Another celebrity chef crusade?

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

Originally Posted by KaySquirrel

Well, broccoli's an easy one. C'mon.. little trees, planted into a mountain of mashed potato near a river of gravy? That's art on a plate, how could you NOT eat that?! (Although it's been months since I made train tracks in my mashed spuds..)

My main one was (and still is) turnip. As a cook, I agree that a stew without turnip in it is missing something, so I make it with turnip. And then don't put any pieces of turnip in my portion. Being an adult rocks!

I get all excited when I see something I've never eaten before on a menu. The only thing is that sometimes I wish I knew what certain ingredients were, because I liked them.. and I'd feel too silly asking after I'd eaten my meal.

I wonder if all the dishes & ingredients in Gordon's restaurants will be local and seasonal from now on. He seems the sort who would make a change like that to support his own cause, which is a lot more worthy of respect than just mouthing off because you can..

In all the Kitchen nightmare programmes he did, Gordon always advocated using locally produced seasonal ingredients so I can't see him not implementing this in his restaurant. One thing I do get from him is that he does not want to appear as a "say one thing do another type of person"

As for the brocolli we just parboil a handful, chuck them in a bowl with a bit of balsamic and olive oil and she eats the whole lot. I dont have time for works of art on dinner plates lol

[RizzyKing]

You should try gordons broccoli soup so simple boil it up whip it in a mixer press button for a bit wollah soup add a little seasoning and away you go simple and the kids have no idea what it is.

[KaySquirrel]

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

As for the brocolli we just parboil a handful, chuck them in a bowl with a bit of balsamic and olive oil and she eats the whole lot. I dont have time for works of art on dinner plates lol

lol! I suspect I was a bit more fussy as her age then. One person NOT to argue with on food was my Gramma. When she said if you didn't finish dinner you'd get it for breakfast, she meant it. I only ever pulled that stunt the once.

Originally Posted by Incognitas

Gordon is the sort to berate his customers who demand anything out of season.Anyway none of that would have worked on eldest born.You should have heard her when she discovered I'd been putting the water from the boiled veg into the Sunday lunch gravy.

What do you mean it's not from a tin with only water added! Sadly, I either didn't inherit the gravymaking gene or I'm a late late bloomer.

I didn't like Gordon at all the first time I saw one of his shows. But then the more of 'em I watched the more it seems he only unleashes his fury on people who really seem to deserve it, and it makes me a bit jealous that I can't get away with doing the same.

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

Originally Posted by KaySquirrel

lol! I suspect I was a bit more fussy as her age then. One person NOT to argue with on food was my Gramma. When she said if you didn't finish dinner you'd get it for breakfast, she meant it. I only ever pulled that stunt the once.



What do you mean it's not from a tin with only water added! Sadly, I either didn't inherit the gravymaking gene or I'm a late late bloomer.

I didn't like Gordon at all the first time I saw one of his shows. But then the more of 'em I watched the more it seems he only unleashes his fury on people who really seem to deserve it, and it makes me a bit jealous that I can't get away with doing the same.

The thing is when he does unleash its always really funny to watch too. I loved it once when one of the chefs made a mistake, and Gordon goes "Oiiiii you've got 4 eyes Big Boy, use them" although his version did have a lot of eff words. He cracked me up.

[KaySquirrel]

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

The thing is when he does unleash its always really funny to watch too. I loved it once when one of the chefs made a mistake, and Gordon goes "Oiiiii you've got 4 eyes Big Boy, use them" although his version did have a lot of eff words. He cracked me up.

When he does the kitchen inspections I cringe! Especially when he's already eaten food that came out of a bad kitchen..

There was one of the Kitchen Nightmares where the owner/manager/employees really listened to him and told him they wanted his help and didn't fight him every step of the way. It wasn't as dramatic to watch, though. I can't help but wonder what kinds of people DON'T want to accept Gordon's advice? Like the pizza 'chef' who kept asking 'Who is he to tell me how to cook?'.

[Saaf_laandon_mo]

Originally Posted by KaySquirrel

When he does the kitchen inspections I cringe! Especially when he's already eaten food that came out of a bad kitchen..

