NulloModo

I visited TJs for the first time today. In some ways I was very impressed, in others, rather let down. The selection of nuts was nice, better than any regular grocery store, and I was about to find Hazelnuts, which I have been looking for everywhere, and TJs is apparently the only place to stock them. The cheese selection was also very good. By far it bests any grocery store I have come into contact with, it was almost worth the trip for this alone. They also had Usinger's bratwursts and Knackwursts, I picked up a package of each. The brats are amazing, far better than Johnsonville, so I may be returning for these. The meats were dissapointing, all frozen, prices not very good. The veggies were OK I suppose, prices might be good for organic, but I don't usually buy organic, so I can't compare. The selection was no better than what I can get at any other supermarket. Overall the prices weren't bad, but they weren't wonderful either. This was probably the biggest let-down, as I have heard others rave about how inexpensive it is over and over.

I completely agree on the overcooked bit. I have no interest in eating red meat that has no evidence that blood once ran through it (well, I'll leave an exception to braises and whatnot that are supposed to be thoroughly cooked). My biggest issue however is chefs who are afraid to use herbs and spices. It really burns me to order a dish that claims to be highly spiced only to recieve something that is only one or two steps away from bland. If you are going to take the time to point something out on the menu as having some kick, give it some kick.

I agree with cdh here, there is no need for TV chefs to be food-safety nazis. Does anyone here actually follow all of those rules when cooking at home? Well, actually, I'm sure some do, but I would be surprised if it is the majority. I know I am personally horrible about food-safety when cooking for myself or those I live with. I will use the same knife, same cutting board, same pans, etc, for multiple meals with onle a rinse in water in between. It might sound horrible, but I have never made anyone sick (well, I made myself violently ill once, but that was because I ate some pork sausage that was a bit past its prime, and not fully cooked...). In a restaurant situation, I expect proper hygiene to go into the production of my meal. At home, it becomes far less of an issue. I'm in the camp that believes we have to expose ourselves to some of these bugs so that we don't lose our natural resistance anyway. It's bad enough that I can't get a rare burger at half the joints around here anymore because everyone is afraid of someone getting sick and the resultant lawsuit, but I'll be damned if I'm going to start to turn my own personal cooking into something that feels like a high school science project with all of the safety precautions and whatnot. I also certainly don't want to watch someone else do that on TV.

What appears to be the obvious answer is not always the correct answer, that is all I am saying. Low-carb may be having some impact on the prices of things, but I can't personally (and this is jusy my opinion here) see how it could be the major factor. It is also worth pointing out that the media and industry spokespeople often look for somewhere to pass the blame and cause a little stir more often than they look to the heart of a matter to really focus on what is going on, and god forbid, accept responsibility for poor planning that has led to the shortages that we are now experiencing.

All of those articles list it as a 'potential' cause, but there is still no hard research cited for any of them related to the Atkins bit, just heresay and a (surely not scientific) survey run by a steakhouse of its customers. Not to mention that the one article which does mention hard numbers for the increase in demand states it at approximately 10%, which would in no way lead to a doubling of price. The factors which do come up again and again as _fact_ appear to be that the cattle crop is at a near all-time low, and this BSE nonsense. There may be increased demand for a variety of reasons, and low-carb may be one factor, but an all time low in supply likely has a lot to do with it as well.

I've heard the garlic + botulism a lot around here too, but I've always kept chopped garlic packed in oil in the fridge, and never had a problem with slowly using the same jar over a period of months... then again, that is just my personal experience, maybe I am just lucky.

Nice write-up... I may need to pick that book up. I don't understand why Tex-Mex and Americanized Mexican food is so looked down upon. Sure, it isn't authentic (well, you could say the Tex-Mex is authentic unto itself), but it is darn tasty. There is a place for real Mexican, real Mexican inspired Texas food (Tex-Mex?) and good old Americanized Mexican.

