Lilija

I love The Barbecue Bible, and BBQ USA, both by Steven Raichlen. Both have many great recipes, thoroughly explained techniques, origins, and stories. The latter might be more on target for you, but both are great. Edit to add: The Barbecue Bible focuses on ingrendients, and styles he discovers throughout the world, along with side dishes, and drinks. BBQ USA has a similar layout, but it focuses, in great detail, on American barbecue, in it's many incarnations.

Wow, video games? A web browser? Here I thought cell phones at restaurants were obnoxious. Imagine spending a date with some ass playing flash games, looking up stock quotes, or reading World of Warcraft forums, the duration of the meal. Do we really need the interweb at our dinner table?

I've tried crickets...they're bitter as all hell. At least the kind that I ate, was. So, none for me, thanks. I doubt the flavor could even be improved with bacon and cheese, and for me, that is saying a LOT.

I would totally push for a 10, in that case, even to learn some fanciful desserts, or something. I always thought those braids looked so cool, always wanted to try them out! Only, in this case, the beads would have to be a cute food theme, like little sushi charms, or maybe baked goods.

I could be a solid 9, if we subbed out pastry, and said "dish". Besides the occasional pie, cake or cookie, I am no dessert maker. I can, but I choose not to, too often, so I don't focus on learning the science of it. I can wing an entire meal, improvising, ad-libbing, and come up with something incredible and restaurant worthy. I think it's partially because I read so many cookbooks, I have a wealth of recipes memorized, and often the stuff I "wing" are hybrids of my favorites. I could even come up with some dessert, if you don't mind some mascerated fresh fruit, or booze, custard or some fresh whipped creamy something. I also feel 9ish, because outside of advanced baking, I have a very good working knowledge of food science basics. Enough to make anything from an elaborate sauce from scratch, some awesome barbecue, a braise, casserole, stew, different soups, or whatever without a recipe, except for what's in my fridge. 9 trips me up, because of pastry. If I made pastries very often, I could probably be close to a 10. As the ratings stand, I'm an 8.

At least it'll be raw...how bad can people screw up something raw? ← Oh, I don't know. I've been researching recipes online, and some of them are... very... I'll be polite and say interesting. ← I don't find the problem to be 'screwing up something raw' but rather making something raw and pretending it's something totally different. Don't give me chickpea-cashew puree and call it cheese (tastes just like cave aged gruyere! ). Make something honestly raw and it can be quite good. ← Ooh...I hadn't even thought of that little aspect

At least it'll be raw...how bad can people screw up something raw?

Cheez Doodles, and some lemonade iced tea. Oh yeah, highbrow snacking at its finest!

I bought a 20oz bottle, the other day, to try. I feel like it tastes more acidic, a bit less sweet, and has a weird metallic finish, but outside of that, tastes like Diet Coke, to me. I'll keep drinking my regular Diet Coke, and keep with the multivitamins. I should be ok...

The gelatin is a great idea, but I'm not sure I could find it in sheets, or even what to look for. Would they have that at a grocery store? Or what kind of specialty store could I find it at? I've never worked with it before. Lime mousse sounds good, a great variation. Piping seems like a fast, decorative way to go, though the texture would probably be really different than the fluffy voluminous whippy chiffon that my normal recipe is. It would be a great understudy though. Does anyone have a recipe, if I can't get my hands on some gel sheets by the end of the week? Edit: Thanks for the input, so far!

Here's the story: I'm having a barbecue on Saturday, for about 50 people. For dessert, some friends have requested my key lime pie. I'm looking to make it in mini form, like little tarts, since it would be awkward to bake pies, and serve them to 50 people. I'm also making mini lemon blueberry cheescakes, from an old standard family recipe. I usually make the key lime pie with egg yolks, then the beaten whites folded in, it makes them very light, but I'm afraid it wouldn't hold up, in cupcake liners. Is there any way to make this foamy chiffony mix a little more sturdy? I'm looking for something that's equally good, yet wouldn't be a hassle to eat, at a barbecue. Barring that, anyone have any suggestions on the easiest and neatest way to serve pie to 50 people? I also considered making it in a sheet pan, into squares, but again, I think the filling would be too fluffy.

