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lcdm

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Posts posted by lcdm

    Baked Ziti

    in Cooking

    Posted

    I usually mix the pasta with the sauce and 1/2 the mozzarella and layer with the ricotta:

    Mix all the pasta, 1/2 the mozz. & sauce, put 1/2 the pasta mixture in your baking dish, layer the ricotta (I mix with 1 egg and italian saesoning into the ricotta) in blobs, top with the rest of pasta & finish with the rest of the grated mozzarella.

    Gratuities tacked onto bills...where's the line?

    in Restaurant Life

    Posted

    Let me preface this by saying that I have been a waitress in a diner, I've received good tips and received bad tips (penny under the glass of water trick).

    The automatic gratuity is a problem for me.

    1st gratuity (from Merriam Webster) - is something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service. If a place wants to tack on a change for large parties fine, but call it a service charge (of course there may be tax ramifications). If it is a true gratuity than the patron should be allowed to dispute the amount and the amount should not include the tax for calculation purposes.

    How is your food tasting?

    in Restaurant Life

    Posted

    I've never ever heard the query "How's your food tasting?'... that doesn't sound like something a native speaker of English around my parts of the world would say... frankly it sounds really foreign to me. 

    "How's everything?" is common, as is "Are you enjoying everything".  "How is your food tasting?" sounds strangely German, insofar as folks who don't a speak language with an -ing verb form don't really know how to use it, and  German has no such form...

    I've never heard "How's your food tasting?" either, maybe it's a Pacific North West kind of thing - since the other people mentioning it are from that area?

    Usually get - How is everything? ... Can I get you anything? or the younger waitstaff.... How you guys doing.

    Range Questions

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    I also had a tough time deciding griddle or grill, I opted for 6 burners. I figured the grill or griddle would be a pain to clean. If I want to griddle I have a griddle pan that fits over 2 burners which I can clean in the sink.

    I purchased a 36 inch 6 burner DCS and a KA single wall oven.

    Top Chef Season 4

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted

    Polish sausage (aka kielbasa) is usually cold smoked. I guess they could have made fresh kielbasa, but I don't think they would have had enough time (plus they had no electrical equipment).

    Epicurious has a few good recipes that would have fit the bill.

    I think one person on that team should have gone home due to the lack of a main ingredient.

    Top Chef Season 4

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted · Edited by lcdm (log)

    Like I said before, the issue is not that she USED a premade sausage. It's HOW she used it. Using it for filling a ravioli is great (a la pre-roasted chicken in pierogi)...but maybe not for a tailgate.

    I disagree, last year someone used frozen waffles and won the challenge. I think if Nikki used a different kind of pre-made sausage with an innovative topping she could have won. For example: chicken apple sausage w/jicama, red pepper slaw served in a pita or kielbasa w/sauerkraut, apples, fennel and carmalized onions with a horseradish mustard on a long roll.

    I agree that she should go - she can't make decent sausage & peppers or mac & cheese(which is her specialty).

    Top Chef Season 4

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted

    I don't think that store-bought sausage is a bad thing, last year one of the contestants won with using pre-cooked chicken. At the very least she should have bought a more interesting sausage and top it with something different.

    Store-bought sausage (or pre cooked chicken) in of itself is not bad. For example, If she removed it from the casing and used it to stuff a butterflied pork loin. That can then be rolled and tied and grilled and made into porchetta sandwiches. That would've been great and no one would be complaining about her laziness and uncreativity. However, she chose to use the sausage as her main dish! In that case she most certainly was just a bad lazy cook by choosing to not make her own sausage.

    I cannot remember what the other contestant used the chicken for in previous seasons, but I'm willing to bet it was not a stand in for roast chicken. Was it?

    I agree with you, I think she lacked creativity in her choice, and to top it off it was not very good.

    I can't remember what the pre-made chicken was for, maybe a taco or quesadilla.

    Top Chef Season 4

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted

    I have to strongly disagree with this off-ing.  And as much as I love Ted Allen, I have to disagree that not playing to the audience was enough to oust Ryan over Nikki.  That was an awful effort, I can't believe she is still there.  At least Ryan stood by his dish.

    I KNOW! She's in the bottom almost every week, she loses almost every quick fire, and yet she's somehow still here!!!! I think this is a major failing in the show, the fact that someone can consistently cook crap and still remain week after week. I predict she'll be gone within the next two episodes.

