prasantrin

Neufatchel (sp?) cheese, or maybe soft tofu? HTH! There's also Laughing Cow (the low-fat variety). It's soft enough to spread, I think. And you can cream cottage cheese to make it smoother. And fromage frais. And Boursin Light. And soft goat cheese. (edited twice to add a few ideas)

Yoghurt cheese? The only problem is that there's often still some whey that leaks out, even after draining it for what seems like forever.

They're definitely reusable, but generally, it takes a certain kind of person to be willing to wash them out regularly and reuse them. It's not without inconvenience, especially given the size of the holes of the bottles. I'd do it, but I don't mind doing that sort of stuff (I also reuse oil and refuse to use a garbage disposal/garburator).

Since you actually have the book, why not give a few recipes a try and let the rest of us know?

That is quite thick for a Japanese-style cucumber dish. I don't think I've even seen nukazuke that thick. I actually prefer thicker cucumbers than what is traditionally served in Japan, though 1.5 cm is a bit thick for me. Somewhere between 0.5 and 1 cm is perfect. But for home cooking, anything goes!

Why is it arrogance to encourage consideration for the environment? The use of bento boxes is amongst the most environmentally friendly option, and although most of the lunches being posted in this topic would hardly qualify as "bento" in the traditional sense, I appreciate the attempts to reduce waste (even if those attempts may be a side-effect rather than an intention). I'd much rather have a school tell me not to use disposable plastic bags than tell me not to have peanut butter in my lunches. Oh, those plastic soy sauce bottles are disposable, so they're not entirely "waste free"

I've searched both the above spelling and the previous one (boirotte), and I can't find any google links! What's a boirotte/boiurotte and more importantly, how do I make one?

If it makes you feel better, the peanuts in pad thai are really more of a garnish, often served separately so the diner can put as much (or as little) as desired. So it's not entirely improper to leave out the peanuts! I don't have any food allergies or sensitivities for now, but my mother developed late-in-life allergies to a number of foods she loves--shellfish, peanuts, certain fermented foods. . . She's also allergic to penicillin, which isn't so bad usually, but last year she ate some bleu cheese at the Heartland Gathering that gave her hives on the palms of her hands (the first time she reacted that way to bleu). And she has very little will-power, so she still eats those things sometimes. Not usually a good thing.

What made you decide to slice the cucumbers so thick? I don't think I've ever seen them sliced like that (or is it just the camera angle?).

There are a number of really great blogs that have wonderful tried and true gluten-free recipes. Gluten-Free Girl, Cannelle et Vanille, etc. Cannelle et Vanille recently had a gluten-free financier recipe that even I would have eaten.

Is that tom yum or tom kha gai? It looks like it has coconut milk, and although there is a version of tom yum with coconut milk, it's not very common.

It depends so much on your personal circumstances, doesn't it? I've done my 8 years without a crockpot - but I don't have kids and I do have a job that can have me staying back until all hours at a moment's notice. I don't want to come home to a meal ready to go at 7pm because when I leave the house I don't know if I'll be home at 7pm or 11pm, so I find it easier to just have the makings of a reasonably healthy super quick meal around. Plus, I can barely get myself out the door in the mornings so best intentions and all, I know I'd never pull off putting the right things into the crockpot as well, not to mention the fact that in this climate you probably wouldn't want to eat what came out of a crockpot for 9 months of the year. While I agree it depends on personal circumstances, I think Jaymes' suggestion is directed to Chris Amirault specifically, and based on his description of his circumstances, it would fit them quite well. He has a more precise idea of when he and his family will be home, and he seems organised enough to put the right things into the crockpot. For Chris' situation, a crockpot or similar (like the Sous Vide Supreme he mentioned) is great for when he wants to serve his family some kind of stew-like dish. Ya, like for Chris.

Yum neua is fast if you cook the steak on the stove rather than grill it. You can also do goi cuon-like dishes. The last one I had was a vegetarian version with purple cabbage, jicama, chickpeas (sprouted if you want), carrots, red peppers. . . I'm sure there was other stuff with a peanut butter-based dressing. You can add shrimp or quickly cooked thit nuong (assuming you prepared the meat to marinate overnight). When I lived in Japan, I really appreciated thinly sliced meats (pork or beef) that were sold pretty much everywhere. They were very quick to cook, and I added whatever I wanted--vegetables, yakiniku sauce, ponzu, etc. to "create" a different dish every time. If you can get meats like that in your area, or prepare them like that yourself and then freeze them in portions, they make for very fast protein-based meals.

