(no subject)

[coraa]

Dear Cooking-Related Reality TV Contestants,

Just as Project Runway hopefuls should try out at least one unconventional materials challenge before they go on the show, so too should you practice. But for you, the most important thing to practice is cooking a tough braising piece of meet (like, say, beef chuck) in half an hour. Because you will be expected to do it. No point acting surprised.

(You will also be expected to cook under extreme time pressure, but you do know that much already, right? Right?)

Also, if you can avoid saying, "Go big or go home," that would be great, thanks!

C

PS: If you say, "I don't ever lose!" or anything of that ilk, I suspect you want me to think, "Wow, you must be awesome at everything and fiercely competitive!" But what I actually think is, "Wow, you must not ever try anything difficult!" Just FYI. Also, in my experience, people who say, "I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to win," actually wind up doing neither.

Comments

[coraa]

It's pretty funny! I mean, okay, if you're on Season One of Top Chef or Chopped, then maybe being startled that someone wants you to cook beef shoulder in forty-five minutes or whatever, okay. But c'mon, it's not like these are new challenges!

Some shows have pressure cookers, some don't. People who can use a pressure cooker well seem to be a bit few and far between either way, though. (The general way that people manage to successfully cook chuck roast in a hurry is to cook it as rare as you can get away with and then slice it as thin as possible. I'm always a little surprised that people don't think to use it as chopped or ground meat more often, though.)

[daedala]

My lamb shoulder didn't take much longer than that, besides the overnight marinade, but yeah, that shows a lack of imagination.

I have a pressure cooker that I don't know how to use, either!