Katherine

Perhaps the French buy cookbooks full of recipes that work, rather than glossy coffee-table "star chef" food porn, containing a limited number of recipes of dubious usefulness. From my own collection of cookbooks I can tell you that the most-used books have the fewest illustrations per recipe. In fact, you could probably correlate the number of illustrations per recipe with the chance that a cookbook is coffee table size.... The popularity of these "star chefs" is well out of proportion to their skill levels, and certainly to their contribution to society as a whole, or any segment thereof. It's just a part of the big media money machine. These people no longer have time to cook, they're so busy churning out product to support their "brands". A new star chef means more books the public will have to buy. Meanwhile, lots of better chefs who work at successful restaurants that satisfy countless customers have not yet been promoted to "media darling"...

On the rare occasions when I fry eggs... I heat the nonstick pan on medium with butter, not too much, and slip in the eggs. When the eggs are sunnyside up (white cooked), I add a couple of tablespoons of cream, a couple of dashes of hot sauce, some freshly ground pepper, and salt. I slide the eggs around in the pan to mix this with a flick of the wrist, then flip over, (when I'm daring, I do the aerial method, depends on how my coffee's taking) and after no more than a minute, slip them onto the plate. Ideally served with proper home fries, toast, meat, fresh squeezed juice and another cup of coffee.

I think that the situation in France is the natural order of things, and the situation in the US and the UK is the abberation...

How are the terms "foodie" and "gourmet" being used here? Is a "foodie" someone who eats at expensive restaurants a lot because they have the disposable income to do it? Is a "gourmet" only someone who has published writings on food? Wouldn't that mean that someone who isn't a writer isn't a "gourmet"? Lawyers that I know personally are into conspicuous consumption, and like to eat at the trendy places. They do not have daring palates, and are not creative cooks. They would probably wonder about people like us who spend time hanging out and posting on a food bulletin board. I'd like to see the different definitions people give to these terms. And what do you call a person who appreciates fine foods, irrespective of their entertainment budget?

I thought the salad was one of the low points, myself. The Olive Garden is one of those chain restaurants that saves $$$ by making a dressing with little or no oil in it and dousing it with pure vinegar. I can't eat a salad like that. A couple of bites and I feel my blood curdling.

Here's a link to info about unagi cuisine: http://www.bento.com/re_unagi.html (Edited by Katherine at 9:05 am on Dec. 30, 2001)

I read in an old cookbook that Homefries are fried up raw, and Hash browns are precooked. For this definition, think "hash" as something which is precooked, then fried up the next day. Nowadays Hash browns are often shredded and cooked into patties, whereas Homefries are, especially in restaurants, precooked, barely heated and served unseasoned. To make Homefries, I dice raw potatoes, any kind, peeling if necessary, and sauté over medium high heat in animal fat or a blend of butter and olive oil, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are nicely browned. Then I reduce the heat to medium, cover, and continue to cook until they are done inside. Season with freshly ground black pepper, red pepper, and salt. Paprika added during the cooking process gives them an attractive color, but it reminds me of restaurants that do this instead of cooking them crispy and seasoning them properly, so I don't usually use it. Optional onions and peppers, sauté separately and add at the end. To serve with cheese and bacon, add the precooked bacon and cheese to the onions and peppers, cover, and heat until cheese is melted. Dump onto the Homefries just before serving. I never precook potatoes. Some varieties harden on chilling and don't resoften when reheated. You don't save time, either, if you figure the time you spent precooking them. Besides, that 2 extra minutes in the morning is time you can spend doing something else. No need to watch the potatoes, they're very forgiving. My Hash browns On the shredding blade of a food processor, shred potatoes, peeled (except for young red ones). Mix the shredded potatoes with salt, and put in a collander for about 1/2 hour. Squeeze out all the extra moisture. In a frying pan, heat about 1/4" of fat, or butter and olive oil over medium heat. When hot, drop handfuls of potato and shape into rounds about 3/8"-1/2" thick. (A can with the bottom and top removed can make attractive patties.) Rotate when the center is done if you are using a large pan so they brown evenly. When potato is golden on the bottom (Peek! don't test-flip!), turn over and cook until brown. (Edited by Katherine at 8:24 pm on Dec. 29, 2001)

From reading the slogans already in use, I would guess that the only demographic you are targeting is young males. Is that correct? Ad slogans like these would never fly in the US.

I know Applebee's uses these services. I've read servers complaining that they have mystery diners to serve, and if they don't push appetizers and drinks on them, they get reprimanded...

Those molasses spice cookies in the current issue are to die for.

Please do post about beef stew. There are so many right ways to make it... How do you like it?

My father did break a tooth on a frozen candy bar, so I never started.

