deltadoc

That is the question of the hour~! I spent near $450 for the 20 Qt stock pot. (From reading responses above, I wish to make it clear that the SS stock pot from the restaurant supply store was not All-clad). All my All-Clad are the LTD line (I liked the idea of the charcoal finish because shiny pots and pans always get rude looking over time from the gas flame). The only non-LTD All-clad I have is the large Roasting Pan with roasting grate that comes with it. However, it is one of my favorite cooking pans, great for roasting, eggplant parmiagiana, lasagna, etc. But back to the question, I don't know what is the best cookware. I'm suspcious of anything that gets advertised as much as All-Clad. It's easy to get enthused when they show what looks like a contemporary professional staff using the All Clad pots and pans, especially the beared guy with the REALLY serious look on his face. Obviously the idea is that such a serious guy wouldn't use anything but the best. I gotta keep reminding myself that these people in any ads are not real. They're all actors picked to play a part and to look the part too. Just like the Infomercial special investigation that was on NBC TV last night, Dateline. What a ruse! They made pills with Nestle's Quik in them, found an infomercial maker that put together a really convincing 1/2 hour ad that taking these pills once a day would "moisturize your skin from the inside out". doc

I wish you well with your prognosis. Sometimes, a major attitude readjustment can work miracles. Kind of brings up the old philosophical argument about quantity of life versus quality. Then if you remember that old Woody Allen movie (the one where they find a 2000 year old VW Beetle, and it starts right up?), in the future, it is discovered that smoking, fats, cholesterol and all that are good for you! My mother was diagnosed with late stage ovarian cancer, had a hysterectomy, radiation and all that. That was in 1964. She died of old age in 2001. Again, my best wishes, doc

I've stocked my kitchen with almost every conceivable All-Clad pot or pan, but after using them for some years now, I think I have to honestly say that they are a product of mass advertising and chique appeal. They really don't cook all that much better than other pots and pans. The 20 Qt stock pot still lets stuff burn on the bottom, even though I use super low gas flame on really outrageously thick cast iron grates (an original Professional Thermador gas cooktop built by DCS - the very first model released by Thermador circa 1991-2). Even using the ideaology of "Hot pan, cold oil, food won't stick" doesn't really help! I will say they work better than the 22 Qt steel stock pot I bought at the restaurant supply house. It's really thick but I don't think it has the copper or aluminum sandwiched between the steel. doc

In a Klimagro greenhouse, which really do look awesome and professional and complement my house and kitchen, you can use any seeds or seedlings. Only constraint is that it makes sense to plant similar herbs that require the same amount of moisture and sunlight. You can put in the glass shelf which sort of shades that which is planted directly beneath it so there is some latitude in what you can grow together at the same time. doc

I bought a couple of Klimagro greenhouses. One fits in my garden window in the kitchen. It has autoglass sliding doors on both long sides and also the roof is made of sliding autoglass. It has a built in light source, a built-in timer (I keep it at 18 hours to keep the herbs from flowering), it uses dirt, has a built in humidity wand and meter, and also a built in heating element beneath the dirt and a sliding temperature control so you can set it to a higher temperature during the winter to make up for the window being colder. It is fabulous, and the rosemary is so big that we have trouble using it all. I've grown all kinds of basil, oregano, aloe vera, French tarragon, etc. Using the extension on the kitchen faucet allows me to water it whenever it needs. After a while, you get to know when it needs water and you don't have to use the humidity wand to stick in the dirt to measure how moist it is. It is self draining, and while you're supposed to change the dirt every couple of years, this one has been going for 4 years without changing it. I have a really big onein the back bedroom. Both of these have removable glass shelves for hanging plants or putting seedlings closer to the builtin lights. The lights are a special wavelength that mimics true sunlight. I've also gone the hydroponic route, but overall changing the reservoir tank and keeping it clean, and the cost of the 400 watt bulbs was way too much work compared to these greenhouses. They're much more economical. www.klimagro.com doc

