Darcie B

I have two minds about this. One is that the "proof is in the pudding," i.e. you can talk about soul all you want but the food speaks for itself. There is a disconnect between what he says and what he does. The other thought I have is that maybe he IS putting his soul in the food...but he just ain't got a lotta soul.

Mauviel has copper cookware with stainless interiors, but they are copper on the outside. It isn't a sandwich, just heavy copper explosion bonded with stainless. Very expensive, very heavy, very durable and oh so beautiful (if you like to polish copper that is). I know there are other copper mfgs out there but am only familiar with Mauviel. (My DH bought me a rather large set for Christmas several years ago. ) Edit to add: there are different levels in the Mauviel line. For best performance, you want the 2.5mm line.

Actually, an inexpensive scale is about as accurate as moderately made volume measures, IMHO. I have a digital scale which was about $100, and it does NOT measure to within 2 grams of accuracy! This is a problem if I am making one cake. Of course, in a higher production atmosphere where I am using 2Kg of flour and 1 kg of butter and 30 g of baking powder, then it works. But 30 g of baking powder or salt is actually quite a lot (upwards of 3 TBSP) So am I to have one scale for 2-10 kg, and another scale for 2-1000 gm? My personal peeve is more about the quality/calibration of commonly available measuring devices. Case in point, some very shallow measuring spoons... how can one even begin to measure accurately with those? The BP would just slither around... and if one was measuring a liquid, then the meniscus would be pretty large, too. ← I have a scale that cost about $45USD, and it accurately measures to 2 grams. I have tested it with various weights and continually re-test it to make sure nothing has gone awry. Accurate, inexpensive scales are available. The scale I have only weighs up to 7 kg but since I mostly bake in small batches, that is good enough for me and I expect for most home cooks/bakers. Also, I follow the rule of thumb stated above by Dan Lepard in that I don't usually weigh small ingredients like baking powder and salt, I use a spoon or even just eyeball it in my palm. My peeve about recipes, other than not providing weights, is quite different than most posts here. I dislike recipes that are too specific in the instructions, where they state what size bowl and which utensil to use, etc. I think it makes the recipe too long and I get lost in the minutiae when I am trying to read through it. Although I do wish they would state approximate times instead of saying something like, "bake until done."

I didn't yell at the TV, but I did correct Padma out loud on that one. I can't believe they didn't edit that!! I would like to have heard more deliberations. Basically, it sounded to me like the judges were wondering which sin was worse, poor conceptualization or poor execution. To me, for a Top Chef, poor conceptualization would be more important. After all, it's Top Chef, not Top Cook. I'm glad though because I really like Dale. He reminds me a lot of one of my good friends. With all the foreshadowing about Dale and Casey's friendship I was sure Dale was going home. They got me! Edit to add: I was surprised to see Hung doing sous vide in a stockpot. Isn't that a no-no? Of course maybe for chicken breast the time is shorter so there isn't as big an issue.

I tire of the contestants hands being tied so much. I understand the idea behind the challenges is to get them to be inventive, but it also gives them an excuse to fail. I would like to see them be given large funds and lots of time and see how creative and talented they really are. Give 'em enough rope to hang themselves. Then maybe we could see some really good food instead of psychedelic Froot Loops dioramas. I suppose then Hung's excuse would be that the judges' palates weren't refined enough.

Coconut cupcakes with coconut buttercream. Very coconutty!

I've been enjoying Kitchen Nightmares on BBC America and am looking forward to the US version. Regarding the lawsuit, the following immediately came to mind: If you invite Gordon Ramsey into your kitchen, do you expect it to be lollipops and roses? Having been in more restaurant kitchens than I really wanted, I doubt that anyone has to fake dirt, crappy furniture, or cruddy food. It's pretty hard to fake 20 years' worth of grease anyway...

Some of us at work were talking about how one bad night can kill even the best person. One idea we discussed, (and I'm sure Bravo is waiting with bated breath for our advice ), was to have a double-elimination process. We thought instead of a quick-fire and elimination challenge, they could have two elimination challenges per show, but it takes two losses to get kicked out. The problem, of course, is that this could take much longer. Or maybe just use double-elimination once the group is down to, say, 8 contestants left. I believe this could not only save someone who is better but just has one bad showing, but could also create even more suspense. The other option was to have a quickfire immunity be a "get out of jail free" card that could be used at any time instead of just the next elimination challenge. I'm just gonna miss Tre's guns! Edit, for, comma, usage.

