chappie

WAIT! I haven't been to Katz's, and I was thinking of my experiences at Carnegie. Sorry about that. Yeah, the Katz's on second glance looks more feasible than what I was served at Carnegie. Oops.

It was a ridiculous quasi-political moping and she almost suggested it was thoughtless or unethical for TC to ask her to work for a marriage-related event. Not Rick Santorum's marriage-related event, mind you ...

God. Use tarragon. Or basil. I can't believe this actually made someone angry. In fact, I'm going to make this recipe out of spite now.

Perhaps this is heresy, but while the meat itself at Katz's is fantastic, I find their sandwiches cartoonish, unwieldy and obscene. Maybe you're meant to nibble on some meat and take the rest home so you can make an actual, proportionally proper sandwich. But a giant pile of corned beef or pastrami between two pathetic slices of bread is just ... useless. I found it to be a tourist trap.

You must share this recipe. I love Sichuan peppercorns.

I had the "Five" brown sugar variety a few weeks ago, and while it was certainly not unenjoyable, it simply ... wasn't Haagen-Dazs. It reminded me a lot of ice creams I make in my Cuisinart ice cream machine at home; that is to say, tasty and not bad, but also not ... professional? Nothing tops the creaminess and texture of HD vanilla to me. I love the stuff.

I came up with a use for molasses so perfect I almost hesistated to share it, but decided I want others to have a secret up their sleeve: I put a bit of it in my vinagrettes. Dijon, cider or white wine vinegar, cracked pepper, olive oil, some finely minced shallot, pinch of salt and a dollop of molasses. It's perfect.

Sounds like a product for complete suckers if you ask me. No matter how precious the source livestock is, it will still produce its share of byproduct and scraps. So someone decided to take Kobe scraps, make them into crappy hot dogs and laugh all the way to the bank at the fools forking over their cash for a highbrow wiener. Hey, can I make Kobe scrapple and sell it at Whole Foods?

It does seem wasteful for everyday use, but as someone who has cooked on ocean deliveries for a crew of hungry sailors in the tiny galley of 40-something-foot sailboats amid rough seas ... it could also have its uses.

http://www.batterblaster.com/ I don't really need to elaborate here as the site does a nice job, but I passed this in the grocery store today. The word "organic" made me laugh, but I didn't buy it. I think I'm going to this week. If anyone tries this, please post results. Where's the Sausage Squirter to accompany the meal?

I've got to admit, as someone who used to criticize the guy, I've really started appreciating Bobby Flay more the past couple of years. It seems all the success (and money) has actually mellowed him and I dare say he's more humble -- at least on camera. In the beginning I thought his Throwdown show was a terrible idea. But he does seem gracious and interested in the people he's competing against, and I get the feeling he's kind of uncomfortable when he wins.

I hope you try this. Next time I'm taking photos.

Thanks, tino, for reviving this old, beloved thread. Have you ever seen the photo blog thisiswhyyourefat.com? I highly recommend.

Well, it's in Dubai, the land of cartoonish excess. There were probably six people dedicated solely to that plate of hummus. It probably cost $50.

