Marty says:

When I saw her pull out that block of gruyere, the credibility of the show was gone. The only way they could put that cheese in this dish and stay under budget is if they dumpster-dived for it.

Liz says:

I completely agree with your assessment of the $10 dollar dinners! I’ve never given feedback on any show before, but I went to the food network site to tell them my thoughts on Melissa’s show and there was no link for feedback! I think they may agree with your opinion too and perhaps didn’t want to hear it.

Truly, it was an awful show. I know that she’s bright but she did not appear so at all today. She gave the lamest “tips”. It was like watching the Anna Nicole Smith of FN. Also, why is she giving out another chef’s secret ingredient that I’m sure he gave her in confidence?

If the FN producers are honest with her, she may learn from the awfulness and get better, but I’m not tuning in to find out.

Designerjeans says:

“clear culinary point of view,”

when the food network talks about that. It means it in the same way ford talked about the color on his model t cars.

you can have any culinary point if view as long as FN can make a line of pots and pans out of it.

One needs to now stand back and ask oneself of what use is the next food network star show, other then circus.

They could have picked the zen master if for no other reason then a diversity of the content and of their lineup. But instead the went for the same tired formula with Mellisa.

I wonder if those that stood up fir her with this silly format are now suffering hunger pangs of regret.

As it seems as worthless as predicted.

Cat Chow says:

why is the “menu” line up strangely similar to the other NFNS winner, the “Gourmet Next Door”. And both women married to Frenchmen. Coincidence? If we keep on the same track with “Gourmet Next Door” then I predict the show will only have 6 episodes.

Lynn says:

Bye bye, Elizabeth, bye bye!

Sure Melissa is a nice woman, no one is arguing that fact. But come on. This show was a trainwreck. It was one of the most awful things I’ve seen in awhile. I subjected my poor husband to it as well!

On your twitter, you mentioned she is the head board member of a nonprofit Christian group that gets Christians jobs on TV. Maybe some of her buddies pulled a few strings and got her a job on TV instead.

I will not watch this show again.

Danny says:

UGLIEST.
SET.
EVER.

epic says:

No one is bitter but you, Elizabeth. We’re here joking around and having a good time. You’re there complaining with your panties in a bunch. If this site bothers you, do like you said and leave.

Make like NSync and Bye, bye, bye.

Now as for the show. I thought it was ok. Not awful but not great either. I didn’t want to make anything I saw her make but thought it was cute that she put her mom’s initial in the pie. Other than that, it was very forgettable and no one will be talking about this show after tomorrow.

Micah says:

No one cares about your mother-in-law, Melissa! Or your years galavanting around Paris. And soy sauce as the secret ingredient? Whooptie doo.

I didn’t care for the show, the premise, her stories, or the meals prepared. Wouldn’t tune in again.

Katharine says:

I have to say that I totally disagree with all of you saying that this couldn’t be made within a 10 dollar budget. When they factor in the cost of the meal, they’re only factoring in the amounts of ingredients that she used. She didn’t use the whole block of gruyere cheese; she only used about an eighth of it, if that.
Maybe food is differently priced for me since I live in Iowa, but bacon is, like, a buck a pound.
Also, for those of you wondering why she would make a lunch for a show with the word “Dinner” in the title, many people use the words lunch and dinner interchangeably.
However, I do think it was pretty lame of her to give away another chef’s recipe. Plus, I don’t think anyone watching the Food Network needs help with making a vinaigrette, considering almost every episode of every show features someone making one.

Anyways… Nice website.

Matt says:

It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve seen, but she has a long way to go.

The set is a redressed version of Anne Burrell’s and other newer FN shows, so that’s not her fault. At least the colors don’t hurt my eyes.

The constant talk about living in Paris and the bit about “you know you have to eat where the locals eat” was really opposed to the entire concept of budget meals; she needed to make that connection a lot better.

She could have done the pie dough better (ignoring that the current state of the art is to use some vodka or other liquor to replace some of the water so it doesn’t form gluten, making the recipe less finicky). Specifically, when Melissa talked about the difference between “wet sand” and “coming together in clumps,” the HD shots of the dough in the food processor didn’t really look any different. She should have opened the processor and showed some of the dough in her fingers both times so newbies could see the difference.