I grew up in the deep south as well, but moved to Delaware by the time I was 12 or so. My parents, however, both having been from the south themselves continued (and my father continues) to cook like that. I remember my friends always loving to come over for sunday breakfast of biscuits with sausage gravy, ham steaks, grits, eggs, preserves, red-eye gravy, and whatever else my father felt like cooking up. I always figured that was what everyone ate on Sunday mornings before church. I never experienced green beans that weren't cooked in the souther style (i.e. stewed all day with a ham-hock, ala preparation for collard greens) until I was in H.S., and when I saw those lightly oil-coated green crispy things with slivered almonds on top, I was confused about what such a nice restaurant didn't know how to properly cook green-beans. I still can't stomach green-beans that are actually still bright-green and have crunch to them, blech. The meals of my youth included lots of cornbread (at least a couple times a week), okra (fried and stewed), fried chicken, country fried steaks, collard greens (apparently my favorite food from as young as 2 years old), and lots of other great Alabama cuisine. My father could also prepare some pretty solid renditions of chili, baked beans, and beef stew while my mom was a master of all manner of casseroles, meatloaf, and dishes such as candied yams loaded with marshmallow. When my parents stepped out of their comfort zone the results were often disasterous, so they rarely experimented. Nowadays I still have a love for all of these foods, and cook up a big pot of collard greens at least once a week. I am trying to add some dishes from the southwest, Mexico, and Louisiana into my repertoire, as these fit my palate perfectly. Living in the shadow of Philadelphia, and right near the Chesapeake Bay, I also have learned to heartily enjoy Italian-American food and fresh seafood of all variety, preferably spiced with lots of Old Bay. I prefer strong flavors and rich dishes. I have tried some hauty-tauty french recipes, but the ones that really end up making me smile are the ones loaded with cream, butter, and lots of herbs. I enjoy the style of schezuan Chinese cooking that take-out places offer: greasy and over-spiced, but I have never found joy in simple vegetable stir-fries or Japanese style noodle soups. I have tried several Thai dishes and have loved them all, the coconut and chile flavors playing brilliantly off of each other, who knows if it was authentic or not (all of my Thai meals have been at this place in West Hollywood... truly can't recall the name right now as I haven't been out there in years). I am trying to expand my horizons, but invariably I tend to prefer a full-on punch of lots of flavors, conflicting or not, to subtlety and balance. I will still take a neat glass of bourbon over a glass of any wine I have ever tasted any day.

The hottest buffalo wings I can find tend to cheer me up pretty fast... or at least make me care a whole lot less about anything other than the burning in my mouth ;).

Are you serious? There are that many places in NYC that are that behind the times? Gee whiz, I live in a little town and everywhere takes credit cards, places that don't take them tend to go out of business within a year or so...

So NeroW - How did it all go over?

I used to think eating vegetarian was tremendously goofy and misguided, but I have since seen the error in my ways. It wasn't until I decided to make a drastic shift in my eating patterns from the norm (virtually eliminating sugar and simple carbohydrates from my diet) that I realized how it feels to be looked on as bizarre by other diners, and to not have your requests taken seriously. Having now had that experience I have to say that I must admire vegetarians and those who keep kosher, as well as anyone else who has their reasons for eating in a way quite different from mainstream society, for it can be very difficult at times.

How odd. When asked what I would like to drink, if it is water, I simply say 'water'. It always come out in a pitcher and I am not charged for it, so I must assume I always get tap. If my request for 'water' came back with a bottle I would be quite upset unless it were free.

First of all, it is Atkins, not Adkins. Second, there has been absolutely no study done to show a link between low-carb dieting and increased beef prices. The idea can make tidy sense in one's head just musing about it, but there are tons of other factors in play. Until at least one single solitary piece of hard data can be drudged up that shows low-carb eating was the driving factor in farmers reducing dairy cattle production, you have nothing but unfounded theories, which are fine, but far from fact.

