PurpleDingo99

Last time my mom went to target, she grabbed me some little $20 wok to go with my other one. After seasoning, I cooked with it an hour later and the thing rusted! The handle was split when i got the thing and it gave of a metallic taste, too. Any reccomendations of a wok that may actually last a while?

Just the other day I tried stuffing a halved one with canned crab and chili powder and covered the thing in cheese and broiled it. It was good, but neeeded more texture. Any suggestions? Im thinking peppers or shallots, but i think i could do better.

Actually, I steamed them a bit once (a little undercooked) and then 'stir-fry'ed em with some portabellas and dill weed in some good EVOO and it was awesome. so, perhaps you should steam them a little before roasting.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume Oahu offers better. Were going to be staying in Waikiki, but were not afraid to drive around. Definitely checking out that bakery on the north side, while im at it too. Money is not a problem- I was originally going to be on this trip with my girl at a private house on pipeline but my parents decided they wanted to go too and now were staying in the heart of waikiki (at the 'whale watching' beaches. ) So, i cant feel too much remorse about leading them into a $100 a person restaurant.

My father has the camera off on his ski trip, unfortunately. I made chili off the top my head (beef strips, kidney beans, crushed tomato, garlic, hot sauce, oregano, cumin, and parmesan cheese for body) and some buttered pan toast wedges. Then, a caper, rock shrimp, pineapple, red onion, and pineapple/lemon juice ceviche. Last was something experimental- crab, cumin, and red chilli pepper shoved into an avocado half (skin on) with a bunch of cheeses on top and broiled. The chili only needed more hot sauce to be perfect. The ceviche was perfect. The avocado needed jicama (or something textural) as well as some minced serranos. Perhaps some breadcrumbs too.

Baking is magic for me because its a total mystery. Whenever i have to bake something, i always bring it out and say "Oh god, this better harden up..."

This particular combo is referred to more commonly as the 'Elvis Sandwich'...you had a few tweaks though, the standard has no red pepper flakes and is grilled whole - as in the entire sandwich, not just the bread. ← Hmm, if it's good enough for the King, I'll have to try it that way -- a hunka hunka burnin' sandwich. ← Actually, Ive seen an 'elvis roll' sushi roll before. I think it may have been with tortilla instead of nori.

Lately, ive been having chorizo and eggs (scrambled together with cumin and chilli pepper, with some sour cream on top) with some cut up sausage, like Adell's chicken and apple. Its good stuff, but not very photogenic becasue I use those tacky paper plates.

I know theyre about 900 Calories and have enough salt to give me a heart attack before I can legally drink, but CPK jamaican, garlic chicken, and bbq chicken pizzas all kick amazing amounts of ass. Sometimes ill just eat half and pack the other half for lunch, which works just fine for me.

I never had polenta till a couple weeks ago. Had some in the fridge while looking for breakfast and ended up making some chorizo and eggs. I threw some polenta on a griddle with some butter and heated some random bottled (yes, i use the stuff) italian sauce for it. I figured, "hey, im having chorizo. i wonder if it would be any good with salsa?" So, i superheated one slice and put some cold black bean and corn salsa all over the thing. The marinara one I didnt care for and pushed off to the edges of my plate, but the salsa one kicked ass.

I would always rather cook too much than not enough. Lately, Ill either shoot for two days from one meal, or 1.5 days per meal (and have leftovers on the third day.) Leftovers dont float away too fast when you schedule them.

I have learned to ignore most flavors in a recipe and whiddle it down to bare-bones in my mind. Instead of hunting down specific ingredients, i find a recipe for a something, break it down to basic ratios, and throw away most flavor additives (of course, all in my head.) Then, I reconstruct as I go. I usually have better discertion than the average recipe, so it makes sense.

Actually, that is a fantastic idea! im gonna try that.