Worse (in my mind) is that her instruction to divide the dough in two and separate it came as the bumper music to a commercial was starting, and I missed it. When I saw her rolling out a second pie crust, I was thinking, “Wait, where did that come from?” I had to rewind and find her saying “divide the dough and get it into plastic bags” (plural) to see that she actually had said, more than just once, that she was making two separate pie crusts. She could have said, “I left the other disk of dough in the fridge and we won’t roll it out until we’re ready to top the torte” and it would have worked, for example.

For the potatoes, she should have said “If you can’t slice these uniformly, don’t worry—just do it in the food processor, or with a mandoline or V-slicer if you have one. If not, just slow down a bit and get them as evenly sliced as you can. They don’t have to be identical when measured with calipers, but the closer to identical the better.” I also would have liked to know how I’d know if I need to use all the cream or not.

(This is an ongoing issue with me—I love Alton Brown’s potato gratin, but he says to start with 2/3 cup of half and half, and go up to 3/4 cup if the dairy doesn’t rise up to the top of the potatoes in the 13 X 9 dish when you press down on them. Even when using paper-thin potatoes, I can’t get the dairy to come to the top of the potatoes when they’re pressed down unless I use nearly 1 1/2 cups. So I would have liked her to explain how you know if you need to use it all or not.)

As for cost: I added it up on my own before I heard Melissa say how much the items cost. Rounding up and counting the cost of all ingredients except salt and pepper, I came to about $6.20 for the torte (the butter and flour are about $2 of it, I think), $1.11 for the salad dressing, $1.87 for the granita, and I guess another 70 cents or so for the yogurt sauce. That’s counting the cost of the ingredients; if you have to buy a container of yogurt just for this and can’t use the rest of it, it’s gonna cost more, of course.

Without the salad greens, that’s still around $10.15 or so for the full meal, and that’s not too far off; I probably used higher costs for things like flour and bacon than a lot of people would pay. The greens, though, are a different thing: in my neck of the woods, those come in pre-washed bags at the grocery store for $3 – $4 for 6 ounces worth. You can get a full pound of them for $4 at the warehouse club. If you get that price, then 6 ounces of greens are only $1.50, and combined with the $1.11 salad dressing, the bowl really does cost under $3.

I can’t get to $4 for the torte, though, if I include the cost of the butter and flour in the pie crusts. (Gruyere is not the problem: igourmet.com sells an 8 ounce cut of a good gruyere for $4, so I calculated the 2 oz of gruyere in Melissa’s recipe as costing about $1. But with half a pound of butter and 3/4 pound of flour in the pie crusts, that’s a buck or so that I’m guessing they didn’t add into the cost of the recipe, or I’m using too high a figure for flour ($3 for 5 pounds) and butter ($2.50 pound).

I thought what would kill the cost was the salad dressing, because we all know good extra virgin olive oil costs about $15 per liter, at least (that’s about what I pay), but that only works out to 22 cents per tablespoon. Three tablespoons is 66 cents worth of oil in the dressing—clearly the most expensive component but not a bank-breaker. (Cook’s Illustrated recommends a balsamic vinegar that sells for about $5 per bottle, so one tablespoon of it does not break the bank at all.)

Anyway, I didn’t mean to start a spreadsheet war, just saying that I peg the cost of the meal at about $15 including all ingredients (even in the dessert). Her delivery needs work, and she needs to not brush over the stuff that can frighten newbies like slicing potatoes thin or being really careful with a pie crust (I can imagine someone watching the show, rolling all the dough into the bottom crust, then wondering where the top crust comes from, though following the recipe from FN solves that problem).

I liked how she didn’t focus on what you had to give up to make good food inexpensively. It sounds like Sandra Lee (whom I won’t watch) is all about “you can use this instead of something good,” and Dave Lieberman had a good attitude but was often emphasizing using something inexpensively to go along with some other expensive ingredients, which doesn’t always work for me.

