BlueKatSpecial

Thursday, July 06, 2006

My Guy

I finally caught up with my guy, Guy. Guy was the winner of the Next Food Network Star competition. One of the complaints from the contest judges was that Guy, a restaurant owner, used too much chef jargon. In his new series, I think Guy does a nice job of explaining the what and why when he's doing something. I like Guy's recipes because he tends toward spicy.

Just so you know, garlic is to Guy what butter is to Paula Deen. Like one of Guy's recipes calls for a quarter cup of minced garlic. Now, really. Who is ever honest enough to admit to that much garlic? Well, maybe Jeff Smith and his Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic. But otherwise, most recipes call for a dainty two cloves. At two cloves, I'm just starting to get my mojo on.

Anyone who has seen Hell's Kitchen knows that chefs can be sort of uh, strict. But not my Guy. Guy runs a very accessible kitchen. No pomp and ceremony in Guy-ville. With his short pants and trademark spiky hair, he looks as if he just popped into the kitchen to grab a snack. But Guy's kind of snacks turn out to be creations like Rhode Island Calamari. He wields the knife like Chef Morimoto and assumes every one of us is equally capable. And if you're not, well, Guy will just chiffonade that basil himself. No big whoop.

Yup. Guy is definitely on my list of people to invite to a potluck. Actually, I'd like to see Guy on Iron Chef America. Or maybe a Guy vs. Emeril Throwdown.

Guy's Big Bite is on Food Network Sundays at 9:00 am Central.