There was one of the Kitchen Nightmares where the owner/manager/employees really listened to him and told him they wanted his help and didn't fight him every step of the way. It wasn't as dramatic to watch, though. I can't help but wonder what kinds of people DON'T want to accept Gordon's advice? Like the pizza 'chef' who kept asking 'Who is he to tell me how to cook?'.

You're talking about Kitchen Nightmares New York right? I found that the restauranteers and in particular the head chefs wanted to be the big stars, and see who's ego was biggest. I cant believe some of teh chefs tryign to say that he was a nobody!

What did scare me though was how bad some of those kitchens were. Those places were disgusting, I can't believe any owner would have let things get that bad in the storage freezers for example.

I almost threw up watching nearly every episode.

[KaySquirrel]

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

You're talking about Kitchen Nightmares New York right? I found that the restauranteers and in particular the head chefs wanted to be the big stars, and see who's ego was biggest. I cant believe some of teh chefs tryign to say that he was a nobody!

What did scare me though was how bad some of those kitchens were. Those places were disgusting, I can't believe any owner would have let things get that bad in the storage freezers for example.

I almost threw up watching nearly every episode.

Haven't caught an episode in the past few months, but it was the US version, maybe not specifically the New York one. I didn't like those as much because of the utter ridiculousness of some of the reasons people decided Gordon didn't know what he was doing. In one show the chef said he wanted to start a franchise of frozen foods? Or the pizzeria chef that said Gordon didn't appreciate his CONCEPT restaurant with 200 options on the menu that even the waitresses didn't understand. That one hurt my head.

The more I think about it, the more I think Gordon keeps his temper in check pretty well considering the type of people he has to deal with!

[Kevin T]

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

You're talking about Kitchen Nightmares New York right? I found that the restauranteers and in particular the head chefs wanted to be the big stars, and see who's ego was biggest. I cant believe some of teh chefs tryign to say that he was a nobody!

What did scare me though was how bad some of those kitchens were. Those places were disgusting, I can't believe any owner would have let things get that bad in the storage freezers for example.

I almost threw up watching nearly every episode.

Did you ever see Kitchen Confidential? If not, read the book...

Kitchen Confidential is for diners who believe that their sublime sliver of seared foie gras, topped with an ethereal buckwheat blini and a drizzle of piquant huckleberry sauce, was created by a culinary artist of the highest order, a sensitive, highly refined executive chef. The truth is more brutal. More likely, writes Anthony Bourdain, that elegant three-star concoction is the collaborative effort of a team of "wacked-out moral degenerates, dope fiends, refugees, a thuggish assortment of drunks, sneak thieves, sluts and psychopaths," in all likelihood pierced or tattooed and incapable of uttering a sentence without an expletive or a foreign phrase. Such is the muscular view of the culinary trenches from one who's been groveling in them, with obvious sadomasochistic pleasure, for more than 20 years.

Bourdain, currently the executive chef of the celebrated Les Halles, wrote two culinary mysteries before his first (and infamous) New Yorker essay launched this frank confessional about the lusty and larcenous real lives of cooks and restaurateurs. He is obscenely eloquent, unapologetically opinionated, and a damn fine storyteller--a Jack Kerouac of the kitchen. Those without the stomach for this kind of joyride should note his opening caveat: "There will be horror stories. Heavy drinking, drugs, screwing in the dry-goods area, unappetizing industry-wide practices. Talking about why you probably shouldn't order fish on a Monday, why those who favour well-done get the scrapings from the bottom of the barrel, and why seafood frittata is not a wise brunch selection.... But I'm simply not going to deceive anybody about the life as I've seen it."

[handyman]

Originally Posted by Cobbydaler

Did you ever see Kitchen Confidential? If not, read the book...

I can reassure anyone that looks at that book that not all establishments are like that.

I'm off to work in one tonight (see sig link) and after cooking for 40 (regardless of the time that takes us to) we'll pull everything out of the fridge check it, re tub it where necessary and clean the fridge. We do this after every service. Then we'll scrub the kitchen down then the KA does the floors with bleach and boiling water.

All ingredients are fresh and where possible local and in season.