HungryChris

Having the oyster still attached to the bottom shell is a pet peeve of mine. It does insure that he does not slide off as the waiter makes his turns, but makes for awkward maneuvers at the table to get every bit where it belongs. I am a firm believer that all the work should have been done in the kitchen so that if you are a purist you can just tip and slurp. HC

What are the chances of finding shishito peppers or pimento di padrone this time of year?

Through stories I have heard growing up and fellow workers I have known, eggs in beer is something I associate with shift workers who get out of work in the morning. This "breakfast" is usually taken in at a bar quite near the "gate". The first beer includes one or two raw eggs and perhaps some added spices, seasonings or condiments. With a wholesome breakfast out of the way, the beers that follow are your normal cold ones. To a shift worker, with or without the eggs, it's just their way of having a few beers after work. I don't hear much about the practice anymore, but my circle of friends has changed a bit too.

I am fond of thyme, especially in making croutons and I think that Anne Burell says it well: "I don't have time for thyme." as she throws in a little bundle tied up in string to be fished out later. That works for me pretty well. HC

I knew a kid in grade school named Michael. Every day he would bring a bologna sandwich on white bread and a small bag of potato chips for lunch. He would unwrap his sandwich from the wax paper and then open the bag of chips and spread the contents out over the opened, flattened bag. He would then take a bite of his sandwich followed by a chip, always starting with the smallest chip in his collection. As he proceeded he would regulate the size of his sandwich bites according to the numbers and size of his chips so that his last bite was always the largest chip in the bag. Many, many, many years later I was working at a defense plant and noticed Michael working as a temp contractor. Once I had verified that it was indeed the Michael from grade school, I brought up the subject of the bologna sandwich and bag of chips. Now keep in mind that both Michael and I were well into our 40's at the time. He told me that there had not been a day since fourth grade that he had not had a bologna sandwich on white bread for lunch and I was so dumbfounded that I never asked about the chips. HC

The first thing that comes to my mind is mustard seed. For years I have wanted to be able to make my own dijon style mustard but always had to tolerate the fact that I could not get a real fine paste. This looks like it might be the solution. Care to give it a try? HC

Chris, My 2 cents, as a Kenmore Elite owner with the "turbo Zone" feature: Frankly, I like it. The model I have is about 3 years old and has a fold down back rack such that you can accomodate both large (think crock pot and braising pot situations) as well as smaller applications for the "turbo zone". Some considerations: There are warnings in the literature not to wash jars with the labels still on as the paper will clog the jets. This tells me that there is no grinder feature that perhaps should be an option. I happen to be a hopeless saver of small jars for impromptu salad dressings , rubs and marinades and wish this was not an issue, but I deal with it. When you opt for the turbo zone feature, the cycle time is pretty long, something I have also grown to accept. I went with the stainless tub, but intend to be in my house for quite a while. In your case, I wouldn't. Perhaps the two things that stand out in my mind the most are these, it gets the dishes and glasses remarkably clean and it is quiet, quiet, quiet! Consumers Guide was right on in those respects. With regards to installation, I did it myself, but have done others before. Keep in mind that you are probably going to have to replace the hot water shut-off valve as part of the process so it depends on how you feel about that. HC

Not too long ago there was a piece in Cooks Illustrated about crispy chicken skin. The bottom line was to dry the skin out by leaving it uncovered overnight in the fridge and using baking powder as an ingrediant in the rub. I have tried this with quite good results. There is only a bit of salt left behind by the baking powder because it breaks down in the cooking process and the skin is noticably crispier. They also mention separating the skin from the meat by runnining your fingers in between the skin and the breast meat, which I do anyway because I like to take the pieces of chicken fat that I pull out of the cavity and push them up under the breast skin to baste it as it cooks. HC

We saw the movie last w/e and enjoyed it quite a bit. I know that I enjoyed it more for having read "My Life in France", but it was orverall good in my opinion, regardless. I do think that MS did a masterful job in that there were times that I could close my eyes and think it was JC speaking. It did renew my interest in MTAoFC and inspired me to go find it and start reading it again. HC

I suggest Kono's Cafe at the base of Crystal Pier in PB for the sausage, egg, cheese, potato and avocado breakfast burrito with pica sauce on the side. So big, it's best shared, so good, it's unforgettable. You'll be hard pressed to try anything else. Order inside, then pick your table across the street and watch the surf as you wait for delivery. After breakfast you can take a stroll out on the pier to check the fishing and surfing action. HC

FG, It's that kind of passion for life writing that kept me coming back to Fat-Guy.com from the moment I stumbled upon it, years ago. More, please! HC

A caesar salad made table-side included raw eggs. HC

I greatly enjoyed Julia Child's "My Life in France" and Jacques Pepin's "the Apprentice". I recently finished "Living in a Foreign Language": A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Love in Italy by Michael Tucker and enjoyed it and recommend it just about as much. This was followed by "Mediterranean Summer": A Season on France's Cote d'Azur and Italy's Costa Bella by David Shalleck with Erol Munuz. He was the chef aboard a luxury sailing yacht in the Med with very strict owners, a good food and travel read. Currently I am halfway through "A Vineyard in Tuscany": A Wine Lover's Dream by Ferenc Mate and only dream I could be so lucky! HC

