phatj

I've always found that as long as I reduce the heat for the onions or other veg that the moisture they release is enough to deglaze the pan, saving a step.

Yes, I did make gremolata and stashed it in the fridge and then completely forgot about it when I served it. It did go on the leftovers for lunch today though and was even more delicious.

Verdict: awesome. No pics unfortunately. I did screw up the risotto though; the flavor was good but it was a gummy mess.

Thanks. I'll be cooking it tomorrow.

I have a small quantity of highly-reduced homemade veal stock in the freezer which I've been saving for the right dish - would this be it, or would it be overkill? I also have some rich chicken stock on hand, plus some liquid consisting of red wine & beef drippings flavored with garlic, thyme and rosemary. I'm leaning towards the chicken stock plus a bit of the wine/beef liquid and saving the veal stock for something where it can really shine.

I'll catch it now, but I like fish sticks. I'll join you, I like them too. With tartar sauce. Not my first choice now, but I credit them as being the first step on the slippery slope of learning to love fish as a kid. Me too. Fish sticks, and their close relative, the breaded, fried/baked fish fillets (also served with tartar sauce) were among my favorite school lunches as a lad in the early '80s. We had fresh fish somewhat frequently at dinner when I was growing up, but it took me until adulthood to really appreciate it. Now I love it.

I'm willing to take the Cheetos & Yogurt Challenge. I wouldn't pour a bowl of Cheetos and fill it with yogurt, a la cereal and milk, but I bet Cheetos dipped in plain yogurt would be awesome.

I didn't even know there was a difference in celery until I got some from my CSA this summer. It was remarkably bitter. I used some in chicken salad where the strong flavor didn't overwhelm but I wouldn't use it in most raw applications.

I like a smooth blend except for the pine nuts. I toast them, then chop them coarsely with a knife and stir into the pesto along with shredded parm.

My bottle of sriracha's "Best by" date was June of this year. I feel like I'm doing something wrong.

A few years ago I bought a relatively inexpensive ($50) gyuto which I use as my main chef's knife. It had a tremendous edge when new and I steeled it regularly and it kept up pretty well but it's gotten past the point where steeling is enough. Is there a simple, easy, inexpensive method that's adequate for upkeep of a non-premium knife? If somebody *gave* me the Edge Pro Apex, I doubt I'd use it. Same for traditional stones. I'm talking about one of those electric grinder type gadgets or something similarly easy to use.

I remember once when I was a teenager I got this crazy idea that banana with mustard would be a good combination. I don't like banana particularly but I think it was OK.

Funny I see this just now. The chef where I work (an Aramark chef, no less) made a watermelon "gazpacho" which he topped with crumbled feta, a combination that never would have occurred to me. Sublime.

Lemon-Pepper Tilapia Zest of three lemons Freshly-ground black pepper to taste Olive oil to moisten Lemon juice Rub tilapia or similar fillets gently with the lemon pepper mixture, and let sit for 30 minutes or so. Place on a non-stick baking sheet and bake about 10 minutes at 400F, brushing with juice halfway through.

Oh. My. God. So, suppose I have no smoking apparatus aside from a gas grill (put wet wood chips in a disposable aluminum pan over a burner on one side, meat on the other, with the burner off), with no way to keep the temperature under about 225F. How closely could I approximate this?

We have not had a swarm, but far more of these things that I would like the last few summers here in SE Pennsylvania. They really freak me the hell out. I'm not sure I could deal with eating them unless they were shelled somehow.

I like their mint chocolate chip, largely for the reason that it isn't green.

If McDonald's puts cheese on a Filet-O-Fish, who am I to argue otherwise?

Fat. I don't have an exceptional quantity or variety of purchased oils and fats (olive oil, sesame oil, canola oil, butter and lard), but nearly every time I cook some animal product that involves skimming or draining fat, I invariably save the fat in some container in the fridge. Sometimes I even use it.

I've never had a foam qua foam, as I cannot afford to eat out often (ever, really) and I'm not sure there are any restaurants around here that use them. I will say that the photos I've seen have not looked particularly appetizing. However, I'm in the camp that finds that how a dish smells and tastes is far, far more important to my enjoyment than how it looks. But by the same token, I don't understand why you would go to the trouble of making a Tabasco foam when you could introduce a subtle Tabasco flavor to your lobster ravioli just by putting a little Tabasco in the filling - the easy path is also the more aesthetically pleasing to me. I'll grant that the foam could have a different textural effect, but isn't this extremely fleeting?

I had a B&D under-cabinet toaster oven that was ruined by a naughty cat, and I was dismayed to discover that they no longer sold them when I went to find a replacement. Apparently they sell them again now, though. I'll have to look for one because I've been without a toaster of any sort ever since.

Cool, I'll definitely look for one of these.

Resurrecting an old topic... I have owned both the Zyliss and the Oxo (which I use currently). The Zyliss I retired when the "axle" in the hinge came loose, but I didn't like it very much - the coating on the aluminum began to flake and I don't know what it consists of but I don't want metallic flakes in any of my consumables except Goldschlager. Also it wasn't very easy to clean; it may have come with a separate plunger thingy for cleaning the holes but I lost it; instead I spent a lot of time rubbing it under running water and even BLOWING into the basket to try to force bits of garlic out of the holes. On the good side, it did a good job of forcing the garlic through the holes, rather than back up the sides of the basket, and it wasn't terribly hard to press, not that that's a big issue for me. The Oxo I don't care much for either. It's dead easy to clean, for reasons noted elsewhere in this thread, but (also as noted) about 1/3 of every clove either gets squeezed up instead of down, or is left smashed but unpressed in the basket. My criteria for a garlic press are: 1. Effective at pressing garlic - very high percentage of garlic gets pressed through the grate without fuss. 2. Easy to clean - this rubbing with a toothbrush business mentioned upthread is not gonna fly. And if it requires a separate tool to ream out the holes, that's no good either. Such a thing must be integrated into the design (as in the Oxo) or not needed in the first place. 3. Not outrageously priced. Seems that America's Test Kitchen now favors the Kuhn Rikon Epicurean press. Anybody have direct experience? It seems to hit my first two criteria, but fails on the third, as it seems to be around $40. I can pay that if this truly, finally, is the garlic press I'm looking for but I'm hoping to find a cheaper alternative. Kuhn Rikon also makes a cheaper press, called the EZ-Squeeze or something like that, which appears to be similar to the Epicurean except that it's plastic construction, aside from the basket. It's a lot cheaper, at under $20, but I'm skeptical that it would hold up, as pressing garlic can take a lot of force at times. Again, anybody own one?

I bought the pre-peeled garlic in a huge tub from Costco once. I found the quality adequate when compared to the sprouting and/or moldering stuff I was getting in the supermarkets at the time. But I only used about half before it started to go. Next time I might freeze some for use in stews and such when fresh consistency isn't important.

Why not? That's what I called myself when I was actually cooking in a professional kitchen. Too vague to me.