jgm

I am the daughter of a notorious cheapskate. . .who is rapidly aging into la-la land. His idea of a generous tip (no matter what the bill is) is 3 bucks, and 5 bucks is extremely generous. If we try to insist he leave more, we have to listen to stories about when he was a young boy who washed dishes in a restaurant. *sigh* Believe me, there's no talking to him about it. I've learned the hard way to excuse myself to go to the ladies' room, usually just after the plates have been removed, find the server, and personally give him or her some extra cash, explaining that my father is a notoriously bad tipper and I want to express my thanks for wonderful service. Giving the extra money to the server, personally, erases all tipping issues at the table, and the necessity for discussion about them. We're all happier this way. If you will do that, you can leave a more "standard" tip at the table and not have to worry about your friends or relatives adjusting theirs in reaction.

Amen.

Since you have so much time on your hands. . .what would you think about trying a batch with 1/2 PF and 1/2 SRF?

When I posed a similar question a year or so ago, the wonderful, inimitable, dear departed Bruce Frigard answered, "Cook, cook, cook!" And to a great extent, he was right. When augmented with reading cookbooks, watching cooking shows, and asking questions on eG, there's a lot to be said for just diving in and cooking. I'm currently well into Julia Child's memoirs; I've just passed a point where she describes dropping out of cooking school (for the most part) and just making a recipe repeatedly until she felt it was exactly right. She did have to throw out a lot of the mayonnaise she made, since she and Paul couldn't eat that much. And I can identify with her disappointment when she wrote about sending her perfected recipe to friends or relatives, and they weren't the least bit interested in trying it out for her. My eGullet friends are often the only ones I can "talk food" with. It also helps to have friends who are cooks, who can be consulted about sources for ingredients, techniques, etc. And those friends may know of other opportunities, such as private, ad hoc courses held occasionally by individual chefs. But in the final analysis, the experience you can acquire in your own kitchen is probably your best teacher. Just don't be afraid to ask fellow eGulleters for help, on even the simplest points. The times I've swallowed my pride and done it, I've been surprised to find that others have had the same problems. Those discussions have been known to open up whole new worlds to me, just because someone mentioned a particular ingredient or dish in the course of addressing my question.

I would absolutely love to hear about your adventures with these recipes, and the adjustments you'll have to make to get the finished product you want. My question: do you think there's been enough evolution of our palates since then, that you'll have to make adjustments in the recipes for that reason?

Way cool, guy! I won't even try to lobby for Wichita. I already know it won't happen. I'm especially looking forward to seeing if eGulleters can stop bashing the Food Network for a little while, and what kind of constructs folks will come up with ("except Chris's show, of course") to still be able to get a few licks in. Maybe you can explain the reality of the Food Network to us. How it's programmed for a target audience, and we ain't it. Well, most of us, anyway. How programming decisions are determined by practicalities, such as the fact that in TV, a 30 minute show is not 30 minutes long. Truly, I think a lot of people would like to know more about how programming decisions are made, and how show content is determined by factors most of us would never think of. I realize I'm sounding a little cynical, but this show sounds like stuff Food Network has already done to death. If they'll let you do your thing, I know you can make it fresh and interesting. Here's hoping they'll let you be you! Best wishes. P.S. Don't forget to get recipes for the really good stuff.

When I was in college, a doughnut store by the name of Vern's operated out of the basement of a house in a residential neighborhood. I'm sure that much to the irritation of the neighbors, students began lining up for the 11 p.m. opening, when hot, fresh doughnuts could be bought. I'll never forget the immense pleasure of biting into a Vern's on a cold winter night. Another such memory also comes from my college days. JD's Pizza had an amazing blue cheese salad dressing. If I remember right, it consisted of blue cheese soaked in corn oil, and then folded into whipped cream. With a liberal addition of black pepper, it was heaven in a salad bowl.

