phatj

I don't get it. You start with pickles, and make pickles out of them?

I definitely want to try the Enchiladas Verdes. The Pasta with Olives, Garlic and Herbs looks good too, although I'm skeptical of the addition of bread crumbs. The recipe for Grilled Sausages with Onions amused me. Not that it's impossible to screw up, but any idiot with a grill can make this just fine.

Just received the July/August 2008 issue. One of its recipes is titled "Reviving the Original Drive-In Burger." It involves grinding meat at home, which I'm not opposed to, but eschews the traditional chuck due to "rubberiness, dryness and lack of beef flavor," opting instead for a considerably more complicated and expensive combination of sirloin tip and boneless short ribs. What the heck? Chuck is ideal for burgers precisely because it's inexpensive, fatty and has great beefy flavor. Has anyone had a real problem with flavor or texture of burgers made from home-ground chuck?

The PTFE (teflon) in non-stick coatings breaks down under high heat plus it's susceptible to mechanical damage, so it probably wouldn't last long. Plus super-heated teflon releases stuff into the air that you're probably better off not breathing. ← "High heat" as in what we're cooking with? So you're saying it breaks down in our pots and pans, as well, using this same heat to cook with. What about an anodized coated stove top? Is that any better? ← Sorry, I hadn't seen this thread for a couple of weeks. Yes, the teflon coating on pans breaks down under heat as well, which is why they caution not to heat them dry or use them in a very hot oven. I think the threshold temp is something like 450-500F, so it's pretty safe for most cooking but not good for very high-temp applications like searing and broiling. I don't really know much about anodized coatings. I recall a thread here once about Calphalon One "infused" anodized pans that totally lost the finish when used to braise something in an acidic sauce. I don't really have a cleaning problem with the enamel finish on my cooktop, though, except for the gunk that gets cooked onto the catch trays under the burners. That's basically like the "seasoning" on cast-iron and almost impervious.

Ew. Mountain Dew flavored Doritos? I had Doritos called Spicy Sweet Chili recently. They tasted as if they'd been dusted with chicken flavor Ramen noodle seasoning packets.

I smoked a smallish chuck roast (~3 lb pot roast size) yesterday. I was amazed how long it took. I had it in the "smoker" (gas grill with soaked wood chips directly on top of the burner baffle) for three hours, then in the oven for probably 2-3 more. It didn't come out pullable, but I really didn't let it cook long enough. I was amazed how long it took. The grill temp averaged 225-250F, and the oven was at 225. Lest you think the thermometer in the grill was reading high, I had another hunk in the oven at 225 the whole time, and its internal temp was a bit lower than the one from the grill when I moved it to the oven. The meat hit the stall or plateau at about 150F. I was expecting it to be similar to pork butt, which I recall is about 170. It stuck longer than I was expecting, too, for a piece of meat that was only about 2 inches thick. Anyway, I took it off at about 155 because I was starving and impatient. The taste was excellent, but it was fairly tough. The other piece I left in the oven until it hit 170F and it was much more tender.

Quite possibly my favorite dish in the summer: Caprese Salad. Ripe tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. S&P and olive oil don't count, but maybe drizzle with balsamic if you're so inclined.

The PTFE (teflon) in non-stick coatings breaks down under high heat plus it's susceptible to mechanical damage, so it probably wouldn't last long. Plus super-heated teflon releases stuff into the air that you're probably better off not breathing.

I've noticed a distinct odor of ammonia with old mushrooms.

Speaking of inauthentic Asian dishes, I just remembered that I very much like the Sesame Noodles with Shredded Chicken recipe from Sept. '04. I'm not sure what an authentic recipe would be, but I don't imagine it would include peanut butter. Tonight I made the Lasagna with Hearty Meat Sauce from The New Best Recipe. My first attempt at a standard lasagna, and it turned out quite good. Not earth-shattering but a good basic recipe with room for experimentation.

