kristin_71

Besh and Symon will be the final two I think. They have by far out done the competition and seem to have a pretty good grasp what the judges are looking for. It is theirs to lose. As for Knowlton I expected him to take his plate and silverware and go off in a huff. He needs to get the silver spoon out of his ass.

Right now I am forced to work two jobs, and one is third shift, so I need to be entertained while I stock shelves at Target. I have discovered the joys of podcasts which are great because they are stimulating and fun to listen to while I work. These are a few of my favorites, anyone else have any? Off the Broiler (of course) Bon Apetite Splendid Table NPR Food Food Philosophy Grape Radio Napa Valley Wine Radio Hungry Magazine

I read Buford's book and it was nice to be able to put a face to the name in regards to the butcher and to really hear him quoting Dante! Felt like my college Engish class all over again!

Sad when it becomes easier to just file an alleged lawsuit against someone rather than take on the respondsibility and facing the fact that the guy with the knowledge was probably right to begin with.

You and me both, but I doubt he will be too critical seeing how he and Batali are friends.

God, I for one am so happy that train wreck is over. Could they have found people who were more inept? Rock and Jen seemed to be the only two who knew what the hell they were doing or any idea what Ramsey expected. I found myself often looking at a clock wondering when it was going to be over. I hope next season they find some people worthy of the title of chef. Rock clearly was the best one to win. He really showed what he could do and how to be a leader. I could not believe her! The little insubordinate bitch. She needed to stop worrying about what everyone else was doing and do what the chef ( Bonnie) told her to do. If she pulled that shit with Ramsey he would have bounced her ass so fast. Instead Bonnie doesn't have the cajones to tell her that it is her kitchen and Julia will do what she is told to do. It was not Julia's kitchen to run or tell the chef what she was or was not going to do. I couldn't believe her behavior, I hope she tries that ONCE at culinary school. She will be in her place so fast or on her way back to the Waffle House.

Yea I will have to do that. What's the saying, you only go around once? A good philosophy to live by. In a couple of weeks Alton and his crew will pull into Quincy Illinois. May not be special to many but it is where my now late grandfather was born and raised. I am so curious to see what Alton discovers there. I really, really enjoy watching this.

THIS blogger made the dish(look for the July 17 post). The animated version looks a lot better but his looks tasty too. ← French Laundry Cookbook, I think might have a pic of it. I don't have my copy near me to look. I thought it was an absolutely precious movie. I sat there trying to figure out why the voice of the American wanting the special sounded so familar and then later found out why. I really cannot wait for this to come out on dvd. Pixar has a way with doing a bang up job with their movies and this did not disappoint. Would go see it again and again if I had a choice between this and No Reservations... Here is a short interview Keller did about working with Brad Lewis and the crew of Ratatouille. http://www.movieweb.com/video/V07FoKw7rMsEZN

So does alligator really taste like chicken? There are some in my family who think I would be crazy enought to try it, and maybe I would, if I didn't know what I was eating at first.....

In the December 2006 issue of Food and Wine Grant Achatz is featured in an article about comfort food. One of the recipes is mac and cheese. There is of course, bacon in it, and it is surprisingly not that difficult. Damn is it good too. People who turned up their noses at the idea of eating mac and cheese soon realized how wrong they were. It is fantastic!

Be careful though Matt when using your chef's knife to cut thick vegetables like squash and stuff. MAC actually advises that you use the clever.The knives come with instructions, and I actually did read them. Besides the basic wash with a mild detergent and don't put the things in the dishwasher, they tell you to be careful and NOT to torque the blade cause they are so thin. I have the dimpled mighty santoku and I agree it is a workhorse of a knife. Gets alot of use. As for chef's knife, I love my Pro Series 9 inch chef knife. ( yea I plunked down a lot of cash, but I do use it alot.) I was told by Harold at MAC that yea you can use the tip for some of the vegetables (rutabagas, turnips) but the clever is really good for the big stuff and things like bones. I just really like MAC. For the value they are first rate knives.

And it seems Padma and Rushdie are in the middle of becoming unmarried. I watch Top Chef when my hellish life allows which is not often. Bravo runs a marathon right before the finale anyways so I can always peak in then from time to time.

Penzy's also sells zaatar, which is good to know in the winter when fresh herbs are less than available. I always use sumac in fatoosh zaatar on bread when baking. Really good hot out of the oven with some labne and maybe some really good olives.

