ray goud

To repeat what most everyone else is saying, I feel your pain. We have at least five different supermarkets within easy driving distance (unlike places like Vermont) and each one has serious issues concerning help, pricing, stocking, etc. And none cares one whit about customer complaints. (I count it as a small triumph that I convinced one of the dairy managers to begin carrying whole-milk organic yogurt). The saving thing is that there ARE the five markets, because I shuttle between them all to satisfy our needs. Luckily it seems that one of them (for each issue) makes up for the bad points of the others. So I shop for what I need depending on where I'm going, and "what I need". Ray

Wow. What a bunch a bunch of responses. The best advice I can give is one I have given before: consult Lora Brody's wonderful book "Slow Cooker Cooking" and use her recipe for onions in the slow cooker. One uses five or six pounds (!) of onions and a whole stick of butter and fourteen hours later you have a perfect batch of browned, tasty onions you can freeze and save for future use. By simply reading the recipe and using logic it shouldn't work; the onions don't get up to a caramelization temp. in a slow cooker. And leaving the lid on doesn't allow a great deal of moisture to evaporate. BUT IT WORKS! I am a total convert and use this recipe for all my caramelized onions, and I can do enough and stash away for pizzas, foccacias, etc. Ray

Well, you could try what my mom used to do, and I did a few times: Put a clean dishtowel in the freezer about an hour before you need the ice. After the hour remove the towel and the ice-to-be-crushed, fold the ice into the towel on a rugged cutting board. Pound on the towel with a wooden mallet, dump the crushed ice into a container, and Voila! crushed ice. It works, requires no purchases, and feels good. The towel in the freezer keeps the crushed ice from sticking to the towel. Ray

I include more of the green part of the stalk than do most people; then I cook them a little longer (microwave) and eat them along with th rest. If one has a lot of green left over, it can be saved for the stock pot. Ray

Unless I missed it, I didn't see any mention of how the beef is prepared before grinding at home. When you do it yourself you have complete control, and not just over what kinds of cuts you use. You also have the option of cooking to less doneness, especially if you "sterilize" it first. I use Harold McGee's method and immerse the whole piece of meat in a boiling water bath for about a minute or two, thus killing all the surface bacteria, preventing them from getting into the interior of the subsequent burger. The thin layer of cooked meat disappears in the mass of home-ground, and you've reduced the chance of contamination by a very large factor. Then you can cook to a medium or medium-rare if you like, with resulting increase in juiciness, etc. As I said, I didn't invent this, McGee has it in his book. Ray

Here in Connecticut I can get them at every supermarket, year-round, including Shop-Rite, Stop&Shop, Big-Y, Shaw's, IGA. I guess there's a decent demand here for them. Ray

I'm surprised no one has recently mentioned the article by Harold McGee in the NYT about brining turkeys, and how to avoid it. Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/dining/1...ld+mcgee&st=nyt It appeared Nov. 12, 2008, last week. One might ask why anyone brines at all. Especially when a turkey can be cooked in pieces, for less than half the time of a whole turkey, and stay moist. Ray

It IS bogus advertising; and, if one was fortunate enough to have a good high school physics teacher, it will be remembered that every time one snapped the knife onto the mag strip (tough NOT to do) the mag properties would be intensified. I remember magnetizing a piece of steel simply by aligning the bar with the north pole, and striking with a hammer. The mag strip is several thousand times more powerful at its short distance. No mag strips for me. Ray

I agree about the dirt in the slots: My wood block, used for about fifteen years, has NO FOOD RESIDUE in the slots. There is a little dust in the unused slots, but I always clean my knives before they go back in the block. Thus, I cannot get grossed-out, because there's nothing there to react to. Ray

I also have an OXO push-down type spinner; don't like it because it failed soon after I bought it, and though they replaced the broken top, now I don't trust it when I want to spin it as fast as I can using my pull-cord unit. I also don't like the way the pull-cord one reverses each time, but so far it has lasted more than TEN TIMES longer than the OXO. I still cannot find an affordable spinner with internal metal mechanism, though there is one made for restaurants ($200+). Ray

I don't necessarily believe that the USDA prevents the sale of caul fat; I get mine from Niman Ranch. Ray

In my opinion, formed over 14 years making wood furniture, forget both the oil and water stones, and get a good quality combo or set of diamond stones. Lee Valley sells good ones, as does the Japan Woodworker. You don't need any fluid on them while you are sharpening, and a quick clean up with a damp sponge and dry towel is all they need. There IS advancement in technology! Those stones last a very long time. I still have and use the first pocket Dia-Sharps I bought ten years ago. Just teach yourself how to maintain the bevel by hand, without any unnecessary jigs or fixtures. Ray