Careful Malawry!! Those grinders they use are huge, even in little meat markets. I used to have the local butcher (many many years ago) grind select steaks. I found out from a friend sometime later that worked there that they feed the grinder a bunch of their own leftovers to get "your" steak grind out of the grinder. And one time I was so shocked at how little bit of ground meat I got from several steaks that I made a note of the total weight of the steaks I gave him right there on the premises, and then I took the small package of ground meat he gave me back and put it on my triple beam balance at home. THere was only about 1/3 of the total weight left from what I had purchased as steaks. Of course, the butcher never informed me. He has since gone out of business! Yeah! So I use the KA grinder attachment and it works really well. Been doing this myself now since 1990. doc

I make my fresh ground hamburger meat from a 1:1:1 ratio of Prime Chuck (minus the gristle, tendon and other objectionable stuff), Lean Sirloin and Black Angus Tenderloin Strap. I gave up using L&P Worcestershire, since the formula has changed and it no longer tastes like it has for the last 50 years of my life. It's sweeter and lacks zip. There's a whole thread on this recent development, which I think took place on either egullet or cheftalk.com/forums/ I make my own buns using a typical bread recipe in which I incorporate an extra TBSP of honey and one egg. I bake these at 550F on a pizza stone after using an egg wash on the formed dough balls. Very happy with the smell of them cooking and the resultant taste, using only S&P. ON the buns, I make them the way they did when I was growing up in the Quad Cities at the Happy Hollow Bar. Sear on one side first, then turn down the griddle and slowly cook to done. Layer coarse ground German mustard and a thick slice of Bermuda onion on the bottom of the bun. Then the cooked burger patty, then sweet pickle relish, dill pickles and catsup on the top bun. Ummmmm! doc

Right now, my favorite dipping sauce for fries is the Peppercorn Sauce that they serve with the A-1 Peppercorn burger at Red Robin. Its a mixture of mayonaise, A-1, Heinz 57 and fresh Green Peppercorn Sauce concentrate (available on Amazon.com). Also, there was a restaurant that had a hot wasabi mustard sauce that the fries were great in. And then there's our homemade canned ketchup made by reducing fresh tomato sauce and whole spices wrapped in a cheesecloth bag (ala Joy of Cooking), sort of! doc

I make large quantities of the following and can them: Marinara Sauce Pizza Sauce Spaghetti Sauce (with and without sausage or meatballs) French Onion Soup Ketchup Sweet Pickle Relish Other things that I Food save and freeze: Eggplant Parmesiagno Moussaka Lasagna Cooked corn scraped off the cob Fresh Basil Pesto with pinenuts Homemade Italian Sausage Fresh ground beef Cut up large chunks of Mozzarella into 1 lb packages 20 lbs of parmesiana reggiano, food processed and foodsaved in 1 lb packages And that's about it! doc

The original poster's questions related to types of beef cuts, as well as origins of those cuts. Black Angus is the result of breeding in Northeastern Scotland, and originated from Aberdeen-Angus. Common breeds of cows in the US for milk or beef are: Ayrshire Brown Swiss Canadienne Dutch Belted Guernsey Holstein (Holstein-Friesian) Jersey Kerry Milking Devon Milking Shorthorn Norweigian Red. For beef in the store to be labeled "Angus", as I understand it from talking to Steve at VenisonAmerica.com, only 1/2 of the steer has to be Angus. A lot of labeling means nothing. If I remember what Steve said correctly, a Certified Black Angus is 100% Black Angus. Anyway, I get my 100% Certified Black Angus tenderloin from Venison America in Hudson, and trim the strap for hamburger, and make my own filets and kebobs from the whole tenderloin. They're raised on local farms! One important NOTE: Don't buy cow meat, get steer meat. A lot of cow meat is passed off these days. Bull meat isn't all that good either. doc

