MelissaH

In yesterday's NY Times, Mark Bittman's Minimalist column gives another treatment for pork tenderloins. He takes the whole pork tenderloin, seasons it with S&P, and browns the outside well in medium-high heated butter and/or oil, all the way around. He removes the meat from the pan, and lets it rest and the pan cool. Once that happens, he turns the heat up again, adds more fat to the pan, and slices the browned tenderloin into inch-thick "steaks" which then get browned again on the newly cut sides. (Presumably, you could vary the doneness of the "steaks" by the thickness of the cut or the heat you use for the second browning.) Finally, when the pork is all browned, you build a sauce for them in the well-browned pan (Bittman suggests water to deglaze, cream to thicken, and calvados or lemon juice or mustard to flavor). Looks promising, and possibly interesting to modify for grilling season. But I haven't tried it myself yet. MelissaH

We have a 36-inch, 6-burner range. And we've had all six burners in action, more than once, using large pots, which didn't bump into each other. But if you're concerned, when you go to look, bring your large pots with you and try them out to see how they fit. Alternatively, if you can't actually get to somewhere that has the stove you're considering, find the dimensions on line and draw a "stovetop" on a big sheet of paper to see how your pots will fit on that. I don't think a five-burner arrangement will necessarily ease your concerns about getting multiple large pots on adjacent burners. Aha. We've always done the stuffing in the crockpot (occasionally moving it to a sheet pan and putting it under the broiler for a minute to get lots of crust). The bird goes on the grill, weather permitting; otherwise, it gets the oven. Everything else is either stovetop cooking, or doesn't need to go in the oven until the bird is out and resting, or has its trip in the oven well ahead of time. I guess that's why I've never really wished I had a second oven. MelissaH

My mess invariably comes from the point where I dump the bread into the pre-heated pot. I haven't wrecked any towels: neither rice flour nor potato starch turns to glue in the washing machine the way wheat flour can. I've had great success in taking my dusty towel out on the deck, and shaking it out there. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The problem: how to maneuver the dough into a hot pot without undue harm to anyone. My first loaf was quite a bit messier than following attempts, because I forgot that I'd somehow have to move the dough across the kitchen. In subsequent attempts, I made things easier by putting my towel on my pizza peel, so I could actually carry it across to the oven with solid support underneath. But that still doesn't solve the problem of how to get the dough into the hot pot. I've been more or less gathering the towel up, and dumping the contents of the towel into the pot. The dough goes in, and the dusting from the towel goes all over the kitchen. I'd be willing to live with dusting my kitchen if the bread tasted like something. I've acquired some semolina flour, as well as some barley flour. I have some rye flour waiting as well. I'm hoping that by playing with these and my starter, I might actually get some taste into my bread. I'm also thinking that a few more folds and a little less water in the dough might also make the dough a little more manageable, possibly even to the point where I could actually pick the dough up with my hands to get it in the pot. (I know, I could use parchment. But after an unfortunate episode a while ago where the parchment embedded itself into a fold of dough, never to be removed, I prefer to save the parchment for flat applications.) Until we all get this figured out, should I just buy stock in the flour company? MelissaH

Some good friends also put their "wall oven" in their island when they redid their kitchen. Their countertops are Corian. The area directly over the oven does get a little bit warm when the oven is warm, but it makes for a great butter-softening area. I don't know what kind of insulation they have between the countertop and the oven; a little extra might minimize the effect. This is, of course, assuming that you're sure you'll need a second oven. For a while, I was sure I'd want a second oven. I didn't get it, and six months later I don't regret it. In fact, I'm not sure when I'd actually use it! MelissaH

I'm less enamored of this method now than I was when I started trying it. Yes, the loaves are beautiful, with lovely holes. But I have two main complaints: first, the floury mess I always seem to make of my kitchen, mainly in the process of transferring the proofed dough into the pre-heated pot; and second, the continued lack of bread flavor. (My last batch I baked as a focaccia, topped with walnuts and caramelized onions, and I didn't taste anything other than the topping.) I think I'm going to make two more attempts: using a bit of old dough that I'll try to remember to save the next time I make bread, and also using some of my sourdough starter. If I don't get decent bread flavor after that, I'm officially dumping the recipe. Seems like a shame too, considering the great texture. But if I can't taste the bread, it's not worth dusting my kitchen. Yes, it's frustrating! MelissaH

