Dr. Funk

a bit more to read about .. discussion on Bourbon Reds ← Before you give much credence to the cited aticle, this guy believes in brining turkey and has a problem with believing that a person would prefer an un-brined bird. There are also several outrageous lies in the article.

I won a chile cook-off in Grand Junction, CO in 1982, before they started to get big-time. My wife keeps on me to try it again, but it's obvious that the investment is huge. I have three recipes entered for the $100,000 chicken thing and my chances of getting there are better than any of yours. I love this format, one finalist per state, so I'm competing against 454,000 people, most of whom couldn't cook a chicken if their life depended on it.

I've been in charge of gravy for 25 years because I can make it with no lumps every time (even in cold broth). She doesn't know and I'm never going to tell her that the secret is using pre-gelatinized potato starch. I've never seen this in a grocery store, I've been using the same 50# sack I liberated from a drilling rig 25 years ago. We use it in drilling mud as a viscosifier and filtration control agent. No, it's not "food grade" but its sole ingredient is potato starch and how can you screw that up?

Good Dr. Funk; hopefully you will return to peruse this thread and thus be 'in'... Re: Weber. A 'q' aficionado, I have both a kettle (22 1/2") and a WSM. And I have read rather obsessively the forum at Virtual Weber. I wish crispy skin. I do not plan on brining. I plan to flip bird. I understand the Weber kettle methodology is better for the big bird as high heat temp more easily achieved - but seasoned qmasters seem to debate. Will you expound on the Weber portion of your turkey day plans? ←

I guess this certainly qualifies for food and medicine news alerts! ← My wife's Lipitor has that warning on it and I've seen other drugs with warnings about grapefruit juice.

When I was very young, my mother used to make what us kids called "chopped sewage" using that canned La Choy crap. The only thing worth eating was the chow mein noodles. She later became a pretty decent cook, but the 50's were pretty grim.

Roast breast down on a rack, then flip over for the last hour. Good skin, juicy breast, thighs are the place to check for doneness. Also, never over 350. The best, however, is on your Weber with indirect heat and a water pan. Smoke or not depending on preference. Takes longer, but worth the effort. I'm going to do one this year along with a ham and I'll deep fry two pork butts. We're feeding the local derelicts who have no family around - about 30.

But what happened to the French's french-fried onion - green bean casserole that your aunt brought? What would Thanksgiving be without it? If you don't know what I'm talking about (were you born on Mars?), the recipe is on the back of the can. I hate to think of the number and variations of this I've been subjected to through three marriages. My present wife does not make it - she knows better. My mother always serves the brussels sprouts and chestnuts with bacon and has for as many years as I can remember and If I recall correctly, so did my grandmother. That's at least 50 years of some of the finest.

I used the eGullet link and had mine three weeks ago. Try it sometime as it also benefits this site. I'll bet it's also cheaper - I paid 24.95 and eGullet got a chunk of that.

Green Chile and sharp cheddar grated over them.

My paternal grandmother, who was PA Dutch, fried her chicken in a mixture of vegetable shortening and schmaltz. She said that if it turns out a little greasy, it still tastes like chicken. She also used a little in her pie crusts. Her cooking career started as a cook for itinerant harvest crews in the midwest during the teens, so that's probably where it came from - use what you've got. By the way Smithy, is the North Shore of Lake Superior otherwise known as Da UP?

The door of the freezer part of our refrigerator has a series of cans with labels as to what type of rendered fat they contain. Why would you throw out bacon fat? or schmaltz? and I've never had schmaltz at home rendered with onions - that's German, not Jewish. As for schmaltz as music, I think you mean Rudolf Friml.

[quote=deltadoc,Nov 10 2004, 06:56 Government did a study on how to layer a hamburger and that consisted of mustard and onions on the bottom, catsup and pickles on top. As I remember, McDonald's used that method when they were first opening, alas, back in the '50's again. Haven't ate there in years, so don't have a clue how they're doing it these days. doc When I was in high school (early 60's) I worked at McDonald's #2 and the order was meat, grilled onions, pickles, mustard and catsup. For a cheeseburger, insert cheese between meat and onions.

Bacon grease on sweet corn is one of the finest things on earth. Try it once and you'll never go back to butter.

And Oreos must be separated and cannot be eaten without milk.

I sat here listening to my wife talking to a friend of some 35 years who's going to be visiting next weekend. My wife told her that Friday would be a rib roast and Saturday would be roast chicken. What I heard was that it wasn't any trouble, that David would be doing that anyway. As far as I'm concerned, cooking is something I love and it is so much better with an appreciative audience. I was so glad to hear that my wife's friend is not bringing her husband as I have an aversion to ruining good meat by making it well-done.

A couple of observations. The average I.Q. is always 100. If the intelligence of the entire population increases or decreases, your I.Q. will change as it is just a measure of your intelligence as compared to the entire population. Similarly, the definition of obesity has changed over the years. 20 years ago, I was not defined as obese at 5' 10" and 185 lbs., but now, according to insurance company charts, I am. I've been the same height and weight since my college days (some 35 years ago) with cholesterol of 165 or lower and they say I'm unhealthy? These are the same people who would call my 83 year old mother obese at 5'2" amd 145 lbs. with blood pressures of 85/62 and a total cholesterol of 180. It's mostly genetics and you can try as much as you like, but you can't change nature. My father was, according to the insurance company charts, perfect at 6'3" and 170 lbs.. He had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and died at 73.

The ones that really get me are the wives who pick up the tip their husband left or the tip off the next table. I've seen this so many times, especially in good restaurants - you'll never see it in a greasy spoon, that I've given up bringing it to anybody's attention unless it's the aggrieved party.

The only people I've met who can't stand chicken have all grown up around commercial chicken operations. This I can understand - If you've had to eat chicken as the major part of your diet and your mother wasn't very creative you'd probably never want to see another chicken.

Have you ever seen Emeril's comfort food show where the meatloaf just crumbles and he keeps on going, talking about how wonderful it looks? I've seen it three times and it's still a hoot.

I've probably learned more from Mario than anyone else. The nice thing about his cooking is that it can be done well in the average home kitchen. I loved watching Galloping Gourmet (especially half drunk at 2:00 AM). I never had much use for Frugal, but Julia was an inspiration - I love the fact that she lived a long life in spite of the doomsayers.

That's what's called selection - not genetic engineering! He took a NATURAL mutation and ran with it. That's called EVOLUTION! The actual development of the strain was done by the USDA at Beltsville, MD.

This is also the proper lime for your Mexican beer. It has a much better taste than the Persian lime and is best when it is just starting to yellow.

I just read Heritage's screed and it is so much crap. The Beltsville White (the standard commercial bird) and the Broad-breasted Bronze were developed by selection, not genetic engineering. I participated as a 4-H member in trials of these breeds in 1956 and raised them where they got to run in the fields all day and were brought in at night. That was the best turkey I've ever had. The so-called heritage breeds are just the product of no selection program and they have a very high bone to meat ratio. They might taste good, but you're going to need a lot more weight to feed the same number of people. I would rather find someone who raises the commercial breeds free-range. Then you have the best of both worlds.

Should've got the tips at the barbecue joint. Always the best deal- what do you think the pit-man eats?