divalasvegas

Pay no attention to all those naysayers out there Sackville! Jello Power to the People And BarbaraY, shame on you! The recipe you quoted is missing the secret ingredients that would transform the dish from the one you described into a Quivering Gelatinous Nirvana: walnut pieces and.................................. Miracle Whip. Gosh, I'm really beginning to crave it now; I think I'll have to make some this weekend. Seriously. BTW can anyone point me to the "recipe" for Rachel's multi-hued, Jello extravaganza that she uses as her avatar? Thanks.

Okay Lan4Dawg how about this one? http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cooking/re...6_20327,00.html The title's a bit of a stretch for what you're looking for. It's an Emeril Lagasse drink recipe. I know he's much maligned on eGullet, but I think this one's pretty tasty and uses three different types of liquor!

Country Cook, so you're a connosieur of Miracle Whip too!? At least now I know I'm not alone.

How are the parents notified of what their children ordered? Via internet? Is it immediate? ← Being at times someone who can be somewhat technologically befuddled, I have no idea, but I'm sure someone out there reading this knows the answer. BTW touregsand I've been meaning to tell you for some time that the quote from your daughter when she was 2 that accompanies all of your posts is absolutely brilliant!

The cover of the current issue of Saveur is devoted to all things mango. They have step-by-step instructions with photos of exactly how to dismantle one of those luscious things as well as resources for obtaining a wide variety of mangoes each with its own taste profile. Enjoy!

Gee touregsand maybe. I don't know which school system you live near, but I can tell you that the schools near me already have their teachers watching out for: illegal drugs alcohol on the premises weapons of all kinds (here that includes guns and machetes) teachers being threatened or physically assaulted by students students threatening or physically assaulting fellow students rival gang violence which kids are on Ritalin for their ADD/ADHD or whatever the latest "syndrome" is sexual activity in the boys' bathroom sexual activity in the girls' bathroom interracial rivalries/violence making sure that any contact with a student is not misconstrued and seen as a sexual advance or harassment the threat of being sued at anytime, by any parent, over anything (especially in the context of say, little Susie or Billy missing their meds or ate the wrong thing, so of course it'll be the teacher's fault so let's drag him/her into court) And the list goes on and on and on. Oh yeah, amongst all of the above they actually have to try to provide the little darlings with an education. All for not very much money. So why not, let's add just one more item to their ever burgeoning list of responsibilities. Frankly, I say make the monitoring of kids' diets technologically available to all parents, but let the parents opt out if they wish.

Great idea Jaymes. I perused the eGCI and saw a course on soups but they appeared to be about hot soups. I've seen different threads which mentioned chilled soups here and there on eGullet, but didn't know there was already one on this topic (oops, sorry). Of course since I'm somewhat technologically challenged and can barely start a topic without hurting myself, I have no clue what to do. But I'm sure out there in eGullet-land, help is on the way!

I just saw this thread today Maison Rustique and I want to extend my good wishes and prayers for the speedy recovery of your grand-nephew. Diabetes is no joke. I know since it was complications from diabetes that led to the death of my Mom, with all of the debilitating side effects that led up to her demise. Bless her, but she did so love her sweets--especially Baby Ruth candy bars, real Coca Cola, white rice and bread. Hopefully, the various school systems can come up with some system of monitoring to help families like yours keep track of the eating habits of their kids when indeed what they put into their mouths can be a matter of life or death.

Search no further than here for the eGullet definitive Sloppy Joe topic. ← Thanks so much snowangel. I clicked on the link but nothing happened. Probably my slower than a snail of a computer acting up. I'll try it again later. ← The link is bad. Try this one instead. Regarding the question at hand, BLT with fresh tomatoes, thick bacon, lots of mayo, and maybe an egg, is hard to beat. A "hot brown" sandwich, with a thick slice of day-old turkey, parmesan/swiss cheese sauce, tomatoe and bacon on toasted bread, is also a contender for my favorite. ← Thanks PatrickS. I visited that thread and OMG it never ceases to amaze, enlighten and amuse me how even the humble Sloppy Joe can inspire such passionate exchanges between eGulleteers. Really quite extraordinary. And funny as shit.

