Getting Hungry with "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" on Food Network

Is it the weather -- we had a short bout of cold weather here in Florida -- or the season, or am I merely always hungry? Honesty, it's that last one, and it might explain why I've been ferretting out, like some out-of-control, mac n'cheese-seeking ICBM, the airings of the unbelievably delicious Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on Food Network lately. Hosted, by Guy Fieri, DDaD visits small local-type eateries across the U.S.A. to sample the favorites that keep their customers coming back again and again.

Everything -- and I mean everything -- on this show looks completely delectable. You want to hop on a plane and order what you've just seen, right now, and get another one for take-out to eat on the flight back. This isn't fancy dining by candlelight, it's just great little restaurants serving insanely delectable burgers, or fried chicken, or regional dishes, or matzo ball soup, or whatever else hits that irresistible sweet spot on your palate. Truly, this show will make you hungry whenever you watch it, and if maybe it's not convenient to arise and start rustling up an onion-topped cheddar burger at 3am, then it will provide inspiration for later and send you running to the computer to look up the many recipes online from the show.

If you ever find yourself in a cooking slump, I guarantee DDaD will get you thinking again about flavors and tastes -- everything you love about preparing foods. The many chefs, cooks and restaurant owners featured on the show are delightfully devoid of ego, most seeming to completely enjoy making their special dishes and serving them to appreciative diners. They really get a kick out of the food, and it's infectious. Chef and restauranteur Fieri is also an appreciative host and has a friendly and open demeanor which brings out the best in the folks he visits. Here's a neat clip where he visits a Peruvian restaurant, and I'm sure you can practically taste it while you watch -- I can!

The show isn't new; it's been on since 2006 and Fieri's done over a hundred episodes, so there's plenty of good eating and cooking to discover. I've been salivating my way through the episodes and the online recipes, wishing maybe I lived near some of these places, but more grateful that we can watch and delight in some of the best food around. Happy eating!

Back to Basics with "Meat & Potatoes" on Food Network

I used to love Food Network, but too much Rachael Ray and idolizing chefs-as-superstars eventually turned me off, but promos for their newest offering might make me a believer again.

Meat & Potatoes premieres tonight at 10pm, starring chef Rahm Fama traveling around looking for the most awesome titular items. As a voracious carnivore -- I know it's philosophically wrong and a big karmic boo-boo, but I gotta have the steak! -- just seeing the shots of juicy cuts of meats and overflowing sandwiches brought me back to the network.

I hope this is more about the meat than about Fama; I love to see enthusiasm and knowledge but am not so found of the comedy bits that pervade these "on the road" food/travel shows. Note to hosts: We already know you have the best jobs in the business -- eating for pay -- so try to calm down a little and stop gloating about it. Just show us the beef, please.

No promos were available anywhere to embed here -- how is that possible, Food Network? -- so we can't actually show you the slathering goodness, but we still recommend tuning in tonight for "Between the Buns" as Fama highlights smoked meat sandwiches in Brooklyn, amazing hot dogs in Chicago, and huge burgers in Kansas City. Jeez, but that sounds good!

Check out the show's official Food Network site here, and you might also enjoy reading some of the other recent coverage about the show, here from Serious Eats, and at the Food Network blog here.

Nose-talgia: "Two Fat Ladies"

Old-style fans of the Food Network a decade ago will fondly recall watching the delightful British cooking series Two Fat Ladies starring Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson, two stout and succulent cooks who zoomed around Britain and elsewhere on Jennifer's scooter and stopped to prepare amazing meals. It's been many years since the Food Network ran the show, more's the pity, and Ms. Paterson died back in 1999, but their love of food, their wit, and zesty kitchen wisdom keep them close to our hearts. Here's the opening from the 1997 version of the show. Enjoy!