Alton is fun to watch, just my style quick and short.
I have tried his recipes before getting serious about VLC.
Sardines in Mustard are my favs too, I wonder if it is a regional thing since I grew up near Cleveland too.
S

Liquid nitrogen? A lot of chefs do that nowadays. They call it molecular gastronomy. Pretty crazy stuff. Almost seems like a cross between performance art and dining and chemistry lab.

I saw something on Iron chef where they used an Anti-griddle. A sort of metallic plate kept at extremely cold temperatures. They used it to flash freeze a vingarette into an interesting shape. Knowing AB's science geek bent, he probably spends a lot of time playing with such things, or really, really wants to.

I think it was CO2. I've seen the freezie-plate stuff you mean on Iron Chef America and whatnot--I suppose I just meant it was impractical for the home cook as compared to his other two appearances so far. In retrospect, it seemed like he was pretty much playing the Fallon segment for laughs--flash-frozen fruit got everywhere, both in the freezing and blending stage.

Interesting thread, Gwynne. Does he look "healthy" skinny, or "sickly" skinny?

I tried to find a screenshot but can't. I think the episode of The View is available here:

http://abc.go.com/watch/the-view/16...27/the-view-106

When he came on stage on The View I was a bit taken aback--the first reflexive thought was "he looks like he's had a terrible illness". He also was dressed strangely, and in a way that emphasized the weight loss. The other two appearances I've seen, he wasn't dressed like that or (on Fallon) was wearing a lab coat. I may have gotten used to his newer weight by then also.

I think folks who haven't seen him in a while, who watch The View segment, will be surprised-bordering-on-shocked at first.

going to watch it, I do remember seeing him in those baggy bowling shirts. I enjoyed watching him on Good Eats, and several other shows. I haven't seen the clip yet, but sounds like several people think his weight loss was taken a bit to far.

Here's a pic:

See, that kinda bugs me. People say "oh, you've lost too much weight, you don't look healthy", to someone that was heavy, but if they had always been at that weight, nothing would have ever been said.

I'd have to see him naked to judge that!

I think part of the problem is that when you do lose a lot of weight, a lot of lines and planes on your face become become more emphasized, because they were previously filled in by, well, fat. So significant weight loss can make you look older. Unfortunately I did gain a few years with my 50-ish lb loss so far.

We're also not really *used* to seeing an average-weight or overweight person suddenly become skinny, unless there is a serious illness (cancer, eating disorder, whatever Steve Jobs had, etc). It's just a reflex, at least for me. I would never presume to tell someone they had lost 'too much' weight, but a formerly not-skinny person becoming skinny can cause aesthetic changes that the eye does not immediately perceive as pleasant.

I am surprised that Alton Brown has shed 50 pounds of body weight. He didn't appear to have that many extra pounds of weight to lose. But he is a very scientific guy and if he saw some downside to too much sugar and flour he would get on that in a hurry. I am sure that he is weighing everything that he says in light of his career on TV, because he is a mainstay on The Food Channel. I believe that he is smart enough to realize that there is an undercurrent of people who want to kick sugar and refined wheat out of their lives. The possibilities for him are limitless. All he has to do is dump sponsors with connections to sugar, flour, high fructose corn syrup, most fruit, and high carb veggies like potatoes. Good luck.

I seem to remember him trashing diets that cut out "certain food groups" a while back. Would be interesting if that changed, but I doubt it.

His second show of the season is cooking with wine and BEER, so--we'll see.

Not that I won't watch every show.

I'm glad he lost weight. I think he looks great!

Isn't that Elisabeth Hasselbeck's show? Did they talk about gluten or is that a subject she avoids?

I don't know whose show it is--I don't really watch talk shows, and I just tivo'd ones with Alton Brown on them. I think I saw Whoopi Goldberg when I was FFing. I didn't recognize the women who were talking to Alton, and they didn't really talk about anything of substance for the most part, just a lot of ooohing and aahing. Gluten not mentioned.

Been there done that. Just goes to show you how people don't like change. This has happened to me when I was down to 180. I still had some fat on my body and it would be normal weight for many but, since I was usually fat or a little chunky some people would comment that, "You lost too much" or something like that. You have to get there and stay there for years before people calm down about your new look. Just one of the many hurdles we face on top of the difficulty of changing your eating habits. Not an easy road but, so worth it. I cannot wait till get back to a good weight. I kept it off for several years last time. Hope I can get back and stay there for life this time. One step at a time though.