Search no further than here for the eGullet definitive Sloppy Joe topic. ← Thanks so much snowangel. I clicked on the link but nothing happened. Probably my slower than a snail of a computer acting up. I'll try it again later. And as an addendum to my earlier list of favorites, I should be tarred and feathered for leaving off the king/queen of sandwiches: THE NEW ENGLAND LOBSTER ROLL. That does qualify as a sandwhich, does it not?

1. Roasted Turkey (both dark and white meat), stuffing/dressing, my homemade cranberry relish, mayo on decent white bread, such as Pepperidge Farm, though cheap white bread will do in a pinch 2. Fried Fish "Sammich." The fish we fried when I grew up was either porgies, croakers, or catfish. Just on white bread with hot sauce and lemon wedges on the side. Tartar sauce on the side to add here and there. 3. The classic Cuban sandwich 4. A really good hoagie with the best quality cold cuts and cheeses you can lay your hands on, lettuce, tomatoes, sliced raw onions, hot peppers, mayo on a crusty sub roll. 5. Warm, fatty pastrami on black bread or seedless rye bread with mustard and onions 6. Grilled cheese: Cheddar cheese, sliced tomatoes and several slices of bacon 7. A sloppy joe--God, I haven't had one of those in years. If anyone can point me to or share a good recipe for this, it would be deeply appreciated 8. Leftover meatloaf sandwich, sometimes with cheese, sometimes not. On white bread with mayo and sometimes.................................... Miracle Whip! Yes, I know, I'm the only person in the history of eGullet who likes Miracle Whip (Or will admit to it in public). 9. The classic Reuben 10. A fried egg sandwich with no crispy brown parts gently fried in butter, with or without meat and/or cheese, with a few drops of Tabasco sauce on white or potato bread, with a wonderful oozy yolk Gotta run since I'm being surrounded by some very angry eGulleteers waving their pitchforks and torches and demanding that I renounce my allegiance to Miracle Whip, or else!

What fabulous recipes and resources, everyone. You've given me a lot of ideas. Now, I've got to get my butt in gear and get some produce and pickup a few thermoses--I think that they will be good to store as well as carry the soups. Once I create some of these soups, I'd like to post pictures of the fruits of my labor, but I still need to figure out how to do that. Thanks again. You all are great!

Both recipes sound delicious, SusanG and eje. Sherry, nutmeg, black pepper and chives for the mushroom soup sounds heavenly. And I'd never thought to make a "savory" melon soup--sounds fantastic too! Keep 'em coming everybody. Thanks.

Thanks, SusanG. I've heard of chilled asparagus soup, but mushroom and almond? Wow. I'll Google recipes for these unless you have them handy.

As anyone in or near DC knows, it's mighty damn hot here right now. Temps in the 90's are a daily occurrence. Of course, it's summertime--well, summer officially begins June 21st--and we're just at the beginning of the 3 H's: hazy, hot, and humid. I know we're not the only part of the country swealtering, nor the hottest. This isn't even the hottest I've seen DC--a few years ago we had double-digit consecutive days at 100+ degrees! Ugh. I'm well aware of the old standby chilled soups such as gazpacho and cucumber/mint/yogurt. But does anyone out there have other recipes for chilled soups? I remember eating a chilled carrot soup from some restaurant here years ago--can't remember the name of the establishment--and it was delicious, with more than a little touch of cream. I have no clue how they made it, but would love to know how. In particular, I would like to make batches of different types of chilled soups and carry a different one each day to work in a thermos, for a quick, yummy and cheap lunch. In that light, I'd also appreciate some idea of how long will they keep. Not forever, of course; but if I made 2 or 3 kinds of chilled soup on Sunday, which ones would hold up throughout the week and which would not? What garnishes would you suggest for your recipe(s)? Thanks. Sincerely, Hot and Bothered in DC

