fiftydollars

I have been told, as Paula mentioned earlier, that acidity should not be added to beans until after cooking. Would this be the same for lentils? I recently saw a recipe for a lentil soup that calls for 28oz of tomatoes at the start of cooking. I haven't tried the recipe because I am concerned that the lentils will not cook properly. Would the acidity in tomatoes (especially that many) affect the way a lentil cooks?

At the book signing I mentioned earlier, Alton Brown said that the secret ingredient is, in fact, revealed to the contestants in a large list given to them days before the show. However, the list is long and the contestants still have to prepare for a lot of possible ingredients. Brown said it would be impossible and even potentially disastrous not to give them any idea what the secret ingredient would be and that this is why they tip them off. Nonetheless, this differs substantially from the original where Brown said the contestants received a much shorter list and pretty much knew exactly what the secret would be.

Tonight I was at a book signing for Alton Brown's new book, I Just Came for More Food, and someone there asked him if Flay was really that good... AB said, "Yes." I think that was all many of us needed to hear to fall back in love with Bobby Flay.

The original AJ Spurs in Templeton and the Far Western in Guadalupe.

Just put your roast on a rack over a sheet pan to catch any dripping and refrigerate for 3 days. These are the basics of the method. However, I put said rack and drip pan in a large plastic container that is profusely perforated to allow for ample circulation. The plastic container keeps me from looking at the thing every time I go into the fridge, but the roast is still just basically hanging out, exposed, in the refrigerator. After three or so days the meat has an ugly skin that needs to be trimmed off to expose the beautiful roast. I got the method from Alton Brown in an episode on standing rib roast (prime rib-less the prime grade on the beef). The idea of it, from what I gather, is not exactly about rotting, but mainly about water evaporation and to some extent about enzymes breaking down the tissues as the meat ages. My results have ranged from great to spectacular.

Can I just grind up the coconut and add it to the cream cheese icing? How about the pecans? Speaking of cream cheese icing... how sturdy is it? Does it have to stay refrigerated constantly? How long would you leave it out?

Thanks for the great ideas!

That is a very nice mixer and it comes in some nice colors with a cool satin finish. If she really likes it, and she doesn't need a bigger model, she should go for it.

And they are not too far from the real deal! Your wife is quite a baker. Great work!

What's up with not having a San Francisco audition? I'll admit that a lot of cities are left out, but hey, this is San Francisco...

Flay really is a great chef. The food I had at the Mesa Grill was really a lot better than I gave it credit earlier. The queso fundido and the fried squash blossoms were as good as I've ever had anywhere. The cuban-style hamburger was an interesting and altogether solid offering as was the excellent, aforementioned, shrimp taco. His flavors and textures are extremely appealing and I think Flay's food is simply playing very well to the palates on the panel. This is the sort of thing that might not come across very well to the home viewer and might well account for my perceived disconnect between what I am watching on the show and the final outcomes. I definitely don't think the judging is good, but I also don't think it is rigged. I think they do make questionable choices on who gets to judge, but I don't get the sense that the network is dictating outcomes outright. Of course, I concede, they could influence outcome through their choice of judges in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, the lack of transparency, as you point out, makes it difficult to know for sure if this is a fair contest. It just seems too cruel and inappropriate, even for TV show producers, to "put reputations on the line" in an unfair contest.

A friend has asked me to bake a coconut pecan birthday cake with a cream cheese frosting just like the one her aunt used to make. I would really like to put forth the best possible effort, but have to stay within the bounds of her request (she gave me a what appears to be a good, from scratch, recipe for cake and frosting). Bear in mind that I have dangerously small amounts of cake decorating knowledge/skill and practically no imagination. I have previously put coats of icing on cakes, piped a border or two, and dabbled in fondant and gum paste. Unfortunately, as my friend's luck would have it, I am not quite that good at anything, yet, and at this point my cakes always have a certain... kindergarten-art-project quality about them. Anyway... what would be a nice way to put together such a cake? I would really appreciate any kind of guidance or ideas. Thank you.

