JohnRov

Usually I hold it for between 10 minutes to sometimes a little over a half an hour if I am making lasagne because I make my pasta last and the sauce sits while I do that. I guess I could make the pasta and hold it in ice water but I've never tried that. I make the pasta and assemble as I go.

When I was really starting to cook, I used Julia's The Way To Cook a lot. Now I will pick a recipe occasionally from the 2 Batali books I have and some others, including all the Frugal Gourmet books. I have too many according to my wife...as if that's possible! But I am always just grabbing different books off the shelf to browse even when I'm not cooking. I think cookbooks have helped me cook without them if that makes any sense.

Thank you, I'll try both methods.

So I have no problem making a nice bechemel, but how do I hold it until I need it? Jaques says to drop butter in and kind of smooth it over the top so a skin doesn't form. I tried this but it didn't work too well. Should I just wait until the last possible second? My mornays get funky if I let them sit too long as well. Any help would be appreciated.

So I'm going to have a baby in a week or so. I'll be taking about a week off and was planning on cooking some dishes that I can freeze and then my wife can thaw and reheat them when I go back to work. Any suggestions on what dishes would freeze well? I think soups might be a candidate but would appreciate any other suggestions.

I liked the quickfire, although I assumed that more of them would come up with something other than salad. The beach challenge was an ambush IMO. I don't mind most of the challenges, but this one was a pain. Frank should have known better, he was getting on my nerves. Marcel still bugs me, especially when they showed him trying to be cool with the surfers. "How were the waves dude?" "Good." "Oh, cool." I imagine we'll be seeing some more straightforward cooking in the coming weeks.

I used to be a video editor and know how hard it is to edit hours of footage into the appropriate length. Tom's blog confirms that the debate on who should win was much more in depth and objective than we were shown. I also find it interesting that they had cameras follow Dave and Stephan when they went out and then captured all their drinking on tape. Do you think this is one area where the producers were meddling? "Here guys, have another! This one's on us!" It was an interesting show but I think they could have fit in more food/cooking stuff in.

I used to watch cooking shows with my grandma if I went over there to stay when I was sick and home from school (we also watched lot of soaps!). At the time it was just enjoyable to watch people cook. There weren't a ton on then; I remember Franco Polumbo and the show We're Cooking Now! But the one who really got me interested in food was Jeff Smith. He bridged that gap between "here's a recipe" and the culture and history behind certain dishes. The events of his later life were unfortunate and he will always be one of my favorites. Then I got my first apartment after college and really had to learn to cook. It was funny because I'd just make the whole recipe and end up with enough food for a week!

It's not a slur any human being worth anything should make on OR off camera.

I imagine that shoot went on for a couple of hours, you could tell Lee Anne was more than slightly tipsy. I was surprised when Stephan apologized. I assumed it was a calculated PR move but surprised nonetheless. I missed the first episode but yeah, Ken appeared to be a jerk. Then Stephan's true colors came back when he yelled at Ken and called him "white trash". Oh, to be so priviledged as Stephen with his Ivy League education and nice suits and NO CLUE HOW TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE IN THE REAL WORLD! It's a decent show for what it is but it's still a reality show.

Hi everybody! New here and this is my first post. My favorite butter is simple but everyone seems to like it. I mix butter, honey, and a pinch of salt.