Simple ingredients are cheap, and you can easily combine them to make great flavors. I don’t think Melissa used anything in this show that an average family either wouldn’t have in the pantry or on the shopping list. Rachael Ray built an empire about using those to make good food fast. If Melissa can do something similar about being inexpensive (i.e., not cheaping out on 15 ingredients so you can use beef tenderloin, or not building meals around one exotic component that I probably can’t find), she may have something. With practice.

Oddly, I wanted Jeffrey to win too, but I found his “Ingredient Smuggler” concept very off-putting. I’m sure harissa has a great flavor, but I’ve never, ever, ever seen it in any store within 100 miles of here, not even in ethnic or specialty food stores. I can’t use recipes all built around something that I either can’t get or can’t eat (like ingredients high in sodium).

I wouldn’t mind a “$20 Dinners” show if they committed to the idea that every ingredient could absolutely be found in any supermarket anywhere in the United States. Nothing drives me more nuts than Ina Garten talking about fromage blanc as something she can find at her corner grocery store. Again, I’ve never seen it within 100 miles of here. I need better ideas for the food I can buy, not envy for the stuff that’s only available in the Hamptons or at Food Network Kitchens.

Oh, and Melissa: stop telling us how you’re giving us everyone else’s secret recipes. That’s not really very charming.

S9 says:

I can’t really comment on the quality of any of the dishes prepared, as I literally started to drift off from boredom.

Cat Chow says:

@Kathy: More evidence, the show is DOA

Gregory says:

I agree with the sentiments posted in this review. Boring and uninspiring are really the 2 adjectives I would use to describe the show. And there is no way that torte was made for $10. Not a chance in hell.

Boring. Boring. Boring.

YouKnowWhoIAM says:

Anyone posting a positive review of this show is either a relative of Melissa, on the payroll at the Food Network, or completely drunk/high. The show was an abomination from start to finish. Amateur hour.

KT says:

I wasn’t buying the whole $10/meal concept. A container of heavy cream costs about $3.50 where I live. Or is that a pantry staple? Bacon can go as low as $3. It seems like this was priced incrementally for the amount used and also wrote off “staples” as no cost. (A lot of “budget recipe” archives assume at no cost certain pantry staples such as butter, flour, sugar, salt, eggs, and a few other things.)

Also I cannot believe how much she babbled about Paris and her mother-in-law and everything else under the sun. I wanted a cooking show, not the autobiography of a housewife I don’t really care about. Let’s hope that in the future the latter begins to outweigh the former. I was NOT impressed with this show in the least.

(Plus, earlier in the morning, they aired an episode of Barefoot Contessa in which Ina Garten made a lobster pot pie and a salad with fresh vinaigrette. The pastry part and the dressing/salad parts were almost exactly the same content between the two shows, but Ina was a pretty tough act for Melissa to follow…)

Mo says:

The silly Rachael Ray-esque catch phrases (“easy-peasy”, “how easy was that?”, “I know!”, “super-yummy”) and actual singing of phrases like “but I do!”(her mother-in-law doesn’t like cheese in the torte but she does) have got to go. I could also do without the foodgasm noises FN seems to require of their “stars” when they’re tasting their creations.

Jun says:

Man, I’d like to know what Jeffrey thought of the episode. Unless he’s already secretly posted here. :P

What TOTALLY sinks the credibility of this as a budget-friendly show for me is the Gruyere. People living paycheck to paycheck can’t afford to shell out money for a block of expensive cheese. Sure, it would be used over many meals. But it’s a decent-sized expense upfront.

And the applesauce granita is like the punchline of a joke. Seriously. If she had made that during TNFNS Episode 1 at the Food Network Anniversary Party, she would have been eliminated. It’s a dish completely unworthy of the viewer’s time.

And, unless Sandra Lee is like Darth Sidious, training Melissa for the “dark arts” of semi-homemade cooking, Melissa needs to drop this schtick real quick before her credibility is just totally gone.

Finally, she looks like she’s cooking in a bathroom stall.

[Shakes head]

CherryRose says:

“Finally, she looks like she’s cooking in a bathroom stall.”

The set reminded me of a surgical suite – like OR8 in the movie “Coma”. Scary!

Jun says:

@CherryRose. Now I’m even more creeped out by her set! Thanks for the mental image. :P

ArUrbEx says:

Soy Sauce, hmmm?

Is Melissa Korean?