I want, want, want this book, but I'm living frugally right now, so I can't buy my own copy. I've been scouting out the library, hoping to be first to reserve it for when it comes in, but can you believe it. . .despite checking the online catalogue daily, when it finally came up, I ended up 12th in line!! That means I still won't get it till about two months after the library receives it! (which also won't be for a couple of months) Despite that, I've purchased a red kuri squash in anticipation of making Beatrix's Red Kuri Soup. Hopefully it will keep for a few months. . .

When you cater your art at someone else's expectations, you deprive them the thrill of discovery, and yourself the joy of exploration. But then why participate in a reality-show cooking competition? I would guess that everyone on the show had watched at least one episode of Top Chef, so everyone should have known how the show ran. To go into a challenge and say, "Screw it, I suck, so I'm just going to do what I want," seems very self-defeating, and goes against the spirit of the competition. Like Johnny Iuzzini wrote on his blog: Like I always tell my students, if you never make the effort, how do you even know what you're capable of doing? You only end up defeating yourself. If you're not even going to make an effort, why bother being on the show? ("You" is a general "you", not sethro specifically.)

Regarding induction burners, in the baking classes I took, we always had to take the pots on and off the burners repeatedly to help prevent scorching. Luckily Japanese recipes are for small batches, so the pots weren't too large or heavy.

Like with all subjective topics, the answer can only be "It depends." Are you someone who likes crust? If yes, then you probably want a higher crust:filling ratio. Do you prefer filling? Then you probably want that ratio reversed. For some of us, the answer depends entirely on mood. Sometimes you feel like a crust, sometimes you don't. In other words, there is no one ideal ratio, and to look for one is an exercise in futility. (I love the Bouchon quiche, but sometimes I save the crust that gets carved off and sprinkle it on the middle of the quiche, so the middle has almost as much crust as the perimeter.)

Lock & Lock containers are from the same company that distributes Starfrit and T-Fal. They don't have free-standing stores (from what I've read on their website), at least not in North America. They do, however, have internet shopping with all the Lock&Lock containers at 20% right now. Free shipping with orders over $69. And they also have pretty containers with different colours, which I've never seen before. At least in Canada (the distributor for North America is Canadian).

There was a relatively active discussion with much mention of Technivorm and Bunn here . Zingerman's likes Technivorm if that means anything.

Did you actually look? The actual vendor is Culinary Parts, but it's on Amazon.

Did you check online? You can find a bowl for the 600 or 650 for only $40.

If you were female, you could use an emera bag http://www.emerabags.com/index.html . I lust after one. Crumpler also makes some cool camera bags, but I find them a bit casual for fine dining. Lowepro also has some nicer, less utilitarian-looking bags like the Classified line. The nicest, least obtrusive-looking bags I've found were at Yodobashi Camera in Japan. So if you happen to be passing through Tokyo or Osaka (or any of the cities that have large Yodobashi Camera stores), browse around. That's where I got this Nikon bag. Still a bit large, but it's a little less "camera bag" looking.

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/food-photography-four-manual-settings-you-need-to-know-for-shooting-food/ Very useful basic info regarding camera settings for food photography, especially about white balance. Andrew Scrivani has an ongoing series of food photography tips as part of the NYTimes blogs. Worth reading if you're interested in food photography.

The NYTimes cites longer-than-usual time required for proofreading (understandable), and troubles with the shipping package (for the books) for the delay.

Just glancing at the three samples of post-processing, I would say Dakki's looks the most processed(colours are oversaturated), Blether's looks the least processed (most like the original), and dcarch's looks to be in the middle. Personally, I prefer Blether's re-do as it doesn't have that "fake" look that oversaturation produces although dcarch's "pops" more. But different eyes have different POVs, so the "ideal" result is very subjective. Holly--you can change the white balance by pressing on the +/- button and turning the back (I think) wheel to the left or right, depending on if you wnat + or -. I would actually prefer to learn how to adjust these things before taking a picture rather than after. Too many people rely on post-processing and fail to learn about the basics of taking a good picture. I see a lot of food photos that are very clearly processed (usually overprocessed), and to me, those just aren't as interesting.