divalasvegas

Or worse, "so much better for you" salt free potato chips, pretzels or pork rinds. *** shudders *** Oh, the humanity!

In response to the original topic, I often make a large batch of very, very basic tomato/pasta sauce from pantry staples. The usual suspects: Whole, peeled tomatoes Tomato sauce or puree Tomato paste Olive oil Fresh minced garlic (several cloves) Crushed red pepper flakes (if I have them on hand, which I usually do, I'll add a bay leaf) I sweat the garlic in the olive oil, then slightly turn up the heat and add the tomato paste working it into the olive oil and garlic to cook off the rawness and concentrate the flavor. Then I stir in the tomato sauce/puree and the hand-crushed whole, peeled tomatoes and a little crushed red pepper flakes. I also will add some water since I'm looking for a sauce that's not too thick or thin and let it simmer for at least an hour, stirring occasionally. THAT'S IT. No herbs, onions, mushrooms, carrots, celery, bell pepper, etc., not even salt or black pepper or even wine. I then freeze the sauce in different sized containers to be used later for a variety of uses. For instance, if I want to make a hearty sauce featuring meatballs and/or Italian sausage that's when I'll add red wine, more minced garlic, chopped onion and bell peppers, and sliced mushrooms. I'll also also add small amounts of dried herbs (oregano, basil, rosemary), usually no more than two types, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, probably some more red pepper flakes, and let that simmer. If it's a lighter sauce for seafood, then I'll add white wine, more garlic, minced red or yellow onion or shallots, red pepper flakes, fresh ground black pepper, a squeeze of lemon, only one type of herb (either basil or oregano), little or no salt, simmer then add the seafood. I really like seared scallops and shrimp. In both of the above cases any vegetables to be added are sauteed first in olive oil and then the wine is added and reduced before adding the sauce. And for when I'm really feeling lazy, it's also pretty good all by itself (adding a little salt and fresh ground pepper) over pasta, sometimes tossing the pasta with a bit of butter before adding the sauce, with just some grated parmesan. I think I remember hearing about doing this on Sara Moulton's former show Cooking Live when, as I recall, Martin Scorsese was a guest promoting his family's cookbook and mentioned that his family would add some butter to hot pasta before saucing. Very tasty.

Actually, it was first trans-fats and now salt. ← Don't forget HF corn syrup. But when they go after my beloved MSG, I'm leaving! ← I don't know if you saw the recently repeated Food Network episode of the show Food Detectives hosted by Ted Allen savvysearch but this particular episode was about the alleged adverse health effects of MSG. The show went on the street and advertised the opening of a brand new Chinese restaurant and offered passersby a free meal with the condition that they would give their honest opinions about the meals they ate. What the participants didn't know was that the room would be divided by those that were given meals prepared with MSG and those that weren't. After everyone had been served and eaten their meals the diners were asked if they could detect physical symptoms of MSG. The room was divided in half where one side was given food prepared with MSG and other side wasn't. Interestingly the side that had been served meals without MSG reported all kinds of "symptoms" such as headaches, nausea, pressure under their eyes, etc. When informed that they hadn't ingested any MSG, well, it was quite comical IMHO to see their baffled looks. Ted Allen and the food scientist who appeared with him went on to say that MSG is a natural component of a lot of foods that people eat all the time such as beef, mushrooms, parmesan cheese and especially konbu, the seeweed used in Japan to make delicious broths. The conclusion of the show was that there was no scientific basis for the food scare widely disseminated regarding MSG and that the ingredient itself had gotten a bad rap. I wonder what the next "bad food" will be the target of government intervention?

Thanks MikeJ for the link to the Dave Barry article since I'm having a particularly grumpy day and needed a laugh. Love, love, love me some Dave Barry. Probably anything will go up in flames in a toaster that doesn't pop up, though. My only reason for proposing the royal icing was to see what else is in the repetoire of that mad kitchen scientist gfron1 in his amazing deconstruction/reconstruction of the lowly Pop Tart, um sorry, Rob Tart.

These just look crazy wonderful! I like chefpeon's idea about take home piping bags of frosting. I was wondering gfron1 if you used a variation of royal icing on the top--a more natural and tasty version of what Pop Tarts does--could they be toasted in a toaster oven?