You must have never enjoyed Private Stock in its most pristine natural habitat, that of the 64 oz. jug, complete with handy thumb loop to ease tippling and prevent end-of-the-jug dropsies. ← Okay, TedE, I know you have to be lying--I'm picturing a "home boy" version of Jethro Clampett knockin' back some urban moonshine--but that is still funny as shit!!! ← Oh, 'tis no joke. Take a gander: This beast was the jumping off point for many an evening in college. They tended to turn into the early nights. When combined with Cool Colt (as happened one ill-fated night) it was a deadly combination. I don't think I made it past 6:00 that day. But Cool Colt is a whole different, and far more repulsive, story. By far, BAR NONE: Worst. Beer. Ever. ← Oh no, TedE, I stand corrected. I'm scared to even ask, but WTF is Cool Colt? And combined with Haffenreffer as in Malt Liquor Sangria?

You must have never enjoyed Private Stock in its most pristine natural habitat, that of the 64 oz. jug, complete with handy thumb loop to ease tippling and prevent end-of-the-jug dropsies. ← Okay, TedE, I know you have to be lying--I'm picturing a "home boy" version of Jethro Clampett knockin' back some urban moonshine--but that is still funny as shit!!!

Logically, properly rendered beef tallow should last as long as any other rendered saturated fat -- whether butter, goose, pork, chicken, duck, bacon... ← I just looked up fat and rancidity in On Food and Cooking and beef fat is the most saturated and so most stable of animal fats. In short, it will keep better and longer than anything else. Kevin ← Kevin, do you or anyone else here know if the old McDonald's recipe which included beef fat was pure beef fat or a mixture of, say beef fat/vegetable oil? I really miss how those fries used to taste. For the home, cook would a blend of beef/vegetable be the best and not pure beef fat? Also the part of your last reply that was: "--whether butter, goose, pork, chicken, duck, bacon..." that line up of delicious fats has me swooning.

Diva what you say is heresy! A sous chef or a master chef can't be 'created', 'molded' in 8 weeks or whatever time period these shows have. The professionals involved know that. If an argument can be made for a culinary student, a housewife with 6 kids, a corporate headhunter who have little or no proffessional cooking experience taking this leap in such a short amount of time let's hear it. Yes, it's only TV, but for a celebrity chef to say "I can make anyone a masterchef" yeah, well, sort of... Master chefs are created in two ways: God given gift plus a shitload of hard work or an investor with deep pockets who can hire a sous chef who has this God given gift and will do the shitload of work. (btw, investors often make the biggest fools of chefs. Take my picture for a playing card.) As for the type of show you propose. Realistically I see a functioning kitchen line in the time frame allotted for these types of shows and the attention span of the audience. I can do it with homecooks or would be professionals. ← Great! I am definitely a home cook who could be a would be professional, so I guess I qualify. Now then, just two more questions, chefzadi, 1) How do I sign up for your course to make ME America's next superstar chef/restaurant mogul/multi-millionaire? and 2) once I complete the course, can we increase the budget for my free new restaurant from $2 million to $5 million since in DC $2 million will barely pay for a McDonald's franchise--that is unless my free new restaurant is a McDonald's franchise.

