[Horseradish sauce for Prime Rib...]

There's a recipe in <u>The Joy of Cooking</u> for horseradish cream. I've made it before, and it was good.

[Woks - Buying, Care, and Use]

I have been wanting a wok for some time now. Looking at the offerings from The Wok Shop, the different types of woks are dizzying. What would be the best all-purpose wok? I would rather avoid "non stick" since I had one at some point in the past and it was very shoddy.

[Gumbo, Jambalaya, Etouffee, Creole...]

Just wanted to say, I made some shrimp etouffee last night and tried Brooks' technique for making the roux over very high heat.

I had always heard that this was a HUGE no-no, but it turned out perfect in a fraction of the time. If you've never made a roux before, you might want to go slow, but if you know what it's supposed to look and smell like, the "fast roux" technique rocks.

I had etouffee start-to-finish in about a half hour!

[Best Cookbooks for Beginners]

I have both Joy of Cooking and How to Cook Everything. I must say, for recipes, I turn to How to Cook Everything much more frequently. However, if I am looking for a simple recipe for a simple food -- cinnamon rolls, say -- I'll often look at Joy of Cooking then look at other cookbooks and the Internet and attempt to come up with an ultimate recipe.

Another cookbook you really need to add to your library is Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, et. al. It's a classic reference. I rarely ever cook recipes from that book start-to-finish, but rather use it as a reference for French techniques.

I am sort of also interested in buying some of the Cooks Illustrated recipe books, since although their dishes are usually banal, that's also the type of food I usually cook, and most of the stuff I've tried from the magazine has turned out excellent.

[Nasty Little Habits]

Krystal's "chili cheese pups". Absolutely phenomenal when good and drunk. They usually seem like a good idea at the time, anyway.

[Haunted by Julia... Oh Julia, Julia, Julia...]

All that was said above, plus I like to believe Julia's almost singlehandedly responsible for the appearance of SHALLOTS in American markets.

God bless her. Mastering the Art is by far the most messed-up cookbook I own. And in my world, the more junk you've spilled on a cookbook, the better it must be! I think my copy has at least 20 post-its sticking out of the side. To this day, it remains a relevant and trustworthy go-to cookbook for basic recipes and techniques.

Bon appetit!

[Burger Toppings and Fixin's: The Topic]

I'm pretty much down with Holly. But, being from Texas, the best burger ever was one I used to get at some restaurant down there.

Nice thick patty, plenty of fat. Medium rare.

Regular white-bread type bun. Buttered and grilled. No sesame seeds.

Mayo on both buns -- more on the bottom bun to mingle with the burger grease.

Lots of shredded cheddar on top of the patty.

A split and grilled weiner on top of that.

Barbecue sauce on top of that.

Thin-sliced onion on top of that.

I'm drooling now.

Any fried potato product and some Southern-style cole slaw on the side.

A gigantic ice-cold soda.

[Gumbo, Jambalaya, Etouffee, Creole...]

So, is there some prerequisite for the "chunkiness" of gumbo? Just the other day I reaped all leftovers from the freezer and made a batch with andouille sausage, duck, shrimp, and crawfish. But it was nowhere near as chunky as the bowls of gumbo pictured upthread. It was, however, delicious. Was it a proper gumbo?!

[Dining in Las Vegas: Part 1]

On Sunday morning we tried to go to Craftwich for a breakfast sandwich but were unable to eat there as they don’t open until 10:00 and we had a plane to catch. You’d think they’d at least open by 9:00 if they are serving breakfast sandwiches.

What/where is Craftwich? Is this related to Craft/Craftsteak? Last time I was in LV I had the best piece of meat of my life, a Kobe beef skirt steak from Craftsteak. I'd be interested to try their sandwich!

[Your favorite brand of pasta]

I use De Cecco, too. However, I was raised in Texas and therefore oversauce the hell out of my pasta like a good American, so I can't really tell much difference between the brands. I mostly buy De Cecco because they sell it in bulk at Costco.

[What is your own personal "signature dish"?]

I'm with some of the other n00bs. My "signature dishes" really don't qualify as "gourmet" but I have mastered and perfected them. So.

Roast chicken

Gumbo

Etouffee

Pot roast

Chili

Spaghetti sauce

Poached fish

Yeah, I'm not that great. But, hey, it's a start! One day I'll have mad skillz.

[Straight from freezer to table.]

I'm with Fat Guy on the flat freezing. About a month ago I made close to two gallons of meat sauce (the kind you put on pasta) and froze it all in two-serving portions in quart-size Ziploc bags. To reheat, I just hold the bag under warm running water for a few seconds -- enough to release the frozen "seal" between sauce and bag -- then just dump it in a small pot, turn heat to medium-low, add a couple tablespoons water, and cover. Come back in about 20 minutes to tasty sauce!

