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I posted a few weeks ago about this, and now that I have it and watched the whole thing, I wanted to do a full review of it.

The Way To Cook, on DVD is indeed a video version of the classic book of the same name.  The set includes two DVDs, each with three of the six parts of the video series.  Disc One includes “Poultry”, “Meat”, and “Vegetables”, and Disc Two discusses “Soups, Salads & Bread”, “Fish & Eggs”, and “First Courses & Desserts”.

I was mistaken when I said that this aired on PBS years ago, now I don’t believe it ever did.  It was produced by the same people who did Julia’s TV series, but it was designed to be a direct-to-video project, to tie in with the book, and indeed you can see and hear Julia talking about “tapes”.  Lucky for us, we have DVDs now, and you’ll soon understand why!

The content is NOT regular TV show episode-like, it is short segments in which Julia demonstrates a specific recipe or technique.  Each segment is numbered…the “Poultry” ones are in the 100’s, the “Meat” ones are in the 200’s, and so on.  If Julia uses a technique that was demonstrated in another segment, it will say on the screen where to find it.  Now that this is on DVD, it is wicked easy to just go to the menu and find the exact segment you want to see.  Must have been a royal pain when the only way to get this was on VHS tape!  It was harder than getting an instant life insurance quote, back in the days before the internet!

To make things even easier, the DVD set includes a rather thick booklet that includes all of the recipes and techniques that Julia demonstrates in the DVDs.  They all have the coordinating numbers that they do on the DVD, so you can easily find them and follow along.

This set is highly recommended for anyone learning to cook, especially if you need video instruction.  You do not need to buy the book version of  “The Way To Cook” to benefit from it, as all recipes and techniques are included in that booklet.  But if you can afford both, go for it.  The two work together to show you…well…the way to cook!

So I’m not much into talking about food at the moment, being that I was sick all of last week, and haven’t cooked or eaten any.  I’m telling you, who needs a weight loss supplement after a week of being sick like this?  Anyhoo, I’m finally feeling alive again, and was able to go to that beer dinner up in Portsmouth on Sunday night.  But still, no cooking news for a while.

So what do some people do when sick?  Read trashy novels, like this one, called Butterfly, by Kathryn Harvey.  As you can probably figure out from the photo on the book’s cover, this is NOT a nice wholesome G-rated book.  It’s loaded with sex, so if you don’t like this sort of book, then don’t read it.  Srsly.

I first read this book back in the 80’s.  I was working at a bookstore at the time, and one of the other women there had picked it up, and was raving about how good it was.  So I bought myself a copy (we got a 40% discount), and agreed, it was quite delightfully trashy.  I re-read it yet again when I was sick.

Beverly Highland is a self-made wealthy woman who is the mysterious owner of a high-priced women’s “club” called “Butterfly”, located upstairs from a ritzy Rodeo Drive men’s shop.  Membership is restricted to only the most beautiful, wealthy, and powerful women.  At Butterfly, women can experience any fantasies they wish, and yes, they mean sexual.

The storylines alternate between three of Butterfly’s members, Trudie, Linda, and Jessica, each of who has her own reasons for seeking what Butterfly has to offer.  But the main storyline focuses on the life of the mysterious Beverly.

Born Rachel Dywer to impoverished parents, with a twin sister who was given away at birth, the then-homely young girl runs away from home at age 14, after being brutally raped by her own father.  On the roads, she meets a guy named Danny Mackay, who she quickly falls in love with and starts sleeping with.  But Danny is not a nice guy, first, he forces Rachel to live and work at some sleazy whorehouse, while he keeps most of her pay.  He also gets Rachel pregnant, and he cruelly forces her to get an abortion, even though she desperately didn’t want one.  She vows that one day, somehow, some way, she WILL get her revenge on Danny Mackay.