Jun says:

http://news.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1189969&srvc=home&position=also

“My 35 years of cooking on a budget…” So she’s been cooking since age 5?!?!

ssun says:

she leans into the camera way too much!

Lynxie says:

When I think low budget meals, I would cut out bacon and fancy cheese first. It’d be chicken, maybe rice or noodles and a veggie. but that’s not very ‘glamorous’ for TV, so they have to ‘gourmet’ it up. :S

elizabeth says:

Things I liked about the show: her recipes were decent, and she seemed relatively comfortable in front of the camera. Would I make them right away? Probably not, because I already have my own dressing for my spinach salad, and I don’t like potatoes enough to make a torte.

Things I hated: the overuse of cutesy-poo words (seriously, the FN needs have a moratorium on using the word YUMMY), her weird facial tics/awkward smile, and the arbitrary notion of the $10 meal concept altogether. Those things can be eventually fixed, though, so I wish her well–that said, I don’t find her to be appointment TV either to snark or to watch for real tips, so I guess that speaks for the quality of the show for better or worse.

Jun says:

@Dan. LOL!

@Kim H. She could sue for negligent infliction of emotional distress! It wouldn’t work, but it would be funny to watch.

cybergal619 says:

Wow! Just discovered your website/blog and I’m in L-U-V!! Tooo funny and sooo true! Especially … well everything. I, too, caught some of Melissa’s show and had the exact same opinion, i.e., most utterly unimaginative.

What got me was the jewelry. While not over the top for her show, it certainly isn’t anything I or anybody I know would wear while cooking…unless it was the 50′s. Wait, was she wearing heels, too?

Yeah, I wanted Jeffrey to win – from the very first show (honest), but was hoping Melissa’s show would be better.

Oh yeah, what is with the Paris references? They didn’t like it when whats-her-name the “gourmet next door” did it a couple of years ago, but it’s ok now?

Anyway, great site and I’ll be back!

Kenneth says:

I think the idea is you have to invest in some ingredients to have on hand and it will average out to $10 meals? I mean, it’s obvious you can’t go out and buy gruyere and make a torte for 10 dollars. But if you have some already in the fridge you won’t be paying for it the next time you use it.

Cat Chow says:

@bakingblonde – I agree with you! FN coulda, woulda shoulda done it with Nigella Lawson – based on her How to be a Domestic Goddess book which was centered around baking. Instead, we are subjected to endless challenges that seem to contrive inedible cakes made mostly out of foam, dowels, and fondant and to endless Nigella wannabes (Giada, that’s you). I would like to see more Nigella and less Pauler. One half hour of Nigella express on Saturdays doesn’t cut it.

Heather says:

I can’t believe no one is bothered by the fact that she didn’t wash her hands after cutting the bacon. She wiped them in a towel, then later used that same towel to wipe off her cutting board before making the salad. This show was hard to watch. YUCK-O

Jun says:

@ Heather. Poor hygiene is a deal breaker for me. I could never bring myself to eat food made by somebody who cooks that way. It just makes my stomach turn & my appetite instantly go away.

Cat Chow says:

@heather @jun – so it seems like she does not do a mise en place? Granted, I’m not a trained cook (and do not pretend to be anything but someone who loves to cook and who loves good food), but I have come to appreciate having a mise en place when I cook dishes with more than one ingredient (e.g. paella) and appreciate those folks on TV who do cook with a mise en place in place. If no mise en place, I really watch their hygiene as they go about their prep. I figure if you are on TV you are there to show me proper cooking skills/techniques.

Chocolate Chip says:

I didn’t like the show at all either. But I also agree that a baking show would be good, because of her pastry talents!!! But, I do have to say that her “french” food is not as good as the Gourmet Next Door, Amy was actually a really good cook, and pretty comfertable (sp?) in front of the camera.

Cat Chow says:

@Megan – as Kathy and I suspect, she is the “gourmet next door” two point doh! That set is recycled, for sure.

Kim H says:

Again, if they used swiss in the place of gruyere, it would have worked MUCH better

Swiss cheese is similar in nature and taste to gruyere.

