Rachel Perlow

I must reiterate the amazement that a hole got burned through one of Carolyn's bags. There must have been some defect in it or something, or maybe with the toaster, perhaps one of the burner elements is sticking too far into the toasting chamber? We've used ours over and over and haven't had that problem.

Being a grateful recipient of same, how should we best use it? I have no idea what to serve it with, same goes for the corn relish.

Not this one, add a touch of neon to your holidays. Rachel's Rainbow Jello Mold <-- click for instructions

My mom did, about once a week. We weren't kosher, but both of my parents grew up in kosher homes. My mom, however, did frequent Chinese restaurants when she was young, usually with her big brother (13 years older), but I don't think her parents. I don't ever recall going to a Chinese restaurant with my paternal grandparents though. I distinctly remember my Grandma calling Chinese food "Chinks." And, unlike in the paper which we are discussing, I think did know she was saying something racist when she said it. When my dad was in the army and they moved to Ohio after they got married, they experimented with all sorts of non-kosher foods. For example, my mom made the stereotypical baked ham with pineapple. Growing up, like I said, we weren't kosher, but my dad insisted on certain restrictions, like not mixing meat and dairy at the table (cheeseburgers apparently didn't count), although we didn't have separate dishes. We frequently had lamb chops, but never pork chops. That meatloaf was all beef. We went to a Chinese restaurant every Sunday -- family dinner for 1 less than the number of people at the table -- Spare Ribs, Pork Fried Rice, Egg Foo Yung, and Shrimp with Lobster Sauce was de rigueur. And Mom never made a baked ham after they moved back east from Ohio, as far as I recall.

Was there anything he could have said to you that you would have felt was appropriate, while at the same time refusing you service? Obviously they decided to stop seating people at 8 PM so as to allow the workers to get home at a decent hour. Closing the door at 8 means the earliest possible time they could leave would be 10 PM, but probably closer to 11. If they sat you at 8:10, then why shouldn't they seat the person walking in behind you at 8:15, etc.? When should it end?

Sorry, I didn't notice all of Anna's questions from last month. Salad greens stay fresher longer if stored unwashed. I do wash & tear a bunch at a time and vacuum seal it, but only enough for a few days. If you want to buy a lot of lettuce it will last a couple of weeks if sealed in a cannister whole & unwashed. Line the bottom of the cannister with paper toweling to absorb excess moisture whether you are storing prepped or whole unwashed lettuce. Hmm. I used a nail and a hammer to make holes in the flat mason jar lids, so the hole is about a millimeter or two in diameter, as opposed to pin hole sized. I make the hole in the area of the lid that has the lines, where you would write out the contents -- around the middle of that area. Then I use a label maker (Brother P-touch) to print out the contents. One edge of that tape (thicker than regular scotch tape, although I haven't had problems with scotch tape) is folded over to make a tab. This is then placed on the lid, making sure the hole is covered by the sticky part and that the entire label & tab is within the flat portion of the lid. The problem you may be having is with the ring sealant. I've heard some people have trouble with brand new lids. They may need to be boiled or run through the dishwasher to activate the sealant. Are you having problems sealing the jars or are they not maintaining the seal? If so that may be the problem (i.e. having nothing to do with the hole). I'll bet you washed those lids at some point before I posted the above. Oh well, useful advice so I'm still posting it. On the food saver yahoo groups a lot of people have trouble initially using that jar sealer.

Upperline

"I also found a version that calls for "lemon thyme rice vinegar" (now where the heck would I find that?)" I would think that you would take rice vinegar and infuse it with lemon zest and thyme.

I wonder if you could catch squirrels by the sticky paper cone method?

Yeah, how in the hell are you supposed to deglaze a grill pan?

Ah, that one with the holder (Dave the Cook's latest link) looks like just the ticket. I called and they have the regular steel balls at my local restaurant supply, the girl wasn't sure if they have the ones with the urethane holder, but I'll bring the info to request they order them.

Oh, I was thinking of these, I'll have to try to find the stainless steel scrubber, are they available in normal supermarkets or do I have to go to Home Depot or somewhere like that?

Jane, I've ordered Grand Marnier Shrimp in the past and it always seems to be fried shrimp in a mayonaisse sauce. Is this what you're thinking of? I'd like to sample a good version of it, just to be sure that I really do hate it.