Last night, I served my wife and parents the culmination of a few week's worth of experimentation with cauliflower as part of a shrimp and "grits" Easter dinner. Like many eGulleteers, I have long been a fan of thinly slicing cauliflower and roasting it down until it's brown, crispy on the edges and delicious. Recently, when my wife developed some pregnancy-related blood sugar issues, I suddenly wondered what this would be like pureed and served as a low-carb replacement for mashed potatoes. I'd had cauliflower boiled and pureed this way and found it bland. But when I roasted the cauli first (OK, sliced not quite as thinly as the "french fry" style method), developing a crust and nice browning, added a knob of neufchatel cheese, S&P and little milk and pureed in the Cuisinart, the whole dish was transformed. Nutty, rich ... definitely not a "substitute" for anything. I did it with roasted garlic and served with chicken one night, shad fillets another. Last night, I roasted two heads of cauliflower then added it to the food processor with milk, a small nob of the aforementioned neufchatel and a generous amount of grated white cheddar. Once ground finely, I transfered it into a buttered casserole to cook in a 300 degree oven while I prepared the rest of the meal -- so the cheese would melt and the resulting product would be piping hot. For the shrimp, I simply deveined two pounds' worth, coated them in a spice rub heavy on acho chile, and gave them a quick high-heat sautee in bacon grease and olive oil, adding in midway through two cloves of minced garlic, the juice of a Meyer lemon, a splash of white wine and a tiny amount of roux I'd made after cooking bacon. To finish, a bunch of parsley and chives, then the crumbled bacon. But you could use any shrimp and grits recipe you want. The key here is the "grits." Served atop a nice bed of this cauliflower concoction, the shrimp looked beautiful. We used these purple plates, and a side of steamed asparagus ... I wish I'd had a camera handy. Everyone cleaned their plates and had more -- including my stepdad, who's a very finicky eater. This is a keeper, and I imagine I'll continue the experimentation. I still like grits, don't get me wrong, but I dare say these are more complex. And because the roasting removes a lot of the cauliflower's moisture, when pureed it retains a slight coarseness that really works for "grits.'

Yeah, the Kapoosh definitely doesn't use bamboo rods, but I believe the Lee Valley model may hold a deeper blade?

That looks very similar in design to the Kapoosh. Any idea how they might differ? Also, I used to use magnet strips but have since been told by several chefs that they can damage some blades permanently.

So, what I'm reading on this and other knife storage threads I've dug up is that the Kapoosh is a big no. I was thinking of ordering one, too, because I'm tired of my knives, which range from decent to two excellent, stored in a drawer. Is there really no better universal block than the eGullet-described "Crapoosh?"

You can't bring up Yoohoo without remembering its cousin, Chocolate Soldier ... I loved them both as a kid -- probably because they were grouped in with sodas and thus seemed like more or a treat than chocolate milk. When I was in high school, Yoohoo released some additional flavors, and I then developed an addiction to the chocolate/mint variety, always poured over ice.

I think this is truly a genetic issue, whereby those with a certain gene taste soap when they taste cilantro. Much the same way I cannot bear to be near a vase of paperwhites (white narcissus?). To me, they smell like a mixture of flea powder and another substance I choose not to mention. To others, they smell fine. My wife experiences a similar effect with daffodils, which I consider to have the most benign, spring-like smell possible. If she smelled what I do, there's no way they would repulse her. But it must be genetic. She likes paperwhites fine. My stepmother cannot stand even a bit of cilantro.

Lately I've been trying to prepare lower-glycemic index meals for my wife, who is experiencing some pregnancy-related blood sugar issues. Things like fish coated in almond flour and pan-fried, spaghetti squash, etc. I've had cauliflower puree as a substitute for mashed potatoes before, but I always found it bland. Until tonight. Using the same method as these delicious roasted cauliflower slices, but cutting them a tad thicker and cooking them a bit less -- so that they brown on the outside but still retain some (not all) of their moisture inside, I then tossed them into a food processor with a big knob of neufchatel cheese, a tablespoon of butter, salt, pepper and some milk heated with smashed garlic. Pureed, this was so good it didn't make you miss potatoes at all. But roasting first, that was the key to the dish's flavor.

Where does perch roe fit into the equation? I just purchased a container from the seafood merchant down the street for $6. I think it's a pint container. Interestingly, they don't carry flounder roe ...

People have tried marketing nutria with little success. But I've heard its meat is actually good, much better than the oily muskrats I've had here. I'd love to try a nutria.

Ah yes. Just ate a ton of goat yesterday at my favorite Pakistani restaurant; love it. Rabbit, too, though I don't find many places serving it. Good choices.

Not just hot dogs ... CORNDOGS! And not just corndogs, but rather quality, hand-dipped corndogs using the above-mentioned grade of franks -- or other types of sausage -- enrobed in a good batter and fried to order. Then served with your choice of interesting mustards and/or sauces. Corndogs is where it's at.