[Fried Corn]

You kidding me, Therese?!

In the South, Mac 'n' Cheese is totally a vegetable!

The Meat 'n' Three I go to most often is Monell's, simply because they have a small outlet (Monells Express) about five blocks from my house. Their skillet fried chicken is the best. Their corn pudding, although gluey, is really quite delicious.

But they offer both a meat 'n' two and a meat 'n' three. I think most places do around here.

[Q&A -- Drive-in Cooking]

I only just now got around to checking out this lesson. Great stuff, Holly! Thanks for the hard work!

I, too, am of the "batter" school of onion rings. In fact, after I fried up my Thanksgiving turkey, I also fried up onion rings, which were a huge hit. Most everybody declared them "the best ever". I also think onion rings make up a great hors d'oevre (sp).

Here's the batter I use, which is fantastic. Also great for fried fish.

BEER BATTER

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 cup beer or ale

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt together. Blend the egg and beer and quickly stir into the flour mixture. Don't worry about a few lumps. Use as a batter for making batter fried fish and onion rings. Or, use as a tempura batter for vegetables, shrimp, or other seafood.

[Q&A -- Straining, defatting and reducing Unit 3]

I've never made PORK stock specifically, but I know for beef or chicken stock I'll throw ANYTHING in there assuming it's not feathers or the moo.

Save all your scraps! Unless told otherwise, I feel anything's game. If you roast the bones, you've just added another element of flavor to your stock! Congratulations!

[King Cake for Mardi Gras]

My company is based out of New Orleans, so they send me a King Cake every year. I never eat it, but send it with my wife to work. She works at the main branch (downtown) public library and the employees get a huge kick out of it. So they can be fun. And they do usually look exactly as ugly as the one posted above.

However, I would eat one of jgarner's Galette des Rois ANY time!! That thing looks tasty!!!!

What is it?

[Le Creuset]

Not to get political or anything, but Lodge's product is described as "Patriot Red" which sort of strikes me in the same vein as "Freedom Fries". Better than Le Creuset, because it's more patriotic? (made in my home state, right?) Patriotic, like a redcoat? Or what?

[Q&A -- Straining, defatting and reducing Unit 3]

Your stock looks great, Marlene! Welcome to the fold!

I, too, usually don't have to do much skimming at all when I make stock. I wonder why that is? I do tend to wash the chicken parts before I throw them in the pot, maybe that's it.

[King Cake for Mardi Gras]

I've never made one, but I've eaten plenty, and as far as I am concerned they're just a big-ass cinnamon roll. So find a cinnamon roll recipe, make that, color the icing purple and green, and you should be good to go.

[Country Ham]

I really like the country ham from Big Ham in Centerville, TN. 

Don,

Do you mean Bigham's Country Ham in Cornersville, TN?

←

Yeah, that's the one ;) I don't actually buy it from there, but from C&F Meats, who buys it from them. I love it!

[marijuana food]

No! For goodness sakes don't wash it! But do destem it and then run it thru your spice grinder before making the brownies, for best results.

Not that I've ever done such a thing before, natch.

[Country Ham]

I really like the country ham from Big Ham in Centerville, TN. Last time I cooked some for guests, one suggested boiling it first in half-coke, half-water (I usually just use water). Can't say I could tell the difference, but I'd had a couple of Mimosas. Anybody else ever heard of this practice?

[Varmint's New Kitchen]

Very cool, Varmint!

I think I'm in the same boat as you. I recently bought my first house fully intending to quickly remodel the kitchen. Then I paid for the house. Then I paid for electrical work, duct cleaning, drywall work, painting. Finally, we can work on the kitchen! I priced countertops. $14,000 for soapstone?!

I don't want to halfass it, so I think I'll be saving up for about the next five years.

[Stock Pots: The Topic]

Are you putting the onion skins in your stock? I've found that makes a substantial difference in taste as well as color of chicken stock.

I agree. I always leave the skins on when I make chicken stock, and mine is always a dark, dark brown once reduced. If you re-dilute it with water, it turns back to a light tan, similar to about what you'd expect for chicken soup.

[Slow Food on a Tiny Budget]

Responding to a challenge to eat for a week on a "food stamp budget", these folks set out to prove that one can eat locally-grown slow food type stuff on a very tight budget. In their case, $60.43 a week.

Personally, I'm a bit skeptical. When I was textbook "low income," I was working 12-16 hour days. My meals largely consisted of peanut butter sandwiches and canned beans. Your mileage may vary.

I'm actually pretty skeptical about the majority of this article, but that'll do for a start.