Some people grew up watching sitcoms with their families. I grew up watching cooking shows on public television. Long before Rachael, Giada, Emeril and Paula had taken over our homes with the Food Network, there were the Jacques; Pepin and Torres (of course Julia was prior to them, but I wasn’t alive when her first show was on tv) I would watch with my family in awe at they created masterpieces (a chocolate oven..really?!).
Another show that has garnered great praise in my family is America’s Test Kitchen. It is fantastic. (I also highly recommend their cookbook). For those unfamiliar with ATK, they do more than just cook. They test and they explain. For example, in the following recipe, the butter is melted. They explained this created a chewier cookie than creaming the butter and then showed the crispy creamed butter cookie. The cook books also provide information such as the preferred brand of peanut butter to use in cookies. It removes a lot of the guesswork and adds some science. I love it. I’m such a nerd.
