mamster

Great, can I keep the second one at your house, Mr. I-Have-Room-For-a-Capybara?

(At RPerlow's suggestion, I've moved this to general) FG, thanks for reminding me that I haven't had a good capybara salad in ages. So, here's where we're at. Yesterday we filled a box with stuff to give away: jar opener, tongs we never use, second thermometer, and then some. I've started to make note of how many of the remaining things have a hole for hanging. It's probably about half. I'm going to tear around the kitchen sticking nails into everything. Hmm...if I hang utensils on the front of cupboard doors, will they fall and pierce my foot when I open the door? FG also reminded me of a completely separate topic that I will post on a new thread.

Jinmyo, you raving minimalist, perhaps you missed my big-rig-driving jingoism. Actually, though, I'm emptying the drawer and so far I've found that we have two ice cream scoops and two jar openers. I have two jar openers on the ends of my arms. Also three sets of measuring cups. Next thing you know I'm going to be asking what to do with all this drawer space. I do have a mandoline but I keep it safely in a cabinet and never have trouble finding it. And the chicken pounder and bench knife are essential.

I'm mad as hell and I won't take it anymore. It just took me upwards of two minutes to find my vegetable peeler. This (depending on where you're reading) is America, baby! Something's gotta give. Like many of you, I suspect, I have a "junk drawer" in the kitchen. It has at least fifty things in it. We are blessed/cursed with deep kitchen drawers, so nothing stays in one layer. In addition the peeler, there are two thermometers, a flat grater, potato ricer, chicken pounder, bench knife, corn holders, and straws. And that is just off the top of my head. There are probably solid gold doubloons in there somewhere, and I will never find them. A while back, we tried "organizing" the drawer by putting in a shoebox and filling it with the six most common items. This worked for about four days. How do you organize your gadgets? I have a little bit of wall space to play with, but I'm not sure how I'd use it. Counter space is at a premium (we have annoyingly low cabinets), so I don't think crocks will work. Whoever makes the best suggestion will win all the doubloons I find.

I don't get out for brunch often enough either. Has anyone been to the Stalk Exchange? It's been on my meaning-to-try list forever.

Oh, I forgot about the sturgeon--that was fabulous. Those Ten Speed Press posters are always cheap at Bookfest, too--$10, I think. Don't worry--there will be eight cooking demonstrations and two cooking-related panels this year, including one with Alton Brown. tsquare, are you Charles from SlowFood? Or am I way off?

Hmm...I seem to be trying to solve other people's problems instead of confession my own, which are legion. That said, the chocolate chip cookie recipe from Cook's Illustrated (January 1996) turns out a soft cookie that stays soft, and they explain that this was the hardest thing to figure out. (Which makes sense--I mean, if it's not chocolaty enough, you know what do to.) It came down to two things: (1) Add an extra egg yolk--this recipe calls for 1 white and 2 yolks for 11 oz of flour, and (2) cool the cookies on the sheet, not on a rack. I have no idea why either of these things work, and I haven't tried using these techniques with another type of cookie, but give it a try.

When Michael Romano did his chef column in the NYT (it's in the book Chefs of Our Times) he did a veggie risotto using cucumber juice, I believe. Yeah, I'm skeptical too, but if Romano says it's good, it's at least worth a try.

I use a trick I learned from a Mark Bittman column, which is to cook the fish mostly on one side: sear it quickly on the flesh side, then finish cooking (I do it in the oven) skin-side down. That's for fish with tasty skin, but I assume it would work fine with skinless fillets, too. Just serve it crispy-side up.

The staff of Pointed Magazine and I are proud to have given the world the gift of laughter this Christmas. I'm still stuck on the beef that's going to come to my table and cover my plate, but then I started worrying about gas prices. Luckily, they've got me covered: "Are you a motorist? Are you fed up with the rising gas prices? Well if you are, then you have probably been fed up with what has happened over the past several months with the rising prices."

I brought a salad to a party the other day; it was red-leaf lettuce with small chunks of Parmigiano-Reggiano, toasted pine nuts, and balsamic vinaigrette. Very simple and delicious. I based it on a salad Laurie and I always get at our neighborhood Italian restaurant that's basically the same but with frisee and crisped prosciutto. But there were vegetarians at the party, and we had pine nuts in the fridge.

Well, heck, I'd rather eat some mushrooms than read a book. Let's see. We're putting together a food science panel and already have Alton and Robert Wolke, author of What Einstein Told His Cook and columnist for the Washington Post. I'm also trying to get Russ Parsons for that panel (Russ, are you reading this?). heyjude, who else is confirmed? It was a great turnout at Grillfest--I think we were hoping for and got 400 people, but I don't know if that includes the numerous volunteers.