Thank you, chop, well said and done. I saw Ramsey yesterday on 'Charlie Rose' and he really told it like it is. He's not doing anything to anybody that truly wasn't done to him when he was an apprentice at Robuchon (sp) or anywhere else he trained and he believes (rightfully,imo) that that kind of training turned him into a right old CU.., I mean, a Michelin starred chef. He told a great story about Robuchon throwing a plate of scallops and it's accompaniments at him and putting him in charge of staff meal the next day for a considerable time. Said he made the best staff meals ever, the staff loved him for how he made their food as good as he could, because he cared. He said now that when he gets a NFG he gives them "the trimmings" and if that person turns out something decent, he feels like he's looking at some talent. He was pretty good at handing out compliments to the people who deserved them, genuinely impressed him who surprisedly WEREN'T any of the cook/chefs in the cast. The worst thing to do is tell someone like him "I'm an executive chef". Fucking better cook your ass off then, champ!!! It's all a bit Survivorish to me too but, I LOVE this guy, as Bourdain said, I think, "he's a chefs chef", and I could watch all of the shows in a row. My wife and I laughed our asses off, she wants me to try to get on the next season!!! I've worked for some CRAZY people in my life, could be a laugh. I kind of miss the screamers, it all has gotten a bit PC now. In French run kitchens, I've seen people get decked, thrown down, fistfights ( i was in one), and of course, a lot of full bore yelling Forgive me if someone else posted about the Charlie Rose show, I haven't read the whole thread. Have to add this: Sorry to say, I watched 'Cooking Under Fire' the other night and was truly offended by it. I used to depend on PBS for decent cooking shows like 'Great Chefs of...', indeed, that's what got me to consider cooking for a living in the first place, and now, you have three great guys, one of the best food writers on the planet, two more then talented chefs, handing out saute pans and "86ing" these cooks??? For using too much salt or something? Talk about Survivor! This is what would make it much more amusing or entertaining to me, would get it on Fox, where it too belongs, and really elevate it to the truly great trashy TV genre that is all of the "hallmark" reality TV shows like 'Big Brother' and the like. When they're "86ing" the offending cook, light the saute pan up like a gong, Motley Crue style, with a decent cognac, used for deglazing some wonderful lobster dish, something like that, and bang the cook over the head with it! ← I worked under a chef who had worked under Robuchon for 5-6 years if I recall correctly. Patrick was always kind, goes to show that not everyone walks away from similiar experiences with similiar attitudes. Patrick very kindly told the kitchen staff to teach me everything. True the things described happen in French kitchens, but there is a sensationalistic element to some of the descriptions. As if they are cool and happen more often than they actually do. What is that saying? Something like the further away from the source a story gets, the taller the story? When I started at 14 I was a full grown man, 6 feet tall and 185 pounds. I'm skinnier now. No chef ever gave me shit. The attitude I had back then was the same I have now. I tell my students all the time be humble. I see no need to humiliate people into humility with knee jerk reactions and plate throwing. I'm not exactly soft-spoken and passive either with staff and students. I've never found a need to be more that simply stern. Maybe I'll write a book about it one of these days. If my wife didn't read the boards I have some stories to tell about all the French girlfriends I had. The story of legendary Moors are all true by the way... ← Wow, chefzadi. Thanks for your perspective as someone who has been a professional for many years. I was beginning to think that I was only one of the few here who felt that it was actually possible to motivate someone to achieve excellence or at least their best by treating them with decency and respect, along with the sincere desire to see them succeed. I suspected that we've been hearing more than a few war stories that have probably become more grandiose as the years go by. Maybe somewhere, someday on American television--God Know's it won't be Fox--someone could create a show with real people all around. Say, contestants who want a career in the restaurant business with backgrounds that give them a real shot at achieving their goals; an intelligent, talented chef with the right mixture of discipline and encouragement; set in a real fledgling restaurant -- with nothing scripted. Afterall, real life is often more than enough drama for people to handle.

Thanks for reviving this thread. I really needed a few laughs today. While I really cannot stand a lot of popular brews--Miller, Miller Lite, Bud Lite, Coronas, etc. without a doubt, hands down the absolutely worst is: Haffenreffer "Private Stock" Malt Liquor. Apparently this stuff has quite the cult following on the internet as in the following link (quite hilarious, really): http://www.falstaffbrewing.com/haffenreffer.htm As this website mentions it also went by various names: aka, Private Stock, P-stock, Heff's, Heffy's, Haffy, Haffen-wrecker, Green Death, Ghetto Torpedo, Green Grenades, Green Lightning, Liquid Crack, Booty Juice, Death in a Bottle, Haffen - Reefer........................ This was my college-girl-helper many moons ago. Back then, it came in a 6 pack of 16 oz. green bottles. And I actually liked it back then. The scary part was, I never got sick off of the stuff as so many upthread have said about their bad beer/malt liquor misadventures. Many years after college, I got an attack of nostalgia when I spotted it in a liquor store. Ah, Haffenreffer, I remember that; why not see if it still has that old Haffenreffer magic? I actually bought a six pack of the stuff, took a swig, and could not bring myself to even swallow it!!! What was I thinking? I don't even think I was able to give that stuff away to anyone.

