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I have the Ikea TROVÄRDIG 8" egg pan. I have been using it for about 5 months. It is induction friendly, that is why I bought it. Also has a nice slope to it for flipping over easy's. It's heavier than the other Ikea egg pans. Bottom is stamped Made in Italy. Very slick and balanced for me. The SO who was a skeptic about it (SO had been a breakfast shift cook in a high volume local restaurant) even is impressed by it. I just recently picked up the 11", but haven't used it much to report. Ikea also sells a 9" version.

"Aussie Bites" have been sold @ Costco on and off for quite some time. I had come to the thought they are an Americanization of the Anzac Biscuit recipe.

Yes, I think that is maybe the right track. I did find a Kusmi tea called Russian Evening that is 75% China black tea and 25% Darjeeling black tea. Unfortunately, its out of stock at the moment (just my luck). I plan on giving it a try. Hopeful. Thanks for the suggestions eGulleters.

I have to go back into my flavor memory, but I don't remember it being smoky or with bergamot/citrus flavors. The Kusmi tea blends didn't sound close in description to me. I now found an empty box that I guess I kept in the back of the tea cupboard for reference when I realized the brand disappeared. it states "Jackson's of Piccadilly Russian Tea, a Delicate Tea. Russian tea is delicate and light in colour. It is best drunk in the afternoon and evening with a slice of lemon and a little sugar." in English, French and German. No ingredients or tea varieties are listed unfortunately. All the Russian Caravan and Russian style teas I have researched seem to sound the opposite of delicate. I've ordered a sample of Harney's Russian Country to test. I discovered this tea back when the Phoenician Resort started it's High Tea and they exclusively had Jackson's teas at the time. That was quite some time ago. edit: There is a line on one side of the box that states "A Blend of Russian Teas". Well, that's vague.

Inspired by the "old tea" thread, I have an empty tin from several years ago that is "Russian Tea" (not labeled caravan) by Jackson's of Piccadilly. I loved that tea but it disappeared years ago as did Jackson's for a time. Now Twinings owns the brand. Jackson's was famous for the Earl Grey, and that is available. I am looking for something close to the Russian Tea which I fear will never be blended again by Jackson's. I am unfamiliar with Russian blends except for that one. Any suggestions of a brand or blend that may get me close to the old Russian Tea?

Well, I went to my local IKEA yesterday, specifically to obtain the BLANDA (parabolic reflector) bowls because I like to solar cook. I thought I would experiment with the newly found capabilities. However, the BLANDA bowls, in all sizes except the tiny ones were off the shelves and out-of-stock. Either IKEA pulled them or like minded people like me bought them all, I don't know. But they seem to be gone to the public at the moment.

Hello dcarch, Thanks for sharing all the great info on the meal preps. I am duly impressed. I'm just starting fiddling with sous-vide and learning through egullet the tips and tricks of the practice. One thing you posted got me into a slight obsession. You stated you used a 55W UV light for sanitizing. I immediately did multiple google searches and came up with 55W bulbs, but could not find the fixtures for the bulbs. Can you tell me what you use? Was it a home-built or did you purchase a pre-made unit? It is now on my list for *need* instead of *want*. Any help/advice will be greatly appreciated.

Looks like the Fagor Pressure Magic and the Fagor Marine are the same item with different names. I have used my Marine to pressure fry chicken. It was the best I ever cooked at home. I soaked the chicken in buttermilk and double floured it, let it dry a bit and then fried it up per instructions for the pressure fryer. Crisp outside, juicy inside. Haven't done a batch for quite some time though.

I have the Fagor Marine pressure cooker that is also a pressure fryer. I have fried chicken in it. If I recall correctly, the chicken is fried in the oil initially to achieve the desired brownness, and then the lid is latched on and the chicken is finished under high pressure (I seem to remember 7 minutes under pressure). The quick pressure release method is used and the chicken removed. I recall under 15 minutes per batch actual cooking time. The Fagor Marine is expensive, but it's a cool tool. It's a very heavy duty pressure cooker. They used to hawk it at State Fairs and Home Shows. I think I have a video of how to cook with it somewhere, probably on vhs.

