I'm a bit of a cooking show aficionado too. I have to say Nigella and especially Jamie don't fuss about quantities much, they both often say that you can and should adapt recipes to suit you. Obviously some things require certain ratios of ingredients to work, a nice light cake for example. If they seem to be haphazard the way they chuck stuff in it's just cos they're trying to do it quickly for television. You can be sure that the one they prepared earlier has been measured out accurately.
If it's a recipe for a dish that I fancy, I take little notice of quantities, within reason. I made Jamie's "Wonky Pasta" the other day after seeing it on telly, he used a whole mini-pot of basil in it (for 4 people), i used less than a quarter of the amount he put in and still found it overpoweringly basilly. I sometimes think he's a bit heavy handed with his flavourings; smothering pitta bread in fennel seeds for example, I'm sure I would find that a little too much. But I love his style, he's brilliant, and his creativity in the kitchen is inspiring.
His "30 minute meals" series is on at the moment, every day I watch it and it puts me off what I was planning to cook; his stuff looks so much better!
Some of them really are fussy though. Gary Rhodes takes so long to plate up prettily, arranging each carrot or bean or potato by hand so it's at a jaunty angle... his food must always be cold!
The fusspot queen has to be Delia though. Her detailed and verbose instructions on how to cook an egg, make toast, even how to know when water is boiling "properly" left me gobsmacked. Ok so some people just don't know how to cook; Delia, you ain't helping them!
xx