Jaymes

As I said above, I haven't seen the show. Never watch FTV, so haven't even seen the commercials for it and have no idea how it's billed. But the blog and the book seem to be more a 'fish out of water' story. Follow the adventures of a city girl who finds herself out on a ranch. A kind of 'Green Acres' with a few ranch/home-cooking recipes. I don't think she's ever set herself up as a trained master chef attempting to teach us classic technique. I dunno. I find the whole thing to be pretty innocuous and frankly don't understand the impetus for the emotional derision from some in this thread.

You know, I currently live in Texas, in the heart of barbecue brisket country, so I haven't had to make it myself in my oven for a very long time. I remember doing similar "outdoor theme" barbecue dinners (including one in the middle of a 40-below Alaska winter) years back. They turned out great. But I was involved in what I called "competitive entertaining" in those days, and nothing was too much trouble to be sure our squadron had the best parties. I don't remember exactly which recipe/method I used, but I'm sure the folks here have some terrific suggestions. And PS - Don't forget a selection of bandanas to pass out to your guests.

You can use most of these "barbecue cheating" methods on brisket as well. But, most important, don't forget the red & white checkerboard tablecloth. And maybe a mini bale of hay and a small scarecrow stuck into it on the buffet table. A few fall leaves scattered about. And some of those blue splatter porcelain utensils. The right decor will give any meal an outdoorsy, picnic feel.

I'll see your morning-after fridge pizza and raise you a few morning-after kitchen table "it should still be fine" pizzas. And while we're on the subject, ain't nothing wrong with cold left-over spaghetti, either. What is it about those cold tomato-based leftovers? Why do they taste so good the morning after? Somewhere, were the great gods of partying taking care of us? Did one of them say to the other, "But Bacchus, what nourishment will your acolytes take the next morning?' To which Bacchus replied, "Don't worry. Behold the tomato."

Knowing I'm opening myself to ridicule, but in the interest of research, I'll add this: In the way olden days when I was young and a member of the party crowd, often during raucous evenings of get-togethers involving way too much drinking (and/or smoking), someone would think perhaps food was a good idea, and order pizza. The next morning (or probably closer to the next early afternoon), upon rising, we'd go check our fridge to see if by some miracle there was anything in it to eat, or if we'd have to get ourselves enough together to go out and find something. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one here that has eaten cold pizza 'the morning after' while standing in front of an open fridge. But judging from this thread, I may be one of the few that would pull off the toppings (which hold together remarkably well when they're cold) in one large piece, and eat just that. After thinking over this thread, and speaking just for myself, I don't find it weird at all that I don't like the end crust. It is, after all, a piece of dry bread. I don't normally order dry bread in other circumstances, so it's not odd to me that I don't like it even when it comes along automatically, attached to something else that tastes good. When I have a baguette, I prefer to either smear something on it, like butter or olive oil, or dip it into something, like carbonara sauce or red wine or hot melted cheese. Now, come on, really. Doesn't that sound better?

That's exactly how I feel. Exactly. In fact, if I were by myself, I wouldn't even order the pizza. I'd order lasagna, or spaghetti and meatballs, or cannelloni, or manicotti, or baked ziti, or anything else but pizza. I like the flavorful, gooey part and not the dry bread part. But if you're with a crowd at an Italian restaurant and everybody else wants to share a pizza, you don't really have a choice. You have to share the pizza, my least favorite thing. So I try to eat just the center part of my slice, and then kind of scrape off the toppings as I near the end crust, which is nothing to me but dry bread. I will say that many years ago, I dated an absolutely gorgeous Italian boy. He loved pizza. And whenever we went out to a pizza joint, he always asked them to bring some butter, too. Then, when he reached the end crust, he spread that butter all over it. Now THAT was good. Fabulous, in fact.

