vengroff

That's what I used to think too. Not knowing any better, I thought, "I don't really know what tempering is, but that Torres guy on TV just throws it in the microwave until its mostly melted, then stirs it up a bit." I did the same, and it came out fine. I tried it again a few weeks later, and all I got was a useless gritty mess. I was just lucky the first time. Since then I have read up on the topic (chefette's discussion above is great) and figured out that the process is somewhat complicated and you have to be careful to get it right every time.

Not suprising. They did the same thing in London with that chain whose name I can no longer remember. If Teaism is smart about it, I bet they can build themselves into a the next acquisition target within a few years.

Ouch. Easter is probably better than mother's day, but it can be tough to find a good brunch on a big holiday weekend. Aside from not wanting steak or sushi, do you have other preferences and/or a price range in mind?

Sorry I was unable to make it. I look forward to meeting you guys for a spin around the market a little later in the summer when more is out. Ramps should be coming in a couple of weeks, no?

Thanks, Steve. I'll try to track those books down, perhaps at the public library. I don't have any names for you, but somebody has to be making chocolate from these beans. There may not be many of them, but somebody is taking physical delivery on the premium Group A contracts. Who are they?

So, here's the deal. I made the mistake of assuming a point source. Actually, a uniform broiler is better modeled as a large plane. I did the integral for an inifinite plane and found that the heat at any given point above the plane is proportional to 1/d, not 1/d^2 as for the point source. So the 29% becomes 50%. Only 49% more to explain... There's a reason I still keep that high school calculus book around. Are the invision guys working on an equation mode?

Gotta be something missing then. I guess further research is in order.

I assume you tried the obvious, like the big Oddbins on Farringdon Rd under the bridge. I would expect them to offer a handful of bottles.

If it were indeed possible to get a 10K and a 20K unit, both the same size and with even heat distribution, then you would only have to put your food 29% closer to the 10K unit to get the same heat as the 20K unit. It's the inverse square law that gets you every time. Relatively small changes in distance make a big difference when you square. 20K / d^2 = 10K / (((1 - 0.29)d)^2) I think you are right that you won't find a 10K unit with good even distribution, though. That's really the killer. Of course, this assumes that all the heat is radiant. If you get too close, there is going to be some transmission though the air too.

The theory for a long time was that on-line advertising would fund the free content. What has happened is that online advertisers have not been as willing as was hoped to provide the necessary funds. Thus sites are scrambling for other ways to cut their losses.

The most important thing to remember is that broilers cook with radiant heat. Because of this, the distance from the source of heat to the food makes a huge difference in the final outcome. In fact, radiant heat drops with the square of the distance from the heat source. This means that if you double the distance from the broiler to the food, the amount of heat it is exposed to is cut by a factor of 4. It you triple the distance, the heat is cut to 1/9 of the original amount. So getting all your food a uniform distance from the heat source is critical. What does this mean in practical terms? If you have a low-end broiler that is a single loop heating element, then you have to be very careful to lay food out in a pattern that matches the loop and align the pan directly under the element. It's not actually the case that most home units are underpowered, the problem is that it is difficult to get large pieces of food a uniform distance from the heat source. If H is your heat source, and F is your food, you get something like this: ------(H)------ (FFFFFFFFFF) The food directly under H gets nicely crusted, but the edges, which are substantially further away, barely cook. If you put a steak that is 6" wide 3" below a single broiler element, then the edges of the steak will only get half the radiant heat that the center does, even though they are just 1.2" further from the element. Of course, if you very carefully arrange your food in a pattern that matches your heating element, you can do a sort of OK job. More advanced home units and commercial products have heating elements that are more uniform, like this: (HHHHHHHHHH) -(FFFFFFFFFFF)- This enables all parts of the food to cook uniformly. Raising and lowering the food lets you control how much radiant heat the food gets.

I broiled some boneless quail the other night. But they were so thin that 3 minutes per side after a vinegar-based marinade was enough. Thay had crispy skin and cooked through very nicely without drying out too much.

So, I ate it. It tasted something like a cross between a mandarin orange and a tangerine, only really giant sized.

The web site is at http://www.washingtonsgreengrocer.com/index.html. I think I'm going to give them a shot (probably a small organic box) and see what they deliver.

We have a Cafe Atlantico thread that has been going on and off for over a year. There's also the Penn Quarter thread which discusses a trip to CA.

Perhaps they were tired of having to get the @*&! cheese cart out?

Is Crook's Corner over in Chapel Hill still around? I used to like the shrimp and grits (their signature dish) a lot. There's also Fearrington House over in Pittsboro, which I have never been to, but which has something of a national reputation.

I haven't been to any of the places you mentioned, but I'll toss out a few more suggestions. If you like Zaytinya and its desserts, you may want to give Jose's nuevo-Latino Cafe Atlantico a try. It has been highly praised in this forum, and takes reservations at any time. Our own Steve Klc is behind the desserts there, just like at Zaytinya. Zola may also be a good bet. The spy-inspired decor is likely to appeal to your kids and their new chef promises lots of seasonal new American cuisine. 15ria has updated comfort food. Personally, I'm not the world's biggest fan of this genre, but those who are like the place a lot. Kids are likely to find plenty of things they will like. At the higher end, I don't think there is any place around this area that can touch Maestro in Tysons Corner. Fabio brings Italian cooking boldly into the 21st century. It's not cheap, but unlike some of the old-guard places in that price range, you really get what you pay for.

Thanks, guys. I have been to Schnieder's and like it a lot.

Here is Wimpy's recipe for Filipino Chicken Adobo as it appears in the eGRA.

I think salting is key. It draws a lot of the excess moisture out of the cabbage, leaving it crisp, but tender. I like a slaw of shaved brussel sprouts and julienned radishes with a little home made mayo.

Here is mamster's recipe for Coconut Panna Cotta with Tamarind Sauce. Please add your favorite panna cotta recipe(s) to the eGRA, subject to the eGRA copyright and use policy.

Here's how it turned out: Headed to the eGRA.

I don't mind the idea of articles on how to save time cooking, but I think that the best such articles emphasize that it is possible to do so without resorting to anything that's overly processed, chemically altered or blanded down to the lowest common denominator. Tonite, for example, I'm going to boil some Yukon gold potatoes, steam some green beans (right over the boiling potatoes), toss them with some tomatoes and red onions and a homemade vinagrette, and top it with a can of Italian oil-packed tuna. It's a weeknight niciose that that will take 20 minutes of my time. Clock time will be longer, but there are plenty of other things I can do while the potatoes boil. Total ingredient cost is well under $10, and there's only one pot and two bowls to clean up. I'd love to see something like that cleverly written up in 500 words.

I just picked up an ugli fruit at the market today. I hadn't heard of these before but it looked like a form of grapefruit so I figured I'd give it a try. It turns out Ugli is a brand name, and their web page claims it has the best qualities of a grapefruit, tangerine, and seville orange. I suppose that means it's going to be a little sweeter than I would have expected. Anyone had one of these before? What should I expect?