Smithy

dcarch: how I laughed with that 'egghead' joke! I'm easily amused, I suppose, but thanks for the laugh! :-D Further to your question: so far, when I have a problem with peeling an egg shell, it seems to be the membrane sticking to both the white and the shell; if I can get the membrane to release from the white then everything peels easily. I've never seen an egg membrane that stuck to the white and not to the shell, so to me 'easy peeling' means the membrane releases readily from the white. Is that what you meant? Porthos: I suspect that I'm in your general vicinity during some faire or other. Would you please either post or PM me some links for next year? Norm Matthews and patrickamory, I'm not deliberately excluding you...thanks for your additions! I first heard about the steamer method from some random guy in a Tuesday Mornings store. My mother and I were browsing, during one of our last ambulatory visits together. We were pondering some kiitchen gear and talking about how irritating it is to try to peel hard-boiled eggs when the shells won't release. "Psst!" said the stranger, "here's the secret!" He told me about steaming eggs. I thanked him politely, and Mom and I went about our business. "What was that about?" asked my mother. I told her, rolling my eyes, "Never mind, it was a crank." I'm sorry to say it took me nearly 2 years afterward to try the method. Apologies to the 'crank', whoever he was.

Your points are valid, dcarch, and it's one of my justifications for not getting too heavily into the data collection. I can control for breed of chicken and age of eggs, since they come from the neighbor down the road when I'm home, but then those results might not apply to your standard supermarket eggs from some factory farm. What about the statistical approach, however? If one compares the results of two different cooking methods for long enough and for many eggs from different sources, I think that would be a pretty strong indicator that the cooking method is more important than the source, feed, time of year and so on. Note that I said "would be". I haven't done that level of effort, and I don't know whether anyone else here has. Maybe we need to do a collaborative effort?

Savory cornbread: that might be the ticket. I usually think it's too sweet, too. Is it a recipe you can share?

Shelby, as a rule I think cornbread is overrated, but your version just might make me change my mind. Beautiful! (So is the rest of it, but I'd expect to like the rest of it....)

Great topic! I've taken to steaming eggs rather than boiling them in the shell. It saves on water, and in general seems to produce eggs that peel more easily. I still haven't tried a full-blown study of this, as in splitting batches and keeping records. I use a steamer insert in a small pan, bring the water to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, and put the lid on. I haven't tried timing either, but at somewhere around 8 - 10 minutes I turn the heat off and let the eggs cool while the lid is still on the pan. The most recent discussion I can find is when Anna N raised the issue in the "Breakfast! 2014" topic in this post, and some discussion of the technique ensued. I'll be interested to see how the full-blown test runs. Do please keep us informed; maybe you'll inspire me to actually start keeping records, too.

These posts are wonderful. Thank you very much! The mice-like rice are particularly entrancing.

Er, sorry about that! This will disappoint you, but on the rare occasions I deep-fry, I use peanut oil. To my taste it's neutral, I like the high smoke point, and it's inexpensive. I hadn't read about rice bran oil but may give it a try after reading this topic. If I couldn't / didn't want to use peanut oil, then I'd probably go with safflower or sunflower oil for deep frying; grapeseed is too expensive for me to use in that quantity. I've been considering going back to the old home ways and using Crisco, or perhaps lard, but not actually tried it yet.

I couldn't do a side-by-side comparison, but I think the Barefoot malbec was more well-rounded and softer, both in nose and taste. There was none of that strong note that you and I both noticed, like an alcohol burn, with the Alamos. I'd take the Barefoot over the Alamos in the future, even at the same price. I'll plan on getting more of this in the future. This wine seemed to be a 'bust' as far as Wine Roulette goes, and I'll have to step away from the game for the next couple of weeks. If someone else wants to pick a wine and get the conversation going again, don't be shy... :-)

I like California Olive Ranch EVOO. I haven't tried their infused varieties yet.

That sounds really good, huiray. How do you think that would work with firm white mild fish? Would it overpower the flavor, such as it is, of the fish?