I cant fry to save my soul. Tonight i was trying (main word- trying) to make some crab cakes in peanut oil, as it was the only frying oil i had left. The things fell apart and the only thing i have left to show is a nice burnmark on my hand (and a little one on my eyelid- ouch.) Did i use too much/not enough breadcrumbs, egg, meat, or what? It was really wet at first and wouldnt hold at all while frying. So, i added more crumbs. Still nothing- just edges that burned amazingly fast. So, I turned the heat even higher (which is when i landed on normandy by the looks of it) and still they fell apart. What the hell is going on?

While making a dinner tonight with important timing, I had a thought. We have plenty of counter space- big, white tile counters. We have had them for over15 years, and there isnt a scratch on them. not because we treat it particularly well, but just because its virtually indestructible. Keeping several dishes with complex ingredient lists (or attention to timing) its always good to keep notes, but mine end up somewhere around new jersey by the time I need them. I think i may have come up with a solution. Why not get some of those washable crayola markers and make (and rub out) notes on the counter as I need them? Hard to miss, impossible to lose, and a snap to clean up. Im gonna try that next time... Anyone have their own original tips or tricks for cooking? Even something as simple as salting pasta water (but, hopefully, something less common. )

Im reading this fantastic article right now and noticed something a little funny. Three pages after "Your sauteing a piece of fish!" ( ) is a recipe for Mai Phom's sauteed salmon rice bowl (w/ ginger lime sauce.) Dont you love irony?

I guess that is why they use the much tougher Dungeness crab in the cakes. ← Dungeness crab in a crabcake would be equally wasteful in my opinion, although I have heard of it being done in the Pac NW and in San Francisco where Dungeness is priced to go. On the East Coast, Dungeness is very expensive, and Maryland Blue is a lot cheaper. Typically you see dungeness meat in sauteed dishes in Asian restaurants if you see it used that way at all here. ← You dont say? Dungeness is pretty damn cheap here (SF bay area) and ive seen it 1/3 the price of king crab legs per pound on several occasions. I still never use the stuff because, quite frankly, theyre a bitch to get enough meat out to amount to anything.

Then you need to learn how to make Crab Cake's. A light saute to heat is all that's needed. And a fresh Aioli. Yum. ← I think jason has a point, though. using alaskan king meat in crab cakes is like making burgers out of kobe beef. You can, and it will be kickass, but come on!

Im guessing you mean the tuna (maguro) on top? the white fish is probably Tai (red snapper)

tempura roll, actually. Unless the nori is as strong as the wasabi, has something with crunch (like cucumber,) the fish is absolutely perfect, or is packed hard as a brick, a roll seems its missing something. a nice Ebi Tempura in the middle gives it a crunch that goes oh so well with pungent nori.

Milk chokes me up pretty bad, but cocoa crispies (and it's million incarnations) were pretty damn good from what I can remember. One cereal i never minded going soggy cause it gave you a nice bowl of chocolate milk as a trade. l

god, i just had some leftovers with some of those cut-up microwavable hotdogs and a can of bush's baked beans. I forgot how great beenie weenies can be!

My father has always hated paper plates with a passion. Once on a fairly casual christmas, he refused to eat off of a paper plate, so we ended up using the fine china for the lot of us. I use paper plates whenever possible. because i really dont have any prep bowls (besides mixing bowls and those ziplock box things) I often cut up vegetables and throw them on a paper plate to save some cleanup down the road. my cutting boards are probably 12X18 (or less,) so it makes sense. Same goes for eating off of, as it changes a dishwashing into a simple cleanup. Do you ever use them for cooking and/or eating off of?

Im definitely a cowboy. I dont even bother taking chicken out of the freezer to thaw any more- i just throw it in the nuker right before i plan to use it. I cowboy butter all the time, too. I dont steam vegetables much, but i always use the microwave whenever I do.

That is sort of where I was going with my dish with the smoke salmon. I saw Flays loin that was rare(raw) and sliced four inches thick. I was thinking that if he sliced it differently it would be better. ← thats what i thought when i saw him making it. then again, its really easy to be a monday morning quarterback with iron chef.