Why We Love This Cooking Video!

Back when she lived in NYC, Jill Santopietro made wonderful, inspiring videos about cooking in her tiny (very tiny!) kitchen. Now she's in the Bay Area and working for Chow.com. We love her new Cooks from Books video series and in particular, this latest installment where she cooks from David Tanis' Heart of the Artichoke. Read on for our reasons why.

In a perfect world, this is how all instructional cooking shows would be: full of the real challenges that an everyday cook would encounter when confronted with a new recipe. Here are seven reasons why we love this video.

She's cooking in a real kitchen (her home kitchen!) with a regular, everyday stove.
Like most home cooks, she uses a timer.
She shows what it's really like to follow a recipe and what to do when you're not familiar with an ingredient.
She points out where the recipe is lacking (assuming everyone has a scale, in this case).
She shows how to recover gracefully from a mistake.
She shows how to make decisions when the recipe is vague or unclear.
She shows that you can not be sure about something (in this case, time and temperature) but to go ahead and do it anyway.

We hope Ms. Santopietro continues with these fun and informative videos!

Comments (6)

This is a great video. And I got this book for Christmas, so it's great to see a recipe in action.

I agree about cooking temps and times though, and frankly, it's all about the individual ovens. My oven, despite the oven thermometer I bought which registers the correct temperature, always takes longer to cook. Especially on baked goods like bundt cakes and quiche.

I LOVED her videos when they were on NYTimes! I've been feeling sad every since they stopped appearing. It's great to know why that was (her current kitchen looks much nicer now) and that she's making new videos. I hope she keeps making new videos!

This video gives me hope that I will become a better cook, even with all the doubt and indecision I get every time I try to follow a new recipe. If even experienced chefs occasionally make mistakes or are confused, it means that I'm not alone!

I absolutely loved watching this video too. I hope we all get to see a lot more of Jill. (Hello cooking show!!)

I loved her videos on on the NYTimes! I'm so happy to hear that she is still making videos. Welcome to the Bay Area Jill!

This girl is great. Last week I saw her make Tangerine Sorbet. She's obviously very smart and talented but the way she talks and acts makes her seem like an airhead, which I think makes her approachable.