HungryC

Have visited the local (NOLA) vom fass several times. wasn't super impressed with the myriad fruit vinegars or spirits, but i did like the opportunity to purchase small amounts of unusual oils....pistachio, almond, argan, hazelnut, etc. (small quantities, esp nut oils, won't go rancid before I figure out how to use them all up.)

Yes, it does look like a corn on the cob dish to me. The size/shape are useful for desserts, too: a dollop of pudding and toppings, a rectangular slice of cake, individual trifles....

Kitchen Bouquet, just for the caramel coloring. Hey, we eat with our eyes, too.

technically not a candy, more of a baked good, but the banana-flavored Moon Pie is completely vile. Waxy, tasteless coating, appallling faux banana flavor, chalky filling & crumbly cake/wafers. Bleh! In the candy category, salty licorice is BAD. Right up there with so many fruit-ish (melon, plum) flavored japanese jelly/gummy candies.

You want to use pate morte (dead dough), used for making bread sculptures. Get a copy of Hamelman's Bread. He has light and dark dough recipes & many great shaping/braiding/sculpting techniques for pate morte.

Bought a box of the Kashi tasty little crackers in fire-roasted veggie flavor last week; pretty good, and I'm not usually a fan of flavored crackers.

Oh, this is a pet peeve of mine. I don't want a debate, I don't want a lecture: I just want to enjoy my evening. The only acceptable answer is an apology and an offer to bring what the diner wants.

No love from me, sorry. I quit buying the stuff when, about half the time, the oil smelled awful immediately after opening. Whatever the "yuk" compound is, I can smell a whiff of it through a plate glass window. Recently, I opened a bag of (my favorite) baked Kettle chips, and BLECH, there it was--the dreaded smell! I never noticed it before, so I checked the label, which listed a variety of different veg oils. Guess I've been lucky in the past and never encountered a canola-y bag before.

Yes. I use my BernzoMatic in the kitchen. Hardware store stuff is way cheaper than silly little kitchen torches.

Couldn't get into The Source for Saturday lunch in mid-Feb without a reservation, ended up at Cafe Atlantico (it was fine, but I agree--a little uninspired). So be sure to reserve a table if your heart's set on it.

This thread fascinates me: liquor stores? In my corner of the US, liquor is sold EVERYwhere. Virtually ALL supermarkets, Wal-Mart, corner stores, gas stations, quickie-marts/convenience stores, church fairs, etc. If you didn't bring your kids anyplace that sold alcohol, you'd probably have to home-school and stay out of the parks, too. Heck, not wanting to get the kids out of the car is surely one of the reasons drive-through daiquiri shops exist.

Plenty of packaged, dry fish fry coatings have lemon flavoring added. I especially like Zatarain's Fish-Fri, which also comes in a lemon pepper version. According to the ingredients, it contains both citric acid and lemon juice (and a dose of MSG, for good measure).

Hah--as I type this, I'm on my third cup of chamomile out of the same tea bag. I prefer the second & third cups, as they're a bit weaker and less 'weedy' tasting than the first. If you like the way the re-steeped tea tastes, who's to say it is wrong?

Now this is something I'll definitely try! I always shake the (flat-bottomed) pot vigorously, but a wok would eliminate the need for shaking. Oh, and try putting generous shakes of Tabasco into the oil when you add the kernels. Nice.

Count me as a fan, too (I even tested recipes for it). The basic lean bread recipe makes great little crusty rolls. I give all the credit to ABED's pineapple juice trick for solving my wild-yeast starter problems, and I bake the yeast-spiked sourdough over and over again (with a little ground flaxseed added to it).

I've used the brown paper bag, kernels, and oil method, but only for small amounts. I like the stovetop method best--somehow, the kernels seem more tender this way.

A local confectioner, Southern Candymakers, makes a killer turtle (tortue) that's not totally enrobed. A deep bed of broken pecan pieces fills a sheet pan, then blobs of caramel are spooned at intervals atop the pecans. When the caramel has cooled/set up, a dollop of chocolate goes atop the caramel, and once set, the individual candy is lifted off the pecan bed. So it's more of a layered turtle with a base of pecans. See it here.

While I like the confluence of savory & sweet, I can't think that sriracha's garlic would play very well in a dessert. Use a straight chili sauce, not a chili garlic sauce, or dried chili peppers to add heat. A heat-spiked chocolate sauce is nice...but I'd add the heat to the ginger cookies. A black-pepper ginger cookie; mmm. How about ice cream sandwiches since it's a BBQ?

I like cacao nibs sprinkled into chocolate (like the Scharffenberger "Nibby" bar). Flaked sea salt is good, esp in combination with nuts. How about less-commonly-used nuts, like sunflower seeds or toasted sesame? Chopped or whole dried apricots, strips of candied orange peel, (foodsafe) dried rose petals, pink peppercorns, salted pretzels, popcorn (surprisingly good), or broken-up gingersnaps or graham crackers?

Also try googling "disaster remediation" and your locale. Companies specializing in disaster & crime-scene cleanup are a good source of de-stinkifying remedies.

I see big windows, lots of light, a sidewalk shaded by overhanging trees...and no disposable cups.

I agree wholeheartedly....stainless sucks. I have a stainless sink, and it's a pain in the ass. Always looks terrible, unless you've just scrubbed, dried, & polished it. My next kitchen will have a porcelain sink and WHITE appliances with "no fingerprint" finishes.

Several hundred thousand people in my immediate area had the rotten fridge experience simultaneously almost six years ago. In most cases, the fridges were too far gone to save. (See that part here.) If the meat leaked enough liquid to pool at the fridge's bottom, there's a good chance that it cannot be saved. If liquid seeped beyond the plastic casing into the insulation, you will never-ever-ever be rid of the odor. On the other hand, if the bottom of the fridge is seamless and no liquid pooled onto it, you can give it a thorough washing, air it out, then run it for some time, closed, with a bunch of activated charcoal inside it. Be sure to move the refrigerator and ensure that the defrost pan/drip tray hasn't spilled onto the floor beneath--another source of potential odor.

I would hesitate to pour water into a clay or ceramic cooker--it could easily crack from thermal shock, and also it will be wet from the inside out & unfit for heating until thoroughly dried out again. Self-adhesive felt gasket material is inexpensive (go to eBay and search for "Big Green Egg gasket") and easy to install. It will close up the gap nicely. Tonight, I did grilled pizza atop my newest acquisition, a granite piastra. I put the granite slab directly atop the grid, heated it up to around 600 degrees, and popped on the pizza. It was done in around 5 minutes, deeply browned/lightly charred on bottom and melted cheese on top. Topped w/fresh yellow tomatoes, strips of proscuitto, a gentle sprinkle of mozzarella, and some grated pecorino.

Why does it have to be so starkly prepared? If it is, in essence, mushy and mild, then why not make fish cakes or fish balls? (Think of crabcakes, only using flaked fish instead of crabmeat). Do you catch bowfin in the Great Lakes? Bowfin (called choupique in Louisiana) is perfect for fish balls. The fish is ground up with chopped bell pepper, onions, garlic, & other seasonings, then rolled into small balls or boulettes and fried. A tasty way of using a mild, mushy fish. If you catch larger fish with fillets thick enough to cut into chunks, try using it in a Louisiana-style courtbouillion. Here's a John Folse recipe for redfish courtbouillion: http://www.wafb.com/story/626643/chef-john-folses-redfish-courtbouillon?redirected=true For a softer-textured fish, simply add the fish later in the cooking to prevent it falling apart.