An Alternative to GE Trivection and Advantium Ovens

Not everybody has room for or can afford a GE Trivection or Advantium oven, like the ones Alton Brown so shamelessly plugs in his online infomercials. This episode introduces my new Asian sourced Straaten microwave/convection/grill oven, which, at the time, was also available at Wal-Mart as a Daewoo. It's just the right thing in this time of subprime mortgage foreclosures.

The Straaten Sizzler is easy to use, too. Just press one button to roast a chicken to perfection. Alton Brown spends most of the time in his ad for General Electric wading through complicated menus. Sometimes, low-cost Asian knockoffs can be just as good as the original!

On Chef Robert Irvine, Lying and Dinner: Impossible

I was shaken to learn about how chef Robert Irvine disgraced all cooking show hosts with lies about his background. In this episode, I set the record straight with confessions about Food 411 for One, request the same deal from the Food Network, and reflect on what I would cook for various U.S. Presidents. As far as I know, I was not considered to replace him.

In particular, do not expect future episodes about rice, George Foreman grills, or meat thermometers.

Breakfast Cereal

Breakfast cereal can be a quick-and-dirty convenient meal, but when prepared properly, it is wonderful.

The keys are using a frozen ceramic bowl, measuring ingredients carefully—by weight, volume, or count depending on what it is—and the metric system comes in handy for this. Storing your cereal in an airtight container with a label describing the cereal and the purchase and expiration dates keeps everything fresh and crisp.

Here's the recipe for Food 411 for One Breakfast Cereal:

42 g (1 1/2 oz.) breakfast cereal (by weight)
pinch of kosher salt (by estimate)
179 ml (3/4 cup) milk (by volume)
20 fresh blueberries (by exact count)

Be sure to place the blueberries strategically in the matrix formed by the cereal. Serve immediately.