Country

And try putting some in with green beans, along with garlic and onion.

Just my own two cents. I've been following this from all the way across the Atlantic, in rural midcoast Maine. I doubt I'll ever get to the UK, to say nothing of attending the accommodations and dining at Sat Bains. Anyhow, here's my take on this. It appears Sat runs a very good establishment, but pretty cocky and too quick to run his mouth when something doesn't suit him. At least when it comes to a bad review by a customer. Howard seems to know what he's about when it comes to good food and lodging. But, when he's had a problem with a place, in this case Sat Bains, he takes to the "airwaves" so to speak. Maybe he feels this is his only recourse. Though the way Sat has replied, maybe it should be recoarse. But, finally, it seems we have two ostentatious people, battling it out, and this was inevitable. Maybe they could settle their differences over a simple meal of corned beef hash, and cabbage, with a couple of good pints.

Dynamite!! As long as it looks good and tastes good you really made out!

Thanks for that, as it goes back to my contention - on other knife threads - that people should handle knives before buying them. And something to think about before giving people knives. And something I should have thought of before giving $300-400 block sets of Wusthof's to both my children. And, giving a couple of Wusthof's to my ex and her husband. I know my son likes the Wusthof's, and keeps them sharp, but that's it. Maybe my daughter, her husband, and my ex and her husband just politely decline to mention them.

That might be the problem. The food processor method. I've rendered some pork lard and never had the problem you show. I've always just used the old cast iron kettle with the almost round bottom. Sort of like a deep cast iron wok. There's not much surface area in the bottom and it helps getting it going faster than a flat bottom. Never used water either. Just takes a little longer getting things going, but once there's some melted in the bottom things move right along. I'm not saying my lard is always perfectly snow white. It is once in a while, but other times kind of off-white. But never like what your pic shows. The next time maybe try just cutting up the fat (without the food processor) and going slow. The guy I got it from didn't use the food processor method, but he did put it in the oven and got the same results. He usually does it on top of the stove. He said he's never seen it before, either, and he does this every year. He's blaming the oven, but I don't see how that can be the case. I don't see how that could be the case either. But, I've never used an oven. Always stove top, and no water - as described above. Maybe it has something to do with using water, and/or maybe there's some meat attached to the fat?

That might be the problem. The food processor method. I've rendered some pork lard and never had the problem you show. I've always just used the old cast iron kettle with the almost round bottom. Sort of like a deep cast iron wok. There's not much surface area in the bottom and it helps getting it going faster than a flat bottom. Never used water either. Just takes a little longer getting things going, but once there's some melted in the bottom things move right along. I'm not saying my lard is always perfectly snow white. It is once in a while, but other times kind of off-white. But never like what your pic shows. The next time maybe try just cutting up the fat (without the food processor) and going slow.

Tomato wine? I can dig out my father's recipe if you want to try it.

I know just what you mean. Unless you know what you're looking at, I'd let someone else take it.

My own little story. When Beedy and I got together (she's a woman - I'm a man) she'd drive me nuts. I don't think she'd ever had a sharp knife in her whole life. At that time approaching 70. I'm not saying that my Wusthof's are extra sharp, but they do okay. To see Beedy cutting something in a pot or pan - or on a plate - with any of the Wusthof's was enough to make me holler BEEDY!!! Thankfully, that no longer happens.

I don't know where the servers in Key West should live. Maybe near the line cooks and bakers? Stock Island.

You couldn't pay me to go to Las Vegas at anytime of the year.

Yes. Great week, Alcuin, and thanks. I really enjoyed it.

Article here - An 'Energy Star' Label For Food? The article begins: "The food industry should start from scratch on food labels, with a single symbol rating the overall healthfulness of a product as opposed to details of various nutrients rendered in tiny writing, health advisers said Thursday. "Food products should earn points based on calories, sugar, fat, and other nutritional values, the influential Institute of Medicine said. Most Americans cannot make sense of the current boxes and in any case, these labels are clearly having no effect on the epidemics of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes raging among the U.S. population, the institute’s committee said..." What's everyone's take on this? Sounds like another case of dumbing down to me.

Myself, I wouldn't worry about the grid from the BBQ going into a self-clean cycle. Just doesn't seem that it has enough mass to increase the thermal load that much. In light of the advice from the manuacturer, I certainly wouldn't go for the cast iron pan/baking stone route. But. That said, I also wouldn't advise you to go against what the manufacturer's rep suggested. I don't want to be responsible for blowing up your range, or voiding your warrenty (or burning down your kitchen.... ). Also, should be noted that my range does NOT have an electronic control. It's one analog dial with the temperatures, and another analog dial with the settings ("broil", "bake", "clean"). That probably makes a difference as well..... I wish I had analog and, if I did, I'd go ahead and try cleaning the grill and pans with self-clean. The only problem the customer rep saw was overheating the digital panel and I don't want to do that. It's digital, but the oven holds a really good temperature range and I don't want to take any chances on messing that up. And, it's probably expensive to replace. Oh well. I'll just have to clean the stuff with elbow grease.