Nice work, Polly. Some friends and I were chuckling over this site, and then I went to write my review for this week. No matter what I wrote, I read it over and said, "Oh my GOD, I sound just like that guy." Eventually I had to go to sleep.

I was there too, in a volunteer capacity; mostly this involved walking around and saying, "Everything going okay here? Good!" and then eating more food. The Menu is online. The smash hit was Marilyn Tausend's grilled pork ribs with a spicy glaze (pulpier than your typically barbecue sauce, in a good way), and I also quite enjoyed the Ravishing Radish's flank steak salad. heyjude is right about that grilled peach dessert: a well-balanced palette of flavors and textures. I'm not sure how much I would have enjoyed it at full price ($130 per couple), but you do get to schmooze with the chefs. I like Seattle because even I, the world's lousiest schmoozer, felt plenty schmoozeworthy.

There's an Indian store on the upper Ave--Neelam's, I think. Or did they move?

I'm planning a Tokyo trip over on the Japan board, and someone recommended a beef restaurant (they didn't specify wagyu, but I assume it was) at five HUNDRED dollars per person. If anyone is dying to find out what a world-class wagyu experience is like through the taste buds of a seasoned food writer, well, I accept patronage.

Now, if I were in a club like that, why would I tell you?

Here in Seattle, the dailies have an inflexible review format of one lead and one cheap eats review per week. The weekly papers, however, deviate from this formula with impunity, offering a roundup of Ethiopian or barbecue places, or an article about bagels instead of a review. I think the readers are generally better served by the more flexible approach--sometimes a restaurant is worth mentioning, but not for 500 words or more.

It's the magazine that packs your head with information and leaves you squealing for more.

Before you get the URL, a couple of choice quotes: Headline: Rockville's Premier Restaurant Will Pack Your Stomach And Leave You Begging for More "Do not be shocked when this hunk of beef shows up at the table and covers the entire plate, because it will." "The cheesecake was so rich we had doubts that this was even cheesecake, but it is and is this should be the dessert choice." "Now, for the main reason many decide to stop into the Hot Tuna. For starters the name of the restraint only half describes how hot the tuna really is. Since you can have it prepared six different ways, no one way is the same as you may find at any other seafood restraint at the beach." Pointed magazine restaurant reviews Do not read on a full stomach.

Sorry, Steve K--I didn't write a piece on Szechuan peppercorns. You might be thinking of my review of Grand Sichuan International, in which I waxed, well, whatever people wax these days about the Auzhou Spicy Chicken. It was loaded with mouth-numbing peppercorns. World Spice in Seattle notes that they're "out of stock until next crop." I need to go in there for a couple of things, so I'll be sure to ask if there's a problem. edit: Wait, I just noticed this: "Notice: This product is currently under an import ban in the whole, unroasted form because of the citrus canker that infected the crop in Southeast Asia. We will not sell it whole as it must be ground and roasted at it's origin to satisfy US import regulations. Stay tuned for updates." Something tells me Grand Sichuan International is neatly sidestepping this ban.

There's also (wait, what board is this?) the Bangkok Center Grocery in Chinatown, which has at least one brand of premium fish sauce, occasionally fresh wild limes, and various other exotica.

Fat Guy, I'm down with the Mae Ploy, too, and I think Mae Ploy would be a good name for a Thai rapper. I already mentioned the pork fat, but an Asian grocery is also the best place to get ground pork--it's cheap and not too lean. Here's a tip: if you're at Uwajimaya, get the regular ground pork, not the "premium"--the premium is lower in fat and they charge more for this. I wouldn't suggest that a fine establishment like Uwajimaya would offer sucker items for non-Asians, but if they did, lean ground pork would be one of them.

I could go on and on, but here are some things that come to mind: Thai salted radish and preserved mustard greens. These aren't really similar except that they're both salty vegetables from Thailand. The salted radish is available minced (handy, and it seems to taste just as good) or whole, and the preserved mustard green is one slice in a plastic pouch. The salted radish is a must for phad thai, and the mustard green is good in soups. Milo. This is the Southeast Asian equivalent of Nestle Quik. It's not actually good (not even as good as Quik), but they sell Milo ice cream bars all over Bangkok, so it's a little taste of home-away-from-home. Unagi nigiri. They sell it in four packs at Uwajimaya, and it's pretty good. Pork fat. I never see this for sale anywhere else, and there's no butcher shop near my house. Practically free. Is there a place in town that sells okonomiyaki, or do you make them at home?

Malawry, I have no issues with meat in general, but I don't really get pork tenderloin either. It's the leanest, tenderest part of an already too-lean, too-tender pig. I guess it's one of those foods that serves as a "background for improvisation" or something.