Thanks, fifi. I'll check that thread out. Hope I didn't gross everyone out with my "sucking of the bones" comment. Just no way to say that in a ladylike way I guess!

Daniel normally I would totally agree with you but those 'customers' know it is a tv show and a reality one at that! I think they are looking for it. Why else would they go up and complain to the chef about a wait for food? On that track, who would wait 2 hours for food??? These people know what is going on and are obviously willing to play the game (IMO). I actually think Ramsey likes women, you can tell by the way he treats Elisa or whatever the turkey taco women's name is. The show scares me! ← Show or not, I was taught not to speak to a woman that way..And even if they knew they were in a show, i am sure they werent looking for such a disrespect.. However disgusting i thought the treatment of the four blonds was, the one that got me the most upset was when he cursed at the women and man standing there.. They seemed like really normal people not looking for face time.. ← Well Daniel, it's men like you that give me hope. As the first episode was the last episode I watched, and I have no intentions of watching anymore, I can only comment on what I read here. So far, it sounds like the show is going as I expected. While I agree little miss foodie that each person on the show is definitely fake, it is the depiction of disrespect and humiliation as entertainment that I object to. Some of the worst cases of abuse against women that I have encountered involved men who can be "charming." Actually most abusive men are very charming unless they are dealing with the object(s) of their abuse. The way GR treats Elisa is pretty classic abusive male behavior--he's depicting an abusive male who has deemed her worthy of decent treatment. Again, I know it's all fake. No need for more responses to tell me so. Also, I'm not try to tell anyone who loves this type of tv what they should like or dislike. It just that before people become abusers, they generally have to become comfortable with the idea and acceptability of abuse, that somehow it's okay. It gives me pause that this sort of behavior, though scripted, communicates just that. Television's current comfort level with these depictions is what concerns me.

Hi fifi. The method I learned was to rinse the smoked neck bones, but not to soak or blanch them. I guess it depends on how overwhelming the smokiness is to you. I never found it all that overwhelming. I also suppose it depends on where you buy them. Like any other ingredient there will be variables depending on the source: very salty, not salty at all, very smoky, mildly smoky, etc. A good way to control the smokiness but not eliminate all of that flavor is to use half smoked/half unsmoked fresh neckbones. Anyway, my mom would have just place the neckbones in a large pot with cold water, add the beans--after she had picked over them and rinsed them--bring the pot to a boil and then bring it down to a simmer and let it slowly cook. I sometimes add onions and garlic at this time; sometimes not. I NEVER ADD ANY SEASONING UNTIL NEAR THE END, USUALLY THE LAST HOUR OF COOKING SINCE I NEVER KNOW HOW MUCH SALT WILL BE GIVEN BY THE NECK BONES, HOCKS, ETC. PLEASE NOTE: MY MOTHER NEVER SOAKED HER BEANS AND SO NEITHER DO I. I actually prefer doing it this way even though it means a longer cooking time. I guess I'm just a slow food kind of person. I usually let the pot simmer for 2-3 hours and then add any aromatics--if you haven't already added them. The last hour of cooking is when I add the vegetables (or not, depending on my mood). Carrots, celery, more onions, garlic, can of Rotel tomatoes, juice of one lemon, black pepper and Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning--for God's sake, if it comes with a seasoning packet, throw it away--and the hot sauce of your choice. I sometimes mash the beans to get a creamy consistency to the pot. That's it. Hope this helps. P.S. -- I know this is REAL COUNTRIFIED, but we always left the bones in since part of the joy of a dish like this is sucking the meat and juices from the bone. But to each his/her own.

Thank you chefzadi, Adam--gorgeous photo--, Pan, Swisskaese, Suzy. All of this information has given me more to consider than I ever imagined. I feel a little silly, though, since my questions are likened to someone posting a question to the forum about what is the correct mix of spices for making chili in the U.S. chefzadi, I think I'll take your advice, relax and experiment with different combinations. And not forget to have fun with it. Thanks to all of you.