Rachel Perlow

I'm so glad that the falafels worked out. I'm surprised that the non-non-stick pans yielded less crunchy falafel than the non-stick pans. You used plenty of olive oil, right? I hadn't realized you were so pregnant. When do you get to do your pre-prep the day before? After dinner cleanup? How was the texture of the chicken? I thought you weren't supposed to yogurt-marinate meat that long because would become mushy.

Drive from where? I'd say it's worth an hour drive, especially if you're meeting up with a bunch of friends so you can sample a wide variety of the dishes. Not as much so if it's just two of you.

Aren't #10 cans, 10 pounds? How many ounces in the cans you're buying? I'm sure you can do the math. Besides, it can't hurt to buy extra, chickpeas are a good pantry item to have on hand -- they can always be added as is to a salad, whirred into some hummus, etc. Remember to make some tahini sauce for the falafel. There's a good recipe on RecipeGullet (linked above i think), also you should read the Dried Bean thread. I'll bet a couple of pots of chickpeas could be put in a very low oven all day while you're at work (without soaking) and would be ready for processing when you got home.

Hey Marlene -- so did you cook that chicky on Sunday?

Your portions of felafel sound really small to me. Are you making the baked ones in the mini-muffin tins? I would prepare at least 4 per person. The chicken sounds a little skimpy too -- you may want to get some thighs as well. They're cheaper and some people like them just as well or more than breasts.

Hmm, smoked salmon ice cream? Would that be swirls of salmon nestled in Creole Cream Cheese ice cream?

OK, I'll bite. What do you use Lobster Oil for?

It was just that. A good to above average scallion pancake, with fried/slighly scrambled eggs. Like if you made a really eggy matzo brei out of scallion pancake instead of matzo. Or something like that. It worked.

He said something about putting out stuff that people normally don't order, like to expand their experience. Also, some items might be prepared in the dining area, like a pan frying station. I think we'll just have to go and check it out.

Just talked to Cecil: For a while now they've been offering more dim sum than is on the regular menu at lunch time on Saturday and Sunday. And, starting Easter Sunday (April 11th), they are going to start having Sunday brunch, for $11.95 per person. Depending on the response, they are thinking of doing it every Saturday and Sunday. It will be a combination of buffet and passed dim sum. We're going to check it out now, will be there around 1 PM if anyone wants to join us.

I don't truss or spatchcock. Somehow my birds get cooked anyway. Actually, I really don't get trussing. It makes the birds take longer to cook and there's less crispy skin. For a small chicken you're going to carve in the kitchen and not at the table (i.e. presentation isn't that important), it seems like a waste of time.

Lay's Cool Guacamole flavored potato chips do not have any avocado on them either, despite the pretty picture of avocados on the bag. Dehydrated green pepper seems to be the main green thing in the flavor dust.

Yes, our recent roasted chicken pictures in the Dinner! thread are all whole chickens. I'm in the prep with good stuff, especially under the skin, and bung it in the oven school, as opposed to the truss & baste & flip three times school. I agree with GGMora about getting all your ingredients together so you're not getting chicken germs all over the place as you prep the bird. When seasoning and doing the getting stuff under the skin thing, I do this in a bowl, so as to not lose any flavorings down the sink. Also, since I like skin and dark meat, and Jason likes breast meat and no skin, I prefer to cook our chicken breast side down the whole time. But if you like crisp breast skin, just turn it over once about 1 hour into cooking. I generally cook it at 300-350, depending on size, how soon dinner is to be served, and what else is going in the oven. A 4 lb chicken for an hour and a half at 400-500??? That sounds like a dry bird to me. Of course, the oven door is being opened to baste the thing, so that would slow down cooking. After it's done -- I calculate 15 min/lb at 325 -- I let it rest and make a gravy from drippings -- I usually have something liquid in the pan to keep the dripping from burning. My recent pineapple-teriyaki roasted chicken sat atop pineapple slices & juice, orange juice & some of the teriyaki marinade. Yes, the breast skin is flacid, but then I throw it out and make a great gravy with the defatted drippings. *** Remember, plenty of gravy makes up for (slightly) overcooked chicken.

OK, Jason is sure it's a joke. I'm not so sure. Anyone ever actually see a store in person or try this? California & NY eGulleteers -- you have a mission: Here's a list of their locations -- we need reconnaissance!

Is it stale yet?

The meatloaf had meatballs on top because I made enough meat loaf "batter" for two meatloaves. After I filled the loaf pan the second time (to put in the freezer, the first was put on a sheet pan to cook unpanned) I had a little meat leftover, so instead of just smooshing it onto the ready for the oven meatloaf, I made balls to decorate the top. As long as I have the oven on, I try to cook more than one thing. So as long as the chicken was in there I cooked the meatloaf and a small pork roast (studded with garlic cloves). The chicken, I roasted on top of pineapple rings instead of on a roasting rack. Some Soy Vey Island Marinade and some orange juice were also in the pan. Made a delicious gravy, defatted and thickened with some cornstarch.

Usually when I make bragiole (sp?) I buy it already prepped & tied at an Italian butcher. Today, I ground up some breadsticks for crumbs, provolone cheese, parsley and a couple cloves of garlic. I also used this mixture as the filler/flavoring of turkey meatballs (for future meal). All were braised together in tomato sauce for an hour or so in my LeCruset in the oven at 250. The meat was so tender you didn't even need a knife to cut it.

Thanks for the great effort so far, Gary. I hope we get to hear from Mardee, too.

When having a cocktail party at your home, should you have a full bar available (and a designated bartender) or should you make a few well chosen cocktails and just offer people a choice of those?

Believe you me, it is damn near impossible to find in the US too. That's why there's a separate recipe for it (in TDG article, and a scaled down version is discussed in the follow up thread) as well.

A hand mixer is useful in many ways that a stand mixer is not. In fact, the one my mom has currently is one I got her for mother's day (at her request). She was tired of lugging out the stand mixer. My KA sits on the counter and takes up a lot of real estate. A hand mixer can be used many places a stand mixer cannot, and in a variety of bowls. It is particularly useful in making passover rolls, which has a dough similar to pate a choux, where you are mixing eggs into a warm dough in the pan you cooked the dough in -- can't do that with a stand mixer. Like someone upthread said, the day after you toss it, you'll need it. Just put it out of the way for now, till then.

I can't see how a Mongolian Grill compares to a salad bar? Anyway, there are a lot of produce stores that have these types of salad bars in NJ too. Two I can think of are the one in the Rite Aid strip mall off Vauxhall Rd in Millburn and the one next to the Florham Park Diner in Florham Park. Hope they have what you need. I suggest you call your local produce stores to find ones that have what you are looking for. Moderator Note: I've changed this thread title to make it more descriptive than "Two Questions."

I thought golden syrup was corn syrup? I rarely have brown sugar in the house (I'm in the US) and I just mix a tablespoon or so of regular or blackstrap molassas (the dark stuff) into a cup of sugar. Voila, brown sugar. That's all brown sugar is anyway. When sugar is manufactured molassas is a byproduct. They mix some molassas back into the refined sugar to get brown sugar. Rather than keep duplicate products in the house, when a cookie recipe calls for 1/2 cup white and 1/2 cup brown sugars, I just add a cup of white and a spoonful of molassas.

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