Thank you for the kind comments. No, not blogging anywhere else other than writing my thoughts in this thread. I'd like to read the comments of the woman that Colicchio referred to as 'blogging' about the show. If anyone knows the producers and can get me an in, be my guest. I was confused about the opening elimination challenge on this week's show. Now mind you, I get confused easily. Confusing was the fact that Padma opened the show by showing the menu from Red Robin. But I didn't hear her mention that the challenge was to create a new burger for Red Robin. Was that mentioned as the goal of the challenge? ← I don't think there was anything mentioned at all about a burger for Red Robin. I think it was a point of reference and of course and advertiser. ← I had to download this episode on my MacBook since I was at a hotel w/o BravoTV and my addiction is greater than I thought...anyway, in playing it back, Padma says "Your challenge is to create a new burger inspired by their [Red Robin's] 'Adventuresome Burger' section." And on Lee Ann's blog, she said that the chefs do know what it is in the pantry, although I suppose it would be difficult to remember everything. I am listening while typing and Hung giggled like a schoolgirl when Boulud said he liked his burger. It was even more girly when listening and not being able to see him...

It depends on how you garden and where your garden is located. In traditional row gardening with overhead watering in a semi-arid climate, like North Dakota where I grew up, I would say that gardening is quite inefficient. However, doing something like the square-foot gardening with minimal, if any, watering in a wettish climate, like WV where I currently reside, home gardening becomes much more efficient. Square foot gardening claims to reduce watering by as much as 85% (IIRC) given the same climate. Usually it is recommended to water only once per week, and then often only 1 cup of water per sq. ft. Excessive or too frequent watering will actually harm your plants, but people seem compelled to get out the hose every day. Regarding plants vs. seeds, I agree that going to get plants that have been trucked to a garden center is probably not efficient.

I saw some petits fours several years ago that were wrapped in marzipan and had a transfer on them. I didn't see the process, but I was told the marzipan was painted with melted cocoa butter, then placed onto the transfer sheet. When the cocoa butter set, it took the transfer design. Maybe you could do something similar with caramels? Pour them out and let them cool. Then paint on a thin layer of melted cocoa butter and lay a transfer sheet on top (maybe flip the caramel over first so you're working with a nice flat surface. Worth a try, anyway. ← Thanks - sounds like a good idea! I'll try it (as soon as the humidity around here is less than 95% )

These designs got me thinking - how would (or could) I use them on the caramels that I make? Could I put them on the bottom of my sheet pan and pour the caramel onto it, then flip over and remove? I have never worked with these before so I am totally clueless.

It reminds me of engineers who don't know how to use a screwdriver (honest!). They have tons of education and know how to construct a bridge, but can't even fix a loose screw.

I have been tweaking my ccc recipe for the past few years. I believe it started with the Mrs. Field's (or was it Neiman-Marcus?) recipe that called for grinding rolled oats in a blender to make a coarse oat flour. I altered the leavenings, brown to white sugar ratio, and a few other things until I had what I thought was the best ccc I could make. It is slightly crunchy on the edges, chewy in the middle, but not at all doughy or greasy. I have found that the stiffness of the final batter, which varies due to the temperature of the ingredients and the room as well as hydration of flour, etc., is a big factor. If the dough is too loose there is too much spread and I get lacy cookies that are too crunchy. If it is too stiff or cold (say if I leave the dough in the fridge overnight), then the cookies are too tall and undercooked in the middle. Too stiff is better than too loose, and if I refrigerate the dough I compensate by reducing the oven temperature by 50 degrees. If the dough seems too stiff after mixing I add a little extra liquid (Kahlua, usually). I made some yesterday and brought them to work with the intention of taking pictures in the good light provided by my office window, but when I went into the kitchen to retrieve a couple cookies, they had all disappeared. Anyway, here's the recipe, and I'll try to get photos from the next batch. Darcie's Chocolate Chip Cookies 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, 67-70 degrees F 9.5 ounces (1 1/3 cup) packed light brown sugar 4.7 ounces (2/3 cup) granulated sugar 2 medium eggs (If using large eggs, reserve 1 white) 1 tablespoon +/- Kahlua 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 10.5 ounces (1 1/2 cups) whole rolled oats, ground to coarse flour in food processor or blender 4.5 ounces (1 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour (I like Pillsbury best) 6 ounces (1 cup) chocolate chips (I usually use 7 ounces but 6 is conveniently sized) 1/2 cup Mini M&Ms (optional but I like 'em) Preheat oven to 375 (or 350 convection). Mix butter and sugar with mixer until well blended and a bit aerated (I usually only go 2 minutes at most). Add eggs, Kahlua, vanilla, salt and leavenings and mix until well blended (I hate trying to blend dry ingredients together!). Add rolled oats and mix until uniformly distributed; add flour and mix until blended. Check stiffness of dough and add more Kahlua and/or reserved egg white if it seems too stiff or flour if it seems too loose. When the mixer stops, the dough should hold its shape and not slump at all. However, the dough should be very sticky and not at all dry. Stir in chocolate chips and M&Ms if using. Measure out approximately 1 large tablespoon dough onto parchment lined cookie sheet. I use a #40 disher (at least I think that is the # - I'll double check). Bake until edges are dark gold and center is light gold. Cool in pans for a few minutes then cool on wire rack as long as you can resist. I don't know if I should include this recipe in Recipe Gullet - I'd like feedback first.

