ChefCrash

Johnnyd, great looking shrimp, what's in the boil?

Great mixer for VSOP Cognac.

Hiroyuki These look great. Why potato starch, how does it differ from corn starch? Can one use rice flour as well? Thanks

Ladies, ladies.. The big ones come from the left side.

v. gautam I love Gyros (Donner). One of the best is served at the Parthenon on Washington and Main in Ann Arbor. Like Shawarma, Gyros cooks on a vertical spit and is carved off the cone to order. This is where the similarities between the two end, and the two should not be compared. I should mention that in the Greek half of Nicosia (Cyprus), Gyros as we know it in the U.S. (ground meat and spices molded into the shape of a twister) was no where to be had. Every Gyros joint had small cones of pork, skewered in big chunks (1.5" to 2.5" pieces) and looked pretty dry. I didn't try them. The photo below taken in Sidon Lebanon, is of Shawarma and chicken shawarma. These were very fresh cones and were not ready to serve, as evident by the clean trays underneath, as well as the absence of the swarm of people waiting for sandwiches. In these enlargements you can see that both cones are made of sliced meat (breast meat for the chicken). Half way up the meat cone, a white substance oozing out, I assume to be yogurt, is visible. Chicken shawarma is a relatively new thing in Lebanon. Frankly, I didn't care for it much (no fat=dry). Below is what used to be (still is in some places), how the best chicken sandwiches are made. The chicken is unseasoned. Lebanese Chicken Schmaltz oozes from the upper rows and bastes the ones below. That would make the bottom sheesh the best hah? The chicken is pulled apart, placed on french bread with garlic sauce, a kind of cucumber pickle and pressed in a sandwich press. God I'm soo hungry now.

Nice blog Melkor, may I call you Pappy.. sir? Your avatar has always reminded me of this fellow or a very refined this fellow. Kidding aside, I'm enjoying your non mushy..manly mans er..blog.

Ya, I'll be getting a 13lb roast on the bone about a week before Christmas. I'll place it in my walk-in, uncovered for about 7 days. What size roasts do you have and how do you plan to cook them?

I'm glad you got yours and are happy with it. In my case, Nov 22nd was postponed to Nov 29th and then to Dec 1st. Today the guy at Sears said: "Frankly, I don't know when you'll get your stove". If had not paid cash for this, I'd be paying interest on something I don't yet have.

K.W., Your photos are perfect. G.G., I have beer comming out of my nose reading your remark. I'm with you babe.

The table for chicken is on page six, click here.

Peanut butter, mayo and onion sandwich.

Now if you could only tell me what a medium onion or the juice of lemon are?

Very clever pal. Volume to weight? I'm impressed. It sure works for things with known densities (water, salt, sugar..etc..). What kind of algorithm are you using for the rest? Great work, should prove very useful.

The USDA also states that Turkey can be safe at temperatures as low as 136 as long as it is held at that temperature long enough. Turkey is safe: @ 140 if held at that temp for 28 minutes @ 145 if held for 10.5 min @ 150 if held for 3.8 min According to this (page 5): http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISNo...ltry_Tables.pdf So it depends on how low a temperature your oven can maintain. What would be wrong with quickly searing the breasts in a pan and placing them in your oven for the recommended time after they have reach desired core temperature? Just as you would sous vide.

The procedure you describe for the sauce is a whole lot of perfection. Unfortunately wasted, on crunchy pasta. How does one get crunchy spaghettini from fresh pasta? What does "to the tooth" mean? Is there a quantitative definition? Mario Batali served "al dente" pasta on his last Iron Chef. All three judges hated it. As for Who You Are? Sorry, we were sworn to secrecy on this one.

I'm sure the blogger is a she, who likes err.. sugar in her tea. Enjoys writing. Good with words and is in her late thirties. I'm guessing ...Racheld Hello Susan, We miss you on the Dinner thread.

One could bolt the TC through the side of a water bath and use a quick release plug.

Mahlab = coriander seeds??!?!@?@? As for the pics, vey nice as usual. ← Sorry . I amended the post above. Gotta stop posting past midnight. Thanks Nicolai.

Woke up this morning to the smell of Blossom water in the air. Viviana was making "Qurban", a Christian holy bread, served by priests in Catholic church on Sundays and religious occasions. All I know it's delicious. QURBAN Recipe: 500g AP flour 80g sugar 1 tsp Mahlab (Black Cherry pits) ground. 1/4 tsp Mastic gum ground 2 tsp yeast Water to bring it together. Sugar dissolved in blossom water to brush on bread after baking. Mix, knead and let rise. Roll into 7" rounds, stamp with this (optional): Set aside to rest 30 minutes. Bake @ 450F and brush with sugar/blossom water mixture. EDT: Remove foot out of mouth.

I make a damn good wine with Concord grapes. If you need a recipe let me know.

I ordered my HDS7052U from Sears on October 18 for a delivery date of November 22nd, the day before Thanksgiving. If it does arrive on time it'll sit in the garage til after the holiday. I won't risk our turkey to a new appliance. eje, I highly recommend that you download the "Installation Instructions" from here. The position of your gas valve coming out your kitchen floor is critical, or the range would not sit flush with the wall behind it.

How is that done UnConundrum?

It's this one by Rival

Lamb shoulder roasts are hard to debone. They contain part of the neck/backbone, a few ribs, a blade and ball joint. We use this cut for shish kabobs and use the bones to make stock for cooking stuffed grapeleaves.

Wines and Cheeses. I'm saving a lot of money on those two items alone. Don't buy the wine vacuum attachment Food Saver makes, doesn't work. Get the other brand, can't think of their name off hand, maybe some one can help.