For what it's worth, I tend to use project's method/list of ingredients when making my pasta/red sauce (with or without meat). I usually have everything on that list in my pantry (except for the Chianti; must get a not-too-expensive bottle of that on my limited budget). I especially appreciate how you cook the onions to create the fond--never did that before, but I will. I'd never heard of slkinsey's simple and delicious sounding recipe, and I happen to have all THREE of those ingredients on hand as well. Decisions, decisions, whatever shall I do? Both? What really sent that one over the top is the ability to add a couple more ingredients and make homemade cream of tomato soup. Thanks to you both. Not today though. Today it's a big ol' pot of chicken-vegetable-barley-garlic-lemon-saffron soup!

I think that the book, Mediterranean Light by Martha Rose Shulman should fit the bill nicely for you CDRFloppingham. I actually own this one and have used recipes from it. There's a lot to like about it in my opinion. For one thing, it incorporates recipes from several cuisines: European (French, Italian, Greek, Spanish, Portuguese); North African (Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia); and the many cuisines of the Middle East. Her chapters are divided into different categories--soups, starters, side dishes, breads, etc.--that allow you to build an entire daily menu of healthy eats. I especially think that this time of year, with so much wonderful produce starting to come into season, would be a great time to start a new eating plan using this book (note, I didn't say the word "diet") because of her heavy use of fresh fruits and vegetables. In addition, her extensive use of, and guidelines for using, a wide variety of herbs and spices is most appealing. Some of the issues I have with the book are minor but worth stating. For one, the version I have has no photos and I love glossy, food porn photos. Also, I find her use of olive oil to be unnecessarily stingy, but to her credit she is promoting low fat; I found that adding a little more olive oil doesn't hurt. As far as meats are concerned, for the purposes of this book, she only advocates the use of chicken, fish/shellfish and rabbit. Since, I'm a red meat type of woman, I really don't think it would hurt to substitute sensible portions of lower in fat red meats perhaps once or twice a week. Finally, I find some of her suggestions to be a bit carb heavy but that's easily resolved I think: eat less carbs than she recommends and more of her tasty vegetable dishes. Quoting FatGuy: "If your goal is to find recipes that produce food that is lower in fat and calories -- or carbs or whatever -- than what you're currently eating then the best thing to do, in my opinion, is go through the best cookbooks you can find and extract the recipes that naturally fit into your model of a good diet. If you're trying to cut out fat, you'll find that a lot of Mediterranean recipes are very good for that. If you're trying to cut out carbs, you'll find lots of protein-heavy recipes in most any classically oriented cookbook. You can also make some modifications to some recipes without breaking them." I think his advice is perfect for how to approach this book. I generally use cookbooks/recipes as guidelines anyway and found her recipes and advice to be pretty easy to follow with great results. It's available on both Amazon and Jessica's Biscuit. Good luck!

I seem to recall reading that Julia Child was not at all enthusiastic or impressed by the whole Julie/Julia project. My impression was that she was rather irritated by the venture. My feeling upon hearing about the project at the time was basically that someone was seeking fame and fortune by latching onto Julia and her cookbook. Perhaps this was Child's feeling as well? I don't know. If true, and they've reduced this remarkable woman to a Saturday Night Live caricature, it makes me less than likely to see the movie though I know that Julia Child said she loved the way Dan Akroyd spoofed her on SNL.

