Manjula is awesome! Is there more of this online?

December 8, 2008 1:31 PM

Based on this Mefi post about indian vegetarian recipes at Manjula's Kitchen: what similar cooking resources - other cuisines, etc - are there online for dunces like me (preferably videos)? (please do read inside what I think makes her so great!)

Some of what I love about her videos:

She mentions, as she goes along, how long something would need to fry or cook, or how to correct a potential mistake. (I realize there's always some leeway either way)

She takes her time showing the ingredients, and each step of mixing / using them. There's no "here's one I made earlier!"

Most of it is done in real time, or she mentions what she does in the meantime (timing is one of my big problems).

I've read a lot of the "I hate cooking" or "simple recipes" AskMefis but I don't think I've ever come across anything like this, so maybe there are still some gems out there...

posted by ClarissaWAM to food & drink (11 comments total)

These were linked on the blue already, but Eric Ripert's toaster oven series is really excellent. He is good at providing context for everything he does, the wheres and they whys and the hows, gives background info on ingredients and techniques, and everything is simple and fresh but beautifully executed and delicious-sounding. He's an All-Star celebrity chef-type, but he's still great at presenting both simple and complex information in a very compelling, interesting way. You can make any of these recipes in either a toaster or conventional oven...yum!
posted by peachfuzz at 1:38 PM on December 8, 2008

Well, I'll tell ya, I was gonna post this FPP a while back, but I thought it needed what you're asking for: other cuisines cooked by other regional chefs. I COULD FIND NONE TO MATCH HER. Then I realized that made her FPPworthy!

I've mostly taken the approach of searching dish by dish for video recipes, and I don't know that any one chef embodies all the traits you mention, but overall I think that's an "amateur" style you'll find a lot of on youtube.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 1:42 PM on December 8, 2008

Oh! Also - this adorable woman, who calls herself maanchi (hammer), has an enormous library of generally very good Korean video recipes sorted by ingredient and dish and main flavors. They're a little different in presentation, but they hit pretty much what you're looking for, I think.
posted by peachfuzz at 1:51 PM on December 8, 2008

Just to clarify (and probably back what AV said) - I saw Eric Ripert, and while I enjoyed watching his videos for his pure enthusiasm, they totally did not inspire me to try anything because they had a lot of of those "here's one I made earlier" assumptions. Or because the dishes he made were just too, dare I say, pretentious? Something I'd go to a restaurant for to start with. (maybe I'm not adventurous enough but that was kinda the premise of this post)

The suggestion of trawling Youtube seems a good one tho...
Maangchi sounds fun as well, I'll check her out, thank you!
posted by ClarissaWAM at 1:58 PM on December 8, 2008

Okay, I wasnt going to post this, because it really doesnt answer your question, but....

No video cooking show is complete without a little Food Party. Just watch after you have taken the fine advice above and finished your meal, so as to avoid spraying food all over your monitor and keyboard.

It really is a cooking show, though. Just a very very weird one. Think Pee Wee's Playhouse meets Alton Brown.
posted by elendil71 at 3:13 PM on December 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

Mark Bittman (link is to his blog; on the right hand side of the page, you can see links to his videos for the NY Times site).
Cras Test Kitchen is more "let's try making this and see what happens" but it's still useful, valuable, and fun.
KCRW's Good Food Video Podcast with Evan Klineman isn't updated very often, but it's also very good.

A couple of guys have put almost all the Good Eats (Alton Brown) episodes on Youtube in 10 minute bits. Search for "good eats alton brown" and you can find them. I've wasted many an evening watching these. Personal favorites: the stock episode, the leftovers episode, the long turkey/thanksgiving episode, the roast chicken episode, and all the dessert episodes.
posted by rossination at 6:38 PM on December 8, 2008

Ouch -- that should be "crash test kitchen"...

I should also mention that, as annoying as she is, Rachel Ray is pretty good at what you describe: showing things in real time (sometimes it's "this will cook for 5 minutes, see you after the commercial") and talking about ways to simplify, correct mistakes, and save money. Her books are slightly less grating than her show. I think that there are probably some clips of hers on YouTube.
posted by rossination at 6:43 PM on December 8, 2008

You could take a look at the rouxbe.com site. They offer their "Rouxbe Video Recipes" which are very step-by-step video/audio guides (with accompanying text to print out). They also have a video "cooking school" where they guide you through a number of knife techniques, slicing, dicing, stocks, meats, etc.etc. I think they are very good. Good Luck !
posted by alchemist at 12:12 AM on December 9, 2008

I somehow stumbled across the foodwishes guy on youtube. All manner of foods, reasonably clear instructions, and though it maybe doesn't match exactly what you want, I always enjoy watching them for the banter.
posted by that girl at 5:29 AM on December 9, 2008

Great suggestions, thanks everyone! (and Food Party is brilliant!)
posted by ClarissaWAM at 8:59 AM on December 9, 2008

Videojug has lots of 'how to' cookery videos.
posted by essexjan at 9:59 AM on December 9, 2008