    Agreed. I was shocked they kicked Ryan off! Sure his concept was idiotic, but still she was downright bad. She grilled some store-bought sausages fro heaven's sake! Oh yeah and added some grilled onions and peppers for good measure. Any semi-good cook would've at least made an effort to make their own sausages, let alone a Top CHEF contestant. She. Cannot. Cook.

    I don't think that store-bought sausage is a bad thing, last year one of the contestants won with using pre-cooked chicken. At the very least she should have bought a more interesting sausage and top it with something different.

    She failed at sausage & peppers and mac & cheese. Come on.

    The only way she'll make it through the next round is if they have a team challenge and she happens to be part of the winning team.

    Ideas for a large-crowd dinner?

    in Cooking

    Posted

    It's around St. Patricks day so you could probably get a good deal on corned beef and make Rubens for lunch.

    Spiral cut ham with rolls

    Choucroute Garnie

    Soup Bar - you can make several types of soups ahead of time, and serve w/ several types of garnishes (depending on the soup - oyster crackers, gold fish, chives, cream, nuts, croutons, chesse.......) eat out of cups - this way people can sample more than one soup, and it's easily carried.

    Quiche/Savory Tarts - breakfast or lunch item or an egg casserole.

    Reheating/re-serving whole turkey

    in Cooking

    Posted

    lcdm: how was it wrapped? If it's gas-flushed and or/cryovaked it would have a longer shelf-life than one cooked in a home.

    Especially if it's filled with nitrites.

    I don't know how it's wrapped - the outer layer is foil w/netting. I'm assuming it's cryovaced under the foil (similar to a spiral cut ham).

    Pierogi Recipes

    in Elsewhere in Europe: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    After trying multple recipes I've settled on this one - my Mom agrees that this tastes almost as good as my grandmothers. The dough is nice and soft.

    Enjoy

    Lisa

    • 1 large egg

    • 2 tablespoons sour cream

    • 1 cup milk

    • 1 cup water

    • 3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

    • 1 cup cake flour, plus more for dusting

    1.Using a mixer (with wisk attachment), whisk egg. Add sour cream, and whisk until smooth. Add milk and 1 cup water, and whisk until combined.

    2. Switch to paddle attachment and add 1 cup cake flour and about 2 cups flour, and stir to combine.

    3. Work in about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of flour. The dough should be elastic in texture and no longer sticky. Be careful not to add too much flour, as this will toughen dough. Place dough in a lightly floured bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let rest while you prepare filling.

    3.On a floured surface, roll out dough to about 1/8 inch thick. Using a glass or cookie cutter measuring 2 1/2 inches in diameter, cut out as many circles as possible. Gather dough scraps together, rolling them out again, and continue cutting.

    Prime Rib

    in Cooking

    Posted

    It depends on how much leftovers you want.  A two rib will yield some but not a lot. I rarely roast anything smaller than a three rib for even just the two of us.  That yields decent leftovers.

    I brush my roast with olive oil and salt and pepper it.  I use a 300 degree convection oven, 325 if you don't have convection. 

    I pull it at 118 and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.  That will yield a reasonably rare, but not raw roast.  If you want it a little more well done, pull it at 122 and don't let it sit for more than 10 minutes. 

    If you are making yorkies and you only have one oven and you want the roast med rare, pull it at 118 because it's going to rest for at least 20-25 minutes while the oven temp comes up for the yorkies and then they bake.

    That's it, that's all I ever do.  Lots of people will tell you roast it low and slow.  I can't say I've ever noticed a lot of difference when I've done it that way. :smile:

    Thanks Marlene - I used this method last night and it came out perfect.

    Emeril Gone On FoodTV

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted

    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/business/media/17food.html
    Changing Courses at the Food Network

    By ELIZABETH JENSEN

    Published: December 17, 2007

    You can find chef Emeril Lagasse’s name and face all over a dozen cookbooks, 10 restaurants, lines of pots and pans, knives, Wedgwood dishes, spices, salad dressings and pasta sauces, and even a deep fryer.

    But as of last week, it will no longer be found on new episodes of his signature “Emeril Live” show on the Food Network. The program taped its last installments and laid off a half-dozen staff members, bringing an end to an impressive 11-year, every-weeknight run. [...]

    Interesting article I laughed out loud when I read this :

    Ms. Johnson called “Top Chef” a copy of “The Next Food Network Star,” but “without the care about the food content, which we bring to everything we do.”

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