I've had one for years, the OLD infomercial one with the dials as controls. I think a roasted chicken, spatchcocked, cooked in the Jet Stream is the best chicken I've ever had, bar none. However, if it's the newer digital control Jet Stream, piece of junk, pass on it. If it's the older model, there's a thin drive belt that falls apart over time and renders the oven useless. The belts can be bought (ebay I think) for a few bucks online, and are a little tricky to replace. Cleaning the oven is problematic. If you cook chicken, the fat and juices tend to be blown on every inch of the inside of the oven, meaning the whole oven will need to be disassembled and washed. So this is not a low maintenance appliance. I think the Jet Stream is a love-it or leave-it item. edit: I just saw that you mentioned it was a Nesco. Those are the junky ones. If it was an original American Harvest built model, I'd be more positive on acquiring it.

A friend of mine gave me a bagful of fresh figs recently. I didn't know what to do with them either. I made a fig smoothie and was extremely happy about how it tasted. A little honey, a couple figs, some greek yogurt and fresh mint was really, really good. I had one everyday until the figs were gone.

I don't think you need to worry. Phoenix is home to a large Asian community so the flavors are very familiar most people living here. If the host family has already volunteered to welcome an overseas student, they are pretty open and adventurous already. I say let him cook what he feels he does best. The weather in August is tough, it's the middle of our Monsoon season. Afternoon thunderstorms and dust storms are common. The humidity level rises to average 40-50% with temps 105-110F. Everything is air conditioned, so comfort is achievable. The worst moment is getting into a parked car, ugh. Most houses have a pool or access a community one. We do any outdoor work after the sun goes down or early in the morning. Does his trip include the Grand Canyon? The weather will be significantly different there. Phoenix is only an hour or two away from cool mountains temperatures. I might try natto......once.

Polish Village Cafe in Hamtramck will give you a great Eastern European food experience. It's about a quaint as you can get for a restaurant in a basement of a vintage building. Try the City Chicken if it's on the menu. Get there early or go on a weeknight if you don't want to wait in line. Also, look up Bourdain's Rust Belt episode of No Reservations for some other strictly Detroit food experiences. It's on youtube.

Can't help you with late arrival advice on Pizzeria Bianco, but I can recommend a Mexican joint that has been a Phoenix institution for decades that has a location just south of Chase Field (within a mile of Pizzeria Bianco). It's called TeePee Taproom. This location is pretty big and serves Arizona-style Sonoran food, I can personally vouch for the "MaryLou Spanish-style" which is a green-chile stew folded in a tortilla slathered with oogey-gooey cheese. The house margaritas are above average and the table salsa is very good. Tee Pee Tap Room 602 East Lincoln Street, Phoenix, AZ (602) 340-8787‎

When I was a kid, we bought homemade butter from a small dairy farm nearby. It was shaped in a big round clump and wrapped in foil. It was one of the best things I had ever tasted, the farmer used soured cream to make butter. I guess that's the more traditional butter, since you collected cream from your cows, stored it in the milkhouse for a few days until you had enough to make alot of butter. During the storage, the cream slightly soured. That tang is what is missing in commercial butter, I've yet to find even an artisnal butter that tastes like that. We would literally carve slices off the round and make butter sandwiches, it was that good. Has anyone tried to make homemade butter with soured cream? I don't think it was salted, since the slight sourness added so much flavor.

If you do a google search of "pyrex explodes" or "pyrex exploding" there's lots of hits. A theory is that the newer Pyrex is not made out of borosilicate glass anymore. I have had a newer Pyrex rectangular dish crack in half in the oven (it was a very new dish) but not reduced into shards. The old 60's/70's pyrex and fire king I inherited have never chipped, cracked or shattered in almost daily use. Just my gut, but I don't trust the new glassware now. I have never heard of expiring glassware before.

