johnsmith45678

I was! Pretty amazing it didn't go flying all over the place too...

Making your own food from scratch (at least once) is vastly more rewarding than just lazily buying it pre-packaged. Assuming of course you have the time.

I'm sure the rent they pay in Manhattan is considerably more.

I've never been to a Trader Joe's, but I'm curious what they're like - Whole Foods? Hopefully not as expensive. Here in Denver, it's a loooong drive to the nearest Trader Joe's (Santa Fe).

I like the show. It's like Good Eats goes to mechanical engineering school. The recipes aren't worth much, but it's interesting to see how stuff (food AND equipment) is made. Still, I won't be drilling holes in my fridge or building ten foot long sausage cookers... The dehydated turkey was hideous.

Good grief, are you serious? Un-believable! Was the non-stick coating black like in pans? Hmmm, black non-stick dimpled knives, sounds hideous! ← Yep! Same dark grey color. They really stood out.

I saw some Chicago Cutlery knives at Walmart today that had non-stick coating on the blades - same as in pans. Never saw that on knives before. Plus they had scallops (is that what those dimples are called? For some reason I thought they were called gratins or something.) Wow. I've never been bothered by food sticking to my knife.

How do you sharpen your own knives? We had a stone at one place I worked, but it sucked compared to having the knives professionally sharpened. AFAIK, the pros use grinder wheels, stones, steels, etc. I think the local King Soopers (Kroger) will sharpen knives for $5/set.

Can anybody explain why Global seems to have become so popular? I guess the one-piece design is appealing (no wood/etc. to come loose).

I don't like plain yogurt. Can't stand to eat more than 2-3 spoonfuls. I'm not a big fan of plain bananas either.

Bolsters are evil? I like bolsters! More to grab onto when you're dicing.

For anybody (like me) who doesn't know much about Japanese knives beyond the santoku, here's a good article and graphic: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/...il20ataste.html I'm still not sure how a gyutou differs from a chefs knife - longer blade?

Anybody like bird's beak paring knives? I've never use one.

Yep, he's 7-4-2. Not counting ties, he's tied at the top with Batali. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Chef_America_stats

Just about everything on this list I don't hate. I can't really think of anything I hate. Food, in my opinion, is by default good, and free food is even better! I used to hate a lot of food as a kid (mexican food, pizza, etc.), but I think my starving student college days ridded me of my food snobbery. About the only thing I can think of at the moment that I don't like is the way I feel after eating a McDonald's meal, and possibly liver, but I've had liver I actually liked - it's all in the preparation in that case. edit - Oh, I thought of one thing I didn't care for - deep-fried okra. It was like phlegm. edit 2 - And after watching A Cook's Tour and No Reservations, I'm pretty sure there are a few things I wouldn't like: fermented shark, Peruvian spit drink, bile, iguana, ...

I've heard time and again that salt brings other flavors out.

Doesn't anybody start off by washing dishes? ;P That's what I did...

I'd love to hear more about that!

I recently saw a cooking demonstration by Frank Bonanno and he mentioned that after graduating CIA, he worked for free for two years in France, Italy, NYC (Gramercy Tavern), and CA (The French Laundry). So I got to wondering: 1. How common is working gratis, especially at the top restaurants? I've heard such restaurants have long waiting lists of job applicants, a great many of whom are willing to work for free. Do such restaurants have a lot of gratis workers as opposed to paid workers? 2. How do gratis workers pay the bills? A second job? I've known several CIA grads and they didn't seem to have any problem getting paid gigs at just about any restaurant. I think the experience of working at restaurants like The French Laundry, El Bulli, Le Bernardin, etc. are probably worth any cost, but, you know, you gotta pay the bills!

Yeah, I think the same guy also said that the number one thing home cooks did wrong was not use enough salt.

Sorry, but what's MEP? Yeah, the guy also stressed that recipes are just a guideline. Oh, he also demonstrated making Mayonnaise, Vinaigrettes, Hollandaise, Aioli, etc. and while doing so he conveyed that they're all basic variations of vinaigrettes, which is apparently one of the twenty skills.

I saw a cooking demonstration by Dan Witherspoon and during it he remarked that there are only 20 basic skills to cooking and beyond that it's just a matter of combining the ingredients. He seemed to allude that sauces or sauteing was one of the skills. Dan Witherspoon teaches classes at the Seasoned Chef (www.seasonedchef.com) and one of them - "BASIC SKILLS EVERY COOK SHOULD KNOW" - probably divulges the skills. Its course description includes: "knife skills; mise en place; sautéing, roasting, grilling; sauces, vinaigrettes; pastry techniques and more". So, what do you think the other skills are?

Actually, it was Cutco and not Chicago Cutlery. Anybody like Cutco?

Oh, I forgot: Eating your teammates if your plane crashes in the Andes; and the still beating heart of a cobra. I think I'm somewhere between foie gras and veal. Veal calves seem to live completely miserable lives.

Huh?