I love quality breads, meats and cheeses alot too, but also think that any place that you can get a great cup of soup and order a good salad and get quality greens that are as clean and fresh as if you prepared it for yourself would put you head and shoulders above most. I find it surprising how difficult it can be to find that. It is critical, I think. to be able to depend on a steady supply of fresh greens and a staff that you can count on to never send out a romain rib that is too thick or brown ended, no matter what, is part of it. HC

We were recently at a champagne brunch at the Mohegan Sun. There was a pasta station where the guy would create a pasta dish in a made to order pan sauce. The inherant problem with this is that you don't get to taste the work in progress. If you were making it yourself and tasting, you know what to add. Deb had him make a lobster fra diavolo with penne pasta that I thought was remarkably good. I remember thinking though, that I would like to add a little more garlic, a pinch of crushed red pepper, a good splash of vodka, a bit of heavy cream followed by the chunks of precooked lobster meat and the cooked pasta. Now I 'm getting hungry. HC

Thanks for that bloviatrix. I'll be sure and look for them next season. I now realize that the proper spelling is "Shishito" and I hope that a moderator can correct the topic line.HC Edited to say Thanks!

I am not sure of the proper spelling, but My Google produced the same pepper for both shishitso and shishitsou. HC

We have eaten at Ippudo twice and the first time the couple across from us had these before their ramen. They were so beautiful to look at that we couldn't resist trying them the next time we went. Not only are they beautiful, I thought they were hauntingly good, looked to be quick and simple to prepare. They put them on the grill and tossed a few teaspoons of oil on them to produce a quick flame and they were done. They were served with a little bowl of something that was the consistancy of garlic powder and lemon wedges to be sprinkled on them just before consumption, but I could not hear the servers description. The first question I have is what was the powder that they gave us to season them? The second question is are they available in markets anywhere in the city? Thirdly, I looked today on the Ippudo menu and don't see them. Are they seasonal? I'd like to grow these next summer, but don't want to wait that long to try them at home. HC

You were then able to continue plating and saucing dinner with those trusty tongs as if nothing had happened, I'm guessing, right? You can't beat 'em I'm telling you!

I don't think there is any question that tongs are not the answer to all kitchen situations in the home or commercial kitchen. The use of sizzle platters for oven broiling, roasting and baking is my favorite example of the ideal tong application. It is often benificial to keep a pool of water in the bottom of a sizzle platter for optimum cooking conditions. For example, to properly prepare a lobster tail, a pool of water in the bottom of the platter keeps the fanned out tail in perfect condition while the meat up above bakes to perfection. If you were to reach into the oven to bring out that platter with a kitchen towel, you would run the risk of a bad burn from the sloshing boiling liquid. A good pair of tongs is just the thing. A proper cook or chef will use the right tool for the job, period. Tongs are just a great weapon to have in the tool pack. HC

I agree 100%. You cannot have too many good tongs. Cooking on the grill or for the sizzle platters I like to use in the oven for many things, tongs are perfect. They must be tough enough to not twist under a heavy load though. I recently bought some heavy stainless ones at a great price which are quite sturdy. They are spring loaded, but have a gravity pin that locks them closed unless the open end is pointed down. I find that annoying. The type with an outside clip that slides up to unlock is my favorite. The clip is held up and out of the way by your hand when in use or is slid down to lock for storage or a trip through the dishwasher. Used in conjunction with a good supply of clean towels, good tongs are a must! HC

I have never really gotten into blending meat for grinding, but when I crave a great burger, I buy chuck blade steaks. I choose them carefully to get the amount of fat to lean that looks good to me. I semi freeze them and cut them into cubes just before grinding, which I do twice on the finer setting. I have always thought that it was the flavor of the chuck, the fact that I felt that I could cook it rare without much worry (knowing it was freshly ground) and the gentle forming with my hands that produced a sponge like quality in the burger that was superior to any preground burger. It produces a juicy hamburger that is memorable enough to be worth the effort. I would also like to know what others do to produce their favorite. It also raises a question that has kept me wondering for years: When you buy preground hamburger that is labeled, say 90% lean. How is that determination made? I could see if the starting materials were strictly fat and lean, they could be weighed out for an accurate number, but that is not the norm. It is more often trimmings that have some fat in them to begin with. Is it done by volume and weight or by cooking and weighing? Just curious. HC

According to a local paper (The New London Day) a New London ShopRight has been selling chicken lobsters for $4.99 a lb lately. Big Y has a Saturday and Sunday only special this week of $5.99 a lb for that same size. I do see a lobster dinner in the cards, perhaps tonight. HC

Tra Chang and Golden Boy seem to be the gold standard against which fish sauce is measured. I too started out with Squid brand, read here for an interesting dissertation on the subject and do comment: http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/fishsauce1.html

The Whole Foods in CT, RI and MA usually have them made up and sold by the piece at the fish counter.