Jaymes

Can't speak for every United Statesian but, for me anyway, any salad that has fruit as a main component, counts.

That buzzfeed site is really great. So many good ideas. When I was growing up, every single meal had to have a salad. Just how it was. Oftentimes, a tossed green salad of some sort. Frequently vegetables or fruit were added. But, depending upon the meal served, of course, we often had just a fruit salad of some type. One of Mom's favorites on busy days was to place on everyone's salad plate one lettuce leaf, then a scoop of cottage cheese, then a pear half topped with some sort of cheese - blue cheese crumbles, or shredded Cheddar, etc. If it was a tossed fruit salad, Mom would usually take two oranges. She'd supreme one-and-a-half and put those into the salad bowl. Then squeeze the left-over half into the bowl and stir in some honey to make the dressing. You can also make poppy-seed dressing, probably the most favorite of the fruit salad dressings in the US, although it's considerably heavier and sweeter than my family prefers. Still, it's good, if you use a very light hand when adding it to your salad. Another classic, Franci, is grapefruit supremes with slices of avocado and sweet red onions. You can dress it with practically anything, but vinegar & oil is my favorite. Also, in Mexico and the US Southwest, we almost always sprinkle tropical fruits with a chile/lime/salt concoction. Tajin is probably the most popular and well-known commercial preparation. Although it's possible you could find it there if you have any markets that cater to a Mexican expat population, you can basically accomplish the same thing by adding a sprinkle of some sort of chile powder in with your salt and squeeze of lemon or lime. Hot chile powder is unexpected, but one you've had a sprinkle of something like Tajin on your mango, you don't ever want to go back! http://www.amazon.com/Tajin-Fruit-Snack-Seasoning-5-0/dp/B0000GL6RK

Me, too. Rub with oil, sprinkle liberally with Kosher salt. Skin gets really crispy.

I think that's basically a Waldorf salad, although traditionally walnuts are used. But my mom didn't much care for walnuts, so she often used pecans. I also made it often. It's always on our holiday table, although now I use crasins, rather than raisins. My kids like them better. Still, it's not Thanksgiving or Christmas at our house without Waldorf Salad.

Can't say I'm happy about Nick. Wanted Louis & Nina. But here's hoping for a good finale.

And, embarrassingly enough, I've already polished off a half-bag of Kona Shortbread Cookies.

Don't know, but don't think I'd try salt. It's so corrosive that I can't think it'd do the metal parts any good. Unless it's some sort of emergency wherein you just absolutely must clean out your grinder immediately, I'd wait until you've got some rice, which you know works just fine.

I throw chicken scraps/carcasses, etc., into the freezer and, when I have enough, make stock. I condense the stock as far down as I dare without risking burning, then pour it into an ice cube tray and freeze. Put the frozen cubes into zip lock bags where they take up very little space. However, I do always like to keep some commercial stock of some sort on hand as well. More than once, I've gone to my ziplock bag of frozen concentrated chicken stock to discover I'm nearly out. For use in Mexican dishes, I usually have the Knorr's "Caldo de Pollo" powder, which has some annatto in it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001J8V54M/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=1535523722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B007ZEKR3Y&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1EMCM8A6KDGTQAMP3E63 And some Chicken Base Paste: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00415IRQO/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=1535523722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000EZIEG8&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1BTYGWZXZ5Q37BDSWD8C

I must say, the thought of Cream of Wheat (complete with catchy television jingle: "It's Cream of Wheat weather, I repeat, so guard your family with hot Cream of Wheat"), on my breakfast table practically my every childhood morning, doesn't speak to me of sweet treats. In fact, just the opposite. It reminds me that the sorts of sugary cereals other kids got weren't even allowed in our house. I am so very eager to follow this thread and see what the final recipe is. The thought of Cream of Wheat used in a cake is intriguing enough. But it's not very often that I read about a cake that seems to be completely different from the ones with which I am familiar.

Look, good irons are heavy and hard to lug around. Gfweb thinks it's so so cute and clever and is proud of it and posted his opinion. I think it's inconsiderate and boorish and selfish and I posted my opinion. He's not sorry and I'm not sorry. As far as I'm concerned, we each made our opinion clear. And that's that. .

Just want to say that, to me anyway, the title of the thread sort of implies what one can keep on hand for mixing cocktails. I suppose you can mix cocktails with port but, I've always been told, once you open a bottle of a nice vintage port, you should drink it fairly quickly - definitely within a few days or so. That doesn't seem to me to be a quality that easily lends itself to sitting around a bar waiting for weeks, or even months, before being stirred into a mixed drink of some sort.

I'm sorry if I don't join others in congratulating you. But, if you think hotel pizza is expensive, try replacing a nice shirt, or dress, or other piece of clothing. Speaking as somebody that OFTEN has to iron clothes in hotel rooms, nothing gets me quite as furious as running what should be a clean instrument that is in the hotel room to iron clothes (and not to cook food) over a piece of clothing and getting a streak of some foreign substance (like tomato sauce, cheese, grease, etc.) on the outfit that I need to put on immediately, and then run out the door wearing. I don't care if you think you've cleaned it, except maybe "unless the cheese runs." But you wipe it with a cloth? How about if that cheese (or grease, etc.) has run down into the steam holes? Or maybe you were in a hurry and didn't do a very good job that one time? What do you, care, right, because it ain't your shirt that got ruined. And anyway you ate your crisp leftover pizza and now you're long gone. So the truth is that, regardless as to what you say, you have no idea whatsoever if that iron you misused actually ruined someone else's clothing or not. How about if others decide how clever you are and it becomes commonplace to misuse these irons that I depend upon? And maybe they're not so fastidious as you say you are about the wiping? You think "leftovers are a problem for the traveler"? How about being miles from home with nothing to wear. It's not like I'm home with a whole closet full of stuff to chose from. Instead I can't wear the thing I've brought to wear to somebody's wedding or, an important business meeting, or, for example, my aunt's funeral! And I'm standing there looking at a big grease spot and trying to imagine how on earth it got there. Little would I have guessed that some selfish jerk was trying to get his leftover pizza crisp. Many hotels these days have microwaves. Will it get your pizza as crisp as using the iron? Maybe not. Do I give a rat's ass? Definitely not. As far as I'm concerned, if you've just got to have your pizza crisp, order another one.