Agreed! Get rid of anything that is "hydrogenated". The process of hydrogenation is merely adding in "hydrogen" to thicken the original oil. As was said earlier, it extends shelf life ( I think that the added hyrdrogen bonds with existing molecules so that oxygen cannot. The process of oxygen bonding is oxygenation and that is what "spoils" foods that sit on the shelf for a long period of time. Thus the concept of "Best used by" on labels (applies not only to food, but drugs and other things too!) I would NOT use canola oil. Canola oil that is sold as a food product is highly processed. It is originally Rapeseed oil, and is naturally highly toxic. It's original use was an insulator in very large electrical transformers and such. For high temp use, I would stick with peanut oil. I use EVOO and haven't had too much problem, but it will smoke a bit sometimes. I've read that the smoked olive oil isn't good for you in the long term (just as BBQ is also not good as a long term food item). Fats dripping into the coals/fire ignite and form noxious gases that then deposit on the food. Or something to that effect. doc

Just as an interesting sidenote, "wild rice" isn't even rice at all!! It is grass seed! But that aside, the wild rice of Minnesota is far preferred over that grown in northern california! doc

For $10,000 for a "fridge", it oughta better work perfectly! Singer sewing machines built up a reputation over 100 years and then sold out. That's why you can buy little Singer sewing machines for $19.95 that are crap. The point being that any company can spend years building up a reputation, and new management can spend 1 year wrecking that reputation. Sub zero is permanently off my list of ever being considered for anything except the junk pile when this one finally goes belly up for good. doc

Whatever you do, DON'T buy a SubZero. They're just like their name says "Sub Zero", that's NEGATIVE territory mathematically speaking! My Model 550 has been a total pain. The ice maker has to be manually defrosted about 1-2 a month. 2-3 times a year, I have to bring the gasoline-powered leaf blower in to blow out the dust that collects on the unreachable heat exchanger (looks like a radiator grill). The "plastic" fan blade melted down and had to be replaced. It iced up because the little drainage tube at the bottom by the drawers for vegetables clogged with dust. I actually had to hammer away at the ice block for several hours to dislodge it all. The enameled interior is chipping away. The metallic trim components of the door and freezer drawer dent if you drop a grape on them. The temperature differentials throughout the refrigerator portion are wildly inconsistent. The freezer drawer is a total pain to remove to clean out underneath it. Everything falls through the wired freezer basket. Did I mention I have to actually turn off the freezer, leave the drawer open until water is all over my kitchen floor, before I can shut the freezer drawer and wait 3 days for ice to appear again. A couple of weeks later (if I am LUCKY) I have to do it all over again. SUBZERO??? NEVER again, sayeth the doc! doc

The water injected beef is a possibility. But I think when you said "too much food in the pan" you probably sweated the asparagus, rather than "wok-ed" it. That means it let out it's moisture content instead of searing the outside instead. Onions might have contributed moisture too. SOmetimes it's better to wok/fry things separately and add back in at the end and make your sauce then. You can control the thickness of the sauce, and the amount of searing of each of the individual components more easily. doc

I have a Bamix commercial wand blender, and it is fabulous. Makes the best mayonaise I've ever been able to make! For my marinara sauces (20 qts at a time) I use it to smooth out the texture, and it works outstandingly well! Also own an ancient 1964 vintage Vita-Mix. Stainless steel container with a spigot. Been using it for almost 42 years to grind grain to make whole wheat bread, use it to crush ice cubes and make ice cream which I can serve right out of the spigot valve. Everything unscrews so you can clean it. I sent it in once back to the manufacturer for refurbishment sometime around the 1980's and they fixed it up like new, for $0. New gaskets, everything. Met the owner once at boutique show in Manhattan's Columbus Circle back in around 1981. Nice people. Best two kitchen gadgets I own, in addition to my Kitchen Aid Commercial mixer with the meat grinder attachment. Grinds all types of meat, so I make my own hamburger and Italian sausage. I'd go with the Bamix for your purpose. You'll find you'll use it for a lot more things than you thought once you see how it well it works. Cleans fast too! doc