Switching to weights could have other advantages; ingredients such as herbs, which in their whole form are impossible to measure, would be simple to weigh. Even chopped herbs will measure differently, depending on the size of the chop. Personally, I'm on a rant about recipes that call for things like "the juice of 1 lemon." It's more than obvious that lemons and a lot of other things can vary greatly in size, and therefore so can the amount of juice and zest from them. After we standardize recipes for weights, let's keep the ball rolling with other imprecise measurements.

Uh-oh?

I dined with Judy and Katie Nell, and we had a wonderful time. My trip to KC from Wichita was expressly for the purpose of having dinner with my new friends, and was one of the best things I've done in ages. My co-workers still are amazed that I would drive to Kansas City for dinner. A plus: I got to meet several other eGulleters, also. The second amuse was, if I remember correctly, a raw almond and grape gazpacho. Just wonderful. I wish I could add some other comments here, but this was the first time I've had this type of gazpacho, so I have no comparisons. But I really, really enjoyed it. I've lived a rather sheltered-from-fine-food life, and this trip was also a deliberate move to broaden my horizons and enjoy some foods I've never had before. Both of the amuses fit in to those plans. I've seen recipes for that type of gazpacho, and am now enthusiastically planning to settle on one and try it in my own kitchen. I opted for a salad instead of an appetizer, and ordered the leaf lettuce salad with Granny Smith apples, Maytag cheese, spiced walnuts and Pommery Mustard vinaigrette. The viniagrette beautifully tied the ingredients together. The salad was excellent. My entree was a roasted giant Hawaiian prawn stuffed with shellfish mousseline, Asian braised pork belly, bok choy, napa cabbage, and prawn broth. I confess: it was the pork belly that hooked me, and I was not disappointed. And I've never had braised bok choy as a side dish; in fact, it's never occurred to me to consider it as anything but an ingredient in stir fries and traditional Asian cooking. It was absolutely delicious, and has me excited and thinking about various pairings with main dishes that I might use. I'd venture into dessert territory, but it's someone else's turn now, and we have a salad, an appetizer, and two other entrees to discuss. Hint: After tasting that dessert, if I wasn't already married and probably old enough to be his mother, I would have had to ask Chef John to marry me.

Uh-oh. This may be the confession that gets me thrown out of eGullet. The person who introduced me to fresh steamed artichokes used Miracle Whip to dip the leaves and the heart in. I still do. I've never tried anything else, and I like it. I also ate some Green Bean Casserole last night. There. I feel better. By the way, what is the proper penance for these sins? (Be gentle with me, okay?)

You've got my wheels turning. I work downtown, and there is no shortage of people who could probably use something like this. About the only place I see them is within a block of my office. However, I can't hand meals out from the office, or we'll have a steady stream of people in here --and they already do break into the office on occasion when we're not here. The last one just wanted a warm, dry place to sleep, but he was also quite drunk. The Catholic Diocese in our community has also opened up a place called "The Lord's Diner", which prepares and serves hot meals, free, to anyone who shows up. They're open for dinner only, 365 days a year. I'm going to have to check around to see where the opportunities are for something like this. Even though TLD does a good job of meeting the need, I suspect there are those who can't get there, or can't take advantage of it for some other reason.

There are lots of cookbooks I have that I've never used. But they were purchased because that's the kind of cooking I want to do "someday." i.e., Bouchon. Sort of like buying bigger clothes for kids, expecting them to grow into them. And sort of like purchasing jeans 2 sizes smaller than I wear, fully believing that someday I'll un-grow into them. For me, it's not about good cookbooks and not so good cookbooks. It's about fantasy and intention . . . or put another way, about vision and aspiration. And perhaps a little self-delusion?

I think I know this kid's sister. Somewhere around age 2, she began rebelling against high chairs, and especially when her parents secured the straps that hold the child in. When my co-worker picked up his little daughter and began to lower her into the high chair in a restaurant where they dined often, she began yelling, "No, Daddy, don't tie me up again!"

