Sara’s Weeknight Meals — Wow. This one flew so low under the radar I nearly missed it. (Alas, PBS shows are always like that though, aren’t they? Never any commercials for them. Never any pre-marketing on their own network. You either get lucky looking or you find it months after it’s been on.) Fortunately this new show starts this week.

Celebrity chef and cookbook author Sara Moulton returns to 200 public television stations — check here for location, day and time — on Sara’s Weeknight Meals, her new 20-episode cooking show series. Over 80% of American households can join Sara as she shares everything she knows about getting flavorful healthy meals on the table each weeknight with minimal fuss and maximum satisfaction.

Admired by millions as the host of Cooking Live, Cooking Live Primetime, and Sara’s Secrets, Moulton was one of Food Network’s defining personalities during the outlet’s first decade. Food Network continues to rerun Sara’s Secrets. “I’m delighted to have found a new home,” says Moulton. “Public television remains the bastion of truly educational food programming in America.” In fact, public television is a natural fit for Moulton, whose first work in the medium was as a behind-the-scenes associate of Julia Child on public television’s Julia Child and More Company in 1979.

Based on her cookbook, Sara’s Secrets for Weeknight Meals, the show demonstrates Sara’s rethinking of dinner, featuring fast and tasty entrees that break out of the predictable mold, including ideas for “Breakfast for Dinner,” “Soup for Supper” and “The Substantial Sandwich.”

Top Chef — Spike is Top Chef’s leech this year. Ok, this might not immediately convey the thought intented, so let me explain. Every reality show, every season, every year there is at the very least one contestant you don’t like. They may not totally qualify as the “villian” per se (they could, they might not). But they are the one you least like. The one you most wish would be voted or judged off. But they some how never go. (At least they don’t go fast enough.) And that is the that show’s “leech”. So it’s not that they are leeching off another contestant (necessarily). It means they grab a hold of something and won’t go. They’re that moving bug in the Roach Motel you can’t shake out, or shake completely into the glue. They’re clinging on. They’re teflon-coated. The fly you either can’t swat, or which you swear you keep hitting yet it buzzes away seemingly unharmed.

For Top Chef this year that is definitely Spike. What a major pain in the butt. And so stupid too. Last week Manuel got knocked off for not fighting hard enough and for going with Spike’s disaster. This week does Spike learn from that? No! Of course not! That would require brains. So Spike is the one to go along with something that wasn’t a good idea. Does Spike face irony and get axed? Of course not! He’s a leech, I tell you! … Who’s the ultimate Top Chef leech? I’m thinking it has to be Hung Huynh. Afterall isn’t he the first winner that no one liked at the time? That’s the ultimate leech when you win the contest after millions of viewers were virtually shaking the TV set back and forth.

Hell’s Kitchen — Meanwhile on Hell’s Kitchen, contestant Sharon — more famously known on the show as “Barbie” for being so interested in wearing makeup in the kitchen while getting everything else wrong in the kitchen — got tossed off. And we find that Petrossa who’s a catering director hasn’t been on “the line” in a kitchen in over 20 years. Brilliant! I will say one thing, it’s refreshing to see the guys actually win the first contest of the day. Think that’s the first time in the series. Not sure. I didn’t get to watch the first season. But the last two the girls always seem to win the morning challenges and get the adventures and the men always lost and got the penalty duty. So, good to see that change finally. It was getting to be a real pattern.

Oh, right and we found out Corey can be a real piece of work as she was trying to nominate people to get axed based on her strategies not real experience. What else did we find out in the last two episodes? Jen just will not shut up. Not just talking about her mouth in the kitchen, her long boring stories of justification to chef Ramsay. Vanessa is too meek. Jason we already know is an idiot from episode one, but number two confirms it. Ironically, Ben a former cook and Rosann a former cook are strong contenders; who would have thought it?

Cooking for Real — Sunny Anderson’s Food Network cooking show started on Sunday morning. What’s my review? Well, I have a rule: I do not do an official television series review of a new show until I’ve seen at least three episodes. So, look for that later this month. Meanwhile, my recommendation? All I can say is, her food had my mouth watering and she kept me interested. So, bet you can guess where I’m leaning on this on.

{10 Apr 2008}