Where's the fun in that? Whatever will we discuss if we cannot put down TV personalities we don't know? Or judge news events we don't know much about? FWIW, I've not had much success with Pioneer Woman's recipes (not even that cinnamon bun recipe people raved about), so I don't even read her blog. But if the Homesick Texan or Smitten Kitchen or Tartine Gourmande or David Lebovitz came out with shows, I'd watch even if they were on Food Network (if I got Food Network, which I don't). And if I liked them, I'd keep watching. And if I didn't, I'd stop. Well, I'm certainly with you on Homesick Texan. Great blog. I guess the part that I find a bit off-putting about discussing "TV personalities we don't know" is the vehemence with which some folks do that discussing. It's like we just got wind that Food Network is giving Charles Manson a show about what tasty and inventive dishes you can prepare on your hotplate for serving when the screws stop by. Certainly there are celeb chefs that I really like. And some about whom I am indifferent. And some that I don't much care for at all. But not sure that any of them deserve quite the scathing finger-lashing that they sometimes receive here.

"Why is she on TV?" That seems a little harsh. But assuming you've asked a serious question, here's a serious answer: it's probably because others, like me, have enjoyed her blog and enjoyed her cookbook and choosing what to put on television is always a crapshoot at best - definitely in the "throw it on the wall and see what sticks" category. And although I haven't seen the show (because I just don't watch a lot of TV), if what you're saying is that she ain't perfect, and she ain't for everyone... Well, um, okay, whatever. No news there. If you don't like it, don't watch. Seems simple enough.

Salmon can go with cranberries or blueberries. Not with Sauteed Apples, no, but apples cooked in a gastrique? Could be done... Actually, in some parts of the world (Alaska for sure) salmon is often barbecued, complete with a fairly-typical sweet-&-sour-type barbecue sauce, often containing citrus or other fruit juices. The salmon winds up with a flavor profile somewhat similar to barbecued pork. And it goes really well with sauteed apples. As does salmon baked on apple- or cherry- or other fruit-wood planks. I think of salmon as being a fish that does remarkably well with fruit.

Too late to edit, but want to say to anyone that is thinking of doing this, my son-in-law didn't buy "oak planks" to fill in the kick space at the bottom of the kitchen cabinets. He bought moulding. Which was much easier, obviously.

Ah, too bad. I was interested in that "fright head" that forms in the steamed milk. Very mystical, it seemed to me.

Exactly what my daughter and her husband did. They wanted a long entertainment center/base for their family room - something with bottom doors that open so that they could put all the (three) kids' toys in there when company comes. They did a little checking, and even got an estimate from a local carpenter. Everything was very expensive. So they got unfinished kitchen cabinets at our local Home Depot, I think it was, and made one. The main difference between kitchen cabinets and cabinet units for other living areas is that kitchen cabinets always have a kick space that runs along the bottom, so that you can stand there and work on the countertop. Buffets, entertainment centers, sideboards, etc., don't. So my son-in-law just bought a few oak planks and added that. It looks terrific and they get lots of compliments on it. Most folks think it was built in and came with the house.

I very much prefer cream in coffee, or milk, if cream isn't available. I like a very strong coffee flavor, made creamy with the dairy. Think cappuccino. In many regions of Mexico, they serve something similar - "cafe con leche," - about half a cup of strong coffee, perhaps espresso, with about half a cup of hot milk. I don't much like sweet beverages, though, so no sugar for me. Just strong, really strong, coffee with milk or cream. If the coffee isn't strong enough to take the milk, then I don't want it at all. Weak coffee with milk or cream is pretty bad. Wimpy hot milk with a slight coffee flavor. Yuck. This is an issue if you live in a house with "black" coffee drinkers as I do. They never want to make the coffee as strong as I like it, because they're not diluting it with the cream/milk. I had to make a separate pot. Then we got a hot water dispenser, and our mornings settled into harmony. Strong black coffee in the pot. I add half & half. They add a shot of hot water. Perfection. So to answer your question about what is the "purpose" of the milk. For me, that's a pretty easy question. The purpose of the cream/milk is to make it taste good.