They want the “high” end cook as well as the normal cook – they are missing on all angles

UGH says:

Applesauce granita?? Sheesh! What will be next….Kool-Aid popsicles in Dixie cups??

Stacy says:

I agree with some of the other commenters who didn’t find it horrid, but weren’t captivated, either. I have a family of four and it’s not much of a stretch to come up with $10 dinners, but I can’t do it consistently. I like to use a lot of fresh ingredients, and that adds up quickly. Plus, I have a teenager… so if I made the potato torte and field greens w/homemade dressing, his portion would be considered “nice appetizer, what’s for dinner?” So the concept of feeding four seems to rely on none of them being very hungry.

The set doesn’t bug me that much. I’m there to watch the food being prepared and get tips, not for the decor.

I keep my bacon in the freezer, too, but there’s NO WAY I can cut it like that right out of the freezer… it’s hard as a rock!

I did learn one thing from the show: the “make dressing in the bowl, add greens” thing. I think I’ve seen someone on FN do that with Caesar salad, but had forgotten that trick.

I will keep watching (but only if I have the TV on when Melissa’s show airs), just to see if it improves. DH did not watch NFNS, so had never seen her before, but commented more than once that he found her annoying. I find other hosts FAR more annoying… many of whom are regular victims of FNH’s ire.

I would assume that execs at FN pop over here every so often (esp. since the, um, “creative” audition video fiasco) and if so, I hope they take the feedback given on this site under advisement to some extent.

As a FN viewer since the very early days (skinny Emeril with all of his hair, Sara Moulton, Two Hot Tamales, etc.) I would really like to see Ming Tsai or someone with his “culinary point of view” return to the network. There’s too many introductory level and cooking-on-the-cheap shows and a lack of shows featuring interesting ingredients and techniques. That’s why I like Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and Jamie at Home so much… these hosts have something to teach me!

Automne says:

There used to be a baking show called Sweet Dreams with Gale Gand, but that didn’t last long. Now whenever it airs, it’s at the 4AM dead hour before infomercials.

WhatNow says:

Most horrible show ever! I wanted to enjoy it but the ugly set, and the whole idea of the show: $10 dinners, ugh! will not be watching again.

Bork Bork says:

@Kenneth That is a retarded premise for a cooking show called $10 Dinners. I am sure I could do this at home, yes I do have gruyere at home, then I also have most common staples and spices you can think of and subject my family to recipes from the Professional Chef or whatever strikes my fancy.

If you are a person with a minimal pantry, not only are you likely to miss out on the gruyere, as well as possibly a decent parmesan, fresh nutmeg and so on. Stupid recipe, stupid show.

Kylie says:

I didn’t watch the show (I was busy at the time and forgot to TiVo it) but I doubt that she was more awkward in front of the camera than Amy Finley. I watched one episode of the Gourmet Next Door and she made me incredibly uncomfortable! LOL! Hopefully Melissa will do a good job in later episodes or she’ll have to do what Amy did and move to France!

Byrdie says:

Kathy, if you are a kitchen gadget junkie, you may want to watch Good Eats. Alton Brown loves multi-tasking “gadgets” and so do I. You’ll save a ton of cash and learn from the best. The rest FN has to offer is crap.

APP says:

Kathy, you should watch America’s Test Kitchen on PBS, or go check out their website (just google them), or subscribe to their magazine. All are very educational.

Kathy says:

Wow, great advise. I thought I subscribed to just about every foodie magazine out there, but not that one. I’m on it! Thanks for info.

Kathy says:

I agree, Kevin. But the Chicken A’L'orange – or however you spell it – did look interesting. I plan on trying that and seeing if it is as good as it looked. I was a bit confused when she prepared 3 chicken breasts for “4 people for under $10″. I can see where that would be possible if two people share:) I watched the female version of Guy Fiere on one of her episodes, and she had an open wound on her hand while she was cooking in her restaurant and then on her show. Double yuk!

oh_come_on says:

Hey JUN
WHAT? You want to complain about the all-mighty-fabulous-best-thing-since-sliced-bacon-keeps-longer-in-the-freezer-adding-lemon-makes-things-taste-lemony-canned-goods-on-sale-save-you-money-infinite-possibilities Melissa?
FN sacrilege!
Write:
Bob Tuschman, SR VP Programming
Food Network
75 9th Avenue
New York, NY 10011-7006
I’ve written him so many times I’m certain he’d love to hear from someone else!

