[The Smoke From Cast Iron Pans]

Tommy, another tip: you can sear off the steaks before your guests arrive, get your kitchen all cleaned up, and rest the steaks on a rack over a sheet pan until it gets close to time to eat. At that point you can roast them in the oven, put a little pat of butter on each towards the end of cooking, rest them for a few minutes, and serve. Nobody will be able to figure out how you did it...

Thank you! That is a great idea!

How long can you let the steaks rest before roasting?

[Iron Chef Episode 1-Who should have won?]

This is complete crap!

They need to balance out the panel. This was a complete fix. I completely agree that the judges have far less sophisticated palates. I mean, Kerry Simon? Brian fuc*ing Unger? Who are these damned people? Alright, so Simon has a restaurant in Las Vegas... but what's the excuse for putting Unger on the panel?

Later they bring in the stupid coffee shop guy from Friends?

There is little hope that Sakai or Morimoto will get a fair shake with the crowd of losers the Food Network has assembled for the panel...

[Q&A -- Understanding Stovetop Cookware]

Thank you for your response, Walt.

I asked because I recently received a 6qt All-Clad stainless steel saute pan as a gift. Sam seems to favor the MasterChef I am assuming because it has a much thicker layer of aluminum. I hate to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I am tempted to swap this pan for the slightly cheaper Master Chef saute pan. I am curious if the added performance is worth the risk of getting caught swapping the gift by the person that gave it to me.

I realize this is probably a question more appropriate for Ms. Manners... but she doesn't seem to answer a lot of cookware questions.

[When Cheaper is Just Fine]

I agree with the IKEA cutting board. Mine has served me very well. Too bad they don't have them anymore...

[When Expensive Equipment Matters]

Knives.

[When Cheaper is Just Fine]

Cheap plastic cutting boards purchased at IKEA and The Dollar Store. These are very handy and come out of the dishwasher spotlessly clean.

The best part is that once they get somewhat ragged or, in the case of several casualties, are melted beyond recognition because of being placed recklessly close to a stove... I toss them.

[The Smoke From Cast Iron Pans]

I completely agree with Fat Guy! Butter makes a great crust.

You might also try keeping around an unseasoned cast-iron pan as Samuel Kinsey suggests in his eGCI topic: Understanding Stovetop Cookware.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=25717

[Cooking Duck Breasts: Tips and Techniques]

I realize that smoked duck breast is a completely different product. But, I love making pizza with smoked duck breast, gruyere, and finely sliced shallots.

["The Restaurant" Reality Show Season 2]

I feel sorry for Mama... although I've heard that Chodorow is paying the rent on her apartment...

DiSpirito has said that she isn't on the payroll, but Chodorow claims that in addition to paying her rent she also receives a salary.

["The Restaurant" Reality Show Season 2]

I agree with KatieLoeb. Chowdorow was caught with his pants down. In the show he mentions how he just left Rocco alone to do his own thing for a while...

Well, when you leave people alone with piles of your cash, sometimes bad things happen.

The show is full of villains and assholes, but I still say the intern, Drew, is a tool...

[Q&A -- Understanding Stovetop Cookware]

Sam,

What do you think of All-Clad stainless?

["The Restaurant" Reality Show Season 2]

I like that fox mentions that Chodorow, a felon, spent time in prison back in 1996...

The New York Magazine also mentions it, but they say it is because of "management issues" related to an aquisition.

["The Restaurant" Reality Show Season 2]

What about that damned intern?

I hate that kid. He is a gigantic tool.

I like when he said he specializes in making tough decisions on the spot. Where does he specialize in this? He makes tough, on the spot decisions while he's paddling some pledge at his frat house?

I hate that kid and I am also taking to hating Chodorow's wife. Why is she there?

Who is this Tony, the executive chef? Does anyone here know this guy?

[Best Food Festivals?]

I know that PamelaF already mentioned it, but the Gilroy Garlic Festival is worth mentioning again.

Around harvest time, the entire town of Gilroy is shrouded in pungent garlic smells. Just driving along highway 101 around festival time conjures up all sorts of fond garlic memories.

Around California, and probably elsewhere as well, Gilroy is known for the Garlic Festival once a year and a stripmall with several "factory outlets" the rest of the year. Once, when the town was steeped in garlic, I purchased a shirt at one of the outlets...

Weeks later the shirt still smelled like garlic.

["The Restaurant" Reality Show Season 2]

I just read the NYT article...

What are the "repeated and manifold breaches of contractual and fiduciary obligations" alleged by DiSpirito in his countersuit?

[SF's Local Scene]

For goodness sakes!

Try Oliveto (oliveto.com) in Oakland. Paul Bertolli shows that Chez Panisse is not the only thing on the other side of the bay.

In fact, he worked at Chez Panisse and wrote a book with Alice Waters.

He serves great Italian dishes and does things with pigs that few other chefs can imagine...

[Pizza Dough Dilemma]

Wolfgang Puck has a pretty good pizza dough recipe that you can find on the Food Network's site (foodtv.com). He uses honey and I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but I always get great results...

[Secret Spices in Heinz Ketchup?]

I'm pretty sure ketchup contains allspice...