jsmeeker

you can set them on a sheet pan if you want, but I don't. I find that with the small torch, I can control it enough that I won't set the laminate counter on fire.

the only nice thing about the small kitchen torches is they are small. That can be a plus in a little kitchen. I received one for a gift (not a W-S model, but a little plastic one). Sometimes, I have issues igniting it and getting it to burn properly after filling it. The mixture is too rich, I think, causing the flame to be orange/yellow and not a hot blue. But overall, it works OK. I'd like a true propane torch as suggested above, but I am not sure where I would store the thing.

I've eaten there. More than once.. And I usually get the orange chicken. I love dark meat chicken. The thighs are where it's at! (yes, I am a leg man)

You could try Fiesta Mart. It's a big place that caters more to the Hispanic crowd. Somewhere, there is discussion about an area Asian supermarket that is supposed to be pretty good.

you would have to read the specs, but I am willing to be that the clear ones can withstand heat in a way the white ones can not. That's not an issue with storing dry stuff like flour, sugar, rice, beans, etc. In my experience, the lids aren't "vacuum tight" I originally stored my brown sugar in one (white), just dumped in there, but it dried up. A slice of bread brought it back to life, but I now keep the brown sugar in the original plastic bag that it comes in from the store while it's in the container. Still, I've never ever had issues with bugs in the flour. I store that loose in a white one. Just open the bag and dump it in.

one thing to be aware of with the Cambro stuff. If you buy them from a restaurant supply store, the lids are typically sold seperately. So, be sure to factor in the cost of the lid when comparing prices if you buy them from King Arthur or wherever.

I had intended to make some on Sunday, but I realized I was almost out of flour. I didn't want to make a special trip to the store in the morning just to buy flour, as I was going to go out in mid-afternoon. So figured I would pick some up then. So, last night I made a basic pie crust dough (flour, sugar, salt, Crisco, butter, ice water). Made the filling, too. Diced some fresh peaches. Sprinkled with some sugar. Let them sit a bit to get juicy. Added a small pinch of cinnamon. Into a small sauce pan. Added heat to get them cooking. Then, added a small amount of a corn starch slurry. Got it up to a boil qucikly. Since the peaches were diced, it didn't take long to cook. Really, I am not totally sure of I over did it with this cooking. But they are cooked. Tonight, I'll roll out the dough and cut some small rounds using a biscuit cutter. Plop down some of the peach filling, fold it over, and crimp. Drop into hot oil (I am thinking 350) and cook till GBD. I guess it won't take too long. Remove from oil, place on rack. I'll glaze with a mixture of powdered sugar, water and a touch of lemon juice. This should work out, I think. It will be interesting to see what size they come to using the biscuit cutter I have. I also want to experiement with how far I can prepare these in advance. Can I cut dough, fill and seal, then keep them in the fridge for a day? Could I make them up that way, then freeze them? I'm thinking I could do the freeze for sure. Just like I pre-form drop cookies and then freeze them. Would the refrigerate method work OK? Or would it maybe be better to simple cut the dough into little rounds and somehow strore them like that, then assemble immediately prior to frying?

If I am not mistaken, they have aired all the episodes that have been produced. I think the show did well enough for them to produce more. If so, I hope they can knock come out and get them on the air.

Nice to hear. Aida + Anne (Secrets of a Restaurant Chef) == good things from Food Network recently.

I use the Cambro white containers as well for my flour. They are great.

not sure what to call it. Not sure if it's even a unique invention. In the summer issue of Imbibe magazine, there was a story on making your own ginger ale. The method for making ginger syrup was a bit different than what I have done previously. In this, chunks of fresh, unpeeled ginger go into a blender to chop it very fine.. Then into a sauce pan with sugar and a lot of water. Bring to boil. Simmer for an hour. This yielded a dark brown and very intense ginger syrup. But it's not very sweet. Reading the article, it suggested other uses for the syrup (apart from making the ginger ales). Applejack was mentioned. Since I had some in my cabinet, this is what I whipped up Laird's Apple Jack lemon juice the ginger syrup some simple syrup (for added sweetness ) shook it on ice. Tasted it. Not bad. tasted a tad lemony. I added a tiny bit more simple. Re-shook briefly. Better. But the ginger wasn't as prominent as I wanted. So, I added more ginger syrup.. This isn't too bad. I think I just need to tweak the proportions in the original mix. A bit less lemon. More of the ginger syrup. Don't know what to call it, but maybe "Jack with Ginger"?? (a "riff" on Jack Daniels with ginger ale)

maybe I can make Ming Tsai's "Blue Ginger Gimlet". Dunno why I didn't think about it before. I guess it sort of counts since Ming is Chinese. vodka lime juice ginger simple syrup Of course, you could make it with gin, too. Maybe I'll pick up some ginger and limes at the grocery store. But thanks for all the other suggestions. They are great. This is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.

thanks for the reminder. I need to setup my TiVo to record this show. I'm willing to give a try and see how well she does and if the format works.