A piece of fresh Jewish seeded rye, from the bakery, that's supposed to be for tonight's dinner... It's here, I'm here, dinnertime hasn't arrived yet...no rye would be safe.

I'm usually pretty shy about commenting on foodblogs, for whatever reason (though I read them all, enthusiastically)...I couldn't help commenting here. I notice that you have RATS!! I love rats! I have a pair, as well. Your two are very adorable, congratulations! Look at those huge ears, I just want to give them little kisses. They're totally appropriate to have on a foodblog, because if yours are anything like mine, they get to sample lots of fresh foods, and whatever's cooking (within reason).

When I buy whole chickens, I cut them into 10 pieces. 2 each, legs, thighs, wings. I cut the breast in equal quarters. Then, I cook them! I have some brining in my fridge, for the grill tomorrow, as we speak. When cutting a chicken up, like that, you cut the whole back out, almost, it's this fantastic framework thing, of meat shreds, and flavorful tiny bones. That's the stuff for soup. I also use the bony wing tip parts. All that gets chucked into a communal gallon sized ziploc in the freezer, till there's enough for stock. When I make it this way, there's not much meat to pick off the bones, just enough to pick off, and snack on, after I strain it. When I use whole roasted chicken carcasses (and, when I cheat and use leftovers from Costco rotisserie birds) I do the same thing, save the carcasses with whatever meat is leftover, busting them all up, breaking the bones up a little. Generally, there's more meat left on these, when it's done. Of all the broth I make from the roasted birds, at least one meal's worth goes to chicken soup, or chicken and dumplings with that leftover meat. Plus, the soup meat is SO good, just on a plate, eaten with a drizzle of good olive oil, and a lot of fresh cracked pepper. Edit: Thank you, dockhl!

I've made/eaten a ton of jerk (lots of it in Jamaica, no less), and never seen it made or made it with soy. Worcestershire, yeah, but never soy, as far as I know. This recipe seems pretty close to what I'm accustomed to, and it's close to my personal recipe.

Everyone has a different way, you seem like you're starting off on the right track. You don't really need anything so fancy as a mirepoix, though (and, er, skip the gnawed chicken bones...) For the chicken, since I cut my own parts from whole chickens, I save all the backs and wingtips. I generally go 2 backs and a few handfuls of wingtips for maybe 6 quarts of water. This I use as a light stock, for cooking and general purposes. I also save roasted chicken carcasses, and use half as much water if I want dark, flavorful, deep broth. I've also made it with a pound of chicken feet added, and it adds a rich body and sheen to the broth. If I have them, chicken feet are a great addition! As far as vegetables go, I coarsely cube a large onion, one peeled, whole bruised garlic clove, break a few scrubbed carrots into chunks, 3-4 stalks of celery leaves included broken into pieces, a parsnip scrubbed and chunked, and a turnip. The parsnip and turnip add a real earthy sweetness to the broth. For my 6 qt pot, a small handful of kosher salt (maybe 2 tablespoons). To taste, I guess. and half as much pepper. Cold water, over the chicken bones and parts. Add the salt, and bring it to a simmer slowly, skimming off the grey foam, as much as possible. When it looks clear, and no more of that stuff rises, add the vegetables, and pepper. Let it simmer for a few hours, till the veggies are mush, and they look totally spent, till the broth is reduced to the right flavor, maybe an hour and a half-two. I never really time it. After that, I strain it, and pick any usable chicken off the bones. All the veggies get tossed, though. One more thing: Never let it boil, only a gentle simmer, or else it will be greyish and cloudy. I hope this helps, I don't measure, and I don't time it. Soon, you won't need to either, it just comes with practice, I guess. Edit: Welcome to eGullet, by the way!

Love these latest additions to this already hilarious thread. I´ve laughed myself silly through the last two pages, impossible to pick which post is funniest. But "Chicken Drywall" will stick with me forever. ← I also chuckled at the threat "I'll Chicken Drywall your ass". Could this evolve into a household phrase? Wouldn't it be great if it caught on?

I love peas in all seasoned rice dishes, peas in fried rice as mentioned, peas in rice pilaf, and my official contribution to this thread is Arroz Con Pollo. I use about half of a 1lb bag of peas when I make it.

