Blog:Grust's Top 10 Good Eats Recipes

Warning, this list may make you super hungry. Dietician discretion is advised.

Fact, the show Good Eats is the greatest cooking show period, not opinion. I myself bought all 3 of the Good Eats main books and it's pretty much the only thing I DVR on my dad's TV anymore, aside from an old movie that catches my interest. So in honor of the greatest cooking show of all time, plus a new season of Reloaded, here are the top 10 recipes I made from the show. As a bonus, I'll even link the recipes since I'm that nice.

10. Knead Not Sourdough: While not made with a starter, this bread hosts so much flavor. I start work on this bread usually at around 4:00 P.M. for the first 19 hour rise. Afterwords, I get my laptop and start watching cartoons and anime during the second phase which lasts around 2 hours plus 45 minutes, plus 15 minutes. Despite the long wait time, actual work takes only a few minutes. The smoke from the heated dutch oven even infuses the bread with beautiful smoky flavor. On the first day, the crust has a nice crunch to it. Enjoy it though because it'll soften. It's ten though since you might not have the patience to make it (though I do).

9. Pocket Pie Dough: As a kid, one of my favorite treats was a pocket pie with fruit inside so you can imagine how giddy I got when I saw this recipe. You need to think biscuit dough instead of pie dough for this one for elastic dough rather than tough. I love this so much I even made my very own recipe to utilize this dough by combing what I know about apple pies with his mango filling.

Grust's Apple Pie Filling (Pocket Pie Only)

Ingredients 4 baking apples, peeled and diced 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 2 teaspoons cinamon 1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions Place vinegar, lemon juice, and cinnamon into mixing bowl. Prepare apples as directed and stir into vinegar. Place mixture into saucepan and add brown sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and refrigerate in a large bowl until cool.

Be warned that once you begin to flatten the dough, it may be back breaking work, at least for me so I don't make this that often, but when I do.... Best of all this is very versatile, I even filled it with taco salad and it's the main reason I wanted to deep fry. Sometimes a little pain is a small price to pay.

8. Hot Cocoa Recipe: I love hot cocoa so I was really happy for this. Making your own yields quite a bit of mix and it's even great for whipped frostings as shown in Alton's yellow cake episode (Note: go with book recipe, not TV. Best of, you use dutch cocoa for easy integration into hot liquid. It has a long shelf life and the cayenne adds some extra heat to warm you up on those winter nights.  Oh and chocolate, Chocoate, CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE.

7. Chocolate Lava Muffins: Chocolate, Chocolate, CHOCOLATE, Whoa, with melted chocolate and cocoa powder plus more for the muffin tin. Wow, no running gag I do when it comes to chocolate could have prepared me for this. These are very addictive muffins and I don't even need the ice cream sauce for them, I just dig right in. Once I begin, I can't stop. Plus the gooeyness within gives a great texture. If you love chocolate, you need to make this.

6. Man Coffee: I make this almost everyday, whether I share with my dad, use it for mocha, or have one cup and freeze the rest for iced mochas. This even got me to buy a burr grinder and it's why I love french presses and despise the unholy evil that is... automatic drip machines. The salt added helps so that even when the coffee is strong (the smaller the grind, the more flavor is extracted), it's not too bitter either. I like my coffee strong myself. Also good for when I have leftover half and half for.... well we'll save that for 1.

5. Homemade Marshmallows: Yes this is a thing. Once I made my own, I never went back to storebought. By making your own, you can alter the texture to your liking by making them soft or somewhat firm depending on how much air you put whisk into it. This is a sticky recipe so you need extra prep but I swear it's worth it. Pure flavor can up your s'mores and they can be used for additional recipes like your own moon pies. Plus when you get more experience with this you can experiment and made your own flavors. I even added a quarter cup of dutch cocoa to the syrup making chocolate marshmallows and once even melted a quarter cup strawberry jam to make strawberry marshmallows.

4. Angel Food Cake: When I get some egg whites saved up, I enjoy making this, the best known fat-free dessert known to sweet tooth lovers anywhere. It's light and airy yet so full of flavor. I love this so much, I don't waste my time with add-ons, like mashed strawberries or whipped cream, I just dig right in. I do enjoy topping it with olive oil infused with orange citrus sometimes. It's amazing how something this simple could be so good. I'm just drooling thinking about it. Oh if you're wondering about the egg yolks, you'll see when I get to 1.

3. Orange Sherbet: As a kid, I really loved orange sherbet so I had to make this recipe when Alton made it. If childhood me tasted this, he'd be in heaven right now. Now this takes quite a few oranges and can be messy but it's worth it for flavor. Since my ice cream churner holds 2 quarts, I actually double this recipe. The orange zest adds even more flavor and citrusy goodness to this wonderful dessert. Because there's not as much fat (whole milk though) in this compared to other desserts, it's fairly good for people watching their weight. Just know this will be a lot denser compared to ice cream as you don't really work as much air into sherbet.

2. Chocolate Mocha Refrigerator Cake: When I first heard icebox cake, I thought Alton was referring to an ice cream cake. When I first saw this on The Return, I was skeptical considering the whipped cream, but the coffee made me curious, so I looked really hard for those wafers (only later learning they're at a grocery store in my town but under the cookie aisle, not ice cream), and got to work on this recipe. Once ready, I took my first bite... and.... my skepticism was killed by the flavor and beautiful texture of the no-bake cake. The wafers softened to where they felt cake like than soggy. Heck the extra cup of heavy whipping cream I get from a quart goes great with making....

1. 9, 8, 3, 2, 1: This formula produces the best premium ice cream ever. 9 ounces of sugar (he suggests vanilla sugar but vanilla beans are so expensive so I skip that), 8 egg yolks (I freeze the egg whites after separation), 3 cups of half-and half (I buy a quart for convenience), 2 tsp of vanilla extract, and 1 cup of heavy whipping cream. This is a versatile formula because it could make almost any flavor possibility under the sun. The 2 tsp of vanilla is even interchangeable to make say mint ice cream. He even used the formula to make coffee liqueur ice cream. And just by adding 1.5 ounces of dutch cocoa, you'll make the best chocolate ice cream you'll ever have. The formula makes around 2 quarts of ice cream the same as my churner and its versatility alone makes it my all time favorite Good Eats recipe.

I'd ask what your favorite Good Eats recipe is, but chances are you're busy drooling so enjoy.