Just a simple suggestion based on reading the original recipe, but did you really drain the diced tomato? Instead of just draining, I suggest making concasse, peeling and seeding the tomato and not using any of the gelatinous seed sacs at all. The way it just says "2 cups diced tomatoes, drained" it almost sounds like the intention is to use canned tomatoes. If that is the case, remember they are already partially cooked -- and usually have salt added. That would go a long way in reducing the liquidiness and uping the flavor. Also, you just say "S&P" -- how much salt are you using? I tend to cut way back even if a recipe specifies the amount of salt, a habit developed from growing up and learning to cook for a father on salt-restriction. But, of course, salt definately could be that "certain... something."

Yes, I have used scotch brite, but the cast iron grill tends to make mincemeat out of them. I'm thinking some sort of stiff brush might be in order?

All this information is well and good for a regular cast iron skillet. But what about grill pans? I have two, a long double burner sized with a griddle on one side and grill on the other and a round skillet with the grill bars. How do people clean these things? Even after soaking the crud is almost impossible to get out from between the grill bars.

Thanks all, especially to Ted, who made my job much easier, and jhlurie for editorial assistance.

I think both their perception as an English item and their growing popularity in the US has a lot to do with the Two Fat Ladies. Their show was quite a phenomena a few years ago and they were often seen cooking on and praising an Aga. When they were cast for Two Fat Ladies, they hadn't ever worked together before.

Thanks everyone. Ted was a pleasure to talk to. He was especially excited as this was his first interview for the food press. He said, "in fact, this is my first interview focusing on food, I've done a lot of interviews, individually and with the other guys, but it's all been about Queer Eye or more general profiles. But I haven't really done a lot of work with the food press, you're the first." Look for more on product placements and other behind the scenes details in Part II.

They have a decent vegetarian selection, without resorting to too much fake meat. Click here for their Vegetables menu section.

Egg Nog. Blech.

"Fresh Bacon Sauteed in Spicy Sauce" Jon & Jason like that dish, it is heavy on the Sechuan Peppercorn.

OK, jiaozi instead of the other dumplings. We've had the soup and pan fried dumplings at the last few outings anyway. Haven't discussed with Cecil yet, but here's what I'm thinking for the menu so far: Appetizers: Jiaozi, Capsicum Noodles, and I'm sure Cecil will want to include some cold cured meats, like the lamb tureen or duck tongue Soup of some kind, maybe the Shanghai Casserole or Stuffed Bean Curd Sheet w. Pork Soup? Mains: Peking Duck, Ruby Pork with Sesame Buns, Shrimp (the Sauteed Plain Shrimp is actually really good, or the almost as subtle Shrimp with Young Chives, or we could just do the Salt & Pepper Shrimp again, or the Shanghai Jumbo Shrimp). Do we want another seafood dish? The whole steamed fish dishes were the least touched at the previous dinners. The crab or lobster is very good, but very messy -- I think it was another item which people avoided. For chicken, I think we should do the Chicken with Young Chives if we don't do it with shrimp, since we've been discussing it on this thread. We should definitely have the whole braised chicken stuffed with fried rice. We had that at the last dinner, but it is something we discovered there at Chinese New Year last year. Finally, we need a noodle dish. I really like the Stir Fried Rice Cake with Pork, but for New Years, I believe long noodles are the tradition. The Stir Fried Shanghai Noodle is very simple, with a little bit of pork and spinach leaves. I think that or the Seafood Pan Fried Noodle would be appropriate. I'll also check to see what the noodle dish is on the Chinese New Year menu, that would probably be a good choice. *** Also, for those wanting to check out China 46 before the dinner, they are now doing Hot Pot. You order from a menu of meats and vegetables, they bring you a hot plate, with a pot of broth. You cook the meat, noodles and vegetables at your table, like Japanese Shabu-Shabu. At the end you finish your meal with a bowl of the enriched soup.

"House Special ?? (small diced pork/bean curd/chives and chili with Sesame Buns)" That's the House Special Saute. Oh, and you didn't mention the jiaozi, the little steamed dumplings that aren't on the menu. They frequently make up the staff meal. Mmm.

This year when I made the leftover turkey carcass stock, I reduced it significantly (down to 1 quart). I've been using the turkey jello like demi glace for sauces, adding a scoop to rice cooking water, etc.