Looking for the latest in tasty television? Need to know the need-to-watch episodes of your favorite foodie shows? Chow Bella is here to help. We're reviewing the most delectable and dreadful with a handy, must-see schedule so you won't miss a thing.
It's no surprise with the popularity of cooking shows out there in TV land that our local talking heads wouldn't be hungry to taste a little of that food fame as well. Enter Tram Mai, 12 News Today anchor and host of the new local lifestyle "news" program 12 News Valley Dish. A show that, in Tram's words, "helps you kick-start dinner and connects you with the people, places and pets in your community."
Valley Dish, or VD, premiered this Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. The live 30-minute show will feature chefs, local celebrities, and everyone else in the Valley who's ever turned on an oven - especially if they're "amazing." Promising meals that aren't "frou-frou" and can be made in thirty minutes or less, VD viewers get a heapin' helpin' of preparation tips, hot items on the market, Tram wearing onion goggles, ear-piercing noises of bags crunching and onions being peeled, and ending shots of the prepared dish next to scripts from the show.
More VD and your weekend watch schedule after the jump.
And what would a cooking show be without a little fun thrown into the recipe? In-between food-making segments, VD viewers are treated to the charms of kids' "Rockin' Refrigerator Art," (while sausage sizzles in the background), the hilarity of pet photos including a segment on horse soccer, and a split screen of Tram in front of a, um, bookcase, and 12 News anchor Lin Sue Cooney laughing about onion goggles before Lin previews upcoming news stories of more rain and a recall of strollers that are chopping the fingertips off of babies.
Are VD's symptoms treatable? Will they get better with time? For now, we're willing to give it a shot - even Seinfeld wasn't good the first season. What say you?
As for the bevy of other food shows out there, we've sorted out a list of episodes we think are worthwhile weekend-watchers. Be sure to check back on Monday for next week's tastiest telecasts.
Saturday (January 23)
* (New Show!) Mexican Made Easy: "Weekend Brunch." Host Marcela Valladolid prepares a Mexican-style brunch in the series premiere. On the menu: chilaquiles casserole, eggs Benedict with chipotle-hollandaise sauce, and Mexican coffee, spiced with brown sugar, cinnamon and orange peel. 10:30 a.m., Food Network
Secrets of a Restaurant Chef: "The Secret to Grilled Veal Chops." Grilled veal chops with mushrooms and cherry peppers are made. Also, goat-cheese cheesecake with vanilla-poached pineapples. 11:30 a.m., Food Network
Barefood Contessa: "Farm Stand Food." Cooking with farm-fresh produce. On the menu: Cape Cod chopped salad, zucchini pancakes, and scalloped tomatoes. 2:30 p.m., Food Network
Unwrapped: "Budget Bites." A look at inexpensive eats spotlights Trade Joe's grocery stores, Mom's Best Naturals Honey Nut Toasty O's, Hungry Man TV dinners, and Sonic's dollar menu. 11:30 p.m., Food Network
Sunday (January 24)
Iron Chef America: "Morimoto vs. Wadi." Chef Sameh Wadi of Minneapolis vs. Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. Judges: Donatella Arpaia, Michael LaDuke and Kim Hassarud. 10 p.m., Food Network
Worst Cooks in America: "Multitasking." The recruits learn how to make fresh pasta. Then they prepare a variety of hors d'oeuvres while catering a 30-person cocktail party. 11 p.m., Food Network
