Rachel Perlow

There used to be an "as seen on TV" product called Magic Defrost (or something like that), which was basically a sheet of aluminum. You were supposed to run it under hot water to "charge it" and then lay your frozen meat (like chicken breasts) on it to defrost, turn after 15 minutes or so. It did work, but I guess I really didn't find it that useful as I haven't used it in years. I suppose it's somewhere in my garage. Obviously, they don't make it anymore, this is all I could find in a google search.

Ah, see the trick is to have concentrated chicken stock in the freezer, as well as the matzo balls. I cook them in salted water and put two portions at a time into freezer baggies. Add a a handful noodles, some sliced carrots and celery, simmer for 15 minutes et voila!

When Jason was sick a couple weeks ago, I made him Matzo Ball Soup. It's Jewish Penicillin with turbo power! I've been curious about something. What do most restaurants use as their broth? I noticed that whenever we have leftover chinese or other soups in the fridge, they stay liquid. My soups, made with homemade stock a la eGCI always gel, even the finished soups with vegetables, meat or whatever in them. Are they all just using some kind of bouillon powder?

No, it was watermelon themed. Watermelon jello (which isn't red enough), creamy lime jello for the white rind, clear lime jello for the outer rind.

Instead of PM or email, why don't you start a new thread all about Anguilla?

But, there's no canned fruit in that!

There's a difference between getting paid and getting paid as an actor. If "The Apprentice" is produced by NBC News, Trump is free to work out whatever kind of contract he likes with NBC, as are the other people who appear on the show. If it's being produced as a dramatic series, the terms of the contracts would be governed by union regulations (meaning Trump would be deamed to be an actor), which include required residual payments, etc. It's no wonder the networks love "reality" TV. No SAG to deal with, no AFTRA, probably no Writers' Guild. They've just removed a couple of layers of salaries. According to the TiVO guide, The Apprentice is a game show.

Originally posted here: Green Peaberry, $12.50/lb.

How does the pricing work for the music? Is it an admission to the fairgrounds and there's various stages set up with general admission or just standing/dancing around, or do you have to pay individually for the concerts?

Here's the Jello I made in that mold... Top to bottom: Watermelon, Lemon/Lime with then without yogurt. I wouldn't use watermelon as the red layer in any future Jello mold, way too orange. It is sitting on a glass cake plate (in case you thought it was directy on my countertop!) I like the idea of putting cherries in the bumps. Next time.

So $6.99/lb at Shop Rite is a good price then.

Wait, is the abductor muscle the big actual scallop or the little tough chewy part attached to it? I thought it was the latter. That's exactly why I was so excited to post about these. That's what Shop Rite is selling this week. As I posted above, "Sea Scallops (fresh, not previously frozen, no water added) are on sale at Shop Rite this week for $7/lb." Mmmmmm.

The abductor muscle is that little bit of extra flesh on the side of the scallop. You can see one there, clinging to the scallop in the bottom center of the picture, and kind of curling off the scallop at the left-center, worth the trouble to remove. I suppose it's too much to ask to get the in the shell scallops with roe still attached at a supermarket. However, since the usual variety of scallop available anywhere but a premium fish store is a water and chemical added product, dripping with water and tasting of copper, I was very happy. I was waiting at the fish counter while the counter girl was scaling some fish for another customer (yes, freshly scaling a fish! the fish dept at this store is way better than I remember) and I mentioned that I was interested in the scallops on sale. She said, "I just packed them up, they really look good." And, indeed, there to the left, pre-wrapped (egads!) were packages of the scallops portioned out and wrapped in plastic (1 lb average packages, ranging from .75-1.25). I didn't like this, as I wanted to smell the scallops. But, since she assured me they were very good and when I picked up a package there was no water oozing in the package I decided not to wait and just picked up a pound. Got home and unwrapped them onto a paper towel lined plate. They smelled clean and sweet and even after sitting for several minutes on the paper towel, it barely got moistened. They got much wetter from the quick rinse I gave them, but of course I dried them before sauteing for two minutes at high heat and finished with butter & lemon juice. They were tender, sweet, so much better than 99% of the scallops I have been served in restaurants (on par with the kind of scallops you'd order freshly fried at Denville or Maywood Seafood). Hmm, maybe next time panko-fried? What? Don't like my pride flag Jello mold? (see Avatar story thread) Actually, I may be changing it soon, but not to Bailey, sorry. Meanwhile, here's a link to the thread about naming your pet's after food items, where there's a nice picture of Truffle and Bailey.

Those scallops were on sale at Shop Rite, and they were amazing! I tried to get the brown sear thing, but they ended up more sauteed. Next time, less in pan and higher heat.

Indeed we did make it to SooChow last night. We thought the food was good, very similar menu to China 46, priced a bit lower, but the portions were slightly smaller, so that's a wash. We would go again if it were convenient to do so (in the area, meeting up with someone else who wants to go there, etc.), but C46 is much closer to home so we will probably stick with them for the most part. Thanks for the heads up, you should give them their own thread.

Figured this was as good a place as any to put this... First, menton, is the Englewood Shop Rite a "Glass" Shop Rite? Second, Sea Scallops (fresh, not previously frozen, no water added) are on sale at Shop Rite this week for $7/lb. We had them for dinner tonight and they are really, really good (sweet, no metallic taste, no water oozing out of them). I think we'll be having them again later this week! I prepared them by quickly sauteing over high heat with butter and olive oil, finishing with lemon juice & zest and a little cold butter, salt & pepper. Served with curry flavored cous cous and roasted asparagus (also on sale for $1/lb). I should have removed the abductor muscle, as that was the only chewy bit. I only sauteed them for about 2 minutes, with about 1 minute off heat stirring in the butter & lemon juice.