Sarah says:

If D’Arabian invented the 4 step chicken cooking methodology, then I’ll take credit for the souffle and flambe methods. Fuck FN for trying to get us to believe this shit.

Speaking of Tuschman, that little fuck is probably hiding under his desk right now, afraid of answering his phone.

Byrdie says:

I checked it out and the Mommy Dearest Burned Meatball recipe is not the only censored review. Consider her ‘Glazed Carrots’ (that she invented according to her)had 86 comments & reviews and only 12 are posted. Now, this is weird. The ‘Crispy Potatoes’ had 77 comments & reviews and all were posted AND ALL WERE RAVING HOW WONDERFUL THEY WERE. Huh? I don’t understand. What are they hiding? That she SUCKS? And Bobbo and Susie were wrong?? Especially in the new light that all of a sudden Jeffery is back on FN’s site. Hmmm…

Bork Bork says:

I think I’ll invent sauce béarnaise and grilled steak….

Anon says:

Oh… and I think FN is reading. All the comments just suddenly showed up.

Bork Bork says:

Since they all have 5 stars and read like Extenzee advertising I’m still a little skeptical…

Tried it. Loved it. My husband loved it. I think it will be great for company. It is always nice to pop new pills in the line-up…

Byrdie says:

Bork Bork – You are totally correct. All the reviews are “it was sooooo good”, “there are no NEW recipes, and the carrots were great”. I didn’t have the stomach to read all the postings, but out of the 50 or so I did read covering three of her recipes (including her Burned African Meatballs) were rave rave rave.

And Anon, you are also correct. All of a sudden all the reviews are posted.

Weird-o-rama.

Judith says:

OH COME ON, Please do not compare Bob Tuschman to a weasel. It,s just insulting a poor innocent weasel, after all your average weasel has higher moral standards than Bob. They are also a lot better looking.

Judith says:

Cherry Rose that goes without saying, after all a grain of sand has a higher IQ than Buttman.

Ferd says:

Who’s surprised Melissa’s recipes aren’t original? I’m not sure there’s any dish out there that hasn’t been done before. I am tired, however, of FN hosts with no actual back of the house experience presuming to give instruction. Reminds me of David Rosengarten devoting an entire show to telling us the one and only “correct” Rosengarten-approved way to bake a potato. As I recall, it involved a 500 degree oven and about three hours’ baking time.

Bork Bork says:

Would it be correct to refer to a puttanesca with kielbasa as a Polish whore?

Pat says:

Compared between Melissa ans Brian Boitono..Brian is so much more interesting and “pulls it off” better so to speak.

Melissa again, shows she has no professisonal cooking experience at all and I hope that FN in the future will be sure to get people who have a more in depth background in food and or the food business. It really does make a difference.

Per Kevin’s comments…Melissa does have some bad facial expressions. Her eyes look as though they are about to pop out of her head or she is morphing into a character from the show “Being Human”. Maybe she would be a better fit on that show, but not a show on FN. She over does everything and is trying to hard to “convince” people she is a pro, when she is far from it.

Hopefully her show will get canceled..so we only have I think 3 more shows to go? Let’s put this show out of it’s misery.

Heather says:

Thank you! I about died when she made it to the final three, and was just shocked when she won. She is not only boring and uninspired, she’s just plain annoying. I can’t STAND her voice, and she doesn’t have any personality to speak of. I love to learn new recipes, and even with some of the others that annoy me slightly (Ina Garten and Sandra Lee) I can find handy/useful tips, but so far nothing Melissa has done has motivated me to do anything but change the channel. I hate to say this, because it sounds mean, but I really hope the show is canceled, because I just flat out don’t think it deserves to be on television.

Tatiana says:

Did you know her husband is French?

DesignerJeans says:

Holy cow Tatiana, I watched the first few minutes while eating a snack and SHE SAID IT AGAIN.

Her husband is French!!

hmm… really? Did not get that the first million times she has said it before.

I think it’s official now, Melissa has told us her husband’s nationality MORE then Debbie has told us hers.