"Cheating?" I originally got my chile verde recipe from my Mexican neighbor and it and every other chile verde, salsa verde etc., recipe includes tomatillos. They make a pickled sauce using just chiles, but it is a flavoring condiment, not the dish itself. I don't think that tomatillos "dilute" the flavor, they enhance it in its many variations throughout Mexico where the seasonings change, from region to region, but the base is always chiles (often poblano with other, hotter peppers), tomatillos and onions. The local produce market has Hatch chiles and they showed up at three different vendors at the farmers' market yesterday. To me, green chile sauce and green tomatillo sauce are two completely different things. Having lived in New Mexico for a number of years, their green chile (made with chiles) requires no tomatillos. But their chilaquile green sauce requires very little but. I don't think it's an "either or" sort of thing. And I'm down in Houston. The Hatch chiles are in the markets here, and I've got several pounds in the freezer. First dish we always make when Hatch season arrives, and one of our favorites any time of year, is Rajas con Cebolla en Crema. It's nothing but sliced green chiles and white onions in a cream sauce. The perfect side dish. You can google it and get many recipes. We make a rather plain one. Skin and seed the roasted chiles, and slice them into strips about 1/2" wide and 2" long. You should wind up with about half a cup of chile slices. Take a white or yellow onion, and slice it into strips. Put the onion into a skillet or small saucepan and add a little butter or oil (not much, just enough to keep them from sticking), and saute onions until they are clear. Add rajas (chile strips) and saute a few minutes more. Add Mexican crema or sour cream to taste - about half a cup. Simmer a few minutes more. Then add salt and/or pepper to taste. This is very much a dish I've always made just by the look of it, and have no exact measurements. But there are many, many recipes online. You can add cheese or potatoes or what have you, but we prefer it plain.

I've made a lot of chicken/veal piccata through the years. Have had best luck with this one: Chicken Piccata But then, we like it good and lemony, so I don't know... You might like chicken with a raphael sauce more. The artichoke hearts make it taste kind of lemony, but not so much. Chicken Raphael

Looks like we've got several pretty good possibilities to try. Thanks y'all!

Well, the classic is a citrus sherbert: lemon, lime, orange, etc. Really tasty. Cool and refreshing. Not so heavy and rich as the cola & ice cream floats.

They must use some sort of more intensely-flavored "root beer extract" to make root beer candy, such as these Root Beer Barrels. You might try tracking down a supplier. Or maybe consider doing something with a layer of crushed root beer candy.

And it isn't just that. When every vehicle in your area gets a fill-up at the same time, and generators, too, stations run out of gasoline. Even if they do have electricity. If there is lots of debris filling the streets, those big tankers can't get through to replenish the stations. It can be some time before you have the option to fill up your tank again.

I've been through lots of hurricanes (and a couple of typhoons, and, since we're talking about it, earthquakes, too) and reading this tells me that you have yet to experience a bad hurricane. I'd advise anyone in the path of a major storm that it would be extremely unwise to be this cavalier. Anyone that lives in hurricane country can tell you that it can get frustrating to go through all your preparations, only to have the storm weaken considerably before it reaches you, or swerve at the last minute and miss you entirely. But you only have to go through one scenario the other way - major storm, minimal preparations - to never, ever risk that again. Regarding water. It doesn't take that much for the public water supply to be undrinkable. Even miles from the shoreline, torrential rain and flooding can overwhelm the city's storm drains, sewer systems, water treatment plants, etc. Flood waters carry along with them whatever was lying on the ground - trash, animal fecal matter, spilled gasoline and oil, street runoff, drowned animal carcasses, you name it. In a torrential flood, that water goes everywhere. We were in a hurricane years ago in the Pensacola area, and after we crept back into town and headed home (where we were without power for 10 days, I might add), the radio said that public officials had announced that the water supply was safe to drink; that flood waters had not contaminated it. Stupidly (we were a very young family at the time), we believed that announcement and didn't boil our water. We all got giardia (a tropical parasite, which turned out to be nearly deadly to my 1 yr-old), before a government official issued a "Whoops, sorry" warning, saying that the previous information was inaccurate, and that we should boil all our water until further notice. In fact, I've been in many hurricanes since then, and in all but the smallest storms, you can COUNT on the public water supply being undrinkable for a period of time from at least 1-4 days. DO fill up your bathtub. It's too late for you Easterners now, but many folks in hurricane country keep several empty plastic milk jugs around to fill up when a storm threatens. So definitely do stock up on water. And non-perishables like peanut butter. And canned foods. And don't make the hurricane-rookie mistake of having only an electric can opener. And also, btw, we were in Houston during Ike, too. Houston is no rural, unsophisticated backwater. It's the fourth-largest city in the nation. And it's very accustomed to dealing with hurricanes. And Ike was "only" a category 2. Even so, almost everyone was without power for at least several days. And many folks for far longer. Like Zachary, we, too, were without power for over two weeks. We had considerable damage, and we're many miles inland. Galveston was basically destroyed. As far as I'm concerned, it's impossible to take an approaching hurricane too seriously. Or to make too many preparations. Much better than doing the opposite.