No need for salting; just try Lora Brody's recipe for duck confit in the slow cooker (crock pot). One needs a decent amount of duck fat, but that's a good thing to keep around. I regularly do this with duck legs I get from Restaurant Depot (the book is Slow Cooker Cooking), and it comes out perfectly every time. Ray

I get those at my farmers' market also, at least here in CT. In VT, the farmers usually have better tomatoes, without the white parts. (Overall, I see that Vermont food producers are much more caring about the quality of their goods than those in CT.) I believe the worse ones are varieties specifically chosen for durability in handling, similar to the (winter available) ones grown to be picked while green and then ripened during shipping. Some of the farmers at the markets pick the tomatoes before they are fully ripe because they withstand handling better, then they "ripen" in the stands. If I buy the ugly "heirloom" varieties, they are much less prone to have the white sections. But the heirloom ones have much lower yield because of their awful shapes, etc. We need a farmer to "come clean" about what varieties they are planting. Perhaps some feedback during one's next market trip would also help. Ray

Bake it, then freeze it. Freezing raw potatoes is not good. And you won't notice the change in texture of the cooked dish once it is reheated in the microwave, then quickly crusted under the broiler. Ray

Sure. I believe it was about three minutes max before the tortilla edges were in imminent danger of burning (pizza stone preheated for about a half hour). In the backyard oven it took all of ninety seconds. Both cases, the tortilla crust/bottom was about as crisp as a brand-new Nabisco Saltine cracker (the pizza roller made that nice crackly noise). Leftovers the next day were considerably soggier (before the toaster oven reheating), and as limp as a regular pizza crust. I haven't tried to communicate with Jacques, but I can't imagine how his worked with olive oil on the outside bottom. I tried it and it made a sticky mess. Next time I fire up the outside oven I will try it again with everything the same except for a pizza screen under the tortilla, just to see if I lose anything in my quest for more ease in turning them. Ray

Ray, on Saturday morning I bought a pack of flour tortillas (sans sugar -- not so easy to find) and have now tried twice to make pizza on them. I haven't been pleased with the results. The first time I tried it at 500 degrees. By the time the cheese melted the tortilla had taken on the texture of cardboard or stale matzah. So the next time I tried it on 350, hoping this would give a different texture, but it came out almost exactly the same -- it just took longer. What am I doing wrong? Please advise in detail on the proper method. Thanks! ← I have used 500 degrees in the electric oven (with a pizza stone), and 500+ in the outdoor oven (no stone required). Each time they have come out light, crispy, and neutral in taste. Previously I tried the ones with sugar in the ingredient list and the only complaint was the sugar taste itself. Now, I am used to New Haven-style pizzas (Pepe's, Sally's genre), so I am not easy to please. I used very little and no mozzarella, preferring light Parmesan, and only a very light coating of sauce/equivalent. One of our favorites is caramelized onions sauce as a base (lightly, please) topped with Virginia country ham or bacon (plus olives). The main problem, other than the solved one of sugar taste, was cooking the tortilla TOO MUCH, which leads me to believe you may be loading up your toppings too much. (I was born in Napoli, but raised in the US) Ray

It's been a while since anyone has posted to this topic, but I ran my backyard bake oven this weekend and feel I must add my input, again. I previously mentioned the really-easy pizza method of using pre-made flour tortillas instead of pizza dough. This idea came from Jacques Pepin, and it is genius. Remember the title to this topic? "Low effort, low mess pizza at home"? Why have so many focused on the pizza dough, which is probably the messiest part, without the view to eliminating it? This is NOT like "pizza" on english muffins or french bread loaves. This is pizza with a thin crisp crust which browns up nicely, but requires no labor, and is very easy to handle. Just make SURE that you choose a tortilla (you pick your favorite size) which contains NO sugar. Those which have sugar leave an atypical sweet taste in the mouth. I found ones which have no sugar in their ingredient list and which make wonderful-tasting pizzas. It's what we had for dinner last night. A side benefit is that you know for certain that you will have a crisp crust. My only criticism of Jacques' original recipe is that he advocates oil on the outside bottom of the tortilla, and I strongly disagree. Just use some cornmeal, like a regular pizza-dough crust. Ray

Do you have the brick oven convection toaster oven or just the standard Cuisinart conviction toaster oven? We find the brick oven one does an excellent job making toast, it takes a little longer than a conventional toaster by the browning is very even. ← Just the standard one; the one with the stone is much too expensive. Ray

If you can find it, Kodak Photo Flo may work. When I was home-developing pictures I tasted it, but yoiu should ask for a MSDS (material safety data sheet) if you want to try eating it. All it did was reduce surface tension, and it didn't taste bad. But I didn't drink it. Ray

If you must have nice toast then steer clear of the convection Cuisinart Toaster Oven. For everytging else it's wonderful, but not for toast; very uneven. Ray