From what I understand, the phosphorus can wreak havoc with the steel and dull it. I don't know how true that is, but I hand wash big knives and only put the cheap paring knives in the dishwasher.

Excellent point! It even says on Jello boxes not to use fresh pineapple juice! I don't know if it says that on the Knox box tho...but it's pretty common knowledge.

I just.could.not.belong to any kind of food/eating club that requires the wearing of badges (Badges?! We don't need no stinkin' badges!). It seems the height of pretension. Plus, it looks like I don't have appropriate cleavage. I haven't worn a sash or badge since Girl Scouts....although I do vaguely recall getting some kind of cooking badge...wonder if my mom still has it...

I think they should rename this show "Done in by Dessert." It never seems to fail that when cheftestants chose to do a dessert, it bites them in the arse. Since I am a big fan of dessert, to view their dessert attempts make me cringe. I know they aren't pastry chefs, but you would think they would have a better grasp on it. I know a lot of chefs view dessert as an afterthought, but to me it completes the meal. A good dessert should elicit unintended moans and make your toes curl, like, well, you know.

My fantasy is not exciting either, but I think about it often. In my hometown of 1,000 people (give or take a few hundred) in very rural North Dakota, there sits vacant a small restaurant formerly called Maggie's Cafe. Maggie was a short, surly woman who felt that cheapest was best in all endeavors, so the restaurant had the lowest quality plastic glasses and melamine dishes, the hamburger patties were wafer thin and dry as a bone, and the soda came in cans so she didn't have to pay for a fountain. Maggie ran the cafe for countless years before her retirement, after which the place limped along for several years with a string of owners that ranged from incompetent to lazy, many possessing both qualities. Now it is sitting forlornly, glass in the front door cracked. It beckons me to revitalize it. I dream of bringing it back to life with the quality it never had. White tablecloths, real china, and some new paint to replace that godawful yellowed wallpaper (which has been yellowed since the 1970s). I would keep the basics (burgers and such) so the old Germans in the town wouldn't rebel, but would add bistro classics like Beef Burgundy, one or two items at a time. I would add ethnic dishes a few times per month to expand people's tastes and gradually turn the entire town into food snobs. (That's the real fantasy part.) The crazy thing is I think it could actually work (except for the last part). The only other restaurant in town is a squalid dump called the Prairie Winds, probably referring to the intestinal distress that happens shortly after eating there. I might be able to eke out a living there, and enjoy all the benefits of living in a small town (being near family, leaving the house unlocked and the keys in the car). Now that high-speed internet is readily available, I could even imagine not going stir crazy in the winter. But alas and alack, the building continues to sit on a main street that is slowly dying. I think someone is turning it into an apartment, because I returned a few weeks ago and there are signs of work, a houseplant and a cat.