Today I found these items all at the first sale I hit at around 9:30 this morning. I stopped there via road signs on my way to a couple of sales advertised in the paper. These were the best, and only, buys of the day (all polished up for your pleasure, they were quite tarnished): WM A Rogers, silver plate chip & dip tray, about 12" diameter ($6) FB Rogers Silver Co., plate, small tray, about 9" long ($2). It feels heavy for its size, I wonder if it's quadruple plated or sterling (doubt it)? Some sort of mold, holds about 4 cups. Anybody know what this is for? There was no tarnish so I'm sure it's not copper or brass. But I picked it up for a dollar, so we're using it as a Jello mold tonight!

I polished up my veg dish/nut bowl

This is from about 7 years ago, when we were living in Port Washington, NY: A set of two silver (I don't know if it's plate or solid, I'm guessing plate) serving bowls. They are oval, one has feet the other w/out feet and divided. I use the divided one as a nut bowl. Put whole nuts in one side, place nut cracker & picks nearby, shells go in the other side. Bought for $2, quite tarnished. Polished up quite nicely. Here, let me dig it out to show you... Uh oh, looks like it needs some polishing, I haven't served nuts in shell in a while (The bottom of the divided dish is as shiny as the inside of the footed dish, as I stored them nested). Replacements.com would probably list this for around $70, not bad for $2 and some silver polish.

In ICJ they have frequently pointed out that one chef or another has done his research so as to make his dishes to the tastes of the judges. I think Sakai did not do his homework. He made his dishes just like he would for an ICJ episode, not taking the American's tastes into account.

I think they just need to sit Alton with the judges so that they can ask him questions or as two of the three judges were obviously knowledgeable about food, they could have a discussion. I think that they should have made Alton sit down and watch a season's worth of ICJ, it was completely rediculous that he was totally surprised by the fish ice cream. Most of the people watching this are already IC fans, so he looks doubly foolish. I think Fat Guy needs to be a judge. Here's his intro: "Co-Founder of the internet's largest food discussion website, where he is known as Fat Guy, former lawyer, turned food writer and Elle columnist, Steven Shaw!" Sounds just as qualified as the Bon Appetite editor, and that "TV Personality" whose name I can't recall. As for the final results of the show, the only part of the score that surprised me was that Sakai got fewer points for presentation, his presentation was much nicer. I was not impressed with Flay's overflowing coconut reasoning -- I thought it just looked sloppy. What works for a clear liquor does not necessarily work for coconut fish soup. I thought what he might have done was pour boiling hot water over the spices in the service plate for a Trio like aroma element. Someone else mentioned the judges might have not cared for the unusual Japanese tastes in Sakai's food: remember that frequently in ICJ it is pointed out how the chef's would do research into the judge's tastes. I think that Sakai did not do his homework. He prepared dishes just as he would for ICJ and did not take American judges into account. (Caveat: I was booing the screen when Flay was introduced.) Yeah, I expected a "animals were killed in the making of this production" card during the credits! They did cut to a wide shot away from the fish decapitation just as the cleaver was coming down, though. That's it! Rooney should be the floor reporter!

It reopened Thursday, March 18, 2004. There is an article all about their ordeal (from the Bergen Record) on their website.

You could probably call ahead and place your order, there were only a few pieces of chicken sitting under the heat lamps when we arrived, and about 3 customers ahead of us waiting -- so that wiped out the already made stuff. We bought the pan that was currently cooking on the stove, and Jamal didn't put anymore up until our order was done. (They have more than one pan so I don't know why he didn't start making more as soon as he sold what was cooked, but I don't run a fried chicken store so what do I know?) In fact, a customer (local cop) walked in while we were waiting and left when told how long the wait for more chicken would be. It was only around 1:30. Like I said, call ahead.

That happens when a thread has a lot of photos. The text loads before the images, and then you end up not exactly where you last read, but close.

Rummage Sale, House Sale, Garage Sale, Yard Sale, whatever you call them*, it's an opportunity for some unique and/or cheap kitchen supplies. Spring is the season for Garage Sales, and there were plenty of them in the towns around me today. I went out in hopes of finding some dead grandma's Le Cruset or cast iron to pick up for a song. That didn't happen, but I got a really huge colander and equally huge stainless steel bowl for $1 each, some Tupperware and a small pyrex mixing bowl with spout for 50 cents. There were a lot of chafing dishes available, many silver plated, for $5-10, but we don't really entertain that way. And the trick to yard sale shopping is to only buy what you will actually use, not what will end up in your own garage sale one day. Tell us about the bargains you've found, and let's stick to the kitchenware (we also got a Phillipshead screwdriver and some lamp timers, but Gully doesn't want to know about that). * Glossary Rummage Sale: Usually a rummage sale is held by a church or other social organization. The members set up tables in the church basement and sell their stuff, usually to the benefit of the organization rather than the individuals. House or Estate Sale: Usually grandma dies and the kids are selling the house (or no one dies but people are moving to a smaller place and they're selling A LOT of stuff, including furniture). The sale takes place in the house as opposed to the garage or outside, and frequently includes the entire contents of the house, lots of furniture. I think these would be the best places to find good old kitchen stuff, because there's just more stuff in general -- it isn't a "clean out your closet and get rid of the old toys" sale. Estate sales are in ritzier neighborhoods than house sales. Garage or Yard Sale: A garage sale usually takes place just outside of (the driveway) or in the garage. Lots of old toys, books and clothes. Some kitchenware, but mostly just the old junk, like mismatched plates and glasses. But sometimes you can get the used once bread machine or ice cream maker. Make sure to get directions on how to use the equipment if it doesn't come with the old manuals! Car Boot Sale: Could someone define this one for me? I've heard of it on BBC-America, but it sounds to me like shady dealings out of the trunk of a car.