RSSGordon Ramsay | Cookalong Live Recipes
December 18th, 2009 by Kimberley
This past week, Gordon Ramsay’s new Cookalong Live show aired (see our previous post on this here).
The premise: at-home cooks prepped a bit in advance and then cooked, real time, a 3-course meal along with Gordon Ramsay.
Photo of Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp, Chili and Tomatoes by Rouxbe
For those of you who weren’t able to cookalong but want to try the recipes, we have re-created these recipes (inspired by the show) on our site and have highlighted the skills and techniques required to properly execute both the appetizer and main dishes.
Photo of Steak Diane with Sauteed Potatoes and Peas by Rouxbe
If you have recorded the program, you’ll notice that the quick, catch-you-up videos don’t exactly replicate the steps that were executed during the cookalong live show. Also, the recipes posted on the Fox website aren’t consistent with the steps shown on TV.
We felt that critical steps for a successful dish were rushed and not clearly covered in this airing, nor in the recipes on the site. We loved the line when Gordon said, “Look at that color. No color, no flavor. REALLY important.” We know this was fast-paced TV but come on, the steaks looked gray and almost no “color”. For someone who is just learning, these visual cues can be quite confusing.
You can’t just throw the steaks into a pan and they’ll magically caramelize, like the steaks below. Before you even add the steaks, you need to know how to heat your pan properly to develop the best sear. There are many techniques behind cooking a steak and it’s just not as simple as it was made out to be.
Attached you’ll find step-by-step recipes, along with many skills and techniques, for Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp, Chili and Tomatoes and Steak Diane with Sauteed Potatoes and Peas. Gordon’s recipes are really delicious – we just elaborated to help ensure everyone has success with these dishes (and no singed eyebrows).
Flambéing shouldn’t have been shown in this episode. Even though it was, we wish the safety issues would have been stressed a lot more, along with better instructions. One of the biggest dangers is to pour alcohol directly from the bottle. Yes, chef’s that are trained and who are comfortable in the kitchen can get away with this, but never should anyone do it over an open flame. The alcohol can catch fire and actually travel up into the bottle and explode. I wonder how Fox would have dealt with that one. Don’t be fooled either – the flame is huge (as you can see below) even with just 1/3 of a cup as the recipe calls for.
Here is Paul, who is a rookie in the kitchen (just ask his wife…I don’t think she has actually ever seen him in the kitchen). At first he is nice and calm…
At this point, you can see the shock in his face, even though he knew what was about to happen. He didn’t realize how high the flames would actually get. Good thing he doesn’t use much hairspray! :-)
And for the millions of people out there that do not have gas stoves, here is a Drill-down for How to Flambé with an Electric Burner.
While the show may have been entertaining for some, Rouxbe is as serious about teaching people proper cooking techniques as Gordon is on his other shows (such as the British versions of Cookalong Live and Kitchen Nightmares). We highly respect Gordon Ramsay, but why does it seem when his shows come to America they aren’t as serious and have a big case of the Hollywood syndrome? Hell’s Kitchen is a prime example.
[...] Come back tomorrow. In the meantime, check out a sample cooking school lesson if you are new to Rouxbe by clicking on the link. UPDATE: Here is the link to the follow up post, along with supporting recipes, for the Gordon Ramsays’ Cookalong Live Show. [...]
Just wanted to add a comment about flattening the steaks – the rolling pin totally works. We were maybe skeptical at first, but it really worked well. We just covered the steaks with plastic wrap first and did them one at a time…but I will use this method for sure…thanks Gordon! I feel like his mom calling him “Gordon” :-)
I agree that his British shows are much better than the American versions. Cant’ take Hell’s Kitchen his show F Word on BBC America is enjoyable. Thanks Rouxbe for filling in the missing pieces for the recipe. I thought the same thing when he commented on the color of the steaks, “what color?”
Wow! Rouxbe outdid Gordon Ramsay! Beautiful looking food. Thanks to your lessons, I felt after watching the show, that I could have done better than Gordon, and I would have really fallen behind if I followed his instructions because I always follow yours, no matter who’s recipe it is.
You were right Joe, most of us want to learn when we watch a cooking show, and miss the old programs that actually did teach.
Thank you for the redo’s of the recipes, they look yum!
(Still love you Gordon, but Fox is ruining your credibility!)
Just a humorous note, in the intro to Cook-along Live, Gordon darn near burnt his bits off doing a flambe! He looked surprised at the height of the flame, and we could say he is quite the experienced chef!
That flambe photo is amazing!
My thought during the whole time was that he made the cooking lesson into a race, instead of making it comfortable to someone learning. I think going slower would have been better than all the racing around, and panicing.
While it was loads of fun creating flames in the Rouxbe kitchen, it was comforting to know that I had Joe, Dawn, and Kimberley there to coach me before I attempted the maneuver — and available to step in should I do something terribly wrong. Which, fortunately, I didn’t :-)
Thanks for this. I’m sure the recipes were great and loved the concept, but couldn’t bring myself to watch. At least not after the commercial showed Gordon Ramsay pointing at the camera and saying, “Now listen. And listen properly.”
I’m not 6.
I think the steaks had no color because they were in a non-stick pan. Non-stick pans are not good for searing meat, only a good metal pan (cast iron, aluminum, stainless steal) can do the trick.
I think Gordon Ramsay is a great chef, but if this was the first time I had known of him I wouldn’t think much of his ability to actually teach. I hope that he is not letting “celebrityism” get to him. Like Deborah said earlier, “Fox is ruining [Ramsay's] credibility.”
Rouxbe will always be my first stop to finding great recipes with quality instruction and depth of information.
I didn’t see this latest Cookalong but I did see his original British one and I would have to say I agree completely with your last paragraph. I respect Gordon Ramsay both as a chef and a businessman but the Americanized versions of his original shows are absolutely terrible! Over dramatic (fictitious drama created through editing) and unnecessarily censored (American’s can’t seem to handle some everyday swearing) Hells Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares are some of the worst shows on television. Fox Broadcasting has certainly not helped my perception of Mr. Ramsay and it’s a shame for a man with such an eye for quality to allow his name to represent such programming.