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But remember, you could always be struck by a meteor while washing the wax off!

When I was young my Dad used to hunt ducks. Whoever found the first piece of shot during the meal was awarded the "bee-bee prize".

Seems fair enough, although I think having a standard Reply, like the one utilized in this instance, would be preferable to "editting" somebody's post? THANX SB

Here is an eGulletified Amazon link: The Wilder Shores of Gastronomy: Twenty Years of Food Writing Please support eGullet by making Amazon links that give eGullet a commission. Click here for instructions. Thanks. To: Rachel Perlow Did you really read my Post or is eG able to detect an Amazon link in a post and reply with this message automaticly? Just Wondering, SB

Pork that's "pre-seasoned"? I'm fortunate to have a butcher that I can watch cut my chops to order, so I'm kind enough not to do them the injustice of "quick and easy" preparation. I do add some sugar to my brine to help pork brown though. I agree that for some reason pork produces an odd oder in the microwave, but you don't have to eat the smell, and my dogs sure are attracted to it! SB (Dave, my butcher, is ironicly a former professional rodeo bull rider who I imagine gets some vicarious revenge from cutting meat)

Maybe you can Japanize baseball, but I don't think you'll ever be able to Americanize Iron Chef. The intrinsic quality that accounts for the show's popularity is dependent upon the Japanese concepts of competition and celebrity. The loser of an IC Battle is more genuinely gratious in defeat than an American chef could ever feign, and the judges are able to inject just the right degree of suspension of disbelief to make their verdicts credible. Imagine Bobby Flay trying to be as humble in either victory or defeat as IC Sakai, or a judging panel consisting of Rep Dick Gephart, Britney Sears, and Ruth Reichel being anything other than a horizontal version of Hollywood Squares. Fun to talk about, but I don't think I'll watch.

A microwave can accomplish that even quicker?

Um, you? Nah, that's impossible. You'll do anything for a few bucks. I told them I wouldn't appear as a judge unless they also asked Maria Bartiromo.

An odd aside. Last night when I got home I found a complimentary condensed copy of the latest CI in my mail. It didn't include the pork chop recipe though. I was of half a mind to re-subscribe but your post reminded me why I let the subscription lapse to begin with. There often seemed to be something missing from their recipes. I've used many of them quite successfully, but others don't even come close to working. I even bought Kimball's "Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook" and end up giving it away. Putting the chops in a cold pan would seem to imply taking a pan out of the cupboard, setting it on a burner, taking the pork chops out of the refrigerator, unwrapping them, and setting them in the pan and turning on the heat to Medium? Perhaps somebody who used the method successfully will enlighten us, but I can't see the point. If you don't have time to properly prepare a dish, why not make something else? SB (missing something here)

I believe this receipe actually called for a cold pan to start it off I don't get CI anymore so I wasn't familiar with the recipe, but I suspected that sounded like something they might try. Do they let the chops sit in the pan at room temp before heating, or does the pan sit in the refrigerator with the chops in it? Did they brine the chops first? Brining, especially of pork, is one practice I observe in large part due to CI's influence.

In general, unless otherwise stated, you always preheat the pan on the burner before putting the food in. The big advantage of gas ranges is the instant, infinite heat adjustment. On an electric range, you have to anticipate your next moves. Every burner on every electric range heats somewhat differently. Only with practice will you really get comfortable with your own. Consider the "Low, Med, High" or "1, 5, 10" on the knobs just to be general indicators, not actual temperature settings. Then turn the heat up or down to achieve whatever effect you desire. One trick is to always use the same burner for the same task. ie: I always fry on my RF burner, make rice on the LF, and boil pasta on the LR. Practice makes perfect, or at least edible! SB

Since I live in a remote area, I have a subscription to Gastro. If you like the eclectic style of Gastronomica you might also enjoy the book, "The Wilder Shores of Gastronomy", "20 years of the Best Food Writing from the Journal 'Petits Propos Culinaires'", a British publication which, if anything, covers even more unusual topics than Gastro. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...781451?v=glance This book was suggested to me by an aquaintance from another food discussion board who has written several articles for Gastronomica, including one in the current issue, who almost introduced me to both that magazine, and this forum. eG's Fat Guy is a big fan of "Petits Propos Culinaires", even to the point of denigrating Gastro, and although I don't agree with his assessment that's another matter altogether. Enjoy, SB

How do you feel about rodizios -- kind of a hybrid, where you help yourself to the salad bar, but they come around with a variety of cooked meats? (I've never been to one, myself, but kind of like the idea.) Just my personal preference, but I don't do salad bars either.

