I had to stay through a commercial break to see how something going very badly turned out, suspicious that they'd substitute better specimens in the meantime. What was going badly was Michael Symon making chile rellenos. First of all, he crammed the chiles so full of cheese they looked like grenades. Secondly, his batter was all wrong. On camera he put a little flour in the already-whipped egg whites, then folded in the yolks and the rest of the bowl of flour. So much flour that it wasn't even a batter, just wet clumps of flour--looked like popcorn. Of course, the relleno couldn't adhere to it, but did he admit or acknowledge that was a problem? No, he just put the chile with what clumps would stick to it in a pot of oil to deep fry. After the commercial? There he is pulling perfectly smooth rellenos out of the oil. Egregiously dishonest. He claimed he learned how to make them from an aunt in Texas but I'm betting he's never made them before in his life.

What a joke that show is.

Too bad. If he had admitted he messed up, he could have explained what the problem was, why it happened, and how to avoid repeating it. That would actually be a learning experience rather than just watching someone go through the motions improperly with an apparently perfect result.

We all know that the cooking shows are all about entertainment and personality. The people who tune regularly are never going to try to make those recipes and most have never tasted any of those foods that are not served in a fast food or chain establishment. Most of these shows are a joke.

[Jenise]

The people who tune regularly are never going to try to make those recipes and most have never tasted any of those foods that are not served in a fast food or chain establishment. Most of these shows are a joke.

So true; it's just that early on, they pledged to be different. The show was supposed to be for people like you and Mike and me who DO know the difference and the others could come along for the ride. But it hasn't turned out that way. They must be making a pile if its worth it to them to show up every day and act like its great putting on an act for a customer base they don't actually respect.

Speaking of such things, was under the weather yesterday morning which is the only time I watch daytime TV besides catching the news at lunch sometimes. And I stumbled over a show called The Kitchen. I might have kept surfing except that one of the five hosts was Geoffrey Zackarian who I adore. The others were a guy I recognize as having won a Food Network star contest, the chick who was once married to Billy Joel (no idea what her food credentials are) and two other women I didn't recognize, but all made up a very agreeable whole who could go from food topic to food topic, including a folding technique for puff pastry that I'll definitely use. No makeovers, no fashion tips, and a minimum of silly stuff--at least in the last 20-25 minutes I saw. Wouldn't tune in every day, mind you, but it didn't seem as idiot-based as The Chew.