bobmac

Does anybody know of a fish market that has them as fresh as you get in restaurants?

While ordering osyters on the halfshell at a series of SF seafood stands, I spurned all those that had been pre-opened on the theory that every second shellfish sits open the flavor deteriorates. Am I right or was I being picky?

"Munchies" as a physical condition has a definite place (how else to describe it?). As something to eat? Ugh! Shrooms? Well there are button and oyster and crimini, etc., mushrooms, and then there are, well, shrooms , although I have no experience with the latter.

Roast duck? In the military? I was in the wrong branch!

we are the few, the proud, the chosen Round these parts, most people eat it.

I sense some confusion here about horizontal vs. vertical. Folks seem to be using them in different ways. I found the answer to good bagels in the 'burbs, even heavily Jewish 'burbs, is to make them following the recipe in Rose Levy Beranbaum's "Bread Bible." They provide the things Fat Guy finds missing in most bagels. I do cut back on the size, making six bagels from her recipe for five. The local supermarkets sell what amounts to bread shaped like bagels, and I was shocked when my Jewish former landlord said he preferred them. Oy!

Thanks, Jaymes. I belive a recipe you posted mentioned that some use milk.

Aha! Close to the grate is what I want, but I'm not familiar with a charcoal basket.

I'm not concerned about fat in carnitas (geez, I mean you start out with lard), it's just that low-fat milk is what I usually have on hand and wondered if it worked. The milk is suppposed to promote browning and crisp exterior.

Would lowfat work, or is the fat contributing to the browning?

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Providence, RI, restaurant calls it a "dirty steak." Guess what I wanted was a grilling surface closer to the coals, but, then again, that would ruin the lobster.

Thanks, that makes sense, and I do like using a cast-iron pan on the stove for that reason, but wouldn't it just char lines on it?

I had a hand-me-down Redi-Smoker (electric) that I was very happy with (less fussing with heat control) until the heating element bit the dust. Unfortunately, I couldn't find them on the web to replace it for some reason, so I tossed it. Only then did I find I had book-marked their site last year. D'oh!

Got a Weber kettle grill the other day, foregoing the convenience gas for the smokiness and heat of real charcoal. (Never could really sear a steak on a gas grill.) The first night as shakedown cruise, I tried a Rick Bayless recipe for grilled lobster for Jasper White's Lobster at Home. It was July 4th, and lobsters, as the Redcoats were called, seemed appropriate. There was even some fireworks as the small particles of charcoal went off in the starter chimney thingee. The lobsters turned out great, with just enough smokiness, even though I clumsily burned some of the garlic through sheer stupidity. Next night I tried steak, plopped it on the grill over red/white coals. No sizzle, no searing. I wanted black on the outside, rare inside. I finally removed the cooking grate and put the meat right on the coals, as I do in the fireplace in the winter. So what did I do wrong? Or was I expecting too much? I suppose I can continue to to grill right on the coals.

Years ago, a friend in the liquor industry told me that Smirnoff and the much cheaper Popov are really the same thing. Think about it, since they come out of the same distillery, what would the distiller do differently and why? For infusing I'd bear in mind that vodka is basically vodka, a neutral grain spirit.

When I lived in New Jersey, everybody are everything with a spoon, no forks. Of course that was because the drill sergeants wouldn't let us use forks.

Frequently in restaurants I encounter red onions that are sweet and have no harsh bite. Frequently at home I slice a red onion and it has a harsh bite. Are the restaurants getting sweeter onions to begin with or are they processing them somehow? I once read a newspaper food section story in which a woman in a Middle Eastern restaurant was salting onions to tame them, but unfortunately the writer did not elaborate. I suppose salt would draw out the juices, but then what?

I don't understand rating scotches, even though Michael Jackson does it. I happen to love Laphroaig while some people hate it.

Menemsha Bight or Bite (I'm not sure how they spell it because it's a play on words), if it hasn't morphed, is a great little stand. Best quahog chowder anywhere.

I'm always wary of storing uncooked chopped garlic in any oily, anaerobic environment. I have a recipe for dan dan noodles that describes making a big batch of the sauce and refridgerating it indefinitely. Along with garlic, the sauce contains some rice wine. Would the wine be acidic enough to discourage botulism? How much does refrigeration help?

My guess would be that the fresh water is killing them. I'm not sure what you gain by soaking them. I simple rinse and debeard.

I have been using ghee in a very spicy recipe and wondering what was the point. Wouldn't any delicacy of its flavor be lost in the spices? I've been clarifying the butter in a Pyrex cup in the oven. Today I learned that true ghee comes from allowing the butter solids to brown a bit before removing them, which imparts a nutty flavor, something I suspect ain't gonna happen in the oven (or will it?). What's the best way to proceed?

Are Philly cheese steaks always made with Cheese Whiz?

I'm with all you lima beans, liver, beets, Spam folks, sardines out of the can. In fact if so many of us like this stuff, maybe we're not the minority. And as to the original post, I have a friend who eats blueberry pie topped with red onions.

Ocean House in Dennis.