Ummm. It doesn't sound like the anodisation is breaking down. Might even be building up... "Irridescent" colour is an immediate indicator of "interference" colours, produced by films so thin that they bear comparison with the wavelength of light - commonly seen with a drop of petrol/gasoline on a puddle of water. "Anodisation" is the production of a hard alumina surface by electrochemical means. If the steamer insert was *not* aluminium (maybe stainless?), then with conductive (salted?) liquid in the pan, you'll have some electrochemistry going on. Hopefully not very much though. As the pan boiled dry, so the mineral concentration in the water would increase, eventually hitting the limit of solubility - saturation. If the electrochemical conditions were depositing stuff on the aluminium side, it could have built up a really thin layer of new stuff, incorporating stuff from the saturated solution... In short, the appearance of the irridescent colour indicates a new, thin, (more or less transparent) layer that isn't exactly the same as what's underneath it - making an interface in the solid, from which light could be reflected, interfering with light reflected from the top surface. Hence, I think its possible that your boiling dry with a steamer insert may have *deposited* a new (very thin) layer of anodisation - rather than "breaking down" what was there before. If the new stuff is stable (doesn't come off when cooking or cleaning) then I doubt its going to do any harm. However, if the swirls are changing when you scrub at them, it'd indicate that you were removing material from the new film layer, and changing the interference patterns... So, if you really are sufficiently determined, you might still be able to work this around to an argument justifying replacement... ← Finally!!! Someone who knows what he speaks of! The dark gray color was the dye Calphalon used when they initially made the pot. Normally the anodized layer would have been colorless or slightly cloudy but "silvery". Unless someone scrubbed the pot with steel wool, really vigorously, there is no indication that the anodized layer has disappeared. Ray ← Question about the anodizing...Calaphon recomends that you clean their pans with Scotchbrite pads. They are basicly sandpaper. I have cleaned some of mine several times and the grey color remains as new. How or what do they do to get it grey?? My only experience with anodizing is I was going to anodize a dough hook and got the whole set up arranged and it would not anodize....Duh! it was zinc pot metal,,, Shows how much I know... Bud ← I hope someone was joking about cleaning with scothbrite! Cleaning with a sandpaper-infused plastic pad WILL remove the anodized layer. The color is a dye introduced after the anodizing process. Nowadays you can get any color you want.

Then try the method for traditional Italian-style meat loaf and add crushed crackers or fresh bread crumbs. The fat squeezed out of the protein gets absorbed by the carbs and keeps it juicy when it gets cool enough to eat. My meat loaf (with bacon and crackers added, by the way) is the absolute juiciest. Ray

Was it pre-cooked country ham that you bought? If so, then you had to refrigerate it to keep it from going bad. If not, it had all the salt from curing still in it and required no refrigeration. In the latter case it probably came with instructions for cooking, which included the soaking step. The soaking won't remove all the salt, but a lot of it. Then you still should cut thin slices and enjoy the intense flavor. Look at the website for Smithfield hams for guidance, also. Ray

Ummm. It doesn't sound like the anodisation is breaking down. Might even be building up... "Irridescent" colour is an immediate indicator of "interference" colours, produced by films so thin that they bear comparison with the wavelength of light - commonly seen with a drop of petrol/gasoline on a puddle of water. "Anodisation" is the production of a hard alumina surface by electrochemical means. If the steamer insert was *not* aluminium (maybe stainless?), then with conductive (salted?) liquid in the pan, you'll have some electrochemistry going on. Hopefully not very much though. As the pan boiled dry, so the mineral concentration in the water would increase, eventually hitting the limit of solubility - saturation. If the electrochemical conditions were depositing stuff on the aluminium side, it could have built up a really thin layer of new stuff, incorporating stuff from the saturated solution... In short, the appearance of the irridescent colour indicates a new, thin, (more or less transparent) layer that isn't exactly the same as what's underneath it - making an interface in the solid, from which light could be reflected, interfering with light reflected from the top surface. Hence, I think its possible that your boiling dry with a steamer insert may have *deposited* a new (very thin) layer of anodisation - rather than "breaking down" what was there before. If the new stuff is stable (doesn't come off when cooking or cleaning) then I doubt its going to do any harm. However, if the swirls are changing when you scrub at them, it'd indicate that you were removing material from the new film layer, and changing the interference patterns... So, if you really are sufficiently determined, you might still be able to work this around to an argument justifying replacement... ← Finally!!! Someone who knows what he speaks of! The dark gray color was the dye Calphalon used when they initially made the pot. Normally the anodized layer would have been colorless or slightly cloudy but "silvery". Unless someone scrubbed the pot with steel wool, really vigorously, there is no indication that the anodized layer has disappeared. Ray