Today, we are all French-Koreans.

Someone put this show out of its misery…

Ferd says:

Excuse me, I have to put the bacon in the freezer.

Carol Howansky says:

Your comments are nasty. I like the show and I like her. Today’s program (8/30) had some good recipes, so give the gal a chance. I do agree that the set needs some improvement.

brenda says:

i haven’t watched Melissa d’Arabian’s program yet but my daughter and granddaughter love the program. i tried her recipe for salmon cakes and they were delicious !! and easy to make. They had flavor unlike some of the other recipes i’ve tried off the food network.

Kathy says:

Maybe she needs to start her show by demonstrating how to make a fancy cocktail so we can enjoy the rest of the show…in a drooling stupor! Slap yourself with the frozen bacon and get on with it!

Bork Bork says:

Ah a Sandy russipe with a Fierimulsion as a thickening agent if you add some butter, just 3 or 4 sticks Paula will blend it and sell it for you.

Pat says:

Agreed..

I started watching America’s Test Kitchen on Create. It goes over things step by step as if you were a student in a classroom there. I also have been enjoying Ina’s Back To Basics since she explains things in more detail as well.

Recently, I have been enjoying Five Ingredient Fix. I like cooking with just a few items if possible. I know Gordon Ramsay likes to use primarily four ingredients in his recipes.

FN..make it easy, yet tasteful for us with limited time. Sandra Lee seems to have her stuff together on the budget saving meals. Further, explain ways to cut fat when preparing these meals disclosing substitutes.

Melissa just does not do it for me. She has nothing to offer at all.

Kevin says:

Checked today FN’s web site and her pic has been removed with no info on future shows, only the past 6 that aired. I am thinking her show has been canceled.

I hope so cause the show was dismal and her lack of experience professionally was obvious.

FN needs to be sure in the future to pick people that have a real background in food and not a housewife that cooks for a few people and had no original recipes or info to offer the audience.

Sanda Lee has a comperable show and yet she is able to get her message across and still offer helpful tips. So it was easy to compare shows and see that Melissa just could not cut it.

Byrdie says:

I just checked as well and she’s still listed as one of their “chefs” (gag me with a total spoon). If you click on her show, it’s states new episodes coming January 2010. So color me confused.

CherryRose says:

Speaking of freezing bacon: I’ve now experimented with this and will not do it in future. The international market where I shop had a special on their bacon (peppered and maple varieties). I bought a large package, used only a few slices, then wrapped and stored the rest. Thawed the bacon yesterday just enough to remove a few slices for German potato salad. The bacon was mushy and did not crisp well during cooking. From now on, I will buy only a few slices at a time as required for my recipe. I would not recommend this to anyone. jmo

THE ONE AND ONLY CYNTHIA says:

Anyone who has a problem with Melissa d’Arabian’s Ten Dollar Dinners show on Food Network MUST be ‘freakin’ CRAZY! She’s laughing all the way to the bank while you’re making ridiculous comments. And, thank God FN had the genuis to make the right decision on this one. (The person who suggested allowing the audience to select the winners – DUH!!– Do we need more American Idol fiasco???

Melissa’s show is absolutely NOT boring. She is a smooth operator who knows her stuff. Actually, I watched the many of FN’s competition and was mesmerized to see Melissa, a non-Chef, literally kick ass every week. In fact, as a competitor, I saw her as quite clever,humble, innovative and downright AWESOME! She handled those Chefs like Picasso handled a paintbrush. Melissa is poised, elegant,knowledgeable, polite and masterful in the kitchen. When Jeffery, a Chef, was certain he would be crowned the winner, Melissa ALWAYS remained cool and composed. She even complimented him up to the eleventh hour while he NEVER complimented her. As a viewer, you sensed that Jeffery dismissed Melissa as someone who was simply – not in his league. However, a phrase coined by a Chess genius friend, Melissa was probably thinking – “Why settle for 2nd, when first is still available –Check Mate!” ~~ Orin Hudson As Food Network announced Melissa the winner, Jeffery, in “ALL” of his arrogance looked like a deer caught in headlights.