The tilt-head can have a tendency to "skip" when working doughs and heavy batters. The model I have also has a tendency to unlatch ocasionally when working heavy items. It's an old KA mixer and works great for a lot of things, but I leave the dough to a newer, bowl-lift, model.

9/04

I really liked this recipe and found that it is somewhat of a rare exception in Keller/Cerciello's repertoire in that it is just as easy as any other recipe on the topic.

Has anyone else tried the lobster bisque? It took me a while to find all that lobster for the right price. I also had some reservations about tossing the whole things, shells and all, into the food processor. Come to think of it, there were several good reasons I had for not trying this at all, but I’m glad I did. Toss lobsters, shells and all, into the food processor? I kept thinking Bourdain was out of touch with the current state of home-electrics after too many years behind a Robot-Coupe. But my food processor offered no objection. I came to suspect that lobster shells are not as tough as I had thought and that my food processor is not all that bad. I was also thinking this would be a waste of good lobster meat and that my strainer couldn’t possibly keep all those little bits of shell out of my soup. I was wrong on both counts. The soup was very satisfying, loaded with lobster flavor, and not a single crunchy bit ended up in the strained product. This is a great recipe!

I am starting to think Flay is actually a good, even great, cook after watching him put such a solid shellacking to Bayless, Sakai, et al. I am also starting to think this isn't as much of a fix as I initially thought... I would think Steingarten wouldn't put up with it... although given, what I took as, his criticism of the other judges I am very interested in learning what scores he is giving and how these compare to the other judges. Maybe they are the ones voting for Flay. But I still think the judging is on the up and up... don't ask me why. Maybe I just don't see how damn good Bobby's food is. Is that it? I've been to Mesa Grill and the shrimp taco I had was definitely good, great, but definitely not pull-my-pants-down, bocuse d'or good... And every plate in the joint sported that orange jizz Flay spews on anything he comes in contact with. But anyway... I got off track there for a second... As I was saying... I now dogmatically believe that Bobby Flay is a spectacularly talented cook, that won fair and square, and will prove to be a formidable ICA force. Really. I mean it. And I am prepared to debate all comers.

I always thought this was the case and as I said, I toss mine in the trash, but a friend of mine always tosses it down the drain and reports that there has never been a problem. Is it hazzard due to the concentration of all that oil at one time? I'm sure lots of oil gets down the drain after washing dishes and whatnot... What if I chucked the oil in the sink piecemeal and chased it with hot water and soap?

Ok… Of course, I am not saying I’ve ever done this, but what’s wrong with tossing cold oil down the sink? Does it have to be disposed of in the garbage? Do the garbage people like finding my 2-liter bottles filled with oil? Should I recycle it? Is this even possible?

I put the oil in two-liter bottles or any convenient, tight-sealing container also bound for the trash. Never thought to freeze it.

What are everyone’s thoughts on braising temperatures? I am fond of Mario Batali’s osso buco recipe, which requires braising for 2-2.5 hours at 375 degrees. This seems to be a much higher temperature than what is used in most braising applications. Am I wrong to believe most braising is usually done around 100+ degrees lower than this osso buco?

Genmai means brown rice, i.e., unmilled rice. It is toasted and mixed with green tea. ← I love this tea! The Republic of Tea sells this as "Tea of Inquiry" and I fell in love with my first sip. I never knew the real name until now, but I have been drinking this for a few years. Can someone recommend a favorite I should try?

I assume you are currently using a blade grinder. What you probably want is a burr grinder. These provide a more uniform grind with little to no dust. They are more expensive, of course, but definitely worth it. Recently I have been seeing more of these and the prices are much lower ($20-$50 at Costco, Target, etc…) than I used to find a couple of years ago ($150+). However, I am not sure how well these lower cost grinders work...

Considering you don't need to keep it in whole pieces and you plan to cook it; I don't see why you shouldn't extract it raw. I agree that crab, at least dungeness crab, is too mushy to get out in nice big pieces, but there is no reason you couldn't get it out in small, droopy glops of crab goodness.

If you add 1-2% milk solids, that's pretty close to the profile of most American butter.