My cheapie Burton induction burner has temp settings, 140F being the lowest. I tested it at that setting with a pan with ~2 quarts of water and the water temp stabilized and held (+-2F) at 158F. I'm not sure how it's measures the temp, if you know the idiosyncrasies of the unit, it *might* work for certain types of SV. I haven't tried any type of SV yet.

I have a Burton 1800W single burner induction. I wouldn't dare put that much weight (water + stockpot) on it. The instructions state to put nothing heavier that 25 lbs. on it.

That looks like the Profiserie/Pro 1 line. Without seeing the bottom, you can tell by the handles, which look like they're made from an oval metal tube on the Profiserie pans.-- http://www.dvorsons.com/Sitram/Profiserie.htm On the Catering/Pro 2 pans, the handles look like they are made from a single sheet that has been curved so the cross-section would look like a "U." http://www.dvorsons.com/Sitram/SitramCookware.htm ← I think you are right, it's the Pro 1 line, the bottom just says Sitram-NSF-sitram france 24 E. Also, I need to correct that I have the Saucier, not the saute. I love my saucier.

I have a couple Sitram pieces I bought at the Costco Business that supplies restaurants. I don't know if it's pro or catering, it just says Sitram on the bottom. I cook on a ceramic top electric and have never had issues with burning around the edges of the disc. I use the saute almost daily, it's my favorite all around pot. I just thought it was a good pot for the money. Here's a link to what Costco Business sells in Sitram.

I just used Open Table for the first time this past week and was very impressed with the convenience/communication. I plan on using it again. I loved the fact that reservations emails were sent to the rest of my party (I asked them if I could provide their emails to Open Table before I finished the reservation as a courtesy in case they might have been concerned about future unwanted emails) so there was a hardcopy for everyone.

I dunno, I bought the Zojirushi IH rice cooker and would never go back to the on/off cooker. Totally agree on the Sitram, that stuff is great, and one of the Costcos in town sells it open stock, quite a deal.

Happy to oblige G! I think you meant the Queen Creek Olive Mill which is a bit of a drive to the extreme SE part of the Valley. If you go that far, you ab-so-lutely need to visit The Pork Shop for everything porcine. I highly recommend the ham and bacon. The best thing is the green chili burritos that they sell for about $4 each.

Wow. Mole in Phoenix is a tough one to find. Sonoran Mexican style rules here. I have heard Rancho de Tia Rosa has a mole dish on the menu. I'm not a mole lover so I can't judge if its good or not. We have Mexico City style food here at La Parrilla Suiza (The Swiss Grill). The serve grilled meats and chorizo on table grills. I LOVE their trio of salsas, the chicken soup, and the pork filet chuleta. The nopalitas dish is very good also. I also think their house margarita is one of the best around. It doesn't taste like lemon-lime koolaid like 99% of the margaritas made around here. There are 3 locations of La Parrilla, Mesa, Paradise Valley and Glendale. Glendale seems the best (it was the first one here) with Mesa being the next best choice. I have never really liked the PV one, the food just seems different there, not as good as Glendale or Mesa's. For a different Sonoran Mexican food adventure: Nogales Hot Dog and similar stores in the East Valley: Sonoran Dogs and Tortas

LeeLee in Chandler (Dobson and Warner) is the biggest that I know of in the East Valley. This would be my top recommendation for shopping. Ranch 99 is the chain from Cali, located in the Chinese Cultural Center at 44th St and the 202. Actually it looks like it changed names to Super Ranch L Market. There's a new Vietnamese market Mekong Plaza on Dobson between Main and Broadway in Mesa. I haven't been but my Vietnamese friends were pretty excited when it opened recently. All of these are sufficiently close to the freeways (101, 202, the US60) to get you to Scottsdale in no time. edited for grammar.