My husband gave me a copy of the book for Hanukkah! I have a hand-crank meat grinder and a KA (without attachments). I have a Weber Bullet for smoking. We even have a slicer. So it sounds like the one big piece of equipment I don't yet have is a stuffer. (A special curing chamber isn't likely to happen. We don't have room, especially since the deal goes that if I get a curing chamber, my husband gets a beerolator.) Is the Grizzly still the stuffer of choice? Those of you who have them, is there anything I should watch out for? Is there anything I should consider instead? I'm hoping to have my first go at something in early January, possibly breakfast sausage that won't necessarily need to be stuffed into casings. Thanks, MelissaH

We've recently discovered another little minor tweak we should have made to the kitchen. This one may or may not be fixable. For my husband's birthday, I got him an Aerogarden. We have a hard time finding fresh herbs in the stores here sometimes, particularly cilantro and dill. Our windows don't have sills, and the kitchen faces north anyway so we don't get a whole lot of light. And plants in pots don't seem to do well around here, because either they get underwatered or overwatered or chewed by the cats. Largely because of the cats and their propensity to knock things over, I wanted to avoid pots with dirt. Therefore, a self-contained system like the Aerogarden seemed to make sense. And in the kitchen, we had exactly one place it could go: at the end of the counter on the same side as the sink, basically just over the cat feeding station. The Aerogarden's too tall to fit under the wall cabinets, and this is the one place we don't have wall cabinets. (Except the overhang area, but I'm not willing to sacrifice my pasta machine clamping zone. Especially since he gave me the Charcuterie book for Hanukkah, and I now have my eyes on a sausage stuffer, which will also need a clamping zone!) The potential fix: remember those horizontal cabinets? Where we had a choice of whether to mount them flush with the bottom or with the top of the other wall cabinets? Well, we'd decided to put them flush with the bottom, so we could use the top as storage for pretty but seldom-used stuff. We put a full-length side panel over, all the way up to the ceiling, and then ran under-cabinet lights along the bottom of the whole set, all the way to the sink. If we moved the horizontal cabinets up to be top-flush, we'd gain back another foot or so of under-cabinet space, which would then give us a place for the Aerogarden. But I'm not sure that would be a good idea. For one thing, I'd hate to lose the lighting there. And for another thing, the cabinets are high enough that I can't reach the top shelf of the bottom cabinet without a stepstool as it is. And I like having the small display area on top. So I think we'll leave it as-is...and see if the cats get into too much trouble. The Aerogarden just might be a good enough deterrent to jumping up on the counter that we won't find our chives nibbled down to nothing. MelissaH

Klary, I tip my cap to your excellence, and your beautiful explanations. I just wish I were close enough to maybe taste some, since we don't get poaching pears here. MelissaH

My FIL died last night, peacefully and relatively quickly. I don't know if arrangements have been finalized yet, other than all the services etc. should happen during the time we were planning to be there anyway for the holiday. Catriona and judiu, thanks for the suggestions. We may wind up doing either, both...or neither. My goal is really to keep my nieces from feeling like their holiday's been wrecked, so anything I can do on that front will be good. And so much the better if we can come up with something that could then be served after a memorial service---maybe something like white bread with very thin flabby crust, the way Poppa liked it best, or cookies of any kind (which he also loved). Or maybe even lemon slices dipped into chocolate fondue, which he suggested we do over Thanksgiving when we were looking for weird things to dip and feed each other with our eyes closed, as a guessing game. But I'm going to play it by ear when we get there. MelissaH

Have you tried mechanical emulsification? Put the soy and sesame oil in a blender or food processor, or go after it with a blender-on-a-stick, and beat the bejeezus out of it? Then, since you'd prefer not to have pureed garlic, add that afterwards? It might hold for a little while. MelissaH