Well, just to make myself clear, which I suppose I didn't before, I'm not saying that I think it's a bad thing for a cheftestant to cook foods with which he/she is most familiar, no matter how that familiarity was achieved - whether through education or heritage. In fact, I'm saying just the opposite. I'm saying that it doesn't seem to be a big deal to the other cheftestants either until somebody consistently wins, or becomes a pain in the chinois, or otherwise irritates the complainants. Then suddenly, it's "he/she only cooks scallops, or gnocchi, or Asian, or whatever." I enjoy watching Shirley add her Chinese/Asian ingredients. I like it when Nina talks about what they have in St. Lucia or the Caribbean. I eagerly anticipated whatever Mexican-influenced dish Carlos would make, and loved it when he said it was from his mama or papa or abuelita. I LIKE that. And it only makes sense. Those people are on the show because they're good at something. So they've already been through an elimination process making whatever that is. The grand prize on the show is easily life-changing, so of course those chefs are going to stick with things they know how to do. Carlos, for example, has a Mexican background. He has a Mexican restaurant. It would be ridiculous for him to get to that show and suddenly decide to explore Moroccan cuisine. And that was one reason why I admired Chef "Let's stick with what you know how to do and win this thing" Serrano. However, versatility and variety are also good, of course, so I'm sure that's why so many of the challenges make the chefs incorporate other styles, ingredients, etc. If they didn't, everybody would just show up and do nothing else, other than what they're already good at. But, I didn't mean my comments as a criticism to imply I care if they cook only one style. I don't really care either way. As long as it seems to be tasty, and I learn a little something, whatever they cook is fine with me.

Actually, that sounds like a lot of fun. Hell, maybe I'll buy myself some. .

I'm with the folks that think you should just buy a small bottle of Ouzo. Or at least search out another anise-flavored liqueur. Of course, if you're going to do that, you might just as well buy the Ouzo. That's my suggestion. Buy the Ouzo, and then find a few more intriguing recipes to make with it. Ought to be interesting and fun, and certainly educational. Here are some recipes (including in salad dressings, meat & fish marinades, cookies and piecrusts, etc.): http://greekfood.about.com/od/mezethesdrinks/a/cookwithouzo.htm Hell, maybe I'll buy you some. .

Um...wow. I am speaking in general terms, and am referring ONLY to the cheftestants in their "confessionals." It has seemed to me that that particular indictment has only arisen when another cheftestant is angry, jealous, miffed, etc., about something else the supposed offender has done.

Another fan of amaretti. If your focus is at all Italian, wouldn't suggest you even open without them.

It has seemed to me that the supposedly damming accusation that he/she "only" makes Asian/Mexican/Caribbean/Whatever food only comes into play when folks don't like that cheftestant for other reasons.

I am. Go team Nina. Although I do really like Louis as well.

Completely agree about Nick. Constantly blaming others. Constantly on the bottom. Constantly just barely scraping by. I do not understand why they keep putting him through. The producers must think that something about him makes for "good TV."

Tried earlier to put a link to this good article about types of green chiles, but couldn't get the "link" thingy to work. Seems to be working now, so here it is: http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/chileinformation/tp/Types-Of-Green-Chiles.htm

Another fan here of scrubby-sponges that I microwave at least a couple of times a week. The reason for being sure that they're good and wet when you do is because you're basically boiling the water that's inside of them. Been doing this for years with no negative results. I "demote" the kitchen sponge as soon as it looks ratty enough that I wouldn't want to see it sitting next to the kitchen sink at someone's home to which I've been invited for dinner. Never thought about snipping a corner to indicate said demotion, however. Brilliant.

I never really paid attention to whether or not the eggs I buy are pasteurized. And don't have any right now to go look at. When I was told that the USDA requires eggs to be pasteurized, and that that was one of the main reasons why our Spanish tortillas made here don't taste like those in Spain, I just accepted it. Probably foolish of me. But does anyone else have any thoughts on the matter?

"Conniptions"? Uh, no. Not even one conniption. Nor do I think my previously-expressed opinion that it's a little late in the game for immunity rose quite to the conniption level, either. Although that immunity thing sure works out better when the cheftestant doesn't need it, doesn't it? And when the challenge doesn't involve very small teams. However, I do get that the producers of the show have to come up with quickfire prizes worth winning. Otherwise, since nobody goes home, many of the cheftestants might be seriously tempted to just phone it in and save their best efforts for when it really counts. And from a cost perspective, immunity is definitely the most affordable prize they could come up with.

Regardless as to how many times I try and how many recipes I use, the Spanish tortillas I make here in the US don't taste like the ones in Spain. I've been told that's because we use refrigerated, pasteurized eggs, and they don't.