That is a fun video, but I can't see the price or operating cost or counter space either. I agree that it would seem better if you could use your own dough. The pods generate a lot of waste. There might be a niche for it in hotel breakfast areas, next to the waffle makers, if the operating cost came way down. Rotuts, I'm surprised at you. Red wine, like chocolate, goes with just about everything... :-D

I just heard about a new use for dandelion petals in today's episode of The Splendid Table: Dandelion Petal Sorbet. The link above goes to the recipe posted on The Splendid Table's web site. The recipe is adapted from The Herb Farm Cookbook, by Jerry Traunfeld.

Strange, none of those geese can be comfortable, but the ones at the right look especially uncomfortable. Do you know whether they're left hanging like that routinely, or had those tried to escape and gotten snagged just before the photo was snapped? There doesn't seem to be room for them inside the cart. Going back to food etiquette: if there are no leftovers, do the hosts take that as a sign that they didn't provide enough?

You lot are leading me down a bad, bad path. What makes it worse is that last night, for the very first time, I tasted a deep-fried Snickers Bar. Oh, my.

Thanks for that explanation. I had the wrong sense of 'stocking' altogether, and thought it was an interesting metaphor referring to something pointy in one's footwear.

In addition to the capers with their salt (or are these preserved in vinegar?) you listed mustard, creme fraiche, butter and brandy; all those are acidic to some degree. Note that I'm still speculating about the contribution of acid to microbial control, since I don't know what the finished pH of your product might be. The sealed jar and the fat (as you and others suggested above) probably helped also. No, there isn't a special section. If it's a savory-type cooking question it goes into the Cooking forum, if it's more related to sweets or baking it goes into the Pastry & Baking forum, and so on. (Each forum is labeled as to its main purpose, to help you figure out the appropriate place to post.) Don't be shy about asking questions of the hosts or managers via PM if you have a specific question about where or how to post something. Oh, and you may find your questions already addressed; click here for the Sous Vide Index. Happy hunting!

Those are beautiful!

You have a fair amount of acid in that pate. Is there any chance that's contributing to microbial control? I'd expect her to taste rancidity, but that in itself won't make her sick. Bacteria will, and maybe they're well-controlled. (I don't iknow the answer. I'm throwing the question out for discussion.) Welcome to the eG Forums, by the way.

Welcome! You have questions or opinions? You've come to the right place! There are a lot of Modernist cooks here as well as traditionalists, and as of a week or two ago this is the home of the Modernist Cuisine forums associated with the cookbooks.

I haven't noticed the 'rancid right off the bat' bit, but to me it develops a fishy flavor and odor as soon as it's heated. If restaurants where I eat are using canola in their cooking, then they're using a better grade than I do, or doing something different. I generally use safflower or sunflower oil when I need a neutral, high-smoke-point oil. I occasionally splurge on a bottle of grapeseed oil, but it's expensive and I usually don't get through it before it's gone off.

I had so many enjoyable segments that it's tough to pick out a favorite! I loved the level of detail and math that went into the phase changes and diffusion, and did my final project on diffusion; however, I also loved fermentation and thought it was fascinating! I think my least-favorite section was on elasticity. That was at least in part because (IMO) the presentations were confusing. I still haven't taken the plunge into Modernist cooking, but this class opened my eyes to the possibilities. I'm interested in seeing what others are coming up with now, and I'll enjoy seeing what you come up with, too.

That's a fascinating article, Chris. I hadn't thought of it from the perspective of people with food compulsions or cooking fears before now. Thanks.

Welcome, Ollie! Come on in and join the conversations! Do you practice your culinary skills at home, or are you a bit too busy with other pursuits? What PBS shows did you especially like to watch?

Lest I denigrate the rest of your point here - and I don't want to - let me note that in many parts of this country, including the part where I currently live, we're doing well to have something labeled as an 'Oriental' grocery. Distinctions between Chinese, Japanese, Cambodian, Vietnamese or Korean are not to be made, and distinctions among Chinese provinces are not to be conceived. But I digress.... ...please elaborate on that charming but puzzling expression "skew in the stocking"?

Welcome, Stephanie / absolutelyfuzzy! As Anna noted, there are a lot of "Modernists" here as well as cooks of all other stripes. I also took that edX course. I enjoyed it and learned a lot from it. Did you have a favorite - or least favorite - section from that course?