I could never get into the whole toasting/panini phenomenon. I like my hot sandwiches deliberately hot. Hot filling, on a lightly toasted sub roll (like a chicken or meatball parm, cheesesteak, or sausage and peppers). Or, something thoroughly grilled, hot and melty throughout, like a good grilled cheese. The only exception is a tuna melt, and that predates all this trendy sandwich toasting stuff. I like my cold sandwiches cold. Icy shredded lettuce, cold juicy tomatoes, cool mayo. Nothing melted, warm or wilted, please.

Oh, that brings back all kinds of memories! I too used to be a deli girl. I put most of my time in at a hoppin deli/sandwich shop, and sandwich slicing is VERY different from the stuff you cut to pack up. People like the meat on their subs shredded and piled loosely, around here. Except salami, which is thin enough to read through, and feathered around lightly on a sandwich. Cheese gets sliced thick-ish for sandwiches, but thin and sorta step-layered on the tissue. Liverwurst was always super thick slices, tiled and seperated into groups of 4. In my experience, maybe it was because of the places I worked, (grocery store in an upscale neighborhood, or a mom'n'pop), but people were mostly picky about how you sliced it. It was a habit to slice one piece, and hold it up for inspection, or give them the first slice as a sample. People are the most picky, I found, about roast beef, and bologna. Some people like it thick, so you can roll it into a sturdy structure, some people like it all but shredded (some people like it shredded, even). But yeah, I had to deal with a lot of fussy customers. It's easy if you just get the hang of what the thicknesses look like, what's popular, and to remember to ask ahead of time. Nothing like the customer who orders 1/4 lb each of 19 different varieties of meats and cheeses, requires an inspection of each one, before, after, and during the slicing, during the lunch rush, while the line is wrapping around the outside of the building.

I forgot all about those Jamaican meat patties, those are FANTASTIC. Just like the ones we had in Jamaica, and healthy gobs of Pickapeppa, and a good scotch bonnet sauce takes it all home.

I used to have a once a week habit of a McDonald's Sausage Biscuit, small coffee, and hashbrown. I LOVE their biscuits. I would peel the sausage off, cover it with black pepper and eat it, then eat the biscuit. Now, it's a once every 6 month habit, but it's still so damn good.

I do this with regular kielbasa a lot, I bet it would rock with the fresh stuff. I saute some onions and diced bacon, with green or savoy cabbage, a bit of vinegar, brown sugar, like you would make red cabbage (or scrap both and add half a bottle of beer, and let it simmer down), and good cabbagy seasonings, garlic, pepper, salt, bay leaves, paprika, whatever. Then blend the sauteed cabbage with cooked homemade egg noodles. Regular egg noodles are fine, for a weeknight thing, but home made fresh egg noodles take this over the moon. Generally a 2:1 ratio, noodles to cabbage, works for me, but use your own judgement. The kielbasa fits in one of two ways. Either grill/roast/fry that badboy up, and have it on the side with lots of spicy mustard and horseradish, or brown it with the bacon and onions, and sorta cook it in with the cabbage. Edit again: Some diced apples in with the onions, sauteed with the cabbage is AMAZING, too.

*cough cough* My name is Lili, and I was once addicted to Stouffers creamed chipped beef. I'm ok now, but I occasionally have a relapse.

The last really fresh fish, and one I most remember, was from when I was sixteen and I lived on Guam with my dad. We would go camping on a local beach with another family. The "guys" would take the boat out in the bay that we camped on. All day we would watch the boat go here and there, they would be out there fishing, and drinking beer. We would chill on the beach, snorkeling, sunning, going about our daily camping activities. We used to camp like this a few times a year. One perfect evening, my daddy, and Jim (the boat owner, head "guy" from our camping buddies) came back with a huge mahi mahi, cleaned and ready to grill. It was THE best fish I'd ever eaten, so meaty, so amazingly sweet and fresh. It was simply grilled with lemon, salt, and pepper. My stepmom made a fresh tomato salsa, with onions, peppers, diced cucumber, olive oil, lime juice, and cilantro, and we ate the grilled mahi steaks with that, and some grilled potatoes. I've also eaten parrotfish like that, and some random local tropical fish, fresh from the boat like that. Nothing ever came close to that mahi mahi though.