As I have said before, I use only MAC. I have a deba, for whole fish etc. But I also have the SDK-85 clever. It is suggested that if you are going to cut large thick vegetables and fruit, to get a clever because it is better able to handle that type of cutting. (these are the instructions that come with each knife.) I actually use my clever for cutting through chicken bones etc. Yea it is as much as some of the chef's knives, and in some cases more. But they are really good. The deba is a little on the heavy side but I personally like that in a knife. I want to be able to feel the knife in my hand. The SDK-85 has some heft to it too, but it is a really good knife, as all MAC's are. MAC Knife Offical Site

I couldn't decide which show I disliked more, Next Food Network Star or Hell's Kitchen. Hell's Kitchen has been much better in past years. If any of them have ANY fine dinning experience they sure don't show it. I guess if I had to pick which I like better it would have to be Hell's Kitchen. Ramsey is , to say the least, entertaining. Flay is just down right smug.

Melissa was nothing more than a whiny bitch who never accepted respondsibility for anything she did. It was easier to blame everyone else, at least when she was on the red team, than it was to own up to the fact that she fucked up. Glad Ramsey was at the end of his rope with her too. I am curious now as to how long the short order cook and the nanny last on the red team, and Brad and Josh on the blue. BTW, I saw something about who won the whole thing, and it did not surprise me one bit.

If only my partner would get this. With global knives it's not that bad regarding the blunting factor BUT it makes global knives brittle, hence havening a V about 1cm wide in fracturing out of the middle of my 18cm Vegetable Chopper and the end snapping off my small chefs knife. ← The same is with MAC. THE blades are similar to Global, i.e they are ground down to a very thin edge for sharpness and to maintain their edge. Another thing you NEVER do is torque your blades. That is you don't cut into something like a large thick squash and then turn the handle to try to get it through in a way that is going to possibly bend the blade. MAC has instructions telling the purchaser that if you want to cut large thick vegetables like squash or watermelon, get a clever. The blade on the clever's is better made to handle these things. Granted the clever I have set me back almost as much as my chef's knife, but I use it to cut through chicken bones and stuff and it is a great knife.

Yea NEVER put your knives in the dishwasher! Wash them with mild detergent. My stupid ex husband never listened when I asked him NOT to put my Chicago Cutlery in the dishwasher and of course, he ruined them for me. Dumbass.

Oh I agree about boosting the flavors. I have a great cookbook from my late grandmother's church of Syrian ( Lebanese) recipes and we always adjust the seasoning for things like grapeleaves and stuff. I think most recipes just play it safe when it comes to the amount.

I pay absolutely no attention to what the celeb chef's are using. I mean when you walk into Williams -Sonnoma and see the Global's you remeber reading about them in Kitchen Confidential and remember how yea Bourdain loves them but that is what he likes. You remember reading somewhere that Alton Brown is aligned with Shun, a wonderful knife, if not somewhat pricey.I tried the Global and the Shun in the store and yea they were nice and the Global's were a great price but then I went on the suggestion of a few people here and tried MAC and I will NEVER use anything else. My mom loves my MAC knives and is looking to ditch her Wustof and go Japanese. I am going to start her out on a paring and veg knife for her birthday in October, and maybe a chef's knife ( I do cook with her so having both the veg and chef knives are a must in this case.) I will tell you what others told me, go with what feels good. Order a veg knife from MAC or someother place and try it for a bit. ( Make sure you know the return policy.) If it is not what you like send it back.This can be expensive but if you are serious, you need to do serious research. You will spend some serious money on good knives. Another thing too, the sets that are sold in stores are a rip off. You get to many knives that you never use. Get just what you know you will need. An example is in my case I do not eat a lot of bread so a bread knife is not important to me, and because MAC does not sell in sets, I got only what I wanted and needed. They have served me well. If you go with MAC, go to their official site and download the order form and price list there. Deal with them directly and you will not be sorry. They are so wonderful to work with. They do not care if you are a professional or a home cook, they treat you well. BTW, the secret to keeping your knives sharp is give them a swipe with a sharpener some sort of sharpening device before you use them and again after you are done and they are clean and dry. I do that and my knives are always razor sharp.

Anybody own or seen Arabesque? I am leary only because I am half Middle Eastern and well, my late grandmother and now my mom set a pretty tough standard but at the same time I am really curious about it after hearing Claudia Roden on The Splendid Table. I think it was last week or the week before. Meanwhile I had ordered a copy of A Return to Cooking for a friend as a gift and it was backordered on Amazon until later this month. Had to go with an alternative.

Last Chinese Chef and Climbng The Mango Trees. Both really good, although I will not be able to finish Last Chinese Chef before it has to go back, someone else wants to read it so I can't renew. Climbing the Mango Tree is Madhar Joffrey's story about growing up in India. Even has recipes in the back. It is a good look at some India's history and culinary traditions.

This means I can attempt claufoutis! Yea!

I am reading it now. I found it interesting, especially how he is willing to cut off relationships with people for whatever reason. Once he does it is over. It is a good read though. I am enjoying it.

I look occasionally at Alton's website. Anyone know that Good Eats won a Peabody? Second there are apparently going to be more episodes of Feasting on Asphalt coming in August. Something to look forward to!