Not Sure if it was Good Eats

Oh my, meat pie indeed.  I'm not sure what to say about last night's episode.  There are two separate topics in my mind, entertainment and cooking, with two different opinions.

On the entertainment factor this show was excellent.  Alton Brown is, after all, primarily interested in film more than cooking.  The Sweeney Todd theme was well done with costume, great acting, and we got to see Alton Brown with long hair!  Actually, Sweeney Chuck trumped Alton in the character department.  It may have worked better if cast in modern times with regular ol' Alton in the encounter.  This spoof ranks up there with the Jaws/scallops episode, but on a different level.  The scallop show had plenty of retro shark thriller mixed into the plot, but the campy way in which it was done rendered it harmless and incidental to the viewer.  Meat pies, however, was a bit too focused on the movie themes and not enough on the cooking/science part of the show.  In fact, the main ingredient breaks this one for me.

So, the cooking part of the show was uh.....was it there?  Thankfully I was eating carrots and dip while watching this episode and not anything meat-based.  Even if you have not read/seen Sweeney Todd, you could figure out exactly what was going into the meat pies.  The tray of ground 'meat', the close up of the dried fruit going through the grinder, and the hunk of suet were plenty enough to turn me off of wanting to make any sort of pot pie anytime soon.  It was perfect material for Halloween week, but not really something you'd want to see in a cooking show.  Also, there was so much going on that wasn't related to cooking that the pie theme seemed lost.

Was it entertaining?  Yes.  Was it Good Eats?  I'd say no.

New Good Eats Episode: Oh My, Meat Pie

New Good Eats episode coming Monday night, October 27th!  "Oh My, Meat Pie"  Alton Brown will cook up some Shepherd's pie and mincemeat pie for this show.  Recipe links are below.


Shepherd's Pie Recipe

Mincemeat Pie Recipe

Alton Brown: Salty News

Diamond Crystal has signed up Alton Brown as their Kosher salt spokesperson.  An excellent choice as we all know how much Alton loves dipping into his glass cellars for a pinch of that flaky goodness.  Keep an eye out for commercials, ads, or even some product placement on Good Eats.

And speaking of Good Eats; there may be some meat pies in your near future.

Diamond Crystal press release here

Feasting on Waves Locations

There is an extensive list of the locations visited in the Feasting on Waves series on Alton Brown's website for all who are interested.

http://www.altonbrown.com/adventure/knowledge/fowLocations.html

Alton Brown on Local Farmers Markets

Just a little piece of an article in the USA TODAY paper that reminds me of home.  The topic is local farmers markets and there is a quote from Alton Brown.  I am lucky to live in an area surrounded by orchards and farms and, currently, there are several places chock full of produce.  I load up on as much as I can eat during the summer and fall harvest seasons.  The dreary cold weather the past two days has served as a reminder that I'll be shopping at the grocery store and defrosting the few things I have made.  Maybe Alton will put together a show on making meals from what you can get during harvest.

"Mine is in Marietta, Ga., on the town square, and it's held on Saturday mornings. It has folding tables, cash boxes — as homespun as it gets. I like to take my daughter there so that she can learn what seasonality looks like.

"The offerings aren't shocking, but nice — 75% of the produce is grown from within 10 miles, and the rest within 50 miles. Right now, our market features a massive array of heirloom tomatoes and a lot of squashes people may not have seen before. We have a lot of beekeepers here, so you find a lot of regional honeys. And we have a lot of local bakeries represented. Artisanal bakeries are realizing that exposure at the farmer's market is a great point of advertising for sales."

Follow this link to the original article