Actually it has nothing to do with Atkins. Milk is not even a valid beverage on the Atkins program (contains a lot of simple sugars). Cream and cheese are both acceptable, but in limited quantities, sorry, but you're going to have to find another scapegoat. Milk/dairy prices in Delaware are up as well, butter is around $4 a lb for the basic stuff, $4 for half a pound of plugra.

Interesting, and while we are talking about the basics: Is the Roux simply a thickening agent, or does the browning process add appreciable taste to the finished product? Are there Roux-less gumbos, or gumbos with Roux made from things other than oil and wheat flour?

How important is it to use bell-peppers? The celery/bell pepper/onion combination seems common to most gumbo recipes, but if I had no bell peppers on hand, but instead some various chiles and poblanos, would those work instead? Or would I be better off to just go buy some bell peppers?

It does. This was one of the most popular pizzas on campus while I went to the U of D.

Garnish is nice at a restaurant, but at home I don't bother unless I am cooking for a special occasion. I think I actually somehow sparked this thread due to the conversation that evolved from the use of Springform vs. disposable aluminum baking tins in the Dad on Atkins thread. Whatever I cook day to day usually doesn't look wonderful. I tend to cook a lot of braises, stews, and other nice one-pan meals that have tons of great flavor, but fall short on the looks. To me serving these up with fancy-pants garnishes would seem out of place. I suppose the mood could be enhanced by serving them in earthenware bowls, or nice old-fashioned crocks with big wooden spoons or something, but alas due to cabinet space constraints I have one set of dishes that do universal duty. Although that brings up an interesting point, to me at least: Can the type of plate/dish upon which a dish is served be considered 'garnish' or is it a different part of overall effect?

I was once inspired by a late night TMNT marathon into trying out the ultimate blend of sweet and savory in the form of a pizza: The Marshmallow Pie. Take a standard issue crust, red sauce, mozerella cheese pizza, cook it almost all the way, and empty a bag of marshmallows on top then toss it back in until they brown and get all gooey. It sounds dreadful, but tastes wonderful, everyone who was with me absolutely loved it.

Eeeeee! What swine do that? My roomates (occasionally, they have gotten better about this and now at least have the consideration to do it when I am not in the kitchen actively supervising the dish ;) ).

I enjoy conversation while I am cooking, as long as I am not cutting as the person is speaking, I can't use a knife safely while distracted. The only thing that really bugs me is when people come in and stick fingers/spoons/etc into what I am preparing and start tasting it and making suggestions before it is even done, or without asking.

Mongo - I'm with you on the $10,000 to explore the off-the beaten path culinary treasures the world offers. However, were someont to give me that money, I don't know what area of the world I would head to first. I have relished the eCGI course on Indian regional cookery, and even tried a few of the dishes myself. I have to admit that before reading it all I had no idea that Indian cuisine was so varied from place to place. My own worry about this however would be that as a foreigner I would end up choosing the wrong street stands and not get the best examples of local cuisine. Walking the streets of Philadelphia one can find some absolutely phenomenal meals in the Italian American and U.S. Street Food styles, but one can also find some phenomenally bad ones. I suppose I would have to survey lots of local little places in each city visited...

I generally enjoy most of Rachel Ray's recipes... I tend to watch her shows as often as possible, but I will admit it is more for the Rachel Ray than the recipes within....

Voila, the springform pan! I use it because it has a larger capacity for the volume of the cheesecake ingredients, and because by using the spring, one can get neatly formed, straight sides on the finished cake ... ooooh, so the pan expands and contracts on the side? This aides in lifting the finished product I assume? For presentation purposes, I can definately see that being and advantage ;). Of course, I give approximately five seconds worth of thought to presentation when I am cooking for myself and friends, and those five seconds are usually to think 'Doesn't matter what it looks like as long as it tastes good.'. For a special occasion dinner though one of those would be nifty to have around... EGullet keeps encouraging me to buy cooking supplies I didn't know I needed.