Food Netwook knows “exactly” what it is doing. As Melissa consistently said during the promotion of her show, there is an audience for someone like her. Melissa is warm, friendly, masterful in kitchen and has a pleathora of fantastic ideas to share. The person who stated she’s only given a tip about the frozen bacan is simply a “hater” and probably wanted someone else to win. Melissa has given numerous tips. It’s what she does bests.
As a new host, I was impress that she finished her receipes and plated each meal ALWAYS GOES IN FOR MORE. Even long-timer, Rachel Ray has ended her show still trying to complete the recipe.

Today, Sunday, September 27, 2009, i was very disappointed when I didn’t know why Ten Dollars Dinners was not airing at 12:30 p.m. I began frantically searching the NET to learn what had happened. Then, I discovered that a bunch of bafoons were blogging and twitting about Melissa’s show being awful. I had no intentions of posting a comment, but after reviewing the jokes and all that jazz, I could not resist.

AGAIN, ANYONE WHO DOES NOT LIKE TEN DOLLARS DINNERS IS A FREAKIN IDIOT!! THAT’S MY STORY, AND I’M STICKING TO IT.

I AM THRILLED THE SHOW WILL RETURN IN 2010 WITH 13 MORE REFRESHING EPISODES.
MELISSA D’ARABIAN AND FOOD NETWORK —- YOU GO!!!!!

Squarebob Spongepants says:

@The One and Only Cynthia. Really? You’re the only one? :)
Your post is hilarious because a)You’re worked up about such and awful show and b)You sound like a big windbag. Keep the posts coming. It’s comedy gold.

Byrdie says:

Or how about ‘realist’, Oh Come On! You call’z ‘em as you see’z ‘em.

Byrdie says:

…and her husband is French and is also caramelized.

Teague says:

@the one and only Cindy…you were a little vague in you post could you please clarify how you really feel about Melissa?

oh_come_on says:

Poor CindyPoo, she drank the D’Arabian Kool-aid.

FoodieOne says:

Cynthia…er, I mean, Melissa…please don’t come to this site anymore tauting your own show. We don’t hate you personally, just your moronic television show. Really…you can go home to your French husband, applesauce, and freezer bacon now.

Pat says:

Just got the scoop. She will return with a new show called:

BRINGING HOME THE BACON.

It is about a housewife that shops at different stores buying bacon and seeing how well they freeze. She should be “masterful”.

Please make her go away!

MJK says:

I totally agree… not impressed with the show. Have you noticed Melissa’s annoying habit of saying “MY” every other word?

Christine D. says:

TOTALLY loving the posts here! Melissa SUCKS – and on weekends my sister and I watch with pen and paper in hand, write down every ingredient, and our grant totals are well over $20 or $30 every single week! Since WHEN does MILK GO ON CLEARANCE??? When does CREAM go on sale? Never. These are perishable dairy items – and once expired are removed from refrigerators at markets or the corner stores.
We watched the April 12th episode – she claimed a large head of broccoli was “under one dollar”. SAY WHAT??? $3 easy, maybe more. And she made shrimp scampi – she had 12 shrimp, to feed FOUR PEOPLE??? And yet she said each serving was 5 shrimp per person, which makes 20 shrimp to have on hand total for 4 diners. Her math – and her prices – make no sense at all. A kid could figure this one out.
A few weeks ago she gave viewers a “lesson in options” – you can dry your hands with either paper towels OR a dishcloth!!! Imagine that!!!!
I caught 10 minutes of Everyday Tramp on the Today Show last week. She said (and I quote): “Jade is in the kitchen cooking all the time! And she loves to eat pork chops.” A 2 year old infant is COOKING??? Chewing on chops when she has no teeth??? Oh come on, Trampooleenee. No one with a brain can buy that crap.

Samantha says:

There is no flippin way that Chicken Marengo and salad cost ten dollars. NO WAY.
Maybe if you count yellow bell peppers, pecans, onions, wine, broth, and butter as kitchen staples. Otherwise, no way.

10 dollar dinners is obviously geared toward people on a budget. Well guess what. Buying a ten to fifteen dollar bottle of wine to use a half cup in a recipe is not in my budget.

Even if you break it down to just what you use, it’s not 10 dollars. Won’t be watching this again.