No "kind" really -- a mash-up of various recipes I've seen. Basically, it's leg of lamb meat & onions with a homemade version of the standard supermarket curry powder (I toasted & ground the spices myself) cooked in yogurt & coconut milk. I added the tomatoes right at the end, because I like tomatoes and it seemed like a good idea. Pretty far from any traditional Indian or SE Asian curry I suppose but I liked it.

Lamb curry with grape tomatoes and brown basmati rice:

I bought rice today, not because of fear of rationing, but because I was out and needed it. 5 lbs of white long grain Carolina rice was $4.79. A 2 lb bag of Lundberg organic brown Basmati from California was quite expensive at $5.69, but not unexpected for an organic specialty rice.

Reminds me of the Simpsons episode in which Lisa becomes a vegetarian. Homer says to her, "Lisa, this is lamb, not a lamb."

A couple personal favorite CI recipes I like that I haven't seen mentioned... Arroz a la Mexicana (Mexican Rice, a pilaf cooked with pureed tomatoes, onions & chiles) Mushroom Risotto (I've never actually made any other recipe, so I can't compare this to anything, but it's pretty darn tasty) Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi (Four cheese pasta, a grown-up macaroni & cheese. This actually is from The New Best Recipe.)

Is that burning gel something other than Sterno? Because Sterno has a pretty unpleasant odor as it burns, if I remember correctly. I don't think I'd want my food in an enclosed space with Sterno fumes.

I agree with this 100%. My only complaint with Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen is the somewhat underhanded marketing of their cookbooks. I ordered one a few years ago and now I can't get rid of them. I keep hoping if I keep sending them back eventually they'll get the hint.

Chicken Thighs Stuffed with Feta, Peppers & Sun-Dried Tomatoes Serves 4 as Main Dish. Wondering what I could do with some somewhat elderly Feta cheese in the fridge, I thought maybe stuffed chicken would be fun. A red bell pepper, some sun-dried tomatoes and other sundries finished the dish. Yum! 4 oz Feta cheese, crumbled 1 red bell pepper, seeded & chopped 8 oil-cured sun-dried tomatoes, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 T minced fresh thyme leaves salt & freshly-ground black pepper to taste 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, pounded flat 1 T olive oil 1. Pre-heat oven to 350F. 2. In a food processor, pulse pepper, tomatoes, garlic, thyme and salt & pepper until finely minced. Add Feta and process until well-combined. 3. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the cheese mixture onto one half of each thigh, and fold the other half over. 4. Heat a heavy skillet or saute pan over high heat. When the pan is hot, add oil, then carefully place the thighs in the pan. Cook until well-browned (~5 min.), then turn over and brown the other side. 5. Transfer skillet to oven & bake for ~15 minutes. Serve with hot pasta and a simple tomato sauce. Keywords: Main Dish, Easy, Chicken, Dinner ( RG2121 )

Pretty good, yup. I think next time I would keep the leftover stuffing for something else, though (it would have been a kick-ass dip, for instance). The richness of the sauce was overkill with the stuffed chicken.

Chicken thighs, boned and pounded flat, then stuffed with a mixture of feta cheese, minced red pepper and sun-dried tomatoes, seasoned with garlic & thyme. The leftover stuffing was combined with a simple tomato sauce and the lot was served over linguine.

I don't know about that particular recipe, but I've made a "Mexican lasagna" that I like quite a lot. I know lasagna isn't Mexican, of course, but hey, I'm neither Mexican nor Italian so it doesn't offend me. What was wrong with the recipe?

Awesome! I'm glad you liked the potstickers. As an aside, this may be the first time I've ever had anyone else actually try one of my recipes (and comment on it, anyway). *Does little happy dance*

Good God that's nightmare fuel. Nice work.

I read that as following a formula, or recipe, vs. coming up with your own recipe and innovating. ← I understand the distinction, but now how it would affect my point -- either way, I wouldn't be able to tell whether the soup was good, because I hate asparagus.

I think the difference there would depend on whether you were making an asparagus soup or creating an asparagus soup. ← I don't understand.