C. sapidus

A local restaurant supply store cut a sheet of stainless steel to size, and we mounted it behind the cook top with high-temperature caulk (available in the fireplace section of your local big box store). Cleans up great!

Good companions can turn indifferent food into a good meal, and good food into a great meal. When we get together with our Russian friends, the conversation includes anything and everything, jumping loudly around the crowded table in Russian and in English. Topics include scientific research, medicine, travel, philosophy, literature, food, drink, gardening, and gossip (usually simultaneously in a mix of English and Russian). Comparing experiences growing up on opposite sides of the cold war is a recurrent and fascinating topic. When we have a family dinner, the conversation usually veers towards bodily parts and functions, video games, sports, rap music, and other interests of sub-12 year old boys.

As mentioned above, capsaicin is hydrophobic (good SSB word). If the sauce contained fat, and the fat congealed when the dish was cooled, the fat-soluble capsaicin may have been preferentially segregated from the sauce. Perhaps the congealed fat was left behind when the dish was reheated? This could account for the lowered zing. Basis for this theory is as follows: I once made chili with lots of chipotles. The chili packed a wallop, and I was worried that it would be too spicy for its intended recipients. Just before serving, I skimmed an oily layer from the chili’s surface. Apparently, most of the capsaicin was in the oily layer, because the chili went from maybe-too-hot to definitely-too-bland

I suppose fried rice will have to wait for the "stuff, with beaten eggs in them" thread.

The chemical composition of different salts is essentially identical. The only significant difference is the size of the crystals. With larger crystals, you occasionally get a burst of salty flavor. This effect disappears if the salt is dissolved, e.g., in soup. Robert F. Wolke, a chemistry professor and Washington Post columnist, explains all: http://www.wwrecipes.com/salt.htm

My morning-phobic wife leaves early for work, so she makes coffee on work days. She sets up the coffee-making implements the night before, and then grinds the beans each morning. While our nothing-special drip coffee maker does its thing, she boils water to heat up my battered steel thermos. She then grabs a cup of black coffee before leaving for work. I stumble out of bed, shower, and herd the boys through their morning routine. The school bus picks up elder son from our front yard. On my way out the door, I dump the hot water, fill the thermos, put the grounds in the compost, and rinse out the coffee maker. I drive younger son to his bus stop, conveniently located a block from my office. After seeing him safely on the bus, I park the car, carry the thermos to work, and savor my first cup (with half-and-half and a touch of sugar) while the computer boots up. Ahh. On the weekends, I make the coffee. Same routine sans thermos, but I use more coffee and grind a bit finer. My wife rises late, greeting me with her usual affectionate morning greeting: “COFFEE?!!” Yes, dear.