I don't remember any embarrassing restaurant experiences that I've had, which probably means a real doozy is on its way, but I did happen to witness one with a friend that I thought was marvelous. Angie's parenting skills never amounted to much. I haven't seen her in years, and I've often wondered whatever became of that daughter of hers. When she lived here, I limited my time with her, because she always brought the kid along, and she paid little attention to the child, which resulted in a lot of obnoxious attention-getting behavior. I often thought about just offering to adopt her and take her off Angie's hands; I didn't because I think I was afraid she'd agree. On one busy evening in a family dining restaurant, she's ignoring the kid, and said child --probably of boredom more than anything else-- announced she was going to the bathroom, and skipped off in its general direction. A few minutes later, there's Kiddo at the ladies' room door, yelling to her mother, "Mom! I've got toilet paper stuck in my butt and I can't get it out." All you could hear was silence and a few giggles. And Angie had to rise from her seat, cross the room in front of all those people, and attend to business in the ladies' room. It was then that I realized that lousy parents have their own special karma.

A few observations: Dave went into the idea of working with Tiffini with a good spirit; by the second day he was disgusted with her. Both he and Stephen pointed out that they would have thought she would have treated them well, since she needed them if she was going to have any hope of winning, but she treated them poorly. Dave had the foresight to realize that the final showdown would likely involve a full meal, including dessert, and since he knew dessert wasn't his strong point, he worked on one ahead of time, perfected it, and memorized the recipe --hoping he would need it. Tiffini should have realized the same thing, and should have figured something out ahead of time. But she didn't; she was sooooooo lucky Dave ended up on her team and was generous enough to just do it for her. It wasn't his competition. He could have hung back, with a "tell me what you want me to do" attitude, but instead he dived right in. She would have been screwed without him. I wasn't crazy about Dave and Stephen showing up for the final day hungover. And they knew it would be televised. Not very professional, and they may pay for that in the end. Even though I have a soft spot for Dave, he and Stephen just need to grow up. Just think about how much mileage they both could have reaped from just being solid and professional all the way through. I did notice someone who looked an awful lot like Miguel in the French Culinary Institute commercial. I checked the bios; the ones I checked didn't say anything about where the participants were educated. I also thought I heard Tiffini say that she has had no formal culinary education. Did I hear right?

Whaddaya wanna bet, that the same kids that will not eat food that touches other food on their plate, will scarf this stuff up! Ah, the magic of marketing.

I definitely think you should not let this go without some sort of contact with the owner. Whether you're inclined to have a face-to-face meeting with him, or just to write him a letter voicing your displeasure, you should let him know of your belief that your event wasn't handled well. I think what you paid was out of line. Yes, you were taken advantage of. Big time. Whether he intended to do this to you or not, in the end you got a bad deal. He may have forgotten his verbal commitments to you, and may have had some sort of crisis that prevented him from returning your calls promptly; but the end result was the same as if he was deliberately backing you into a corner. If you do decide to have contact with him, I'd be interested in hearing his response.

Would this just be an exercise (seasoning without salt)? Do you not use salt, and if not, why? You could just as easily assert that butter (or other fat) is a cop-out, or that sugar is a cop-out, or that mirepoix is a cop-out. Yeah, you can make things taste good without them, but why? ← Why = my doctor is threatening me with cholesterol-lowering and blood pressure lowering medication. Dietary changes are a far better choice than medication, if they will do what needs to be done. But I do love butter and I do love what salt does for food. And I still use them, but I have changed my diet so that I eat more fruits and vegetables, and fewer of the things that contain such beloved, wonderful ingredients. I think that being able to use salt effectively is an important skill, but so is being able to cook with smaller amounts of salt, plus other ingredients. I think this is an extremely interesting discussion. . .it's providing some really good food for thought. Question: I would agree that shopping is an important skill. On the flip side, is it an important skill to be able to make ingredients that are less than optimal, taste good? I don't know how important it is (in the grand scheme of things), but one skill I'm trying to develop is to be able to cook without recipes; to be able to go to the farmers' market and purchase produce without having to spend the rest of the day hunting for additional ingredients so that I can make a particular recipe. Perhaps this skill is the result of having the other skills.