^Terrasanct, I would say you showed great restraint by not killing that guy. If I were queasy about cat fur and cats on the counter, I would have to run screaming from my own house. I have 6 cats and open doorways into the kitchen, so I can't keep them out without Herculean effort. Even though I don't feed them on the counter, they want to see what is going on so they jump up. I diligently clean up after them, and I do warn all my friends to watch for the errant piece of fur. So far no one has complained, and no one seems to be turning down my invitations to dinner or baked goodies! I cringe when my neighbor complains about her dull knives, then chops stuff up on a piece of ceramic tile! Drives me batty. She bought a cheap stamped knife and said she got a great deal on a knife "exactly like yours" (Wusthof). Umm, not quite. People who scrape stuff off their cutting boards with the blade of their knife send shivers down my spine (not the good kind). You know the kitchens you see on "How Clean is Your House" on BBC America? I have been in ones that make those look like surgical wards. I was in a kitchen once where there was literally just a path to the sink, with rotting foodstuffs piled up on either side, dog feces everywhere, and the nice lady offered me something to eat. No, thanks. I could write pages on questionable food handling practices I have seen. Yet these same people cook the living shit out of meat "so they won't get sick." What about the chicken "juice" you smeared all over your filthy rag then wiped a piece of silverware with it? I wish I could say I saw something amazing in someone's kitchen. I've been served some very good meals, but can't say that I was amazed. That would be cool.

My friend's daughter caused hysterics when she called cucumbers "cumburgers"

I was raised in an environment where sweets and goodies, whether homemade or not, were readily available at all times. We ate plenty of processed food from boxes and cans, but with some homemade and even home-grown foods thrown in the mix. Most of our beef, chicken and eggs came from my grandparents farm, for example, but we used that ground beef to make Hamburger Helper. We were expected to play outside weather permitting, which in North Dakota meant not in a tornado or blizzard, everything else was fair game. Personally, I think it is more about genetics and activity rather than food. There were ALWAYS cookies, bars, cakes, pies, candies and ice cream in the house and we ate a LOT of them. But we were always active in sports or just riding our bicycles or swimming. The three of us kids never had a weight problem, but now in our 30s we are not thin but still we aren't obese. For that I think we can thank our genes because we surely aren't that active anymore. I dunno, maybe we're more active than I think. I think nutritional education is a good idea, but I don't see how it is going to help by itself. I believe that we really need to add back recess and outside play, and a lot more phys. ed. if we are to do anything about the problem. We had phys. ed. three times per week all throughout school, and I think that helped more than anything since our school lunches were abysmal in terms of nutrition AND taste. Just my two cents' worth.

As my DH husband says, pay attention to the first three letters of the word "contractor." We have had a few miserable experiences dealing with contractors (the 9-week Corian countertop ordeal comes to mind), which is why we learned to do much of the work ourselves. I also have stayed home with the contractors that we do hire, bake them cookies and buy them pizza and beer (beer AFTER the end of the workday) and it is surprising how much more pleasant, compliant and even productive they become. I ask them questions (but try not to interrupt them much), act interested and joke around with them. I find it makes the whole process better. They actually put off going to other jobs b/c it's so much more pleasant to work for me. However, they learn do not try to cut corners or underestimate my knowledge. They will cry, even if they are 6' tall, burly men. I am taken aback that anyone even told you a week to do a remodel. That's unheard of, even just for paint and stock cabinets. Hope you weather the rest of the storm!

OK, maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention, but the way I understood the elimination challenge was they were to recreate comfort food in a more healthy way, and serve to people eating at the Elks Club. Now that's not exactly a bastion of adventurous eaters, so I was a bit taken aback when they were criticizing people for not being very imaginative. Maybe they had more instruction than was shown, or maybe I just misunderstood, but that didn't seem as large a part of the challenge initially. I was also put off by Hung's leaving the crawfish on the floor. Also, when the guest judge criticized the size of his croutons in the seafood challenge, his didn't try to learn from the criticism, he said that "obviously he [the judge] didn't understand what I was trying to do." Well maybe it, umm, wasn't that clear? Heck, even when my neighbor of the dessicated pork chop fame gives me advice on my cooking I consider it!

Perhaps it is because there are so many different Mexican restaurants and chains that have the faux-Mexican-village decor, "plastic" Mexican food, etc., that it could be claimed the Casa Bonita/Taco Bueno wasn't original itself therefore no harm in copying it. I mean, what you described is what EVERY Mexican restaurant here has, with the exception of the flags to get the waitress. Boy that didn't come out well but I hope you understand what I'm saying.