Rachel transforms herself into Beverly by getting plastic surgery, as she begins her climb to the top as a successful businesswoman.  As time passes, she surrounds herself with people who were either screwed over by Danny somehow, or by men like him.  Meanwhile, Danny is on his own ascent to greatness, first by becoming a very successful televangelist, and later, as a Presidential hopeful.  Of course, he’s running as a conservative Republican, speaking out against stuff like prostitution and abortion (two things that he forced upon poor Rachel, what a hypocrite!).

Beverly and her close circle of friends and associates keep a very close eye on the comings and goings of Danny Mackay.  Beverly actually supports his campaign, financially and otherwise; Danny, of course, does not recognize her as homely little Rachel Dwyer.  Beverly is simply setting him up so that he takes his fall from grace from the highest point possible.  As you can imagine, she is seriously pissed at this sleazebag, and it’s well deserved.

You will have to read the book to see how it all goes down…why did she open Butterfly?  Does she succeed in her lifelong mission to destroy Danny?  How did things turn out for Trudie, Linda, and Jessica?  And what about the twin sister?

If you enjoy this book, then you must read the sequel, called Stars.  This book not only continues the war between Beverly and Danny, but the twin sister gets into the picture, as well.  The twin has a rather interesting history of her own, so it’s well worth reading.

If you have kids who can read, do NOT leave these books laying around on the coffee table!  Graphic sexual content, and some violence mean that you should save this for when the kids are in bed.  Enjoy!

A continuation of this post…

I hate the thing more than ever now. Usually I’m good at making risotto, but I made the worst risotto EVER on that stovetop. Either the burner gets TOO hot, so stuff burns, or not hot enough, so that it’s hard to maintain a steady simmer.

I not only had to throw away this risotto, but it looks like I’ll have to toss these lamb shanks I made on that stovetop.  They just didn’t cook up right.  They should have…I almost NEVER screw things up like this.  It HAS to be the shitty quality of this stove.

I can’t afford to go on like this.  Yet another reason that I’ll be using alternate appliances for most of my cooking now.  There is nothing wrong with the oven on this thing, I just have to clean it manually, since the self-clean feature has been known to blow out the computers inside the thing.  I won’t be taking that chance, I can’t afford $400 or whatever it costs to have Sears fix it, and I’m sorry, but I will NOT allow the landladies’ work release workmen into my house to fix it.  And, to answer a question, no, they won’t stay with me and supervise, they often leave these guys in their OWN unit alone.  And then they wondered what happened when  it was discovered that their checkbook had been stolen.

The other day, I came upon this page, which is full of nightmare stories about these flat top stoves.  Ellen, whoever she is, obviously hates these stoves as much as I do now, as do many people who posted on her website.  Yeah, it’s a few years old, but one read of this will talk you out of buying one of these pieces of junk.  Many times, Ellen advised people who rent to buy electric hotplates, as I did, so they could still use various types of cookware, and also still be able to do stir-frys (something that doesn’t work well on the flat-top.

I decided to ask Rick Bayless, who is on Twitter, what he thought of these glass-top stoves.  He’s a celebrity chef, but he’s known for responding to people who ask him questions on Twitter.  So I asked him, and I got this response in less than an hour.

If they are induction, i love them RT @catmommy9 @Rick_Bayless What do you think of those glass-top ranges?

Of course, mine is not induction, it’s radiant.  That’s why it sucks.  I guess the induction burners are the ones that are more sensitive to temperature changes, as with a gas stove.  I’m assuming that Rick does NOT like the cheapy radiant ones, like I am stuck with.

I am hating the stupid landladies more and more with every passing day, for making me have this thing.  There wasn’t anything wrong with the old one, I don’t know what the Sears guy did with it, but I suppose it is gone forever.  Nothing ruins your joy of cooking more than having crappy tools and appliances.

But what would THEY know?  They say they got the same stove for themselves, but they never cook anything.  Their trash and recycling is loaded to the brim with assorted pizza boxes and other take-out/fast food packaging.  And let’s just say that they could both benefit from an alli diet pill, or two or a hundred! Yeah, that’s mean, but not as mean as how they destroyed my joy of cooking in buying this piece of garbage.

