johnsmith45678

Well, according to my definition, a foodie is a food hobbyist. Which by its definition means not a professional. Without, you know, all the derogatory crap. ← Yeah, so? Doesn't mean that food hobbyists are (somewhat) snobby, elitist, trendy, fussy, etc. But I think there's more to being a foodie than just being a food hobbyist.

Okay, it's not in town, but surely the best mac and cheese has to be that which is named after Thomas Keller? Mizuma's (in Denver) Frank Bonano created such a dish: Link

In my mind, a foodie is a food nerd/geek, and also somewhat snobby, elitist, trendy, fussy, etc. And they're also amateurs (i.e. they've never gone to culinary school and/or worked as a cook/chef). I think such a definition is necessary because I just can't bring myself to label somebody like Anthony Bourdain as a foodie - to him, the dining experience is irrelevant (he'll eat anything, anywhere), it's the food itself; to a foodie, they usually seem to expect to fine dining atmosphere and great service and foods that are high end. Even though AB is becoming more and more of a (gack) TV personality (I think he needs to get back in a kitchen pretty soon).

Is it dangerous to eat the fuzzy stuff that grows on food after it has been in the fridge for a while? Or could it actually be healthful, since I think I remember reading that penicillin might come from it. I never eat food in such state a state, but think I may have eaten bread that had the tiniest of splotches of mold starting to form (with no ill effects). Bonus points for actually describing what the fuzzy stuff actually is .

( crickets )

I don't understand that question. I'm not aware of meat being eaten alive (except however often in the rest of the animal kingdom), and plants were/are alive too (at least until they encounter the GI tract). Or is it a matter of the animal already being dead and not being killed just to eat? That definitely doesn't sound healthy (roadkill, sick/diseased/old, etc.).

I like Yellow Tail, for a cheaper wine, even if I offend the wine snobs. Interesting article about Yellow Tail.

I remember on the TV show The Restaurant, Rocco DiSpirito made a big fuss making sure everybody in the kitchen was using his new Rocco line of cookware. I'm sure it was because it was the best, and not just to pimp it on TV! ;P In all the restaurants I've worked in, we never had fancy cookware (all aluminum). The fanciest knives were Forchner and Henckel (which I think a vendor threw in as a perk). Talking to a guy who runs a restaurant supply shop, he said that's very typical - restaurants are so much harder on cookware and go through it much more quickly, that it just doesn't make sense to get the more expensive stuff.

Wasn't there an episode of No Reservations on a foie gras farm where the ducks sort of ran away from the feeder (about which Tony and the proprietor made remarks)? Other than that, it looked like a pleasant place for the ducks (I think Tony made a remark about it being like Club Med).

I picked up Baking Illustrated - wow, looks like a great book to cook one's way through! Don't know how I missed it before. Has a bunch of great info and recipes.

I've seen GR use Mac knives on his latest shows. I think Bourdain likes Global.

Archimedes' screwdriver Marconi rigatoni Molotov cocktail sauce Petri dish de jour Mason Jarlsberg cheese Prussik Knotwurst Rubik's Cubed steak Tesla Cointreau Morton's fork cookies Fallopian tube steak Freudian slip coat cheese Galvanic cellophane noodles Galilean moonshine Hermetic seal meat Jacobite Rising dough Magellanic Cloud cookies Markovian processed food Maxwellian demon seamon Noetherian ring cake Platonic love apple Randian hero sandwich Phew! Ack, I've wasted enough time! There are a ton more eponyms if anybody wants to continue...

Aahhhh...yeah, I'm sure a lot of people would have loved to taken a swing at him, at the least! I'm kind of surprised it hasn't happened... I think GR did upset a lot of women with his remark that "they can't cook to say their lives."

Doesn't look difficult . Thanks again!

What do you mean by "obnoxious", in that it would "justify" a knee? I've never known of GR engaging in any behavior that I felt meritted serious physical violence in response.

As for pate a choux -- I have a recipe that specifically uses a food processor. Makes 8 eclairs, and was the first I ever used. From Baking Illustrated. Don't have it with me but can post later if you want to give it a shot. ← Sure, if it's not much trouble . (Thanks!) I'll have to keep an eye out for that book.

Hahahaha RAW meat! I'll have to ask next time I see some raw food folks. Carpaccho! Steak Tartare! I've tried raw food recipes several times and thought they were pretty good. I've made several of Juliani's recipes in his book Raw and liked those. I love vegetables, nuts, and other stuff they use. But I also like cooked food (the Maillard reaction, mmmmm...). And meat. And, I dunno, some of those raw food people don't have the most healthy look to them.

Nope, never made pies, nor pie crusts for that matter. I should probably make some - seem like they take a fair amount of labor and skill. (I have made angel food cake, to answer another previous post.) How about souffles? Are those a common pastry item? I've heard several horror stories about how temperamental they are (so, naturally, I want to try one!). Also, are meringues used for a lot of pastry items? Basically egg whites and powered sugar, correct? I've seen those meringue cookies...

Awesome, thanks! Another question - is it easy to make all this stuff without a stand mixer? I saw in the pate choux thread that they used a stand mixer with a paddle. I almost got a stand mixer a while ago, but I've found a lot of things can be done in my food processor, and stand mixers are a bit pricey and take up a good amount of space.

How is it that Taco Bell is just now discovering this when their high school and college patrons have known about it for decades? ;P

Never heard of anything like this. But my ignorant guess would be that perhaps it's a system of keeping track of how many drinks a customer has had, and to do such they'd have to bring new glasses from the bar rather than refilling at the table. If so, the marks are almost certainly made on the bottom with a water soluble ink. That's my guess...

Oh yeah, I've made plenty of cookies - chocolate chip, oatmeal, mincemeat, etc., just looking for something more. Most of the cookies I made I didn't like to eat more than 1-2 since they were so loaded with butter and sugar (most recipes came from Good Eats/Alton Brown cookbooks). But I guess I can't expect the most healthy ingredients in the pastry field, no?

Thanks everybody! Anybody have a good recipe for pastry cream/custard?

To all you illustrious pastry chefs , what recipes would recommend to complete beginners? I've never really made anything in the pastry field, except donuts I guess. I've never made pate a choux, fondant, maripan, eclairs, etc. What are the "basics" from which one can get a base knowledge upon which to build? Nothing too elaborate , and perhaps things which offer the greatest bang for the buck. Thanks!

It doesn't make much sense to single out Americans on the Starbucks issue. Starbucks has a great many shops WORLDWIDE! I checked on their web site and there are even Starbucks in PARIS! Oh the shame! Or does Starbucks serve different stuff in those countries with the customers with better taste?