If it's percyn we'll all put on weight just looking at the pics. Those breakfasts alone....

I find them to be uninspiring, often dumbed down and honestly, how many "bests" can there possibly be? I don't bake so perhaps if I used their baking recipes I might feel differently. I think we each find our "mentors" as it were and Cook's Illustrated no longer works for me. Same here. I liked it at first, but gave them up years ago.

You have really got me hooked if you are cooking rabbit! Lots of rabbit stew and pie in my childhood. I have a rabbit (cut-up) in the freezer my neighbor gave me and I've been wondering what the best way to cook it is - so this will help. Been thinking I'd braise it with onions and root vegetables, but open to anything.

I was going to use the self-clean cycle to recondition a couple of cast iron fry pans and the grill from the Weber, but the manual for the range (an Amana) says to remove the racks. So I called customer service at Amana to find out if I could leave the racks in and put in the fry pans. The customer rep (who was very nice) told me that I definitely shouldn't do that as leaving the racks in the oven, and adding the pans, etc. would cause more heat and could "fry" the electronic control panel that controls the oven, timer, etc. The one time I used the cleaning cycle I noticed the control panel got pretty hot, so I've decided against using it for cleaning pans and racks. It seems like such a good idea, but I like the range, and the oven (and infrared broiler) work so well, I'm not going to take a chance on messing things up.

That's a fantastic idea! We've used ours, usually once a year in the fall, though it's been two years now, and we've not done it yet this year. I'm going to go get the grill grate! That's a great idea! Maybe I'll use the self-cleaning feature again just to do that, as well as "reconditioning" a couple of cast iron frying pans I've not taken the best of care with. Do you leave the oven racks in and put the stuff on them, or put them on the bottom of the oven? Thanks for any advice. Hey Country & Cookingofjoy ! I forget where I picked that tip up from, but it works like a charm. I usually have the oven racks in the "normal" positions when I run the cleaning cycle. One in the middle of the oven and one on the lowest rung. On the bottom rack, I put my pizza stone, which usually lives on the oven floor. I'm always afraid it would crack if I left it there, since that's where the heat comes from. So I move it to a rack to get some air around it. On the top one, I put the grid from the Weber Kettle when I run it through the cycle. I leave both oven racks in place, but try to put the Weber rack in so the grid is perpendicular to the oven grids. Just so that the Weber rack gets as much exposure to the heat as it can get. I've never bothered cleaning the Weber grid that holds the coals, just the one I cook on. For the cast iron, I'd just put them on an oven shelf as well. That one, I haven't actually tried, but have heard it works very well, too. Thanks! I'll give it a try. I use the small tanks of propane (20 pounds of propane) and I'll put it on a scale to see how much is burned during the cleaning cycle. The one time I used the self-cleaning it seemed like it must use a lot, but I'll find out for sure.

Ican, you probably can fix it yourself if you're halfway handy. The main thing, after you get the new parts, is to make sure the new ones are the same as what needs to be replaced. And, when you take apart the mixer, be sure to line up all the parts in the order that they're taken out. Be very exact in this, as it could be a nightmare putting it back together if things get out of order. Like where does this washer/spacer go? Hope it all works out for you.

The rise of the Internet and websites like eGullet?

That's a fantastic idea! We've used ours, usually once a year in the fall, though it's been two years now, and we've not done it yet this year. I'm going to go get the grill grate! That's a great idea! Maybe I'll use the self-cleaning feature again just to do that, as well as "reconditioning" a couple of cast iron frying pans I've not taken the best of care with. Do you leave the oven racks in and put the stuff on them, or put them on the bottom of the oven? Thanks for any advice.

Bruce is right that what Brian Kaller is doing isn't, technically, gleaning. But he's nevertheless doing something I found interesting and, I think, he writes about it very well. Also, I've been reading his blog for several years (and we've exchanged some emails) and while he isn't "poor" I have the impression that he doesn't make a lot of money, and is certainly frugal. Like Shelby's husband, and Anna, and my mate Beedy - who will use stuff that I consider compost material.

Brian Kaller writes a very nice blog (from Ireland) he calls, Restoring Mayberry, which right now features a short piece on vendors and farmers' markets. On Sunday he wrote an excellent, longer, article entitled, Gleaning, wine and jelly. It's interesting and well worth taking a look at.

Some of the reviews indicate problems with it. Particularly with the gears.