Not sure why I didn't think of this a little bit earlier.. The 2008 Olympics are starting. Opening ceremony in Beijing is on TV right now here in the USA. If you had to make a cocktail that celebrated the Olympics in China, what would you make? I personally don't have any idea on where to start, so I hope our resident experts can come up with some ideas so we can toast the games throughout their duration.

Picasso is wonderful. If the like steak, there is Prime. For a more casual place, try Olives.

back in my highschool days, I was a fry cook at a local burger joint. Every day, at the start of myc shift, I would punch 150-200 pounds of potatoes, one by one, by hand. They went into a big sink filled with water. Then, into a very large plastic trash can which was wheeled out to the fryers. Then, the potatoes would all be blanched and placed into plastic bins. Then, when orders for frys came in, they would get the final cook to crisp them up. So, yeah, you can blanch them in advance. You should even be able to punch/cut them in advance of that.

Indeed. I like that technique. However, I'm less of a fan of the use of russets. I know that supposedly makes it "classic" but to me, that's a flaw in classic American potato salad. ← What would correct that flaw? I made this potato salad yesterday, and it was good, but it definitely ends up more like mashed potato salad. ← Different potatoes. A waxy one instead of starchy one like the russet. You could go with yukon golds or new potatoes. As far as differences? I suppose CI has had various recipes over the years and/or when people copy them onto their blog, they may make slight ingredient substitutions

Indeed. I like that technique. However, I'm less of a fan of the use of russets. I know that supposedly makes it "classic" but to me, that's a flaw in classic American potato salad.

As in best in the whole United States? I should get down to the West Village location. Not super close to me, but i'm not driving to Southlake for pizza.

I think and hope that Austin/Barbecue Mecca would get its own episode. ← you would hope. But then people might complain they did too many episodes with Texas. Personally, I'm glad Tony didn't bag on Texas in this episode. If he did come back to do a show on BBQ in the Austin/Central Texas area, I'm quite certain he would love it and would have to admit even more that Texas isn't so bad.

I've run into it before for large parties, but usually the number for a "large party" is higher than 6. Typically 8-10. But yeah, this can be a challenge when setting up a large group dinner. Really, what seems to be the biggest issue is special group menus. When everybody in the party is paying their own way, they tend to want to have a bit more control over what they can order. And really, who can blame them? Also, it's not unusual for their to be fairly wide differences in what people within a group are willing to pay for a meal. Not everyone out there is like a typical eGullet society member.

I believe Reinhart says speed is the enemy of the flavor. For your overnight rise in the fridge, could you tell if the flavor was better in that dough? I've done a lot of overnight rises for pizza dough, and it works if your yeast is good. Maybe your stash of yeast is on it's last legs? Did you have any sticking issues with the dough? Inspired by Fat Guy, I tried to make a simple pizza by shaping out dough into a sheet plan just like you did above. Disaster. Stuck like crazy.

Like Morgan, the idea of simplicity/automation is very appealing to me. Even if there are slightly higher operating costs involved, I think it would be worth it. I have a Weber Smoker, which gets the job done I suppose, but man...it is a pain to keep the temperature controlled. Keeping the fire going too, is no day of leisure. I might run down to Bass Pro Shops and pick one of these puppies up. My grandpa would probably roll over in his grave..."an electric smoker? not in my day..." ← Yeah.. I mean, if I am going to be smoking/cooking a lot of stuff in one, it would probably mean that I was having a party or something. And that would mean I would probably be making OTHER stuff, too. Having to constantly fiddle with a more conventional smoker (especially one fueld by wood/charcoal) would be a lot of work. Also, for someone NEW to the world of smoking (that would be me), how bad would it suck if you spent a lot of money on briskets and spent time making a rub and all that, only to screw up the cooking of it because you stuggled with more conventional smoking methods. Just think how cool it would be if they really tricked out the digital smoker and added an 802.11 WiFi interface to it. You could monitor the thing and control it from inside the house using your computer. Or, you could have a little app running on your iPhone.

Once I start living in a place where I can actually keep a smoker, grill, etc., I would seriously consider something like this. It would be nice to be able to do both hot and cold smoking, and I don't think that's really possible using just a grill. Seems like some sort of dedicated smoker would be best. Like Morgan, the idea of simplicity/automation is very appealing to me. Even if there are slightly higher operating costs involved, I think it would be worth it. I just wonder if enough people had the Bradely, would other companies make the special "bisquettes" just like multiple companies make those coffee pod things for all of the various cup at a time pod coffee machines.

Lots of good advice so far. I'll add one more piece. Take a hands on knife skills class at a local cooking school. Maybe they are offerered at a local fancy grocery store. Or at a retail store like Sur-La-Table. Or a local community college.