chefdg

I can't say I agree with anything you just wrote. On to the subjest. Marinating a cooking are two different things, that produce two different results. Just use a wine that you would also drink. Something not from a box.

A buffalo chicken finger and then a sandwich of italian sausage and chile. A few wings b/c this is give-a-way night.

Your friend's name doesn't happen to be Reza does it? That sound like a technique that a former boss of mine used to use. oh yeah, and his name was Reza. In case you didn't get it..........

There is no such thing as 'bad press'.

Eating around the kitchen has reached new heights as of lately proabably b/c one of the line cooks just got back from vacation and he is a master at meals on the line. Today it was Monte Cristo with onion marmalade, then he made a sauce/thickened soup/stew mixture of shrimp and spicy sausage, basil, garlic, lemon and parsley which I dipped into with some of our sun-dried tomato bread. Life is good nowadays on the line. He's off tomorrow though so somebody is going to have to step up to the plate and cook some good food.

I was hungry today, chicken pot pie, vegetable minestrone, hot dog with mustard and ketchup. Later on the line someone made chicken ceaser wraps that I ate with fries and ketchup, lots of pieces of soy, mustard, and thyme marinaded steaks. I had to turn down more food then I actually ate at work today, not so bad.

Bratwurst and sourcraut with mustard, fried potato latkas, and some kind off spicy beef stirfry. later on the line I ate a petite filet and some potato au gratin that was extra.

Chicken parmesan, that was burnt to a crisp, so I just ate the cheese. Later on the line I had a rare burger w/fries. And cause its free food night at the club I gorged on some wings dipped in apricot beurre blanc, it started out as a mistake but ended up tasting really good.

We made a nice beet gazpacho at one restaurant I work in that was really good. Soak the beets in vinegar for a day and then steam, or boil them. Puree with garlic, tomato, more vinegar, water and milk, salt and pepper to taste. Something crispy fried is a great side.

Chicken fingers and french fries. Very boring but I made myself a promise to keep this thread alive, so the everyday story has to be told.

Anywears, thirty seven bucks and they go in the dish washer.

Mannicotti.

Some kind of little sausages and peppers that I ate like hot dogs, and then S.O.S. but not the original. Later on a piece of seabass that was cooked but not needed (seems to happen a lot) with mashed potatoes and rum butter.

Yeah, with the addition of salt and cheese the raw flour flavor was very apparent. I hate to do it but I must brag a little about my wife and my cooking skills combined (sort of like wonder-twins). The finished dish was raviolis stuffed with the parmesan cheese sauce, and topped with bolognese, we were very satisfied, and thankful we didn't order out.

There are specific applications in the culinary world for the uses of these two different types of thickeners. Classicly speaking, arrowroot is only used in Asian and Indian cooking where the glossy appearence and non-flavor is desired for thickening soups and sauces. Arrowroot also does not need to be simmered for a period of time to remove the starchy flavor present in flour. Flour on the other hand has its origins in European cooking where classic soups and sauces are thickened with a roux (flour and fat), the result is a less glossy sauce or soup, with a slight flavor from the flour remaining. This probably doesn't answer your questions very well, I would suggest understanding the origins of the food you are cooking first and then decide which starch would be more appropriate to thicken it.

Exactly, and what do you do for a living? Ever give your customers something for free?

The two or three times I have been at Houston's I was surprised by the overall ambience that they have created + the type of clientele present + the menu selections and prices. To put it bluntly, I was/am confused at what they are trying to create. They will always attract the hat and t-shirt (and in florida a tank top is a t-shirt) croud with the affordable prices they offer and the comfortable dining facilities. Imposing a dress code is a step in the direction of weeding out these "unwanted" diners, and will ultimately lead to higher prices without better food and service. I just wish I was the smart business person who bought the franchise and is going to make a nice chunk of change after the transition.

Welcome my son.

Just the other night my wife and I were making dinner and she made a parmesan cheese sauce that was made from a bechamel (technically speaking a mornay sauce). While she thought the sauce was finished after about 5-8 mins of simmering all the ingredients I suggested that we add more milk and let it simmer for about 15 mins longer (mind you that the batch we were cooking yielded about 3 cups). The reason for this was the sauce tasted to me like raw dough, very floury to me but the wife couldn't taste it. After the 15 more minutes of simmering and stirring, the sauce then tasted like melted parmesan cheese, and nothing else, which is exactly the point. I don't feel five minutes is ever enough to get that flour taste out of the sauce, but thirty is only necessary in very large batches, as carrot top suggested.

Penne surprise. The surprise was that it tasted like crap. I eat staff meal at a hotel in southwest florida that provides for nearly 800 employees a day. I would never complain about free food to the people who are providing it to me, so you guys get to hear it. And I have never really been "sick" from the food I have eaten there, usually I am hot, or sweaty, or both and cannot properly digest my food.

I just cannot not post a reply to caesar dressing whether it is pertainent or not. I once heard a chef say they had to have all the ingredients for the dressing at the same, teped temperature before the salad could be made correctly. And another said you cannot have a caeser salad unless it is tossed table-side. Alton Brown said the garlic in the salad comes from the croutons being cooking in garlic oil, and I had a boss who told me the romain leaves have to be almost too big to fit into your mouth.

Make verjus. Just press the grapes with a heavy weight and then strain the liquid that remains. I give it a day or two to extract most of the juice. Add it to sauces or make vinaigrettes with it. Gelato sounds good.

Deja vous. It was "taco day" but today's tacos were some kind of mystery meat that made everybody sick. Later on the line I had jalapeno corn bread with a concoction of- seafood chowder+estoufade+saffron rice+garlic spinach= one of those things that a stoner line cook invented a passed along to the rest of us. Still having my two beer desert.

Yeah, don't put them in the oven. They will be done in five minutes of simmering, or there about's. Fries are a classic bistro side, but for your mediterranean mussels you could go with a nice creamy polenta or some grilled tomatoes. Crusty bread is a must, just don't over-cook the mussels.

Why not add sugar? At least a little? My suggestion for making it bright green (since that is the first thing that impressed you) is make sure you use nice basil leafs, and leafs alone. Blanch them and then quickly shock, then puree them with the symple syrup (light on sugar if you must), but be careful not to heat the puree while it it pureeing above 110 degrees. Then cool the mixture quickly over an ice bath. You should have a bright green, basilly liquid that will make a nice sorbet. T.K probably adds chlorifyl to enhance the green so don't freit if yours isn't as vibrant.