SB (as you said, no further explanation required)

I would rather suffer forever than submit to that "cure"! "Memories" by Babs; the castor oil of consolation music. SB (Doritos are okay though)

Me too! Jimmy's a great singer, and Warren is a finacial genius!

I favor a more confrontational approach. For instance, my GF doesn't like fish, so were we to have a serious falling out I reassert my indpendence by gorging on foods from the briney deep!

Now how cool is that? Get this for cool. My cousin's son is a mechanical engineer, and he's able to work via the internet from a remote Eskimo village accessible only by a long flight. Some of the village elders grew up in the days of subsistence level hunting and travel by dog sled. Communication with the outside world came by ship maybe once a year. I'll have to get his email adress and contact them for more information about the local cooking and eating practices. I know for sure they've dined on reindeer, musk ox, walrus and seal. In fact, the school year ends in late April to coincide with the opening of seal season. SB (What wonderous times we live in!)

Carolyn, I panicked for a moment when I didn't see the link to Gastro wasn't in what had become it's customary spot, second from the bottom. I was afraid we'd been delisted for disuse! I was relieved to notice the real reason being that you have resumed your ambitiouis reviewing process! I don't have my back issues handy, but I recall the article on Antarctic wild foods, and the description of "snotters" in particular. My cousin's son is currently living in an Eskimo village north of the Arctic Circle where his wife is teaching. Similar animals are commonly eaten there. I don't remember if they've had elephant seal "snotters" or not, but they commonly receive payment in various exotic meats for providing after school piano lessons to the local students. I'll check my back issues when I go home later today, and return soon with further comments. THANX SB

Tip one layer out upside down onto a (slightly concave) dinner plate. Now put the second layer atop it so the two flat sides go together. The weight of the cake and shape of the plate render the bottom flat for all practical purposes, and who cares if the top has a slight dome? SB (no cutting needed)

I think it's partly "All of the Above", but with an added consideration of reason number 5. Besides shrinkage, you have the formed dough collapsing under its own weight. If you rest and prebake a pie shell upside down between two tins it retains most of its size. Turn it over and remove the top pan with a few minutes to go if you want it to brown somewhat. SB (plus, there's no need for weights, beans etc)

Why does everyone feel the need to claim their doctor is the very best in their field. ....In fact, I've never talked to a receiptionist in a medical office that wasn't at the very top of their field. The cahier in the hospital cafeteria last time I was there was perhaps the best cashier in the world. To try and avoid the risk of running afoul of eG's topicality rules, let me state that the subject of my story, my friend David, was partner in a restaurant operation and maybe the best bartender I ever knew. David always spoke in positive superlatives. Every new cook in the kitchen was "the greatest chef we ever hired", each new menu item was "the tastiest" and "the best value" to boot. Our beer was "the coldest", and every lunch rush was "the busiest we ever had". If you came into the bar on any given day you might be amazed to find, all seated there at once, the world's most beautiful girl, the smartest accountant, the best softball pitcher, and fastest waitress, (taking a much deserved break). Once I asked David what he would say if he needed to refer to somebody who really was the tops in their field, and he replied, "If they really are the best, they don't need me to tell anybody".

Just North of here, the town of: Cook (MN)

I have often eaten at restaurants where I suspected the chef was involved in some sort of "walking in another's shoes" experience broadening experiments with members of other professions. The most common must be for the chef to have traded places with their automobile serviceman, resulting, of course, in greasy food. I'm not surprised the heart surgeon chose to prepare a heart dish, but I would like to be forewarned before dining when a urologist or proctologist takes their turn at the stove!

I agree that with any writing directed at an enthusiast audience the quality tends to be lowered somewhat. There are two obvious reasons. First, the audience necessarily doesn't demand good writing. Devotees of any relatively specialized topics are usually satisfied with whatever media attention they can get. While they might be adament and picayune about their chosen subject, the technical quality of the discussion isn't very important. Secondly, the more arcane a subject, the less likely that good writers would either be experts on it or interested in learning enough about it to write well. Although everybody reading this has an interest in food topics, it's always been a proportionately minor branch of literature. Thus it's probably no small accident that the food writing field appears to be overweight with lawyers, since their education requires them to produce logical writing on nearly any subject. Plus, they can afford it. SB