I need to win the lottery, soon, so I can get the hell out of this dump and have the kind of stove that I want!

I was searching on Amazon.com for Julia Child DVDs, to see if there were any new “French Chef” box sets out yet (in addition to the three I already have).  And I came about this – The Way To Cook on DVD.

This is apparently based on the book of the same name, and was a six-part series on PBS back in the eighties…although I don’t remember it.  Maybe the PBS station where I was living at the time didn’t carry it.

Anyhoo, I am very much familiar with the book.  I have it, and I’m always saying that if you could only own one cookbook, this would be the one.  In the book, Julia gives simple, step-by-step instructions for basic, or “master” recipes.  And then she expands upon those with variations.  From the description on Amazon of this DVD set, this looks like pretty much the same idea.  So, if you feel you need a little extra instruction beyond what still photos in a book can provide, this would be a great companion to the book.  Just remember that Julia was never into counting calories, so you may want to look for a good diet pill review along with it. But then again, Julia lived to be almost 92 years old, so eating as she did wasn’t so bad, after all!

I ordered it, just because there is not allowed to be a Julia DVD set that I don’t have. I just love her, and can never get bored watching her!

Including meat loaf!

I’ve been collecting the season DVD sets from the PBS cooking series America’s Test Kitchen.  I was recently watching Season 1, which I haven’t seen since it aired ten years ago.  The show has changed somewhat since then, but mostly due to some of the cast coming and going.  The “man on the street” interviews quickly disappeared, and John “Doc” Willoughby left as Science Editor for a gig at Gourmet magazine.  That magazine has since folded, I suppose he’s still working on the website/TV end of the brand now.

During Season 1, they made a Bacon-Wrapped Meat Loaf with Brown Sugar-Ketchup Glaze. It looked awesome, so I decided to try it. I already had the companion book for the first season, so finding the recipe was easy. Although I think they have printable recipes on the DVDs.

Fortunately, this recipe is available online for free.  At the Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen websites, only current content is available free…too see archives of past issues/seasons, you have to either own the book or get a paid membership to the site.  However, it seems that host and Cook’s editor Chris Kimball has not forgotten the older recipes from earlier seasons, as he presented this one last year on the CBS Early Show.

This is a rather awful morning show, but I try to catch Chris’ weekly segments.  They are usually sometime during the 8-9AM Eastern time hour; that information will save you from having to suffer through this horrifically awful show.  Srsly.  If I have to hear either Maggie Rodriguez or Erica Hill point out to the world that they are pregnant, I’m gonna gack.  Yes, we can SEE that you’re both knocked up, do you have to point out out every five minutes?  I can’t wait until they both go on maternity leave.  But then, they’ll come back and do segments about getting rid of belly fat after pregnancy. And endless baby pictures. This sort of crap makes the show even more unwatchable. Only Chris Kimball’s segment is worth bothering to watch.

Anyhoo, here is the segment online, complete with Chris’ tips and recipes for good meat loaf.  You can learn how the test kitchen came up with their recipe, and why some ingredients work better than others.  The test kitchen recipe, the one I made, is the first one on this page.

A few tips from me…if you can’t find ground veal, or it’s just too expensive, use the much less expensive ground turkey or chicken.  I didn’t remember reading the gelatin tip in the book, but it’s probably worth a try if you do not use the veal.  But mine, with chicken, came out just fine without it.

I also could not find any ground pork when I went shopping.  So I used sweet Italian sausage instead.  Hey, it’s basically ground pork with some extra seasoning in it.

Some stores sell something called “meat loaf mix”, which is two parts beef, one part pork, and one part veal, as called for in this recipe.  However, I have found that these pre-made packages aren’t big enough.  To make a decent sized loaf, you need two pounds of meat.  I buy individual packages of each ground meat, weigh them out on a scale, and then I find I have almost twice as much as I need for the meat loaf.  That’s okay.  I just mix the extra meat all together and make spaghetti sauce or something from it.

This meat loaf is easy to put together and very tasty.  Try it!