chromedome

The shape strikes my eye as oddly old-fashioned, like something out of my great-grandmother's kitchen drawer. What would be its intended use?

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. The article is now completed and submitted to the client, and should be "live" on the site at some point in the next week or so (this client is quick to publish, one of my others has just now published an article I wrote back in November). Dave said it would be fine to post a link, for the satisfaction of everyone who chimed in with suggestions, so I'll do that at some point in the next few days. Not everything made it through to the final version of the article, but often following one suggestion led to something else that *did* work out, so everyone's input was of value. The tricky bit with this particular client is having to find demonstrable, linkable online pricing, which many supermarkets just plain don't have on their sites. Even when they do (eg, WF) it's often behind a paywall and direct linking doesn't work. I had to do screen grabs and submit them to the editor along with the article, which was something of a PITA. Every occupation has its own trivial irritations, I suppose, and those are mine. Looking out the window at the howling blizzard -- again -- I think it's a pretty fair trade-off for not having to commute anywhere for work.

It's always the first thing I show people in hands-on cooking classes, as well. "Grasping a tool by its handle is obvious, intuitive, an in this case completely wrong."

That sucks. I took a pretty good chunk out of one of my fingers with a mandoline once, during service. Fortunately the owner's "niece-in-law," a registered nurse, was on hand and bandaged me up very professionally. I had to wear the glove for everything for about three weeks, until it had healed up reasonably. It took about two years to get back full sensation in that fingertip, though.

That was what I suspected, but thought I'd ask anyway.

The crust at the bottom is desired in some cultures (Iranian, for example) so some brands of rice cooker are designed specifically to create a generous "ta deeg."

That's maddening. It happened to me once when a building I lived in lost power. The rest of the neighbourhood came back up but our (newly and hurriedly constructed) building stayed inexplicably at a brownout level. I went down to the electrical room and listened to the electricians gazing in morbid wonder at the dog's breakfast that was the wiring, trying to make out the name of the inspector who'd signed off on it and speculating loudly about how much he'd earned thereby. From that I concluded I wouldn't have power any time soon, so I called a restaurant up the block and begged the use of their ovens. They agreed, so I left them a loaf. It was a good investment...I ate there a couple of times, later on, and was treated like royalty.

For those who know more about the technology than I: Would it be possible to cobble up something with a dimmer switch or (potentiometer of some sort, anyway) to act as a secondary, analog controller for the induction unit?

It was leftovers chez Chrome, too. After four hours of shovelling, then three hours at my GF's former marital home attempting to turn the water on so it can finally be sold (turned out ex-hubby had not, in fact, sent someone to winterize the place, so pipes have burst and I have to go back again tonight with the plumber), we got home somewhat past dinnertime and ate leftover roast chicken and mashed.

I've done a similar thing...sliding the over-cooked article off the active burner with a curse, only to realize belatedly that I'd slid it to a burner I had used earlier (on my flat-top stove) and forgotten to turn off. Opening all the windows for smoke-clearance is not a happy scenario in mid-January in Atlantic Canada.

It's not really cooking, but this one floored me... https://youtu.be/0ED7WMGCKmQ

I don't...perhaps later, when I've finished working for the day. It's pretty similar to Nigella's (you can search it on Google Images) but custom-sized for my hand.

Like jam, it also keeps well in the fridge for extended periods. In fact, I tend to use my leftovers as jam on toast and biscuits.

Finger-pinch-sprinkle is also how I use my fine salt, which is kind of why I asked for clarification. I keep it in a salt pig. I'd wanted one for years (had even written a "What Is a Salt Pig?" article for one website) but never got around to tracking down something suitable online. Then one day it occurred to me that my downstairs neighbour was, in fact, a working potter...so I commissioned one from her. They're handy, but a tiny bowl on the table or prep counter will serve adequately on a meal-by-meal basis.

After reflection, I'm forced to acknowledge that this would have worked just fine for either of my wives, or my current GF. All three are/were much more carnivorous in their habits than I am. I really, really enjoy a steak every two or three years. Otherwise it's just something I cook on request, usually because there was a good sale.

I have three. One's a Kenmore of 1960s vintage, making four of the old-school thin, rectangular waffles at a time (probably not unlike the Sunbeam Andiesenji endorses). It's not non-stick, of course, but makes very good waffles. I also have a Cuisinart Belgian waffle maker, the rotating variety, which is adequate but no more. My third is the same as the Cuis but dates from when they were sold under the Waring Pro brand name (a 300, rather than a 300c) and is somewhat better built and makes a better, crisper waffle. Unfortunately it's currently in pieces... again. I've reassembled it twice after it was dropped and broken; this time it happened during a move when it fell and then had a heavy box drop on it. It's a little "more broken" than usual, and I've only found time to halfway reconstruct it. Also I'm out of epoxy at the moment.

Just to be clear, here, is the problem a) that it's either too fine or too coarse for a conventional shaker; or b) more about portion control than actual "salt delivery"?

The rule at my place was that as long as you were in by my last seating time, you had the whole menu at your disposal (as long as I hadn't sold out of something, of course). My situation was not universal, though, because my last seating was at 9 pm and my last diner might not leave until 12 or 1, because I was inside the hotel where they were staying. Also the kitchen was mostly just me, and I had no equipment to shut down and clean...just a couple of electric ranges and a few other bits and pieces. It was quite a challenge, serving dozens of five-course meals out of there in an evening. After the first season I learned how many covers I could handle in any given hour, and booked accordingly.

I just recently learned that Guaraldi's drummer from those days moved to my hometown of Halifax, and has been teaching and playing sporadically around the city for decades.

When I was working my way through school, my favorite example of this was the customer who wanted the seafood medley, but without shellfish because she had an allergy. The medley consisted of an empty lobster tail stuffed with risotto; with the tail itself, some prawns and scallops served around and over it and a sauce made from the shrimp shells. That was good for a collective facepalm in the kitchen.

Very good. Our zones are a bit different up here...I believe most of New Brunswick would be a 3 or 4 by US reckoning. Still, it might be worth a try. It's been a good 15, maybe 20 years since I last looked into it.

I find theirs cooks reliably, but lacks flavor. Quite partial to Lundberg's multigrain rice mixtures, though. Separating out those sliver-sized grains of wild rice for use in blends was a stroke of genius.

They're biennial when grown from seed, so if your grower had started them indoors last year you won't see any buds until this year. God help me, if I'm ever in a place where I can garden for more than one year at a time I'll try some again.

Bear in mind they'll all differ at least a little bit in their cooking characteristics. Consider using a bit less water than with your usual brand, or use the pre-soaking technique. I've had good results with both of those alternatives, when working with basmati I found to be a bit dodgy and uncooperative.

I addressed that at my place by working a schedule of 7 months on, 5 months off. My servers, OTOH, were all part-timers.