Sorry to be such a downer at this time of year. The end of my FIL's journey is imminent. In times like this, I generally head for the kitchen. But this time I'll be in my in-laws' kitchen, not my own. I'm looking for things to do that are fiddly enough to keep me busy, possibly things that could be done with kids (10 and 3) to help keep them busy, but that generate a minimum of craziness. Any suggestions? I'd thought about maybe pounding on some bread dough, but the kitchen is carpeted and flour everywhere, combined with my MIL's neatnik tendencies, tells me this may not be a good idea. There are friends and relatives galore in the area. There will be lots of people to feed, but everyone who comes will probably also bring something. Anything I make is not necessarily because we'll need more food (probably the opposite, in fact). MelissaH

When we lived in Ohio, we'd drive to the in-laws' house. I'd always bring at least one or two knives with me, ones I liked and I knew were sharp. Now that we've moved further away, we'll often choose to fly, especially at this time of year when weather could be an issue. A couple of years ago, we bought a couple of knives especially for the purpose of leaving there. I know it seems like a waste, but this way at least I know I won't be driven crazy in the kitchen by the knives. MelissaH

We've been enjoying Aliza Green's Starting with Ingredients very much. MelissaH

If you watch carefully, you can see him actually shaking the cup, which will pack the flour in even more tightly. In this case, 430 g is really about right. MelissaH

I agree with Fat Guy and slkinsey that irradiation is likely to make a difference in terms of a safe product. And I'd be in favor of that. But what about changing growing/processing/storing methods, not just for green onions but other foods as well, to make them safer? I wonder if irradiation might just be the latest food safety bandaid. MelissaH

I've seen electric ovens that go both ways: some turn only the bottom element on when you're baking, and the top element alone on for broiling. Others turn both top and bottom on for baking, and top alone for broiling. There doesn't necessarily seem to be a standard. MelissaH

Yup, that's one of the songs not on my "safe listening" list. MelissaH

I gave one to my husband for his b-day last month. We've taken it out of the box, but haven't started anything yet because we'll be doing some between-semester traveling and don't want to be out of town for the harvest. We'll be doing the Gourmet Herb kit, since that's what came with the garden. MelissaH

Oooh, congratulations! We desparately wanted to go that route, but 53 ft^2 of countertop in our kitchen made it cost-prohibitive for a while. We're planning on the upgrade in, oh, 10 years or so. I'm anxious to hear how yours hold up. (And if zillions of chemistry lab benches everywhere are any indication, you probably don't have much to worry about.) MelissaH

I'm biased, but might I suggest the recipe published in the book as the Russian Grandmother's Apple Pie-Cake? You could make the dough one day (or do that part ahead of time) and then do the filling, assembly, and baking the next. MelissaH

My MIL taught me a neat trick over t-giving, as I built my first-ever gingerbread house: use a couple of empty glass jars to hold up the first wall. Put some royal icing (our mortar) on the bottom, and then sandwich the wall between the two jars. Keep the jars in place while you get the rest of the walls up, appplying icing to the bottom as well as the sides that are in contact with the already-assembled walls. By the time the rest of the walls are up, the icing should be set enough to hold things in place without outside assistance. Just remember to remove the jars before putting the roof on! MelissaH

You could always plan for multiple garbage cans in the kitchen. If you have more than one workspace where you know you'll be making a mess, plan on more than one garbage can. (For us, what works well is to just take out a large bowl that we bought specifically for the purpose, line it with a grocery store plastic bag, and use that for immediate collection of junk. When we're done, that bag gets tossed, and the bowl either gets a quick rinse or a trip through the dishwasher. YMMV.) MelissaH

And I tried Boylan's cola over the summer (the regular version) and didn't care for it at all. The Diet Canada Dry Ginger Ale's not too bad. I have yet to find a Pepsi product I enjoy, with or without sugar.

I can't stand Diet Coke, the regular version or the Splenda variant. I don't care for most of the other diet sodas on the market, unless you count seltzer as "diet soda". I look forward to Passover, when I can get real Coke with real sugar. Sprite Zero is just plain nasty, with a chalky aftertaste not present in the non-diet version. I do like Diet Dr Pepper, although I really wish I could get the caffeine-free version here so I don't stay up nights. And Coke Zero is quite drinkable as well. Now, once again, if it only existed without caffeine.... MelissaH

Marmoleum Click. Did fine with our minor flood, even. MelissaH