Where to begin? I too have to deal with an entire kitchen obviously designed by a sadist! I house share, so I can honestly say that I had absolutely nothing to do with the layout or design of the space. Our "kitchen" is as follows: If you feel claustrophobic in your kitchen kitchensqueen, you would be hyperventilating by the time you finished cooking in this matchbox. When you open the refrigerator door you are essentially pinned to the sink and counter. Almost ditto when you open the oven door. Maybe Chris could please send us some of his unused space. At least you have stainless steel david. All we have is a gnarly, white (porcelain, I guess?) way too small sink that stays all scratched up from pots and pans. Scouring it is an exercise futility. Half of the totally fugly cabinets are located ABOVE AND BEHIND the stove and refrigerator and since I'm vertically challenged (okay, short ) it's very difficult for me to use the ones over the stove and in essence there's no way without risking your life to use any of the cabinet space above the refrigerator. HOW STUPID IS THAT!? The cabinets I use for storing my personal food items has a top shelf that is totally inaccesible to me. I'm guessing that the sadistic designer was very, very tall. Dianabanana I actually envy you your f******g gas range since we have ELECTRIC! Dear God how I hate an electric stove. I'd never cooked on one until I moved here. With a gas stove I can look at the height of the flame and know exactly how the food will cook. With this "thing" you have to dial the right number! I can't even count how much food I've burnt since having to "cook" on this thing. As for you chrisamirault at least you have a functioning ice maker. Yep, that doesn't work either. There's more but I have to stop because just writing all of this is giving me agita too.

Thanks david. I was hoping to get some insight from a professional like yourself as to whether you would find these regulations burdensome. Considering how many millions of people patronize the chains mentioned in the CSPI article each year, it would be helpful if they could let the consumer know exactly what they're eating. However, I wonder if people who regularly eat at these establishments would really care or change their food choices if the information was provided to them. I don't know about you, but I was actually quite shocked at the very high levels of sodium in the meals cited. I wonder how the sodium levels of similar dishes/entrees from make it from scratch restaurants compare to the chains? I know that you say that most of the sodium is processed junk, but whenever I see chefs demonstrating a recipe on tv they're usually pretty liberal with the salt (and not shy about the butter either ). I love well seasoned, tasty food and wonder if made from scratch would fare any better under the glare of the CSPI than the chains.

I saw a report yesterday from the CSPI--Centers for Science in the Public Interest–sounding the alarm regarding restaurants’ use of salt in their dishes. I went online and found these two articles from their organization published recently and another from 2005 as linked here: May 11, 2009 article and November 14, 2005 article. The most recent CSPI report specifically cites chain restaurants and their high–in their organization's opinion–levels of sodium in certain meals. I have to admit that I found several of those restaurant meals highlighted to be pretty darned high in milligrams of sodium. In their 2005 article it seems that they were mostly focused on processed foods but now seem to want the federal government to regulate sodium levels in both processed and restaurant foods. From their November 2005 report: “Salt should be treated as a food additive for the purposes of regulation, with strict limits placed on the salt content of processed foods, according to a petition sent by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week. “ From their article entitled “Heart Attack Entrees with Side Orders of Stroke.” dated May 11, 2009: “The consumer health group is calling for the FDA to revoke the ‘generally recognized as safe’ (GRAS) status of salt in a move to force the food manufacturers to reduce sodium levels in processed foods." I wanted to garner your opinions on the subject as I have mixed feelings about the role of government in this matter. On the one hand I appreciate that the government, via the FDA, has mandated that sodium levels be listed on the labels of processed foods so that the consumer can make an informed decision about what they are about to purchase. Personally, I purchase very little in the way of processed foods since I mostly cook from scratch and also have consciously tried to lower the levels of salt in what I prepare for both health and money saving reasons. However, I have a certain level of discomfort about the government burdening an already beleaguered restaurant industry as well as the food processing industry in this horrible economy with more regulations. I believe in providing consumers with as much information as possible about what's in our food but I also believe that we as consumers are smart enough to make our own decisions–given accurate information–about what to feed ourselves and our families, but I’d like to know what all of you think about this issue.

Hi fendi_pilot from what you wrote, I don't think you're interested in dropping $350.00 for one of these but this link shows a pretty detailed series of photos of how it works: La Caja China. You said you would be able to figure out how to build it yourself, so I hope these pictures help. Essentially is a large outdoor charcoal fired oven on wheels. Food writer/critic Jeffrey Steingarten has called the results "pig candy" which is of course a good thing! Good luck.

Season with Creole seasoning and fresh black pepper. Then coat with egg wash and then flour and fry it--the best way is to use a well seasoned cast iron skillet--the same way chicken fried steak is made. When golden, brown and delicious remove from the frying pan to drain. Drain away all but a couple of tablespoons of the delicious fat and lightly saute some diced onion, then add flour to make a roux, add some water to deglaze and then enough milk to make a cream gravy, seasoned to taste. Best served with mashed potatoes and hearty greens like kale, mustard, collard, turnip or a mixture of those. YUM! And don't forget to invite me for dinner.