This may be a large leap but here goes: The first batch of hamburger stayed red in the center? When you say "original source" are you meaning that you purchased a large package of hamburger? If the first batch of hamburger (that stayed red) was mainly from the outside layer of a large package of hamburger, it may have been treated with nitrites to keep it red and fresh looking in the supermarket/meat market meat case. If so, the nitrites may have kept the meat red on the inside. doc

You can't drop a live frog into hot water cause he'll jump out, but if you put him in cold water and then turn the heat up, he'll stay right there in the water until he's cooked and dead! doc

Using our Zojirushi Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker on the Brown Rice setting, I use 2 cups of brown rice, appropriate amount of non-tap water, and then chop up two stalks of celery, several shallots or green onions (scallions) and a big handful of baby carrots (also chopped). A TBSP of olive oil, and a large pinch of salt. Shut the lid, and let it cook till the cooker rings "Its ready". Never had a problem with the smell, or taste, and we've got 4 types of organic brown rice that we're trying. Last couple of weeks, was the long grain brown rice. This week we started on the basmati brown rice. So far, of the two, I like 'em both, but the basmati is really a bit better. doc

They also at one time had "Tooti Fruiti" which I had to pick up 25 huge containers of for a party at the Rock Island Arsenal Golf Club. Never seen that delicious flavor again! Asked for it for years afterwards and got the same stares of incredulity! doc

"Don't cook tonight! Call Chicken Delight!" That was their theme song. There was one on Locust Street in Davenport just across the street from Riefe's Drive-In restaurant. I miss Ted's Drive-in in Davenport too! They had the $0.99 fish basket with real chunks of breaded deep fried fish, buttered toast, french fries, ketchup in a cup, and the best cole slaw I've eaten to this day! Also miss Sandy's and Henry's Hamburger joints which were giving McD's a run for their money. Sandy's was really the best of the bunch, but Henry's had cheaper french fries! Also miss the Happy Hollow Hamburger (also in Davenport). $0.25 per burger. Also miss all the Maid-Rites that used to be around. Even the tiny town of DeWitt Iowa had like 9 buildings in the town and two of them were Maid-Rites! And speaking of Riefe's Drive-in, I miss the "Whataburger". It was made from a large tall bun that was cut in to three pieces (top, middle, and bottom). It was a great burger, but the guy who made the buns started asking too much for them as only Riefe's was buying them. SO off the menu they went! doc

buttered toast with peanut butter melted on it dipped in a glass of Nestle's Quik chocolate milk!! Chili sauce made with Mrs. Wage's Chili Sauce mix which we can, and then I open the jar and drink it down like V-8. A certain brand of imported Italian pizza sauce which I eat out of the can with a fork! A plateful of Sourdough bread cubes (crust removed) smoothered in homemade mastriciano sauce (unheated). 3 bottles of Simi Cabernet Savaugnon instead of dinner~ doc

Well, yes, i was wondering how good the oven part was. I assume you were talking about the combo oven and fireplace unit rather than the standalone oven they also offer? In Minnesota, I certainly wouldn't use it today. It is 104 F! Talk about weather extremes!!! Might make a pizza today and throw on my sidewalk just to see what happens! But in the cold (-30 F) Minnesota winters, the fireplace/oven might work out pretty nice, doncha think? PS: Fortunately, I already have a concrete base for the existing fireplace and with it is an entire wall of brick, fireplace, and heavy fireplace insert. I was thinking maybe not having the entire wall made out of the Tulikivi soapstone, but putting in one of those floor-to-ceiling firewood niches! tx, doc

Very pricey! I didn't see anything with a fireplace/oven for less than $13k, and I suspect that doesn't cover installation either. doc