Good Eats on TV Thursday

Good Eats episodes airing Thursday April 30th

8pm and 3am Popover Sometime 
8:30pm and 3:30am Great Balls of Meat 
11pm and 2am Oh My, Meat Pie

New Good Eats Episodes in the Works

According to Alton Brown's website there are several new Good Eats shows going into production this summer.  One that warrants particular attention is news of a 10th anniversary Good Eats special!  Other highlights include another Man Food show and a new Christmas Special (should be more enjoyable than the Food Network shows).

Episodes in production, August:
Pound Cake
Japanese Ingredients
Man Food- Breakfast
Christmas Special
Salty Sweets
Cooking with Alcohol
Tacos
10th Anniversary Special

Good Eats Citrus Glazed Salmon

I made the broiled salmon with citrus glaze recipe from the  Good Eats: Gills Gone Wild episode this past weekend.  I have to say Alton Brown scored with this one!  As usual, I altered the recipe to fit my needs.  I bought a 4.5 pound salmon fillet for the task since I was having friends over for dinner.  I started by grating the lemon zest right onto the fish .  Then, instead of measuring out the brown sugar, the recipe only calls for 1/3 cup, I just poured out what was needed to cover the whole fillet evenly.  I covered the top with some thinly sliced lemons.  As directed, I let it sit for 45 minutes.

I like my salmon fully cooked (not sure why chefs are so obsessed with having everything half raw), plus the fillet was pretty think, so I started it out in a 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes or so until it was nearly cooked through.  Then, I cranked up the broiler and let it sit under there until the glaze started to bubble; somewhere in the range of 2 minutes.  The short stint under the broiler produced a nice crust while leaving the fish tender inside.

So how did it taste?  Wonderful!  It's definitely sweet, so I probably wouldn't make it like this every time, but I do eat salmon regularly and this is a good way to mix things up.  I'll have to try this on the grill and see how the glaze comes out.

The recipe was easy to make and can be easily adjusted to meet your needs.  I ended up using light brown sugar instead of dark because I already had some on hand, though I will try the dark next time.  I also went with farm raised Scottish salmon; $8.99 per pound trumped the ocean going Alaskan variety by about $12/lb and that adds up quickly when buying a 4.5 pound side!  Also, I've tried a few varieties and personally can't tell much difference in the range as I would with, say, steak.  One more tip I would add is soaking up the dissolved sugar before putting it in the oven.  The excess got a bit burned and would likely cause some smoke if you went with the broiler only method!

Good Eats -- Gills Gone Wild is available on iTunes

 

New Good Eats Monday: Crawfish

Hi All,
Despite the wondrous Spring weather this week I managed to find time to fire off a quick post.  Much to my surprise, there is a new Good Eats episode coming up Monday, April 27th.  I figured the show was in reruns for the summer, but cable seasons are a mess nowadays.  This time Alton Brown delves into crawfish; no doubt the idea has been working in his mind since FOA2.  The only recipe listed on the Food Network site is for crayfish boil, so I imagine there will a good amount of entertainment and background filler.  We'll have to see if it's convincing enough to pull me away from my Old Bay seasoning.

Good Eats Crustacean Nation IV: Crawfish
April 27th, 8pm EST

P.S.  I'll have some more posts coming soon.  I picked up a rather large salmon fillet to test out Alton's brown sugar coating and I may try to squeeze in some more recipes tests soon.  Also, I saw a PR article mentioning Alton has a new Good Eats book deal.  I'll have to see if there's any information available for content and/or release date yet.