It's so funny/interesting Shalmanese that you refer to pork neck bones as being virtually unknown in the West since eating them is a very tasty memory for me growing up. I had no idea that they were a staple of Chinese cuisine. Only recently I was telling someone about my mom's very simple, very cheap rendition of pinto beans using fresh pork neck bones. As you probably know, they are also sold cured/smoked. However, she only used the fresh ones which we purchased at our local supermarket. She was a fabulous Southern-style cook and these were added to a pot of dried pinto beans along with onions, seasoning salt, and black pepper, water to cover and simmered for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The resultant dish was delicious and soothing served over rice with greens (like collard, turnip, or mustard greens) on the side and hot buttered cornbread. That--and one's favorite hot sauce to taste--was it. It was so good and, as you've indicated, the meat is tender, gelatinous, porky goodness meant to be eaten using your fingers to get every last yummy morsel. Thanks for the tip to shop for them at an Asian grocery store/market for reasonably priced neck bones since like so many "garbage cuts" it's often hit or miss finding them nowadays in supermarkets on a regular basis and even then they're often overpriced in my opinion.

I'd like to think that I'd have enough class and decency to take it out on BRAVO especially since Carla has gone out of her way to not blame this creepy woman or throw her under the bus and takes complete responsibility for her decisions. She (Carla) has even ask that people not dump on Casey. BTW, I'm sure she hasn't had the guts to say all this to Carla's face. She's still a skanktified ho to me.

Indeed. And a skanky, dumb ho at that. I mean it took her TWO DAYS to make the sauce? There was a three-hour time limit you twit. Casey, please go back to your hometown of Skankville and the leave the rest of us the Hell alone.

Actually, the cut of beef used by contestant Carla was referred to as sirloin and the resulting texture was deemed tough by the judges. She and her sous chef had a three hour time limit. Is that not long enough to properly cook sirloin via the sous vide method or is that method inadvisable with that cut of meat? I know nothing about sous vide but marvel a the glorious food you are all able to prepare with this technique. Just awful that her sous chef would suggest a method of cooking she herself obviously didn't know how to do properly.

Oh Carla, Carla, Carla...... sis, sister, sistah girl, you were THIS CLOSE. But I could sense the impending doom when she said something to the effect of "sous vide? I've never done it before, but that sounds great" (or something like that). I know sous vide is "hot" but the closest I've ever gotten to sous vide is boil in bag chipped beef on toast which would put us in the same boat when it comes to that cooking style. I actually let out a wail when she made that decision. And, if nothing else, end with a killer dessert, which had been her strong suit. To allow your sous chef with whom you've never cooked before and with whom you have no history to be that influential on the choice of the last two courses of the meal of your life is just unbelievable. I was really pulling for her though I knew she would be the underdog against Stefan and Hosea. Ultimately she forgot to stick with what got her this far and lacked the confidence to follow her first instincts and her heart. I actually had tears in my eyes as she and the others stood before the judges since I could see that she was well aware that she had blown it. All in all though, she's still a sweet lady and a class act. Unlike many here, I've never disliked Stefan and even found him funny and charming. He really won me over with his obvious compassion and concern for Carla. I thought that was very sweet in that regard. I was really taken aback that he froze his fish and sacrificed taste over presentation. I fully expected him to be in the finals and couldn't believe how he stumbled with that decision especially after pulling off a very well received alligator soup appy. Congrats to Hosea who really gave it his all tonight. He earned the title of Top Chef and I'm happy for him. I remember him mentioning that he was the only one of the final three who didn't have his own business. I hope he uses his winnings to realize that dream. Finally, Rocco "bored with foie gras" are you? I'm with Branford Marsalis: give me all the foie gras you got and keep it coming!

