New Good Eats and Other Fun Stuff

There's another new Good Eats episode tonight: Fermentation Nation.  I was hoping for another beer making show, but it looks like this half hour will just feature cooking with beer and wine.  Should be at least one good sauce in the mix and maybe some bratwurst.

Last week's episode, Another Man Food Show, was pretty good.  My favorite element was his sidekick, who may actually be his personal trainer.  They played off each other well and there were some great one liners from Clarence.  "I like my bacon to bite back. Know what I mean?"  The cooking section wasn't as adventurous as usual; coffee, bacon, eggs, and hash browns.  Being a 'man food' show I was expecting something more, maybe a giant omelet perhaps.  The bacon in the waffle iron sounds like a good idea, until you think about cleaning it up.  Maybe a Foreman grill or panini press with removable grids woudl solve that problem.  The description of the types of bacon was good and I even picked up some applewood bacon from teh meat counter last week.  The coffee segment was a little off base.  The premise is cheap and to introduce somebody who does not cook for himself to making coffee.  However, he pulls out a huge burr grinder and goes through a method only a neurotic coffee fan would perform.  Overall, I'd call this episode very entertaining, but lame in the cooking area.

Speaking of coffee...how about a Monday Poll?  How much coffee do you use per cup?  Alton was teased in FOA2 for how much coffee he uses, and I thought 2 tablespoons per 6ounces sounded pretty strong.  I use around 1.5Tbsp for a 12oz mug in my 1 cup maker, though looking at the bag of ground coffee in my cupboard it recommends the same 2Tbsp as Alton suggested.  So, vote away!  How much do you use?


p.s.  Still trying to get into my new Good Eats book!  I worked a lot of extra time last week and my toddler and I are sick right now, so everything is in slow motion.  So far the book is awesome!