Bon Appetit magazine recently took a reader survey and when asked who their favorite T.V. chef was, Giada de Laurentiis won.  Not only that, she was also picked as the cooking teacher most would prefer to spend a week with.  

This I can completely understand.  I have tried many of her recipes and by far, I enjoy them more than any other I have tried from other T.V. chefs.  Most of her recipes have an Italian twist to them.

One of my favorites is her pancetta wrapped pork roast.  We eat this at least twice a month in my house.  What is really nice about her recipes is not that they are brand new creations.  Most are familiar recipes we have seen in the past, but she has adjusted them so subtly, yet so dramatically, your blown away by the results.  Of course, this is what good cooks do.  They take a recipe, and change it to their tastes, and come out with a new creation.

I recently cooked for a super bowl party, and I used one of Giada’s steak sandwhich recipes that I adjusted quite a bit and it went quicker than any other food presented at the party.  I will be posting this soon, but I would have never gotten there if Giada hadn’t introduced her method and special tastes.  This chef is making us all look good. 🙂

Congratulations Giada, it is a recognition well deserved!

There were some other interesting results of the survey:

Favorite Dessert: Creme Brulee

Most Popular Weeknight Dinners: Pasta, Chicken, Salmon, Steak and Burgers

75% of respondents choose locally grown and produced foods

54% of respondents opt for organically produced foods

Wine You Order When You’re Trying Something New: New Zealand Pinot Noir

Favorite Kind of Get-Together: Cocktails and Appetizers

68% of respondents said low-carb was a waning trend

Favorite U.S. City for Dining Out: San Francisco

Best City To Go To For The Food: Barcelona

Best Date City AND Most Romantic Foodie Getaway: Paris

Travel Philosophy: Adventurous – you want to try lots of new dishes, and you’re not afraid to experiment with unfamiliar foods.

Tool You Use The Most: Microwave

Tool You Use The Least: Mortar and pestle

56% of respondents would replace their linens over everything else in their kitchen (7% would replace wineglasses; 14% would replace flatware; 16% would replace china)

Biggest Challenge When Cooking During The Week: Finding New Twists on old favorites

Biggest Challenge When Having People Over: Finding enough time to pull it all together

Your Instant Party Strategy: Fire up the BBQ to grill meat or fish, and serve salad and bread on the side

In Your Fridge: Milk, eggs, cheese, and occasionally homemade strawberry jam and good Champagne

Amount of Time You’re Willing to Spend Making A Special- Occasion Dessert: More than an hour

Kitchen Skill You’d Like to Sharpen: Knife Techniques

What’s Your (deep, dark) Party Secret? Sometimes you like to show off