Because it's been so damned hot, now is as good a time as any to discover the "The Naked Chef." Don’t get your panties in a bunch, though. The chef isn’t nude, he just cooks in a basic, no-frills manner by "stripping food back to the bare essentials"; so he is only naked like a tortured singer-songwriter with just a guitar and a microphone. In a nutshell, Jamie Oliver is a twentysomething British chef who cooks different meals for specific occasions in his hip London flat. Think Beck, but goofier, with keen English figures of speech. Check the show out on the Food Network Tuesdays at 10 p.m. or pick up his new book, The Naked Chef, for $35. Most Food Network programming caters to older folks with the ability and money to watch TV and cook all the time, but just because Oliver is such an entertaining nut, "The Naked Chef" somehow manages to appeal to younger slackers who don’t cook. See for yourself.

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