I like to reduce a recipe to its essential nature. Often, the more ingredients in a preparation, the more diluted the effect. Some of the best preparations are the simplest. If you leaf through cookbooks regularly, you may notice this phenomenon: Chapter 1. A discussion of the subject, its origin, ingredients, and techniques. Brief. Chapter 2. A few authentic, or slightly modified authentic recipes for this food. Brief. Chapter 3. Many modernized recipes, with long lists of trendy and difficult to get ingredients, seemingly randomly composed by a database program. Mostly pointless and unfocused. This shows most clearly the author's tastes, but little else. Very long chapter.

I've found that many of the simplest recipes are dependent on little things, like the brand of flour you use, the temperature in your kitchen, and subtle technique variations, none of which the author may have put in the recipe.

The International Wine Accessories http://iwawine.com catalog lists a tasting kit called "le nez du vin", with 54 glass vials of essences, for 躓. If it was in my budget to consider buying such a thing, I probable would have posted to find out whether anyone had an opinion on it.

I've always heard that one major hangover factor is impurities in the alcoholic beverage drunk. Quality vodka is purer than bourbon, etc. Dehydration would increase the concentration of these in the body, and lack of fluids would interfere with the elimination of them.

I don't have a lot of recent experience with this, but I've heard (from a heavy drinker who had WAY too many hangover opportunities) that he drinks a quart of water before turning in for the night, and feels much better in the morning. I've found that if you drink a 12 ounce glass of water with each drink, you don't get dehydrated, which is supposed to be part of the problem, and you end up being less thirsty and drinking less.

I've found that in the US, the only place to get a properly brewed cup of tea is in a coffeeshop. In restaurants they invariably draw a cup of coffee-temp water from the coffee machine, let it sit until it cools a bit, and then drop in the bag, or, even worse, bring it to you in the dining room lukewarm, and let you open the bag and drop it in. Of course, the tea at my house is perfect and the selection is excellent.

I think I'll bone the turkey and tie the white and dark meat into separate roasts, and serve a Viognier.

Just noticed this thread lives again! Ekco has begun making a waiter style corkscrew for under ŭ at Walmart, for those of us who are saving up for our first Laguioleo.

I have the Trattorina ravioli attachment, but I've only used it once. It's good if you're feeding a crowd, but the ravioli you make using it are very full pillows, and you have to make a lot to bother setting up the operation. I only need to make a serving or two at a time, and I like handmade style anyway, so I use a frame or make them on my board with a zigzag wheel or use a drinking glass to cut out circles. The Trattorina would be more convenient with a motor, but it's so convenient compared to the motorized Ampia I used to use that I've never bothered to adapt it. I don't doubt that it could be used in a small restaurant that wants to serve some pasta (as they say on the website).

When I baked in a restaurant, we made a sour cream pumpkin pie you would definitely say was too custardy. Most customers preferred it to the kind you're looking for, which would explain why the type you're looking for has become unavailable.

Hey, Wilfred, I looked at what you posted and said to myself, "I didn't say that, did I?" I was right. You edited my post and changed a quote completely. I never said "English style breakfast sausage", it was "English style breakfast". American-style breakfast sausage is something which is only made here, a unique product for which there is no substitute. We're actually grossed out by being served things like beans and hot hard-boiled eggs in the shell at breakfast. Sunny side up eggs give us the willies. And it's not a complete breakfast without potatoes, either. This is a thing which has to do with personal/cultural preferences. When my brother travelled with a British rock band, they always asked for beans with their breakfast. Usually they'd get looked at funny, and somebody in the kitchen would run to a convenience store for a can of baked beans, and everything was fine. Then they got to the Southwest, and when they asked for beans, they got refried beans, and their tender palates couldn't handle the hot'n'spicy. Here's my experience with English style sausage, since you brought it up: I had bangers purchased from my grocer's frozen food case once, and we hated them. Actually, I haven't been to D'Agostino's in my life, and since NYC is six hours from my home, in a different region of the country, I don't expect to. It's possible that bangers my supermarket carried briefly were not typical, or perhaps were typical but were something that British sausage-lovers would know enough to avoid. I'm not surprised that they were only carried briefly; they tasted like dog food, due to what tasted like raw soybean used as a filler in fairly large quantities. I can't imagine that whoever was in charge of putting new products in the store had even tasted them. They had a pretty package, though. (Edited by Katherine at 10:35 am on Nov. 2, 2001)

The studio has been broken down. It's all gone. I think they're kindof mystified by the US Iron Chef craze, too.

My feeling is there would need to be some sort of "critical mass" of up-to-date and usable websites for the numbers of users to increase. I've seen so many websites that were updated in the distant past, or so full of typos and errors that it was clear the owners don't care. It reflects badly on the rest. Some of the stuff you read is so clearly PR nonsense. How could we know to trust the site of a restaurant like that?