‘The Kitchen’ Articles at Sweetnicks

The Kitchen is one of the few cooking shows that I record, so when a friend asked if I wanted to go to a taping with her, I was all in. I love the chefs and how they interact with each other, and equally love how most of the recipes they share are super simple to make and usually don’t require a massive tri-state area hunt for exotic ingredients. If you’re not familiar with the show, the chefs are Katie Lee, Sunny Anderson, Jeff Mauro, and Geoffrey Zakarian.

And now, after attending the taping, I love them even more. They were seriously so funny to watch. Jeff and Sunny act like misbehaving teenagers, with Geoffrey playing the role of the strict dad. They clearly love what they do, and their passion is evident, and as an audience member, it was definitely a good time.

Despite the fact that Food Network is based in New York, The Kitchen, surprisingly, tapes in Montclair, which meant a super easy drive and on-street, metered parking. Hurrah! In fact, I scored the first space right in front of the studio and the meters are good for three hours (without you having to rush out mid-taping to refeed them), so it was perfect. Our taping started at 9, and you waited outside until the very dot of 9, so keep that in mind if you happen to visit during inclement weather.

A staffer checked our ID before we were ushered into the small audience area and we grabbed a seat on the folding chairs. When I say “small,” I’m not kidding. There were five rows of chairs, about six seats across, so the audience for each taping is minimal. The chairs are fairly close together, and there isn’t really optimal viewing from every seat, so you may find yourself watching the large tv screen in the room more than you’re watching the actual people. I vacillated between both, sneaking peeks in between the people sitting in front of me. I heard the ladies in the last row complain about the fact that they couldn’t see that well … and yet they refused to fill out a feedback form at the end of taping. Go figure.

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Delicious bite size sweet treats, with only five ingredients, these S’mores Truffles are sure to please.

A million years ago, when my ex-husband and I were dating, I had a truffle recipe in heavy rotation. I remember making it for his sister and his dad when we were deep in the throes of courtship. You know, that all important time when you feel the need to impress your significant other’s family. I made that recipe so many times over a period of a few years, sharing it also with friends and neighbors, that you’d think I would have committed it to memory.

Well, you’d be wrong. Very little then or now is ever committed to memory.

And over the years, and countless moves, I lost the recipe long ago.

A few weeks ago, I was watching an episode of Food Network’s, The Kitchen, and saw Sunny Anderson make an easy recipe for S’mores Truffles. The show’s theme for the day featured recipes that were five ingredients or less, and I made a mental note to make this one.

And after receiving a massive amount of snow this week (15″ in one day!), and being housebound since Monday, this week was the perfect time to try out the recipe.

Before Snowstorm Stella came, I made sure I had the ingredients for these truffles on hand, but the ingredients are basic enough that you might already have on hand. Although this is an easy recipe, because of the truffle chilling timing, it’s not something you can quickly whip up and enjoy soon after. But with a little bit of planning, you can be indulging your sweet tooth just a few hours later. Don’t let that deter you from making the truffles … I just usually miss the “chill for three hours,” and hate the surprise of missing instant gratification.

The recipe calls for nearly burning the marshmallows and, I’ve got to be honest, that was so hard for me to do. Because our inclination is to take them out and enjoy them when they’re in this stage, right?

And I did. And I picked a few off the end and popped them into my mouth (and have three blisters on my fingers to prove it). But I put them back in to give them another minute to get to the blacker stage the recipe called for. I *think* that is requested because it makes the marshmallows easier to crumble into the graham crackers, and it also gives the finished truffle the tiniest hint of campfire smokiness.

So, you know, follow the directions.

Truffles are in the fudge family, where a little bite goes a long way, so these are best enjoyed with several small nibbles. If you pop the whole thing in your mouth, you will no doubt proclaim them too sweet. Despite that, my snow shovelers popped several in their mouths when they came back from their hours of shoveling.

PS You can watch Sunny making the truffles right here.

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The Day We Attended a Taping of The Kitchen

Recipe: S’mores Truffles