I think that instead of calling it a cultural prejudice, I'd call it a cultural difference, and simply recognize that the conditions in the ethnic groceries are just not what you're used to. However, another thing to recognize is the very real possibility that people who shop at these small groceries, and have all of their lives, may have developed immunities to certain bacteria, and you may not have that immunity. Therefore, some of the things you see that you find objectionable, may not be a problem for others, but could pose a problem for you. Having said this, I would offer that your response to this cultural difference was not to proclaim that a particular ethnic group is dirty, or has unacceptable cleanliness standards, or make other critical comments about them. You are reacting to your reluctance to purchase foods that may not have the level of sanitation you're used to, and perhaps that reaction is a good thing. You also didn't indicate you refused to purchase anything at all, based on what you saw in certain instances. You have remained open to purchasing those items you believe are safe for you to eat. I'm reminded of Ruth Reichl's description of her mother's cooking, which often involved allowing food to sit out, unrefrigerated, for days. Her family didn't get sick from eating it, having developed the necessary defenses, but others did. I'd say you should go with what that little voice is telling you when you pick up a jar that has food on the outside of it; that voice is protective, not prejudiced. And I think it's commendable that you'd question yourself over your reactions. My impression is that you're showing a good degree of cultural sensitivity, and a real attempt at being open minded.

I seem to remember reading, either here on eG or in a cooking magazine, that the only really important cooking skill is learning to use salt properly. I'd enjoy hearing comments on that. And aside from formal training, I'd like to hear what y'all think about the qualities (which I think are a separate matter from skills) that make the difference between an okay cook, and an excellent cook. I'm not trying to hijack the thread, here; I think all of these things are parts of the same discussion.

After seeing that apology, I can't help but hope that life will teach Stephen the lessons he needs to learn, in time for him to use them. He has some real potential, and indeed could revolutionize the industry, as he claimed, if he can develop some social skills before everybody's had it with him.

The lack of counter space would be a real problem for me. Living in a sparsely populated area as I do, where we don't have the lack of living space that large coastal cities have (nanny nanny boo boo), it's hard for me to imagine being happy with an arrangement like this. However, it is superbly designed and organized, and if I were in a situation where I need to stuff a lot of capability into a really small space, I can't imagine it getting much better than this. I guess I could always roll out pie crust and noodles on the kitchen table! Not sure where I would put that chinoise I'm always thinking about buying. And knowing myself, if I were in an apartment and had one of these things, I am pretty sure that over a period of several months, little additions to the kitchen (new gadgets, etc.) would start finding little homes nearby, and pretty soon, the whole apartment would be filled with all of the overflow from the kitchen. Just like now, when our garage is slowly being filled with the overflow from the kitchen! We're even planning to build a house, and I'm already dealing with the reality of not being able to store everything I have, in the kitchen itself. Fortunately, we will have a basement.

Although I do eat meat, I have some concerns about the humane treatment of animals that eventually become food. But that's another thread. (Repeat: that's another thread.) Eating the meat doesn't bother me, but any waste does. If there is sinfulness in eating meat, then it's especially sinful to waste an animal's life by chucking significant parts of it into the trash, uneaten. Where this leads is this: If you've already got a killed, skinned, gutted animal in front of you, whatever kind it is, your role is not to grieve for it, but to honor it by cooking it as well as you can, and eating all of it.

And I don't know about you, but I also burned a heckuva lot of calories jumping up and down, trying to persuade my mom to give me the money for ice cream. . . and then chasing the truck down. Kids also have a lot more disposable income today. It allows them to act on their desires, instead of going through a parent. When I Was a Kid, back in The Olden Days, I had very little money for stuff like ice cream. My parents served as the gatekeepers for decisions about food. When kids have the financial means to make their own decisions, they're not always going to make good choices.