Anthony Bourdain's entire goal has often seemed to be to shock the plebeian masses in order to gain notoriety and fame. He has gotten far more attention throughout his career for being unpleasant, arrogant, profane and abrasive than he ever did for his actual cooking. Because some of his fans adore that sort of behavior, he has to keep at it, or be considered to have "sold out" and gone wimpy. There's nothing new in this latest burst of condescending invective. It's just more of the same.

We are ice cream neophytes in our household. I gave my SIL an ice cream maker for his birthday a couple of weeks back because he really likes to cook, and loves ice cream, so figured it was a natural fit. I also gave him a copy of "The Perfect Scoop," but he works long hours at a stressful job, and hasn't had the time or energy to fiddle around much with recipes. Thus far, he's been making the simple ones from the ice cream maker instruction book. This is the one he's used for chocolate. He just went to our local market and bought Hershey's Dutch Process cocoa powder, and the ice cream has turned out very good. But of course, we always think it could be better, right? Hence the attempt with the Askinosie. Simple Chocolate Ice Cream 1 C unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process preferred) 2/3 C granulated sugar 1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar 1 1/2 C whole milk 3 1/4 C heavy cream 1 T vanilla You basically combine everything, then pour it into the machine and freeze. From what you nice folks have said, I'm wondering if heating the Askinosie cocoa powder with a little bit of the milk might dissolve it. I did get in touch with the folks at Askinosie and ask if they had any suggestions to keep the final product from being gritty, and they told me that they didn't, because they were really more bakers than ice cream makers, but that several "very famous" artisan ice cream makers use their cocoa powder, so they were certain there must be a way. However, that Askinosie powder is pretty darn expensive. Not sure I can afford to keep SIL stocked up with that. Maybe I should encourage him to stick with the Hershey's which he's perfectly happy to go to the grocery store and buy himself.

I've heard several folks say that, in their opinion, Askinosie is turning out the best chocolate in the country right now, so I ordered some of their single origin cocoa powder: Davao Philippines I get that to make ice cream, you're supposed to use "Dutch process" cocoa powder, which this isn't, but was hoping it would work anyway. The taste was terrific, as anticipated, but the texture was not. It was gritty. I got in touch with Askinosie about this and they told me that there are quite a few artisanal ice cream makers that use their powder, so there must be a way to do it, although they didn't know what it was. Do any of you?

That is brilliant!!!! You can go into a grocery store and buy stuff faster than you can chop a carrot or two? Um, no. But if I have to stop by the store anyway on my way home from work, and I'm making a stir-fry or frittata or something else that requires considerably more than one "carrot or two," it's much quicker to pick up sliced carrots, peppers, onions, broccoli, mushrooms, tomatoes, celery, etc. at the salad bar. Then I can run into the house and start cooking right away and dinner is ready in no time flat. An added bonus is that for several years, I lived alone. When I picked up already prepped veggies at the salad bar, enough for just one or two meals, I found I had a lot less spoilage in my fridge vegetable drawers than I did when I picked up a bag of carrots, whole bunches of celery, and/or broccoli, bell peppers, and other perishables. But hey, to each his own, gfweb. If it's not a good technique for you and your particular situation, eschew it.

In fact, although I'm no camper and have never done it, my backpacking friends tell me that in the morning, they routinely put regular raw, dry rice into a plastic bag, add water, and then set out on their hike. They tell me that the rice does not need to be cooked. It only has to be in the water. It soaks up all the water and is ready to eat by dinnertime.