Food Network Faves: Guy's Ranch Kitchen
Brian and I nearly exclusively watch food TV and one of my favorite shows is Guy's Ranch Kitchen where chefs just casually cook their faces off for each other and revel in each others' good flavors.
This is perhaps a weird theme for a recipe round up, but I’ve found so many good recipes from Guy’s Ranch Kitchen (and Mary Makes it Easy - which will be next week’s round up).
This show is my zen: there’s no time limit (they frequently cook all day), it’s set in the outdoor kitchen at Guy’s ranch in California, they use up produce from Guy’s Grocery Games tapings, and each episode brings together top chefs around a theme. I want this to be me and my friends’ hang time hobby! I would literally make a backyard kitchen in a temperate climate just to make this my life.
My favorite recipes that I’ve made from Guy’s Ranch Kitchen:
Elizabeth Faulkner's Whole Carrot Salad — Already featured in other round ups because I freaking LOVE this salad. It uses all of the carrot and has this great seed topper that also goes in the pesto… So good and always popular when I bring it as a side to a potluck.
Maneet Chauhan's Spiced Tomato Soup and Garam Masala Grilled Cheese — If you’ve been following this blog for any amount of time you can tell I love Indian flavors. I especially love Maneet, because she’s managed to blend Indian and midwest cuisines and this is a perfect example. I have to go to a specialty store to find Sambar seasoning, but it’s worth it!
Marc Murphy's Mini Eggplant Parm — I don’t do the mini cast irons (fussy!) but otherwise follow it to a T. This is such a great summer recipe, when the heirloom tomatoes are basically just sauce waiting to happen, barely held together by skin. My edit: This is even BETTER with homemade/rustic croutons/bread crumbs.
Shirley Chung's "Ms Chi’s" Orange Chicken — This is SO crispy when fresh! My biggest tip is to double the sauce.
Marc Murphy's Lamb Merguez Meatballs — Great spice and great with the cheese/yogurt to cool it down. Marc Murphy is totally my cooking style. And he takes up so much space that they give him the whole island in Guy’s kitchen, renaming it Murphy Island. :)
Aarti Sequeira's Bombay Frankie — So unique! The egg-coated parathas, the delicious marinated meat and the freshness of herbs and fennel.
Maneet Chauhan's Palak Paneer — I have Maneet’s Chaat cookbook and the palak paneer that she did on GRK is just as good but a little easier (fewer specialty ingredients). And just look at that color… 💚
And a few that I haven't tried yet but wanna:
Michael Voltaggio's Mushroom Milanese — love the kombu element here and a mushroom tartar. MV is kinda crazy but I love it.
Christian Petroni's Malted Espresso Martini with Zabaglione — Gonna have to save this for a special occasion but 🤤
Christian Petroni's Grilled Romaine with Bagna Cauda dressing and Spicy Prawns — seems simple other than the mile-high pile of parm.
Antonia Lofaso's Pavlova with Lemon Curd and Berries — Have always wanted to try Pavlova!
Aarti Sequeira's Thai Red Curry — I love curries of any kind and this one looked pretty great.
I love this show if only to watch the camaraderie between these lovely, happy chefs as they just cook what they really want to eat. If you’re looking for a detox from your usual TV fare, I’d say start at the beginning: season 1, episode 1 to get a sense of the vibe. Some of my favorite episodes are the holiday ones: what these chefs do for each other to show off holiday cooking is nuts!
(Teaser: next week I’ll do a similar round up with recipes from Mary Makes it Easy — another fave!)