The show is about him, and his crew of 5 (some on motorcycles, some in the van) crossing the United States, avoiding interstate highways and only eating at “road food” joints like diners, cafes, stands, etc. No national chains. The show has footage of them driving, their stops, the food, etc. Usually it’s just Alton, but the crew sometimes joins in. Often he’ll help in the kitchen of places he goes, so far he’s washed dishes, made fry-cakes, and help do prep work for a small town event.

The waxing poetic about road food gets tiring, and most of the interviews are pretty boring. But when he joins in the action or it’s just candid shots of him, it’s an amazing show. Think “Good Eats” hits reality TV. There’s even the requisite “And if I had a food historian handy… Hey, there’s one right there!” (though in that scene he seems to always be cutting her off, I’m not sure if she was boring or he was in a hurry).

There’s a good mix of history (including stuff you’d never guess about Duncan Hines), some travel, and full of the quirks you’d expect from AB (including a 6′ map of the US they carry with them)). It’s lightly edited and fairly unscripted. He’s got a quick wit about him, even though you can tell he’s got a sense of humour from watching Good Eats, when he’s interacting with people, especially in the kitchen, he’s really funny.

From his website I know the 4th episode has him break something in an accident. It was just posted to torrents so it’ll be a bit before I get to see it. Unfortunately the 4th is also the last. Maybe he’ll do it again, I can only hope.

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AB’s recipe calls for a mix of all purpose and whole wheat flour, which will make my wife happy. But it didn’t turn out as well as the ones from the Joy of Cooking. My waffle iron is a paltry 650 Watts which worked perfectly for my other recipe, but these ones didn’t have the crispy exterior that are integral to waffles. The flavour was OK, with a nice element introduced by the buttermilk, but not as light and fluffy as I had hoped. I tried leaving the waffles in longer to take care of the crust, but it didn’t help.

I’m going to try this recipe again, but with all white flour instead of the 50/50 mix. This should reduce the density, and lead to fluffier waffles with a crispier crust. If I can get that to work this recipe will be a hit, since it’s much easier to put together than the recipe from the Joy of Cooking.

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