Although I hate to admit it, I'd actually eat AND ENJOY several of the items posted on this website. The ones I'd try would be the Chicken Fried Bacon w/Gravy (already a topic on eG), the deep fried Oreos, a personalized Lankford's Gluttoneer (ditch the hot link sausage, use deli mustard and get some really good cheddar on that bad boy), and the Thurmanator, but with onion rings on the side instead of potato chips. The two items that truly did make me queasy were the McDonald's Big Mac/McChicken thingy and that ham and cheese sand-twich covered with sunny side up eggs. Blechhhh Yuck! Now I'm going to get something really healthy to eat to atone for all these illicit food cravings.

That's what Tom says happened. ← Yes, yes I totally understand that this show is, as are all "reality tv" shows, heavily edited. But what I'm trying to say is a couple of things: 1) that the divide between the judges' comments as aired on how stellar Jeff's dish was and the blogged comments that it tasted like sterno is vast. In other words, how in the world would a judge be able to begin to heap that kind of praise on anything that in any way tasted like fuel in the first place? 2) secondly, I guess I'm just putting myself in Jeff's place as to how I would feel (actually Jeff was shown commenting on feeling good about the positive response to his dishes) initially receiving such praise only to later discover on a blog that my dish was anything but wonderful. I understand the soulless producers trying to maximize the suspense but still, IMHO, a crappy way to treat a person nonetheless, which I know happens all the time on these shows. Yes, I really AM that sensitive; just a big 'ol mound of human marshmallow fluff.

Poor or brilliant, depending on one's viewpoint. If the idea was to give the impression that all five were still in the running, they succeeded. ← Oh well, I guess I've been naive enough to think that if a judge/judges present glowing comments on a contestant's food, they actually mean it. May be it's just me, but to tell someone to their face and on national television, how much you adored their dish and how much they nailed it only to later state on your blog how the dish tasted like sterno is not just misleading or poor editing, it's LYING and unnecessarily hurtful as well, in my book. Oh Tom, how so very tacky.

Yeah, but I don't think anyone could be really adept at pairing food with wine without deep experience. The range of flavor possibilities is too vast. ← Pairing wine and food and cooking wine and food are two separate isssues. I'm a great cook. i love a good wine. But to say I know how to a certain wine with a certain food, I wouldn't even try. I drink what I like.... ← Me too! What a relief, I'm not alone.

Yeah, but I don't think anyone could be really adept at pairing food with wine without deep experience. The range of flavor possibilities is too vast. ← Yes oakapple that's what I was trying to say, but you nailed it far more succinctly than I could. Again, taking into consideration my very limited understanding of wine, I would assume that wine appreciation/pairings is an ongoing learning experience the subtleties of which would be quite difficult for someone to master even if they used to drink wine. I just remember Carla saying quite definitively "I don't drink" and seemed to exclude doing so even in social settings.

Thanks rconnelly and ulterior epicure for those insights. Personally, I'm still a work in progress about wine and food pairings and not even close to achieving the wine knowledge of a lot of folks on eG. However, I do know that depending on the pairing the "right" wine and food together can range from good to great to ethereal, the sort of nuance I thought that only someone who is consistently actually tasting/experimenting with these pairings on a regular basis could understand and appreciate which, IMHO, surpasses having a working knowledge of wine/food pairings or which wine or spirit is the best choice when preparing a dish. But again, what the heck do I know? BTW, do most/all top end restaurants have sommeliers? Again, I have no idea. Edited for clarification.

One thing popped out at me about last night's show. Carla decided to depart from the rest of the contestants and make a non-alcoholic cocktail/drink for the event, explaining to some of the guests that she doesn't drink and often ends up drinking water when attending parties or other events. However, early in this episode she's seen raising a glass of champagne along with the other contestants which came in a goodie basket provided by the Louisiana tourist board I think. She wasn't actually seen drinking it though. My question is can someone actually be a top chef and not drink alcoholic beverages at all? In particular I'm thinking that chefs at the top of their game should have some expertise on how to flavor foods with wine or other spirits and especially need to be knowledgeable about how different wines pair with their finished dishes. Just asking since I have no idea. And I too am sorry to see Fabio depart. I think he's very sweet and funny and definitely has talent. The pasta and bread he made looked amazing and at least he got credit for that.