Country

I have porcelain coated grates on my lowly eight year old Amana and they're holding up fine. About four years ago I bought a DCS to replace it, but had so many problems with the DCS I returned it and re-installed the Amana.

Aw com'on. That takes all the fun out of it. The excitement of finding some lamb shanks in the bottom of the freezer that were frozen in August of 2008. And right next to them some killer chili that hasn't seen the light of day since March of '09!

FG - You just have to stop looking at them funny and things will be fine. But, if it's really bugging you, you can try using one of these high temp stove paints. Thurmalox or Stove Bright. I've used both of them for years and either is good. And they're both good for up to 1200F, which should be more than enough for range grates. But, I'm not sure how well the paint will hold up where pots and pans contact the grates, as the paint may wear off there - though I don't think it would rust unless you didn't use the range for a long time. Also, if you do this, you'll want to have the range hood exhaust cranked up the first few times you fire the stove. Finally, though, you may not want to spend all the time on the necessary prep as, unless you take them to be sandblasted, it's a lot of work. I have the Stove Bright link opening where prep directions are. Among the directions, "Remove ALL rust. We recommend sandblasting, sanding, or grinding to remove rust." Emphasis on "ALL" is theirs. I don't know if it's worth it, but it might work. If it were me, and the rust was really bothering me, I'd give it a try.

It's kind of late to be posting this, but an email just came in from the Boston Globe announcing Pollo Campero is celebrating National Taco Day with free tacos "As food buffs know, Oct. 4 looms large on the culinary calendar --- it’s National Taco Day --- and to celebrate, the Pollo Campero chain said it is giving away free tacos at its East Boston and Chelsea restaurants." I've never had a Pollo Campero taco, so I don't know if this is worth hurrying to or not.

Norm, Those chickens never roosted? Your mom must have been a pretty good shot to hit a wild chicken in the head with a .22 some distance away. Scope or iron sights?

I can be soooo numb. When I saw this thread come back up I thought I better order the book from Amazon. Fortunately, I noticed I already have it on the bookshelf before I ordered it again.... The local fish shop carries salt cod fillets and I want to try out Bourdain's recipe on page 70. Been meaning to do this since I got the book.

PS. When I was a kid everyone used a hatchet to kill chickens, and that's all I've ever used. But I have a good friend in California that raised a couple of turkeys, that ended up being over fifty pounds each, and he decided that was more than he wanted to tackle with a hatchet. So he shot them with his .30-30.

Scotty, That's perfect. How'd you cook it?

I've been around chickens some and never heard of anyone using a .22 Good story though...

While GM crops haven't been around long enough to be responsible for the allergies and problems being discussed here, their development adds yet another layer of questionable agricultural practices. Any adverse effects from GM food may not be known for years, if not generations.

I'm also 70 and, when younger, don't recall all these problems with allergies and various intolerances related to food. Could it be that "modern" agricultural practices are at least partially responsible? In addition to the application of so many insecticides, pesticides, etc., there is the issue of soil fertility and, I think, there is not much left on those "farms" that produce the majority of the food consumed today. It could be said that the health of the people is in the health of the soil - and that bears some thought. If the soil growing so much of our food these days can't even support a healthy population of earthworms, how healthy is the food that's grown from it?

Thanks, it's my standard recipe for red meat braises- Dust a chuck roast with flour and then brown in olive oil in a heavy pot, (Le Creuset) until brown on all sides. Takes about 10 min. per side. Remove the roast and add more olive oil then carrot, celery, onion, garlic, black peppercorns and bay leaf. Saute until tender, then slug in a bottle of red wine and 2 cups beef stock, 1 can tomato paste, fresh thyme and fresh rosemary. Add the roast back to the pot, cover and braise in a 285 oven about 8-10 hours. Drain vegetables out of sauce and then you have it-the most wonderfully tender beef pot roast. It's very good as a ravioli filling or a filling for a pot pie under a puff pastry dome. That's almost exactly how I do it - including the Le Creuset. But, when you write, "... then slug in a bottle of red wine", do you really use a whole bottle - or a slug of red wine? From your pic it came out beautifully and I definitely have to try some pappardelle. Thanks.

I make 2-3 cups in a Chemex, pour off one cup, and put the rest in a Thermos carafe. It keeps pretty well for an hour or so. Maybe longer, but I usually drink it all within an hour.

Scoop - How do you break down a flat fish into four fillets? I get two. One each side - really top and bottom. Do you cut each of the two down the middle lengthwise to get four?

I have the same one and have been happy with it.

Same here.

I'm sure that was it. Yes. Some people have the "touch", and some people need to spend hundreds of dollars on equipment, and endlessly search for the best beans. I once knew someone who made very good "camp" coffee. Brought water to a boil, threw in some ground coffee from a can, turned down the heat and, when it was done, added cold water to settle the grounds. While his was very good, later on I tried doing it, but it was pretty awful. Like so much else in cooking, lots depends on some innate ability, some inner sense, to do things. The "touch". And no amount of fancy, expensive, equipment will make up the difference. That goes for all this "Modernist Cuisine" stuff too.

Elitist.

A friend of mine used to make the best coffee I've ever had using an ordinary old aluminum percolator, on an old ordinary electric range, using Maxwell House from a can. Part of it may have been that it was good Vermont well water, but I think most of it was because he just had that "touch" for making good coffee. eta: It may have been Chock Full o'Nuts instead of Maxwell House. Can't remember. At any rate, ground coffee from a can.

Ma-coon is the way it's pronounced in Maine, including by the owner of the orchard where I get my apples.

I just read it and it's excellent reading. Thanks.

He used old, dried out, garlic for that demo. He likely would have hurt his hand trying to smash a bulb of good garlic like that and, guaranteed, the skins of good fresh garlic wouldn't have come off shaking the cloves in a bowl. I wonder if he actually used that garlic in anything....

What kept sea gulls, shags, and all the other shore birds - and crabs - from digging it up and having a feast? I have no idea but it was done this way for hundreds of years, possibly thousands. Maybe the answer is in your link... "The original version of the dish was made by fishermen who buried salmon above the high tide line after rubbing it in salt, sugar, and dill. While it was buried, the salmon fermented, and it became quite pungent and strongly flavored." After that not even a hungry seagull would touch it.

What kept sea gulls, shags, and all the other shore birds - and crabs - from digging it up and having a feast?

In his first post jfresch inquired about Wusthof, Global, and Henckels. I'm in the "sticks" of midcoast Maine and there's a shop less than eight miles from me that carries Wusthof and Henckels. If they don't carry Global, there are three more shops within 35 miles that probably do. On the other hand, maybe jfresch is out in the middle of nowhere and is stuck with mail order. He/she ought to check in and let us know if any of this is any help. PS. I'm enjoying your LV cook's helper thread. More, more..